The void of endless darkness

Isabella's Point Of View

AFTER A LITTLE STROLL with Gem gathering magical herbs and ingredients I needed for a spell, now I was headed to the witches quarters. I needed a stimulant to help my mind so I could easily find a spell that could help break the pack's curse, and these herbs I gathered would help me be more relaxed and concentrated.

We didn't have much time, I needed to find this spell to free the pack before the blood moon rises. My dream was a constant reminder that the worst was yet to come, not if I can fix it all.

I was in the witches cemetery with the siphon twins; Dixie and Alexa. They were working on a potion, on Celeste orders, while I combed through every page of my family's Grimoire. I sipped from my magic tea while I flipped through its pages, I needed focus.

***

It's been an eternity already!

I've been at this for forever and I have gone through every single page in this book but still I couldn't find anything on how to break the curse.

This couldn't be right, I know my mother led me to find her grimoire for a reason. She wanted me to find something important. There had to be something I was missing.

"Okay, we need a break!" Alexa exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. She wasn't wrong, we girls had been in here for hours without even taking anything as much as a potty break.

"We have been cooked up in here for five long hours. I need some air and some food." Alexa said. I didn't realize how much time had flown by.

"You're right. Let's call it a day, it's going to be really dark soon, remember the pack still has an enforceable curfew." Dixie muttered in agreement. Ever since the red circle attack, the pack followed a strict nine pm curfew. No wolf or witch was allowed to be found moving around after such hours. It was just a safety precaution, Dimitri said it would be abolished after the curse was broken.

Dixie looked over to where I sat with a look of worry drowning her forest green eyes. "Luna, it's getting late, why don't you call it a day?"

"No, you two go ahead. I'll just stay back a while and continue searching." I replied, forcing a weak smile.

I couldn't leave, not without the spell, but I appreciated her thoughtfulness though, she always seemed to look out for everyone as much as she could.

"Any luck with your family grimoire? Any spells on black magic?" Alexa asked as she walked up beside me, taking a look at the grimoire.

"No. All I can find are basic level spells and nature magic instructions. Nothing in here that can help with breaking curses, just a bunch of blank pages." I say, unable to hide my disappointment. I really hoped that there would be something in here that could tell me how to break the curse.

"Celeste once told me that some things we seek aren't hidden, they are just waiting to be discovered." Dixie said, taking the grimoire from her twin, she looked closer at the blank empty pages.

"Oh wow, sister. Day by day you begin to sound more and more like Celeste." Alexa jokes.

"There's a lot to learn from her." Dixie replied to Alexa.

"No thanks. There are rumors that Celeste used to practice black magic long before Alpha found her." Alexa inputted. Was that true? Celeste didn't seem like a witch with dark magic to me.

"Come on Alexa, those are just false rumors. Celeste condemns dark magic, she wouldn't practice it." Dixie rolled her eyes at her sister before facing back at me.

"Isabelle, maybe there is something hidden in these empty pages that is just waiting for you to discover it." She handed over the grimoire to me.

"Okay we are going now. Hope you find what you are looking for." The twins left the cemetery.

Dixie might just be right, maybe there is something hidden in these pages, there must be a reason for them. If so, how do I find it?

I close the old book and read the inscriptions on the grimoire dark green cover.

'BLOOD IS KEY.'

They weren't just inscriptions. They were instructions. Immediately I understood what I needed to do.

I pricked my thumb with my ear ring and poured droplets of my blood on the blank pages and I was shocked by what happened next.

The previously blank pages were no longer empty. Suddenly writings in crimson blood formed filling up all the pages.

Dixie was right, they weren't hidden, just waiting for me to discover.

My eyes glance through each page, soaking in every spell. These pages in my family's grimoire, dated back to three thousand years ago. There were dark spells in these pages that witches had condemned and abolished, some spells most witches wouldn't even dare to attempt-- Blood rituals, hoodoo, voodoo, sacrificial magic, representational magic, necromancy, hexes and curses-- there were spells in here to break blood curses. My eyes instantly catch the spell to unbind Dimitri and the pack. These spells can break the curse.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. I now had the spell to save the pack. All I needed to do now was to wait for the blood moon to perform the ritual. The blood moon had the immense energy I needed to channel to break the curse.

On the next page, there was a painting of a young girl. She had big blue eyes and long blond hair. Looking at her picture felt like I was looking into a mirror, the resemblance between the two of us was uncanny. We shared a lot of resemblance except for the fact that she had a dark and somber look and was dressed in a black attire. I couldn't explain the attraction I got, pulling me to her like a moth to a flame.

Below the portrait read-- "Lady Namek of Gadot... The void of endless Darkness." I felt chills crawl all over my skin.

The Darkness from my dream. The one the Fates warned me about

'THE DARKNESS WILL SCOUR THE EARTH LIKE A PLAGUE.' I replay the Fates words again in my head. This was the endless darkness they warned about.

What was a picture of this woman--the darkness-- doing in my family grimoire? I turned open another page and I saw another drawing, one of the black onyx pendant that my mother gave to me to protect and the pendant that Yennefer successfully retrieved for my aunt Delilah during the red circle's attack.

