Chapter 127

Chapter 127
Veronica sat motionless in one spot for hours after she was thrown out of the pack. She remained there, hoping that by chance, or by any means possible, someone would magically walk up to her and say that, “Alas! We got you. It was all a joke, you can come back into the pack now.”

Or “it was a mistake and the Alpha wants you back in the pack.”

Even though she knew how impossible and highly unlikely it sounded, her imaginations were running wild and she chose to wait still.

After hours of waiting and seeing no change, she got up and began to walk away hopelessly. She couldn't even cry anymore because she had already cried so much that it now seemed like her tear ducts had dried up.

Having no destination in mind, she just kept walking, absentmindedly, not flinching even as the thorns in the woods tore her clothes and pierced her skin.

Her mind flashed back to the moment Megan accused her of killing Trey and also accused her trying to kill her too. She just couldn't understand how one moment they were friends, smiling and having fun together, and the next moment, she was accusing her of doing horrible things.

“How did it suddenly go on a downward spiral?” She thought to herself as she just couldn't get the thoughts out of her head.

“I must actually be a fool.” She said out loud, and laughed bitterly. Those were the first words she uttered since she was thrown out.

“If I wasn't a fool, how could I believe that things were beginning to change for the better?” She said to herself.

“I'm sure the moon goddess must have had a swell time, laughing and mocking me because who in their right mind would think anything would fall in the right place for someone like me? I should have known better.”

She continued to talk out loud to herself, until she heard that menacing voice again, laughing hysterically at her.

“Didn't I tell you that their kindness wouldn't last so long?” The voice said, and laughed mockingly at her again.

“I told you that the moment they see you for who you truly are, they will send you out of their pack before you land them in bigger problems.” It added, coldly.

“But who exactly are you, and what have I ever done to you?” She screamed out. “Why won't you just leave me alone? What do you want from me?” She asked, tears in her eyes.

“Stay away from me.” She covered her ears with her hands, but that didn't stop the voice from tormenting her further.

“Leave me alone! You are not real. Get out of my head! Who are you?” She screamed desperately, like she was insane, because truly that tormenting voice was driving her mad.

“I am YOU. And I am REAL. Realer than you can ever imagine.” The voice responded to her, and started laughing again.

“No, you can't be me! You're so evil.” She shouted and began to run wildly, her hands covering her ears as she kept running and wailing.

“You can run, but you cannot hide.” The voice sang mockingly, and kept laughing at her as she ran.

She suddenly fell down, and everything became silent.

Thinking she was now free, she looked around, and sighed in relief.

“You thought I was gone?” The voice suddenly said again, and with determination, Veronica picked herself up and continued in her race.

She fell a couple of times more, but it didn't stop her. She picked herself up every single time she fell, and just kept running away from the voice, which was not ready to back down too.

She kept running until she fell down again, and this time, she felt too tired to get up and so she remained on the ground, leaning on a tree for support.

“They are actually right about me. I'm of no importance to anyone, that's why they treat me like the trash that I am. Even everything they said about me was totally right.”

She began to believe everything they said about her, that she was truly a problem magnet; always attracting tragedy to herself, and most especially, everyone around her.

At the same time, she blamed her existence for everything that had happened to her. When her first pack banished her, coupled with Beck’s rejection and her best friend's death, she had thought that it couldn't get any worse, and that that was the only blow life was going to give her, but shockingly, the second pack, which she was already beginning to love, had now banished her too.

But the most painful part of it all was the fact that she was betrayed by Megan, whom she had trusted so much in.

She couldn't blame Steve for not being able to help her, because it was because of him she was able to stay that long in the pack. She knew that he would have done something if his father had not threatened them all.

“I'll forever be grateful to him.” She muttered to herself. “Scott…. Scott will definitely be heartbroken. I'll miss him so much. His family too. Beta Richard and Lily, such an amazing set of people. I wished I left on a good note, I'd have been able to appreciate them for all they did for me throughout my stay in the pack.”

“But Megan….” She paused and sighed.

“If anyone had told me that Megan would suddenly turn against me, I don't think I'd have believed it could ever happen in this lifetime.”

“That's because she was able to finally figure you out.” She suddenly heard again. She had thought it had gotten tired and left her alone, but it seems like she was wrong.

“And who exactly am I?” She yelled, and got up. “Since you won't stop tormenting me, and you seem to know me so well. Maybe you could at least be kind enough to tell me who I really am.” She shouted, angrily.

She heard the voice scoff, and it went silent.

“Now you're silent?” She questioned, as her eyes scanned the environs, hoping to find where the strange voice she kept hearing was coming from.

“You're just out of place. Clueless, Mateless, Homeless, Cursed and Lost. No matter where you go, you’ll always be the odd one out and will never fit in until you are able to find your source. That's your destiny. That's your fate.”

“My destiny? My fate? What does that even mean?” She asked, looking confused and instead of answering her questions, the voice just laughed at her, it's voice, loud and piercing.

“See? You're so clueless.” It mocked her, and before Veronica could say anything else, it because silent.

Hearing those words, it just dawned on her that no matter how she far she runs, she'll always meet a dead end and go back to square one— being rejected, homeless, and alone all over again.

She dusted herself off, and kept began her journey again. There was only one way to put an end to all her misery, and she knew exactly what she needed to do. Despite being tired, she kept walking until she got to the top of a cliff, which had a large body of flowing river beneath it.

Yelling and crying her heart out, and with only one thought in her mind, she closed her eyes and jumped off the cliff, not caring where she landed, hoping to end it all.

“SPLASH!” She fell into the flowing river.

Not struggling with the waves, she let the water overpower her. And soon she was pulled down under and taken away, the river’s surface closed above her like a shroud, erasing any sign of her previous presence.

The water’s roar reduced, and an unsettling calmness took over. It was as if the river had swallowed her whole, and left behind only a faint ripple effect, which disappeared almost immediately.