Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 129268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129268 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 646(@200wpm)___ 517(@250wpm)___ 431(@300wpm)
“I don’t have to tell you everything they did. But know that I didn’t value my life afterward. I wished they’d just killed me. Instead, they left me mangled and damaged after they’d had their way with me. I was covered in bruises and bleeding out from the injuries they’d inflicted on me. Some of the plants I’d gathered had medicinal qualities; I used them to staunch my wounds. I still don’t know how I made it back without dying. It was the longest journey of my life. Part of me wanted to stay and just succumb, but I was so scared they would come back.”
“Where did you go?” I whisper the question, not sure I want to hear more but knowing I have to.
“Back to my grandmother’s. Where else could I have gone? It was two hundred years ago. There were no phones to call for help. We lived in such a remote area, there were no hospitals nearby. The shamans in our area had all left due to religious persecution. There was no one but her.” Her sad smile returns and she laughs before she tells me, “She scolded me. When she heard the door open, she yelled from the kitchen that I’d scared her and to never do that again. And then she came out and saw me.
“She looked so broken when she saw me. When she saw my bruised body and she realized what happened. I was barely clothed and covered in blood. My grandmother was a truly devout Catholic. She said the church would help us, that they would know what to do.” She reaches across the desk for the crumpled tissue and regains some of her composure before continuing. “It took forever to reach the local priest, but he accused me of making everything up. That I must have imagined what I saw and experienced because werewolves would never do such a thing.” She straightens and faces me. “They were supposed to protect us. We had a pact with them. Apparently they were allowed to do whatever they wanted so long as the vampires were kept at bay. What happened to me was nothing more than a small sacrifice in exchange for the security they provided.” Her dark eyes harden as she spits out, “That’s what the priest told me. ‘It was a small sacrifice to pay!’ That’s the day I started to hate everyone. My grandmother was the only one who wanted justice. No one else dared to confront the wolves.” She calms herself and wipes her eyes again. I can’t even fathom her pain. To live through something so monstrous and survive, only to experience a horrible betrayal—my heart breaks for her with the injustice of it all.
“She died a few weeks later. I think the church’s refusal to intervene was too hard on her. She was so angry at everyone else and felt like she had failed me, even though there was nothing she could have done differently. Her heart just couldn’t take it. So I was left on my own, on the outskirts of the town. I lived in fear that the shifters would come back. One night I thought they did. I thought they’d come for me again.” A wicked glint shines in her brown eyes. “But it wasn’t the wolves.” Her dark red, plump lips form an evil smirk. The look on her face is one of a scorned woman who’s reaped her revenge. “No, it was three vampires. They’d come to kill everyone.” She tilts her head and I hear her neck crack as she reclines in her seat and crosses her legs. Her characteristic collected facade replaces the emotional woman who I’d just been sitting with.
“They were going to kill me. Most of the town had already been slaughtered. They decided to punish everyone who’d sided with the wolves. Not that we had much of a choice in the matter of what the werewolves did. Obviously. When they saw me, they smiled. Like we were old friends. They’d heard what the wolves had done and offered me a choice: death or the chance to have vengeance. If I’d been smart, I would have chosen death. But then again, fate wouldn’t have been able to curse my poor pup had I died all those years ago.”
“You’d rather have died than become a vampire?”
She shakes her head and purses her lips. “Not now, no. But the things I did, all out of hate and to get revenge …” Her dark eyes narrow as she meets my stare. “There can be no forgiveness for all the innocent lives I’ve taken and all the times I sat back and watched as my coven ravaged villages for sport.”
“Does your coven still …” I swallow hard, not able to get out the rest of the words.