Hearts of ice
The first chapter. The sisters.
Luna and Nora, and I, as a group, opened the Impala's doors and exited the vehicle.
As a trio, we stared, speechless, at the enormous white structure that towered before us, its sheer size being a silent challenge.
The car doors clicked shut behind us with a solid thud. We passed groups of students; their cold eyes and their whispers of disdain filled our ears.
Down the hallway, bathed in bright light, our footsteps bounced off the gleaming white tiles. Our lean bodies swaying side to side.
The white walls displayed a few clocks that chimed, some splintered wooden boards, and uninspired portraits with faded colors.
The school hallways featured dark blue lockers lining the lower walls, while small windows were placed high above, letting in slivers of light.
As we made our presence known, a heavy hush, thick with unspoken tension, fell over us. We paused midway into our tracks.
Ruby Blackheart, queen of manipulation, with strawberry-red hair and keen brown eyes, stood near the dull grey classroom door.
Jade Midnight, exuding confidence, stood beside her with wavy black hair and piercing dark brown eyes. Her relentless torture shattered minds, leaving them like fractured glass.
Beside Jade stood Delilah Hyde, her blond, wavy hair framing a face lit by striking hazel-green eyes. She was tainted, as were her closest companions.
Ruby and her friends approached us, with mean looks playing on their faces. Now, the air throbbed with a thick, almost suffocating anger. They glared, arms folded. Ruby and her friends scowled at me and my two sisters.
"Oh, look, girls, it's the ones who like to sleep around." Ruby said, rolling her brown eyes at us.
I saw Luna's athletic figure come into view, her straight, brown, shoulder-length hair settling around her face as she aligned herself with me. I glared at her nonchalant form, watching her knuckles tighten and pale, a clear sign of her restrained fury.
Overwhelmed by the daunting situation, a few students left.
"You must be referring to yourself, Ruby. I mean, you find any way to sleep your way to the top; it's sad, those legs can't process information on how to be a good person," Luna said. Pointing down at Ruby's legs, with a playful smirk resting on her lips.
I bumped her shoulder while glaring, telling her without words to quit it, but she just returned a smirk in defiance.
She raised her right hand and cracked her knuckles, the little pops sharp and distinct, then did the same, mirroring the action, with her left. Luna frowned at Ruby's unamused stare, feeling the tension in the air.
Luna let her arms fall to her sides, taking a deep breath to compose herself. With her arms still clutched across her chest, Ruby composed herself, her thin body held rigidly in a display of manufactured confidence. As she scowled, her eyes narrowed, a glint within them undeniably revealing the truth of Luna's words.
"As if a mutt like you would ever understand a thing about intimacy," Ruby said, ignoring the statement at hand.
Luna rolled her eyes and sighed, annoyed that Ruby was straying from the topic.
"My life has nothing to do with you, and who I date is none of your business. This is about you, not me?" Luna said. In a calm, scary voice, she crossed her arms in annoyance.
A deep irritation showed on her face as she squeezed her eyes shut, pinched the bridge of her nose, and shook her head back and forth.
"It's about me; how thoughtful of you. But we still all know you're a slut, Luna," Ruby said in a snarky tone.
Luna smirked, unaffected by Ruby's words, or so it seemed. She gave Nora and me a knowing glare, communicating that she knew what to say. She turned her gaze back at the three bullies.
"What you have between your legs is not a brain. And don't think for a second that this is all about you, spoiled princess," Luna said. In an irritable tone.
Nora and I chuckled under our breath. The idea of Ruby emerging victorious from this conflict seemed absurd, given that she and her associates had started the confrontation.
Students began discussing Ruby's friends and my sisters' ordeal. A silent debate unfolded, creating a tense atmosphere of anticipation for a battle that wouldn't occur.
Various emotions played across Ruby's eyes. Luna and Nora both recognized the hint of discomfort and smirked at Ruby's expression.
Nora weighed in on the conversation between Ruby and Luna, mirroring Luna's confident posture and aligning herself with Luna and myself.
