THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE 17K FOLLOWERS ON WATTPAD! I am seriously shook!

Therefore, here's a little surprise update as a thank you! Second chapter in Karina's POV. Love you guys!

IMPORTANT NOTE: This chapter is taking place in Canada on the Shadow Side, at the same time that chapter 58 is taking place in the US on the Werewolf side. Its one day before Suzzanah and the others leave for Dublin.

The phenomenal cover above was made by alicesingh31. Thanks sweetheart!

PLEASE DO NOT COPY MY WORK! If I find any followers copying my work, I will immediately REPORT and MUTE you. Do NOT test my patience or take advantage of my friendliness. You have been warned.

This chapter is unedited so please excuse the grammatical errors. Enjoy!

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Karina's POV

Its beginning...

Bright moonlight shone through the giant french windows in my room, drenching the darkness in an eerie silver gleam.

I sat on the floor with my back pressed to the wall in a dark corner, next to the door of the room. With my knees pulled in to my chest and arms wrapped around my legs, I sat quietly. Despite being summer time, it was unusually cold tonight.

Or maybe that's just me...

On the table right beside my bed was a candle-holder bearing three burning candles. The flames that danced on the candle-wicks were beautiful yet unnerving, their characteristic aura unmistakable, or so I hoped.

There were more burning candles too, on the table on the other side of the bed, and also atop the desk where I did my writing. Their orange-red glow lit up one side of the room, while the other was bathed in silver moonbeams, creating a stark contrast that made the two halves of my room look like two different chambers.

"I've always loved...fire"

His words echoed in the darkest corners of my mind, and I shuddered involuntarily, chills running down my spine. If he came today, he would surely appreciate the lighting of my room.

Outside my room, the corridors were deathly silent, even though I knew that they were far from empty. There were dark creatures lurking around every corner of this unearthly castle. Creatures you saw and yet didn't.

But they see you...

Even though my balcony doors were closed, I could hear the wild wind howling outside, as though announcing the coming of a big storm.

Perhaps tonight wasn't the best night for what I had planned to do, but before we left for Dublin tomorrow, I needed to do this.

At least once, just to be sure.

Although my eyes stayed unmoving from the dark night sky that I could see through the french windows in my room, the entirety of my mind was revolving elsewhere.

My thoughts were numerous- some usual and some not, and yet all so incomplete.

Questions...

All my life, I had made sure that before I went ahead with anything major, I had the answers to all my questions. I didn't like not being sure of the future I chose for myself.

I didn't like...not knowing.

And yet right now in my life, I had to admit, I didn't know anything. There was nothing that was absolutely certain of. Nothing, except that Suzzanah was my sister...

And that I...wasn't entirely human.

And perhaps...neither is she...

Raising one hand up to my face, I stared at the finger I had bandaged up just a few minutes ago. The cut had been a little deeper than I had thought, and it had stung like a mofo up until just a short while ago. But now, I couldn't feel a thing.

I guess I didn't need the bandage after all.

Releasing a ragged breath, I pressed my hand over my chest, feeling the erratic yet strong beating of my heart against my palm. Somehow, growing up, doing this had always been reassuring to me.

Maybe, I was making sure that I was still alive.

Maybe I had to, because I had lost track now of how many, many times...I had died.

My thoughts were interrupted when there was a distinct shuffling outside the door of my room and my back stiffened, knowing that the guard outside my room had just stood up.

Soon, the unmistakable sound of heavy footsteps belonging to multiple people filled the corridor behind me and my eyebrows rose ever so slightly.

So...they're patrolling in their human forms today are they?

My eyes immediately shot to my giant King sized-bed where my friend lay sleeping, the covers pulled over her head and dark hair like mine spilling out from underneath them.

I felt a hint of guilt for doing this without telling her about it. But this was something only I could do, and involving her would only create more opportunities for failure. Because at this point of time, if I wanted my plan to work, the only person I could rely on, was myself.

I took a deep breath, and rubbed my arms up and down. Goosebumps formed on my skin, despite me telling myself a thousand times, that I'm not afraid.

Because I am.

But...that's okay.

I had spent many long days preparing myself for this moment, mentally, physically and in every other way possible. And up until just a few minutes ago, I was almost a little excited, but now, when the time had finally come, I couldn't help but feel nervous.

