Chapter 52 Let's go
ZORA
I scooted back still on the floor, scrambled up to my feet, and ran as fast as I could.
Just as I emerged from the forest, the friendly bodyguard Ryker placed on me bumped into me, –rather, I bumped into her. My face a mess with tears.
She gave me a once over,
"Are you okay, Miss Zora?"
"Ah yes, do you need something?" I replied curtly.
I hated my tone, but I had more pressing issues and would rather not be seen by anyone else right now, not even Ryker himself.
"No, not really. I stopped by your room earlier. You weren't in. I just want to inform you that Marissa is around. She accompanied Beta Wesley on his way here just in case you need anything, you'd be able to call on her."
Marissa was here?!
Goddess!!! I can cry with relief right now.
"Where is she?" I asked quickly.
The bodyguard ran her eyes over me again, "She was given a place in the cabin fifty meters east from the Luna suites."
I nodded my thanks and ran in that direction.
I found the cabin easily and knocked repeatedly.
"Marissa!!'' I yelled, knocking heavily and nonstop
“Marissa!”
My fingers were like icicles and all of me. I couldn't discern whether it was from the midnight cold or from what had just occurred.
My eyes stung and itched from the amount of tears I'd cried on my way here.
I knocked frantically a few more times, praying she heard me this time, I couldn't afford to be seen by anyone else looking like this.
I was still in my casual attire, now dirtied and torn in some places.
My hair had leaves, sand and dirt plastered all over it, and I had no slippers on, I had lost it on my run from the Jayna.
The now stone-cold luna laying in the forest unmoving and rigid. How was I ever going to explain this to anyone?
Heck, what if Marissa doesn't believe me.
Fear creeped into my mind as I contemplated turning around and running away before she answered the door.
The choice was gone before I could even decide as soon as Marissa open the door, looking confused and sleepy at first then I watched her eyes widen in surprise and realization when she took in my state and look.
"Now, I understand that knock. What the heck happened to you?"
I've never felt so happy to see Marissa like I do right now.
Tears pricked at the corner of my eyes from the worry in her eyes.
Instantly, her arms shot out, and she pulled me into her room, then she stuck her head out to make sure no one saw me before slamming the door shut and locking it. She turned around and stared at me for a while, concern written all over her face.
“Are you okay, Zora?” She asked, in a tone that said she was ready to tear down the pack and teach a lesson out of whoever had hurt me.
If only she knew.
“N...no, No one hurt me.” I answered her unasked question and saw her heave a sigh of relief at my response, then she wriggled her brows up.
“What then happened, Zora? You are clearly not okay."
I stood there slightly trembling. Tears began to form in my eyes once more.
How can I tell her? How can I explain to her that right now, because of me, a Luna is cold dead. Not any kind of Luna, but Jayna!
I don't even know what kind of person her mate was. What if he wanted blood for blood? How do I even explain that it wasn't my fault and I don't know what happened out there?
“Hey, is everything alright? You can talk to me.” She said, the worry in her voice growing by the second as she came over to me and guided me to the medium sized bed that laid in the other side of the room not so far from the door. “Here, have a seat.”
Marissa didn't need to prompt me to speak. The silence was enough to make me to.
“I... I didn't mean to.” I broke down into a silent sob, my breath coming out in short gasps as body racked with tears.
“Mean to? Come on, Zora, you're scaring me . What exactly happened? Are you in trouble? Do you need help? Please, I want to help, but I need to know what's going on.”
Sobbering up a little, I mustered enough courage to face her and talk.
“I killed someone, Marissa.”
She laughed, "tell me you are joking."
I shook my head negatively.
“What?!” Marissa's face went from “no way you'd do that” to “shit, you did.”
“What?" She screamed again, "Tell me, Zora, what really happened?”
I told her.
"Who's this she?" Marissa asked.
"Jayna. I don't know which paxk she belongs to, but her name is Jayna."
"Even my ankle twisted at an odd angle..." I trailed off as her showed her my ankle. Remembering there was no way I could have ran with that injury."
"It's healed." The words left my lips in a whisper.
I don't heal fast, what was happening? Was it those light particles?
I glanced at Marissa,she looked horrified. I can't tell if it was of me or my ordeal.
“How dare she? I knew how the Lunas were, but I never expected it to get this extreme. You could have lost your life Zora” Marissa said through gritted teeth.
“I know, I honestly didn't expect to survive it and probably wouldn't have if what happened hadn't happened.”
“And from your explanation, Zora, it was definitely your powers that saved you.”
“I'm not…I don't think…Marissa, can I trust you with something else?”
“Yes Zora, anything. I promise never to tell anyone.”
With a sigh, I began. I explained the kind of bond I had with Ryker. And how it has been influencing how I acted to him sometimes.
She listened with rapt attention and was quiet as she let me explain to her.
And finally, when I was done, I leaned back on the bed exhausted and curled on myself “Do you think my powers could be related to the bond?”
"Was that why you visited my grandmother?"
I nodded softly.
She went silent for a while, her face trying to piece the puzzle together. After a while, she looked at me, her eyes narrowing.
“I have a theory, but I need to confirm it first. Could you please go into more details as to how you used your power. How were you able to use it to save yourself? And the exact moment it got triggered?”
The moment she asked, the memory of how I'd felt at that moment came rushing in.