"It seems Luna touched a sensitive spot. I'm surprised a weak person like you could even have a lasting relationship," Nora said, smirking at the awful look displayed on Ruby's face.
Ruby's eyes sparkled with mischief. Her sadness melted away, replaced by a sharp, icy anger that contorted her face. Her hand balled into a knot of white, tight knuckles. A dark liquid coursed through her veins, a pulsing pressure building within. Her hand contorted into a claw, and a dark orb, humming with power, crackled into existence above her palm, hovering in mid-air.
"I will make you all suffer," Ruby said in a shout, which vibrated the halls.
Ruby's arm lunged forward in a swift, determined thrust. The hallway reverberated as a dark magic projectile hurtled towards Luna, striking her. With a powerful jolt, Luna was sent careening, her body sliding across the slick, gleaming expanse of the hall. She slid to a jarring stop, the biting chill of the lockers pressing against her.
We stared at Luna's body, motionless, our hearts pounding in our chests. Blindsided by the sudden move. Given Nora's participation, why didn't she unleash her magic against her? A storm of confusion and anger raged within me.
A laugh bubbled from each of the girl's lips, echoing in the silent air. Out of the corner of my eye, Ruby pulled her hand back to her side.
"By the look on your face, you're wondering why I didn't hit your other sister, right? Well, simple. Emotional torture is better at doing its job than physical torture. I'd rather have you two suffer than one of you. You see, seeing a loved one get shot down makes the pain a little more real, don't you think?" Ruby said, circling us like prey.
I glared at her moving form, my fists clenched while battling the anger surging through me.
"You sadistic little bitch!" I said, rage coating my voice.
"Astrid, you are the bitch here, and so are your stupid sisters. Seeing your faces every day is just another painful reminder of what your family did to me," Ruby said, poison dripping from her lips as she snickered.
Genuine confusion was etched across my face. What did she mean by that? Before I could even form a response, Nora stepped in.
"What do you even mean by that? We have done nothing; you guys are the ones who start the fights, who get us in trouble, and for what? to make you feel better because we are part of the Storm family and deserve to be punished for something we didn't do." Nora said, making air quotation marks with both of her hands.
Ruby stopped midway in her tracks, glaring at our confident demeanor with looks that could kill. She turned and traced her steps back to her friends, placing herself between them. Her face was expressionless, with a cold and hard stare. Her silence was a clear and chilling response to Nora's current words.
Ruby tilted her head, her eyes scanning something we couldn't see. Preoccupied, she hurried past me and Nora, her hands swiftly snatching the necklace from Luna's unmoving body.
With a confident stride and a smile playing on her lips, she walked back to her friends.
Luna's point of view.
The peaceful silence was shattered with voices fueled by anger. Someone yelled in the background about something. But I couldn't distinguish their voices or their faces, a jumbled cacophony, and I couldn't tell who was who.
As I sat up, a wave of pain, like a punch to the gut, hit me; I clutched my head, and a low moan escaped my lips.
I tried to stand, but a fresh wave of intense pain slammed into me again as I cried out and collapsed.
With each wave sent a jolt through me, vision blurred as my lungs screamed for air, expecting the next to be the last.
I tilted my head back, a cold sweat slicking my skin as the enormity of the darkness swallowed me whole.
Each word from my wolf echoed with a sorrow to be set free from her prison, yet my fear of hurting someone weighed on my heart.
My wolf's growl echoed in my head, a sound that served as an ominous warning that the unfolding events would not align with my expectations.
A wave of blurry vision washed over me again, then receded as my eyes struggled to focus. I could feel the sticky heat on my skin.
White-hot agony ripped through me like butter. This was a painful reminder that this would never end unless I gave in.
My unfocused gaze fixed on Delilah's blurry form as a triumphant smile and the glint of my necklace hung from her hand. Even though it was hard to see, that smile was not something I would forget. That necklace was a second part of me, and they took it.
