Chapter Twenty-eight - Strange dream

Aria’s POV.

…there was a large crowd gathered, with murmurs flying around, but that wasn’t what drew my attention to their midsts. It was the soulful wails and cries of a woman I couldn’t see yet, and the screams of agony coming from a masculine voice.

My heart slammed harder against my chest, my brows furrowing in confusion, as I made my way past the angry crowd, chanting what seemed like a war song, with a blazing fire crackling in their midst. A whiff of burning skin assailed my nostrils and I scrunched it up, as my heart raced faster, the closer I got to the scene, but when I finally found my way to the forefront, the scene before me had bile rising in my throat with my guts twisting as tears welled up in my eyes.

In the midst of the burning fire was a man tied to a stake so he couldn't escape. I watched him helplessly struggling against the chains holding him to the stake as the blazing fire licked up his skin, causing screams of agony to tear out of his lips. But worse than this, was the pregnant woman dressed in a dark cloak held to the ground by two hefty men, as she wailed uncontrollably, struggling against their hold.

“Let him go!” she screamed at the top of her voice, still struggling and writhing against the hold of the two men, equally dressed in dark cloaks that were hiding their faces.

“He deserves to die for all of the pain he’s caused our people,” another man from the crowd yelled and the crowd roared in support, as the woman continued crying, while the burning man kept screaming in pain in agony.

At one point, I couldn’t look anymore. It was as though I could somehow feel the pain of this woman on the floor and from the way she kept staring at the burning man, coupled with the protective arm wrapped around her stomach, I didn’t need a prophet to know that the man must be her lover.

A lone tear slid down my cheek and I glanced away from the blazing flames, my eyes searching the crowd, hoping I’d see just one person with a look of compassion for this poor couple but I found none. All I could read on their faces was menace and malice. The viciousness and vileness in their eyes scared me as it had my heart palpitating wildly.

“What did this man do to warrant such hate from these people?'' These questions plowed my mind as my gaze darted to the burning man, but an audible gasp flew from my lips when I looked at the fire again, and it was no longer a man that was there, but a huge wolf, howling in a soulful voice, as it burned…

The barring of the alarm clock jerked me from my strange dream and my eyes instantly snapped open, as I shot up to a sitting position with my heart slamming hard against my chest and my eyes wide open. My nightwear was drenched with perspiration and I sat there, panting with the memories of the dream still fresh in my head.

I could still remember the hateful expressions on the faces of the people as the man burned to death. But that wasn’t what worried me. It was what I’d seen before my alarm disrupted me.

The burning man had turned into a wolf. The dream was strange and confusing and the more I tried to make sense of it or to even link it to my past dreams, the more confused I got. But then, when my thoughts traveled to the pregnant woman I’d seen in the dream, my eyes widened and my mouth popped open.

I could recognize her. She was the woman in the mirror, the same woman I’d seen in my last dream.

Why was I constantly seeing her in my dream? Was she trying to pass a message to me? And most importantly, who is she?

I was still dwelling on these questions, when my eyes landed on the alarm clock again and I saw I was getting late for school. Quickly, I scampered out of bed to prepare, after pushing my thoughts to a dark corner of my head.

I knew I needed to find the answers, but how do I go about it? Who do I speak to?

Half an hour later, I was rushing out of my bedroom with my backpack slung over one shoulder. Luckily for me, Shane was not in the living room and there were no guards or maids in sight. I took that opportunity to dash outside, hoping it’d be a guard taking me to school. I wasn’t ready to face him after all that happened last night. It’d kill me to look into his eyes, knowing I was hurting him and couldn’t bear to tell him the truth or confide in him.

My heart squeezed painfully as I thought about it but I found the will to push the thoughts aside and to clear my mind for school.

I got out of the house to see Chase leaning on the hood of his car, dressed in a gray hoodie and matching sweatpants. His hands were buried in the pockets of his hoodie and the hood of the sweatshirt was covering his head, barely revealing his eyes.

“Chase…” I called when I was just a few steps away from him and he raised his head, his eyes locking on mine but my face twisted with concern, my eyes narrowing at his appearance. “Are you alright?”

He looked so pale and sick. His usually bright honey-brown eyes were dull and almost void of life.

“I’m a bit sick. I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

He expelled a cold breath that hit my cheeks when I stepped closer.

“Come here.” I wrapped my arms around him. For a moment, he stayed still but eventually wrapped his arms around me. I felt the cold from his palms sip into my skin when they made contact with my arms.

“Shane would kill me,”

“Better to die of his hands, than to die of cold. You look like death. You should see the doctor,”

“As soon as I drop you off at school, I’ll head to the pack hospital.”

“He asked you to take me to school?” I asked, a bit surprised. Shane had never allowed any of the guards to take me to school. Even though I wished for it, it sounded a little surreal for my wish to actually come to pass. Also, it didn’t sit well with me that he’d let his best friend drive me to school. Or has he finally caught on to the reality that we couldn’t be together and he didn’t have to try anymore?

My heart dropped a little from this but Chase’s words broke through my thoughts, calming my growing fear of the inevitable.

“The town is no longer safe. An entire family was abducted yesterday, and he doesn’t want to take chances with you. Again, he doesn’t feel so well and he has some pack business to handle. So I’m your assigned driver for the day,”

“But you’re not strong enough so sit behind the wheel,”

“Quit worrying about me, Aria. I’m sure it’s just a fever, and I’ll be fine by eve…” The loud bellow of an annoyed growl sailed into our ears, cutting him off.

Instantly, we pulled apart and turned to see Shane standing at a safe distance away from us, his hard gaze pinned on us. I didn’t try to stare at him for long as my heart resumed palpitating like it always did whenever he was close by.

Quickly, I ducked into the car to avoid seeing him and I saw Chase was still rooted on the spot, staring at himself and back at Shane.

“I’m running late,” I prompted, not because I was really concerned about arriving late at school but because I noticed Shane was approaching and I wasn’t ready to be in his presence, or to even try to act normal when Chase was there.

Slowly, Chase got into the car but I noticed the strange expression etched on his face. Another thing I saw was that for some reason, he was no longer pale. Some color had returned to his face. His eyes were as bright as ever, compared to the dull brown I’d seen just moments ago.

“Chase…” I called, in part shock and part disbelief. “Are you alright?”

He looked at his hands, then his gaze darted to mine and this time, I saw beads of sweat rolling off his temple.

“Ye-yes. I… I’m fine…”

He sounded so unsure, and it made me frown but then he turned on the ignition and began to pull out of the compound. My eyes suddenly darted to Shane again, to see his glaring gaze was on me. A gulp worked its way down my throat and I felt my heart drop to the bottom of my stomach for an unknown reason.

I didn’t know what to think of his expression but something told me it had something to do with me and everything that happened last night.