The heavy footsteps approached my door, getting closer and closer with every passing second. I hugged myself tighter, keeping my eyes glued to candle flames that danced in the dark, their light casting eerie shadows all across one side of my room.

It's almost time...

I felt a new presence behind the door of my room, unfamiliar, but I knew it was another Shadow Guard. And just as his footsteps came to a halt outside my door, I bit my lip hard and fisted my palms.

Not a second later, the clock-tower struck 12 AM.

With that, the ominous silent night was filled with echoes of the giant pendulum rocking to and fro, as it began to announce the hour, needing to ring 12 times to signify the time.

One...

I sensed the shadow guard's aura change as his human form transformed into his dark side.

Two...

I heard the faint shuffle against the carpet underneath the entrance. And then, a dark form began to slide out from underneath the closed door on my left.

Three...

I held my breath, feeling familiar dread rise up from deep inside of me as I watched the guard's dark forme d'ombre re-assume the shape of his natural body.

Four...

And now, with the doors still sealed shut, there was a tall dark male standing inside my room, less than a foot away from where I was sitting.

Five...

His shadowy head turned to look at the girl lying on the bed. His eyes glowed an iridescent amber as he took a few steps closer to her.

Six...

His dark form then observed each glowing candle and burning flame silently, before staring at the dark shadows they cast on the walls, his not being one of them.

Seven...

He turned back to give the girl one last look, before turning back to the door from underneath which he had just slithered into my room.

Eight...

He bent on one knee, ready to slide back out from underneath the door. And just when I was about to let out a breath of relief, his head suddenly whipped to my side and his eyes met mine.

Nine...

For me, at this point, it was like time had stopped ticking. That the world had stopped spinning. And I had stopped breathing.

The dark shadow's amber eyes stared right at my brown ones, his glowing orbs burning into mine with a heat that rivaled that of the flames.

Ten...

But then I heard the clock's distinctive gong once again, and I realized that nothing had stopped moving. Except for me.

Even as my brown eyes stared into the shadow's eerie glimmering terrifying ones, I remained stone-faced, unblinking and unmoving.

Eleven...

A raspy, unearthly hiss escaped his lips, distinctly sounding like a grunt of disapproval. Then, he turned back to the door and slid out of my room from underneath it again.

Twelve...

And everything fell silent once more.

I sat there staring at the door with blank eyes, even though my heart was ready to explode inside of me.

Outside, I heard one guard ask the other, "All okay?"

The other one grunted, "Yeah. She is asleep"

A moment later I heard all the people outside begin to walk away, down the long corridor. My room was always the last stop during night patrols, and after they were done with it, the guards usually left to take a 10 minute break before resuming their posts.

I listened quietly as their heavy footsteps sounding more and more distant as the seconds ticked by. Soon, it was just me alone with my thoughts again, along with an undeniable sense of sheer satisfaction.

Exhaling a ragged breath, I turned my head to my right to find my high-beam safety-light hanging off its strap from my wardrobe door handle next to me. My lips slowly curled into a smile before I finally let myself relax again, my body slumping against the wall behind me in relief as I placed my hand over my heart again.

You came through for me, I thought, tapping my chest gently.

But even though one of the hard parts of my plan was over, the toughest was still to come, and the night was far from over.

Not wasting another second, I pushed myself to my feet and turned to the door. Leaning in, I listened closely to see if I could hear anyone coming or going. And when I didn't, I reached out and slowly twisted and pulled the doorknob.

The door opened soundlessly.

With my heart in my hands, I slowly peeked outside to make sure that the coast was clear. And when I was certain of it, I hurried outside, quickly closed the door behind me and dashed into the moonlit corridor.

The Magnifis Castle was like a ginormous maze that curled and contorted to its whim and fancy. I felt like no part of it ever looked exactly the same when you saw it a second time, or maybe that was because I had only been here a few days.

And despite my short stay, there was one place in particular I had never forgotten the location of. And I had mentally land-marked it in my head with the help of a particular decorative item that hadn't changed whereabouts since I had got here.

I was an interior designer after all.

As quietly as I could, I sped down corridor after corridor, trying as hard as I could to find one particular stairway. And as I ran, somewhere in the back of my mind, I wondered what Suzzanah would say if she knew what I was doing.

