The Damned Princess

After breakfast, Jay told me that we’re going out in fifteen minutes. I was wearing a short but cute high waist black skirt with thigh-high stocking socks and a crop maroon sweater, but not too crop. The sweater was not that thick so I took a black leather jacket with me, just in case it gets too cold. I wore my high heeled ankle boots and went downstairs.

Mr. and Mrs. Hunter were in the living area, “enjoy your day Sienna, both of you be home before seven for dinner” she shouted from there. “Okay Mrs. Hunter, bye”, I said and left I could hear her complaining to not call her Mrs. Hunter.

When I was out, I saw Jay was already there waiting for me in his convertible ford mustang. I whistled “nice car”, he laughed and opened the door for me. When we were in he asked, “so where do you want to go first, the statue of liberty, central park, empire state building is good at night but if you want we can go now”.

I stopped him “I don’t want to go to any of these places, I’ve seen all these, and its thanksgiving all these places will be crowded”. “So, you tell me anything then”, he said. I thought and smiled “take me to the places that mean something to, like your favorite hangout places your high school, anywhere”. He smiled warmly at me and said “yes mam”. I just rolled my eyes at him.

He took me to a lot of places and told me about a lot of memories from those places. His high school, places where he and his friends hung out, and then the special small pizza place where only he and Dylan would go.

He told me that it was like their private place. He took me in there and the place had one of the best pizzas I have ever eaten and I am Italian. It was so great to know about his past life and the memories he’s so fond of. I could see in his eyes that he misses some of it.

The last place we went to was this secluded but really nice children’s park. There was a small lake on the edges and the view with the sun getting lower was beautiful. We were sitting on the swing sets and admiring the view. When I turned towards him, he looked lost in his own world. I could feel that this place is the most special to him. I remember him telling me that he used to go to parks with his grandfather when he was little.

I asked softly “did you come here with your grandfather”. He had a sad smile on his face, “yes, the ones near our house were always crowded so he’d drive me here. Sometimes when both mom and dad were free, we all would come here for like a picnic”. I could see on his face how much he misses his grandfather but I did not say anything.

He continued “you know being an only child becomes a lot boring but grandpa made sure to always be there for me. He’d play with me, he fed me, he taught me so many things, for days I wouldn’t see mum dad because there were busy with their work but I never felt lonely because of him”.

I got up and went behind his swing. He was sitting still on it so I put my hands around his neck and hugged him. He leaned on me; I know I should not do this but I could not stop myself. He’s my mate and being in each other’s presence helps to ease the pain.

The sun was going down and it was really beautiful to look at. We were there like that for quite a bit but then we had to leave for dinner. He stood up and said, “come on let’s go or mom would beat us both”. I laughed at him. We were at his place fifteen minutes before seven so his mom was fine.

The moment we entered Mrs. Hunter said “change of plans, your aunt and uncle will be joining us for dinner because their children didn’t make it home”, she looked at me and said, “Sienna, honey I’m sorry if you feel uncomfortable but we had no plans with them when we invited you”. “No, Mrs. Hunter I’m totally fine, they’re your family you don’t have to worry about me”, I said. “You’re such a sweet girl”, she said and hugged me. She then sent us both to our rooms to get freshened up.

After about half an hour we were all sitting on the huge dining table in the huge backyard. I just had a small talk with Jay’s aunt and uncle. When the dinner was served, I quietly ate because I felt like an outsider in a family gathering but I did not say anything because Jay’s mom already apologized to me and I did not want her to do it again. I just listened to them, also I heard a lot of childhood stories about Jayson which he really did not want them to talk about.

After the long dinner was over, Jay excused himself and went inside and after a while, I also left. I went upstairs and saw Jayson’s door was open so I thought of saying good night to him but he was not in his room. He was not even downstairs, I looked around and saw a light on in one of the room’s which nobody uses. I went there and quietly opened the door, he was sitting there in front of a trunk and had lots of things around him.

Before I could say anything, he turned around and said “come on in Amore, it’s my grandpa’s room”. He had a sad look on his face, I quietly went and sat beside him but did not say anything. After a while, he said, “I didn’t let anybody touch his stuff after he passed away and didn’t even have the guts to do it myself”.

