Rell and The Rose

Ch. 48, The Sleeping Potion

Two Years Earlier

Bastien

I stood in the crack of light cast from the kitchen to the dark hall beyond. I couldn't see Dasan, but Mother strode back and forth across the kitchen floor, her voice rising when she strode toward me, and falling as she turned back.

"The love potion is almost gone. I don't have what I need to make another."

"Does it matter?" Dasan's deep voice. "The pre-nup leaves you everything."

"It matters to Bastien. He thinks of him as his father." I frowned now, for the first time wondering if I shouldn't be listening to this. But now the conversation had shifted to me, and I couldn't leave regardless.

"Bastien needs to know the truth," Dasan's deep voice again.

Mother twisted almost viciously. "He can't. I won't let him."

"The last dust of the Blood Rose petal is nearly gone. The sleeping potion won't be able to control the curse much longer. He's almost twelve now, and stronger everyday. He needs to learn to control the Beast, or it will overtake him."

"There has to be another way."

"There isn't Desina. And you know it. You need to show him. Tonight." Then he paused. "Perhaps you could start now. He's listening at the door."

I barely had time to stumble backwards. Mother footsteps clicked to the door, and she threw it open, a murderous expression on her face.

"What did you hear?"

"I...."

She grabbed my arm, painfully pulling me from the dark hallway into the glaring light of the kitchen.

"You meant for him to hear!" Her nails dug into my arm as she whipped around to glare down at Dasan. I whimpered, but neither seemed to notice.

"It's time Desina. You brought this burden to him. Now you must show him how to carry it. I can delay it no further." There was a heaviness to his voice, so different from the different laughing face and stories he told me. It was like a different man sat before us. One who was as old as time itself. One I was a little frightened of.

Mother finally turned to face me. "Go get your boots and coat Bastien. We're going into the forest."

"Are we hunting the rose?"

"Yes," she stared coldly at Dasan. I loved my grandfather; I didn't want them to fight.

"I will get my sword."

"Not today. Today I show you a new weapon."

I'd been fighting with the sword for two years, the thought of a new weapon was exciting. I rushed to get my coat and boots, and then we made our way through the darkened forest. The trees were bare, and though the last rays of sunlight still clung to the horizon, already the cold snaked through the trees into my bones.

I felt bare without my sword. Funny, how I'd been terrified the first time we'd gone hunting. But then Dasan began drilling me with the weapon. He had pushed me into every sport there was in school, and even practiced with me, but it was different when he held a sword. Like he was young and powerful and dangerous again. Sometimes I wished that he could have been my father, and not the man I rarely saw, who Mother smiled and cooed at, her eyes ice the moment he turned away. Dasan was the only one who truly loved me.

And if Dasan believed I was ready for this new weapon, then I wouldn't let him down.

We walked deeper and deeper into the forest, the shadows darkening and encircling us, the snow getting harder and harder to lift each leg through. I wished I would have put on another pair of socks and a scarf. We walked further, and I wished I were home, in bed.

But I didn't complain. Dasan would want me to be strong and brave. I kept walking until finally we came to a clearing.

I couldn't explain it then, but I felt the magic. Like a song pulls at something within you. Or maybe like a deep, steady pulse echoing through the land. It couldn't build, the sun bleaching it away each day, but here in the dark, deep in the forest, when the sun disappeared, it began to grow stronger and louder.

Just above the trees, the moon rose.

Mother stepped into the clearing and I stumbled after her.

And then I felt the change.

"Mom. MOm- Help—" Terror coursed through me, bringing the change faster, my nails beginning to stretch, to lengthen. I cried out again, but this time my voice wasn't human.

And then I saw her, beside me.

My mother.

Becoming a beast.

I screamed, but my throat was no longer human.

A lone, agonizing howl split the forest. 

(Dun dun dun!! Comments?! Thoughts?!

Also I included the Youtube video above because it's what I usually listen to when I write this book :) Thought it would be fun to share. Thanks for reading guys! Also don't forget to vote! -H.J.)