I now understood why I was experiencing such deep, throbbing pain. Ruby and her friends robbed me of the very thing that concealed my darker inner wolf. A gift from the trauma I suffered from a young age.
I lowered myself to all fours, desperate for even a moment's respite from the agonizing pain. Any hope for relief was extinguished by the sickening crack of my forearms dislocating.
A high-pitched, piercing scream, involuntary and full of terror, tore itself from my lips. With no relief in sight, the agonizing pain was etched across my entire body.
[Astrids pov]
Nora and I were desperate to get the necklace back. Whenever we tried to grab the necklace, they'd pass it, chuckling. Luna looked up at Delilah, seeing her necklace hanging from her hand with a satisfied smile.
I knew she couldn't fight for it; the constant, throbbing pain from her wolf debilitating her. I wish I could have foreseen the looming disaster. This situation is my responsibility. This should have been obvious, but I was too stupid. Too stupid to realize that Ruby and her friends would eventually figure out the source of Luna's suppressed rage.
Yet keeping her necklace at home wouldn't have helped either; it would just have proven to everyone that she was a monster, and their fears would have been confirmed. Something none of us wanted to face. And yet, here we were, fighting for the one thing that suppressed the feral side of Luna.
A sickening crunch of bone and a bloodcurdling scream echoed behind me and Nora, chilling us to the bone.
Our bodies turned, watching Luna's paws form, midnight hair sprouting from her skin; I smelled the animalistic musk emanating from her as her screams turned into a guttural growl.
Luna reached her breaking point, and once again an unsympathetic laugh escaped the bullies lips.
A growl, unusual and menacing, issued from Luna's throat, frightening those nearby. Every student recoiled in fear.
With teeth bared, Luna's snapping jaws aimed at the surrounding students, lunging at every scrambling students possible, their screams piercing the air.
She pounced on one student's back, pinning her to the tiled floor. Luna's head lowered, targeting their throat with deadly precision. They screamed for someone to save them, their voices echoing with desperation, but all the other students backed away in fear. The student's voice, thick with sorrow and a pleading tone, left a familiar ache deep inside me.
Luna's sharp teeth grazed around the student's throat, the cold steel of her teeth a mere 3 inches from piercing into the student's windpipe.
Heart racing with fear. I focused my powers on Luna's form as my eyes turned orange. The incantation left my lips in a low whisper, and a warm, bright light surrounded Luna, lifting her into the air while my magic returned her to Nora and me.
I set her down as the bright orange Hugh left my eyes and the bright light vanished from Luna's massive body. A huge, sharp breath of air returned to my lungs, causing me to almost choke.
"You're a boring piece of shit, Astrid! Why couldn't you let that abomination kill that student?" Jade spoke. In a disappointed voice.
Luna, in her midnight black wolf form, attacked the three girls positioned behind Nora and myself. The echoing crash of their backs hitting the cold, slick tiled floor reverberated.
Saliva dripped from her razor-sharp teeth as a guttural growl rose from her throat, a sound that promised pain.
Luna raised her left paw, extending her claws, thrashing downwards with lethal intent, ready to slice open their chest. Nora intercepted the attack. A cry of pain left her lips as a long gash opened across her right arm. Blood dripped steadily from the injury, landing on the three girls who were pinned to the ground.
Silent pain, trapped behind a wall of forced composure, was reflected in Nora's eyes as she met my stoic glare.
The smell of blood and fear filled the air. The three bullies noses wrinkled, upper lips curled, with a silent disgust lingering on their features as Nora's blood rested in little droplets on their scarred features.
"We are still keeping the necklace. This abomination almost killed us. If anything, it should die!" Ruby said, emotionless.
I rolled my eyes, a clear sign of my utter distaste for her words. Luna wasn't an abomination; she was just misunderstood.
"You guys have no right to call her that, not after the stunt you pulled. That necklace is the only thing helping her, and you fucked it all up!" I said. My voice was sharp and uncontrolled. My finger pointed at Luna.
