Page 8 of Heart of the Cursed
Chapter 3
It took a lot longer than she thought it would to recover from her second attempt at the locating spell. Considering it didn’t work, it drained her energy more than any other spell she’d tried before.
Selene hoped it meant the spell was getting closer to working. However, knowing her luck, it probably meant the opposite.
No matter what it meant, Selene wasn’t giving up. She would try again, there was no doubt about that. What she was looking for was too valuable not to keep trying. But first, she needed to restock some supplies.
It wasn’t as simple to restock supplies as it used to be. She couldn’t just nip to the shop to buy a load of candles like in the old days. She had to collect everything she needed and then she had to make them herself.
Thankfully, candles weren’t too much of a problem. She had a couple of beehives hidden not far from her home, so she had a constant supply of wax that she could use to make candles and other things. And best of all, she had a constant supply of deliciously sweet honey, as well.
Selene couldn’t deny it, she had a sweet tooth. Even if she had plenty of wax, she would often harvest some so she could have the honey. The only problem was it never lasted long around her. She always gathered plenty, intending to make it last her, but within days, it would all be gone.
It had been a long time since she had last collected any though. She’d been too busy travelling, searching for the spell, and then trying to get the spell to work. For the first time in a long time, she was completely out of honeyandwax.
Mind made up, she grabbed her bag of beekeeping equipment, along with a container to store the honey, and then she was out the door. It was a full day’s activity, collecting and sorting the honey and wax. Then she needed to make the candles before she even thought about giving the spell another go.
The sooner the candles are made, the sooner I can try the spell again.
She had a feeling it hadn’t worked so far because she’d been doing it in the wrong place. She was asking the elements for their help and guidance, but she was doing it in a fortified bunker buried deep within the earth.
It didn’t matter that the bunker was in the middle of nowhere, it would still be risky to perform the spell outside, but she had no choice. The thick concrete walls and solid metal doors could definitely be putting a dampener on the spell. It would probably be the same with any spell involving the elements.
Next time, she would take what she needed with her outside, find a secluded spot where she was unlikely to be seen from a distance, and try again.
“Maybe I should wait for a full moon?” she mused.
It would mean holding off for a few more days, but it might be worth waiting.
It wasn’t something she wanted to do, but at the end of the day, she had to think about what would give the spell the best chance of working. If that meant waiting until the full moon, then that’s what she would do.
By the time she reached the door, she had come to a decision. She would wait. Once she had restocked her supplies, it would only be an extra day or two until the full moon, anyway.
Selene pushed the heavy metal door open and blinked rapidly at the bright morning sun as she stepped outside the bunker. That was the only problem with living underground. There were no windows to let in natural light, so whenever she went outside in the daytime, she was momentarily blinded until her eyes adjusted to the light.
As soon as she could see again, she quickly scanned the area to make sure the coast was clear. Satisfied, she closed and locked the door behind her. After placing a spell on the door that would alert her to any intruders, she headed off in the direction of the beehives.
No matter how much she wanted to stop and enjoy the sounds of nature all around her, she couldn’t risk being out in the open for too long. Daytime was the most dangerous because she could be seen easily.
The safest time to travel anywhere was at night. It wasn’t because the creatures hunting her couldn’t see at night. Far from it. In fact, some of them could see just as clearly at night as in the day.
It was safer because there were fewer of them around. They knew the Humans liked to travel in the daytime. They hadn’t learnt it was safer for them at night. So, the creatures tended to hunt during the day.
Thankfully, the morning passed without incident. She didn’t see anyone on her way to the beehives, or while she was harvesting honey. She just wished the same could be said about the journey back to the bunker.
She was half-way home when she caught sight of someone in the distance. But that wasn’t the worst of it. They were heading straight for her bunker.
Selene ducked down behind a bush and watched as the male closed in on her bunker.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!”
She couldn’t tell if the newcomer was Human or not, and it didn’t really matter. Humans hated her just as much as the supernatural did. If not, more so.
Humans only saw the monster in her, and the monsters only saw the Human in her. So, she was screwed either way.
Sometimes, she wondered why she was putting her life on the line for Humans when they would rather see her dead at their feet. But then she would remind herself that with everyone else gone, she would only have the Humans to deal with. It was a lot easier to hide from them than the rest, and at least they couldn’t use magic against her.
Memories began to surface. Ones she would rather forget ever existed. Selene mentally slapped herself when they tried to cloud her mind. There was a time and a place to revisit certain memories, and it was never and nowhere.
