Sequel: Streak of Black ›
Alpha
Chapter 9
Time begins to drag on. Seconds turn into minutes, minutes into hours, hours into days, and so on and so forth.
In reality, the Zeeva thing—as I've come to refer to it as mentally—happened only, at most, a week ago, but the quietness and loneliness and awkwardness in the house is intolerable. No one talks, and no one ever leaves their rooms. In my mind, I can feel Rudi's grief over Eyulf, but her fury is so clear in her head. And it's all directed at me. Honestly, in her shoes, I'd blame me too. I kind of blame me for what happened to everyone in the Pack, no matter what. They were under my watch—except Susanne—and were taken from right under my nose. Ryder is simply brooding in his room, never coming out to check up on me like usual or even talk to me for that matter. He's so confused and misses everyone, I can tell. I can also tell that a lot of his confusion has to do with me and his feelings for me. That makes me feel even worse.
On top of that, bursts of feeling, aside from my own, buzz in the back of my head. I can feel the anxiety and fear from my friends, but there are so many strong feelings like that that I can't tell who they're coming from. All I know is that they're scared and uncomfortable in their prison where Damien has hidden them.
I hate him—with a burning passion. Luckily (for him), I never feel pain. At least not anything physical. As long as no pain trickles through the Bond and seeps into me, I'll be okay because at least they are.
* * * * *
More days crawl by as the seconds continue to tick along slowly. No one leaves their room because no one wants to talk to each other. I just can't stand it! The Pack used to be so close, but now we don’t even talk, and there's only three of us left, one of whom is my closest friend. I don't understand why, but the concept drives me crazy.
I'm lonely, and I'm confined. I want to enjoy my free time before they come for me, and dammit, I will! Grabbing my pillow, I sneak down the hall in the dead of night after three days straight of consistent isolation.
Moonlight trickles through the window shades of Ryder's bedroom as I creep inside slowly. I float to the bedside where his giant form lays asleep. I throw the pillow behind my shoulder and swing it down, bringing it slamming down onto Ryder's head.
He jolts awake and out of bed, alarmed. I jump onto his bed as he practically falls out and begin to jump on him. He realizes it was me and grabs his own pillow, a revenge-seeking smirk planted on his face. He tries to swing my legs out from under me but fails as I leap just out of his reach. I hit him once again, and he quickly retaliates.
We fall to the floor in a heap, laughing hysterically. Rudi bursts in, both confused and very blatantly annoyed, but the sight of her fury makes us break out into tears of hysterical giggles.
"Oh god," she mutters before leaving. "They're back."
* * * * *
Rudi continues to sulk around the house for a couple of days as Ryder and I return to our playful routine. We're hanging out again like nothing came between us despite the cloud of dread hanging over both of our heads. He's back to keeping me distracted from what's happening to our friends and extended family.
And then, Rudi begins to just sit in her room and not come out. At all.
Three days after the pillow fight, I decide to check on Rudi, not caring if she yells at me. I haven't heard a peep from her in days.
I tap softly on the door, gently calling her name as I do. No answer. I don't even hear a breath. I open the door to reveal an empty room. I force myself to stay calm. I can't panic yet.
I can't think about the open window yet.
I run to Ryder's room and throw the door open, not bothering to knock before I glide in. He looks up from where he'd been napping, alarmed.
"Rudi's gone," I inform him, not bothering to let him come to full alertness, "and I don't know if she's been kidnapped or not."
"Do you know where she left from?" he asks, catching on to the significance of the situation and trying to fight off sleep.
"Her room."
He gets up and follows me down the hall to Rudi's room, feeling the gentle breeze of early night air blowing wistfully inside. I walk right over to the window and duck out like I did in Cannan's room and my own when Zeeva was kidnapped. Ryder yawns and rubs his eyes before following me, and we scurry through the forest following my nose. I faintly smell them, but I don't hear them.
I don't know whether to be scared or excited.
We follow the trail. She got far. She must've run some of this because her and Damien's paths match up long before they finally turn and head for the road. I feel a sense of pride that she at least fought back—she wasn't an easy catch for him.
Finally, the trail does turn and start heading for the road. We just stop, knowing he got her and where he took her. There's no point in continuing to follow.
