February 21. Hours left, maybe, to break Chaiyn’s curse. Harlow and Naomi came outside with me that day. I hadn’t finished all of the schoolwork I had to do yet, but that could wait. We got to the clearing at around 3:15. Chaiyn - he was around fifty percent translucent - was desperately trying something on the counter-ring. Elena was perched on the bookshelf she’d been on the other day, watching the hourglass while lost in thought. Chaiyn looked up. “Good. You’re here early.” I nodded. “When does that run out?” I asked, gesturing to his hourglass. “3:22 today,” Chaiyn replied. He looked more stressed than I’d ever seen him before. By now, it was 3:16. We had six minutes left. There was no way that was enough time. “Someone be clock watcher,” Naomi said. “On it,” Harlow answered, waving her hand. A holographic digital clock appeared. Above it, in small print, read Time is a universal construct. Elena tilted her head. “That’s cool.” Harlow nodded. “It’s a personalized clock spell, but I can show you later. Naomi, you have something to tell us…?” Naomi nodded, looking at Elena. “Have you figured it out yet?” Elena nodded. “I think so.” “Okay. So, Chaiyn, the mental spell and letter are connected. The gist of the spell is that you physically would not be able to break the curse as long as the letter is intact,” Naomi started. “I thought we broke the curse,” the Seer muttered. “You’re clearly stronger than your father anticipated. If it had worked fully, you wouldn’t have been able to make a counter ring at all.” Chaiyn nodded. “Okay. So how do we break the curse?” “Destroy the letter,” Naomi said simply. “My pleasure,” Elena said, tearing the yellowed sheet of creased paper in half. Chaiyn put the counter ring on… …and nothing happened. Elena frowned at the letter, which began to stitch itself together. I glanced at the holographic clock. 3:18. Eight minutes remaining. Naomi frowned. “That should have worked.” Chaiyn was getting more transparent by the second. I could see a few shadows creeping around his feet and looked at Harlow. She was concentrating lightly on maneuvering the shadows. She caught me looking and shrugged. She was doing the best she could to keep the Seer here with what she had. While Elena, Chaiyn, and Naomi desperately brainstormed ways to get the curse to break, I could’ve sworn I saw movement in the trees. I didn’t have time to investigate right now, though. I watched the clock go from 3:19 to 3:20. “I know!” Elena almost shouted. “You’ve got to destroy the letter yourself, Chaiyn. To show that Father has no power over you.” Chaiyn paused. If I hadn’t known he was where he was, I wouldn’t have really been able to see him. “I’ll try. But you have to promise me something.” “Anything,” Elena said. The clock ticked to 3:21. “Promise me that you won’t go looking for me or give up for 48 hours.” “What?” “Promise me that, Elena,” Chaiyn said forcefully. The majority of him was slowly fading to colorful blurs. One thing I really hated about being a werewolf is that it’s only useful in battle. In situations like these, I couldn’t hold on to people telepathically like Naomi, or use the shadows to help like Harlow. All I could do was stand here and watch. Harlow and Naomi looked just as powerless as I felt. They’d done all they could, but we’d all come to a mutual understanding that this wasn’t our fight anymore. It belonged to the Darkedge siblings, and always had. Elena had tears in her eyes. “I promise.” Chaiyn smiled, the realest one I’d ever seen from him, and set the letter ablaze as the clock ticked to 3:22 and he flickered out of existence.
Notes/Credits: If you're reading this, you probably know I wrote The Wolf Boy. Well, here's the sequel: The Monster's Curse. This is Chapter 28. Previous Chapter(s): Chapter 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652476202/ Chapter 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652950608/ Chapter 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177024/ Chapter 4: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177565/ Chapter 5: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655621072/ Chapter 6: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/656955201/ Chapter 7: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657580423/ Chapter 8: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657583863/ Chapter 9: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657586191/ Chapter 10: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657668860/ Chapter 11: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/658404211/ Chapter 12: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659115920/ Chapter 13: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659116659/ Chapter 14: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659117186/ Chapter 15: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659420154/ Chapter 16: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661425573/ Chapter 17: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661428771/ Chapter 18: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661974554/ Chapter 19: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/662108449/ Chpt 20 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/663144219/ Chpt 20 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/663156194/ Chapter 21: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/663760516/ Chpt 22 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/674644356/ Chpt 22 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/674648505/ Chpt 22 Pt 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/674658226/ Chpt 23 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/683757147/ Chpt 23 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/683765009/ Chpt 24 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/685766546/ Chpt 24 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/686198230/ Chapter 25: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/700792854/ Chpt 26 Pt 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/700796432/ Chpt 26 Pt 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/700878172/ Chapter 27: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/708908365/ Credits: Me, for being the author Shannon Messenger, JK Rowling, Eoin Colfer, and many other authors for inspo @aqua_di_angelo, @AL600AWESOME, @Lanze_cupcake_face11, and @Yayabinks for inspo and supporting the story! QOTC: Did Chaiyn survive?
