Winter POV
It’s the day before my eighteenth birthday and it’s completely slipped Damien’s mind. He’s been too
upset and distraught over the fact I’ll never speak again, to even give it a thought. Johnathon continues
to slip through the
corridors and follow me from class to class. If he wasn’t an Alpha he’d be in detention for being so late
to his own.
That also reminds me, I wonder how on earth he was expelled from two other schools. Who would dare
expel an
Alpha? It boggles my mind.
I’m so busy staring out the window, lost in my daydreams and plotting, that I fail to notice the last
school bell has rung and that everyone, almost everyone has left. Except for me. How could I have
been so stupid? The only
reason Jessica and her Cronies had stayed away was because of Johnathon and Damien. Everyone
had noticed them
following me. I gulp as I look at her and the small group of friends that have gathered in a crowd around
my desk. Where the hell was Johnathon and Damien when I actually needed them for heavens sake.
Jessica leans over, her long blonde hair trailing over her shoulder as she pushes it back impatiently.
“You know
you never got punished for Killing Thomas” she murmurs to me “the police just let it go but I know that
you’re a
murderer. Thomas was our friend and because of you he’s dead” she snaps, her eyes flashing black for
a moment.
Just like me she’s close to her eighteenth birthday and her wolf is dangerously close to the surface.
I shake my head. Thomas deserved to die, I want to cry out, protest, after everything he’d tried to do to
me. But of course I can’t utter a sound as she laughs and motions towards her group.
“Get her” she orders and I push back my chair and try to run, muffled screaming coming from my
mouth as
someone pulls at my hair, dragging me to the floor, my back hitting the hard wooden floor. They drag
me to the doorway and I glance through, my heart sinking as I see the corridor is completely deserted.
“Your brother and Damien have been delayed for a bit” Jessica laughs and I flinch. She knew exactly
what I was thinking, but what would have distracted them both from coming to my side? It had to have
been something
extremely important.
One of the boys, whose name, I strangely don’t remember, grabs me and roughly begins to shove me
towards the door. The girls surround me and I’m stuck, going in the direction they are motioning to. I
start to panic, my chest
heaving frantically, as I see where we are going. The forest where the trees will hide me from sight and
I wave my arms wildly, kicking and scratching as they pull me with them, until we are a fair distance
inside.
Ouch. That stung. Jessica takes great delight in kicking me to the ground, my body rolling on the hard
wooden
dirt, leaves and debris all over me and even tangled in my hair as I lay there, looking up at them all as
they gather in a
circle around me. They are all smiling and enjoying this. No compassion or empathy in them at all.
“We decided we would punish you for murdering Thomas, seeing as the police aren’t interested.”
I begin to shake in fear. What was this? Clearly it was revenge and it was going to be brutal, I had no
doubts
about that.
Another kick and I curl up into a fetal position, each of them taking turns to kick or spit on me. It’s the
most humiliating and degrading experience of my life and tears flow down my cheeks. Why can’t ljust
be left alone? I’m so close to leaving all of this behind me. One more night and I would have been gone
from their lives forever,
Something glints in the light and my eyes which are bleary and narrowed focus in on a dagger being
held by
Jessica. She’s wearing gloves and I know instinctively that means the blade at least is silver. I flinch
and crawl
cover
en som
backwards, scrapes and bruises stinging all over my body, my shirt and pants covered in dirt and even
some of my blood splatter.
“Mmmm” I try to say. But this just makes them giggle.
“Do it already. Her brother and f*****g Johnathon will be here soon. Come on” the other boy urges,
looking over his shoulder nervously. I glare at them all, the girls pushing me back down, everytime I try
to get to my feet.
VO
Theres a wide smile on Jessica’s face and it’s chilling to see. I feel cold inside, numb. As though I’m not
even
inside my body but outside of it, watching everything going on at a distance.
“Hold her” she snaps and both boys drag me upright, holding firmly to my arms as I struggle wildly,
watching Jessica approach, the blade glinting in the sunlight.
She stops right in front of my face and with no hesitation she drives it into my thigh, my screams
muffled as the
silver begins to burn my flesh. God it hurt. It was excruciating and made worse by the fact she kept it
there, instead of
yanking it out straight away.
I whimper. She yanks the dagger out and then looks at my ribcage, a calculating look in her eyes. She
stabs me
and the only reason I’m upright now is because the boys are holding me up, otherwise I would have
collapsed to the
floor in pain right now.
“This is for Thomas” Jessica whispers furiously, as I stare at her weakly, blood dripping down my body,
the
dagger held securely in her palm. “This is for turning Damien against me” she utters, stabbing me again
“and this” she hisses, my body slumping now, the boys loosening their grip as they realize I’m barely
conscious “is because Johnathon still wants you, you pathetic little b***h” she finishes with one last
stab. She pulls it out, the boys leaving me to collapse on the floor, my hands pressed against my
wounds. She spits on me one last time and the others follow suit. Then I hear them leaving as I gasp
for breath, my breath coming in short spurts as I try to drag in
oxygen.
I struggle to my feet. I could go back and tell Damien what happened, or I could bring my plan forward
a notch. I’m afraid they might come back and even though I feel myself staggering and barely holding
on, I start to walk even further into the forest. No one knows it but theres a cave nearby, one that I’ve
found and spent time in whenever I need sanctuary and that’s where I head to now. I need somewhere
to hide and the stream close by will hide my scent.
All I have to do is get there, and make sure that my blood trail doesn’t betray me. Sorry Damien, I think
hazily to myself, I just can’t take it anymore. You’ll forgive me for this one day. Or at least I hope he will
as I use the trees to
steady myself, forcing each step forward. Just a little more and I can rest. Just a little more.
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