CHAPTER 7: AGREEMENT
1323 Words
(Two years ago)
“Freya… my friend…”
My eyes fluttered beneath heavy lids. Darkness pressed against me, heavy, suffocating. My head throbbed, every pulse a hammer against my skull.
“Donna?” I whispered weakly. “Is that you? Where are you?”
Beep… beep… beep…
Her voice echoed softly, almost a whisper, like it was coming from a dream I couldn’t fully grasp. “I came to say goodbye,” she said. “Please… promise me… you’ll take care of them for me.”
My heart clenched so tightly it hurt. “What… what are you talking about?” I murmured, my voice trembling. “Where are you going?”
“You’ll be alright, Freya. Everything will be alright…”
“Donna, wait—!”
Beep! Beep! Beep!
“The patient’s vitals are rising!” a man shouted, urgency sharp in his voice. “Call Alex!”
“She’s going into shock—hold her down!” a woman said, panic lacing her words. “I’ll sedate her!”
Hands gripped my wrists, my legs. Metal pressed cold against my skin.
A sharp pain pierced the back of my neck. My vision blurred, and then—
Darkness.
When I woke up, the world felt… different. Lighter. Somehow softer, less cruel. My body still ached, bones bruised, muscles stiff, but the unbearable pain—the one that had gnawed at me for weeks, months—was gone.
I blinked slowly, adjusting to the bright lights above. My surroundings slowly became clear.
It wasn’t Alexei’s laboratory. Not the torture chambers. Not the smell of antiseptic mixed with coppery blood.
My hands weren’t tied.
I lifted them weakly and froze.
Stitches. Dozens of them. Raw. Fresh. Real.
So… it hadn’t been a nightmare.
Everything had happened.
Nina. Bella. Louis. Joe. Donna. Drake.
All gone.
My chest tightened so suddenly I could hardly breathe. I touched my own arm, my fingers brushing against the jagged, painful marks of what had been done to me. It was real. I was real. And yet… I was alone.
“Why am I still alive…?” I whispered. The words felt alien in my mouth.
The door opened.
I flinched instantly, panic flooding through me like ice water.
A woman entered. White robe. Calm movements. For a second, my mind twisted her image, reshaping it into something terrifying—Alexei.
Instinct took over. I grabbed whatever I could from the bedside table—a heavy metal tray—and hurled it at her.
“Stay away from me!” I screamed, voice hoarse, ragged.
“Hey—hey! Calm down!” she said, hands raised. “I’m not here to hurt you!”
I froze, panting heavily, muscles trembling. My heart refused to slow.
“I’m Alex,” she said gently, her voice steady. “The pack doctor. You’re safe here.”
Safe.
The word felt foreign. Fragile. Impossible.
I stared at her, disbelief swimming in my eyes.
“Where’s Donna?” I asked suddenly, voice small, fragile. “She was here… I heard her. She said she was leaving.”
Alex’s face changed. A shadow passed over her features. Her eyes filled with sorrow.
“I… I don’t think this is the right time, but…” she swallowed hard. “Luna Donna is gone.”
I blinked.
“Huh?” I whispered. “Gone where?”
Her eyes welled with tears.
“She’s dead, Freya.”
The words didn’t register. They bounced off my mind without meaning.
“No…” I shook my head violently. “You’re wrong. I heard her. She was talking to me—she’s alive. She… she promised—”
“She’s not,” Alex said softly, her voice breaking. “Her last request… was for us to save you.”
Silence swallowed the room.
I couldn’t breathe. My chest tightened. My stomach knotted.
“She… chose me?” I whispered, voice trembling.
Alex nodded. Tears slipped down her cheeks. “She said you were her first human friend.”
Days passed.
Alex visited every morning. Treated my wounds. Spoke kindly. Slowly, I began to understand—this wasn’t punishment. This wasn’t cruelty. This… was care.
But I couldn’t grasp it. Why were they helping me?
Donna had died. Because of me.
They could have saved her. They could have fought harder. Could have changed the outcome. But they didn’t. And yet… they saved me.
A human.
A nobody.
A mistake.
“You are Freya Miller, correct?”
I looked up.
An older man stood at the door. Presence calm, heavy, almost commanding without trying.
“I’m Jimmy,” he said. “Donna’s father.”
My chest tightened. Every breath felt shallow.
I lowered my head. “I’m sorry,” I whispered. “If I could trade my life for hers… I would.”
He stepped closer, placing a gentle hand on my head. His touch was warm, grounding, almost maternal in its unexpected comfort.
“I know,” he said quietly. “I don’t blame you. It was her choice… her fate.”
The words offered no relief. Only the weight of inevitability.
“They can still survive,” he continued, tone shifting to something firm. “We always do. Our Alpha will find a new Luna someday.”
A replacement.
The word stung. Not just stung—it pierced, slicing through the fragile hope I’d begun to feel.
He placed a suitcase on the table.
“I’m here as the pack’s attorney,” he said, formal now. “We need you to keep our existence a secret.”
I nodded. My hands shook as I did so.
“I understand,” I whispered.
He handed me a stack of papers. A formal agreement. Every condition. Every clause. Carefully worded. Legally binding.
I read through it, each line heavier than the last. And without hesitation, without argument, I signed.
“Don’t worry,” I said softly, voice almost inaudible. “I won’t tell anyone.”
Jimmy exhaled. Deeply. As if a weight he hadn’t shown was finally lifted.
“Thank you, Freya.”
The day I left, Alex hugged me tightly. Her warmth was unfamiliar, yet comforting.
“You’re always welcome here,” she said. “Come visit.”
“I will,” I promised.
For the first time since everything happened… I felt hope. Fragile, tentative hope.
Maybe… I could start over. Maybe… things could be okay again.
I was wrong.
The world didn’t wait for fragile humans to heal.
“Why did you come back?!”
My mother’s voice trembled. Not relief. Not concern. Fear. Raw, primal fear.
Before I could react, her hands were on my neck, pushing, choking.
“M-Mom—!” I choked, struggling. “It’s me! Freya!”
“You’re a monster!” she screamed.
My father’s voice followed, sharper, harsher. “You killed your friends out of jealousy!”
My mind went blank.
“What…?”
They shoved me outside. The sun had already set, and the cold air bit my skin. I fell hard onto the ground. Pain bloomed everywhere.
“Don’t come back!” my mother shrieked.
“You should rot in hell!” my father added.
I stared at them. Shock. Confusion. Horror. My chest ached not just from the fall, but from the finality. From the realization that the people who should have loved me now hated me.
“I didn’t… kill anyone…” I whispered. My voice cracked.
A newspaper landed at my feet.
Hands trembling, I picked it up.
My picture.
Front page.
STUDENT m******e: GIRL KILLS FRIENDS OUT OF OBSESSION.
Lies. Fabrications. The world blamed me. Condemned me.
Then it hit me. The agreement.
I had signed it. Chosen silence. Protected their secret.
And in return…
I lost everything.
A hollow laugh escaped me. Bitter, quiet, strangled.
“Wow…” I whispered.
Tears streamed down my face as I smiled through the grief.
I really was alone.
- Writer
