Secret Shadow

Morning came, but Ria's sadness did not abate. She dressed quickly so she could be ready for breakfast. Her old jeans fit her body tightly. When she looked in the mirror, she saw that her eyes looked puffy and tired from staying up all night. She picked up the mascara that her best friend Mara had gifted her. Mara was now living a normal life while Ria was learning magic in a different world. Ria applied powder to her eyes to hide her fatigue.

Although Ria wanted to live a normal life in Nocteria—a normal job, good friends, boyfriends, and going to parties—she decided to join the Black Circle. It was a decision that had become necessary after her mother disappeared.

About a month ago, Ria's mother, Gaia, went to the night shift at St. Thalia Hospital as usual, but never returned. Her fellow nurses said Gaia had arrived at work, but no one knew what happened after that. Their car was in the parking lot, but there were no signs of violence. Everyone was shocked as there was no sign of Gaia.

Initially, Ria thought her mother would return soon, but after two weeks, she broke down when she realized that she might never see her mother again. She cried for hours, thinking that her mother might not be in this world anymore.

About a month after Gaia disappeared, Ria met a woman named Kimrin Dodge. She told Ria what had happened to her mother and how an organization called the 'Black Circle' could help save her mother. Ria decided that she would join the Black Circle so that she could bring her mother back.

Kimrin told Ria that Gaia was a descendant of Lilith, a famous, rather infamous sorceress. Ria had seen this name before while reading a banned book after sneaking into Kimrin's room. Lilith had cast a terrible curse on lycanthropes, killing thousands. Because of this curse, the lycanthropes waged a war against the sorceress, aiming to exterminate every single descendant of Lilith.

Lilith was impossible to kill, her powers were almost god-like, but most of her descendants were brutally killed by the lycanthropes. The lycanthropes' bloodlust was not limited to Lilith's descendants; they killed innocent people and animals in addition to the sorceress. They also destroyed the weak who could not defend themselves. The most powerful lycanthrope race, the LS (Lupi Sanguinaria), also took part in the massacre. Although they were few in number, these wolves were nearly unstoppable, and their rampage filled Nocteria with blood, limbs, and severed heads.

Rhea did not believe Kimrin's words. She denied all paranormal things, just like her mother. Still, she noticed some strange events that were connected to her mother. Once, she heard strange sounds in her mother's room at night and saw her mother's body floating in the air above the bed, like a witch doing a show. Her mother was reciting spells in a strange language.

After that incident, Riya first assumed it to be a sleep illusion or a nightmare. But later, she witnessed more such incidents that made her believe her mother's supernatural nature. And these abnormalities were not limited to her mother alone.

Riya noticed some things about herself that shocked her deeply. Whenever she got very angry, things would fall as if someone had touched them. Though the telekinesis was weak, it was there. Still, Riya did not fully believe in the existence of magic, until Kimrin, after her insistence, shook her braid up and down without anyone touching it. After this, Riya joined the Black Circle without hesitation, hoping to find her beloved mother… alive.

Not knowing if her mother was still alive was an unbearable torture. There was a tension inside her that threatened to break the thin thread between reason and madness. She knew she wouldn't be able to hold out much longer and something inside her would snap. This sadness was draining her energy, and pushing her into a dark place she had never been before.

Wiping a solitary tear from her eye, Riya left her room and headed up the long, winding staircase. When she reached the bottom of the staircase, she first noticed a black passage leading to a rough door at the bottom of the stairs. She had been in the Black Circle for over a month, and she had never wondered where that door led to. The door had no handle, and there were strange symbols on its wooden frame, passing through a snake's eye below a large skull.

Riya trembled, scared and confused by the existence of the door. But now she understood why she hadn't noticed it before. The door was glowing red! She was sure that this description was different from the many times she had passed by it before. She turned around quickly, fearing that the door was obviously barred. After all, she had already caused enough trouble, and more would do no good. But still, she decided to ask Vittorio about it.

What is hidden behind that door? Could this secret change her future?

To be continue....Always read on Webnovel