George
"I just missed you so much. I haven't seen you in a day," Clarkson says.
"Hey, Andrew," Shane yells.
I quickly shift my gaze to her and glare.
"Sorry," she whispers. "Hey, I need help," she whispers to Andrew.
"What is it?" Andrew whispers. He stands up and enters the house.
"Ohâ" I speak to the phone.
But Clarkson cuts my words with, "That's all."
A beep follows.
"What just happened?" I whisper.
Is Saber's rank promotion done?
Did they figure out that I'm not in the village anymore?
But he should be asking me where I am if he figured it out.
He wasn't lying when he told me that he missed me though.
"Who is it?" Andrew asks and sits beside me again.
I look at him. "Clarkson," I answer as I yawn.
"You should sleep now," Andrew says. He stands up. He offers his hand.
I only smile at him. I am sorry but I really still couldn't treat him as a friend because of all the thing that he brought to me. But I also don't want to ruin the friendship that we had. This is the only circle of friends that I had.
He opens the door and lets me enter first.
We walk upstairs. "Thank you," I say while gesturing the mug of hot chocolate.
He gives me a small smile and a light pat on my back, "Good night, George. Thanks for everything." He walks to the guest room where Jeremy sleeps.
"Good night," I say and enter my room.
"George!" Shane happily says when I enter the room.
"Hey," I say and smile. "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping right now?" I ask and put the drink on the side table.
"I'm not tired yet! I'm so excited! I've been sleeping here alone in your room," she says as happily hugs the pillow beside her.
"By the way, thank you for letting us stay here," she pulls me for a hug. "I missed you so much, Georgie!"
"Shane?" I say and sit on the bed beside her. "Isn't there anything suspicious with the werewolf guards?"
"Hmmm," she thinks and purses her lips.
"None? Nothing, really. They're all great. I talked to one of them. His name is Guerro. He has known Saber for a long time. The whole pack is like really close highschool friends. He said they're batch mates or something. They enter their training days together and kind of graduate together if that makes sense. But Saber finishes his training quicker than them. Guerro is a fun guy. Most of Saber's followers are quiet. He's like a different breed," she laughs a little.
"Mmm...hhmm," I nod as I lie down on the bed.
"Guerro and Sierra have the same vibes as mine. You know? Fun and talkative. Anyways, so after Saber finished or graduated, he became a trainer. Then, he is the one who teaches them, kind of like a student teacher I guess?"
She lies beside me and continues talking. "Then, Saber got a chance to build his pack. Pack, right? Same with wolves."
"Yeah," I nod and finish my drink.
"So Saber chooses them after they graduated," Shane clasps her hand.
Shane continues to speak but my tired eyes slowly close as I drift off to sleep.
Clarkson's face greets me as I enter the realm if dreams.
"George," Clarkson smiles at me. I saw myself hanging at the edge of the cliff. Looking down, the cliff village is slowly crumbling. The villagers run to the open field.
"Here, let me help you," Clarkson says and grabs my hand.
A man wearing a cloak appears and steps on Clarkson's back.
"Georgina, Georgina, Georgina. Do you really think you are capable of being an Alpha?" the man asks and laughs cynically.
I can't see his face because of his cloak. He sits on Clarkson's back and steps on his hands. Clarkson groans in pain. Clarkson doesn't let go of my hands but the man pulls his hair. The cloaked man stands up and pulls Clarkson up by grabbing his hair.
"Clarkson!" I yell. I groan and try to lift myself up.
"Clarkson," the man mocks my words in a high-pitched voice. "Yeah, that's all you can do!"
"While everyone is suffering because of you, all you do is be the same old girl blaming herself that it's her fault without doing anything!"
The man kicks my face which causes me to fall off the cliff.
I only blame myself.
But I don't do anything for them.
I always isolate myself thinking that it's the best thing I can do.
And ask.
Why does it have to be me?
From being alone I'm suddenly surrounded by the people that I have to take care of.
