Looking back, Selene realized her life had taken a major decline after that fateful night at the pond. If she had to trace it from the origin, the truth was that her life as she knew it ended the day her aunt found the writer's camp acceptance slip in her bedroom. Up until then, she had been a boring teenager with a normal, boring life.

It was a pity she hadn't know at the time that things would go sour fast. If she had, perhaps she wouldn't have been so eager to go to the writing camp.

It would be silly to tell a story from the end, hence it would be better to explain a few things before moving forward.

Selene Feather was an average 19-year-old girl who didn't accept or appreciate change. It was to be expected considering the fact change hadn't always been positive for her. Her mother had been brutally murdered right in front of her when she was 8. She couldn't remember how or why her mother had died but after that day, she changed.

Her tailored down looks, baggy clothes and overall demeanor helped ensure that she was overlooked and ignored. She was the kind of girl who went out of her way to remain in the shadows because she was afraid of what people would see if they looked closer.

If she happened to walk past you on the street, all you'd have noticed was a girl wearing hideous black or grey slacks with unruly brown hair and enormous brown eyes behind her black-framed glasses. She didn't possess any of the society's criteria for beauty, neither would you have noticed her figure due to the oversized clothes she wore.

Selene's beauty was like an ore—you had to mine deep to find it. She possessed an aura of genuine kindness and innocence which was both refreshing and rare. While she might not have been drop-dead gorgeous at first glance, if you happened to look at her closer or perhaps you got blessed with one of her rare absent-minded smiles, you would have been totally smitten.

To be sincere, there wasn't anything spectacular or captivating about Selene at first glance. She didn't possess any rare or unique talent, neither did she have any fascinating features that would catch the attention of an average eye. She was a girl who wanted to have a normal, boring life with no desire to be overly successful or popular.

She didn't have any definite likes or dislikes. She didn't voice out her tastes neither did she have a definite domineering personality. She was kind of like the shy girl in your class who no one really speaks to.

The only thing Selene loved more than anything else in the world was writing and the only reason she loved it was because it helped her feel closer to her dead mother. Writing helped with her anxieties and insecurities from time to time. If you happened to look at her hands, you'd have noticed it was consistently stained with black ink from all the poems she liked to write.

It was a pity that her favorite thing in the world almost led to her demise. It was a shame she had almost died the same way her mother had.

Two months before that fateful day, she had been ecstatic! As a college student, she never had time to engage in many extracurricular activities since she had to focus on getting good grades to avoid her strict aunt's wrath.

For this reason, she always wanted to enjoy her summers as much as possible, and what better way to do that than applying for an exclusive writing summer camp?

Even after applying and getting accepted, Selene hadn't expected the summer camp to be eventful. She had gone to the camp with very little expectations. All she wanted was to improve her writing and make a handful of friends.

The camp had started that way.

She had been lucky enough to get a nice room to share with her equally nice roommates: Didi, the drama queen, Ruth, a stern strict girl who she'd known in the past, and Laura who was overweight and extremely lazy. Sure she had some recurring nightmares which tormented her mind from time to time but nothing had been mind-blowing at first. The changes had been almost insignificant like atoms before they combine to form compounds.

Selene cheated and dumped her boyfriend of three years after a midnight rendezvous with an extremely gorgeous guy with golden eyes. Before the camp, she would never have dreamt of cheating, especially since she had the perfect boyfriend who seemed to be crazy about her.

The camp helped teach her that nothing was ever as it seemed. It was a tragedy she had to learn that the hard way.

Earlier that fateful night, she'd taken her copy of "Imprisoned by secrets" to Camp Indigo's deserted pond along with her flashlight and mosquito repellant. It might seem weird going to read under the moonlight by a deserted pond but that would only be if you didn't know Selene or the week she'd had.

Selene loved darkness because it helped cover up her flaws and insecurities. Nighttime was her favorite. She could stay awake all night just looking at the stars as they twinkled beautifully. The night sky was the most beautiful thing in the world to Selene.

Also, considering the fact that she had unintentionally become the center of gossip at camp, it was understandable that she didn't desire the company of the others who were only interested in getting the week's hottest gossip.

That week, Selene hadn't been able to step into a room without people whispering after her ex-boyfriend had arrived at camp to exchange blows with the golden-eyed boy who she had hooked up with.

After the fight, everyone kept talking about Selene because none of them had expected her to have a boyfriend considering how cozy she was with the boy she'd cheated on her boyfriend with.

It was both mortifying and exasperating having everyone know her dirty secrets. She'd taken to her room until that fateful evening she'd left for the pond. Her roommates all left her behind so they could flirt and have fun with the other campers. Feeling a little lonely, Selene decided to read a novel to ease the tension.

That single choice is the only reason this book exists in the first place. Much later, Selene wondered if her life would have been better had she not gone to the pond that night. However, we shall never know the answer to that.

To be fair, nothing happened at first. Selene read the novel, engrossed with the beautiful character development and clear picture the writer had portrayed. She laughed at the funny parts and lost herself in the world the author had created.

She had been so engrossed that she didn't notice the bubbles that formed on the surface of the pond until it was too late. If she had looked up even once, the stage would never have been set for her self discovery until much later.

When Selene eventually looked up from her book, she saw beasts, unlike anything she'd ever seen before rising from the water looking worse than any of her nightmares. They were images out of a Friday the 13th movie with their scaly skin, snakes for hands, and animal-like heads. For want of a better description, picture the monster under your bed who haunted you for years then create an image of a monster that would scare even that one.

