07 : When nightmares strike
1013 Words
Alyna wasn't a psychic but her sixth sense was a goddess given gift just like her eyes.
She had no idea if there was someone looking at them through the camera but the feeling of being stared at was too strong to not provide them with a warning.
Josh pointed at a formula in the textbook, "This has to be used at this stage?"
Alyna forced her attention back to the textbook and nodded, suppressing the yawn. A lone tear squeezed from the corner of her eye.
She ate another biscuit.
"Do you mind if I eat a little?" She asked Josh, belatedly offering him some too.
"Go ahead. No, I had lunch." Josh refused politely. "You have a sweet tooth?"
"A terrible one." Alyna admitted with a shrug.
"No wonder there are now sweets in the kitchen." Josh seems to have understood something of great importance.
"What do you mean?" Alyna paused, put the biscuit down and asked.
Josh finished implementing the formula before answering her.
"Nobody likes sweets at home. All we had to offer our guests in the name of sweets were these biscuits." Josh pointed at the biscuit in her hand and then her face.
"Now we have three jars of sweet snacks at home. Different kinds."
Alyna didn't know what to do with this new information. It wasn't big enough to hold her attention for the rest of her day but it did hold her attention for the rest of her day.
The worst part?
The biscuits didn't taste the same as before.
Knowledge was a cursed thing sometimes.
When the three hours were about to end, Alyna started to think about dinner. The one at home was trying too hard to be an adult and as an actual adult, Alyna didn't want to burden her.
After the three hours were over, she got to ride in a luxurious car back home. Thanks to the philanthropic nature of the Alpha who personally asked the driver to take her back.
"The Alpha asked you personally?" Alyna confirmed with the driver.
The driver was humble and modest, not behaving high and mighty just because he was close to the Alpha.
"Yes. He came to me and said not to leave early today so I can take you home." The driver kept a professional attitude. "It's getting dark so it's reasonable not to let a beautiful young lady go back by herself."
Alyna wasn't as delusional as the driver. She had an inkling that Alpha Eiran was trying to keep an eye on her.
The uncalled attention was stressing her out.
Alyna had a lot of past to uncover. The good aspects didn't matter and the bad ones could get her kicked out of the Ember Claw pack.
A traitor.
Nobody wanted a traitor in their pack.
Although her crime wasn't made known to the world just like her achievements, it wouldn't take a lot to dig them out one by one if someone was interested enough.
Unfortunately, Alpha Eiran seems to have that interest towards her.
Perhaps it was the overthinking that tired out her mind. Alyna ended up falling asleep before midnight.
In the quite living room with lights off and curtains shut, she lay paralysed on the couch. Held hostage by her memories, Alyna was unable to break free.
"Alyna! Don't you dare disobey me! I'll ruin you!"
"You can't do this to me Alyna!"
"I command you to release her right now!"
The Alpha's command was so intense it made the surrounding guards fall on their knees. Only Alyna stood unbothered, holding Delphine against the wall.
Her hands were shaking under the cover of her sleeve. The gown was red, just like her eyes full of madness.
Something had snapped inside her earlier. She used all of her courage to hold Delphine on the edge of her dagger and refused to let go.
A thin red line appeared on her neck, dripping down like a necklace of blood.
Cedric's commands showered one after the other. The guards knelt lower and lower. Alyna remained impassive but the way her heart was breaking with every word was only known to her.
"You can't do this to me. I am your Luna." Delphine was trembling; her eyes, her voice, her body.
She didn't doubt for a second that Alyna will kill her.
Alyna pressed the dagger deeper into her skin. Delphine's breath halted. She gave Cedric a sideways glance full of desperation.
Cedric sighed, lowered his voice and said, "Alyna, for the sake of all those years. You cannot do this. Please, you have to understand. You've always been the one to understand me best."
In that moment, something else snapped. The dagger clattered on the ground, brushing her arm as it did so.
The sharp blade left a gruesome cut on her arm, tearing away a part of her sleeve on its way down. It stained her gown with blood.
The guards wasted no time in carrying her away from Delphine. Her feet dragged away, leaving a faint trail of blood on the floor.
Alyna lost the spirit to fight.
She knew she had lost.
Fighting would only tample on the remaining dignity she had left.
Cedric yelled, "Take her to the cell and beat her!"
Alyna closed her tearful eyes.
The world would burn before she let them see her tears.
"Alyna, wake up! Wake up! You'll be late! Mom!"
Alyna woke up gasping for air. Her wide eyed gaze met Destiny's concerned face hovering above her.
"Wake up!" Destiny exclaimed into her face.
Alyna blinked away the haze and got up. It was the weekend; which meant no school and early tutoring lessons for Josh.
"Isn't it a little crazy that he has to be tutored all seven days of the week?" Destiny voiced her opinion during breakfast.
Alyna balanced her cheek on her hand, chewing mindlessly. She nodded in agreement. It was indeed crazy. But not crazy enough if she took into consideration the Alpha's intention.
He was being too strange.
She had to be careful.
- Writer
