What Are You? War Beneath The Earth

The Present

Quick author's note :
Wow! 200+ reads! Thank you guys so much. This really means a lot to me. Keep reading and leave some comments. I would love to know what you think of my story. Here you go with the new chapter. Sorry it took so long. :)

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The chirping of the birds outside my window woke me up from my sleep. I sat up and hugged myself with my blanket, still confused and scared of the things that transpired last night. I don't think I'll be able to get rid of these weirdness that sorrounds me now.

A soft knock on the door snapped me out of my reverie. "Come on in.", I said, my voice letting out a small croak.

The door opened up revealing my grandmother. She was smiling and said a small good morning and sat down beside me.

"What is it, Grandma?", I asked my grandma as she held my hand and a stray tear fell down her face. I felt sorry for my grandma for whatever reason it is that is making her sad and intertwined my fingers with hers, a small smile crept into her face.

She pursed her lips and began to say, "Well, I just want to give you another present. One that was given to me by your grandfather a long time ago."

I shuddered at her words. This is the very first time she had brought up my grandfather. Mr. Harris' words echoed through my mind.

"He raped your Grandmother and I took care of her while she's pregnant with your Mom."

I tried to shake the thoughts out of my head and forced a smile at my grandma. I squeezed her hand and she let go to reach for something inside her breast pocket.

She pulled out a small silver pentagram necklace. Next to the pentagram was a heart shaped locket. She placed it on my hand before I can withdrew them away from her. I stared wide eyed at the necklace, knowing that the pentagram is the devil's symbol.

"G-grandma, this is a pe-pentagram right? You know what this is, right?", I stammered on my words as my hand trembles with fear, the necklace sitting on my open hand.

"I know what it is, Monalis. It's a gift from your grandfather when he courted me. He made me promise to give this to our grandchild once they turn seventeen.", a hidden sadness passed my grandmother's eyes. " I've always loved your grandfather despite the fact that he can't give all of his time and attention to me and our child. But none of that matters now."

"T-thanks, Grandma.", I weakly managed to say and clutched the necklace. "Is the locket from my grandfather as well?", curiosity hit me.

Grandma seems to have gotten over her deep sad thoughts and smiled a genuine smile, "Oh no. That is my personal touch. I want you to put the pictures of those you love inside that locket. So whenever your lonely or sad, you can look into it and see the people whom you love and loves you back as much."

I smiled at that small gesture of love. Even if the pentagram was creepy as hell, the locket seems to balance out the negativity it gives off with the love and care it holds inside of it.

"Come on now, darling. You should take a quick shower and put on that dress I bought for you. It's inside your closet. Don't forget to wear the necklace dear.", she patted my hand and headed for the door.

Once my grandmother was gone, I gazed curiously at the necklace. Who would want to give their grand daughter a freaking pentagram and precisely on my seventeenth birthday. I recalled the talk that Mr. Harris and I had last night. He said I was in danger. That I should not trust anyone who doesn't really care for me. Does this mean, I shouldn't trust this necklace since it came from my cult leader of a grandfather?

Thinking that my grandmother would be upset if I came downstairs not wearing the necklace, I decided to shrug the nervousness away and headed for the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Once I've taken my bath, I headed to my closet and opened it. A little black dress was hanging inside and a pair of black wedges with a tiny white ribbon on top of each shoe. I reached for the dress and studied it's appearance. It goes down just above my knees and a large white ribbon is tied around the waist area. I quickly put it on and looked at myself in the mirror. It fits me perfect. It may not be the piece of clothing I always have but this looks perfect on me. I put on some foundation on my face and a little bit of lip gloss provided by my grandma since I don't own any make up. I finished the look by putting the wedges on. I wonder where grandma would take me.

A knock came from the door and a voice said, "Mona? May I come in?". Nick.

A surge of nervousness came over me. I don't know what Nick will think of my appearance. I cleared my throat and said, "Sure. Come on in.".

The door opened slowly, revealing a very stunned looking Nick. His mouth was hanging open and his eyes wide.

"Wow. You look great! Real great.", he looked me up and down with a huge grin on his face.

"Thanks, dork.", I snorted at him and he laughed. "Let's go downstairs because grandma's surely pissed if I stay in here for another minute."

Nick smiled at me and reached for my hand. I gratefully took his hand and headed out the door.

"Oh wait! I forgot something.", I quickly went back to my room and almost stumbled because of my shoes. This is why I've always hated girly shoes. I grabbed the necklace from my bedside table and put it on.

Once the necklace was lingering on my neck, the pentagram suddenly felt warm against my skin. Dizziness hit me and I almost fell on the floor. Luckily, I caught myself and tried to stand up straight. Well, that was weird. I touched the pentagram pendant and instead of feeling the coldness of the metal, it felt curiously warm. Too warm. Almost hot. I let go of pendant with confusion going through my mind.

I want to rip the necklace off of my neck but I knew that my grandma would be upset so I decided to ignore the warm feeling of the pentagram on my skin.

I slowly made my way downstairs where Nick was waiting for me and a sudden worry passed his face when he saw me.

"Are you okay? You look pale, Mones.", he touched my forehead and I smiled weakly at him. It's as if something drained the life out of me and I feel very weak.

"I'm okay, I think.", my voice was hoarse and scratchy.

My grandma tiptoed her way to us. "What's taking you so lo-.", she saw me and her eyes grew wide. "Oh my goodness. What happened to you?".

I managed to stand a little bit straighter and held my now throbbing head. What indeed is happening to me? "I-I think I'll be f-fine grandma."

"Mona, you look like you're gonna pass out. Why don't you rest for awhile. Besides, where we are going is always open and we can go there some other time.", Grandma ushered me back up to my room with Nick holding me.

As if on cue, the world around me began to spin and I passed out, turning everything into pitch black.