Christian Hills asked, desperately. "What about my mom?" Tears melted in his eyes as Evana tried to console him with lies.

"Mommy is coming soon." She lied. "Christian? I want you to forget about Lionland. Don't talk about it with anyone. You're about to be a normal teenager. You came from an awful place. Your grandpa doesn't love you. He wants to kill us." Eva told him the truth. "Repeat after me: Minun tehtäväni on palvella Hulionsia." My job is to serve Hulions.

Christian Obeyed.

"What does that mean, Aunt Eva?" He asked, curiously. "I don't speak Finnish."

"Your job is to serve ." She translated. "Your grandpa brainwashed you. You're a good boy and you're going to be a great man by my side."

"You're lying." He yelled. "Mommy told you to leave me on the side of the road. I heard everything. My job is to destroy. My grandpa told me I was special to. My blood is the poison, right? I can kill ."

Evana was shocked by the news. That was Kara's secret. She knew it all along. She knew that her father was training him to be the opposite of what she expected. Kara was Half She was Eva's step-sister. Her mother Ana Hudson cheated on her father, and that was the only reason why the first rule was created in the first place and Ana Hudson had no other choice but to create a prophecy by magic, according to her dear mistake.

Ana Hudson never thought that it was possible to be pregnant by a Gold Lion. She hated her husband and decided to forbid Hulions to sleep with humans.

That was her first curse.

"Your grandpa lied to you." Eva tried to wash the truth away from his mind. "You're only twelve years old, Christian." She stated. "It's not too late to be a better man. I want you to remember that your mom loves you and she chose to set us free."

"My mom is dead." He replied. "When you break Lionland's rules, the only punishment is death." His tone was harsh and sincere. "I'll try to be on your side. I'll try to help but I can't promise you that It's going to be easy. My blood is dangerous to Hulions. I'm trying to protect this baby inside of you." He sighed. "Grandpa is coming for her. She's my only duty."

"Thank you so much, Christian."

"I'll do it but on one condition." He offered. "I want to read the prophecy that my mom gave you."

"It's written in Finnish."

"Then you'll read it for me."

"Only an can."

"I'm part."

"A real." She corrected herself. "You need to have it in your blood."

"Hand me the letter, then." He insisted. "If you want to protect your daughter. If you don't want her to destroy the world after her twenty-one years. Then hand it to me and I'll trust you."

"How do you know about her unknown gender?"

"It's just a feeling, Aunt Eva" He smiled. "I want to test your loyalty."

"I'll give it to you but if anything happens to me, I want you to poison her blood before she turns twenty-one."

"Do you want me to kill her?"

"No." Tears flew in her eyes."Just let her live." She handed him the letter, vaguely. "Your mother sacrificed her life for us. Kara will always be in my heart. We need to walk faster, leave this place and move North. The sun is going down..." She grabbed his hand and started to sing her favorite Lionland's song.

░ Pikku lintu, pieni lintu. Juokse, Juokse. Leijona on tulossa. ░

░ Little bird, little bird. Run, Run. The lion is coming. ░

░ ░

░ Water is blood in its mouth. Run, run, little bird. Don't let it catch you. ░

Little did she know, the last page of the letter consisted of the most powerful Hulion in Lionland.

"Is Jack going to be okay?" Hazel caressed his forehead as she calculated the temperature of his fever. "Doctor Pen just left and he didn't really do anything. He looks the same." She complained. "Pills! Seriously? Do you think pills are going to help him?"

"Relax, Hazel." I interrupted. "Doctor Pen knows what we are and they are not just any pills. He created them just for us. Jack is going to be okay."

"He looks the same to me! You need to do something, Babe." She insisted, annoyingly. "We need to save his life. Today is your..."

"Shh..." I noticed that Jack's lips were moving. "Jack is saying something." I placed my left ear next to his mouth as I tried to hear every single word. "He's singing."

░ Pikku lintu, pieni lintu. Juokse ,Juokse. Leijona on tulossa.░

░

"What is he saying?" Hazel asked, curiously. "This is not English!" Her face lighted up. "What the hell is going on? Why is he singing?"

"He's not singing."

"But you just said---"

"It's a warning." I looked back in her direction as I felt this fire inside of me. My veins started to emerge under my skin. "You should leave, Hazel." I sighed as I tried to collect myself. "The sun is going down."

"So what?" Her brows arched, shockingly. "It's normal."

"Tonight is "

"Yeah right?" She made fun of me. "And tomorrow is the second."

" rise on First Quarter moon," I explained. "Please, you have to leave now. I don't know what's going to happen when the clock dies at twelve. So I'm begging you, please try to stay away from me."

"I don't want to." She disagreed. "I want to stay by your side no matter what. I'm not leaving you."

"I understand that but babe, you have to think outside the box." I tried to stick the words inside her brain. "I'm not normal, Hazel." I reminded her of Lionland. "Lionland is my home."

"Lionland doesn't exist anymore." She uttered. "Why do you believe in that stupid prophecy anyway?"

"Hazel..." I yelled under my breath. "This is my life now. I don't want you to..."

"" Jack whispered, softly as he tried to let the rest of his words out. "

"What is he saying?" Hazel cried out for answers. "Why are you giving me that face?"

"It doesn't matter but you can't be here." I tried to stay calm. "Please, just wait for me downstairs."

"Fine." She sighed, deeply. "You have fifteen minutes." She closed the door after her.

Lionland was my home but Hazel was my shadow. I loved her. It was hard for me to choose my destiny over her. I felt vulnerable, useless and heartless. I didn't know what to do. I never asked for this life. I wanted a normal one. I didn't want to deal with rules and consequences. My father taught me a lot of things but he never told me how to fight my own demons.

Heaven or Hell.

I was in between.

Cursed by a spell.

The ink in my blood was poisonous. Red by color but Dark by nature.

"You did the right thing." Jack's voice woke me up from my thoughts. "She's your weakness, Hawk and you have to get rid of that."

"How are you feeling?" I asked, ignoring his words. "You never told me what actually happened. How did you get the last page from Christian? We have to find him."

"Impossible." He replied, confidently.

"You are capable of a lot of things, Jack," I said, calmly. "I believe in you. I believe that we'll find him and we'll finally know the truth about what happened the night of Evana's disappearance."

"Christian... Is..."

"Out there." I interrupted. "We have to find him. He's the only one who knows about the future. The hidden dark secrets, the ungotten awards buried on that land." I paused. "I'll find him. You did your part."

"He's dead, Hawk." His words shocked me. "Christian Hills is dead."

"Did you kill him?" My brows arched, negatively. "What happened?"

"No," He answered, dryly. "We were fighting. He almost killed me if it wasn't for that lady who saved my life."

"What was he doing at the cemetery in the middle of the night?" I asked, confused. "What lady?"

"I don't know but someone else was out there and it was too dark for me to really see her." He lets out a deep sigh. The pain was crawling under his veins. He was really fighting for dear life. "She looks a lot like..."

"Who?"

"It doesn't really matter." He declined my question. "She gave me the missing page." He rubbed his eyes, using a few of his fingers as he tried his best to stay awake. "You should read it."

"Are you sure?" My heart was out of beats. "I'm scared to know the truth."

"What time is it?"

"Nine twenty-two."

"You should start reading..." He turned his body to the other side of the bed. "The clock is ticking..." His voice faded as the silence emerged in the air.

I sat on the edge of the little table near the bed as my eyes started to read the following words out loud in my mind.

My existence was actually written on paper.

My Grand grandmother's handwriting was old and funny but her words were new as days.