Deceiving Past & Darkening Future

Chapter 5: Shrouded Memories

"The pleasure of remembering had been taken from me because there was no longer anyone to remember with. It felt like losing your co-rememberer meant losing the memory itself as if the things we'd done were less real and important than they had been hours before."
― John Green, The Fault in Our Stars 

Please enjoy!

"Finally! I have thought both of you lost your way here," Mr. Richardson said as they walked into the classroom. Some of their classmates snickered but Lucinana just ignored them. The thing that caught her eye was all her classmates were sitting on a weird machine with lots of wires and devices. Christina's shoulders tensed as she looked at the machines. Her dark eyes seemed to be darker and it radiated pride and also a bit of guilt.

"Sit down, you two." Mr. Richardson spoke in such a sweet voice that gave Luciana goosebumps. He pointed toward the two oval machines next to Victoria's. "Press the red button on your right and the seatbelt will be fastened automatically."

Luciana and Christina sat down, ignoring Victoria's menacing glares and complaints. She looked pretty crestfallen to the fact that Mr.Richardson let Luciana and Christina sit next to her.

As Luciana sat, a sudden warming feeling shot up her body and she immediately relaxed. The soft and delicate cushions and pillows made her feel like sleeping. Moreover, the pleasant sound of pop music made her feel homesick for the first time since she went to Narcistrix. Her parents...her birthday...suddenly everything around her began to spin and turned pitch black before she sank into her flashback.

*Flashback*

Luciana was five years old in her favorite garden filled with lilies, roses, and lavenders. Two of her servants were standing near her, chatting excitedly in a strange language. The only sentence she knew about was 'the chosen one has risen', but it only sounded hilarious to her. Just then, Austin, the butler, walked toward them and told Luciana that her parents wished to see her at the stable, which was far away from their main house. As the three of them walked toward the stable, Luciana asked Monica, one of her servants, to teach her the strange language they always spoke.

"It's a lovely language but hard to learn," Monica said gently to the adorable child, closing the topic as always. But Luciana gave Monica her famous puppy eyes that let her sigh, "Fine. The first step is to learn how to chant this incantation 'Delegatus' " Luciana giggled and nodded happily at the fact that they were going to teach her the language she had wished to learn for a long time.

"Ok, so Rita (the other servant), let's chant together." Monica said and the two of them began, "Qui datus est electus iram magnam. Benedicite rudis in potentia nunquam alii umquam animo finxerunt. Recipere et perdat furto nescit. Et augendae statera beneficium est ignotum. Regnans electus rapiet vulnus minus- (The chosen one is born to unleash those captives. Blessed with raw power the others shall never imagine. Retrieve the stolen and perish those who defy. Tilt the balance and enhance the unknown. The chosen one will rip the wound and reign the lesser-)" They were suddenly cut short by a scream that pierced through the afternoon sky.

It came from the mansion.

Panic washed off her as tsunamis and Luciana gasped in fright, sprinting toward their mansion with her servants on their heels. When they arrived, the mansion was strangely quiet, leaving an eerie feeling in the atmosphere.

"Father! Mother!" Young Luciana screamed and she rushed inside the building. As her sapphire eyes landed on the scene, she stopped abruptly and she forced herself to hold back a strangled sob. The butlers and maids were all lying on the cold marble ground. Thick red blood splattered everywhere, and her parents' corpses lay on the ground. Numerous blades stuck out of their bodies, making them look like human shooting-practice targets.

No! Luciana cried in despair, unable to tear her eyes off the gruesome death of her loved ones. She pinched herself hard, hoping it was only a nightmare. But it hurt a lot.

She was living inside her nightmare.

Young Luciana sank to her knees, a look of resignation washed on her face. If I die now, I will be able to join father and mother! She raised one of the daggers on the marble floor, gripping tightly on the blood-soaked hilt. With a look of determination, she brought the dagger down...

*Flashback end*

Luciana jolted awake and her back was filled with cold sweat, realizing whatever game Mr. Richardson planned for them had finished. The rest of the students had a content smile on their faces as if they were on drugs.

"Huh, so the sleeping punk has finally woken up. Did you have a sound sleep?" Victoria mocked, her eyes glittering with disdain. Feeling nauseous, Luciana merely rolled her eyes at the usual antics of Victoria and sat up. Unbeknownst to her, two pairs of eyes were watching her intensely, analyzing her every move.