Chapter 105 Impossible to look away
Ira’s POV
Cath keeps to my side, our shoulders nearly touching as we watch from a corner of the hall.
Rita faces one of the two straw dummies in the clinic. She then raises a small sharp knife and turns to Sia, Chloe and three guards who according to Cath have been her emergency students for a while now.
“Watch closely,” Rita says. “I’m going to make one clean cut. It won't be too deep but it'll be just enough to mimic an artery.”
She moves the tiny blade in her hand and thick red liquid spills from the slit created, racing down the dummy’s side in bright streams.
“See how fast that moves?” Rita asks. “That’s what real blood does. You don't have the time to think. Only the time to act. Now Sia, you're up.”
Sia steps up, her hair covered and her hand in white gloves. She presses both palms hard against the leaking cut. The blood still rushes through her fingers but she stays calm, getting a small white piece of clothes and…
I look away, arranging the medicine on the shelf just like Rita explained.
When I look back, the piece of cloth is in the wound, stopping the blood.
It looks like it'd have hurt like hell if that were a real person.
Sia looks so focused as she proceeds to firmly wrap a bandage around the wound.
The blood flow stops completely.
“Amazing, Sia that's…”
“Yes!” Cath hisses, her clenched fists thrust upward.
Rita’s head whips around. “Quiet girl. This isn’t a game.”
Cath clamps her mouth shut and gives a quick nod but her smile remains.
Sia shakes her head, chuckling at the childish reaction of her friend. When her eyes drift to me, I give a thumbs up, managing a proud grin.
“Next pair,” Rita continues. Chloe moves forward with one of the guards but I don't watch further, determined to finish up my task as quickly as possible.
Cath turns to me, I keep up with my work, hoping she says nothing about my look or appearance or…
“What are you thinking about?” she asks carefully.
I keep my eyes on the shelf I’m stacking.
“You’ve not been yourself all day,” she moves closer, literally breathing down my neck.
Still I don’t answer.
“Ira,”
I shake my head, inhaling deeply before answering. “It’s nothing.”
Cath edges closer. “Come on Ira, I know you're lying.”
I reach for the last jar of medicine. “I’m fine. I'm just tired.”
“You’re not fine. You’ve be absent minded all day, you barely smiled at Sia just now and I could go on and on but that'll be pointless. I need you to talk to me. That's what friends are for.”
I move but Cath doesn't get the hint and moves with me instead. “Is it your hair again?” she whispers with worry.
My fingers freeze on the next bottle. Thankfully in the exact moment Rita’s voice cuts through the room.
“Cath! Over here. Come and show us the silver spoon method.”
Cath glances at Rita, then back at me. She points one finger directly at my chest.
“We’re not done with this discussion,” she says. “Don’t think I’m letting it go.”
I watch silently as she rushes back to Rita. I'm about to slot in the last batch when I hear something from the window.
“Valira.”
The whisper is almost as loud as it usually is in my dream. The only difference being that I'm not sleeping and I literally hear it.
“Hey, Valira,” the deep tone causes chill to rush down my spine but I don't look towards the window where the sound is coming from, scared of what I might see… scared of the reality of my dream.
As though sensing something off, Rita glances my way and then goes back to correcting Chloe’s grip.
“Too light. The only result you're going to have is a successful ticklish sensation.” She scolds. “What i want is for you to stop him from bleeding out.”
Sia, Cath and others laugh quietly but my heart drops when I hear the name again.
“Valira!”
I turn, my eyes widening when I see a familiar black raven.
“No, no…. this can't be real.” I whisper under my breath, stepping away from the shelf.
Everyone's too engrossed in the training to notice when I sneak out, hurrying away from the clinic.
If I act like I don't see it then it can't be real. I'm not Valira. My name is Ira.
My heart beats too loud as I head towards the warriors dorm where my room is situated.
Guards keep their eyes on me as I quicken my steps but I don't care. All I need is to be back in my room… to think.
Valira…
Although I don't audibly hear it anymore, the name echoes loudly in my head. Like my previous dreams, the last dream refuses to loosen its grip on me. Whenever I close my eyes, it replays.
The thought of my hair turning white again fills me with dread. But how did that happen? How did all the dye disappear!?
If that dream is real, then I'm not….
No!
I'm a werewolf. I'm just unfortunate to have this cursed hair. I'm not anything else but a werewolf.
I'm already twenty yet my wolf has never surfaced.
Tears well up in my eyes as I enter the dimly lit corridor. Dear goddess please, I have enough troubles. Becoming a stray wasn't on my darn list of achievements this year!
After everything , am I now going to be labelled a monster?
I turn the corner but I don't get to see further as a strong hand clamps over my mouth, so hard that it steals the breath from my lungs.
“Hmmm!” I screamed, my voice muffled as I'm dragged, another arm wrapping around my waist and yanking me further backward.
The pounding of my heart increases when I realize I'm being drawn into some sort of storeroom.
Darkness swallows everything. The air reeks of mold and old grain, with something rotten buried beneath it all.
I thrash harder, tears slipping down my face as I feel myself begin to panic. Immediately the hand lets go.
“Relax, I don't want to hurt you.” A deep warm voice says into the dark.
Gasping from the shock, I look up.
My heartbeat slows for some seconds when I'm met with bright blue eyes. So bright they remind me of all my dreams… so bright I find it impossible to look away.
“Boo?”
“That's it Valira, breathe for me.”