Grasping Fate

Alessandra stood in front of the gigantic, blaring house. Teenagers filtered in and out, bringing with them the stench of alcohol and putrid sweat.

She inwardly gagged, searching around for some sort of escape route so she could sprint back to the compound, crawl under the covers of her rickety, broken bed, and try to cancel out all of the ragged breaths, pounding music, and... a low groan filtered through the air out of one of the windows above her.

Followed suit by a high-pitched squeal and a thick, sickly sweet cloud.

Arousal.

She genuinely gagged this time. The cons of supernatural senses. Why couldn't she be normal? And have normal senses.

She didn't want to go in by any stretch of imagination. She knew they saw her as an outsider. Someone who didn't belong purely because of her heritage.

It's not that they didn't like her, but it was odd to see a faery so far away from their own village or town.

Faeries were naturally drawn to each other in quads—basically a group of faeries inhabiting a certain place/town together.

However, Alessandra was nowhere near another town or city that held such inhabitants. Nowhere near one of her own. Nowhere she could be herself and let go of her insecurities and doubts.

Sure, Alessandra thought, Lizzie, Renzo, and Jess were great, but they lacked the empathy and knowledge of her kind to understand anything other than her emotions. It was bittersweet really.

She couldn't even muster the energy to cast a spell anymore.

She glanced away from the ginormous house again towards the thick, dense wood edging the back of the property. It was known to the inhabitants of the town as the Celestial Forest. Any packs bordering the said forest would have “-celestial' at the end of their name because they were soooo important.

Alessandra shook her head slightly; the name was so ironic it felt stupid. It sounded almost like a fairy tale. Like there are pixies and mystical happy trolls. What lies.

It was heavily patrolled by beasts, his royal highnesses guard (the R-G). They were all the same. They were bullies and highly pathetic.

Ravaging innocent villages, trying to gain more and more power like the greedy useless beings that they were. They had no right to the majority that they pillaged.

No right to kill all the innocent people that they did. No right to the inamorata that they snatched.

She'd known some of the women they'd taken; every so often another woman would go missing, occasionally a man, but most of the species was made up of men so it was very rare.

It was very rare, but it happened. She could only pray that they'd never get to her friends or some random lycanthrope's going to have a raging faery on their hands.

The wood screamed danger, and only the most stupid ventured in. Its trees seemed to peer at you, its long twisted limbs trying to grab you and rip you apart.

Much like the people who lived on the inside. Thick fog coated it like a blanket, its milky vapor stretching to engulf the front line of trees, spewing along the ground and up the bark.

The leaves seemed to sway in a breeze that was non-existent, dancing to an eerie tune.

Being a faery, she loved nature, basked in it. But this... this holds the promise of evil, of loneliness and despair. She'd lost everything because of them, not that she really remembered.

Nor did she feel anger. But she felt anguish for another reason. Everything about before the compound was foggy and murky. She couldn't distinguish if they were real memories or not.

It was a clear indication of memory tampering. Magic.

They only did it in dire circumstances, so what had she seen? What had she done to have her memory tampered with?

Alessandra was cut out of her thoughts when a hand was waved in front of her face; that hand was attached to her best friend, Lizzie. “Ally, are you thinking about the lycans again?” Her tone held questioning and a hint of pity. Her memory may be tampered with, but everyone knew that Alessandra was the only survivor from the Attack of Nightencewood. It had been the most brutal attack ever launched onto a village of that size. In a mere three hours, over four thousand people had died.

Alessandra shook her head, focusing her attention back to the house. Through the window, she could see Renzo, her other best friend, who was trying to shrug random girls off his shoulder.

She smiled lightly. That's right, Renzo, you better make them back off.

Lizzie tutted, reaching up to gently push a reluctant Alessandra towards the house. “Don't lie to me. You had that look in your eye. The one that screams out to the god of vengeance to make them pay for their sins.” Her tone had changed to that of a joking manner. She knew Alessandra hated the pitying looks.

“Shut up. I do not have a look,” she spoke nonchalantly.

