CHAPTER 113: THE CURSE AND THE FULL MOON

The night stretched endlessly over Seraphina’s mansion, the air thick with the scent of burning herbs and fear.

Thunder rolled across the distant hills like an omen, and every flash of lightning illuminated the dread in her pale, fever-stricken face.

She sat upright in bed now—barely—but the fire in her eyes refused to dim.

The call with Bianca had ended abruptly, the silence that followed heavier than any answer.

Bianca’s pause, that uncertain tremor in her breath... it told Seraphina everything she needed to know.

"Bianca," she whispered into the quiet room, her voice shaking with anger and realization. "You’re hiding something from me."

Her fingers curled around the edge of the sheets, trembling with a mix of rage and exhaustion.

The dark veins under her skin pulsed, glowing faintly as if something unholy moved within them.

The curse wasn’t just spreading..... it was alive.

The door creaked open.

A maid stumbled in, her eyes wide and her breath frantic. "My lady" she gasped. "A message... from the guard. He... he returned"

Seraphina’s eyes snapped open, every trace of weakness vanishing. "Where is he?"

"In the courtyard, my lady. But... he’s not alone."

Seraphina rose to her feet, her silken robe sweeping across the marble floor. Pain burned through her limbs, but she didn’t care.

She would face whatever had come for her.

She stepped into the courtyard, where rain had begun to fall—a soft, mournful drizzle that darkened the stones beneath her feet. The guard knelt there, soaked and trembling, his armor dented, his sword snapped clean in two. He looked like he had crawled from the mouth of hell itself.

"Sola mark," Seraphina said coldly. "Speak."

The man lifted his head weakly. His eyes were bloodshot, his lips trembling. "My lady... I found her."

Seraphina’s heart leapt. "Lapàtásodà Vàlká? The witch?"

He nodded, then shuddered. "Yes, but... " He coughed violently, blood spilling down his chin. "She knew your name before I spoke it. She said... she’s been waiting for you."

Seraphina’s pulse quickened. "Waiting for me?"

"Yes," Sola mark rasped, gripping his chest. "She said the curse wasn’t placed upon you by her... but through her. And that the blood moon’s daughter has already chosen."

Seraphina’s eyes widened. "The blood moon’s daughter..." She could feel her skin crawl at the phrase. "Alessia..."

Before she could ask more, the guard’s body convulsed violently. The same black veins that marked Seraphina’s skin began to appear across his. He screamed, his back arching, his eyes rolling back until only the whites showed. Then, with one last breath, he collapsed—lifeless.

The maids screamed and stumbled backward, horrified.

Seraphina stared at the corpse, her mind racing. "The curse is spreading through him too," she muttered. "It’s bound to me."

Then—something glinted on his chest. A pendant. The same symbol that matched the necklace Luca had given Alessia.

Seraphina reached down with shaking fingers, lifting the pendant. The air around it felt charged, almost electric. The moment she touched it, she felt a presence—cold, ancient, and watching her.

And then she heard it.

A voice, Whispering inside her head."You were warned not to enter his shadow."

Seraphina stumbled back, the pendant slipping from her grasp.

It hit the wet stone with a soft clang, and the whisper ceased instantly.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly. "Who said that?" she demanded. But the courtyard was silent again, the only sound the distant rumble of thunder.

"Prepare my carriage," she ordered sharply. "We’re leaving for the northern mountains."

The head maid hesitated. "My lady, your condition.... "

"I don’t care," Seraphina snapped. "I will find Lapàtásodà Vàlká myself. If I don’t, this curse will consume me... and if it came from Lorenzo, I will make him wish he had never been born."

******

Far away, under the veil of the same storm,

Lorenzo stood before a mirror in his dimly lit chamber, staring at the faint reflection of his own face—half in shadow, half in firelight.

His expression was unreadable, but in his eyes burned the glint of someone who knew far more than he let on.

On the table beside him lay an open notebook—filled with coded writing, strange symbols, and sketches of the same pendant Luca had given Alessia.... And the one that now lay in Seraphina’s trembling hand.

A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "So the curse has finally reached her". He murmured. "And soon, if will reach them all".

Behind him, a soft voice emerged from the darkness. "You’re playing with fire, Lorenzo."

He turned slightly, his eyes narrowing. "Bianca."

She stepped out of the shadows, drenched from the rain, her expression tight. "Seraphina called me," she said quietly. "She knows you cursed her."

