Chapter 46 Shut Out
1077 Words
"I heard about the collapse."
Elara froze on hearing that, still trying to figure out who they were talking about.
She held the cup tight, hoping it won't fall from her hand. She had managed to find a home is an abandoned cafe, and she prayed and wished each day that bad people won't look for her there.
"... collapsed?"
She didn't plan to listen, but with the way they were talking, it's obvious it's someone important.
"Selene Blackwood."
That did it for her. Her own best friend?
"What really happened to her?" One of them asked. At this point, Elara leaned forward to hear them, but still careful for them not to notice, as that would be another problem. She knew they won't waste time to shift the attention to her. Her heart kept pounding non stop, as she tried to get hold of herself.
"I heard from a reliable source that she was rushed to the pack healer."
"She's now sick...like seriously sick."
Sick? Elara couldn't help asking herself.
"How sick is she?" The narrator paused, more like the word was very heavy in her mouth.
"It's cancer."
Immediately, the cup slipped from Elara's hand without her knowing it. And as expected, heads turned instantly to her direction. The cup shattered in the floor, and even those that had turned to watch her, she still didn't know about them. She couldn't, because she never imagined such ever in her life.
Her chest started paining her, as she held tight to it, bending low in disbelief.
"No..." She whispered to no one. Her legs started moving before she had time to think. She rushed out of the cafe, and the next minute, she was on the street, running and breathing unevenly. Her vision had also started to blur, but she didn't care. All her mind was only one person.
Selene.
Her wolf started stirring restlessly, already agitated, and panicking at the same time. If for anything, she needs to see her, to be by her side. She didn't care about the weird stares she was getting from people. Neither did she care about the whispers from them, all she wanted was to see her, and nothing more.
She knew many of them were already judging her, saying alot as she ran, but she didn't care. By the time she got to the Blackwood estate...her chest had started heaving heavily. Her hair was disheveled, and her eyes wild like fierce.
"Let me in!" She demanded at the gate, the same gate she had passed a million times to visit her friend. But the guards blocked her way instantly.
Without warning, the guard grabbed her by the wrist, and made to push her out not in a polite way.
"I'm very sorry, Miss. Voss," one of them told her. Miss Voss, no more Elara as they do call her. They had suddenly become formal.
"You're not allowed anyway close to this estate." He told her, making Elara to blink unbelievably.
"What are you talking about?"
"I need to go in, and see Selene," she added quickly.
"Please, just go in and inform her that I'm here, waiting to see her..."
"She gave us strict instructions to never let you in again. And we are operating in that capacity."
Elara staggered back, the word sounding strange to her ears. Her throat suddenly became dry, and she realized she was dehydrated.
"...what instructions are you talking about?" She asked, hoping the answer would come out different this time.
The guard hesitated for a few seconds, and she could tell he was already pissed repeating himself to her.
"You're not allowed to get any close to her "
Elara stared at him like he was speaking a strange language. She still didn't move, and was unwilling to do so.
"...no," she whispered to herself. "There must certainly be a mustache somewhere. Maybe it's not my own Elara."
"There isn't any miss up."
Her chest started heaving, but she held herself from falling right there. The pain was too much for her to bear. She couldn't help blaming herself for everything. For not being there for her friend when she needed her the most.
"She's my best friend!" She told the man, with the hope he would have mercy on her and let go.
"Well, not anymore," the second guard replied too cruelly without missing words.
Elara flinched at the reality.
"I just want to see her, even if it's just for a second, I don't mind." She requested, already kneeling down, her voice softer, but that still didn't move them.
"Please..."
The first guard sighed, and the look on his face showed he was already irritated at her presence.
"But she doesn't want to set her eyes on you ever again."
The words came out very cruel, and also final. There was nothing she was going to beg them, that would make them change their minds, as their jobs would be on the line.
Elara was devastated, her world crumbling right before her. How did she turn from best friend, to the most despised enemy? How did tables turn this fast, that she had lost all rights to see her friend, to read her stories on her sick bed? How did she lose herself, that she's now a laughing stock in the pack?
She decided to try just one more time.
"No ..she doesn't mean any of those..." She continued. "Maybe she was just angry..."
"Oh, she does. She meant every word of it."
That was a new voice entirely. It was sharp, controlled, and on turning, Elara saw who was there.
Mira.
She was standing just a few steps behind her, get expression very cold and harsh, and the worse, unforgiving.
"Elara Voss."
She called her name with so much disgust, like she was some trash. This is a woman that emused to adore her due to how close she was with Selene. They were practically twins, and Mira never fails to show how much she loved her anytime she's around. She would go as far as making meals, and forcing Selene to invite her over, just to have them all ear together as one family. To her, she was another daughter she didn't have.
But right now, all those love were gone. There was no softness in her eyes like it used to be before, each time she stare at her. It was completely replaced with hatred.
"Mrs. Blackwood...."
- Writer