Rage flashing in Luna's fierce wolf's eyes, she raised her paw, claws extended and sharp. She fired downwards with a quick motion.
I clenched my right fist and delivered a powerful punch to her thick, furry head, the impact reverberating. Luna's body was sent mid-air into the lockers, a cacophony of metallic echoes filling the air.
In worry, my gaze focused on Nora's arm. The metallic tang of blood flooded back into the gash. Her skin fused, sealing the wound shut. It's like Luna didn't touch her.
Nora looked back at me and then at Luna, her face draining of color, a stark white mask of shock settling upon her features.
A heavy weight settled in my chest as my vision took in the sight of the lockers. I glared down, hoping to see my sister back in her human form, but I was taken aback when I saw nothing but the ground. Luna was gone.
An ache, silent but persistent, gnawed at my stomach. I never wanted to hurt my sister this way, and the sorry look in my eyes mirrored my aching heart, heavy with guilt. But it was a requirement so that Ruby, Jade, and Delilah could live. A regrettable, heart-wrenching decision to make.
Nora placed her hand on my shoulder; her touch was firm and grounding. I looked up at her, and a silent understanding painted itself across her face.
Nora and I started our search by rapidly traversing separate corridors within the school, anticipating her presence in one of them, but our efforts proved unsuccessful. We looked into each classroom, but without success. Our hearts were racing with anxiety at this point.
I mentally scolded myself. How could I have let this happen? I was the elder sister. I was supposed to keep both of them safe, but in a matter of minutes I lost one of them and the other got hurt.
As we returned to our current location. Our eyes burned holes in the floor as we readied our threats, prepared to make the bullies give back the necklace. Yet, their location was vacant. All except the necklace, which lay flat on the ground.
Confused, Nora and I exchanged glances, wondering why they would abandon it. Lowering myself, I picked it up by the string, its texture rough against my fingers. Then, I stood up from my position.
Engrossed in the intricate plan to get our sister back, we were oblivious to others and the sound of approaching footsteps. Nothing else mattered except Luna in that moment. We were on the verge of exiting the school when a loud voice disrupted the silent communication between us.
"You two listen right NOW! You're going to detention with me, no questions asked." Mrs. Hazelbrook said, an icy tone leaving her lips.
Not bothering to look their way; I could already feel the weight of Ruby, Jade, and Delilah's smug gazes on us. Being punished for something that we did not do made the situation even more real. Each time we were subjected to bullying by these girls, the same situation would occur.
"Sorry, but listening to your unintelligent tantrum is less important than what we need to do." I said. Returning the icy tone to our teacher.
Nora and myself were all too eager to find our sister and seal the darkness within her, yet Jade, Ruby, and Delilah tried to frame us for something we were not responsible for.
"What's more important than school?" Mrs. Hazelbrook said, annoyance lacing her voice.
Nora and I shrugged our shoulders and took a long, silent breath before everything became silent. There was no need to answer them.
They will never know the hell we went through at home. They never noticed or cared that being a mere tool in our family's sinister plots was terrifying. None of it was relevant in their eyes.
As we exited the building, we walked away step after step, hearing one last remark.
"If you leave this school, you're expelled." Our teacher said. The words vibrated down the hallway.
With a shared shrug of the shoulders, Nora and I exited the school building, our unspoken sentiments mirroring one another in that single, nonverbal expression.
The car gleamed in the sunlight as we approached. Nora claimed the driver's seat, and I the passenger seat, the smell of leather filling my nostrils. Nora slumped into the car, the worn leather creaking beneath her, and threw her hands up in the air, an obvious display of her mounting frustration.
"What's wrong?" I said, confused.
Her eyes burned into mine with an intensity that made me uncomfortable.
"We don't have the keys to Luna's car, so how are we supposed to find her?" She said, frustrated at the situation.
"Sis, we couldn't have predicted this. It's not your fault; it's mine." I said, admitting that all of this was my fault.
