The Silverclaw Chronicles: Where will Fear take You?

Why Me?

Amelia

While I am crying uncontrollably, I feel two hands lightly rubbing my back. I roll over and am looking into the face of Mommy Gwen. She looks down at me with the sweetest smile and uses her handkerchief to wipe my eyes. She brushes my hair back gently from my face and leans down to hug me. When she sits back up, I roll further onto my back and see Daddy Lucas on my other side waiting his turn for a hug. I can feel everything relaxing again as they are both here with me.

"It was just a bad dream, Baby Girl. You have nothing to worry about." Daddy says to reassure me.

"Would you like me to sing you a song?" Mommy asks, knowing that I love it when she sings to me.

I nod my head and she slides closer to me on the bed so that I can lean back against her. Daddy moves back too and puts his arm around her shoulder so that I am able to listen to both of their hearts. She starts singing and then Daddy joins her. I feel like everything is right in my world at that moment and I sing softly with them. I look up between them as I sing and they are both smiling at me. I can feel myself dozing back off into sleep and, at this moment, I am fine with that.

They both stand up, carefully laying me back down on my pillow. "I hate that these nightmares are back, Lucas." I hear Mommy whisper as they are leaving my room.

"I know, Love. I do too. It was hard enough when your sister and Chris would tell us about the nights she would wake up crying when she was with them; but then when she came to us and was having these nightmares, I just wanted to take them away for her." He replies to her as he pulls my door almost closed.

"I thought they had stopped and now for them to be back and be about her losing us...it is just too much! Our poor baby girl!" I barely hear Mommy say as they move back to their room.

When I wake up the next morning, I don't have to look in a mirror to know that I am 11 and this is the day that I lose my parents...again. I want to just hide in my bed, but that is not how this scenario played out the first time and so I jump out of bed running to my closet to get dressed. I grab my favorite light blue ruffle skirt and button-up, white blouse. I get ready and tie a blue ribbon around my hair like a headband. As I look in the mirror, I can remember feeling pretty, even though my thoughts right now are on wishing that I could stop reliving these terrors.

I walk into the kitchen and am greeted by Daddy's booming voice. "Good morning, Baby Girl."

"Good morning, Daddy." I reply with a smile.

"Sit down and eat because we have a busy day today." Mommy tells us both.

We eat a huge breakfast of waffles, fresh fruit, bacon, and sausage. I feel completely stuffed and then I help Mommy pack things up in baskets for us to take up to the Pack house for today's festivities. The whole pack is getting together in the Luna's gardens to celebrate. The best part is that there is no real reason. Luna Cara just simply loves to have the Pack together as much as possible. Mommy and I get all of the treats packed up that we have been making for the last 2 days and Daddy helps us load it all up in the wagon. We could drive up to the Pack house, but it isn't a long walk and I love being outside with my parents.

As we are walking, I look down at my skirt as it is blowing in the wind and catch myself before I scream as a vision of my skirt with blood all over it flashes in my mind. It is the same image that I saw in my nightmare last night. As quickly as the image came to my mind, it is gone and I am skipping through the field between my parents. The moment we make it to the gardens, the other kids are calling for me to come play with them. I look over my shoulder at my parents, who both smile and nod quickly. I run off to join them as we all play games for the next few hours.

Like so many moments with my family, this day is perfect. The weather is beautiful and everyone is having a wonderful time. I don't even remember thinking about differences between upper level kids and others back then, but of course, Daddy was Alpha Liam's Gamma. There are so many of us kids running around playing all day long. We have an amazing potluck meal for our lunch. Luna Cara has arranged for our classes to each perform for all of the adults as the day is winding down. We sang songs and then are all going to be heading home for the evening. My grade got up and sang two songs. As I look out at the crowd, I notice the Alpha's son, Lucian, smiling at us and I could have sworn that he was looking my way. Then I find my parents, who are cheering loudly as we finish.