“Yeah, right. Tell that to your face.”

Alessandra stopped her scan of the windows. “I do not have a look.”

Lizzie looked at her pointedly. “I'm just saying. But, hey. I don't want your beautiful mind travelling down that dark path tonight. We are here to party. Loosen up bro, maybe you might like something you see.” She winked and nudged Ally hard, making her stumble.

“Shit.” Alessandra heaved as her ankles got caught together and she hit the ground hard. “Lizzie, I'm not gonna get anyone with a torn-up outfit and a massive bruise on my leg, fuck. Don't damage the goods.”

Lizzie slouched over, laughing hysterically.

“Stop it, help me up,” Ally groaned from the floor.

“Ok, Ok. And heave!” Lizzie shouted, hoisting her friend up from the ground. “Now! Let's go get our drink on, my sexually oppressed friend!”

---

Hours later, Alessandra wasn't drunk, no. She was completely wasted.

Her steps were slurred and slow; she was stumbling about and had smacked into about three walls and created two pile-ups in which she'd tripped over and taken another five people down with her.

“I told you we'd have fun!” Lizzie shouted, hanging off of Renzo's neck like a pole. They looked perfect for each other. Renzo with his curly brown locks and chocolate brown eyes and a body like Adonis himself. Mixed together with his mischievous nature and sexual aura. He was like a walking magazine full of sexy men. And Lizzie with her short straight blonde hair and ocean blue eyes. She was the definition of innocent, well... kind of. It definitely hadn't registered the amount of male and female attention she was getting. But it had to Renzo, and boy, does he guard that piece of steak like his life depends on it.

He'd turned eighteen about three months ago, meaning he was able to locate his mate. Now, when you've seen them grow up together and watched the fighting and the make-ups.

You grow protective of each other. Which is exactly why, when Ally found out, she marched straight up to him and threatened his ability to have children if he fucked her about.

However, Lizzie will remain unknowing until she turns eighteen in about a month's time.

Alessandra and Renzo came to the decision that it would be best to wait and let Lizzie find out by herself, much to Renzo's dismay.

As it meant that the process of them completing any type of bond would have to wait.

But, Lizzie was drunk now, meaning that she was able to express the attraction she had to him regardless of the mate bond. Ally didn’t hear him complain.

Sweaty bodies slid against each other, moving in harmony with the music; everyone seemed to have someone to go to. She was secretly hoping that tonight she’d find a hookup, anything.

But there was also the factor that she physically couldn’t, not that she didn’t want to.

Anytime she’d ever gotten close to a guy and felt anything other than friendliness, she felt this sharp stabbing pain. Like a warning. One time she didn’t listen to it. Had sex with a random hookup.

The next day she was in the hospital, tormented by pain. The boy was nowhere to be seen. There was no trace of him. It was as if he’d just upped and left.

All his belongings remained; nothing seemed to be out of place.

The search for him went on for months as there were no prime suspects apart from Ally, but she was already at the hospital when he went missing, according to multiple witnesses.

No one blamed her, which she was thankful for, but she still felt this overwhelming sense of guilt like it had something to do with her.

She couldn’t shake the feeling that it had something to do with the sharp stabbing pain she always felt. As if that was punishment for not abiding by its stupid rules.

When she saw a doctor and described the pain, they were puzzled as it sounded eerily similar to when mates are separated.

It was ridiculous really, and she all but hoped it wouldn’t affect her ability to find her mate.

“Who wants to play truth or dare?” The music was shut off, and her ears throbbed for a minute before the question registered. Derek, a boy who sits next to her in biology (also whose house it is), was standing on a table, having just asked the big question. Instantly, there was a wave of agreement and everyone filed outside into the warm, dark air. It was the middle of summer, and even though she didn’t necessarily want to play, she was thankful to get out of the room that was heavy with sweat and thick with arousal. Some people were nasty.

“Here, here, come sit.” Lizzie pulled her down onto a log.

There was a blazing fire, wafting smoke into the air. Small crackles and splintering wood caused her to feel an instant wave of déjà vu. Why did this feel so familiar?