I looked at the stuff, there were some picture albums, some dairies, some photos. I picked up an album and asked him “may I”. He nodded his head as an answer. The first few pages were baby pictures of Jayson; he was so cute and chubby. The next few were their family pictures; some were of the park where he took me today.

To the end of it, there were some really old photos, some were of a one really beautiful woman who Jay told me was his grandma. She passed away before Jay was born. The last few pages had black and white pictures, they were not clear and I could not identify who was who.

Jay picked up a really old book, it looked like a journal. The front of it had E. C. Hunter written on it. I don’t know why it felt a little familiar to me but I did not say anything because I have seen pictures and I have never seen his grandfather before. He opened it and there was a symbol made on it, I was sure I have seen it before, but I could not remember where.

He kept turning pages, there were things written in German inside it but before I could read he flipped through the pages and closed it saying “I guess this belongs to me great-great-grandfather”, he looked at me and continued “my grandpa was named after him only and I heard a lot of stories of how he’s seen and fought monster” and chuckled at the thought.

My eyes widened, when he said “you know, my ancestors were nomads and they also lived in Italy for some time but a long before your time though”. “What was his name”, I asked in a barely audible tone. “Edmund Claiborne Hunter”, he said and it hit me hard like a brick. He kept on going “my whole name is Jayson Claiborne Hunter but I don’t use my middle name”.

Everything blurred after that, my brain joined the dots of the name and the symbol and Italy and all of it came back to me.

“Ti abbiamo lasciato vivere sulla nostra terra e abbiamo osato attaccare la nostra gente” (we let you live on our land and you dared to attack our people) I said to him in a sinister tone. He kept staring into my eyes which made me more furious “e guarda la principessa negli occhi” (and you have the guts to look at the princess in the eyes).

“Non sei la nostra principessa, per noi sei solo un mostro” (You’re not our princess, for us you’re just a monster) he answered looking at me in disgust. I smirked “bene, lo sono anch’io” (well I am that too). A low growl left my throat, him and his men took out their silver weapons, I gestured my people to step back because they knew I wanted to have my fun.

Without even changing into my lycan I ripped all of them apart in a few seconds leaving the leader alive for last. “Non sono come il licantropo che hai ucciso” (I’m not like the werewolf you killed) I smirked. I could see the fear on his face now.

He threw his silver knife straight at my heart but I caught it before it could touch me. “Sono più forte, sono più veloce, sono peggio” (I am stronger, I am faster, I am worse). My eyes turned red and my growl thundered in his house, before he could move, I ripped all his limbs apart and then tore his head from his body.

Everything was silent, I looked around and saw a little boy standing there staring at me. I was covered in blood but he did not look afraid of me. I went to him and his mother came from behind and started crying and begging to let her son go. I gestured her to stand back. “Perché hai ucciso mio padre?” (why did you kill my father) he asked.

“Ha ucciso persone innocenti, l’ho punito” (he killed innocent people, I punished him) I answered him. “Ucciderai anche me” (will you kill me too) he asked. I knelt down in front of him and asked “come ti chiami, ragazzo?” (what’s your name boy). “Edmund Claiborne Hunter” he said proudly.

Jayson shook me hard “Sienna, you zoned out, are you okay”. My eyes widened, I moved away from him and said “I-I’m going, to s-sleep” and left hurriedly. I went to my room and locked the door, I could not breathe, it felt like someone punched me hard in the gut.

I have murdered my own mate’s ancestors. There is no way he will ever accept me. Tears were flowing down my face. He will never forgive me for the sins I have committed, I was trying to breathe but I could not, my throat felt like it was contracting.

The visions of what happened ages ago were flowing through my mind. The little boy, all the people I killed that day. The name Claiborne Hunter was ringing in my ears. I realized I was having a panic attack; it hadn’t happened in decades.

I was trying to focus on something like Liam used to tell me but my mind was not letting me. The flashback wouldn’t stop. I tried to get to my phone to call Liam, but I could not. Lack of oxygen was making me dizzy; my legs could not take my weight anymore and I collapsed, my hands were not working. I could not speak and call out for help. There was this pain shooting through me and when my body could not handle anymore everything went black.