Growing up, I had always been the rebellious sister who got away with everything, and she had always been the sweet obedient sister who still somehow managed to get into all sorts of crazy shit.

I knew she would freak out if she found out that I was breaking rules big-time tonight, and that if I got caught doing what I was doing, I would get into a world of trouble.

Dangerous trouble

But some risks were worth taking, and I knew in my gut that this was one of them.

I knew she would understand if I got time to sit down and talk to her about it, or do that strange mindlink mumbo-jumbo we had done the other day. But ever since then, I had tried time and time again, but I hadn't been able to speak to her through telepathy.

My blood still boiled when I thought about what those so called colleagues of her had put her through. If I ever got my hands on them, when I was done even their own mamas wouldn't be able to recognize them.

And I'm so looking forward to it!

Finally finding a stairway that looked somewhat like the one I had been searching for, I looked around to make sure no one was around before dashing up the stairs. This particular stairway, if my calculation was right, spiraled through the the tallest towers of the Royal Magnifis Castle. I had only taken this stairway once since I had gotten here, and I was going the right way.

With every few steps I took, a new shadow seemed to glissade eerily past my sprinting frame, and even though I was far more used to it now than when I had first discovered their existence, there was not a single occasion when it didn't manage to creep the living daylights out of me.

Regardless, I kept my eyes on the prize which I would hopefully find at the top of these stairs.

My sense of direction was good. At least, it was better than Suzzanah's. That girl could get lost in her own room. How on Earth was she even managing with the extensive and vast woods I had heard were all around her workplace?

And lets not forget the Werewolf beasts that she was working for...

Zuerien Kai Royale

A wave of anxiety washed over me when that man's name flashed in my mind.

He was a young and handsome business tycoon that the world could not stop gushing over. CEO of the prestigious Royale Industries, heir and owner of extensive properties and unimaginable wealth, all at the very fresh age of twenty-four.

But that wasn't what I was concerned about. Not at all. No my concern was the part of his identity that not many humans were aware of, but that everyone in the Supernatural world shuddered at the knowledge of.

CEO Zuerien Kai Royale was better known as Alpha Zuerien Kai Royale, King of all Werewolves and one of the most revered Supernaturals in all the world. It seemed that the man was so insanely powerful that there were only two, maybe three other Supernaturals in the whole world who could come close to matching his strength.

That was apparently also the reason why a lot Supernaturals secretly called him the 'Hercules of all Supernaturals'.

But here, on the Shadow Side, his name was not uttered without the utmost care. It was something of a taboo. If the Shadow Lord found out someone had been speaking about him, it would not take him even a second to dispose of the culprit.

Because that man, the great Alpha King, was the Shadow People's greatest enemy, dark and dangerous - he was much like Terrence himself, only difference being that I had never, ever seen Terrence lose his temper, whereas Alpha Zuerien's temper was known to be savagely lethal.

I didn't know much, seeing as speaking about the man was absolutely forbidden, but from the little that Antoine and Leah had told me about him, it seemed that even though his human side was fiercely formidable, it was his wolf who one must never ever make the mistake of messing with.

Kai, as I believe he was called, was by far the most feared werewolf royal of all time. Nobody ever spoke of what exactly it was about the wolf that was so unbelievably fearsome, but Antoine had once told me, that if anyone could come close to Terrence's level of darkly intimidating, it was him.

My jaw clenched as I continued my ascent with as much vigour as I could muster. I wasn't someone who was easily intimidated, but the thought of that Alpha King never failed to make me nervous. Because for some reason, Anna always seemed to be around him!

She had always had the tendency to see the good in people, but some people were just too dangerous to be involved with. And he was one of them, Alpha Zuerien Kai Royale. He was no ordinary Royal.

I knew because of the scary title he was known by, here in the Shadow world. The title he had earned. He was the one who brought death to a Shadower's doorstep. He was,

'The Shadow Reaper'

I held back an almost involuntary shudder in recollection of his title, my throat feeling dryer by the second. Ordinarily I would be happy there was someone out there who could compete with the Shadow King, but my sister happened to be in the care of that deadly beast! This blood feud sort of situation that both these Supernatural species had going on, was not something I wanted either of us to be involved in!