The warmth and the cold ground beneath her made her feel like she’d experienced something like this before.

There were multiple log benches surrounding the bonfire, each one filled with people; some sitting on the floor in front of them if there wasn’t any space left.

Alessandra shook her head, glancing out to the woods to her side. The border of the trees was about fifteen meters away, the trees looking even more menacing up close.

Why did she want to come outside again?

The darkness spewed from it, slashing ebony streaks along the ground. Her stomach clenched, an unknown panic seizing her chest. It felt as if someone was there watching her, surveying her every move.

The tall podiums swayed, a breeze hitting her face, causing her hair to swish back. The trees seemed to move. Closing in. They edged closer to her, her breathing caught in her throat.

Two eyes seemed to float in the darkness. Golden eyes. Trained on her.

She was paralyzed in fear.

“Alessandra.” Renzo gently touched her arm, making her spin round. His eyes seemed worried, checking her face as if it would leave any indicator as to why she wasn’t responding.

“Huh—yeah.” She replied, her eyes darting back to the forest which was now back to where it was before, to see if the eyes were still there.

“Are you alright?” he asked cautiously, his arm reaching around Lizzie who was currently burrowed into his side to gently squeeze her shoulder.

She nodded, still trying to find the eyes. She was terrified of them, but they intrigued her. Who was that?

“Yeah, I think I just need more to drink, that's all,” Ally replied, leaning over to a cooler at the side to pull out a full bottle of vodka.

She stared at it, contemplating if it was worth the pain tomorrow. Glancing quickly at the woods, she decided it was time to get more drunk than she already was.

Unscrewing the cap and flicking it into the fire, she instantaneously regretted her decision as the liquid stung her throat and made her eyes water.

Lizzie laughed, the top of her head still burrowed into Renzo's side, “Atta girl! Chug it like you mean it!”

She smiled, laughing before lifting the neck of the bottle up and chugging the rest of the contents.

Her stomach turned, slurring, and she could feel the concentrated liquid trickling down her throat. The burn was immense.

She heard the beginning of the chant, “Doltone, Doltone, Doltone,” getting gradually louder as she downed the entire bottle.

“That's my best friend!” Lizzie shouted, standing up too quickly, making her fall back down again onto the floor. Instantly, Renzo was holding her, almost clutching her to his chest. Poor Renzo.

A loud roar of laughter and hoots went up around her as Alessandra slammed the bottle to the ground.

“Well, well Alessandra. Quite impressive. After that, I think you should take the honor of the first round,” Derek laughed, lifting the neck of his bottle in respect.

“Alright, well. I'll go truth,” she answered, grinning in an alcohol-induced haze.

“You can't go truth after that! We need to see what you're capable of,” Derek's grin grew. She could now notice the small dimple next to his cheek and the light twinkle in his eyes. He had perfectly straight teeth, and the tight shirt defining his rather hot physique didn't leave much to the imagination.

A sharp pain split through her body, making her head nod forward lightly.

“Ally, are you sure?” Lizzie questioned, “Their dare will be brutal. Who knows what they could give you.” She'd only just realized the mistake she'd made. Not only did the pain return, but it hooked her up to a dare she didn't want to do.

“Great! Aaron, Morgan, Jay. Get over here and help me out.”

Oh no. Even drunk, she knew they were the worst combination of boys to pick a dare. “For fuck's sake. No,” she whispered under her breath. Aaron, Morgan, and Jay were renowned for being assholes when it comes to the picking of dares. They'll find your worst fear and make you grovel in it.

Dread started to build in her stomach. Out of the corner of her eye, two small globes began to glow in the darkness. The eyes. Her eyes darted to them; she no longer felt fear.

It was replaced by wonderment and nostalgia. She was almost enticed by them.

A cough sounded around the fire, silencing those who were murmuring amongst themselves.

“Alessandra,” Aaron spoke.

“Um—yes?”

“Our dare for you is...” A drumroll started, people started shouting, hollering out, waiting in as much anticipation as she was.

“You must attempt to find the Celestial Palace.”