The 23 years old Irene can be seen rummaging through the forgotten belongings of her ancestors in the basement of their two-story crumbling ancestral house, situated in the sleepy village of Monte Ridge, a home of 600 people.
Assortments of trash like broken figurines, glass, paper, and empty cans were scattered on the floor.
Fifteen minutes ago, she had removed the cobwebs that have been hanging in the ceiling like a century-old curtain.
Sighing, she stood in the middle of the room, inspecting the area. Realizing that she still has lots of things to do, she picked up the broom and dustpan and began sweeping the floor, then dumped the trash into the garbage bag that she had stationed in the corner.
The basement has only one room. It was equipped with a toilet, bed, wooden closet, cupboard, chair, and table.
Done sweeping the floor, she picked up the bottled water from the table and consumed the content in one go, relieving her thirst that made her mouth dry just awhile ago. After dropping the empty bottle in the trash bag, she lowered herself on the bed, wanting to rest for a few minutes.
Looking around the room, she smiled a bit, feeling satisfied with her effort. The room looks cleaner and more organized now compared to the first time she had visited this place.
She needs to clean the entire house because the buyer wants to visit the place, he specifically requested to see the basement.
After selling the ancestral house, Irene can finally get her grandmother's inheritance in cash. The cash that she and her impoverished family desperately needed. Her mother is sick, her two siblings were still too young, and her stepfather gambled everyone's money.
One rainy night, her stepfather was murdered by an unknown assailant, leaving his family buried in a mountain of debts.
Her monthly salary as a clerk in a garment factory doesn't give her much to begin with. She can survive with her meager salary but her family needs more help financially.
When the manager didn't approve of her two weeks' leave to oversee the sale of her inheritance from her grandmother, she was forced to resign from her job.
'No big deal, I will just find another job!' she told herself.
Her top priority is to sell the ancestral house, get the money, bring her mother to the hospital for treatment, then start a small business. Since embroidery is her passion, she plans to open a store and designs clothes for children, babies and women.
That's her plan.
A simple plan but still needs big capital.
Sighing, she left the bed and opened the closet. Nothing worth seeing there, just old clothing from the bygone era. She removed the clothes and put them in the garbage bag.
She inspected the drawer at the bottom and found a small jewelry box wrapped by a black clothe inside a wooden box. Curious, she opened the jewelry box and found a shiny plain silver ring engraved with an inscription.
She read the engraving loudly... 'Till Death Do Us Part!'
Then all of a sudden...
A small voice came out of nowhere and whispered into her ears...
Put me on your finger!
Put me on your finger!
Put me on your finger!
The whispering gets louder in her ears...
Irene stared at the ring as if she was hypnotized. She slowly put the ring on her right middle finger. The ring slid into her finger flawlessly as if it's tailor made for her. She held up her hand in front of her, admiring the shiny ring.
In her mind, a question was formed, who owned the ring? When her grandmother was still alive, she didn't see her wearing the ring even once.
Then she remembered something...
When she was still a child her grandmother used to tell her about someone who lived in the basement 100 years ago. Things were blurry in her memory. Maybe her mother can tell her something about the past.
Maybe one of her ancestors owned the ring or it can be somebody else's ring.
Whatever!
She was about to remove the ring from her middle finger but to her surprise, it won't come out!
Oh...
What the heck is going on?
She remembered that it slid perfectly well on her finger just a while ago but why can't she remove it now?
She spent the next ten minutes trying everything in her power to remove the ring but but failed each time.
Fine! She will just remove it later!
Annoyed, she went to the staircase and left the basement, going to her room on the second floor.
When she arrived at her room, she went to bed and lay down for an afternoon nap. After she wakes up, she will mop the floor in the basement and finish cleaning that place today.
Then tomorrow, she has the rest of the backyard to take care of.
Before closing her eyes...
Once again, she attempted removing the ring from her finger, she didn't stop. The skin on her finger was already swollen red, then it started bleeding.
