Chapter 2 Betrayal

Evangeline,

We played all night, but no adults came to stop us. I fell asleep on the mattress, while Bryan stayed awake longer, trying to finish the season. 

However, when I woke up again in the morning, I found myself still on the floor, but this time Bryan wasn't there. The sun barely rose, but the breeze was gentle, sending shivers constantly. 

I checked the bathroom, but something didn't sit right. His brush and other toiletries were gone. The small stool he used to sit on while bathing wasn't there either.

"Bryan?" I whispered, my hand instinctively reaching for my neck.

The mark felt warm. Not painful. Just… alive.

I grabbed my backpack that I had brought with me and went out.

But when I stepped into the kitchen, I noticed something different about the house. Grandma Sarah, who would usually be having her coffee on the couch, wasn't there. Her retainer wasn't there either. It was as if they had never existed.

"Grandma Sarah?" I whispered, stepping into the bedroom, but nothing was there except the wooden bed and a few paper bags.

"What's going on?" A sharp pressure built in my chest, tightening with every breath. Confusion and a subtle horror washed over my chest.

I hurriedly ran out of the small house and headed straight to mine.

"Mom. Dad. Ethan and Grandma Sarah are-" I tried to push the door open, but my hands froze when I saw the lock.

"What?" My breath hitched, when the lock felt cold against my palm. " What's going on? Why is it locked at this hour?" 

"Mom, Dad. Open the door. Mom!" I shouted, cold sweat gathering all over my face. Something wasn't right. It felt like a nightmare I couldn't wake up from.

"Mom. Dad. It's not funny. Open the door. Please—"

"Evans!" a voice called from behind.

Evans? That was my aunt Zara.

I turned and found her standing there with a remorseful expression. "Aunt… where is Mom? Dad? Why is the house locked?"

She didn’t answer. She just walked toward me and hugged me tightly.

"Aunt? What's going on?" I asked, my voice trembling. "Where are Mom and Dad?"

She pressed me closer. "I am sorry. They left."

"What?" My breath hitched again. "What do you mean?"

She broke the hug and gently stroked my cheek. "How about you come with me? Stay with me."

"No." I pushed her away. "Where are Mom, Dad, Bryan, and Grandma? Why are they not here?" Tears streamed down my face. " What's going on?" 

I couldn’t understand. We just got married last night and now no one was there, even my parents. 

"Because they abandoned you," she whispered, her voice low but firm. "Because they were never your parents. They kidnapped you fifteen years ago because Bryan needed someone to mark to lift his curse. They stole you from your real parents to make it happen. Yesterday was Bryan's sixteenth birthday. He needed to mark a girl on that day." 

She said in one breath, as if, if she waited longer, she might forget them. 

I stared at her, disbelief clouding everything. My brain stopped processing for a long few seconds before I blinked, " Is it a joke?" 

She inhaled a sharp breath before looking at me, " I wish."

I felt my chest tightening further. Me kidnapped by my parents? Bryan and Grandma Sarah were involved with this? And the loving parents who always stayed by my were kidnappers?

Then who was I? Who were my parents?

I laughed, and then tears spilled over my face, "Aunt Zara… you’re a bad woman. I hate you."

I ran back to the door, banging.

"Mom. Dad. Open the door. Please… Aunt Zara is lying… Open the door. Mom!" I kept banging until my hands started bleeding.

The pain barely registered. But I couldn't stop.

Deep down, something in me already knew. I knew that my parents were different from others. They'd do everything I wanted, never said no. 

"Stop. You’re hurting yourself. It won’t—"

"No!" I screamed.

My body suddenly convulsed violently.

A sharp heat burst from my chest, spreading through my limbs. My muscles tightened painfully, as if something inside me was stretching, forcing its way out.

"No fucking way they would abandon me."

My voice came out rough, almost like a growl.

I snarled as my vision shifted. The world sharpened unnaturally. Colors deepened. Shadows moved differently.

My eyes burned, and when I blinked, the brown was gone, replaced by a glowing gold.

A strange wave of strength surged through my body. It rushed into my lungs, my arms, my legs, filling every inch of me with something wild and uncontrollable.

My fingers curled, nails digging into my palms as if they might tear through the skin.

"Open the freaking door."

I pushed it with the usual force. 

But the next second, the door slammed open violently, the wood cracking against the wall with a loud, splintering sound.

The force of it made me freeze.

Aunt Zara gasped behind me, her breath catching sharply. I could feel her stare, wide and stunned, but she didn’t say anything. She just stood there, frozen, as if she didn’t know what she was seeing.

.

I didn’t care.

I stepped inside, my movements slower now, heavier, like my body wasn’t fully mine.

"Come out, Mom. Dad."

But the house was empty. Too empty. The couches, the mattress, the small flower pot with my first drawing on it, nothing were there. 

The silence pressed against my ears, suffocating. They were gone. 

"They left last night. I saw them leaving together."

I turned slowly, my body still trembling with that strange, pulsing strength.

Every heartbeat felt louder. Every breath sharper. My skin felt too tight.

"How did you know?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, though it carried an edge that didn’t belong to me. "That they kidnapped me and brought me here?"

She flinched, her face turning pale when she saw me properly. 

But she went quiet, then lowered her head. "I heard them talking last night. After the ceremony, when you two went to play. I came to bring painkillers… and I heard everything."

"Why didn’t you stop them then? Why didn’t you tell me?" Tears spilled down my face as I collapsed onto the floor.

My body ached as if it were breaking apart from the inside. My bones throbbed. My muscles twitched uncontrollably. The heat inside me refused to settle.

"Aunt Zara… who am I then? What happened to me?"

She rushed toward me, but hesitated when she saw my eyes.

A flicker of fear crossed her face.

Her hand hovered in the air for a second before she slowly reached out and pulled me into her arms.

"I am sorry, sweetheart. I am not their family. But ever since they came here with you, I treated you like my own. They took advantage of everyone… of the villagers, of me, of my husband. I had no idea you were just a sacrifice."

She kissed my forehead. Her lips felt cold against my burning skin.

It made me shiver.

" I tried to stop the marking ceremony. You were two young for that. But they told me to stay in my lane. I should have understood by then that something wasn't right."

My vision blurred for a second, then snapped back into sharp clarity. Every detail around me became too clear, the cracks on the wall, the faint smell of dust, the sound of her heartbeat against my ear.

My breathing grew uneven.

Aunt Zara noticed my disoriented state and held me closer, her arms tightening protectively, even though her body remained tense.

"Stay with me. I will do my best to find a way to return you to your real home."

"No!" I cried, grabbing her sleeves tightly. "I don’t want to go anywhere. I don’t need a family anymore. Aunt, please don’t abandon me. I will be a good girl. I won’t trouble you. Just don’t leave me."

My grip tightened without me realizing. The fabric in my hands strained under the pressure.

A golden aura slowly began to emit from my body, faint at first, then growing stronger, flickering like unstable flames.

The air around us felt heavier.

Aunt Zara gasped softly, her body stiffening for a moment. But she didn’t pull away.

She didn’t question it.

She only held me tighter, her jaw clenching as if forcing herself to stay calm despite the fear in her eyes.

"I promise," she whispered, her voice firm despite everything, "I will protect you. No matter what."