When we finish our last song, I run toward my parents and throw myself into their awaiting arms for hugs. I love singing and I have this complete sense of happiness wash over me as my parents are squeezing me with their hugs. Everyone starts loading up all of the things that they brought with them and heads home for the rest of the evening. As we all part ways, the strangest feeling sweeps through my body. I know what is coming, but still can't do anything about it. I can sense that we are being watched and Daddy is able to also.

Just as he is sending out an alert via mind link, others start sending distress calls. So much happens in the next few moments that even my memory of this night gets blurry, just like the first time I lived it. Mommy grabs my hand in hers and I see Daddy shifting into his wolf, running into the woods with so many other warriors. Mommy and I are running the other direction. We are going back toward the Pack house. Just as I see the lights of the house, I also see a swarm of people rushing from every direction...no, not people...the smell...they are vampires! I don't know how many there are, but they are everywhere. Mommy falls to the ground and I fall with her. She gets back up and shifts instantaneously!

"Run Amelia! Get to the Pack house and the safe rooms now!" She links me as I see her start fighting one of the vampires.

"I love you, Mommy!" I link back as I start to run as fast as I can, but there are so many vampires.

"I love you too! Run fast!" I hear her and then all I hear is silence.

I am running toward the Pack house and dodging anyone that I sense is moving in my direction. Two other kids come up to me and I grab their hands as we all run into the house. We don't stop until we are in one of the safe rooms. When I finally sit down, I touch my face and realize that my blurry vision was from all of the tears that were streaming down my face. I wipe them away and then look down at my skirt and see the blood that I had seen the night before in my nightmare and that morning on our way. I freeze staring at the blood and knowing that it is my Mom's. I can't move until a hand takes my chin and pulls it upward. Lucian is looking at me with worry all over his face too.

"It'll be okay, Amelia." He says and then we just sit there in silence until someone comes for us.

Jessie

I have been with Aims for hours and even though I try to sleep, I find myself getting startled awake by my own fear of losing my friend or her body jerking some. Mom comes in to relieve me and I know how hard it must have been for my brother to leave because I am having trouble going.

"She will be alright, Jessie. I am going to be right here with her and will get you if anything changes." Mom reassures me.

"I know." I pause before continuing my thought. "She's been having nightmares or something though, Mom. Her body will jerk and there's even been a few times that I wiped tears from her eyes. She seems to calm down when I "shh" her or just let her know that I am here."

"Honey, I understand. I promise that I will take care of her. Go get some sleep. It will be time for everyone to get up and the King to arrive soon enough. We need to have a strong appearance when he does." She tells me as she gives me a hug and sends me out the door.

I look back one last time and then I go to my room to take a power nap before I get up and start my morning routine. At this moment, I am very happy about all of the lessons that my mother has taught me about running a pack. I will be ready to help her. I lay down and finally let sleep take me, but it is not the calm, peaceful sleep that I am hoping for. I am in another pack, but I don't recognize it. There are children and adults running everywhere. I see people shifting and fighting with Vampires. I can't believe how many of them there are. I watch as tons of parents release their cubs to run to the Pack house only to shift quickly and join the fight. So much blood...

Amelia

Hours pass before the door to the safe room that we are in opens. When I look up, I am hoping to see my parents just like so many of the kids in the room. Luna Cara is standing there looking exhausted and with blood stains still on her clothes. She reaches down and pulls Lucian into a hug before she starts looking at the rest of us with sad eyes.

"Kids, I need to talk to all of you in the Great Room. I know that you are tired and scared, but we all need to talk before we clean up and try to get some sleep." She says as lovingly as she can.

I know that bad news is coming and I just want to run away from it, but I have to follow the script of the day that I have lived too many times already. We all move to the Great Room and are joined by some other adult members of the Pack. More kids trickle down the stairs and we all wait to hear what Luna needs to say.

"Hello everyone, I don't know how to say this, but we were brutally attacked by multiple Vampire covens tonight. We have suffered great losses." She pauses as a few tears run down her cheeks and then Alpha Liam comes into the room to join us. He wraps his arm around her shoulders and squeezes.

