Chapter 14

°Flashback°

"Grandma!" Aurora had a huge smile spread across her lips as she ran to greet her grandmother.

She picked up the little girl in her arms and kissed her forehead. "Grandma bought you a gift."

"Really!" Her face lit up and she smiled showing her missing tooth. "What is it, grandma?" She asked.

"Not so fast Aurora." She chuckled. "You will have to guess this one"

Her grandmother always brought her gifts from her adventures. They were often of no use to the girl because she didn't know what they were used for. But she was always ecstatic to receive her grandmother's gifts.

"Is it a dog?" She asked her grandma since she always wanted an animal to play with. She was often lonely and had no one to play with most of the time. Her only friend was their neighbor's son Felix. But Felix gathered her sister's company than hers.

"No, try again."

"Oh." It was as clear as day that Aurora was disappointed. But why was she disappointed? She was always happy to guest what her grandmother brought. ack for her.

Ella pulled out a beautiful necklace with a pendant aligned with patterns. "Whenever you are scared Aurora just hold onto this. It will protect you from danger but only if you believe."

She wanted to ask her grandmother what she meant by protecting her from danger but they were interrupted by Violet who rushed out to welcome their grandma home.

"What did you get me this time?" She asked with a smile.

"Not even a hug?" Emma asked pinching Violet's cheeks.

"Grandma." Her voice was muffled as she whined. "I'm too old for this."

"You are still grandma's baby." She stooped down to peck her cheeks.

Emma dug deep in her jacket pocket and removed a fancy teacup with blue patterns from her pocket and handed it to Violet. "A teacup worth a fortune for your teacup collection."

A cheeky grin formed on her lips as she took the teacup.

She looked over at Aurora and asked. "What did you get?"

Aurora smiled and held up her necklace. She could have sworn she saw her sisters go cold for a split second before a smile formed on her lips and she hopped away humming.

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Aurora felt as if someone was pounding on her head with a sledgehammer. She groaned in pain as she fluttered her eyes open. She felt her neck for the necklace her grandmother gave her and she said a silent prayer to heaven with it held tightly in her grasp.

She held onto her head and hissed in pain. She sat up and gently touched the spot that burnt from the pouring rain that made contact with it. She winced in pain and gathered herself up from the ground. She wondered how long she was out for.

The rain had eased down to a drizzle and the full moon peeked through the heavy rain clouds. The wind raged on and carried leaves from trees as it went by. Aurora looked down at the spot she laid a few moments ago and a gasp left her mouth. How was she still alive? She eyed the pointy stone with which her head collided.

Her clothes were drenched and felt heavy against her body. Goosebumps erupted on her skin and her teeth chattered together. Her clothes felt cold against her body and the raging wind was not doing her much good. How is she not suffering from hypothermia after being passed for who knew how long?

Her mother must be concerned about her. Aurora could only visualize how her mother would be pacing around the room wondering where about. She would have been in the comfort of her home a few hours ago if her stupid employer haven't forced her to work overtime. He was to be blamed for what happened to her. Aurora didn't know where the sudden feeling of hatred came from. She tried hard to think of various reasons not to hate her employer but none came.

The lighting wasn't much but she could see the dirt path up ahead leading straight to her home. She took a big step and was hauled when she reached the edge of the woods. She had never walked through the woods at night. She wasn't scared that a werewolf would kill her since they didn't exist. But she was scared that a wild animal just like the one that attacked her grandparents would be wandering around in the woods. She swallowed the bile that rose in the back of her throat she knew it was now or never.

She grasped her dress in both hands and hopped over a huge log and went deeper into the woods. She watched as the trees danced in the raging wind. She listened keenly for any sound of approaching threat but she could only hear the snapping of twigs under her shoes. This bought a sense of ease to her and calmed her pounding heart. She hopped over a few fallen trees that blocked her path and she spotted something in the far distance. She was unable to distinguish what it was but she wanted to be cautious since she didn't know what awaited her.

Her heart began to pound loudly in her eardrum making it more difficult for her to focus on sounds around her. She picked up a piece of stick to protect herself and deliberately approached. The stick was of no use since it was rotten but at least it was better than to have nothing at all. The closer she got she realized it was something white and fluffy. When she got close enough she reached forward and poked it.

The air froze in her lungs and her eyes went wide. It was something white and most of its fur was covered in a red substance and the moment she poked it a whimper left its mouth. Aurora got closer to it and it was then she noticed what she had just found.