“ I honestly can't exactly put a word to it. I felt so many things all at once. I remember not wanting to die, terrified and then pure serenity after that. It was like I'd been standing out in the rain for a while and then went diving into a very warm pool. It all felt so good and natural. The way the liquid light flowed through my hand warming me up and then the abject cold I felt the moment the light left. Her entire body went cold, and shriveled on itself."
"Like you sucked the life out of her?"
I shrugged, "Maybe?"
Something clicked in Marissa's eyes as soon as I answered. With a final nod of her head, she stood up and faced me an unreadable expression on her face.
“Do you recall when I told you that you were an elder the first time I saw your eye change colors?”
I nodded.
“Good. Now, from your description, not only are you an elder but also the special kind, you're what they call a Sylunthys”
“A what?”
“A Sylunthys, a very rare kind of elder one that even the history books has no details of what they are or can do. The only advice I can give you if you'd like to know more of your lineage, it would be to look within your memories.”
“My memories? How does that help? I don't even have memories of my powers to begin with!"
“Well memories are often passed down through generations. And there has only been one record of a Sylunthys other than you, but no one knew nothing about what they could do or how. But the memory passage? That was confirmed to exist, I don't know how, though."
My mind was in a fix here, I didn't know what to say or do.
A Sylunthys? What the heck does that even mean.
I've never heard about it before until now. My thoughts were all over the place until Marissa broke it.
“So what did you do with the body?”
“Huh? The body?vWhat was I supposed to do with it?”
“Wait what?! Don't tell me you left her there like that.”
I nodded, "That's exactly what I did."
“Crap, Zora! That's the first thing you should have mentioned. You should have disposed of her now or bury her or something. Someone could find her out in the open like that.”
"I'm so sorry, this is my first time robbing a person of their life. Forgive me for being clueless and coming to you first."
She ran a hand through her hair, "Sh!t Zora, I didn't mean it that way, I just felt...."
I sighed, "I know."
She was right. I should have done something and let panic make the best of me later.
“I'm so sorry, I had no idea. It skipped my mind. I was too terrified and wanted to get away from her quickly. What do I do now?
“Nothing. You need to go and rest. You can change clothes here then go have a bath and resy up. I'll handle it. You can't be seeing disposing a dead body. Could you imagine what they'd do to you?”
“But–”
“No buts. Go, I'll handle it” she said with a final tone.
I reached out from the bed and hugged her. “Thank you so much, Marissa. I really am grateful. More than you know, I'm glad I could talk to you.”
“Anytime, Zora. I'm here for you. Now go back to your room and pretend nothing happened. There's a festival later with mandatory attendance. You can't go looking like this."
I nodded and went back to my room, still shaky and jittery. Thankfully, no one saw me enter my room, and frankly, I wouldn't have attended the festival if it weren't for the suspicion it'd bring.
I leaned against the tree, away from everyone, as I watched them dance, sing, and drink.
Each glance to my side made my skin prickle.
Did anyone know yet?
Were they setting a trap for me?
I tensed up as I heard movement behind me.
The familiar scent calmed my nerves instantly, and the bond.
"You look like you're on the edge. What did you do?" Ryker asked in my ears.
My breath hitched in my throat.
What did I do?? Did he know?
"Is it that obvious?" I asked.
"No," he continued in that deep sultry voice of his, "I just couldn't take my eyes off you."
I was silent. What was I supposed to say to that?
My dress flayed with the wind as Ryker stood behind me, his breath fanning my neck whilst he stood rigid and unmoving, staring out at the evening as it unfolded before us.
The whole ordeal from earlier had calmed down in my system, but I wasn't interested in the festival.
I turned on my heels to face him, the bond squirmed with excitement. Our faces were inches apart.
I expected him to move, keep a distance between us. He didn't.
While my face was neutral as I gazed into his, my mind was like a bees nest
Thoughts flew across my mind in a frenzy, I was getting paranoid.
What if someone was watching me?
What if someone else tried to kill me?
What if Jayna had not been alone, but I just didn't realize it?
I know I hadn't turned back, so I couldn't have known if there were more.
I couldn't let anyone else find out. I couldn't be placed in more trouble than I currently was right now.
I have to leave, we have to leave.
“What is it?”
His sudden question startled me.
His face was stoic, uninterested, "What's bothering you?”
I contemplated passing it off as nothing and just downplaying it, but I couldn't.
Not now, not like this.
I had too much was riding on it.
“Let's leave,” I deadpanned, not breaking eye contact
“Hmmm..... we will. As soon as they are done. The festival is almost over.”
“No, not just the festival, the contest everything. Let's leave it behind and go back home,” I said, not hiding the urgency in my voice.
Ryker sent me a penetrative look that made me feel naked, like he could see through me and read every line my body was giving off.
I fidgeted a little.
“Why?”
“Please Ryker, just listen to me. We need to leave.”
His eyes scrutinized my face for a while before returning to the festival.
“No.”
“Ryker we need to go. I'm begging you.”
“No, we don't. We are going nowhere until you tell me why. What would make you want to leave this contest so bad when you know how important it is to the pack in general?
“I…I can't explain it. I just… I just really want to leave”
“Well now you see Zora, I'm interested and ready to leave just as soon as you tell me why.” His gaze told me that there was no persuading him.
He knew something was up and won't back down until he found out what.
How am I supposed to persuade him??
He leaned in, our forehead almost touching, "So tell me, meiga. Give me one good reason why we should leave this contest all together and go home? If your reason is good enough, then perhaps we might just go home.”
I hesitated, knowing that Ryker might just be messing around with me.
“Come on, meiga. We just might leave right now if I knew why."