Chapter 76 Chapter 76:

Chapter 76 Chapter 76:
Irene:

We both stumble to the floor, me gripping the knife, aimed at his neck. Dante’s on the floor, breathing raggedly, looking at me while sweating. “You are making a terrible mistake, Irene.” His voice comes out rough, tiny, almost scared.

I want to laugh so badly, the almighty Dante acting scared. Good, he should be scared.

I pin his wrists tightly and drive the blade into his shoulders, he howls painfully before kicking me off with a force that knocks the breath out of my lungs, my body hits the floor, the impact rattling my bones. The room starts to spin in my eyes and something starts surging through me.

My powers, wild and uncontrollable. My chest claws painfully and the walls start to tremble, cracks spilling the wall. The pressure builds in my chest, shit. The house is going to collapse with everyone in it.

We are all going to die, even on the floor, I see Dante crawling to the exit, clutching his bloody shoulders in pain. Fucking Coward.

My legs feel like jelly as I try to stand, the room feels like it’s closing on me. Hurriedly, I saunter towards the kitchen, where the Omegas are all cowering in fear.

I face them; they stare at me, at the bruises on my shoulders, at my ragged face caked with dirt. “Go now, this is your only chance. You are free now.” My heart bleeds for Hailey, she should be amongst them, running home and never looking back.

But, she’s gone now and that only fuels my hate for Dante, they come closer, eyes moist with tears. They have given up on hope, but this is what freedom feels like, I watch as they start to gather their coats from the rack, all shedding grateful tears.

I grip the edge of the knife more tightly, my mind racing from the possibility of ending Dante, ending all the scars he caused us or running to Enrique- the thought of him lying in that hospital room, hanging on to the tiny thread of hope. I desperately need to see him.

My mind tells me to end Dante, end the entire nightmare, but my heart draws to Enrique, wanting to see him.

“Go!” I tell the Omegas who are still standing there, eyes wide with terror. “This ends today.” They gather around me, hugging me tight, before they all scramble to the door. With one look at the falling house, I step out of the room and locate the door that leads to the exit. The whole place is filled with dust as I step out, my eyes squinting gently at the sky. It's been so long since I stepped out into the daylight. The cool air slaps my face, but I have to get out of there, before the house crushes me.

“Fuck you, Dante. I will come back for you.” I say with a smile that doesn’t quite touch my eyes. I see someone leaning against the car, waving at me. I step closer, the figure coming into view.

Red.

“Get in the car.” He cranes his head, opening the side of the door for me. I don’t hesitate before entering the car, I breathe in sharply, Red gets into the driver’s seat and starts the engine, kicking it into life. He rears backward and I stare straight ahead as the house- the one that kept me a prisoner begins to crumble, the cracks spread and within seconds, everything comes down, collapsing into dust and blocks.

I just hope that everyone is already out of the house safely, but my heart pounds. Where in the hell is Dante? Is he gone? Dead yet? Primordial Wolf doesn't die easily, Ora tells me that he’s still out there, and I have to catch him.

Red starts to drive away.

I have so many questions to ask Red, but he’s focused on the road, driving smoothly, “where are we?”

He answers immediately, “In the middle of fucking nowhere.”

My throat feels drier and it hits me that when I munched on that sandwich, I didn’t even drink any water.

“There’s a bottle of water in the backseat.” Red says, he really can read people’s minds. He sighs then, “I waited for you because Dom predicted that this would all happen, he knew you would stab him, and your powers will act up, causing the house to collapse. He also knew you would choose to be with Enrique rather than kill him.” Under his coat, his muscle flexes as he takes a harsh turn towards a lane.

Gripping the bottle of water, I take a gulp, my mind refreshing at once, if not for Dom, I would still be in there, just hoping to die, but he gave me what no one else gave me. Hope. Nothing but hope. 

I should thank him, but he is still in the surgery room.

Red’s phone flashes with a call, the caller ID displaying ‘Rowena’. I frown at him and he picks it up. “Hey babe,” my eyes widen the more, “can I call you later? I am in the middle of something.”

I don’t hear what she says at the other end, but Red ends the call after a few nods and stares at my shocked face.

“Start from the beginning.” I tell him, leaning on the seat.

“I am not spilling my love life to a mysterious stranger.”

“We are friends now,” I nudge him playfully in the shoulder as he takes another turn. Red spends the entire ride talking about Rowena, for a cold-hearted person like him, the way he talks about her showcases how much he loves her. But he hasn’t told her yet, which is in fact more gruesome.

