Cursed By The Moonlight - Chapter 100

Amaris felt like something had happened between Zoila and Alwyn. She didn’t ask what it was when they continued their journey to the Atlantean Territory.

Zoila returned to the tavern with a flushed face and couldn’t look at them directly into their eyes. Amaris wished that the two would end up together, but she needed to wait for a few more days for the mate bond to break completely.

The once smooth grid of roads leading to the Ethereal Ocean was unnoticeable from the surrounding terrain. Once trimmed to perfection, the trees were uneven and overgrown, returning to their cluttered natural state.

On their way to the Atlantean Territory, they passed by a small town called Mineloa.

“Have you been to this town?” Amaris asked Zion.

After rejecting Alwyn, Zion didn’t allow Amaris to ride with Grakar which she agreed, to avoid any argument.

“I’ve been here twice, but that was a long time ago.” He said.

“Alpha, I think something has happened here.” Cole commented.

“Yeah.” Zion nodded while looking at the town from the cliff.

Mineloa was once a growing neighborhood with hundreds of families residing there, but it seemed now that it was a forgotten remnant of a time long passed.

The creaking of wood and grinding of metal on metal was now the only sounds in this town, making disturbing clangers around them.

On the streets were abandoned homes as if it was made for frightening thoughts. Some doors had tumbled as rats ate away their edges. But most entries of the houses and establishments were gone entirely or mere remnants of rotten wood and rusty metal. The entrances looked creepy as only darkness showed within.

They stopped and looked at one of the houses.

The open doorway that was once possibly very welcoming was now eerie and unpleasant. Window panes hung perilously from their hinges and the curtains that had been flung out by the wind. A few rusted cars still stood in the driveways or just outside the streets, but most were stripped of all their spare parts.

The Crimson Keep Hotel, located in the middle of the town, has had a few honorable guests over the years but was now weak and beginning to collapse bit by bit.

Whether forced or not, the town was obviously abandoned by its people, but a few animals from the woods wandered around it.

Each house was once a home belonging to a family, but now there was only emptiness. But even though everything may appear like it was gone forever, and it was no longer home to Terrans that used to live here, it was now a shelter to families of wild animals.

The peaceful street was hardly noticeable because the weeds and grasses occupied it. Random scraps of long-forgotten possessions litter the roads and wild, rampant gardens within this town.

Mineloa, once a place of modern housing and technology, was now but a ghostly shell of its former self. The air, which was previously filled with the considerable sounds of a growing community, had grown eerily silent. The occasional animal sound and squall would only break the quietness of the town.

But what caught their attention was the abandoned hospital that seemed left because half of the place had been caught on fire and it seemed that it just happened a few days ago. The empty halls and rooms added to the lonely ambiance of this town.

No matter how you looked at it, this town was a dreadful sight to look at. Lives were forgotten, perhaps wholly ruined, and there was hardly anything to offer in it.

“Alpha, what do you think happened?” Cole asked.

Zion didn’t answer and was also thinking about the town. Mineloa was one of the towns you would like to stop by when traveling towards the Ethereal Ocean. He couldn’t believe that a lively and rich town like this was now deserted.

“Let’s stop here for now and see what we can find. We could use one of the houses to stay the night. Let’s continue our journey in the morning.” Zion said.

Everyone agreed, maybe because they were curious about what had happened to the town. Amaris hadn’t been in this part of Terra, but she had heard a lot about Mineloa from her aunt, Maxine’s mother.

The protreas searched the town first and looked for a house they could use, making sure everything was safe before settling into one.

“Do you think the town was attacked?” Amaris asked Zion.

She was now riding with Zion after talking to Alwyn. Zion nodded but didn’t say a word. They stopped in front of the hotel and waited for the others. Diana and her family stayed with them since it was dangerous for the kids to lurk around.

“We found a house big enough and safer for us to stay the night. I think it was the mayor’s house since it was gated and surrounded by a big fence.” Damien said.

The house looked magnificent, built with white bricks, and had mahogany wooden decorations from the outside. The tall, squared windows added to the house’s overall style and in a reasonably asymmetrical design.

The house was equipped with a large kitchen and three bathrooms, and it also had a warm living room, seven bedrooms, an elegant dining room, and a relaxing wine cellar in the basement.

The building was rectangular and partially surrounded by glass with overhanging panels on two sides. The roof was high and diagonal to one side and covered with wood shingles. A small chimney spurred out at the middle of the ceiling, and several long, thin windows let in the lights from the sun and the moon to the rooms below.

They noticed that it was also surrounded by an exquisite garden, including hanging grapevines, a pond, a pagoda, and different flowers.

Aside from dust and webs inside the house, the interior was still intact. It wasn’t like the other houses in town.

“Why do you think this house wasn’t like the others?” Amaris asked Zion.

“I’m not sure. Maybe it was the last house that they abandoned.” Zion responded.

“How about we all just stay in the living room? We could get the mattresses from the bedrooms and put them together.” Amaris suggested.

Everyone agreed since it would be dangerous not to stick together.

Amaris frowned and walked towards the fireplace. There were pictures of a family on top. It looked like a couple with four children lived in that house.

She was about to touch one of the picture frames when they heard a scream upstairs. Amaris saw Damien and Maxine rush to where they heard the scream.

Amaris sat down on the couch beside Diana’s children and waited. When Damien and Maxine came back, they were followed by Grakar, who was holding a girl in his arms.

Grakar slowly put the girl down on the sofa. When they looked at her, she was one of the people in the photos.

“Is she a Terran?” Zoila asked.

“She was a Terran before.” Amaris answered.

Zion frowned and was confused about what Amaris said.

“What do you mean?” He asked while still standing in front of the fireplace.

“I think she was bitten. Look!” Amaris answered while pointing at the girl’s neck.

Zion walked towards them and looked at the bite mark. Only three creatures bit its prey: the vampires, the demons, and the werewolves.

“It’s not a werewolf’s bite. Damien, can you check if it’s your kind?” Zion asked.

Damien checked the girl’s neck and confirmed that the bite mark wasn’t really from a werewolf. He leaned forward to look closer, then he looked at Zion and shook his head.

“It’s not from a vampire either. This wound was deeper, so it might be a demon.” Damien said.

They looked at Amaris to check it.

“What? I never bit anyone other than Zion. I don’t know what it looks like.” She commented.

“Maybe you can try?” Zion asked softly.

She nodded then kneeled beside the girl to see if she could do anything to find out what happened to her.

‘Help me!’

Amaris’ eyes widened. She didn’t even start anything yet. Where did that voice come from? She thought inwardly.

‘Who are you?’ She asked.

‘I’m in front of you. But I can only speak through your mind.’

‘What happened to you? To your family? To this town?’

‘We were attacked two weeks ago by demons and monsters. They were looking for someone from Ocearia. They saw him come into our town and accused us of hiding that creature. They started hurting everyone, including my family.’

‘What do you mean?’ Amaris asked.

‘The residents in this town were Terrans, and the mythical creatures were welcome here to visit and rest, but no one was allowed to live here other than our kind. They said they would turn everyone into a monster. My parents turned, and the rest of the adults living here. They didn’t bite the children, only the adults.’

‘Where are the children then?’ Amaris frowned.

‘They took them.’

‘Where?’

‘To Tartarus.’