WHEELS OF FATE

CHAPTER FOUR

Adrianna's mind blanked out as she heard something hit the floor.

Then a loud shatter echoed throughout the room! Glass shards were scattered in every direction as the glass broke into a thousand pieces!

For a moment, Adrianna was dumbstruck in place.

Then she cried out in alarm as she directly looked towards her mother.

Then she jumped out from bed.

"Ma!"

But when she was about to ran towards her mother, Liena shouted.

"Stop!" came a shrill panicked shout.

Adrianna gasped as she stood frozen.

"There are glass shards everywhere. I..." Liena took frequent breaths as she looked intensely at Adrianna. Her voice breathy and broken. She can't seem to continue her words.

"Ma?"

"Just stay, Adi."

Liena turned back and rushed out from Adrianna's room. She rapidly ran away as if the very devil is on her heels.

Adrianna weakly flopped down on the bed as she watched her mother's frantic flight.

Her mother's reaction is over the top. She seemed to be greatly distraught hearing about her non existent dream.

Her mother's intriguing actions is making Adrianna agitated and nervous. She thinks there is something that she had missed in her past life.

Some hidden truths.

Clenching her hands into tight fists, she forced herself to calm down and stay still. She very much wanted to rush out and secretly follow her mother in an attempt to find out something. But she held herself back.

She doesn't want to disrespect her mother's privacy.

Adrianna just sat unmoving on the bed as she stared vacantly at her door. Waiting for her mom to come back.

She has been living a muddled life in her past. But in this life, she refuse to take the same trajectory as her previous pathetic existence!

She will definitely not repeat her tragic history!

Hearing heavy footsteps approaching, Adrianna tilted her head to listen. She bet its not her mother who is coming. But her papa.

After awhile, someone appeared at her open doorway. As she expected, its really her papa.

Her father is 5'7 tall, has dark hair, brown eyes and olive skin. He has this "man of the house" mentality. A thinly disguised misogyny that always drives her mama crazy! And when her mama is annoyed, their house would always be turned upside down.

Thinking about the past, a melancholic smile stretched on Adrianna's lips.

Her father's personality is as strong and stubborn as a mule! He is rarely convinced that there is another way other than his own way. Because of this, hell would always break loose when her parents have different opinions on things.

But aside from that, she wouldn't want her papa in any other way. Despite her papa's stubborn ways, he is a loving husband and a very good father. And her papa loves her the most!

"Tată." Adrianna smiled brightly at her father.

Andrei smiled and skipped over the shards of glass. Then sat beside Adrianna.

"Fiica." Andrei whispered in a soft quiet voice. He held Adrianna's head and kissed her on the forehead.

"Te simți mai bine acum?"

"Yes, tata. I'm all better now. Vă mulțumesc." Adrianna answered.

Silence.

"Your mama told me about Visul tău." Andrei directly inquired about Adrianna's dream. But his voice is casual as if what they are talking is just the weather.

"Da, tata. It was a dream. Visul meu is about a music box. Cutie de muzică that has a ballerina on top. When you rotate the metal cylinder on the left side and release it, a tune will play out and the ballerina will start to spin."

Andrei looked at Adrianna with complicated eyes. But Adrianna's head is bowed down in silence. Not looking up.

He is agitated with doubt and mental conflict.

But Andrei knows Adrianna hasn't seen the music box. He was very careful when he secretly buried it under his wife's flower garden. Even his wife doesn't know where he hid it!

And it has been buried there for over ten years already. But its still not time to dig it up. At least not for another two years.

When they were still in Romania, Adrianna has been drinking a magic potion that has been made for two provisional purposes.

The main purpose of the magic potion is to suppress her vampiric development. Thus, making her faculties like a normal human.

The secondary purpose is to gradually isolate her childhood memories. Memories of her biological parents, her ancestry.

And the last dose of potion she took sealed the deal.

And the day Adi took the last potion was also the day when the castle was invaded by rebels. He would never forget that night's ordeal. Adrianna briefly fainted as she experienced a scare.

But when she next opened her eyes, it was filled with majesty and cold indifference as she took her last sweeping look around the castle. The guards, him and everyone around them were all chilled and trembling like a leaf!

Adrianna back then was full of barely contained tyrannical power! A power of great magnitude that is so overbearing, so absolute that they all unconsciously fell hard on their feet and knelt down in obeisance!

Then she fell back to unconsciousness.

And that was the day they fled from the castle. The same day when Adrianna's memory was completely tucked away.

Since her memory and ability was suppressed, she couldn't have known about the music box. But the way she described the exact details, she must have dreamt the real thing.

He desperately wants to ask Adi the content of her dream but he knows the unique circumstance behind Adi's birth.

There are some things that are better left unheard. And there are some things that are best left unsaid.

