Chapter 8: My Best Friend

I am surrounded by darkness, it stretches on, not giving way to even the slightest of light.

That is, until a spotlight appears in the distance, shining down onto an object I can't quite clearly make out from here.

But what I can tell is that it is small, white, and made of a glass-like material.

I make my way towards it, feeling my steps vibrate as I walk.

The object before me still remains obscured to my sight, despite being really close to it.

It remains this way till I am but a feet away, when I discover the object to be a toilet.

As my gaze hits it, I find my stomach churning and cry, so at once, I hurriedly raise the lid, and then I sit.

Relieving myself of the pain in my bladder.

In the blink of an eye, I find myself to be in a forest, a forest I know all too well.

The tranquility of the beautiful lush greenery, the chirping of birds, the shuffling of insects, the sweet smell of flowers, and a pure stream flowing somewhere nearby.

It all rushes into me in an instant, and I feel, at home.

This spot, our campsite, always made me feel this way.

Another blink, and I find myself, still in the forest, but in a completely different part, a part I don't believe I've been to before.

But the sound of running water is so close, I...

*SPLASH*

Water engulfs my left leg as I had been walking backward to take in the view.

The water finds its origin in a stream, a beautiful, clean-flowing stream laden with smooth rocks within.

I peer into the stream, and the more I look, the more something within, something shiny, glistening against the sun, catches my attention.

I want to go for a closer inspection, but I blink, and when my lids rise, I wish I'd never let myself blink.

I'm back at the worst place in my life, the car.

Everything rushes into me, but in the worst way imaginable.

I find myself searching for Burke yet again, but I don't find him in the driver's seat.

Then, my head turns to find Mom.

I try to stop my head from moving, from looking at Mother, but I'm not in control.

I'm not even given the freedom to shut my eyes, everything repeats itself, and all I can do is watch.

Mom is there, hung upside down just like me, blood dripping down her head.

The door creaks, then is torn away and flung into a distance.

A hand, with that tattoo, creeps into the car, towards Mom.

I scream, I scream.

I try to scream, but nothing, my voice has abandoned me.

The hand grabs mom's throat, and I jolt off my bed, screaming, screaming at the top of my lungs.

*THUD* The glass door ahead slides open, and a woman rushes towards me, shaken.

"What is it?" She says, darting her gaze in all directions as her hands partially transform into claws.

I don't answer her, I am unable to answer her.

She continues to circle me, searching every corner of the room, sniffing and listening.

In less than a minute, she makes her deduction, then she calms herself and retracts her claws.

After a deep breath, she turns to me.

"Nightmare?"

I don't respond, I still am unable to.

I just stare at her, taking in her features.

It strikes me as odd that she is wearing a t-shirt and baggy shorts, like a boy, or a girl that just escaped her boyfriend's house in the dead of night, with nothing to wear, save for his.

Her demeanor also does not seem appropriate for the type of face and hair she carries.

She stands like a boy, but her curly orange hair, and her blemishless face, which seemed to have been made particularly meticulously by God, scream a beautiful damsel.

People always told me I was beautiful, but if I were to be true, I believe she deserves that honor.

I turn away from her, feeling numb.

Sensations return to my body in bits and pieces, but I still am unable to speak.

'Are you hurt in some way?' She says to me via the Neuropath of my pack.

I would be annoyed right now, as to how these wolves just throw it in our faces that they mastered how Instinct as though it was child's play.

But the aching in my heart does not leave me the strength to be spiteful.

All I feel is pain.

"You're not answering me, which is starting to scare me." She leaves the side of my bed and heads towards the door.

When she gets to the door, she turns to me.

"I'm going to get the doctor." She says. "So stay put."

I still am unable to answer her, but something she says rings into my head.

Doctor, doctor, doctor for a wolf...A Kerigore wolf, Rosemary.

I lift my head at the woman, who was just closing the thick curtains in front of the glass door.

"Rosemary!" I burst.

She pauses, almost in awe of my ability to speak.

"So you can talk." She says to me, with a smirk.

I pull the thick blanket covering me, then I make to get up, but when I stare at my legs, I find a puddle-like stain across the sheets.

