NAINA ||ONC 2021||

Chapter 2

"Naina! Baby, you alright?" I saw Ammie's concerned expression as she rushed into my room. It's been four years, and I was being tormented by the same dreadful nightmare. I sighed and nodded at her.

"Get accustomed to the way things happen in life." She hinted, referring to the nightmare, hugging me tighter. My mom's sister and Ammie saved me from being dragged by the villagers that night. Being my mom's only elder relative, she was overprotective towards me and constantly asserted to accept the pain. She said, "Pain hurts less when you accept it with wide arms". I still couldn't accept my parents' death and the nightmare reminded me every time that whatever happened to them, it was all because of my secret.

Squeezing Ammie a little tighter, I thought back to the time when she'd hold me to sleep every single night back then. She was my knight in shining armor. A year older than me, but always acted like a mentor does in high school. Her enthusiasm could overpower any person in the world.

"I.. I'm alright," I confessed between whimpers, clenching the bedsheet tighter as the dread of watching my parents getting burnt alive in front of my vulnerable state flickered in the back of my mind.

"You have to be. We have a new assignment that has to be taken care of and mom is pretty pissed about it." She mentioned and I couldn't help but giggle.

"When is she not?" I laughed and so did she.

"No, but seriously, this is important." Her tone, serious as she stared at me and made sure I'd get what she meant. Moving away from her rigid figure, I wandered towards the bathroom. Sweat lingering inside my cloth irritated me and I smelt terrible as I dug my nose inside my t-shirt.

"I have made ravioli! So you better get ready and don't forget to hide the mark." She reminded me. Walking past my walk-in closet, I glanced at my scar and involuntarily stroke it with my fingers. Ammie said it is a gift from our ancestors, but it was nothing but a scar to me. A wing of a dragon, a birthmark uniquely gifted only to the ladies of our clan, and that gets effective only after we turned eighteen.

Ammie turned eighteen already, and she'd share the peculiar feeling that she went through as the scar aka mark earned its power. To assert that it has fated us to safeguard humanity from the dark creatures was an understatement. For me, it was merely a curse that passed on in our blood. A curse, I would try to overthrow one day. It took the life of my precious family abandoning me behind as I had a greater motive to exist; they explained.

"Naina!" Rushing towards the bathroom, I brushed my teeth and washed up pretty quickly as I headed to my aunt's pissed voice through the door. Ammie was right. I swore at myself as I realized my aunt could get hysterical when she is on a mission.

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"You have to keep low," Ammie whispered as we made our way to the so-called dungeon where our oldest ancestor's burial was constructed and only a few fire lanterns lit up the rusty track.

"Why am I here?" I interrogated in a hushed tone as Aunt kept on alerting us to control our pitch. "The walls would repeat whatever we have spoken during our stay in this creepy den," she explained to us one day.

"You are turning eighteen in an hour. You need to understand why we are the way we are." Aunt answered my query and my body went numb. I attempted to turn around and run, but Ammie held my hands tighter. Her grip, so vigorous, as if she knew I was ready to pounce out of this shit.

I could hear an unusual noise as we made our way towards the deep cavern. The fire lanterns turned off shortly after we passed over them. A serene voice whispered something in my ears and my head whipped in the direction but couldn't spot anyone. Taking in a sharp breath, I closed my eyes, recalling what my mom said at the last minute.