"Children, we are going to have you all stay here tonight. We will make sure that everyone gets cleaned up and in bed. Many of your parents have been injured or I am sorry to tell you this like this, but many died tonight." Kids all around the room start crying again and he goes on. "We are working to get everyone medical attention and identify those that are gone, but you will all be staying with us until your parents can either come to get you or you are informed that they have passed on. You are not alone. Remember that this Pack is your family and we will make it through this! I am so sorry."

We are all in shock. Some kids are crying hysterically, but I am just frozen. I know that my parents are gone because I have already lived through this moment, but also because I knew that day that my curse had taken another set of my parents from me. When I finally move, it is only slightly. I look down at my skirt and see the blood on it from my vision earlier in the day and nightmare the night before. I run my hand across it to make sure that it is actually there this time and I feel the dried blood. I knew this was going to happen, not just because I am cursed because I dreamt about it!?!?! How is this possible? While my past self is standing there frozen again by sadness and fear, I am rolling back through all of the days that were the worst in my life and the days leading up to them. Did I always know? Why couldn't I stop it then? I always wondered why this happened to me, why I have loved and lost so many wonderful parents in only 16 years of life. Now I am wondering why I didn't make this connection between my nightmares while I was asleep and each of the ones that I lived through. I have always asked the question "Why Me?". I mean what could I have done to deserve this curse and what did all of my parents do except love me!

Now, as Luna Cara is leading me down the hall by my hand, I just keep thinking that if I really was having these nightmare visions of the deaths of my loved ones, then this really is my fault. I don't care how old I was or how many people thought I was crazy, I should have stopped these deaths from happening! Why am I just remembering all of this now? This really did happen, but until this moment, I didn't ever connect any of it. How is this possible?

My body continues to numbly move through my memories as my mind begins to search for any recollection of the visions throughout my life. I can see that I am with Mom Marissa and Dad Alex in Wolf Moon Pack when I wake up crying again because, as all my other parents had done, they rush into my room to check on me. I'm 14 years old again and I know what is coming if I go through the rest of this day. I know why I am crying too. I just had another nightmare vision of them dying, but what I can't figure out is how I didn't remember all of this sooner and act on my visions. Right now, I am trying to remember nightmares that would have warned me about each of my parents' deaths, especially Marissa and Alex or Emma and Felix. I mean I was 14 and 16, so I can't blame this memory loss on being a child who needed to repress everything. I am mad at myself, but I can feel my mind slowly relaxing as my parents soothe my 14-year-old self, lulling me back to sleep. I can't help but give in as sleep takes me.

When I wake up the next morning, dread fills my mind as I know what is to come, but once again, I just move through the day I have already lived through. How do I make this stop? I really need this to stop! While my subconscious tries to find a way for me to wake up from this never-ending nightmare of my worst days on loop, my body is blindly going through the events of the day. Dad tells us goodbye that morning as our Pack is joining in the War. After he leaves, we are both sad and Mom lets me go over to my friend, Amy's house to play and forget about the War for a little while. The day goes by rather quickly and I do remember having a lot of fun. It has been hard for anyone to have fun for several months because of the 2nd Great War that we knew was coming our way. The troubles with Vampires continued to grow after the devastation of the attack on Blue Moon Pack until another joint War of all of the Packs was inevitable, but today I am just being a teenage girl enjoying swinging with my friend.

"Everyone to safe areas immediately! The War is crossing into our territory!" links the Alpha to our entire pack.

"Girls!! Girls!!! Hurry this way!!" Amy's mom, Genevieve, yells to us almost simultaneously as we both start running her way!

"Amelia!!! Amelia, let's go!" I hear Mom Marissa yell.

