As we all walked through the pathway, heading to the royal packhouse, I could see posters of my face stamped on walls and tagged as demon. Different captions label me as a demon who killed people yesterday.
It was just so unbelievable and felt like a dream. I was finding it hard to believe all these things were happening in reality.
The alarm bell echoed through every corner of the pack, igniting so much fear in everyone as they took to their heels, screaming more and pointing fingers at me. Jaden and Jake found a way to get hold of some of these people running, and there was this shock written all over their faces while returning.
Joy just held my hand, also unable to say anything.
"What is their reason for all this drama?!" I couldn't help asking as soon as Jake and Jaden caught up with us.
"They said you appeared last night and killed a hundred of them, both old men and women and little children. When your foster father came out to stop you, you lunged at him and slit his throat. There was blood shed last night, and it was you. They claimed to see you," Jaden poured out, his face twisted, and Jake only nodded as that was the same answer he had gotten.
Chills of fear ran down my spine, and I felt my heart beating so fast and hard as everything began to jumble in my head as my legs stumbled back in confusion.
"I was with you last night." I breathed, tears forming in my eyes, as I saw the little children who were once playing joyfully taking to their heels too, falling, stumbling, and rising to run again with so much fear in their eyes, as if they had come face to face with a monster who was about to eat them up.
"Yes, you were with me, so that wasn't you. But yesterday night you were having trouble sleeping. It was a nightmare. Does what you saw in your dream relate to what's happening now?" He asked calmly, holding my shaky palms and squeezing them soothingly.
I was trembling because my heart couldn't contain living a life with someone else impersonating me and doing evil in my identity.
Jaden mentioned the nightmare, and I shut my eyes, thinking thoroughly about what I dreamed of and if there was any connection. Then it hit me.
"It was a massacre. I dreamt of someone destroying both my people and your people, but when I tried to help, they ran away, pointing at me as the killer even when I was only there to help. They won't show me who was spilling their innocent, as they believed it was me." I moaned in sadness.
"This is the handwork of Laura! She is working for the demons and might have some way of knowing about your new powers. She is doing this to prevent you from fighting them!" Joy spoke out in anger, her fists clenched tight and tears brimming in her eyes.
"Come and show me who that Laura is!" Jaden roared, his tone so menacing and dangerous that it was able to send chills down my spine. I had never seen him this enraged before.
"She is the lu..." I was still trying to explain when he held both me and Joy and then sped towards the royal castle.
We got to the front of the gate, and it was locked with a very big key and chain.
A familiar voice from the microphone speakers came in.
"Go back, you evil monster! Go away from us! The blood of those innocent people will be on your head and seek vengeance on you till you die. Evil girl. Demon!"
I wasn't angry all this time, but as I heard this voice spitting lies on me and realized immediately that it was from Laura, Anger burned in my veins like liquid fire, spreading from my chest to the tips of my fingers.
My heart raced, beating like a relentless drum inside my chest, and my breaths were shallow and rapid, like the hiss of an angry serpent. I could practically feel the heat radiating from my face, and my cheeks flushed with indignation.
"Is that from Laura?" I heard Jake ask, and when Joy nodded, Jaden didn't hesitate to unleash a powerful blow on the iron key, but he couldn't break it as it seemed to be guided by a magic force.
"Leave us alone.... Go away and never come back again. You're the evil eating up the goodness of our land. You killed your father last night. You're a curse; that's why your mother lost her life because of you!" Laura yelled again, and this time I couldn't hold back anymore.
My breaths were heavy and labored, like a wild animal caught in a snare, with her words hitting me hard, turning my mind into a stormy sea of emotions, the waves crashing against the shore of my consciousness, threatening to drown me in fury.
"How about you say that to my face, bitch?!!" I thundered, My words were forceful, punctuated by the anger that seeped through every syllable. I couldn't even recognize my voice anymore as it became really deep. An outburst forming inside me as my beast broke out of its confinement and took over me.
