Chapter Twenty Five

Chapter Twenty Five
Jennifer Hunks.
I recalled Mom telling me to promise her that I should never tell my sister about it because there'll be so many repercussions, but I don't have a choice right now because that's the only way for me to survive. I know Lorena might think that I never wanted her with Alexander and I was ready to make her daughter my co-wife, but the reality is that I did all that to protect her. I know she has always seen me as the villain, but she would never understand that everything I did was because I love her.
"I want you to promise me something, Lorena." I voice out after a moment of silence.
"I'm not promising anything, Jennifer. We are sisters, for crying out loud, and you never saw the need to disclose such important information to me, but rather you kept it to yourself, and you decide to tell me now?"
I took a deep breath, understanding how she's feeling right now, but this is not the time to be emotional but rather the time to be realistic.
"Just promise me one thing."
"Don't say another word. I've had enough of your lies and deceit. Why did you keep this important part of myself away from me?"
"If I had told you, you would be a target, the same way I have been a target. I had to make an underground hideout to protect myself, and on that day that I shot you when you were about to disclose certain information to your daughter, I knew you were not going to die, but I wanted to protect you."
"From whom?" She cried, her voice sounding husky.
"From the people around you, most especially your father-in-law, the way a spell I requested the greatest witch of the west to prepare by using my blood so it can protect you, and that was the only way you could have lived a normal life...." I paused, sniffling as I took a deep breath and continued, "Mum made me promise to keep this a secret from you. She told me to protect you at all costs, and that's what I have always done. I have found myself doing the wrong things for the right reasons so I could see that you were safe, and I'm glad that you are."
She was silent, but I could hear her silent sobs through the dark. I know I need her to process everything before I request something from her. I remained quiet while waiting for her to speak first, and then after five minutes of silence, she asked, "How are we going to get out of here? Do you have a plan?"
"No, I don't, but I think the only way we can get out of here is if one of us dies, because we would manage to break the coffin, and if we do so, one must be above and the other below; the one above would be the one to suffocate while trying to dig its way out."
"But you just said we are immortals, that our wolves have a way of healing our brain-dead bodies."
"Yes, but I believe Ethan has managed to find a way to kill us permanently, and I know he'll be waiting for us above the coffin; I can feel his presence hovering over us."
"Ethan, what does he want from us? Hasn't he already done enough damage?" She asked, her voice sounding hoarse and almost defeated.
"Then let's just wait until he's gone."
I laughed, finding the whole thing amusing. "If it's about escaping, I'll have escaped myself. I wouldn't have thought of calling out to your wolf, but his presence lingers everywhere. He knows your every move, and one wrong mistake, you will be dead. For that reason, I had to stay back because I want you to leave this place alive and find your daughter. After all, it's Ethan's intention for Margaret to be killed without him being suspected. I realized his plan soon enough; that's why I decided to help both of them to escape. They managed to escape, only for him to arrive and pour a powder on my face, which gave him control over me, and I found myself conforming to his words."
"What do you mean?"
"I meant, I fell from the story building while my mind was controlled by him, and he came to explain everything like he was the victim. I watched, but there was nothing I could do. While I was buried, only then did I realize that it was a plan all along; he wanted all three of us dead. He had already planned that Denise would be bitten by a snake so that Margaret would have no other option but to risk her life to go to the greatest witch so she could be killed by her. That's the reason why I called you here, because only here can I tell you everything about Ethan without having the power to wipe away all your memories after hearing everything."
I saw her gasp in shock; it was more like she didn't expect everything I had told her. Then I started hearing a sobbing sound coming from her. She violently started hitting the coffin while trying to get out. "Please, let's get out of here. I can't let anything happen to my daughter. I don't want that bastard to take my daughter away from me. He has already done enough damage."
I had to hold her hand tightly while encouraging her to keep calm. "Right now is not the time to be emotional; it is the time to act both logically and fast because very soon your child, Margaret, will be killed if you don't act fast, and that's the reason why I want you to be the one to survive."
"No... no, that can't be; there must be another way. I have already lost many people in my life; I can't lose you, Jennifer," she blurted out, her voice trembling as her body slightly shuddered.
My hand tightened around hers while encouraging her, "I'm sorry to say this, but that's the only way. There isn't another way, because only you can save my Margaret. I know I have done a lot of shit that I'm not proud of, but that won't stop me from loving you. That's why I want you to promise me something."
She immediately stopped sobbing as she said, "No, I'm not going to promise anything. We are both leaving this place alive, and I'll make sure that nothing happens to you so that you can fulfill your promises yourself."
My hand was wrapped around hers as I said again, "Promise me that you will take care of Denise and Salvador like your children. I recall the day I saved them when they were wandering aimlessly without hope, and I decided to raise them. Just take care of them like they are yours."
"No..."
Before she could continue what she was saying, I immediately closed my eyes, and then I harnessed my power from within before I managed to transform into my wolf, bursting the ground open. It took all my strength to carry out that single act, and then, as expected, I saw Ethan was already standing there waiting for me.
'Now Lorena, please run and don't look back. It is not for me but for the sake of your only daughter, Margaret.' I sent her a mind link before I lunged at Ethan, who already had a dagger in hand. I noticed the dagger was smeared with blood, and there was a corrosive smell on it; my wolf could perceive it.
Fortunately, Lorena managed to climb out of the grave and started running as if her life depended on it. It gladdens me that he had listened to me, then I jumped forward, and when he lodged the dagger forward towards my tummy, I dodged his assault by finding myself to the right of his direction.
"You bitch, you double-crossed me." He sounded infuriated as he angrily lunged again, but I still managed to dodge him. Then he stopped and closed his eyes, which baffled me, and then he surprised me by lunging at me with so much speed and precision. Thankfully, I still managed to dodge his assault before he exchanged the dagger from his right to his left and pierced the dagger right through my tummy.
I stopped moving, I looked down, blood dripping, and my wolf let out a painful cry of pain, and then I felt Lorena stop running, almost like she felt my pain. I found myself slowly transforming back to my human self as I sent her a mind link, 'Don't stop running, don't turn back, make sure that you are safe, and always remember that I love you.' I could feel her as she continued running, which made me let out a deep breath of relief.
"You think you are an immortal, right? Gratefully, I have already designed a weapon that you won't be able to survive this time."
"Come closer." I voice out gently.
"Uh?"
"I said come closer; I want to tell you something."
He leaned closer to me, then I whispered to his ear, "Die, you son of a bitch." I swiftly withdrew the dagger from me as I sank it into him. My action was so fast that he didn't see it coming. He stood up; he started coughing blood. While staggering back, his hair started falling off, and his skin turned pale right in front of my eyes.
I felt the same thing happening to me. I can't comprehend how strong the poison that was laced on the dagger was, but it was shutting down and drying out my organs in seconds.
I saw myself withering away, only to see something I didn't expect from Ethan. I noticed his skin was peeling away, and a younger version of someone entirely different was regenerating. He let out heart-wrenching laughter as he said, "Did you think that you could kill me?"
He adjusted himself and turned to leave and said something that made me horrified: "Lorena is mine, and nothing can stop that. Now I'm not Ethan; I'm Kyle, and I'll hunt Lorena down even if it means I'll have to go to the ends of the earth."
When those words escaped his lips, I felt my heart stop beating and saw it was my wolf, my wolf that has always been the one to heal me, but now she's gone.