Chapter 20:
The Price of Living
Lilith sat at Selene’s bedside, staring at the unconscious woman’s face as her chest rose and fell with every breath she took. She sat rigidly in her chair, waiting for there to be the slightest change in Selene. For weeks Selene had been unconscious, the wound in her chest healing quickly and her outer features changing after the power transfer the king had performed. She laid on her stomach with her black wings delicately laid at her sides to prevent irritating the still tender slits in her back from which they emerged. Everyone was on edge wondering if Selene would ever wake up, if the king was too late after all. She had been unconscious for a month, Christmas over and the new year just beginning. They’d agreed, Lilith, Dante, Alice, Francesca, and the king, to watch the sleeping girl in shifts that way if something were to change they’d know right away.
“Come on Selene,” Lilith whispered, her hands clasped in her lap as her green eyes watched Selene’s every movement. “The king’s a wreck and needs you to be ok. We all need you to be ok so please.”
The doors to Selene’s room pushed open, making Lilith turn her head to see who was entering. Alice and Francesca entered the room, melancholy smiles on their faces as they approached their friend.
“How is she?” Alice asked as she laid her back on the floor. Her brows furrowed when she looked at Selene more carefully. “Her hair grew more.”
Lilith nodded, her eyes drifting to the black river that flowed from the bed and onto the floor. “The power of death changes the owner’s physical appearance. The king didn’t always look the way he does now; he changed after he accepted the power from his departed father.”
“Does that mean Selene will grow fangs and everything too?” Francesca asked, her eyes locked in a worried gaze on her friend.
Lilith shook her head. “No because she has received only half of the king’s power,” she stated. “In fact the king should look less monstrous after giving half of his power away, have and of you seen him lately?”
Alice shook her head. “He’s buried himself in work and only leaves his office to come see Selene.”
Lilith groaned. “Why can’t she just wake up?!” she rose from her chair and approached the bed. Her foot rose and kicked the mattress in irritation. “I think you’ve had enough beauty sleep Selene! Get your ass up!”
“I don’t think that’s going to—,” Alice tried to say but was interrupted by a groan that came from the sleeping woman in the bed. They all looked at Selene in shock.
“Selene,” Lilith stated. “Get up!”
The mortal girl furrowed her brows and turned onto her side away from her friends. “Five more minutes.”
“Five more minutes my ass!” Lilith exclaimed with a deep laugh as she pulled the blankets away from Selene’s form. “Get up now! You’ve slept long enough.”
Selene groaned again. “I don’t wanna go to school though,” she whined as her hands searched the mattress for her missing blankets.
The three girls looked at one another, confused by Selene’s words, as she slowly sat on the side of the bed closest to them and opened her eyes. They gasped at the sight of her. Selene’s hair had grown long again, this time running over the edges of the queen sized mattress and onto the floor. Her eyes were a deep shade of purple and framed by thick lashes that curled perfectly. Her face and the rest of her was paler then before from all the blood her body had lost and the large black wings spouting from her shoulder blades made it look like her body glowed. She gazed sleepily at her friends as a yawn escaped her lips and as a hand decorated with long black finger nails came up to rub the sleep form her eye.
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The Mirror
ParanormalEver since she was young Selene has always been able to communicate with things that normal humans shouldn't see. When she moves into a house with her step sisters, and discovers a portal to the land of the dead in her room, needless to say she's le...
