Chapter 7

Ann was impressed with the beautiful necklace that her teacher had just created. She puts it around her neck and then under her shirt, “thank you.”
“Come, let me take you home,” Mr. Ondrink signaled her the way out of his office.
“Tell me about Jessica,” Ann asked, wanting to know more about Jessica’s situation.
“I first have to tell Jessica, and then it will be up to her to tell you. For now, I must go to my ancestral village for help to place a spell over this town,” Mr, Ondrink said, taking off his headgear.
“Wait in the living room. I cannot go out in public like this,” he said, making his way to his bathroom to clean himself up.
As they stepped out of the house, Ann was amazed at the change in Mr. Onrinks' appearance back to a 50-year-old man.
“Can you get young again? Young without using a spell?” Ann asked, wondering about werewolf stories.
“Yes, with every full moon, I change into a wolf. My age will reverse by one year until I reach the age of about 25 years. That is when the human body stops growing.” Mr. Ondrink said, opening his car door for her.
On the way home, Ann asked many questions, but Mr. Ondrink did not answer them.
“Why don’t you answer my questions?” Ann asked, frustrated.
“Because it is not for me to answer,” he replied, stopping in front of her house.
“Thank you for this,” Ann said, touching the necklace through her shirt.
“Your house has an invitation spell and a retraction spell. Any human or werewolf inside the house can retract the invitation, even if they did not give the invitation,” Mr. Ondrink said.
“You must be mistaken. I told Paris to leave. He did leave, but not immediately,” Ann said, getting out of the car.
“You have to mean it like really want the vampire to leave for the spell to work,” Mr. Ondrink said, before driving off.
Ann walked to her door, wondering why she did not really mean it when she told Paris to leave. She thought about the mixed feelings she had towards him, ‘perhaps if he didn't feed on her she would have not been so angry’. ‘What does it matter in any case? He said he liked me just for my blood and they will leave town now,’ Ann thought to herself, feeling a little sadness in her heart as if she just lost something special. She unlocked her door and made sure it is locked again behind her. On the floor, she found a letter, addressed to her.
She wondered who it was from, ‘probably Jessica,’ she checked the time, ‘school is not out yet, so can't be from her,’ Ann thought to herself. As she made her way to the kitchen to make some lunch, she opened the envelope. She dropped her backpack next to the counter and made her way over to the fridge. She was about to unfold the letter, but her tummy was calling for food. She placed the letter down on the counter and inspected the fridge for anything to eat. She smiled as she took out last night’s leftovers. She took the plastic lid of the glass container and set the oven to warm the Chicken lasagne. ‘If only my mother will get a microwave,’ Ann thought to herself as she waited for the food to warm up. Ann's mom believed that a microwave destroys all the nutritional value of the food, so she refused a microwave in her house.
Ann's eyes caught the letter on the counter. “Oh, almost forgot about you,” she said out loud. She took the letter and opens it.
Dear Ann,
I am sorry for how things turned out. I truly did not know that Shysie compelled you to be in love with Wynn….
Ann scrolls down with her eyes to see who the letter was from, “Love Paris,” she reads out loud.
“Love?” she questions out loud. ‘How is that even possible, or perhaps it is just a footnote,’ she thinks to herself.
She continues to read the letter
… if I knew that Shysie compelled you, I would have immediately done something about it. I, for one, don’t believe one should mess with love.
I am sorry for drinking your blood that 1st night we met at the club, but in my defense, you did dare me….
She stops reading the letter.
Ann thought back on that night, ‘oh my, I did, because I didn't believe him when he told me he is a Vampire,’ she thought to herself.
She continues reading the letter.
…I am sorry for allowing Shysie and Wynn to feed on you the 1st time in the pool and again in the cafeteria, you are right, ‘we have no right, and you are not food’. I hope that one day you will forgive me and that our paths will cross again.
She stopped reading the letter when the Chicken lasagne hit her nose and put the letter down. She put on a heat-proof mitten and took out the food from the oven. “Mmm,” she brought the food to her nose. She took a fork and sits in front of the letter. While she ate, she continues reading the letter.
…You do not really smell like meat; you smell like the Cinnamon candle on your nightstand. I only said those things to throw Shysie off you. She has it in for you because when she drank from you; she saw me around you and she saw the night at the club.
She is very jealous and thinks I belong to only her. To tell you the truth, I do not like her. I used to love her, like a sister. I wish I can escape her. 900 years ago, she got rid of my wife on our wedding night. Since then I have never allowed myself to get close to a human again. That night at the club when my eyes fell on you, I knew my heart was in trouble again. I have really tried extremely hard to put you out of my mind, to keep you safe, but I am not able to. I blame myself for what Shysie did to you. I am kind of happy that we must leave town. If you stay in town, then I know Shysie can do you no harm. We are off to re-join the Higher Council. They will have a ceremony soon where humans will be made vampires. I wish I could have a mate like you, to spend the rest of my life with, but it is not meant to be. I guess I am stuck with Shysie.
Hope we run into each other one day again. Please burn this letter when done reading.
Ps. Meet me at the park three blocks from your house at midnight tonight if you want to say goodbye or have any questions.
Love Paris.
