Chapter 3: A Nightmare That Couldn't Be Forgotten
5 Years Later...
Andromeda ran her brush through her curly golden locks as she stared with hazel-blue eyes at herself in the mirror wearing a long dark-green dress that showed much of her fragile hourglass shaped body. Laughter and classical music filled the air as it echoed in her room.
A ball settled within the Blair family's biggest manor owned by her grandparents, celebrating the Fire clan's great leaders from past and present and their contributions.
With one last call from the butler, Andromeda rose from her chair and exited carefully. Her heels clanked on the smooth marble floor, her sights gazed down on the well-dressed fancy guests chatting and laughing loudly with the music flowing rhythms. She was met with a few guests bowing their heads as a sign of respect as she descended the stairs. A half-hearted smile plastered her face. Andromeda must at least try to be happy on the outside for once.
But smiling was too hard to be even settled for her, her last truest smile when she was with her father at the great meadows riding in pair on their precious horses. Her father taught her many tricks when it came to being equestrian and she was never been happier. Now it became a living nightmare plus the added situation with her as a Curseling definitely put a railing on her suffering.
"Look, Carlos, it's her..." pointed by the daughter of a Fire general with a boy her age nodded in response. "I heard she's the one who've done it..."
"Yeah, that was awful. Wait 'till you hear about the news of recent politicians that were murdered one by one these following weeks. You don't think she's one of them, right?" He whispered.
"True. But hardly. The assassin who've done those was a Blood Curseling..."
"Yeesh. Don't wanna be near those guys."
They whispered loud enough for Andromeda to hear. She rolled her eyes as she walked past through a narrow split opened wave of collided guests when the music began to play a rich tango tune causing the guests to prance around trying to find suitable partner.
"Can I have this wonderful dance with you, Ms. Blair?"
Andromeda jumped her heart out when her school's heartthrob, Donovan, smiled shyly at her with his arm outstretched.
"Uh..." she accidentally send sparks buzzed in his brain cells, causing him to flinch upon the sudden electric sensation in his head. "N-no...thank you, I'm good," she refused, shoving his hand away before darting off.
The young man stared at her with confusion but she just averted the gaze. She felt numb and dumb at that awkward moment.
"Can I have this dance?"
"Surely."
Andromeda peeked over her shoulder upon Donovan swaying gentle dance paces with her sister Candace. Candace grinned wickedly at her but Andromeda turned around, chin up, because who would dance with some ugly cocky jerk er...jock anyway? Yet alone with offering hand towards a lying witch.
Avoiding much attention...or intention in her case, Andromeda slid swiftly off the glimpses from basically anyone important within the Fire clan's council. She spotted her Granny Stella talking with her best friend, the Fire Duchess. The duchess spotted Andromeda walking away shyly from the crowd which Andromeda noticed and quickly straightened her posture then bowed with a sheepish smile.
The Fire Duchess nodded her head and let her off by gesturing her the okay to go you're excuse. Andromeda nodded then glanced at her grandmother smiling and shaking her head. And she was off the main lobby.
"She doesn't like crowded places," her grandmother explained.
"Huh, same right here. I never feel comfortable around strangers especially with the tensions on taking you down," the duchess chuckled.
Andromeda let out a long breath of relief as she rushed out the ground balcony that faced the wondrous view of the woodlands. She sat down on the stoned railing, she finally escaped the suspicious looks. She was still bothered why being a Curseling wasn't a problem towards her grandparents but towards others she was a pest?
It was the question inside her that kept burning and burning until she coughed out smoke. What was wrong with her being a Curseling?
Her worries stopped flowing in her head once she overheard her sister, Carine, laughing hysterically that echoed passing through the entrance of the balcony. Andromeda sighed before going back inside.
Seriously? What is Carine up to now?
She traced Carine's giggles all the way through the long golden decorated hallways, sneaking carefully to see what was Carine doing now to get herself into trouble. Andromeda hid against the corner to find Carine smitten with her new boyfriend.
This is the tenth boy you're making out with! And you're doing it here, such a witch! Andromeda uttered to herself, disgusted by her sister's despicable actions.
She peeked at them giggling and moaning against a guest room's door before Carine's boyfriend reached out for the doorknob and pushed both of them playfully inside. Andromeda couldn't believe her eyes, Carine was only thirteen and the boy was sixteen! Anger arose in her boiling point. That was it. She had enough.