As I turn to see her running my way, I watch in horror as a Vampire drops from a tree onto her, ripping her head from her body instantly. I drop to my knees and am sobbing hysterically when someone grabs my arm and starts pulling me away from the terrifying scene. I am shaken to my core as I not only feel my mom's death, but also feel my father's right after. It is a loss of connection that weighs on you as you feel every strand of it break. I am in Amy's cellar with her mother and her hiding while the War rages around us. We wait for what could have been minutes, hours, or days. I have no idea, because nothing matters to me again. They are gone...My parents are gone...again! When the all clear is finally sent out, the three of us still don't move. We sit there hugging each other until we hear someone banging on the cellar door.

"Is anyone down here? It is safe to come out now." says the familiar voice from the other side of the door.

"Yes, we are coming." Genevieve responds while getting up to unlock the door.

Blake walks down with some other Pack Warriors. He comes over to Amy and I helping us to our feet. I can see the look of pity on his face as our eyes meet. He knows that my parents are gone. I don't even speak as he leads the three of us out of the house and into a waiting car. We are taken up to the Pack house and led into the Great Hall.

"Just wait here. My parents are coming to speak to everyone." Blake says as he releases our hands. Then he turns back to me and adds, "I am very sorry, Amelia. Please let me know if you need anything."

I just simply nod my head as I sit down next to Amy. The Great Hall is not as full as it usually is when there is a Pack gathering, but there are a lot of children here. We are not left waiting long as the Alpha and Luna come in looking worn out themselves. I try to focus on what they are saying, but just as I did the first time that I lived this day, my mind and body are just not able to do so.

"Everyone, I want to apologize for not getting the alert out sooner, but we were not expecting the Vampires to sneak onto our lands, bringing the War to our doorsteps. We have suffered great loss today as well as our entire side of this War has. The sheer number of our enemies keeps growing more than anyone expected...." explains Alpha, until Luna interrupts him while taking his hand in hers and leaning against him.

"Dear ones, right now we need to focus on tending to the injured and finding places for all of the children to clean up and rest for the night. I know that many of your parents have been lost in this battle, but please know that you are not alone. We are all here for you and we will figure things out together." Luna says and then I swear that her eyes connect with mine as she goes on. "Your parents will always be with you and fought the way they did to protect you!"

After they were done speaking to everyone, they split all of us up into groups and help us find places to shower, clothes to put on, and somewhere to sleep. I end up in a room with Amy and her mom for the night. I don't want to sleep, but utter exhaustion from the events of the past few days is too much for my body to take and sleep wins.

When the nightmares come and I am startled awake by them, not even realizing that I am shaking with tears, I am quickly surrounded by 2 sets of arms hugging me. Mom Emma and Dad Felix are holding me with all the strength they can muster and let me tell you that anyone who says Omegas are not strong didn't get hugs from these two. Even at 16, I am so completely calmed by the sound of their hearts in my ears and I can feel my fear melting away. As I start to relax, they both loosen their grips on me and look at me waiting for me to say something. Their patience and love for me is so amazing that I cannot even fully explain to you how their understanding made me feel.

I look into their awaiting eyes and speak softly, "I am so sorry that I woke you up like this. I honestly don't know what came over me. I just don't want to lose the two of you. "

"Sweet Amelia, they are just nightmares." Mom says as she lightly strokes my hair. "I don't know why you are having them so often again, but we will get through this together. You never have to worry about being alone. You are our blessing and we want to be here for you no matter the hour."

"That's right." Dad agrees as I turn to look at him. "Amelia, you are everything to Emma and I. We helped you through those nightmares when you first came to us and we will help you this time too. The one thing I need you to remember is that death is not something to be scared of. I know that you have had to face it more than most, but it is simply a part of life. The Moon Goddess puts each of us here on Earth for an unknown amount of time and then she calls us home. It isn't about how long you have here...it is about what you do with the time you are given. Instead of focusing on fear and death and letting it control your time, all I wish for you is that you will be able to start really enjoying life to the fullest every day. Your mom and I want what is best for you, even if that means that you need to follow a different path than we have as Omegas." He pauses and looks at Mom and she gives him a small nod to continue. "We talked about it and we are going to talk to the Luna about what opportunities are out there for you after you are done with High School so that you have all of the options you keep asking us for."