Andrei sighed.

"Okay, Fiica. Mâine vi-l voi da."

"Vă mulțumesc, tata. Tomorrow it is." Adrianna looked up at Andrei and smiled brightly.

With a wistful smile on his face, Andrei looked back at her.

Somehow, because of the magic potion, it also altered a little of Adrianna's physical features. The most prominent change are the colors of her eyes and hair.

Her eyes were a deep emerald green but now its brown. Her hair was a silver blond but now its black.

Unaware of her father's inner musings, Adrianna asked after a few seconds of hesitation.

"Tata, where did you buy the music box?"

In a flash, Andrei's entire eyes fully turned into a black orb then became normal again.

"The music box is a gift. A reward given for our impeccable character and outstanding service."

"When mama and papa worked in Romania?"

"Da. When your mama and I worked in Romania." Andrei echoed in a soft voice filled with a sentimental yearning and homesickness.

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The next day before breakfast, true to his words, Andrei is ready to give the music box to Adrianna.

But he is afraid.

He is afraid that the wheels of fate is starting to turn and things would change. He is content with the status quo and isn't looking forward to these changes. He wants to protect and maintain the way things are right now.

But he also knows, Adi has a special identity. Another destiny divergent from theirs.

He knew things would come to this, but he never thought time could fly so fast. Before he knew it, the child Adi is all grown up.

A nostalgic smile appeared on Andrei's face.

Then with his lips pressed together and pulled into a straight taut line, Andrei decisively knocked on Adrianna's bedroom.

When the door opened, he quietly handed over a cloth bag with the music box inside.

Adrianna studied her father's grim, serious face. She felt something off with her father today.

Her father looked gloomy.

Not understanding her father's mood, she silently took the music box and simply thanked her father as she placed it on her table.

"Adi, always remember, your mama and I will always be here for you." Andrei whispered in a firm and unyielding tone.

Adrianna looked up at her father in surprise then gave him a brilliant smile.

"Tata is the best!"

Andrei chuckled.

"Let's go down for breakfast?" Andrei invited.

Adrianna hesitated.

"Go ahead, tata. I will go down in a bit."

Andrei nodded and slightly smiled as he turned back.

The moment her father was out of sight, Adrianna swiftly closed the door.

With trembling hands and a pounding heart, she took the cloth bag from the table and sat on her bed.

When she took the music box from the cloth bag, she took a deep breath as a thick musty smell permeated the air.

Staring at the box in her hand, Adrianna felt nervous for some reason. With shaking hands, she slowly opened it.

What hit her first was a strong stale and pungent odor, similar to the smell of rotting wood.

Then she was greeted by an elegant ballerina standing enchantingly on top of a disk shaped platform.

The ballerina stood on her left leg with her right leg turned out and extended behind the body. Both her legs were held straight. Her right arm is extended to the side as her right leg and the left arm is extended to the front. Her face follows the line of her extended left arm.

She stared at the ballerina for a bit. Then she put the music box on the bed and rotated the metal cylinder at the left side.

The moment the music played and the tune echoed in the room, Adrianna closed her eyes as if enchanted and hypnotized.

BOOM!

A thousand lights lit like fireworks behind her eyelids. Her heart is pounding as crazy fast as a high speed train.

She can distinctly feel her blood rushing forth from all directions in a ferocious rampage ----violently hammering her consciousness.

Adrianna wants to scream in pain! Something is also attacking her insides in a frenzy.

It's like a bear is furiously trying to claw its way out from its confines. Shaking and kicking and slamming the cage to let him out.

It wasn't like this from her past life!

Adrianna bent down her upper body between her knees and clutched a bunch of her hair tightly into fists.

It hurts. She whimpered internally.

Then out of nowhere, she is suddenly encompassed by an unknown force. A force so great that she is inebriated and lulled by its potency.

The force is so compelling, so enchanting. It soothed and calmed her agitated mind.

From the initial savagery to tolerance to acceptance, her blood is now pacified into stillness and peace.

When the music stopped, she slowly opened her eyes.

She looked around her room, disoriented.

She is getting dizzy and breathing seems difficult. She slumped in bed with both her arms covering her eyes.

She did not experience the painful struggle before. What has changed?

What is wrong with her? Is she an anomaly?

Adrianna turned her body to the side and stared hard at the music box.

"Adi!" came her mother's shout.

Adrianna jerked in surprise.

"Come down now! Breakfast is ready!"

Adrianna shook her head as she stood up to leave.

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At a far away place, in a catacomb a thousand meters below the ground, there is a labyrinth of passages that leads to one of the secret chambers.

The chamber of the Ancient One.

HUFF!

"Iubita mea." The Ancient One softly whispered.

Then a deep set of blue eyes opened.