Both of us feeling extremely stressed, we turn and walk back to the house with Ryder's arm wrapped around my shoulders as if Damien is still here and waiting for me to be his.
In reality, the Zeeva thing—as I've come to refer to it as mentally—happened only, at most, a week ago, but the quietness and loneliness and awkwardness in the house is intolerable. No one talks, and no one ever leaves their rooms. In my mind, I can feel Rudi's grief over Eyulf, but her fury is so clear in her head. And it's all directed at me. Honestly, in her shoes, I'd blame me too. I kind of blame me for what happened to everyone in the Pack, no matter what. They were under my watch—except Susanne—and were taken from right under my nose. Ryder is simply brooding in his room, never coming out to check up on me like usual or even talk to me for that matter. He's so confused and misses everyone, I can tell. I can also tell that a lot of his confusion has to do with me and his feelings for me. That makes me feel even worse.
On top of that, bursts of feeling, aside from my own, buzz in the back of my head. I can feel the anxiety and fear from my friends, but there are so many strong feelings like that that I can't tell who they're coming from. All I know is that they're scared and uncomfortable in their prison where Damien has hidden them.
I hate him—with a burning passion. Luckily (for him), I never feel pain. At least not anything physical. As long as no pain trickles through the Bond and seeps into me, I'll be okay because at least they are.
* * * * *
More days crawl by as the seconds continue to tick along slowly. No one leaves their room because no one wants to talk to each other. I just can't stand it! The Pack used to be so close, but now we don’t even talk, and there's only three of us left, one of whom is my closest friend. I don't understand why, but the concept drives me crazy.
I'm lonely, and I'm confined. I want to enjoy my free time before they come for me, and dammit, I will! Grabbing my pillow, I sneak down the hall in the dead of night after three days straight of consistent isolation.
Moonlight trickles through the window shades of Ryder's bedroom as I creep inside slowly. I float to the bedside where his giant form lays asleep. I throw the pillow behind my shoulder and swing it down, bringing it slamming down onto Ryder's head.
He jolts awake and out of bed, alarmed. I jump onto his bed as he practically falls out and begin to jump on him. He realizes it was me and grabs his own pillow, a revenge-seeking smirk planted on his face. He tries to swing my legs out from under me but fails as I leap just out of his reach. I hit him once again, and he quickly retaliates.
We fall to the floor in a heap, laughing hysterically. Rudi bursts in, both confused and very blatantly annoyed, but the sight of her fury makes us break out into tears of hysterical giggles.
"Oh god," she mutters before leaving. "They're back."
* * * * *
Rudi continues to sulk around the house for a couple of days as Ryder and I return to our playful routine. We're hanging out again like nothing came between us despite the cloud of dread hanging over both of our heads. He's back to keeping me distracted from what's happening to our friends and extended family.
And then, Rudi begins to just sit in her room and not come out. At all.
Three days after the pillow fight, I decide to check on Rudi, not caring if she yells at me. I haven't heard a peep from her in days.
I tap softly on the door, gently calling her name as I do. No answer. I don't even hear a breath. I open the door to reveal an empty room. I force myself to stay calm. I can't panic yet.
I can't think about the open window yet.
I run to Ryder's room and throw the door open, not bothering to knock before I glide in. He looks up from where he'd been napping, alarmed.
"Rudi's gone," I inform him, not bothering to let him come to full alertness, "and I don't know if she's been kidnapped or not."
"Do you know where she left from?" he asks, catching on to the significance of the situation and trying to fight off sleep.
"Her room."
He gets up and follows me down the hall to Rudi's room, feeling the gentle breeze of early night air blowing wistfully inside. I walk right over to the window and duck out like I did in Cannan's room and my own when Zeeva was kidnapped. Ryder yawns and rubs his eyes before following me, and we scurry through the forest following my nose. I faintly smell them, but I don't hear them.
I don't know whether to be scared or excited.
We follow the trail. She got far. She must've run some of this because her and Damien's paths match up long before they finally turn and head for the road. I feel a sense of pride that she at least fought back—she wasn't an easy catch for him.
Finally, the trail does turn and start heading for the road. We just stop, knowing he got her and where he took her. There's no point in continuing to follow.
Both of us feeling extremely stressed, we turn and walk back to the house with Ryder's arm wrapped around my shoulders as if Damien is still here and waiting for me to be his.