CHAPTER 5: CELESTE

It was well into the evening by the time Celeste had time to get a few minutes of solitude for herself.

During the whole day today, from the first moment, she let her thoughts wander to the point when she finally locked the lock of her private room, she has evaluated everything she knew. And now, she has no doubt that this all is leading back to something she would rather not be reminded of.

She picks up her phone and dials her brother's number, the whispers in her head whimpering and wailing at the harsh, cruel memories she could see flashing through her head.

"Celeste," Zachery Anderson's voice held a question she wasn't sure of. What did he want her to respond, what did he expect? For the first time, since the day he had given her a bone crushing hug and claimed her as his sister, Celeste was afraid. Afraid of seeing him hurt.

"Hey there."

Her voice was a mere whisper. That immediately piqued his worry, making the young alpha pull away from his mate and walking out to his balcony. His sister needed his attention more right now, something that as rare as it was, was a hell lot more pressing than anything he could think of.

"Are you okay, Cel? Do you want me to swap with you?"

A laugh bubbles out of the witch at her brother's instant proposal.

"And subject your pack to a few days of my leadership? Half of the ranked wolves will either jump of a cliff or try to get me killed. Neither is something that I look forward to."

"Our pack. And I will like to see them try. They seem to forget, you are the heir to the pack if something happens to me. Now, what is wrong?"

Celeste sighs, knowing she is backing out from the promise she had made. But she needed answers, now that this may be a problem to not just her, but the whole species of wolves.

"I know this is something I promised to stop, but I need to go back to the hunt."

"No, absolutely no. We lost..."

"Andrea last time. I know. Trust me no one knows it better than me. But Zack, its important. I... a small pack of rogues entered a pack line in a bizarre state. They literally tore themselves and each other up. They had this blue substance, looking close to what they showed me twelve years ago. It wasn't complete back then, but maybe they had been still working on it. I have to get to the bottom of it and stop it else..."

"Else what? I don't care Cel. The whole population of the wolves could get affected for all I care, but I can not even think about you getting back in the mess again. I won't... I won't lose you to it, like we lost Andrea. You are far more important to me!"

The voices, they shrink back at his yell. Even Celeste felt her eyes widen at the anger she heard in his voice, but her heart swelled and rejoiced in the love she received. At times it was hard for her to imagine that how far she has come from the scared, emotionless lonely little girl she was.

"Zack, I promise, I will be back by tomorrow morning here. And after that, I will take a team. The whole team. Even you if you want. But please, I need to find out more about it, just to confirm whether I am right or not."

Silence answers her for a few minutes.

Minutes where she was sure she is going to receive a 'no' again. Fortunately that didn't happen.

"I want you to link yourself to me. Right now. And I swear to the moon goddess, I will march down to the place with each and every warrior I can gather if I felt so much as even a hint of hurt through the link."

The witch lets out a laugh in delight. She didn't doubt her brother for a second, knowing he was capable enough to do exactly what he said.

"I love you too, brother."

The magic inside her bubbles, electrified with the prospect of getting full reign against someone who had been the reason for the death of her beloved.

Carefully, Celeste lifts up her hood before slithering through the doors with the flow of crowd into the hotel lobby. The magnificent place was a few miles away from the Southern border of SpringFare pack, and quite a known place in the realms of super naturals.

The hotel was constructed a few years ago by the Elvian Royals as a peace treaty for every species in the world. Thus, the place was a well visited one with only one unique factor. No one asks for your identity, for the sake of keeping the biasness out.

The man Celeste was after, is said to be on the third floor from the top, in suite number seven.

Celeste snorted at the irony. The man that is one of the most wanted criminal by at least half a dozen Royal courts, is enjoying the life of ultimate luxury in the most breath taking hotel suite they can think of.

It took her a few minutes to get to her destination.

Looking for the camera, she flicked her fingers, the device moves its head to another side. Not waiting for even a second, she teleports herself inside the room.

The suite room, decked in shades of white and fancy furniture was the last of her concern. All the magic inside her was bubbling with energy at this point, and she let it take over herself.

Like someone falling deep into a sea, her body plunged into the darkness in a second and all at once.

Celeste walked up to the far right of the suite, to a door to what seems like a bedroom that had a  jacuzzi and a huge flat screen right above it. Her target sat soaked in the hot tub with his female companion, both too immersed in acts of pleasure to notice her intrusion.