Red persuades me to stop at home and get changed, maybe even have a shower and even though I need to see Enrique, I agree with him on that part, we stop at a nearby hotel and I take a shower, Red already grabbed me new clothes.

We even stop at a restaurant and I order myself a chilled coke with roasted chicken salad, while Red just quietly sips his mug of coffee. Now, I consider us friends, we chat a bit before we resume our ride to the hospital.

I am jumpy throughout the whole journey, and I am worrying. I can’t wait to see Enrique and be by his side when he wakes up. If he wakes up. When we reach the hospital, my legs are still weak but Red supports me by the hand.

“You should get yourself checked up, Irene.” He tells me. “You don’t look too good.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Together, we stumble into the wide lobby where I see everyone pacing around. My breath clogs in my throat and I just stand there, taking everything in. The moment they look at me, it’s as though everything changes, before I know it, they are all rushing to me.

My sister, Elva is the first to reach me, her eyes wide and brimming with tears, she holds my palm so tight, it hurts. Iris crashes me into a very tight hug next, her warmth seeping into my bones.

“You are alright, thank goddess.” She says, her voice thicker than ever, we hold ourselves more tightly before she finally releases me. Everyone takes time hugging me; Enrique’s mother lamenting on how thin that bastard, Dante has made me.

I stare at Nixie and Anna and they look at me nervously. They hesitate but I step closer and hug them both. “To forgive is divine.”

Gia, who’s beside her brother, Tyler steps closer and we embrace while she sobs, “I am so sorry, Irene. I swear, I didn’t know this would happen.”

I smile. “He saved my life, Gia. I know you really hate him now, but he saved my life,” Gia looks at me like she doesn’t understand what I am saying, but she will soon.

“Enrique....Is he still in surgery?” I ask breathlessly.

Enrique’s father replies, “The surgery was completed an hour ago but we can’t see him right now, he hasn’t woken up.”

“What about Dominic?” I still need to thank him for saving me.

“He hasn’t woken up either; the doctor informed us that it will take a bit of time, which is why we have to be very patient.” Tyler speaks up, but his voice is a little tight as he talks about Dom, I don’t blame him. The nightmare he caused to us all is going to be forever seared in our hearts.

Later on, the doctor gives me a check up and I spend the next hours talking to everyone, they all ask me about Dante and I give them honest answers, Agnar’s pissed that Dante escaped but luckily, Gia is trying to find his address, we are going to finish him up once and for all.

The doctor finally lets us see Enrique, I step into the room and when I see Enrique- lying so still and vulnerable, it almost brings me to my knees. I rush over to his side, seated at the edge of his seat, before grabbing his hand.

“Enrique, please wake up,” The plea comes out from me in a choke, I swallow. His hand feels very cold against mine and I try not to imagine the worst that can happen like Enrique never waking up again. “I can’t live without you.” I say, my bottom lips quivering.

The door of the ward creaks open and Anna walks in, tightening the loose lace jacket around her body, her messy brown hair spills down her shoulders, she looks very tired. She sits down on their chair, facing me. “I want to be like you when I grow up.” 

“Yeah?” I ask tiredly, “you are already grown up, Anna. Very soon you will be in the academy and trust me; you are going to be your real self, not me, but you.”

She blinks her eyes, looking at Enrique’s still body, “He was always protecting everyone, and looking out for them.” Her body is trembling and I take her into my arms, “I should have looked out for him, I should never have been with Dom, he’s bad.”

“Hey,” I say softly, tilting her chin to make her look at me. “It took me years before I realized that no one is actually bad or good. We are just people shaped by the way other people judge us. So Dom is not bad, okay? He’s just human, like the rest of us.” She hugs me tighter, and I rub her shoulders gently.

“I thought that if you came back, you would hate me. I didn’t want you to hate me,” her voice breaks and my heart bleeds for her, Anna De Luca isn’t someone you can hate.

I sigh. “Do you believe in fate? My family does, a lot. It’s a wonder why I wasn’t named fate.” We both share a short laugh and it relieves me to know she’s not crying anymore.

“My big brother, Ale. You might have met him by now, he always told me that no one can outrun fate, it’s written in the stars, and no matter how far we run. It always finds us.” I smile, fate has taught me many things in life, it pushes you into a battle that you don’t want to fight, it leaves you wondering the choices you have.

But in the end, fate gives everyone a happy ending and there’s no doubt at all that I am fated to be with Enrique.

We belong together, even the stars know that. So yes, I will rather hold on to a tiny thread of hope than walk away, questioning myself. I am not running away again.

So I do what I should have done: I wait and I hope.