Chapter 61 Scarlett's Secret

*****Scarlett’s perspective*****

I couldn’t believe how close the Blood King got. I was freaking out a little. I knew Strix and everyone would do their best to keep me safe but I was afraid that they might die in doing so. EJ was in a coma already, with no way of knowing when he’d wake up. I didn’t want anyone to die for me. I wasn’t an important person. I thought about giving myself up to the Blood King, but where did he go? He couldn’t teleport. He must have slipped away during the chaos of the fight.

I went to visit EJ in the pack hospital. He was still in wolf form and I didn’t understand why. Wolves normally shift back when they are severely injured. Why didn’t Zeus shift back? Was EJ gone?

I sat there for a few minutes not knowing what to say. All I could think about was that it was all my fault. If only I had used my powers to help instead of keeping them hidden.

“I am so sorry, EJ. If only I had done more. I could have done more. I should have done more. “ I cried. “I could have used my powers to help you,” I whispered before walking out of the room.

I felt horrible. About the whole thing. I should have given myself over to the Blood King before any of this happened. So many had already died in his search for me. I don’t know what I’d do if EJ died.

I went back to the packhouse to check on everyone. Taylor and Mary were still at the hospital, but everyone else was back at the packhouse, including all of our allies.

When I got to the packhouse, they were passing out candles for the vigil. Everyone was praying for EJ’s recovery. I had never prayed before, but I would tonight. Even though he is still a kid, EJ was the first person I really opened up to.

After everyone got their candle, we started lighting them as we walked to the pack hospital. Someone brought a stereo and it was playing EJ’s favorite music.

When we got to the hospital, we surrounded it. I hoped EJ knew how much he was loved. That he had so many people that cared about him.

The vigil lasted for a few hours and then people started heading toward their beds. I didn’t sleep, so I stayed behind and so did the rest of my family, EJ’s family.

We sat in the waiting room, hoping to hear some good news soon. Mary and Taylor sat with us when they weren’t working on EJ. They weren’t sure what was going on. Mary said he had finally shifted back. Physically, he was healed. But he was still in a coma.

I went into his room and sat next to his bed. I took his hand in mine and prayed. I prayed to God that he would be alright. Then I spoke to EJ hoping he could hear me.

“EJ, I hope you can hear me. I am so, so sorry. I knew you were going to get hurt that day, I could have stopped it. No one knows I have powers. But I will tell you about them. I have two. I see the future, not the way Ben or Zach see it. They see the path someone is on. I see the end result not what led to it, just the aftermath. I can also teleport like the Blood King. I don’t know what that means exactly. I didn’t even know anyone else could teleport until he showed up. I never told anyone because I was scared. Most of my visions show me nothing but death. I ignored them for the most part. Then Ben saw the future as it unfolded. But his visions change based on the decisions people made. Mine don’t change. I see what the people intend to do. I knew the Blood King’s intentions the moment I heard he was looking for me. I saw all those who died because they weren’t useful to him. I saw him torture innocent people. I could have told you where he was so many times. But I was scared and kept quiet about him. I wish I had said something sooner. I wish I had told everyone about my powers sooner but they scared me and I thought you guys wouldn’t believe me. I never thought about my visions and stayed mostly in the background until recently. You shouldn’t be lying in this bed. I should have teleported to you and stopped you from attacking the Blood King on your own. It’s all my fault.” I cried.

I sat with EJ a while longer when Strix came in. She sat on the other side of him and held his other hand.

“Strix, I am so sorry for all of this. It’s all my fault. I could have stopped it.”

“It’s not your fault. Don’t blame yourself.”

“It is my fault. The Blood King was after me not EJ or anyone else. I should have just given myself to him.”

“Don’t say that. We would have fought for you no matter what.”

“I still could have stopped EJ from going after the Blood King on his own. I saw it happen beforehand. I could have teleported to him and helped him fight the Blood King. But I was afraid that if I used my powers to help, you guys might reject me.”

“Wait! What? Why didn’t you tell us about your powers? What made you think we would reject you? Have we ever done anything to make you think that?”

“I had a vision when I first turned. It scared me so bad I tried not to say or do anything that would upset anyone. It’s why I was always so quiet and focused mainly on music. I love music and I knew most of you guys did as well. So music was safe, everything else not so much. I hated it when Jason asked me to kill your friends but I thought if I kept him happy I could keep everyone happy. I was wrong and you showed me that. It took me a long time before I could trust that I wouldn’t say or do anything that would make you reject me. And EJ was the first one I opened up to because he was a safe place. He talked to me about stuff more than he talked to anyone else and always tried to include me in everything the family was doing. I think because of who he is, he knew more about me than anyone else.”

“Oh, Scarlett, I wish we had been better to you. We never would have rejected you. I should have tried harder to get to know the real you from the start. I am so sorry for my part. We love you, no matter what.” She came around the bed and gave me a hug.

We hugged for a while before releasing each other. Then she sat back down. She grabbed EJ’s hand once again. EJ began to stir.