Louisa's POV
When I woke up in the morning, I found myself in a cold dark cell.
Will was in a form of a little bat, hanging upside down at the corner of the cell, and sneezed when a gust of cold breeze blew into the cell from the window.
I lost consciousness last night when Lucas strangled me and that's why I couldn't recall anything that happened after that.
I tried to move my arms and legs.
They were all intact.
That's a good sign. I thought to myself.
"Will..." I whispered.
He opened his eyes and saw me. He flapped his wings and landed on my shoulder, licking my face.
He looked exhausted and I noticed one of his wings was broken.
My heart was throbbing.
"Will, did Lucas hurt you last night?" I asked.
Will looked at me with his watery eyes. Then, he transformed into human form and held me in his arms.
"He wanted to hurt you, but I wouldn't let him. I bit him and wanted to fly away. He caught me and wanted to tear my wings! It was really painful, but it will soon heal," he said.
"Will, you shouldn't be staying with me. It's too dangerous. You need to go back to your father," I stroked his hair and said.
"I won't leave without you. You're my mom," Will buried his head in my arms and said in a muffled voice.
I lowered my head and kissed his hair.
"Will, I know you're missing your mother, but I'm not her," I said.
"I know. But I don't care." Will looked up at me and said.
Tears had already flooded all over his face.
"I have too much love, Louisa. I want you to have it," he cried out. "Please don't drive me away from you, because I will never leave you, Louisa."
"Louisa? Is that you, Louisa?" I heard a hoarse voice in the darkness.
It seemed to come from the deepest part of the darkness.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Louisa... My daughter... My precious daughter! I can't believe you're here!" that voice said.
"...Father?! Is that you, father?!" I was completely petrified.
I couldn't believe that I could meet my father again like this.
My father. Alpha Jacob from the Crimson Pack.
He was really still alive!
I crawled and stood up, following his voice while feeling my way into the darkness.
"Father! Talk to me! Father!" I exclaimed.
"Louisa, I'm here!" the voice said.
I looked everywhere in my pocket and took out Colt's lighter. I pulled the trigger and a flash of light lit the cell.
Then, I saw him.
A thin, skeleton-like old man, hanging on the wall, with arms and legs being penetrated by wooden pecks.
Even though his face was beaten so badly that it was deformed, I could still recognize his face!
It was my father's face!
Someone had nailed him on the wall!
Then, I saw the wall around him and covered my mouth.
Several corpses were nailed on the wall. Their flesh was dried and all the body fluid was evaporated. Their bodies became mummified.
Someone had literally hanged them on the wall and let them die, making them into wall decorations!
And this someone can't be anyone except Lucas.
Only he could come up with this level of cruelty and still keep living his life as if nothing had happened.
"Father! Oh, father!" I cried out. I tried to stretch out my arms and hold him, but I just couldn't do it.
He looked so thin and fragile, like a piece of torn wallpaper.
My legs became as soft as noodles and I fell to the ground.
"My daughter... I pray to the Moon Goddess every day to see you alive... And now my prayers are answered... You're really here... You've grown up so tall and beautiful... Just like your mother... I knew you would make it..." he said.
His voice was almost metallic, making my hair stand and scratching my skull.
"Father, I'm going to... I'm going to put you down... Just... Just give me a few minutes... I'll save you, father..." I flipped Colt's lighter in my hands and hoped to find something that can be used to remove the pecks.
I did it in a panic and that was why I kept dropping it to the ground.
"Don't bother... Louisa... I'm already a dead man... They tortured me and wanted to know your name... They wanted to know who you really are... But I didn't tell them... I made a mistake once by selling you to Lucas... I can't make the same mistake twice... Listen to me, Louisa... Listen very carefully... I don't have much time... left..." my father said in a trembling voice.
"Yes, father. Yes..." I lifted the lighter in my hands and said.
Tears kept falling down and they were burning my cheeks.
My father saw the ring on my finger and said, "Ah, that ring on your finger... It's Czar's Ring! Who gave it to you, Louisa?"
"Alpha Zackery from the Wind Winders, father," I replied.
"That cruel, ruthless murderer... He killed his mother and now he's trying to kill his own sister..." my father murmured.
"Father..." I was confused.
"Listen, Louisa..." he interrupted me. "You aren't my daughter... You're the daughter of the Late King Duko Hawk from the Wind Winders and Queen Tallulah from the Star Chasers... You were born to be a princess, Louisa..."
"Father... What... What?! No, it can't be it... I'm... I'm your daughter..." I was so shocked that I couldn't even believe what I'd heard.
"Listen, I'm not talking nonsense... I know what I'm talking about... Your mother was exiled by your grandmother, the Lake Red Queen Daliah... She denounced your father's marriage to your mother and declared that his marriage invalid... I can't tell you more, because it's a long story and my breath is getting short... I see your little vampire friend... You can ask his father about it and he'll tell you everything... Vampires never forget... Stay close to Lucas... He's a very bad person, but he's the only one that you can trust... Sorry, Louisa... for ignoring you all these years... It's just... I've made a promise to your mother... It has to be done... in this way... Louisa, you look just like your mother... She exchanged her life for yours... Before she died, she told me that she had regretted everything in her life except for one... And you know what? I feel the same... always..."
Then, after a long draft of wheezing sound coming from his mouth, the light in his eyes permanently dimmed.
The father, which I had never had, withered away in front of my eyes.