But I wonder...if that'll be possible anymore though...

I cringed at that thought before noticing that I had been running around the castle for a good half an hour or more now, and I still wasn't as out of breath as I normally would be. My stamina had always been pretty great, but ever since I started realizing that I had a few abilities that normal humans didn't, I felt like that stamina had upped by a good 50% or so.

Being an abnormal human had its perks after all.

Like the whole super-healing thing I suddenly have going on.

Or the fact that I can run much faster than I ever had before.

Or the fact that I felt like I saw Suzzanah here in Toronto the day before yesterday!

But then, that last one might have just been me being paranoid.

Or not...

Either way, I knew there was a lot of unexplored potential inside of me, which I needed to understand better and fast. Because I wasn't the only one who had caught onto my non-human traits.

He had too. Terrence Magnifis. And I was quite sure he was planning on using them somehow to his own advantage.

For whatever vendetta he has against these Royale Werewolves.

I knew he hated the Werewolves just as much as they probably hated him, but hating them still meant showing some kind of interest in them. And the thing about Terrence Magnifis' interest was...there was always an element of fascination involved.

In all the time that I had known him, if there was anything I had learnt about him, it was that Terrence was the kind of man who was not very easily intrigued, and even when he was, he was just as easily bored. It took a lot to get his attention- be it the good kind or the bad kind- and even harder to keep it.

And the Werewolves had managed to do so for over a decade now, which meant they definitely possessed something that fascinated him. Something nobody really knew of. And something he wanted.

Its a game, I thought to myself, fearfully, Its a game...of hide and seek

A game he enjoys more than anything else.

When that thought crossed my mind, my blood ran cold in my veins. Because deep deep down, in the core of my soul, in a place I didn't care to often visit, I knew I was afraid of him. Genuinely afraid of him.

He was the first and only man I had ever truly feared.

And yet you're here breaking his rules, in his castle, trying to sneak a peek at his property. That's basically the same as deliberately putting your ass through his bedroom window and asking him to spank it!

He wants you to do it!

I ignored my own common sense and kept running, ignoring the sharp chills of terror that tore down my spine one after the other. Because although the risk I was taking was grave, I had come too far to turn around now. And also because...

I needed to know...

After what seemed like a thousand and ten steps, I finally reached the top of the tower which then led to where I needed to get. My eyes, which had now grown accustomed to the darkness, didn't take long to find the rich ornamental tapestry of black, blues and golds that hung opposite to a large open window, glowing a luminescent silver in the moonlight. And I immediately felt victorious.

Yes! I took the right path!

Having not a second to spare, I dashed down the hallway in front of me. If I wasn't wrong, the room I was searching for was the last one down this corridor.

Sure enough, it was. I recognized the gaudy weapon shaped handles on the ginormous pair of doors immediately. But of course, I also didn't fail to notice how tightly shut the doors looked to be. And soon enough, I found my worst fear to be true.

The doors were indeed locked, and all my efforts had been in vain.

All the hopes I had built up came crashing down and immediately I felt a strange form of despair bubbling up inside of me. And following suit came the igneous stubbornness that had earned me the name- Fiery Winters.

As soon as I had picked my hopes off the floor, my eyes fell on the window on the left of the doors I stood in front of now. And as far as I remembered, the room I wanted to break into had also been equipped with large windows that weren't exactly...locked.

This is a bad idea. I know this is a bad idea.

But I've come too far to go back now...

And that is how I found myself practically tightrope walking a hundred feet off the ground, balancing my body across a narrow as hell ledge while trying to reach the window still about four feet away from me.

And as far as I know, I'm not the kind of non-human that can fly...

At some point along the way, I did realize that my life was probably not worth the bullshit I was putting myself through to get another glimpse at one forbidden item, but I also knew that if I lived, what was inside that room would be of great importance to my existence.

I still remembered the vivid glimpse I had caught of that particular item just before I had been removed from this room the last time. And somehow, just that one short glimpse had been enough for me to get an undeniably powerful feeling.

A feeling that told me that what I saw was extremely important. Not just to my present and future...but also...my past.

And I need to know...

So with my heart pounding at a thousand beats per minute, my mind screaming bloody murder and my feet shaking like newly set jello, I walked that narrow ledge with my life flashing before my eyes every time I took a step further.