What is thi...

"The toilet." I say on accident, I can't believe I pissed myself.

Realization strikes me.

On Darius' bed nonetheless.

What will he do to me?

'Calm down, he isn't around for now, so we'll have it cleaned before he returns.'

I scrunch my nose upon hearing a voice in my head, the same voice of the orange-haired woman.

I turn to meet her gaze.

'How did you...'

'You created a Neuropath with me.'

'I...I didn't...' I say to her, feeling somewhat hostile towards her.

"Yes, you did." She speaks with her actual voice.

I stare at her, watching her carefully, as I search for anything to defend myself with.

Who even is this woman?

She rolls her eyes over as I think this.

'You still formed a Neuropath with me, I can hear everything, and just so you know, I was assigned to protect you by alpha Darius himself.'

I don't let down my defensive demeanor.

"God." She says, and when I blink, I find her in front of me, on top of Darius' bed.

I stifle a gasp when I behold this.

"If I wanted you dead, you'd already be by now. So calm down." She casually gets off the bed, and heads towards the door.

"Get into the showers, get changed, and I'll take you to your friend." She pauses and turns to me. "That was who you were talking about, right?" She asks, and I nod, with a feeling in my heart I can't too well describe.

Rosemary is okay.

"Good then, I'll be outside." She gestures towards the door, then heads out.

At once I leap out of the bed and head into the bathroom to my right.

When I am ready, the orange-haired woman whom I still don't know her name, leads me to sections of the house I had yet to explore and or did not even know existed.

We take the stairs leading to the top section of this mansion.

And then we end up in another enormous hall, with more paths to take at every corner.

And a flight of stairs just ahead, that spreads out above us, and curves on each side, creating another balcony for those on top to look down on us below.

I catch the orange hair at the side of my eye, heading right, so I leave my mesmerizing behind and follow.

She heads towards a door, located under the balcony of stairs above.

And when she opens the door, I find another large room, with a large bed in the middle, and Rosemary seated up, leaning against her pillow, with a book in hand.

Which she scurries under her blanket upon our arrival.

Our eyes meet, and she jumps out of bed.

"Abigail!" She screams my name.

I would do likewise, but I find heartache choking my throat.

She rams me in an embrace, and as she does so, I feel tears forming at the edges of my eyes.

I return the hug, holding tightly, that I never want to let go.

"Abigail, you have no idea how badly I wanted to see you, I was so afraid, I thought something bad happe..."

I push her away.

"Shut up Rosemary!" I explode, anger boiling inside me by her words.

As tension rises into the air, I hear the door behind us, closing shut, and the presence of the orange hair that had been looming over us disappears.

"Abigail, I don't..."

"You...you were worrying about me?" I can't talk properly, the grief rising in my throat has me. "You almost died, and you were worrying about me? Can you not see what happened to you was my fault?"

Rosemary rolls her eyes.

"Oh, this again." She walks back to her bed. "Well, I can see you're fine."

"Stop it, Rosemary, stop acting like this is a norm." I grab her hand and pull her back.

"It is a norm Abigail. Every time you always take it upon yourself that everything bad happening in this world is your fault."

"Don't do that, you know I'm the reason for what happened this time."

"No you weren't Abigail, you didn't ask to be alpha Darius'mate." She air quotes the words alpha. "And you didn't make my family to drown themselves in debt, and leave it all with me after they ran. So no, Abigail, it's not your fault."

I find myself lacking anything else to say, so I crumble to the ground, tears steadily flowing out of my eyes.

Rosemary follows suit, getting onto the ground and taking my side.

She wraps her arms around me and pulls me in.

"I'm sorry Rosemary, I just...wanted you to yell at me, hate me even. I mean...you...you almost died." I break down.

She rocks with me in her arms.

"That wasn't your fault, okay? And as you can see, I'm fine." She says, with a voice a mother makes with her child.

And I sink into her like a child.

"You're always so good at stuff like this, that's one thing I really hate about you." I force a chuckle amidst my crying, and I hear Rosemary respond with a chuckle as well.