“It should hold, for now.” Ms. Beckingdale stated simply. My eyes slowly moved up her body, resting on her saddened gaze.
“Will one of you please tell me what's happening?” I weakly asked, tears still flowing freely down my face.
Andrei dropped his gaze, refusing to make contact. My mom fared no better. I looked at Ms. Beckingdale pleadingly. I needed to know. I couldn't live without knowing.
She knelt before me and brushed my matted hair away from my face. “There's a lot to explain.”
“Obviously.”
She smiled softly, then turned serious again. “Have you heard the legend of Shiloh?” I nodded my head, too weak to say anymore. My eyes kept moving to my mother, but she had turned away. Her shoulders were shaking. I knew she was crying. “Good. Well it's true. The story is true. Many years ago there was a Sorceress named Sarah,” my mind flashed to the journal, already knowing where this was going. “She was very kind, a true gift to the world and the most beloved of the Goddess. She fell in love when she was about your age to a warlock named Merlo. At first, he was just as kind, but he soon became greedy, wanting more power than the coven would allow. So he turned.
“He went against the coven, against the Goddess, and began seeking out one of the darkest Gods the world had ever known. He was granted more power, but the power started to consume him. Driving him to the brink of madness. Sarah, Goddess bless her, found out while she was pregnant with child. When it came almost time for the birth, she knew he must be stopped. He had grown too powerful, and only she was left with enough power to stop him. If she waited any longer, then no one on this earth could end his reign.
“She sacrificed her life in order to stop him. His power was trapped in the amulet that you have lost, and his soul was trapped within the headstone, waiting to be released. When you went to the graveyard that night, you set into motion everything needed to release him.
“You are the last of Sarah's descendants. While your mother and those before her held some small amount of power, yours will be unparalleled to any others besides Merlo's. You have lived your life without training, without knowledge. For that I am deeply sorry, for it has led you to this moment in time. Without the proper training, the power within you, and that of the amulet, will begin to consume you, just as it did Merlo. You will become lost, and anything good within you will be smothered into nothingness.” She held up her hands weakly then quickly dropped them. I stared at her.
This was what I was waiting for. What I had needed to know since the beginning. But now that I did, I wish I could forget it. All of it. I didn't believe in magic. I didn't believe in legends. I didn't believe that I could be a part of this. Any of this.
My mind screamed in rebellion. This must all be a hallucination. My mind must have finally snapped and I was just as crazy as everyone thought I was. That must be the answer. Yet, deep down within me, there was a small spark of belief. A part of me that was clinging onto the words she spoke, a part that believed. When I looked up at my mother, she was staring at me. A haunted look filled her eyes that I had never seen before. It felt shattering.
“Mom, is this true?”
She nodded as more tears fell down her face. “Yes. I didn't know. I swear to the Goddess, Star, I didn't know! This just doesn't make any sense! The child is supposed to have silver eyes! The only one in the bloodline without the pureness of amethyst! But you! You were born with the eyes of the pure. I just don't understand.” She pressed her hand to her mouth and moved away, barely holding on to her control.
Her words only served to confuse me. What did eye color have to do with anything? My mind was sluggish. I couldn't connect the pieces properly. “What will happen to me? What will happen if I just pretend none of this ever existed, if I went back to being normal?” I asked Samantha.
Her eyes glistened with tears as she smiled sadly. “There is no going back, Starlette. There is no escaping it. If you ignore it, Merlo will still be released and you will still lose every decent part of you. If you don't accept your fate, your destiny, then The Prophecy will shatter, and the world as we know it will end.”
I glanced at Andrei's face, but it was unreadable. He was completely closed off to me now, cold just like before. My heart sank in my chest. It was a lot to take in, to sort through. The words from Sarah's journal seemed to float through my head, mixing with those of Samantha's.
I looked to my mother again, but she still wouldn't face me. “If my eyes aren't like the prophecy said they would be, then how do you know? How do you know I am the one?” I couldn't be the one. I wasn't strong enough. I couldn't even fight the darkness inside of me yet they expected me to save the world.
Andrei left my side, and returned a moment later with a jagged shard of mirror. I looked at him questioningly. He angled it to where I could see the upper half of my face. What I saw stole the breath from me.
Mom must have not been looking close enough. I knew my eyes had turned silver when the darkness unleashed, when the destruction started. It was never there when I was normal. As normal as I could ever be. The shape of my eyes were the same, but the color was wrong. Violet now only rimmed my eyes, seeming to fight its way toward the pupil. From the pupil outward was silver, fighting for supremacy. My mind flashed to the light, how it had morphed within the darkness, creating a perfect balance. Now I knew that the silver represented the darkness, and the violet the light. I took a deep breath and removed my gaze from the mirror shard. I didn't need to see anymore. I understood.
This was one of those moments that changes the course of your life forever. Where you have to decide whether to be selfish, and turn away from everyone and everything that matters, or where you let go of all you ever wanted, and set out on a terrifyingly new journey. I’ve never been one to martyr myself, but I’ve never been selfish either. The air shuttered out of my lungs in a slow whoosh as the faces of the people I love, along with the faces of the nameless millions, flashed before my eyes.
I was terrified, but I really only had once choice. One chance. If in some way I could fix the damage I had done, repent to those that I hurt, and make it to where I'd never unknowingly hurt someone again, I had to do it. I took a deep breath, gathered whatever courage I had left, and faced Samantha. “Alright, I’ll do it.”
Even as I watched the relief seep into her body, I couldn’t help but wonder if there were two sides to me now. The perfect balance of darkness and light. Will the light that now resides in me be enough? Would I be enough to save those nameless millions? Or will the darkness consume me, making it my master?
To Be Continued…
Acknowledgements
Special thanks goes to the people who refused to let me quit (and who would push me till I gave this all that I had) Heather Hildenbrand, Patti Larsen, Jeremy Leinenbach, Misty Provencher and Frankie Rose.
A million thanks to my editor, Anna Gorman Coy, who dealt with me and my panic attacks from the beginning and who never stopped believing in me. I love you all and I wouldn't be here without you guys.
Awesome amounts of glitter and confetti to my Beta Readers: Jess Danowski, Felicia Tatum, Susan Burdorf, Heather Berrier, Mallory Thorpe, Tyeesha Webb, Dani Morales, Heather Hildenbrand and Patti Larsen.
And a mass shout out to my street team, who was more excited about the release than I was! Felicia Tatum, LP Dover, Heather Hildenbrand, Mallory Thorpe, Tasha Rae Ivey, Jess Danowski, Sirena Higgs, Katherine Eccleston, Raine Thomas, Anna Gorman Coy, Heather Berrier, Michele G. Miller, Adriane Boyd, Katie Mac, Sarah Ashley Jones, Amber Garr, Heather Robbins, Ali Hymer, Mercy Amare, Laura Howard and Tyeesha Webb.
CHAPTER ONE
OF
Blood Rule
By
Heather Hildenbrand
