The Beginning

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~ Lilac's POV~ _________________________________________________________________________________________________

Smile Lila. Don't be nervous, you got this! Don't let them get to you. Just keep smiling.

Breathing out a huge portion of air, I opened the door to the classroom. Spotting my seat, I headed towards it and got ready for the first class of the day.

"She is still here.", whispered someone to another person behind me.

"She really has the audacity to continue coming to class.", spoke another one.

"I heard the cops couldn't even find their bodies; they are still missing."

Ignoring their words, I opened my book to try and get some reading done.

"Look at her arrogance. I heard she never cried at their funeral either."

"She really is a cursed child. Look at that. Her white hair, dirty blue eyes, and sickly pale skin. I feel like any sane person would know she is cursed."

"My parents force me to go meet the priest every few days to check if I was cursed thanks to her."

"No ways. Really?"

I cleared my throat, which definitely attracted their attention. The professor walked in and started the lecture for the day.

During lunch, I left for my usual spot for having food in silence, the rooftop. Opening the door, I was welcomed with fresh air and grey clouds hung over, depicting my life. I sat on the ground in the corner and started having food while gazing at the dull sky.

This was how my everyday life went. You would think as a 17-year-old girl in high school, I would have lots of friends, go on dates, and party. But my life was ripped apart on that day when my two childhood friends were taken away from me. Seven years ago, we had just gone outside to play in the park as usual, and we left saying goodbye to each other, but only I made it home that day. I searched for them in all the places my little mind could think, but to no avail were they found anywhere. I never left home after that. I was scared of the insults and my neighbor's reaction. Their parents never met me, but I could imagine their responses. It would only be insults.

My parents were never really at home. They were always abroad on trips. One could say, I grew up by myself. Even when the two closest people to me in my life were taken away, they never returned. When I tried to call them, they told me it was going to be alright and left saying they had work to do. Further, they brought a house in the middle of the forest and told me to live there quietly. I had a butler who took care of the house and drove me back and forth to school. Not once did they ever come and see me after that incident. I don't really blame them. I mean how could I? The other kids that were talking behind my back maybe were telling the truth. I may really be 'cursed'.

"What did I do so wrong?"

A thunder struck the ground as it started pouring rain. I watched closely as the rain fell on the food. Tch! Tossing the food aside, I proceeded to go back inside.

I checked my phone for any emails or texts from my parents or the butler. Midway, it stopped working. "Dumb phone." I looked up from my phone to see everything around me had stopped in time.

Silence.

The children who used to giggle in the corridor were frozen. Their clothes froze in mid-air. I waved my hand in front of one of them and closed my eyes, waiting for an insult to be thrown at my face. But nothing came. Opening my eyes, I was greeted with still air. Astonished, I looked outside a nearby window. The rain had stopped falling, while the traffic signals stayed the same. The cars had stopped moving, while the birds were frozen in one place too.

What was going on here? My heart picked up pace as I looked around a little more.

Could it be magic? But magic doesn't exist in this world. Does it?

Afraid, I ran amongst the crowded place without thinking.

At the end of the hallway, a bright ray of light appeared before me, making me cover my eyes. Peeking a little from my sleeve, I saw a glowing blue colour vortex appear in front of me. It was magical yet beautiful.

Am I supposed to touch it?

I looked around but saw everything still frozen in place.

'Come here, child!', a voice echoed through the vortex, creeping me out.

Following it in a trance like state regardless, I slightly touched the blue vortex, when a powerful force, pulled me into it.

I screamed. What was happening?

The ground under me disappeared as I felt myself falling. "Ahhh...". Opening my eyes, I was met with a pitch-black void.

Below me there was nothing but void darkness.

I shut my eyes scared and screamed.

Soon, my feet touch ground, but my body seemed to sink in it, making me lose balance. My knees felt weak as I fell on the ground. My hands instinctively reached out to balance the fall.

Is this snow?

Feeling the touch of snow in between my fingertips I opened my eyes to be met with snow fall. I looked down. Snow! Lots of it! During summer, its snowing? Tall trees surrounded me. It looked like I was in the middle of some forest.

What is this place? I was so scared that I could feel my heart throb in my ears.

'Shing!' 'Shing.' 'Shing'.

The sound of swords cutting through something?

What was going on here?

It came from my right.

