"Wow, your dress is literal water. Can I touch it?" Ela examined our dresses for the hundredth time in awe. She had asked us to transform and we did since the mood was getting somber. Soren nods her head in response. Ela touches the dress and her hands go right through. She retracts her hand and it is like she never touched the water.
"Why doesn't the water stay on my hand?" she questions. "Magic," Soren gives her a simple and clipped answer. "How come it isn't see-through but still acts exactly as normal water would?" Ela questions once again. "Magic," Soren's response is the same.
We didn't know why or how it happened we just knew it did. There was no other explanation for it aside from magic. Ela moves over to my dress and starts to feel the fabric. "It's so soft and smooth. I feel like I am touching clouds," Ela's eyes shine with fascination.
"Trust me, clouds are not smooth and fluffy. There are very wet and feel like air," Soren comments.
"Stop trying to rain on my parade," Ela pouts. I see what she did there. Soren catches onto the joke and rolls her eyes. "The gold lining feels tingly," Ela continues to examine my dress. "The shoes feel the same way," I tell her.
"You glimmer like magic. Almost as if you are magic instead of it being inside of you," It was a keen and interesting observation. "You have other transformations right? Can you show them? And what about the Golden and Blue Wolf? Are they your brothers?" Ela's questions were relentless.
"We only exposed ourselves to you, so you could see how dire the situation was. Not to play 20 questions. It isn't wise for us to inform you about everything. Only what is necessary,"
Ela pouts but doesn't ask any questions. With everything revealed and said, Ela decided to help Ranor as he would be extremely tense at this moment. Soren and I took the day off to rest.
~~~
"Come to this party with me," Kate whines. The thought of doing anything other than sleeping had me groaning. "Hey, I can see you are stressed. It can be a fun night to forget all of your problems," It seems that this will cause more problems than it will solve.
"That is very kind of you, but I think I will stick with studying and sleeping," Kate groans and profusely shakes my arm. "Please, I promise it will cheer you up and you will have a great time," she begs. I sag my shoulders and nod my head. "Fine, but if I don't like it then we leave,"
"Yes!" she shouts.
~~~
"Sakura is coming," Kate announces at lunch. Seth raises one of his eyebrows. "I didn't take you for the party kind," I shrug my shoulders. "Kate is very persistent,"
"Are you going?" Noah asks Soren. She shakes her head no and doesn't say anything more. "I am not sure that it is a good idea. I won't be able to be with you during that time," Stephan says to me. "I find that backward. You will escort me around the school where there is constant supervision, but will leave during the late hours,"
Stephan shrugs his shoulder. "I don't make the rules I simply follow them. Besides, I am needed later in the day for patrol and training," Stephan probably wouldn't be my guard for long. There is no way that Ranor isn't increasing patrol hours and soldiers.
Having that many rouges in his pack without his knowing does not reflect well on him as an alpha. He would need to contain the threat, so not only does the word not go out to neighboring packs but to protect the pack as a whole.
If things keep going the way they are he may not have a choice but to spread the news. The entire situation is giving me a headache. Maybe I do need a break. I don't think a party is a solution but it is a distraction. "I won't be able to go with you either," Seth comments.
I figured he would be on patrol or at least on call as well. Ranor is going to need his right-hand man the most. "I understand. Ranor seems busy these days and it will be good for the both of you to have one another," I try to keep the topic vague as Ranor has yet to disclose the invasion to the pack.
I didn't want to let anything slip and have the entire pack going into chaos. At this time the pack needs to be more united than ever. Judging from Ela's story, this pack is about to bite more than they can chew. No pack can prepare for a deranged witch on the hunt. If witches were anything it is cruel and relentless.
They are strict in their culture and religion and will immediately remove anything that poses a threat. It is a good tactic but it makes them terrible enemies and difficult allies.
Seth grabs my hand and runs his finger on the back of it. I find comfort in the gesture.
~~~
I wear my sweater and shorts with small boots. I wear some eye makeup and slightly curl my hair. It is a simple look.
"That is great. You look beautiful but natural. Every girl's dream," Kate opens her arms to me in a suggestive manner. She has a black tank top on and shorts that barely cover her butt. It seems to work for her, so I don't say anything.