With a single blow at the Key and chain, they broke away instantly. As soon as we stepped in, arrows began to fire at us from the top of the building, but while others dodged, I stomped forward so fast. A few of them struck and pieced my body, but I could swear I didn't feel anything, as I pulled them out of my body. All that mattered at that moment was to get hold of Laura and snap her neck.
I got to the porch, and five hefty men shifted into their wolves, charging at me. I thought of evading their attacks and sparing them the deaths they were falling into, but at that moment I remembered that these were the royal guards that had joined hands in making my life miserable in this pack.
"Fuck you all." I spat, and with the surge of powers running through my veins, I fired a quick punch right on their ribs the moment they leaped to pounce on me. I was fast as lightning and struck them while they were still in the air. The snapping of their bones filled the air as they crashed on the floor, shifting back to their human form, with their loud cry reverberating throughout the whole building.
One after the other, I mercilessly stomped my feet hard on their balls, then kicked them hard on their throats, which made them limp instantly.
A crowd of royal guards were at a distance, ready to attack me at the order of whoever sent them, but when they saw what happened to these five, they scampered away for safety.
I marched angrily to the palace, and in my presence, every living soul there lay to their stomachs, including the Alpha and his two spoilt children, but Laura was missing.
"Where is that demon Laura y'all called your Luna? I'll expose her today!" I snarled, feeling the magic in me ready to break away from her cover. She had received powers from the demon king and hid the demon scent, which I was the only one that could sense that day, but now I will make everyone smell it too with the new powers in me.
"Where is she?" I fired.
"We didn't know when she ran away. She was here with us. We...we..."
"Here is the bastard!!" Jaden's voice broke in as he walked in through the door, grabbing her by the hair while Jake and Joy followed behind.
"Wait...wait...wait..." Laura tried talking as she saw me stalk forward to her. Rage was crawling under my skin, and I could feel the air rise to its end.
"What did I do wrong to you? I only said what everyone believed. Many people saw you attack and kill viciously yesterday night and...."
My fist shot out like a lightning bolt, connecting with her cheek in a sharp, powerful punch that snapped her head to the side, clots of blood spilling. Jaden turned her face back to me while she struggled to free herself.
I struck another blow right on her nose, feeling satisfaction at the sickening crack of her broken nose as thick blood streamed profusely down her nostrils. She burst out into a loud cry of pain, clutching her face as her body convulsed while Jaden allowed her to flop to the floor.
"How about you repeat what you said on the mic again? I couldn't hear you!!" I yelled, kicking the side of her stomach so hard that she burst into tears, crying wildly and rolling around the floor.
I sniffed her at that moment, heightening my smelling senses to get her demon scent, but I got none. She would have fought back with the dark powers of the demon king, but it seemed to be taken away.
"Why are you hitting my mother? You said she is a demon, prove it to us!" Sophia sobbed, cowering back in fright.
"You're simply proving everyone right with what you did last night. Look how you are almost about to kill the Luna. Just kill us all then!" The Beta seethed from the ground where he lay.
"I did nothing last night. I wasn't even in this pack." I shot at them.
"Liar!! The demon king is helping you. We all know that!" Laura shouted at me in a bloodcurdling tone, making me rush and punch her face, making sure her lips was a bloody mess.
"You did all this, bitch! I know. And I'll find out soon! I'll prove it!" I growled, but even in her pain, she smirked at me.
"Leave us alone! Leave us alone! Leave us alone!" They all began to chant in the room..
"Shut up!" Jaden roared at them, and the Alpha stood at that moment.
"I know you trust her, but you have to know she didn't only harm us but also your people. You are a vampire; go and see your people in lament and grief. She killed Ceiline and her parents, then brutally hurt your mother."
My jaw dropped as I heard the Alpha say this.
"What!!" I flinched, and when I glanced at Laura, she had a smile on her face.
"Keep on killing; you're good at it." She whispered with a sly smirk at me.
Jaden rushed out immediately without saying anything, with Jake trailing behind him quickly.
What has Laura actually done?