Andromeda marched up towards the room after that it had been closed. She wanted to slap that guy's face and share her piece of mind with Carine.
Suddenly, Andromeda jumped to her feet when a clambering noise and a man's scream shrilled the northern halls. Worried and curious, she ignored the affair to take care later and darted forward the northern stairs.
After ascending the stairs, Andromeda slowed her pace to be quiet as possible as she snooped around the darken corridors.
"Hmmmm, that's strange? Why are there no lights lit up?" She questioned, softly, tiptoeing and scanned around for the light switch. She gave up and generated her own light by flicking her hand with a small ball of lightning sparking within her grasp.
Andromeda gasped but quickly cupped her mouth when she found plenty amount of blood splattered all over the floor. The corridors were messy with candelabras on the floor, paintings tilted, porcelain statues and vases shattered to the floor, and blood printed like a man's feet and hands that were directly pointing at a slightly opened door baring the only light at the end of the hallway.
Andromeda clutched her hand into a fist, ending her spark then peeked candidly at the opening with her body pinned against the wall. Her eyes widened upon seeing a red and black cobra with diamond-scaled patterns and a length of five feet slithered on top of a coat stand.
A Fauna?
It hissed sticking its split tongue out in the air, tasting the stench of blood in the room including getting a slight of Andromeda's lavender perfume. But to much of the unnoticed the snake ignored Andromeda's hidden presence, focusing onto its master's victim.
"Please...I told you everything you need to know. I swear to the Spirits it was all that they've been doing for the past fifty years, there's no more questions for me to fill in," the man pleaded, covered in his own blood that was formally bleeding on his left arm and shoulder.
"That's not enough." The assassin said, it was cold and grim, making the man and Andromeda shiver. "They're planning something...what is it?! I need to know..." he bellowed with a deep cold voice as he stared at the man dead in the eyes.
Andromeda's heart rate fastened when she saw a tall dark hooded humanoid figure stood before the poor governor that was lying down on the floor with blood-drenched curtains wrapped around his arms and feet. He struggled as he shook his body, it seemed he wanted to shout for help but he lost the urge to do so.
The man only groan and wince at the deep cut he was given earlier, Andromeda guessed it was from the curve sickle blade that the assassin was holding. And it was entirely sulked with dripping blood.
The assassin grunted as he was annoyed hearing the man begged to let him go. He scoffed tucking his black scarf to fix it covering the lower part of his face to be unrecognizable along with the heavy hood enveloping his identity whole.
The assassin threw his head back and Andromeda slowly walked backwards away from the scene. She quivered hearing him cackle.
"Alright...you've tired me enough to get over with your stupidity in your operation...for now. 'Kay, Erida, do your thing. Let him know why it's important you should spill every bean." He pointed for his Fauna to attack the man brutally to death.
Dreaded screams filled the air as the snake leaped onto the man's head and slaughtered him by fangs as its master stared at the bloody scene emotionless.
Andromeda took a step back fearing at the horrific sight. She slightly tumbled across the dark hall then pinned herself again on the wall while frantically patting her hand trying to find an installed security alarm. Andromeda gulped with beads of sweat trickled down her chin.
She continued to clumsily scan the wall until she felt a hidden button amongst the fleur-di-lis printed walls and didn't hesitated to pressed it.
"What are you doing?!"
She gasped then her body shivered turning to face the assassin glowering straight at her, his blade ready for taking another life. The alarm went off sending panics across the manor and security were being tightened onto the exits with heavy-duty enforcers rushing towards the alarm's origin.
Without hesitation and taken by fear, Andromeda outstretched her arm and blasted lightning bolts onto the assassin and his Fauna out the balcony of the crime. The glass door shattered with its debris falling onto him. He groaned when he felt a skin torn onto his right shoulder then he glanced back a death-glare at a shaking Andromeda before he jumped over the railings, escaping the calamity into the bridge of darkness.
The enforcers arrived but it was too late, the assassin was gone and the governor was now dead, torn into sheds of skin. Andromeda stood frozen, traumatized for the least, when she was snapped out of her trance when a couple of strong arms floated above her to find a warm blanket wrapped her cold body.
"Let's go, Ms. Blair, this is not safe for you here," the enforcer said, escorting Andromeda to safety.
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A/N: People, never forget to vote and/or comment on this...you know how important those things to writers;)
Word Count: 1754