With my head lowered in shame, the ache of emotional torture washed over me. She rested her head, exhaling before facing me.
"One, it is not your fault, and two, why would you even think that, Astrid?" Nora said, questioning why I felt that way.
I really didn't know why I felt that way. Perhaps this stems from being held accountable for matters beyond my control for most of my life. Perhaps the reason was that I was too challenging for people to deal with. My mind was filled with a flurry of unanswered questions. It made me feel small, like a shadow of my true self.
A sigh from Nora broke me out of the unending thoughts, and I shifted my attention on her.
Nora removed the access panel that concealed the complex wiring within. With a firm grip on the two wires before her, she made deliberate contact between them, and the car's engine responded with a powerful roar. In a quick motion, she reinstalled the paneling, ensuring that the exposed wires were hidden from sight.
With a firm grip on the steering wheel, she pressed down on the gas pedal, accelerating the vehicle forward. The moment I rolled down the car window, the wild, musky scent of Luna immediately hit me, as I clearly directed Nora, detailing the approaching turn and the remaining distance to Luna's location. In that instant, the realization struck me with the force of a physical blow. I knew where Luna was going.
"She's going to the dark forest." I said, rolling my window up and looking at Nora.
Nora, with powerful pedal strokes, accelerated the car forward. We soon parked the car in a clearing with long grass. Goosebumps rose on my arms as we looked out the car windows. There was a semicircle of dark trees in distinct patterns.
Stepping out in sync, the Impala's doors slammed shut, creating a loud echo. An icy breeze nipped at our skin.
The forest, dark and imposing, stood tall, its trees appearing shadowy and ominous, radiating an eerie chill that permeated the surrounding air. A thick fog lingered beneath the ancient, sprawling branches of the trees. High above the trees, a large flock of ravens filled the air with their harsh screeches, echoing through the branches.
A sudden chill, sharp and unexpected, ran down my spine. A wave of apprehension washed over me; this place reeked of danger, and I couldn't understand why she'd gone there.
My body aligned with Nora's. With our athletic forms standing in silence. I glared at her figure; her red, curly hair danced in the wind. I gave her the necklace, accompanied by a silent, understanding nod. She gave a nod back. She took off at a speed that was inhuman.
Luna's wolf manifested during a sexual assault by a student. He disseminated a video throughout the school showing him and his friends assaulting her, leading every kid to believe she consented, though she was screaming for help.
That day, her wolf turned feral. The darkness from her wolf overwhelmed her, and many nights she tried to kill people. I bought a wolf-howl pendant that I came across in a witch shop. I didn't conceal her wolf; the concealing spell only hid the darkness within her wolf.
She still could transform and communicate with her wolf. I didn't want her to feel a sense of loss, aware that she carried a part of herself within.
The dark forest was pierced by a familiar scream, its echoing reverberations rolling through the trees like a spectral wave. My legs moved beneath me, each step igniting a fire in my tired muscles. My feet moved directionless through the oppressive unknown, a cold, creeping dread washing over me.
I zigzagged, missing the rough bark of trees, until I saw Luna's wolf form; a low growl rumbled in her chest as she pinned Nora's arms and legs to the damp ground with her huge paws, Nora's face inches from the wet earth.
Luna snapped her jaws down, the wind from her bite grazing the back of Nora's neck, but Nora dodged every attack. With a surge of strength, she freed her arm; her knuckles white as she gripped Luna's necklace.
Gathering unnatural strength, she pushed up onto her hands and knees, causing Luna's paws to fly on either side of Nora, then turned onto her back, which met the cold, damp earth with a thud. She reached out to place the pendant on Luna's dark wolf form, but Luna moved, the swish of her tail echoing as she darted to a nearby tree.
Nora rose in a flash and rushed towards her, her footsteps echoing in the sudden movement.
I followed behind Nora as we chased Luna deeper into the dark forest; her receding steps taunted us. We became more desperate until Luna paused, her ears twitching at distinct sounds in the foggy forest.