I looked to see something I shouldn't have. A tall, dark creature that looked like a human, except it had longer legs, arms, and horns. Horns? That wasn't even the worst part about it. Its body was midnight black, while its eyes glowed a bright red as it stared down at me in disgust. Its mouth was sewed shut or sealed. I couldn't make it out.

I trembled in fear, cowering as the creature drooled taking slow steps towards me.

Did I do something wrong?

It is so cold out here, I'm freezing. There is a demonic creature looking forward to having me as its meal. Am I going to die like this? Well, it makes sense. In the end, I don't have anyone to really look out for me either. My childhood friends, my parents, the school kids, and teachers, none of them cared about me. I was really a cursed child in the end. But this is so unfair! God, why only me?

But, if I die, I will be surrounded by silence. It will be tranquil. No more insults, no more pain, no more fear of anything and I will be at peace. I surrendered, accepting my fate. There was no escape for me either way. Death sounded beautiful.

The creature growled running toward me as I closed my eyes in anticipation. Tears rolled down my face.

I want to be free of everything. Just a little more.

'Shing!'. The sound of a sword cutting through something echoed through my ears.

I opened my eyes to see a tall, tanned, handsome man with red eyes and black hair. His face remained expressionless. The white shirt he wore, along with the black trousers and boots, and a long black cape, made him look so gorgeous. His black cape on the inside had a deep shade of red. He held the same-coloured sword in his left hand, which was now dripping with black blood.

To his right lay the body of the decapitated creature, spilling black blood. Is that really black blood?

I gasped. I wanted to vomit. It was disgusting.

The man bent down to see me up closer. Trembling in fear, I shut my eyes thinking he was going to kill me too. However, warmth surrounded me. I opened my eyes to see him cover me with his cape. His face was so close to me, I could see all his handsome features. Those dark red eyes stared right into my dull blue ones. Feeling ashamed of my cursed eyes, I looked down. His gloved hand reached my cheek and wiped the wet tears. He then placed a hand on my back and his other hand under my knees.

"What are you doing?", I asked looking up at him in shock.

He looked down at me again expressionless. "Do you want to walk?", he asked in a deep voice. My eyes followed his stark red eyes as he looked at the seemingly never-ending looking forest in front of us.

Forget walking, I think staying awake is going to be an issue after everything I just witnessed. I almost died for god's sake. I shook my head blushing. He lifted me into his arms. "I might be heavy!".

He paid no heed to my excuse and continued to walk straight. However, I think I heard him mumble "Light as a feather!".

I smiled a little wiping my tears. I could feel the heat radiating off his body, giving me a fuzzy and warm feeling inside. So, this is how it feels to be protected and to be close to another human. It felt nice and cozy.

"Darius, I took care of them. Let's go!", spoke another deep voice in front of us.

All of a sudden, the figure that was blurry stood in front of us. I blinked a few times, thinking my eyes played tricks on me. He was faraway, there is no way he travelled all that distance within a few seconds. He seemed to be just as tall, tanned, and built as the one who was holding me in his arms. He wore similar clothes, but he had dark green eyes with brown hair, while the inner side of his cape was dark green.

I felt so tiny in between these two. They were really big, muscular men. I could get crushed in a second.

"Oh ho, who is this?", he asked examining me like he had never seen a girl before.

"Pet!", spoke the person who I now know is named Darius.

"Excuse me! I'm not a pet. I'm a human being." I narrowed my eyes at him pointing at myself. Feeling cold, I placed my hand again in the warm cape.

"Hmm, okay human being, what is your name?", he asked interested.

"Isn't it proper etiquette to introduce yourself before asking for another person's name." I replied to him. Oops, is he going to throw insults at me? I closed my eyes thinking of when it was going to come.

Hearing nothing, I opened my eyes to see him grinning. He bowed down, "It is a pleasure to meet you, my lady. My name is Orion."

I blushed. He didn't have to go that far to bow down and introduce himself.

"My princess, can I have the honor to know your name?", he asked placing a hand on his broad chest, with that same grin on his face.

I sighed in agreement. "Nice to meet you Orion, I'm Lilac!".

Both of them snapped their heads toward me. The expressionless face had disappeared, and a very raw emotion showed on Darius' face. Orion was shocked to the core, as his fake grin disappeared and was replaced with a heavy emotion, which I couldn't figure out.

"Why do you both look at me like this?".

It was getting scary.

"Lila...", they both whispered sending shivers down my spine.

That name! How do they know about it?