[Lucien’s POV]
I was stroking Luca’s hair as we watched an episode of his favourite cartoon while Nivera made Mac and cheese in the kitchen. All of a sudden, I began to perceive smoke; like something was burning.
“Babe, are you on the phone? Check on the food. I think it’s getting burnt,” I yelled from the living room.
“The food is all right, but I can also perceive…”
“Lucien! Nivera! Help!” It was Ryle’s voice and it came up from his bedroom upstairs. Luca and I exchanged glances and Nivera dashed out of the kitchen, looking as confused as I was.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I don’t know, but let’s find out,” I said, then told Luca to keep on watching the cartoon while his mum and I went upstairs to see what was going on.
The door to Ryle’s room was wide open and the smell of smoke grew even stronger. Words cannot explain the horrid sight I met once we both stepped in, which registered a kind of shock in my brain, and I knew instantly that I would never get over the painful look on Celeste’s face as she cried sorrowfully, staring at herself in the mirror; she was a strong woman, but for the first time, she seemed helpless.
“What… what happened to you?” I asked, walking towards her gently.
Ryle stood some distance away from her bed and whispered to me to not ask questions, but I needed to ask… I needed to know.
She swallowed hard, then turned away from me. “Go,” she said softly.
“Why?” I inquired, in the same soft manner.
I saw her bit her lower lip, trying to control her pain. “I don’t want you to see me like this. Hell, I… can’t even see me like this,” her voice broke as she spoke.
I touched her shoulder lightly. “Celeste…”
“What part of ‘leave me alone’ don’t you understand? All of you, get out! Get lost! I don’t want to see you here. Just leave!” she yelled angrily, looking away more to hide her face from us.
“I think it’s best if we just leave for now,” Ryle stated.
“But…”
“Ryle is right, Lucien. I know she wouldn’t want to go to the hospital, so I’ll just get the doctors to come to our place and see how they can fix this,” Nivera said.
“Yes, do that. I’m not leaving until I know what really happened to Celeste,” I insisted.
“Well, I guess I’d leave you to do that, then,” Nivera said, then opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something to Celeste, but decided against it and quietly left the room.
“What happened? How did you meet her?” I asked, turning to look at Ryle.
Celeste gave me a look that told me she just wanted some peace and quiet, and really wanted me to leave, but I simply looked away and urged Ryle to speak up.
“I went to see her and her cottage was on fire. I thought it must have exploded when she was making a potion, then hurriedly went inside, ignoring the flames. Thanks to my fur, I didn’t get burnt. She was lying on the floor, struggling to be free…”
“Free? Free from what?” I inquired.
“She had been tied up and couldn’t escape for her life, that’s all I know,” Ryle stated.
I turned over to Celeste, who didn’t utter a word and just had a blank stare.
Her clothes were in a mess; all tattered in one or more areas, and her face was something else. While one-half looked perfectly okay like the same old Celeste, the other part was terribly burned… it appeared leathery, charred, and it was like her skin had disappeared, as you could see all the under-skin beneath. It wasn’t just that; part of her body had also been severely burned, and it was a terrible sight.
“Who… who did this to you? Who tied you up? Who wanted to kill you?” I asked, understanding now that she hadn’t just been in an accidental fire. That would have even been surprising, considering how strong she was. It was expected that someone had deliberately tried to harm her.
She didn’t respond.
“Speak to me, Celeste. Who was it? Did those witches find you? Are they trying to take your life again?” I asked.
She shook her head, then slowly, she mumbled the name of my greatest enemy: “Tyler Jefferson,” she said, and then went on to explain her encounter with him earlier that day.
I was furious and angry at myself. If only I had gotten rid of him five years ago, he wouldn’t have come back to bite me where it hurt the most.
I swallowed my anger, deciding to think of how to get back at him later and just figure out how to handle the issue on ground now.
“Don’t worry, Celeste. I’ll get in contact with all the renowned surgeons I know. I’ll ensure your body goes back to how it used to be. Even if it takes plastic surgery, I’ll make sure you get fixed and can look at me directly once again,” I told her.
She shook her head sadly. “This can’t be fixed. Not even my masking potion can fix this. No matter how long I live, this is how I am going to look. This is what I get for trying to cheat nature. I should have died when I still had the chance to be buried in a young and beautiful body; look at me now. My life is ruined, my whole life is ruined. I can never even step out of the house ever again; I look like a monster, and not the type under your bed you’d want to be friends with. I am just the exact picture of the evil demons in the world you’re asked to beware of. I hate my life,” Celeste said, as tears streamed freely from her eyes.
From where I stood, I could hear her heart breaking, and tears clouded my vision which I blinked back in. All she wanted was to live as long and happily as she could till she was fed up with life; how could she want to live now? I didn’t blame her for her words. The only person I had to blame was the so-called Alpha Tyler, who didn’t deserve to live.
“You don’t look like a monster, Celeste. The only monster in this whole story is Tyler, and I would kill him with my own hands. Just watch me; watch and see, Celeste. He will die by my hand,” I said, and began to storm out of the room.
“No! Don’t go looking for him,” she said in a loud voice.
I turned around. “He hurt you, I won’t let him live. No one who hurts you can live, do you understand? You’re important to me, and an evil creature like Tyler Jefferson can’t keep roaming about this earth after what he has done to you. You’re the most confident person I know, and not only as he ruined your skin, he has also ruined your self-esteem,” I said; anger laced in my voice.
“Still…”
“No, don’t stop me. He hurt Nivera, and now, he has hurt you. How much longer should I keep letting him hurt the people that are most dear to me? Should I wait until he hurts Luca, too? Tell me, Celeste. After all he’s done, how can you tell me not to go looking for him? Don’t you trust me? Killing a piece of trash like that is the easiest thing for me, and you also know it,” I said.
“I know, Lucien. I didn’t tell you not to kill him. I’m asking you to not go looking for him. My skin still hurts me and I still feel like I’m stuck in that fire, hopeless and scared for my life. When I feel better, probably after I get that surgery and begin to look a bit better, let’s go and find him then. We’ll kill him side-by-side as we’ve always done with our mutual enemies. You remember our promise, right? We’ll fight together till death do us part,” she said, and smiled at me for the first time since the incident.
I gave her a sad smile. “Yes, Celeste. Till death do us part,” I said, and then let a drop of tear fall from my eyes.
“Someone would think you guys are lovers. What kind of promise is that?” Ryle asked, finally saying something.
Celeste and I chuckled. “It’s just a dumb thing we started saying after Lucien helped me get rid of those witches that were trying to take my life over four hundred years ago,” she explained.
“Yeah. I should leave you guys. Please, Ryle, take care of her,” I said.
“You don’t need to ask me to,” Ryle said, shooting a small smile in my direction.
I nodded my head to show my gratitude, then I left the bedroom and closed the door gently behind me.
I could tell her face was itchy and the burns stung, but I was determined to get her out of it, and I was going to do that by calling all the plastic surgeons I could reach and offering them a payment they would never be able to refuse.
Celeste believed her face would never be the same again, even if she underwent surgery, but I knew that nothing in this world was impossible. If werewolves and vampires could exist, then Celeste could get back her old face.
As long as one is extremely wealthy as I am, anything is possible.