Nora and I moved, stopping on either side of Luna. With our eyes fixed on Luna's wolf shape, we glanced at each other, nodding in agreement.
I ran and jumped onto her thick wolf form, my hands sinking into her soft, dense fur as I gripped around her warm stomach. She bounced like a creaky old seesaw, making it impossible to hang on.
"Nora, now would be a good time." I said. My voice bounced at every jump Luna made.
Nora reached out to Luna's wiggling form, finding it difficult to place the necklace on her chest, as she bounced around in rage. The moment Luna paused, Nora held the necklace against her.
Luna's growl echoed, followed by a high-pitched yelp of pain. Luna and I tumbled onto the unforgiving earth, and when I rose, Nora's face was a puzzle of confusion.
The necklace glimmered as she stared at it, catching my attention. The Necklace glowed a deep crimson red, pulsating with light. It shouldn't have done that. It was supposed to be orange, so I'd know if someone tampered with it.
"So you guys figured it out."
A familiar voice, laced with a strange echo, cut through the stillness of the fog.
Nora and I looked up, trying to find the voice. Ruby, Jade, and Delilah walked into view.
"It's funny to think that you guys of all people would fall for that trap." Jade said, mocking us with a smile.
Delilah snapped her fingers; the sharp sound cut through the silence. The necklace, cool against Nora's skin, vanished from her hand.
"What did you do?" I said, question and anger lacing my voice.
Ruby waved her index finger back and forth with a dismissive flick.
"No, it's what guys did to her?" Ruby said as she pointed her finger at Luna.
We followed her finger, tracing its path until it stopped, then looked up to meet her waiting gaze. My soul was once again consumed by the anger I knew so well.
"How is this our fault?" Nora said, questioning the three girls.
The three girls moved together, their footsteps echoing before they stopped in front of us. I and Nora both felt uneasy with the closeness, and we stepped back to create some space.
"You see, the necklace we left behind while reporting your abuse was a fake. But not only a fake, it also contains wolfsbane and silver, which should have put that mutt in a coma," Ruby said coldly.
Her friends snuck glances at Luna, their faces betraying their suppressed laughter. Nora and myself tracked their gazes to Luna's body, where we witnessed the unsettling twitching that suggested she was in terrible pain.
Animosity was all I could process within my veins. A fiery heat urged me forward as I ran up and uppercut all three girls in a brisk, almost mechanical motion.
The unexpected impact sent them stumbling backward, gasping for breath. However, a menacing smile crept upon their lips as they regained their composure. I positioned myself back next to Nora, whose face was contorted in a murderous rage.
Jade lowered herself, her hand slamming to the damp earth with a jarring slap. The ground trembled, and a palpable wave of raw magic washed over everything. Hummed with unseen power.
Corpses erupted from the soil with a wet, tearing sound, their vacant eyes fixed on Nora and me as we prepared to defend ourselves. My face fell, a cold dread washing over me as I realized Luna was unprotected.
I didn't want my unconscious sister to become a meal for those creatures, or even just to be injured. I relaxed from my fighting stance and walked to Luna's body, the soft grass crunching beneath my feet, then spun back around, resuming my guarded position. Nora, sensing my thoughts and intentions, mirrored my actions.
"Well, it's been fun, but we need to get back to school to learn. Oh, right, you don't know what learning is, because you got expelled," Jade said in a mocking tone.
As they were about to turn away, Ruby pivoted on her feet and turned with a grim smile, one arm wrapped around her torso as the other was bent, resting on the other arm, index finger touching her chin.
"I almost forgot. Here's a little strength for our little helpers," Ruby said.
She shifted her stance and slammed her left hand down, unleashing a wave of dark magic that made our attackers vibrate with an eerie dark glow. Ruby straightened, then walked away, her friends' footsteps echoing behind her.
Nora and I exchanged worried glances, our eyes locking with shared anxiety. Given their newfound overwhelming strength, what strategy could we employ to beat these creatures?
