The Mad Ҡìղց

Curse

"I love you, Wang," Zhan said softly, his voice thick with emotion. "But I can't do it. I can't watch you... die. Zhan let out a sob, his hands tightening around Wang's as if holding on would somehow stop everything from unraveling. "I can't lose you," he whispered again, his words almost drowned out by the sound of his own grief.

Wang closed his eyes, leaning forward to press his forehead against Zhan's. "You won't lose me," he said, though even he wasn't sure if he believed it.

Chang, sitting quietly beside Wang, wiped at her eyes, her heart breaking for the impossible situation they were all facing. Duan Dan crossed her arms, her face set in a hard frown, but even she couldn't deny the fear that crept into her eyes.

The silence stretched on, thick with unspoken truths and the weight of what was to come.

Chang, is there really nothing we can do? Meng asked, voicing what Duan Dan had been about to say.

"I was just about to ask the same thing," Duan Dan sighed.

"Sit down, all of you," Chang said, her voice heavy with the weight of what was to come. "Let me tell you about my forefathers."

She took a deep breath. "For thousands of years, my ancestors were hunters. They tracked and killed vampires, rogue wolves, and any supernatural beings that posed a threat to others. Over a thousand years ago, they hunted down a sorceress who had become drunk with power, performing human sacrifices with her thousands of brainwashed followers.

"When my forefathers killed her, her followers performed blood rituals and cursed our family, swearing we would be wiped out. 'An abomination that will end your Lan clan,' they called it. At first, nothing happened, and my ancestors laughed it off.

"But they didn't know what lay ahead. The Lans were blessed with wealth, families, everything they could desire. But when their sons began to grow, some of them turned out to be omegas. Eventually, two of them became pregnant.

"In an attempt to avoid disgrace, the pregnancies were hidden. But the burden consumed the boys, and they died. Only then did my forefathers remember the witch's curse—' an abomination.'

"The curse continued to plague our family for centuries. They were hunted and killed like animals.

"They left their lands, blending in with humans. But no matter where they went, the curse followed. It passed down through generations. Some believed the boys who married women were safe, so the family made a pact: once a son turned 16, he would be married off to a woman. It seemed to work for a time, but something always went wrong, and the curse would resurface.

"Things got so bad that even the married ones were hunted down. Desperate, they fled once again, settling in remote villages. There, my ancestors found three sisters about to be burned at the stake for being witches.

"Seeing an opportunity, they posed as officials from the city council and convinced the village chief to hand the witches over. They paid the villagers and took the sisters away.

"'Wolves council,' the eldest witch had hissed, but my ancestors made them an offer of marriage. They explained our family's curse and why they needed the help of witches. The sisters agreed, and the family moved to a faraway land. They changed their surname from Lan to Wang, after the witches.

"Even then, the curse didn't end. The witches performed ritual after ritual, even dark magic, but nothing worked. One of the sisters suggested using unicorn blood. They tried, and out of the 30 children born, 18 were boys, though 7 of them died.

"So, they began keeping detailed journals, passing them down through generations. The curse couldn't be broken, and the rituals offered no guarantees. Over time, my family's wealth dwindled. They had fewer children, no more than one or two, three at most. It's been centuries since twins were born, until my brother and I.