Her lips pulled back in a smirk, and a flick of her finger lit up the otherwise dark room, shocking the couple.

"Who are you?"

The woman shrieked, hurrying to cover herself up while the man cursed out, "Yo-ou..."

Celeste tilts her head to the side as her sadistic side rejoiced.

"Aww, you remember me then!"

"Babe, w-who is she?"

The woman clang to the man next to her as she gazed into the eyes of the witch, her heart shuttering in fear. She herself has seen a lot of super naturals, but the eeriness surrounding her, as well as the all black eyes screamed 'Monster' to her.

"S-Sh-he is,"

The man cuts himself off as he swallows. He knows those eyes, that power. He would know it anywhere. It is the monster he helped get created.

"I am someone he owes a hell lot to."

Celeste strolls up to the bed, sitting comfortably at the edge of it. She folds her hand over her chest smiling as she saw the woman shrink further into the man for protection while the man shivers.

"What is it? The water not hot enough?"

"Φωτια" {Fire.}

The voice inside her whispers, and soon enough the water in the tub starts to sizzle, vapors rising as the two in the tub scramble to get out. Celeste fists her left hand, seizing any physical movement from the man while letting the woman jump out of the skin- searing water.

The man screams that blends with the scream coming from the woman as the smell of burning fills the room. The witch watches as the woman desperately tries to get the man out before turning to her as she yells, "Let him go! You Monster! How can you do this?"

Celeste tightens the fist controlling the man to shut him up before getting up and walking up to the woman, "But darling, you don't seem to know him really. If you had, you would have known, I am a monster that he saw getting created."

Glancing at the reddening man, Celeste felt her anger building up, "Hell he even enjoyed it as he saw me getting killed, tortured and destroyed each day. He would take part in beating me to the point I would lose control over my conscious side."

With a sigh, she makes the woman collapse before going to the withering man.

Leaning down to come to his level, she speaks with her voice low yet containing unmistakable hatred.

"You know me, Josh. You know what I am capable of. So you should know I am not lying when I say I am going to light each and every nerve of yours on fire, one at a time so you could feel the same thing your every victim felt. I will break all of your bones, then tear each muscle up and enjoy as your body begs to give up but I won't let it."

Celeste loosens her control on him enough for him to speak, backing up as tears from his eyes and slob from his nose mixes with the saliva as he begs for her to let him go, disgusted but satisfied in a sense.

"Please let me go! I swear I will do anything you want... please."

"Fine."

Celeste hated herself at that moment, but she had promised her brother that she would be back by the morning and with information. She can't let her sense of revenge get in the middle of what could be the whole species' biggest nightmare.

"I ask and you answer immediately. No thinking."

Not waiting for his reply, already knowing how low-lives like him care about their lives more than any sense of protectiveness for their leaders.

"The experiment they did, did they continue it after I destroyed the lab?"

"Ye-es. They did."

Celeste hums before deciding to lower the temperature of the water a little.

"How? I destroyed the whole building."

"I have no idea. All I know was that they had back up for everything they did."

"Who is the main leader? For who did every one of you work?"

"I don't know."

Celeste sneers, a crack sound filling the room followed by the scream of the man.

"I swear! I have no idea!"

"Alright. What was the purpose of everything back then? What was the liquid supposed to do?"

The man cries as he answers, "I was a pawn, just a head to the ones who ran around. I don't know anything, except that the pay was good and we had to keep our nose away from everything."

Another crack fills the room and this time Celeste lets her fist open, watching the man fall down on his back before flopping around to get his head above water with his now broken legs of no use.

"So who will know about it?"

"Dean! Dean Max! He gave me that job. He worked with the heads. I swear he would know! He even bragged about killing a high ranked Vampire about a year and something ago!"

Her heart stopped for a second, her magic and darkness stilling too as she realizes who that vampire may be. She prayed to the Goddess above, not sure If she wanted what she suspected to be right or not.

"What vampire?"

"I don't know, just some vampire from some pack had been snooping around. A something. Italian? Andr-"

His neck snaps as Celeste felt her stomach fall. In what seems to be a blur, she finds herself at the edge for the forest that surrounds the hotel, and the same way she starts for the pack she was visiting.