In the pages they referred to it as a 'Lantrix'--It was a prison world formed and created by my ancestor, Jósephine Santacruz, using the blood of the three trinity; a witch, a werewolf and a vampire.

"The pendant was a prison dimension used to seal the greatest evil of all, Namek my daughter." I read the words written by Jósephine in the Grimoire.

Namek was her daughter and the greatest evil. That means Namek was a Santacruz witch.

These pages were written by Jósephine, three thousand years ago. She wrote about her pain and the sacrifices she had to make by being a Santacruz witch and a mother. The pages were written in an old language, that surprisingly I was able to understand and read the contents.

'The land of Gadot has never been peaceful like the past few years...' I continued reading.

'Finally for the first time it seemed as though all three supernatural kinds could live and coexist together-- The vampires, werewolves and witches-- had just recently formed a coalition which would lead to peace between all factions for years to come. The countless wars were finally over and peace was finally an option, but how badly was I wrong about that. This was only the beginning of the calamity that came next.'

I pause, taking a second to prepare myself for whatever was coming next.

'Everything went wrong when the vampires began to go missing. Three vampires from very powerful descent went missing. If only I knew about what was going to happen next sooner, maybe I could have stopped it all. Maybe I could have averted all the bloodshed.

The vampires pointed fingers to their long time blood rivals, the werewolves. The vampires suspected they had something to do with the missing vampires, thus threatening to destroy our newly formed coalition. Konstantine, the Primordial vampire overlord, gave us just ten moons to figure out who was responsible or else the alliance was over.

The witches and I investigated, trying to catch the culprit but whoever was responsible was careful in covering their tracks. Several location spells were done to find the missing vampires but none worked. It was as if those vampires never existed to begin with. They weren't cloaked, they were warded off by powerful magic

Soon, three lycan werewolves went missing. This sparked a lot of heat because it was perceived as a retaliation from the vampires and as expected the werewolves went to war against the vampires.

The coalition ended that day and the only hope for peace between vampires and werewolves was gone. That day a new war began between lycans and vampires, one I don't think will ever end.

But I knew neither of them were responsible for the missing people, this was the work of a witch. So I kept on searching for the missing people.

Next, three witches went missing. I had anticipated this to happen. Luckily this time I was able to cast a spell to trace the missing witches in time. I was able to track them to an abandoned church. This was when I realized this wasn't the doing of no ordinary witch, this was done by a very powerful witch, it was done by a Santacruz bloodline.' I paused, turning to the next page.

'This was done by my daughter, Namek. She was the one responsible for the missing vampires, werewolves and witches. I found all of them there, they were still alive, just they were in a deep sleep and a sacrificial symbol was carved on their forehead. I recognized the sigil, it was a dark spell used to perform the rite of nine.

The Rite of Nine is an ancient ritual fueled by sacrificial magic that allows the witch who performs it to channel the magical power of their offering of nine powerful species, used to augment the witch's power. The rite requires the sacrifice of three different powerful species --preferably a vampire, werewolf and a witch-- who are first all linked to the witch performing the ritual using a sigil to channel the magic of each of the nine species. Afterward, the immense amount of magical power gained by the witch performing the ritual is believed to elevate them to a level of strength unlike any other witch.

But now I was already too late. Namek had completed the ritual, now she had access to an endless Darkness. It consumed her making her the greatest witch to have ever existed.

My coven decided we had to stop her before she fully emerged, then she would be unstoppable.

We launched an attack but even still we were no match for her Darkness. She was still too powerful.

She massacred thousands of witches, gaining all their powers. That day my daughter became a void of endless Darkness.

There was only one thing I could do, it was the only way I could think of to stop her, if she couldn't be killed at least I could keep her caged.

I created a prison world, alternate to ours with magical black onyx crystals. The vampires and werewolves helped by infusing the crystals with enough magic to hold any immortal being for eternity.

I led the battle against my own daughter. I was able to subdue Namek, banishing her into the prison world, locking her up and using Namek's own blood as the key to ensure she wouldn't be let out.

Whatever happens she mustn't be let out, it is the duty of the black stone coven and the Santacruz bloodline to make sure she never gets out of the prison world, or all hell would be loose and the world would perish in chaos and darkness.' I finished reading the last line of Jósephine's memoir.

The pendant is the prison holding Namek from reaching out into the world.

What does aunt Delilah want with it? Deep down I knew the answer to that question.

She wanted to let the darkness out. That's what she has been after all this time.

That's why she returned back to the coven and killed everyone, mother wouldn't allow her to set Namek free.

If Namek is set free the whole world will return to darkness, there would be chaos everywhere. That can't happen, I have to stop it all from happening. I needed to stop her.

***Author's note***

Hi guys! Hope you are enjoying the chapter so far, there's still a lot to be done with so little time. Next chapter is going to be a lot to handle.

As always don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts, I'm always looking forward to reading your comments.

Soundtrack: Death bed by Powfu