WINTERIt had been a couple of days since I fainted in the bathroom. Although I woke up hours later in the same spot, it got me another good rest.A hundred and sixty-two missed calls. That is how much I woke up to on my phone the next morning. I had left Melanie hanging on the phone, so she was dead worried. She was already making plans to catch the first flight to New York when I finally answered her calls.Of course, it took me a lot of effort to convince Melanie and Nico that I was good.The only explanation for my fainting was a stomach bug. It was strange, but after changing my diet, I hadn't felt this good in a long time."That would be all, class," said the professor who had been babbling about the print media in the 18th century.Most of the students in the class stood to their feet and rushed out through the door. Again, I didn't know why they were always in a hurry to leave. I never sprinted even when I had other classes to attend.This was my last class for today. I inten
WINTERIt was as if someone was beating a drum in my head by the time I regained consciousness. From the antiseptic smell in the air, I knew that I was in a hospital even without looking.I held my banging head and winced in pain. I tried to open my eyes, but the light above was too blinding. It was as if someone was shining a torch straight on my face.With my face scrunched up, I covered my eyes and took a deep breath."Hey, you are awake!"I felt a squeeze of panic as soon as I heard that voice. Oh, Moon Goddess! No! "Thank goodness!" The familiar voice came into my ears again. I thought I was hallucinating, but it seemed I wasn't. That was Seven's voice, wasn't it?As a chill chased up my spine, I opened one of my eyes. His face instantly came into view in the blinding light. Seven! What was he doing here?"I was so worried about you, Winter. Are you okay?"A mixture of sadness and anger swirled in my heart at this moment. "Of course, I am not okay. How could you even ask me tha
WINTER"I am what?"In a flash, I jolted up from the bed. The pillow that was on my back instantly fell to the floor. "You are pregnant. Congratulations!" the doctor repeated, his smile annoyingly broader.I burst out laughing. "Doc, you have got to be kidding me! I am not pregnant."Lines of confusion appeared on his forehead. He glanced at the file and then looked at me again. "It says here that you are about four weeks pregnant. That explains the nausea and constant dizziness. You really are preg—""No! Don't say that again!" I screamed. "I can't be pregnant. I am not pregnant!"The doctor was taken aback. He flipped the file close and looked at the name on it. "You are Winter Sharp, aren't you?"I didn't respond. There were several tabs opened in my head. It was a mess. I struggled to get my thoughts straight, but failed.The room was silent, and the only noise that could be heard was my breathing.Eric walked over to the doctor, took the file, and peered into it. "Doc, are you s
SEVENThe air was serene as I stood by the window and I looked out at the sea. Waves were slapping the rocks on the shore. This has been my view for the past one month. Life with the Williamson family was going good. It was nice to finally be away from all the drama that happened in my pack, but I still wanted to return.Not because I loved to be saddled with so much responsibility. Actually, I missed Winter. And I wanted to make sure she was okay.I'd have called her, but I had no phone and I was almost cut out of this world. My wounds had healed long ago, but I still suffered pain in my chest and head.After the move Becky Williamson pulled when I tried to leave weeks ago, I couldn't trust that she would allow me to go before I completely recuperated. The young lady was bossy!Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of my room. "Seven, hey! Come down for dinner."Speak of the devil!I threw on some clothes and went downstairs minutes later."Have you forgotten what I told you, miste
SEVENThe muscles in my jaw tensed. My eyes grew impossibly wide. I felt the blood in my veins drain within seconds. My arms were thrown wide with my fingers splayed.Becky had her eyes closed as she tilted her head a few times. Her lips moved on mine even though mine was pursed hard. When I felt her tongue brush over them, an alarm rang in my head.I grabbed her by the arms and pushed her away with inexplicable force. Becky staggered backward and hit her back on the dresser. She cried, holding the small of her back, "Ouch!"I wiped my lips hard several times. "What did you do that for? Are you fucking nuts?"The color on Becky's face was drained. With a chalk-white face, she frowned pitifully and said, "That hurts, Seven."Ignoring her pitiful expression, I took out several pieces of tissue and wiped my lips desperately. I had never felt more disgusted. How could she kiss me? Was she crazy?Becky shamelessly walked over to my side. "I like you, Seven. I really do. And I thought you l
KAI-VII The days I spent reading through Dawn Holland's diary were extraordinarily long. I got to learn only two things from the first journal. One, she carried out far too many experiments for a supposed medical doctor. Two, she was a psycho! Her entries in the journal showed that she was desperate to make something. Something that would change the game in our world. For the most part, she called the thing "IT". Sitting in Seven's studying, the air was stuffy as I opened all the diaries in front of me. Curiosity was getting the best of me. Worse still, time wasn't on my side. I had to find a lead now that Ratio was breathing down my neck. I picked up a diary and opened it in half. The first few lines were all German to me. But just as I was about to flip another page, my eyes caught a glimpse of a few words at the end of the page. It read, "The Phoenix Orb is almost complete. It's still too dangerous to use, but I and the others are working on making it safe before the D-Day."
WINTERThree months. That's how far along I was now. I already had a little bump which I spent most mornings looking at in the mirror.Some of my jean pants no longer fit. I wore more of baggy pants and shirts just to feel more comfortable and hide traces of the bump.I had yet to tell my friends that I was pregnant. I knew they would freak out. Or worse still, suggest that I take out the baby. I knew how much they hated Seven because of what he did to me.Chances were that they were going to dissuade me from keeping the baby or confront Seven and ask him to man up.I wanted neither of those things. It was bad enough that I was pregnant at such a young age. I couldn't add boy drama or friends drama to the list of my problems.Since Seven wanted to be single and sleep with everything on skirts, I was going to keep my distance and raise this child alone.There were times I felt overwhelmed with the pregnancy. The baby didn't go easy on me. I skipped classes a couple of times and dozed o
WINTERThis was an illusion. It had to be. Seven couldn't possibly be standing at my doorstep at the moment. The pregnancy must be messing with my mind the same way it messed with my body.I shook my head and shut my eyes for a long time. When I opened them again and looked through the hole, I expected to see no one standing there. But that wasn't what happened.I still saw Seven's face!What was he doing here? Was the blue truck his? How did he know I lived here? Had he been stalking me since I left Luster Falls? But why? Didn't he say he never wanted to see me again?A thousand and one questions swirled in my head. At this moment, I went cold to the bone. The pan in my hand shook. My heart was beating so fast that I thought it would jump out of my chest."Don't shut me out, Win. I know you are in there. I just saw you walk in. Open up!" he said, still banging the door with his fists.I inhaled a lungful of air and shouted, "Go away! I don't want to see you!""Come on now, love," he