The Howling

Chapter 4 (K's POV)

Nicholas started the story. He said, "We were born in the South Moon Order. I'm older than Luna by 12 minutes. Our parents were the Alphas of the pack. But despite being older, I never wanted to be the next Alpha, so that became Luna's. We had a good childhood, but the memories are vague because it was very long ago. When we were 6, Dardan began his first siege on the world. He found our pack a threat, and launched a surprise attack. Of course, he won. He captured all our people, and he came looking for us. He found us eventually, hidden in the basement of our home. But that was when he had just used forbidden magic to make himself a vampire. So, the demon essence was still uncontrollable. Luna and I tried to protect ourselves. Dardan attacked."

Nicholas paused to take a deep breath and gripped Luna's hand tighter. The mood in the room was getting more and more uneasy. If one of the twins had been affected, all of Dardan's demon essence would have left him and entered the affected one. I wondered which one, despite knowing I wouldn't care anyway.

Nicholas continued, "Luna tried to protect me. That's why the demon essence entered her heart. It's permanent. Born between the dark and the light: when she breathes, countries disappear; where she walks, the seasons collapse; when she smiles, a life is extinguished. All she has to do is exist for something to fall into ruin. This is not her intention, but simply her fate."

Suddenly, Luna growled slightly, "Yixiang, I know how you feel. It's not your fault. If I had the choice, I'd do it all over again. You are alive and well and by my side because of that." Nicholas leaned into Luna slightly, his eyes sorrowful with past memories. 

Nicholas continued again, "Then, we were taken to where the others were held. Luna barely had enough strength to stand. And then Dardan made us a deal. Our people would live, in exchange for Luna wiping all their memories. The blood moon on the day we were born rose 5 minutes after I was born, so only Luna got extra powers. So only she could do it. We took the deal." 

Nicholas paused and bowed his head, breathing heavily. Luna didn't say anything, knowing that words would be no help in how he felt and was feeling now. She brought her arm up and wrapped it around his shoulders, bringing him close. Letting him know she understood. They sat there, holding one another, no words were needed in that moment.

After a while, Luna said softly, "Our loved ones no longer knew us, they would live life now knowing there was a piece of their family missing, that we would be just out of arm's reach of them. No matter how bad we wanted them back, there was no going back. We could see them and remember the life we had with them but, when they saw us, we were nothing but a mere stranger to them. We were two kids that let their family forget them, for their safety. So they could live life without the burden of children that had taken a wrong turn in life. We wanted to keep them safe over our own selfish desire to keep them close."

Nicholas whispered, "And then, they were killed. Those monsters broke their promise. They lied....". 

Luna continued, still comforting her brother, "I lost control after they were killed. Since the demon essence was originally from Dardan, it turned out that I was completely immune to his magic. The demon essence weakened Dardan and his followers so much that when the Crescents and the vampires arrived, they were able to seal him away easily. The Crescents took us in. Giri was our guardian. After a year, the Crescents recruited me into the army. And Nicho found you all. After that, we only met in person for the South Moon Order's memorial day every year."

Fuma said, "I'm not sure if this is offensive. But, since you're Lady Death, does that mean you have the scars?". Luna finally broke into a grin as she rolled up the sleeves of her sweater, revealing thin, long-faded scars on every visible portion of her skin. 

Curved half-moons crisscrossed across her skin in a feathery pattern that was only visible, white on white as it was, because the bright glow of the lamp beside her threw the slightly raised design into relief, with shallow shadows outlining the shapes. 

She smiled ruefully when she heard the gasps of horror from everyone except Nicholas. She stood and walked to the glass wall of the house as she said, "Don't worry, I'm used to the reaction. It's normal for me."