Catalina walks out of the bathroom with a light silk shirt and black jeans with slides. "Are we ready?" Kate nods her head. "Logan and Noah are already there,"
"If Logan and Noah aren't warriors then what do they do?" I ask, curious about some of their skills. "They hunt for the pack and will occasionally cook. Logan will do more of the hunting and Noah is better in the kitchen,"
"They would make the perfect couple," I accidentally say aloud. I slap my hand on my mouth. "I did not mean to say that," Kate bursts out in laughter and Catalina gives me an empathetic look. "We all thought that at least once. We have even teased them occasionally. It always flusters Noah but Logan usually 'plays along."
Catalina puts 'plays along' in quotations. "Honestly, I don't know if he actually has the hots for Noah or not but they seem to get along well," Noah never struck me as straight but I never thought he and Logan would be a good match until now. I haven't really talked with Logan on a personal level. He is in the group so naturally, I see him every day at lunch, but we have never talked one-on-one.
I let the thought rest as we walk out the door.
We get into Kate's convertible and drive off. I don't know where we are going but decided to not ask and just enjoy the scenery. I watch multiple trees and houses go by as we drive through the small neighborhoods.
After many twists and turns, we finally pull up to a two-story house that has cars lined up in the driveway. The sun is setting and casts a pink-ish golden glow on the house. A few couples are making out on top of cars and others doing more...explicit things inside of them.
I instantly start to regret my decision to come. We get out of the car and weave around the maze of cars parked in and around the driveway. The moment the door opens I feel like I am in a jungle. The amount of noise is overwhelming.
The music nearly bursts my eardrums and the hollering people did not help any. Cups were spilled on the floor and weird substances glazed the walls. I shiver in disgust and slowly back out. Kate quickly grabs my hand. "Come on," she drags me to the kitchen and pulls out bottles of juice and soda.
"The pack doesn't tolerate underage drinking so here we are," so all I would be doing is getting full off fruit punch and coca cola. Great. I sometimes forget how old I am and it is moments like these that I realize I am centuries older than these kids. I have drunk alcohol a multitude of times and am most certainly not underage.
I roll my eyes and down a cup of coca cola. The acid burns my throat and nose. I shake it off and drag Kate and Catalina to the dance floor. If I am going to be here then I might as well be here.
~~~
After dancing for an hour or so we make our way to the pool area. I sit on one of the chairs and eat some chips. It is fun and nobody is jumping off roofs. While there is no alcohol to intoxicate me, the party itself was already a distraction.
I pick up my cup and start to drink my fruit punch. It doesn't taste quite right but I water it down to the fact that I am drinking it with funyuns. Onions and fruit aren't the best combinations. I get up to find Kate and Catalina since they left to get more snacks. The moment I get up I immediately sit down.
I feel heavy and my vision starts to blur. The world is spinning and I am about to hurl. Did I eat too many snacks? But why would that make me dizzy? Or am I more exhausted than I originally thought? I try to figure out why I am suddenly feeling like shit.
Kate and Catalina come back with snacks in their hands. They set them down on the table beside us. Kate takes a seat. "I am going to have to sit this one out Cat," Kate groans. "That's fine. I still have Sakura," Before I can say anything, Catalina grabs my hand and starts to spin me around.
I don't get a chance to get my balance before I go toppling into the pool. I am engulfed in water. I try to swim but my body feels like a bag of bricks and holding my breath seems near impossible.
After nearly thirty seconds I am pulled out of the pool. I gasp for air and try to form a coherent thought. I was already dizzy and the water blurring my eyes only made it worse. "Oh my god I am so sorry," I hear Catalina's voice but barely register anything.
My eyes shut and I am suddenly warm and laid down. "Sakura! Sakura! Dammit!" I hear someone say. Their voice sounds like it is coming from a mic. I am suddenly reminded of when I was hungover once. Hungover...But I haven't drunk anything much less have time to get hung over.
My brain starts to hurt as the voice gets louder. "Shh. Shut up, please. You are very loud," I groan and absentmindedly lift my arms to cover their mouth. They don't get far as they drop down. My body starts to heat up and I can't hear the person anymore.
I put my hands in-between my legs and start to rub my center. I am suddenly pent up and whine in frustration. I am pinned down before everything goes blank.