The biggest one had cobras for hands and serpentine eyes. It licked its lips with its serpentine tongue. It was genderless and sterile. Its eyes were filled with triumph. It stretched its hands towards her without blinking.

"We are the Hunter of Rodia and we have come for you, Child of Black Day. It is time for you to die." It said in a husky voice.

At first, Selene had thought she was frozen with fear but then she realized that she was indeed frozen. Once the beast stretched his hands towards her, she discovered that she couldn't move her body. She couldn't even blink her eyes.

"Advance, Hunters! Today shall be marked as a day of victory throughout the entire federation. Today we shall conquer the Child of Black Day!" The cobra armed beast yelled.

Selene couldn't even open her mouth to scream. Her whole body was frozen.

The beasts marched towards her. Their metallic boots connecting with the grassy floor were both thunderous and scary. The sensation was so familiar that Selene was sure it had happened before. She could swear that she had seen those things once upon a time.

Two of them bent to grab her with their scaly hands when a laser-like substance shot through the air and neatly sliced off their hands like a knife slicing bread.

The two beasts hissed in pain. Their blood(if the slimy black substance that spilled out of their body could be called blood) soaked Selene's face causing her to blink at once. It was then that she realized she could once again move her body. The single action of her eyelids had broken the spell of the cobra beast.

She was able to turn her head in the direction where the laser had come from. A guy—at least it looked like a guy to Selene—wearing a golden armor was running towards her after causing the commotion. His movements were both fluid and graceful. It was almost like he was a faery creature in a child's storybook.

His armor shone brighter than the sun as he sliced the beasts that tried to attack him.

"Shut your eyes." He ordered her in a deep voice, muffled by his armor. He was outnumbered yet he fought like a beast with no sense of fear or sensation of pain but Selene couldn't see any of that.

The only thing Selene could remember after the incident was the distinct smell of sweat, blood, and gore along with battle cries. The combination was enough to instill fear in her heart. She was powerless as she couldn't defend herself.

"Hold on to me!" The Golden Knight ordered.

Selene grabbed his waist without stopping to consider how awkward that was.

The next thing Selene remembered was suddenly smelling fresh air. At first, she thought she was in heaven until she heard a voice. A voice that made her realize she was still alive.

"Oh my! You're safe!" The voice said.

Selene refused to open her eyes because she assumed her ears were deceiving her.

Why on earth would she be hearing her aunt, Tianna's voice?

It was probably the Serpent beast who wanted to deceive her. She wouldn't open her eyes no matter what.

Her aunt Tianna had never been pleased to see her. It had to be a façade.

"Why are her eyes closed?" The person who sounded like Tianna asked.

"You can open your eyes now, Selene. You're safe." The Golden Knight said. His voice sounded calmer and less alert than before. It sounded like he had taken off his visor because she could hear him clearly.

Selene slowly opened her eyes. She jumped back like she'd been splashed with hot oil. Her aunt, Tianna Feather was looking at her with eyes filled with tears and concern. Tianna grabbed Selene and pulled her into a tight hug—a thing she'd never done before—ignoring the blood and grime all over her niece.

"I thought I'd never see you again. Oh, Gawd! How could this happen? I'd never have forgiven myself if anything had happened to you." Tianna pulled back to hold Selene's face.

Selene was speechless. Her aunt wasn't exactly affectionate or kind. Tianna Feather had looked after her ever since her mother got murdered over a decade ago. During that time, she'd been sure her aunt hated her.

Why was her aunt there?

What had just happened?

What had attacked her?

"I hate to break up the happy reunion but we need to put some distance between us and those Hunters. I've sealed the gate behind us but it'll be better if we don't teleport anywhere for some time since they can easily pick up my magical trail." The Golden Knight said behind them.

When Selene turned around to look at him, she gasped. His golden armor was gone and in its place, he was wearing a grey hoodie and blue jeans. He looked like an average handsome guy with golden eyes.

Not just any kind of golden eyes.

The golden eyes.

Benjamin Castro was looking at her with a grim expression on his face. He was part of the reason she had been the center of attention. He was the reason she had gone to the pond in the first place.

Up until a few weeks before, all Benjamin had been to Selene was her boyfriend's stepbrother. At least that was all he had been to the ordinary human eye. Those who were more observant would have been able to read between the unspoken lines. They would have seen that Selene and Benjamin had a strange connection and chemistry that shouldn't have existed morally.

Selene had been hopelessly in love with Benjamin since she'd been twelve. She'd remained that way until he seemingly dismissed her advances four years after. Without knowing they were related, Selene agreed to go out with his stepbrother, Larry.

Larry Pineal had been the perfect boyfriend for three years—kind, caring, tall, and ridiculously handsome. He was everything any girl would ever want in a guy and more. At the same time, he was a total fraud. His true colors only got revealed after Selene cheated.

Benjamin had been the guy she'd cheated with. In the heat of the moment, Selene and Benjamin had shared a romantic tryst after which, Benjamin shamelessly stole his stepbrother's girlfriend without looking back.

Benjamin's kisses had showed Selene that she'd never really gotten over her unreasonable crush on him. Even standing in front of her with blood and gore all over him, Selene thought he looked more delicious than a well frosted birthday cake. It was unorthodox and awful but they had hooked up completely ignoring Larry's feelings.

It was the most selfish thing Selene had ever done in her entire life. It was the first and only time she'd ever hurt anyone so badly yet she wouldn't have taken it back no matter what.

Selene noticed the way Benjamin kept clutching his left side. She looked down and she saw crimson blood staining through his thick grey hoodie. It was the worst thing she'd ever seen in her life.

He was brutally wounded and losing blood fast.

#M.M💀🖤