The wind rustled my hair wildly onto my face and a ragged breath escaped my lips through my tightly gritted teeth. Somewhere in the distance, I heard a crow caw into the night, and the instantaneous panic it filled me with almost made me lose my balance.

If anyone looked up and saw what I was doing, that would be the end. Not just of my endeavour, but of my life!

But would they be able to see me? All the way up here?

Dread flooded my veins and my teeth began to clatter, a little from the cold and a lot from the horror. The thought of what would happen if I was spotted, or if I made one wrong move made my blood curdle, despite the number of times I had told myself to stop acting like a wuss.

So I walked with as much care and finesse as I could muster, and all the while the only thing I kept repeating to myself was,

"Be strong, Karina! Be strong!"

This was what happened when you thought not enough with your brain and too much with your heart.

But then again, as the Cheshire Cat once said, 'We're all mad here'

From the heavens above, the stars and the moon watched my antics and I wondered if the Gods above granted last wishes.

Because if so...my final wish would be...

With that thought trailing away unfinished in my mind, I reached out and grabbed the ledge outside the window I had been trying to reach. My fingers gripped the hard stone tightly and I hauled myself towards it, grunting in effort as burning determination flooded my veins.

Ain't nobody gonna die tonight! I told myself strongly, Because I've still got things I need to do

Still holding onto the stone tightly, I pushed myself off the narrow ledge I had been walking on, and onto the sturdy one outside the window. And with both knees and the rest of my body now securely on hard stone panel, I slowly sat myself down before placing my head against the glass of the window and breathing again.

You did it Rina

The wind howled to the skies, as though declaring my small victory to the heavens. And the stars and moon smiled down at me, glowing brilliantly.

I gasped for breath as sweat dripped down the sides of my face and onto the ledge underneath me. My body was still trembling from the insane stunt I had just pulled, and I could hardly even think straight.

Taking a moment longer to compose myself, I looked up at the window before me. And the terrifying doubt at the pit of stomach surfaced with a vengeance again as I wondered,

Will this window open?

In the glass before me, I could see a reflection. One that made my eyes widen.

So it was back...

I stared now, at the reflection of a girl who was nothing short of a frazzled hot mess. Hair dishevelled, clothes askew, face deathly pale, lips quivering and eyes...

Eyes strong.

And so, swallowing down the last of my apprehensions, I reached up with trembling fingers but a firm conviction and touched the cool glass of the window before me. Sliding my slender fingers into the gap between the wooden chambranles of the two adjacent windows, I gripped the breadth of one window before sharping yanking it out.

It opened.

In that second, both heaven and earth could not have contained the magnitude of sheer gratification I felt. And seconds later I was walking inside the room I had just taken 45 minutes to reach and risked my life trying to get into.

So was it worth it?

The stale smell of musk, dry wood and aged paper assaulted my nostrils, I held in a cough as I looked around. I now stood in a large dark museum of hallowed artworks. Paintings which were only accessible at will to the Shadow King.

A Shadow King who I loathed...and feared, tremendously.

Shaking off the unnerving feeling of being watched, I let my eyes scan the numerous paintings that framed the wide walls of this forbidden chamber. Searching and studying each to find the one I was looking for.

And surprisingly enough, it didn't take me long to find it. It was, after all, second only to the largest painting in the room. Reaching out, I pulled off the white sheet that kept the painting covered.

A cloud of dust rose, the minute the sheet had been removed, and I covered my nose and mouth with my hand, not wanting to sneeze away my stealth.

Letting the dusty old sheet fall to the ground, I squinted in the dark at the painting I had risked so much to come and see again.

The painting...that I had seen Terrence Magnifis staring at, with a devilish smile on his face.

As I let my eyes study the picture painted to perfection on the canvas before me, I didn't know why but my heart rate sped up even more than when I had been walking on that ledge a few seconds ago.

My eyes widened in an unparalleled shock that I honestly couldn't explain. My lips parted in a silent gasp that I somehow couldn't contain. Intense feelings that were completely foreign to me began to bombard my body one after the other, and for some absurd reason, I felt like I had experienced this very same emotional uproar once before.

Even though the being in this painting was someone I had never seen before, I couldn't help but feel...like I knew him.