Dropping my stance, I reached down and lifted Luna, nestling her weight on my shoulders. Eager to escape the woods, I saw Nora, unmoving, still rooted to her spot. Confused about why she didn't follow suit.
My eyes focused on her figure, tracing the path of her intense gaze. A zombie inched closer, but it wasn't just any zombie; it was her friend. The only friend to accept her as she was.
Nora didn't need to face me for me to know she was crying; I could feel the weight of the pain that pulsed from seeing her childhood friend. I stepped forward and grabbed her arm, yanking her with me, but she refused to leave that spot.
The zombie was a mere inch away from biting her, the horrifying growl echoing in our ears. I pulled on her arm again, and she succumbed. Her left arm was straight up as her body was on a tilt, leaving her open.
"Nora, now is not the time to freeze; we need to leave this forest as quickly as possible." I said with a stern but sympathetic look.
She nodded, and I released my grip on her arm. I could hear the zombies getting closer every second, their moans echoing, and standing around wasn't helping.
I positioned Luna bridal-style, her weight heavy but comforting, and Nora and I sprinted through the fog-choked forest, the moans of the pursuing zombies echoing behind us. They were getting closer, throwing fallen trees aside with rough, splintering sounds.
I ran, leaping onto the damp, decaying logs, but a root caught my foot on the last jump, sending me sprawling face-first. Luna's unconscious body made a soft scraping sound as it skidded five inches away from me.
Muddy, wet dirt caked my face and clothes, leaving a gritty film. A sharp ache in my left ankle made me sit up. This cannot be happening right now. I tried to stand, but the sharp pain intensified with the pressure of my weight, causing me to fall to the ground with a sickening thud.
The putrid moans of the zombies grew closer, mixed with the stench of decay and the splintering sound of dead trees being dashed to the ground. A shiver of icy dread ran down my spine. Luna and I needed to disappear before we ran out of time.
Filled with fiery determination, I stood up and staggered towards Luna's still form. I lifted her, and the sudden, unexpected heaviness of her body caused me to tumble to the ground.
I turned my head to the sound, the moaning of the zombies echoing in my ears, and found myself surrounded by their decaying forms.
Instinctively, I shielded Luna with my body, waiting for them to attack me. A bite, a scratch, anything, but nothing grazed my body.
"Astrid, you'll be okay. I'm here now." A gently voice said.
I glared up to see my sister Nora fending them off with her vampire speed and super strength. The moaning sounds grew louder, and I turned my head to see more zombies emerging from the soil.
Cornered, we could hear our own ragged breaths in the tense silence, with no help in sight. We were alone, which was exactly what our tormentors desired.
Before Nora could take a step toward us, a zombie with decaying flesh attacked, its teeth tearing a chunk of flesh from her shoulder. She fell to her knees, a searing pain in her eyes, before her eyes became vacant and she tumbled onto her side.
I crawled to Nora, forgetting about Luna in my dazed panic. I tried to shake her awake, but I was unsuccessful. Glaring at the bite, I noticed it had not healed like it usually would.
"Nora, please wake up, please. I need you." I said, sobbing, forgetting everything.
I was not concerned about those nearby, or about who might want to harm me. I wish this day would repeat, with us just staying home, safe and sound. My sisters had a plan, but my stubbornness led me to say no. If only I had listened, I wouldn't be in this predicament.
With anger blazing in my chest, I stared down the creatures in front of me, preparing to charge. However, a sudden, throbbing ache erupted within my head. As I dropped to my knees, the world around me turned black, and I felt a rush of dizziness.
"So, are my daughters ready for the sacrifice?"
"Yes, they are new, Mom. One's in a coma, the other was bitten, and we hit the eldest with poisonous Ashe to put her in a coma." Ruby said, describing what she had done to the three sisters.
"Well, to ensure you are my loyal daughters, they must temporarily disconnect from the outside world."
"Anything for our genuine mother," Ruby, Jade, and Delilah said in unison.
"Good girls."