All of the people and other creatures that matter to you will be punished and forced to be away from you.
You have to be braver.
Be braver.
The voice of the lady who helped me echoes.
And all of them, the people I have to take care of, are in danger because of me.
There.
I blame myself again.
I fall on a pair of strong arms.
"George," the familiar voice says.
"Jared," I say and touch his face.
We stay still while everything around us crumbles down.
You.
You who suddenly came into my life and suddenly left.
"You're here," I say while tears roll down my eyes.
"Get him!" a group of people form around us pointing their weapons at Jared.
"No!" I try to stand up but everything vanishes as I fall.
And fall.
Again.
"George!" Shane shakes my shoulder.
I gasp and exhale heavily.
"What happened?" Shane sits beside me and rests her chin on my shoulder.
"What time is it?" I ask.
"Seven-something. You only had 3 hours of sleep," she says and hugs me. "You should sleep more."
"No, no, no, no," I quickly stand up.
"Aw," Shane says when my shoulder hits her chin.
"Sorry, I'm sorry," I say. "Do you have any contact with Stacey?"
"Yes, I do. We talk almost every day," she replies and gets off the bed. "Let me just get my phone downstairs. She runs downstairs.
"Nice bangles by the way," Shane says and hands her phone to me.
"Oh this," I look at my mother's gift. "It's from my Mom."
Shane's eyes widen, "No way. You finally met her!?"
"Yes," I say with a smile.
"Tell me about it!" she happily says.
"Not now, I'm running out of time," I say while looking for my phone.
I go back upstairs and see my phone on the bed. Shane follows.
My mouth gape when I read Clarkson's message.
Some of the werewolves will go there in your apartment, you should leave by the morning.
"Why? What's the matter?" Shane looks at me with worried eyes.
"I'm leaving," I say and look at her. "I really have to leave now."
"Right now!?" she exclaims. "But we'll hang out once the two are back. Your Aunt says she'll visit after work."
Oh, right! Aunt Liz!
No, George. You have no time left.
"I'm sorry," I look at her. "We'll hang out once everything is okay."
I call Stacey's number using Shane's phone.
"Hi, Shane!" Stacey cheerfully greets.
"This is George actually," I say. "Can we meet?"
"Sure, what time?" Stacey asks.
"Now?" I hesitantly say.
I immediately rush to the candy shop where she is working. It shocked me that she actually waited for me. I thought she wouldn't help me.
"Hey!" Stacey greets me. She runs and gives me a tight hug.
I am startled because of her actions. Slowly, I pat her back.
"How's your stay?" Stacey asks.
"I had a short sleep. But I am leaving as soon as possible. Uhm, can you share anything about vampires? A conflict? Internal alliances?" I quickly say.
Time is my greatest enemy right now.
"I don't know much about them. I usually stay in the avenue where mostly Dhampir lives because they are kind of like humans, day walkers. The avenue where vampires are mostly active during the night. The nightlife is great until they figure out I'm connected to Dmitri."
"Why? What's wrong if you're connected to him?"
"A lot! He is famous back there! I was stalked once by some of his fans. Because you know, he's a Prince? And I am his... adopted human creature."
He's basically a celebrity.
"Adopted human creture?" I ask.
Her eyes softened before speaking,"He is like a father to me."
* * *
Bonus scene:
"Hello," Saber greets as he enters the police station.
"I want to report a stolen car," Saber says and taps the counter.
They can help me, right?
They're police officers.
"A minute, Sir."
"What is the color of the car?"
"Red."
"License plate number?"
Saber frowns. "What is that?"
"Plate number, Sir. It is attached at the back of your car."
Oh.
"W-3-R-3-W-0-L-F..." Saber proudly says, remembering the customized plate number he bought in a souvenir shop.
Hah. Glad I bought one.
* * *
:>
Hey! How are you doing? I'm wondering if I should share this bonus scene with you guys or not.
How is the chapter? George is a whole mess here. Lololol.
Thank you so much for reading the story!