Like I'd known him forever...

Soon the emotions raging inside of me became so overpoweringly strong that my vision started to blur. And I felt like if I didn't look away, I wouldn't be able to stop myself from ripping the painting to shreds.

So with every ounce of self control inside of me, I forced myself to step away from it and turned away, holding my head in one hand and gasping for breath once again.

What is that? Who is that? And why is he so familiar? Have I met him before? And if I have, why can't I remember?

Questions. More questions flooded my mind, bringing on a headache, and it didn't take me long that my head wasn't the only place where I was aching.

Slowly looking down, I found that my other hand was clutching my chest where a dull ache had settled, making me feel completely and utterly helpless.

Suzzanah...

Walking to the window, I slumped against the ledge, feeling defeated.

Suzzanah...if only you were here, you would understand. You would understand what I'm feeling right now. This unquenchable anguish and thirst for revenge.

You would know...you would know exactly what to say...

"Suzzanah...what's happening to me...?"

My words trailed into nothingness, carried away by the wind that was still blowing powerfully outside. Raising my head, I diverted my eyes yet again to the skies above me.

If the Gods above granted last wishes...then my final wish would be...

Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself, suppressing the turbulent feelings raging inside of me. All this time I had been trying to get away from all these Supernaturals, but suddenly it seemed that the answers to the questions I was now desperately searching for, may lie in their hands.

And lets not forget, I wasn't completely human myself anymore, so that could mean...

Neither were...

I sighed looking up at the sky again. It was starting to turn a tad bit stormy.

Its beginning, I thought quietly as I watched the dark clouds begin to rumble, Its beginning...to rain...

As the wind blew into the room, ruffling my tousled locks, I stood there for a long moment, wondering if I wanted to get myself involved in all of this. Because something told me that if I followed the path that led me to the mystery behind that painting...things would get messy.

A peal of lightening cut through the dark night sky and the sound of distant thunder filled the moist air. The sky was quickly turning shades of red, grey and dark blue and I knew, for certain.

A storm is coming...

And that storm was coming, regardless of whether or not I was prepared for it. There were only two options, run and hide or stand and face it.

Weighing my options, I turned around to look at that painting one more time, and almost instantly I knew the choice. It raged in my mind like a wild untamed storm of its own.

"I'm going to see this through to the end", I told myself strongly, eyes blazing tenaciously.

Because...I had come too far to go back now...

"Besides", I thought with a smile, "I always like the rain"

With new-found determination, I decided I needed to leave this room now or else I would really get into trouble. But before I left I wanted to etch into my memory, every stroke, every curve, every inch of the being in the painting before me.

So that I will never forget. I will never forget him again.

When I was done, I covered the painting with the sheet again before carefully stepping onto the ledge outside the window again. It had started to drizzle and I knew full well that I had to yet again risk my life to get to the other side, but this time, I was no longer feeling frail or frightened.

I know I won't die here.

Not tonight.

Not so soon.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped back onto the ledge once more, this time with much steadier feet. The drops of cool water felt like melting ice against my burning skin.

Because I have to live.

And I began to walk, my determination burned inside of me like a blazing candle flame. A flame that would not be put out until I found him.

I have to live...and find him.

The giant dark beast, who for some reason, was so hauntingly familiar.

****

A/N

I know you have questions, but you'll have to wait a little longer for your answers.

And although there's lots of stuff you don't understand, I'm sure, discovering that in the course of the story is the fun part. Trust me.

And thank you for reading this chapter. Really, thank you. I know a lot of people don't really read bonus chapters, so I really appreciate you guys reading them, because these two chapters in Karina's POV are kind of important.

Especially this one.

Also, please allow me to appreciate all those of you who comment. Don't get me wrong, I love all my readers- those who vote, those who comment, those who do both and those who do neither.

But honestly I just looove reading you guys' comments. Your imaginations are AMAZING, seriously!

So, this marks the end of Karina's POVs in TBOR. Perhaps we'll have more of them in SH, would you like that?

And did you like this chapter?

If you did, please don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE!

For those of you on Facebook, a new Character Banter has been posted. I hope you enjoy!

See you all on SH at the next update (I can't say when yet though, sorry!)

Until next time,

All my love,

May