Ann has eaten halfway through the Chicken lasagne while reading the letter. She felt conflicted over the letter. She did not spend that much time with Paris for him to declare his love for her. ‘This feels strange. How does he even know Shysie compelled me? Says he didn’t know before, but now he does? Weird,’ she thought to herself.
Ann put the lid back on the leftovers and left it on the table. She took the letter and picked up her backpack, and made her way up the stairs to her room.
She took off her school clothes and put a comfortable tracksuit on. She pulled her chair near the window and looked out at the Aurora lights adorning the dark sky that early Friday afternoon.
‘It felt like just yesterday when she learned that vampires and werewolves are real. She sighed and lay her chin on her folded arms on the windowsill. She just stared at the sky, losing track of time.
“Ann, dinner is ready,” she heard her mom call from downstairs. Ann sat up, ‘I did not even hear her car,’ she thought to herself.
“Coming!” she yelled back at her mom. Ann checked that her bedroom window was locked. She went to her bathroom and made sure that the window was locked as well. She splashed some cold water on her face and looked at her appearance in the mirror. “What a day?” She asked herself. Ann took her white face towel and padded dry her face.
She scanned her room over once more. “Alexa lights off,” she instructed the AI from Amazon.
“Sure, turning lights off,” the AI responded, turning the lights off.
Ann took a deep breath and opened her bedroom door. As she made her way downstairs, Ann smelled a familiar smell. She stops midway down the stairs and wonders, ‘could it be?’.
“Dad?” Ann called out because she knew the smell of dinner was her dad's favorite and her mom only cooked her dad's favorite dinner when he was home.
Ann's dad came around the corner to the bottom of the stairs.
“Daddy!” Ann ran down the stairs and flung herself into her dad’s arms. “I didn’t know you were coming home today?!” Ann said, embracing her father.
“You missed so many video calls. How we’re I supposed to let you know?” her father, Eljo Willow, said, putting her down. Eljo has dark hair with some silver hair starting to grow at the side. He has light brown eyes, and he was tall and had a fit build to his body. Together they walked to the dining table where her mother had just finished lighting the candles.
“Hi, mom, how was your day?” Ann wondered if the school phoned her.
“Always a great day when your dad is home,” her mom said, placing the food dishes on the table.
“Dinner is served,” Ann's mom said, taking her seat on the left of her husband. Her husband sat at the head of the table where Ann sits when her dad was not home. Ann sat on the right side of her father.
“How long will you be staying?” Ann asked, eager to know.
“Not sure, glacier predicted on the mountain we are excavating, so all depends,” Eljo answered, not sure himself.
“Now that your dad is home, you should bring your boyfriend over and introduce him,” Ann's mom said sweetly, hoping to meet the boy that stole her daughter’s heart.
“That will be great. Your mom told me you had a boyfriend. I could not believe it,” her dad said, smiling.
“About that, we actually broke up today. Turned out he is leaving town,” Ann said, not sad.
“You don't seem upset,” her mom stated the obvious.
“I kind of feel bored with him. Also need to get back to my schoolwork. He is no good for my grades,” Ann said, hoping that was the end of the conversation.
“Well, on a lighter note, Mrs. Wangberg woke from her coma today. Your teacher, Mr. Ondrink came to visit her and after he left she woke up, very strange. They must be close,” Ann's mom drifted off into her own thoughts, thinking about how strange it was.
For the rest of the evening, they talked about Ann's father excavating trip and future plans.
“I will clean up, you two catch up,” Ann told her parents, seeing that they were eager for some alone time.
“Thank you. Good night, honey,” her mom wrapped her arms around Ann.
“Good night my princess,” her dad wrapped his arms around both and kissed Ann on the head.
Ann started cleaning up with her head full of memories, questions, and conflict. While she was cleaning up she decided that she won't meet up with Paris. In the distance, she heard wolves howling. ‘Well, that is a first…’ Ann thought to herself and wondered if they were lycans or real wolves.
Ann did her homework assignments but was distracted by the letter from Paris. Ann took the letter and read it again. She put the letter aside again and tried once more to do her homework. Ann felt in the mood for some hot chocolate and went downstairs with the letter.
Downstairs, Ann found her father in front of the fireplace. “Would daddy like something to drink?”
“No princes have my poison right here,” her father said, lifting his whisky glass.
Ann went into the kitchen and made herself a cup of hot chocolate. She joined her father in front of the cozy fireplace. Her father was busy reading a book and Ann just sat in silence, drinking her hot chocolate, staring at the flames dancing in the fireplace.
Ann heard her father snoring; she stood up and covered him with a throw blanket. She took the letter out and threw it in the fireplace. Ann wasn't going to meet Paris, but she thought since she cannot think about anything else, she might as well go hear him out.
At her front door, she pulled her hood over her head, followed by a beanie. She took her layered coat and put it on before leaving the house.
Ann took a brisk walk three blocks away from her house to the park. When she got to the park, she saw no one. She checked the time on her phone, ’23:56'.
Ann stood around as all the surfaces were frozen.
“Hello Ann,” a familiar voice came from behind her.

PLEASE CHECK OUT MY STORY: TRAPPED IN A QUEEN'S BODY, IF YOU LIKE DARK ROMANCE.