7.
1598 Words
Chapter 7
RINI POV
As soon as the lunch bell sounded I was wheeling myself out of class like the hounds if hell were chasing me… perhaps they were.
I could definitely see the terror twins and their alpha-hole fitting in down there.
Unfortunately, my low social standing meant that no one was willing to get out of my way and some i***t dude even shoved my chair backwards so it felt like swimming up stream.
“Rini!”
I turned towards Suzie’s voice.
“Rini wait up!”
I sighed deeply, really wanting more than anything to be alone but not wanting to ruin the only friendship I had.
Suzie’s sweet face lit up with a smile as she reached me.
“Dad gave me extra money for lunch today, pick whatever you want and I’ll treat you.”
Oh man. How to let her down gently?
It was a fine line this friendship of ours. Tentative. Fragile. Important.
Suzie was a shifter but could only shift at the full moon and only into a barn mouse. Her lack of control over the shift and her animal manifestation being something so weak put her at the bottom of the pole.
Me having no shifter abilities at all? My bar was in hell.
I needed this friendship. I treasured it. But I really really didn’t want to risk running into anyone again… or wheeling into them as was my case.
“Oh look who it is,” a feminine voice purred. “Insignificant Suzie and her little leech.”
Seriously. What had I done to deserve this? I was a good person! Bad enough to have the terror trio out to torment me, now I had their groupies after me today too.
I looked at Melinda with her rose coloured hair, dark brown eyes and pretty face and I rolled my eyes.
“Melinda, I’m having a bad day, could we just not?” I sighed.
Suzie stared at me like I had grown another head. Melinda also looked stunned before a venomous smirk slithered across her face.
“I imagine you’re having a bad life,” she purred. “Better to end it all, don’t you think? Life can’t suck if you’re not alive to live it.”
Suzie gasped in horror. I was far less scandalised. Melinda had said far worse to me before, had made a game once out of how long it took to make me cry and was very inventive with her methods.
She pressed a small blade into my hand, drawing a little blood.
“No one will bother you in the gym showers if you go now. Imagine the relief everyone will feel once you’re no longer a burden. What a gift you’ll be giving us all.”
“Leave me alone.” I told her softly, my head spinning a little.
“Or what?” She replied. “What are you going to do? Drown me in your tears? Face the facts Rhino, the only useful thing you could ever do in this world is take yourself out of it.”
“I told you to leave me alone,” I repeated, trying not to clutch my head that was spinning and throbbing now.
Melinda leant over and upturned my wheel chair in response, the force of me throwing me from the chair and sprawling to the floor.
I don’t know what happened next but one second I was on the ground and the next my fist was bleeding and Melinda was crumpled on the floor, holding her blood nose as her eyes flashed copper.
I stared down at her in horror. Oh my god, had I done that? Oh no no no no. This was bad, bad, bad!
“If you’re too weak to do it,” Melinda said, pushing to her feet. “I would be happy to help you out.”
I stood on unsteady, tender feet and tried to swallow my fear, it would only please Melinda to know I was scared of her.
“Melinda,” Suzie said in a surprisingly strong voice. “You know what would happen if you did that.”
I had no idea what that meant but Melinda obviously did because rather than killing me, she picked up my wheelchair and smashed it against the wall instead, completely buckling the frame.
“You better stay vigilant,” Melinda whispered, yanking my head back to expose my throat. “Would hate for some unfortunate accident to happen to you.”
With one last cruel yank, Miranda sauntered away, leaving me aching literally from my head to my toes.
“Are you ok?” Suzie asked, reaching out to touch my arm.
“I’m fine,” I replied but I really really didn’t feel well.
“You’re burning up!” Suzie exclaimed, moving to touch my cheeks and forehead. “Are you sick?”
What I was, was done with this school and this f*****g day. 3 months until I was 18, 6 months until I graduated. It couldn’t come soon enough.
For right now though? I just wanted to sleep. There’s no way I was going to admit to Lyall or the twins that I needed a ride home early and Suzie would never be ok with me walking so I plastered a weary smile on my face as a plan formed.
“Actually I do feel kinda off. I’m going to go to the nurse station and see if they’ll let me nap,”
Suzie nodded earnestly. “That’s a great idea, I’ll walk you.”
Damn.
“No no, you go and eat some lunch, I can get myself there and you need the energy.”
Suzie looked uncertain but after a couple more minutes or assuring her I was fine she slowly headed towards the cafeteria.
I waited a full five minutes before gingerly beginning my trek to the lodge. It was going to suck, no doubt about it but what else was new?
*
Holy s**t balls my feet were killing me. The walk back was arduous and I was convinced several times that I was going to either vomit or pass out. Proudly, I did neither.
I don’t know why my arm seemed to be healing at all strangely fast rate but my feet felt like they were getting worse… I kinda wish it was the other way around, with walking my mode of transport I kinda needed them to heal up.
I prayed that Alpha Randolph and Luna Arley weren’t home. I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself, do anything to earn their ire and more than anything I really really wanted to have a long hot shower and I was never allowed to do that with others home.
I was half a mile from home when I heard them… their voices muffled with the sounds of my feet but clear enough that they had to be close.
I spun around wildly, looking for where they could be but only the silent forest greeted me.
What the hell? I stopped walking and stood in the silence… except it wasn’t silent, I could clearly hear the Alpha and Luna talking.
Surely I couldn’t hear them from half a mile away?
“-is getting stronger… closer …gets.”
“…. Do you know?”
I began limping again, wanting to hear the conversation clearer though terrified I would be caught.
“….scent it on her….essence is stronger…. Too strong.”
“…. Has shown zero signs of shifting or power. You know if it doesn’t develop by 10 then it’s not developing,” that was definitely Luna’s voice.
“She isn’t like us, we don’t know what the rules are for her kind. This kind of unpredictability is dangerously Arley.”
“Well what are we meant to do about it?”
“We should have stamped it out the day we found her. Should have ended that cursed bloodline once and for all!”
Tension began to fill my chest and I felt sick as every step closer brought clearer and clearer conversation.
“The boys sense it,” Alpha said quietly now. I strained to hear clearly, limping faster. “They’ve always been drawn to her and didn’t know why, it made them reject her. They are attracted to power and we have no idea how powerful she will become.”
“She has no power,” Luna Arley sniffed disdainfully. “You’re thinking too much into this. Look at her, really look at her and see what a pathetic little weakling she is. She has no animal, she has no strength, she has no back bone and once she turns eighteen, you’ll see that she has no power. We kept her in case she could be useful for us and she’s shown zero promise. That girl will live and die serving this family as the commoner she is.”
The pain in my head came back ten fold and I couldn’t clearly make out any more conversation. Static filled my head, like a dial had been turned up to a hundred. It consumed me totally until I was curled on the ground holding my ears, trying to block everything out.
What was going on? What was happening to me? What were the Alpha and Luna even talking about?
I screamed when the pain in my head intensified so deeply I was sure it would split open, spraying my brains all over the ground.
Make it stop.
Make. It. Stop.
MAKE IT STOP.
- Writer