I immediately hug them both again and they both let out a laugh at how excited I am. I know that this was a really hard thing for them to agree to, because even though Moon's Edge is a place where everyone has opportunities, Mom and Dad believe that as Omegas we should follow the older ways and live a life of service. The fact that they are open to this for me shows me once again what I truly mean to them both.

"Alright, sweet girl. Do you think you can sleep now?" Mom asks as she kisses me lightly on the forehead.

I nod my head and they both get up to walk out of the room as I lay back down and smile, knowing that my world just opened up a bit more. As sleep takes me, it is not the fear of losing them that washes over me for the first time in a week. I fall asleep thinking about the Moon Goddess and her plan.

Jessie

My alarm goes off and I jump at the sound. My dreams had been all over the place, so the little bit of sleep that I got was not restful at all, but that is what makeup is for. I quickly stretch and get up trying to shake off the vivid images that haunted my dreams last night. I can only see pieces of them, but the blood will stick with me forever. I know that we are under a lot of pressure today and I want to help Mom as much as possible as well as check on Aims, so I rush through my morning routine to make myself presentable.

As I step out of my room and head down the hall, I can hear that everyone else is starting to wake up as well. Sounds like showers are going in Dad and Aiden's rooms. I go to Aim's room and find the doctor is checking on her.

"How is she doing?" I ask unable to contain my need to know about my best friend.

Dr. Franklin turns to look at me. "She is doing much better. All of her vitals are improving and her healing has started to kick back into gear. Her wound is almost gone. The thing that I am concerned about is why she hasn't woken up yet." He takes a deep breath and rubs his chin as he gathers his thoughts before going on. "Luna was just telling me that Amelia's sleep has been rather restless with some definite elevations of fear and even panic throughout the night. I worry about what is going on inside her mind that could be holding back her recovery right now."

I walk forward to the bed and take Aim's hand in mine. She looks to be sleeping peacefully right now, but I am worried just like the doctor is about her. I just want her to wake up. As I am having these thoughts, the door to her room opens again and I look up to see Aiden. He looks tired and stressed, but better than he did last night. He joins me at the side of the bed.

"She still hasn't woken up?" He asks even though he knows the answer. "Is there something else wrong that we missed, Doctor?"

Dr. Franklin pats my brother's arm as he turns to speak to him. "Aiden, she just needs more time. She is doing much better and I am sure that she will wake up today. It just has to be on her time now. She has been through a lot and her mind is working through it in its own way. I am going to go and do my rounds, but then I will be back to check on her. I would also like to ask that you all take care of yourselves and maybe get something to eat. I know that we have a really big day ahead of us and Amelia will need you all when she wakes up."

"Thank you, Doctor." Mom replies before anyone else can argue. "I will make sure that they both do just that. I know that the King is going to be here in about 2 hours, so we have a lot to do to prepare for that also. We will see you when you are back to check on her." Mom adds as she walks towards the door with Dr. Franklin.

After the door closes, she looks back at both Aiden and I. We both know that she needs us to help get everything ready, but neither of us move.

"Guys, you know that I need your help and the doctor is right that you need to eat something." We both start to say something and she holds up her hand to stop us. "Hear me out please." She adds and we nod our heads. "Aiden, I think that you should sit with Amelia for a little while. I will have a tray of food brought up for you. After you are done eating, though, you will need to join your father and the others to get a head start on the other future Alphas in preparation for the King. Jessie, you will come with me to eat a quick bite and then we will double check that everything and everyone is ready for what is to come. Once we are done with that, you will come up and take your brother's place so that he can get to work."

We both know better than to argue with her and, honestly, we know that she is right. We want to be here for Aims, but our pack needs us too. Plus, we need to make sure that no decisions about Aim's are made without making sure her best interest is considered. We nod our heads and I move to go out of the room with Mom, leaving Aiden to watch Aim's until I am back.