Lorenzo laughed under his breath, low and sharp. "Knows?" he repeated mockingly. "She suspects. There’s a difference."

Bianca’s eyes flickered with unease. "Why are you doing this, Lorenzo? You said you wanted peace—revenge on Luca, not this."

He turned toward her fully now, his smirk fading into something darker. "Peace is a lie, Bianca, What I want is balance. The blood moon chose Alessia... and now the others must pay for the imbalance it created."

Bianca frowned. "You talk like this is destiny."

"It is," Lorenzo whispered, stepping closer. "And soon you’ll see it too. When the book is opened again, the past will rewrite itself."

Bianca took a step back, unease prickling her spine. "You’re losing your mind."

"No," Lorenzo said calmly. "I’ve finally found it."

He reached for a candle and tilted it toward the book. The flame caught the edge of a page—one that bore a hand-drawn symbol glowing faintly red, identical to the pendant’s mark.

As the fire spread, the walls of the room began to hum with a low vibration, and a faint red light pulsed from beneath the floorboards.

Bianca’s breath caught. "Lorenzo, what are you doing?"

He looked up, his eyes burning crimson in the dim light. "Opening the gate."

Then boom, the ground beneath them shook violently, dust and fragments raining down from the ceiling.

Bianca screamed, stumbling back as a dark mist began to rise from the floor, coiling like smoke.

Lorenzo’s grin widened, his voice echoing with unnatural resonance. "Let the blood moon rise again."

********

Back in Seraphina’s carriage thundered through the storm.

She clutched the pendant tightly in her palm, her pulse a drumbeat of fear and fury.

When she finally looked out the window, through the haze of rain and lightning, she saw it, a faint silhouette of a woman standing on a cliff ahead, her cloak whipping violently in the wind.

The witch of the cursed veins had been waiting.

As Seraphina’s carriage drew closer, the woman raised her hand, and the rain stopped.

"Lapàtásodà Vàlká," Seraphina whispered, her voice trembling with awe and dread.

The witch’s glowing eyes met hers through the mist, ancient and knowing. And then, with a voice that sent shivers through the night, she said. "You’ve come too late, Seraphina. The curse has already chosen its next heart."

Seraphina’s breath caught. "Whose?"

Lapàtásodà smiled faintly. "Alessia Morano.".....

*******

It was the night of the full moon at the middle of the night. It shines brighter, bolder, and eerily silent.

The silver light poured through the open window, washing over Alessia’s pale skin, tracing the curve of her face as she lay beside Luca.

His arm was draped over her waist, heavy and warm, pulling her close even in his sleep.

But the moonlight was relentless. It danced across her face, too bright, too haunting to ignore. Her lashes fluttered open.

Alessia blinked at the ceiling, her heart oddly restless. Carefully, she lifted Luca’s arm from her body, letting it fall gently onto the sheets. He didn’t stir.

She swung her legs off the bed, her bare feet touching the cold floor.

Her shoes remained untouched at the door step... she didn’t need them.

The night called her, soft and strange.

Her eyes caught something, a faint glint beneath the pillow.

The old, leather-bound book. The same one she’d found days ago... the one Xavier’s untimely intrusion had kept her from reading.

Her fingers trembled slightly as she picked it up.

The air around it felt heavier, almost alive.

Without a sound, Alessia walked out of the room, her steps light and measured.

The moon guided her path down the corridor, until she stepped out into the open courtyard where the pool shimmered like liquid glass.

She sat at the edge, letting her legs slip into the cool water.

The touch of it sent a shiver up her spine.

Her short white kimono robe fluttered softly in the night breeze, glowing faintly beneath the silver moonlight, an ethereal goddess unaware of the storm about to unfold.

Alessia looked down at the book resting on her lap.

Something deep inside whispered not to open it. But curiosity... it was a dangerous, hungry thing.

She brushed the dust off the cover and flipped to the first page. Cobwebs clung to the paper, delicate and ancient. A spider crawled lazily out from the fold, disappearing into the night.

Her breath hitched.

She turned to the second page.

And there it was—written in dark, crimson ink, the words bled like veins through the paper:

"The Red Moon Child.. Alessia."

Her eyes widened in shock.

The book slipped from her trembling hands and fell into the pool with a soft splash.

But instead of sinking, the water began to glow, first faintly, then blindingly bright.

The ripples shimmered, turning from blue to pure white, swirling like a living vortex.

Alessia gasped as the light climbed up her legs, wrapping around her body, pulling her down...

Before she could scream, the water swallowed her whole.......