2. Forty- nine

I was falling and floating at the same time. 

I huffed mentally, knowing what was about to come my way now. I was going to meet the goddess and I had no choice about it. After our last visit, when she told me about what was happening back home, I hadn't heard from her for a few days and I had breathed a sigh of relief. 

I couldn't understand why she had to come and give me information in installments. I mean she could simply tell me whatever there was to know and we could both go our merry ways. I could go back to my complicated life and she could go back to whatever it was that the gods did to pass their eternity.

It never failed to amaze me how soft the grass felt under my body in this heavenly world. It was almost poetic. I wondered what would happen if I chose not to meet the goddess on the cliff but instead roam around the enchanted forest. I was curious about the secrets this heavenly place held and I would also escape from meeting with the goddess. Killing two birds with one stone.

I rolled my eyes, like that ever going to happen. With my luck and the kind of magic the goddess had, I would end up at the cliff where I always meet her, regardless of the direction I took.

Resigned to my fate, I dragged my feet toward the direction of the cliff, wondering what new information she was here to give me. Almost every time, whenever I ask her about anything, all she says is that I need to be ready for it. Whatever that meant. Although she had been pretty forthcoming the last time, I wasn't sure if the same courtesy would be extended today.

I wondered what sadistic pleasure she even got by dangling a sliver of information in my face, teasing me with it, and then not telling me after she got me curious about it. That was bad karma.

I reached the cliff, where I knew the goddess would be but I was surprised when I realized she wasn't there. My hands flew to my mouth in surprise as I watched a figure groaning in pain on the ground.

I jogged to the thin figure, who seemed to be in a lot of pain. I gasped in surprise when I realized that it was Sebastian. He looked pale, frail, and nothing like the powerful man I remembered him to be. He was writhing on the ground in pain and I was out of my wits. This was unexpected. What the hell was he doing here? Suddenly blood pooled on Sebastian's shoulder and he cried out in pain. I frantically put my hands on his deep wound, hoping it would be enough to stop the blood flow. I remembered that he had suffered an arrow shot on his shoulder and I wondered if it was a coincidence that this was happening now. 

"Oh shit! Shit!" I cried out as blood started to pool on the ground and soak my pajama pants. Sebastian didn't seem to know that I was there. I didn't know what was happening, my brain couldn't figure out what was happening. What was happening to Sebastian and what was he doing there? Tears were streaming down my face in confusion and terror. Suddenly, Sebastian stopped moving and I realized that he was dead. 

"Oh no no no no!" You can't do this." I whispered and frantically checked his pulse, only to confirm that he was dead. He had bled right here in front of me and I couldn't do anything about it. I pulled my hands from his body and choked as I realized that they were dripping with Sebastian's blood. My body was in shock and the next second, I had collapsed by his body and I drifted off.

When I opened my eyes, I was in the forest, a few minutes away from the clearing. I immediately stood up, expecting to be drenched in Sebastian's blood, and breathed a sigh of relief when I found myself without it. I didn't know what had happened. Was my mind playing tricks on me? Was it some sort of sign that Sebastian was going to die? What the hell was happening?

Anxious, I quickly walked towards the clearing to talk to the goddess. I needed to know if what I saw was real or if it was just a figment of my imagination.

When I emerged in the clearing, the moon goddess wasn't there, but my eyes quickly zeroed in on the female body writhing on the ground. I quickly ran over to the body, which was softly illuminated by the moonlight.

I gasped as I saw Natalie choking on her blood. She was silently crying and clutching her pregnant belly. There was a gaping wound on her belly, and it looked like someone had stabbed her with a kitchen knife repeatedly. She coughed and blood streamed out of her mouth. She wasn't writhing in pain, although I was sure she was feeling it. She looked resigned as if she knew there was nothing anyone could do to save her. She coughed and spat out more blood. She was clutching her belly, where her child had been protected but was now surely dead. She was desperately trying to stop from bleeding out, hoping to at least save her kid, but I think she knew that he was gone too. She laid her back down and her body relaxed. Tears streamed down her face and she started mumbling something. 

My eyes were wide and my mouth dry as I sat there, drenched in Natalie's blood as I watched her life force drain out. One second, she was mumbling and the next she was. We hadn't been on speaking terms but looking at her now, it pained my hurt. She was my friend; she was my best friend and I wouldn't want anyone to suffer like she had just suffered.

I moved my hand forward to touch her now dead body and as soon as I did, the shock of losing Natalie settled deep into my bones. My shoulders shook at the trauma and I grew dizzy at the sight in front of me. My vision grew blurry and I collapsed beside her body.

When I woke up, I was afraid of what was happening. I had just watched two people close to me, die right in front of my eyes. It didn't matter that I hadn't seen them for over months, I didn't want to lose them.

I stood up and made my way to the clearing only to see another body on the cliff. Without thinking, I ran over it and gasped when I saw it was Aiden. His throat had been slit and blood was spurting from his arteries every second. He was choking on his blood and desperately gasping for breath. From what I knew, he would slowly bleed out in two minutes, so I sat down to be with him. I took his hand in mine but I knew that he could neither feel me nor feel my touch. I felt a deep ball in my throat as I saw Aiden's eyes roll to the back of his head. He had stopped choking and now was very still.

As expected, Aiden's slipped from my own and I slipped into unconsciousness.

When I woke up again, I was terrified out of my mind. I wasn't looking forward to going to the clearing at all. Who was it going to be next? Which loved one would die right in front of my eyes, while I sat there feeling helpless and alone? I didn't know and I didn't want to know. I wanted this crazy ass dream to end. 

This time when I went to the cliff, I found another body lying in the moonlight. I closed my eyes, as dread settled deep into my bones. What was happening to me? Why was I seeing this? What did this all mean?

Hesitantly, I made my way to the body, which turned out of Samantha's. It looked like a wolf attack. Her torso had three nearly symmetrical gashes, which looked deep and fatal. I could see her painfully heave as she breathed. Her hair was matted with her blood and the site was gruesome. Seeing my best friend like that, and not being able to do anything about it, was a curse I would never put on anyone. I watched in shock as she coughed blood onto the heavenly grass, staining it a deep, dark red. 

The life drained out of my friend's body, followed by the energy my legs had to support my weight. I knew I was slipping into unconsciousness but I fought it to peer at Samantha's body, wondering for the thousandth time about what was happening to me.

The next time I woke up, I was too spooked to walk to the clearing. I was dreading that I would someone I loved dying in front of my eyes. Who would it be this time, Harper? Eva? I didn't have the energy to watch another person die in front of my eyes.

But I needed answers. I needed to know why I was watching the people I loved die. Was it a sign? Was it a premonition, showing me how everyone I loved was supposed to die? Sebastian because of an arrow, Natalie being stabbed in her stomach, Aiden's neck sliced open and Samantha being ambushed by a wolf.

I wrung my hands as I looked at the trees, not ready to walk to the cliff. I knew the pack was under the threat of rogues and that a pack of rogues was threatening the pack but I didn't know that it was this bad. Was my dream trying to tell me that it was, in fact, this bad, that everyone I loved was in danger?

Desperate for an answer, I slowly walked in the direction of the cliff. I desperately wanted to turn around and not get assaulted by another person dying, but I knew I had no control over these dreams. 

I sighed in relief, when I noticed the moon goddess in all her white glory, standing on the cliff. I had never been this relieved to see her like I was at this moment. Seeing her there, brought a smile to my face.

"Hello, Zara." She said, her voice solemn and I knew whatever she was going to say wasn't good.