"Ouch!" she yelped. Her body was gripped with a searing pain, as if something or some force was sipping her blood voraciously. "What the hell!?" she exclaimed in shock, her eyes widened in horror after seeing more blood came out from her middle finger, coating the entire ring, crimson red!
She left the bed and bolted to the dresser table, she picked up the band-aid and small bottle of liquid medicine to stop the bleeding, she rushed to the toilet and washed her bloody hand on the sink.
Then she quickly applied the medicine to her middle finger, stopping the bleeding on time. She covered the torn flesh with a band-aid. Done treating her wound, she left the bathroom and went back to bed.
She was about to lie down on the bed but saw the droplets of blood scattered on the floor.
"Give me a break!" She groaned in annoyance, she went to the dresser table and picked up the tissue and began wiping the blood on the floor. She will mop the floor later after she wakes up from her sleep. She needs to rest because she feels sleepy and tired.
After dumping the bloody tissue in the trash bag, she returned to bed and lay down, shutting her eyes to sleep.
A few minutes later, she had fallen asleep deeply, snoring lightly.
While Irene was in a state of deep sleep...
A strange phenomenon occurred inside the room.
The ring on Irene's finger shone brightly, emitting blue light, covering the entire room.
Then a thick blue mist burst out from the ring, slowly forming into a human shape.
A few minutes later, the mist was gone, and a human shape was formed.
A tall, naked body stood in the middle of the room.
The guy's muscled body is to die for, his chiseled built can make a woman's heart hyperventilate. He wore a devilish aura around him - mysterious and frightening. He's like a Greek God, looking sexy as hell in every angle. He was sporting a messy shoulder length hair - his magnetic eyes gleamed brightly.
He glanced at the woman sleeping on the bed, his eyes were shimmering with excitement while walking towards her location. He stood right next to the bed, staring at the woman's pretty face for a few minutes, mesmerized by her alluring beauty.
He liked the woman's long wavy brown hair, straight nose, heart-shaped lips and sexy curves. He love everything about her. His heart was beating wildly in his rib cage while his body was pulsating with hot desire at the sight of her tantalizing body.
She is the one!
A smile curled up in his lips.
"Ahh, it's nice to be free from my hibernation. I'm finally back! And thanks to you, my dear, you have freed me from my prison wall. From now on, I'll take care of you. You are my mate. Till death do us part!" the guy said, grinning happily. He went closer to the bed and pressed his right hand on Irene's forehead, reading her memories from past to present.
Minutes went by.
The guy finished reading the girl's memory, he walked towards the window and inhaled fresh air into his lungs.
He's been lying dormant inside the ring imprisoned by a powerful spell, partly by his own making, waiting for someone to free him! Today, he's finally free at last!
He scanned the surrounding area, remembering that he used to roam this village in the past.
So many things have changed!
But old feelings and memories still lingers on.
He glanced at the woman sleeping on the bed, she looked a little bit like Aurora.
He was shaking his head many times, trying to forget the past and just focus on the present.
His relationship with Aurora was never meant to last. That was another time.
Everything that occurred long time ago already belong to another era. He can no longer return to his past. All he has now is the present times, he is now in a new era with a new woman.
Past is gone. Time to move on!
This time he will do his best not to repeat the same mistake! He will cherish his freedom with this new woman.
He looked heavenward for a few minutes, admiring the blue sky. He was lost in space for a few minutes, contemplating his next action.
Ah, time to explore the surrounding areas and find out everything new in this era!
The mysterious guy vanished from the room in a blink of an eye.
...
Without her knowledge, Irene just unleashed a powerful vampire from its imprisonment in the ring.
The ring that harbors a century old dark secret... has now found its new owner!
Finally, my WSA 2022 entry!
I hope you like the story, dear readers!
More to come!
Please add the novel in your library, let's get the ball rolling!