The day went by slowly, too slowly. Kiera was stiff from having to sit in the car for so many hours. Simone was adamant. She didn't want to leave, and Kiera wouldn't waste her time in trying to convince her to leave the front of the building. They were running out of time, and they didn't have a better plan. So they were forced to stay. When the day was over, Kiera could hardly move. Her anxiety was making matters worse, but she managed to sit up when people started trickling out of the building. Their eyes were wide and searching every face that walked out. They were looking for the man responsible for Kane's death. They couldn't lose him, or all their efforts would have been for nothing. That was worse to Kiera than having to fight the man. "There," Simone said, breaking the silence. It was the first word that she said in hours. Her voice was surprisingly clear.He began crossing the street, and in a few steps, he would disappear around the bend. Where was he going? They had to k
"Mikael, is that you?" Kiera said. He was silent for a few seconds, and then he answered, "It's me."The first thing she noticed was how weak he sounded, and then she concluded why. He was hanging from the roof. She suddenly remembered what she had been told about him. He would be killed for trying to protect her, and he was being kept as a prisoner and awaited execution in the home of some werewolves. These guys. She never thought about it. It slipped from her mind completely. Her first instinct was to rush to him to help him. He had to get down, that wasn't up for debate. In the dark, she was practically blind. Even if there was a light switch in the barn, they couldn't use it. They would grab unwanted attention. She would have to work in the dark. "What do I do?" she asked him. "Cut me loose.""Simone, I need a knife," she said, trying to reach the rope above his head. She couldn't reach for it even when she stood on the tips of her toes. It was making her desperate. "I'll do
They got out safely. All three of them. Simone was hurt, though. Celia had managed to scratch her with her talons before they got out. She was bleeding heavily, so Kiera drove her to the nearest hospital as soon as they reached the car. Mikael was collapsed beside her, but he wasn’t hurt. He was so weak he could barely sit up. Behind them, the fire raged. Simone would be alright. She had been injured and needed stitches and bed rest. Mikael refused to go to the hospital. He insisted that all he needed was a decent meal and some sleep, far away from a hospital. He didn’t have documents, so he couldn’t even be admitted in one. So, once Kiera was sure that Simone would be safe, she drove him to their house. They didn’t speak to each other. There was nothing to say for the time being. Kiera had a lot on her mind. She wanted to fetch Simone as soon as she could. The next morning, preferably. The hospital was too close to the pack house. She wasn’t all that safe there. Once they reache
Simone was discharged in the morning, as she expected. A large potion the forest had caught fire. It was all over the news, and all everyone talked about. Kiera felt bad. Of course, she did. They were responsible for the forest fire, which claimed a few innocent lives of the people trying to put it out. To know that they were the ones who caused the whole mess was disheartening, and her heart weighed with guilt. There was a small chance that Celia had escaped. They couldn’t be sure about the others. Mikael mentioned that there was no chance that she escaped, and that was a relief for Kiera. She was finally out of their lives, and the worst was behind them. Having Simone and Mikael in the same house was strange. They hadn’t talked to each other when Kiera first brought her, and that was the part that made her grind her teeth. She didn’t know what she thought would happen but the silence was unsettling. They didn’t have to talk, and even if they did, what would they say to each other
It was time to go. They left the next day. Simone was far from recovered, but she insisted that they didn’t have much time left. They had to go. Kiera packed what she could with Mikael’s help, and it was harder to say goodbye to the house she grew up in. She didn’t know how long she would be gone for, but it was unlikely that she would be back anytime soon. The house had traces of Kane wherever she looked, and that was the hardest part. It felt like she was leaving a part of him behind. She didn’t know if Simone felt the same way. If she did, she didn’t show. Her determination to leave overpowered everything else. She looked around, at the pictures and paintings on the wall, and the holes that he made the other night when he put the boards up that were never filled. Her father’s office was impossible to look at. It was no longer her father’s, not in her heart. It belonged to Kane. There was nothing that she could bring with her that would fill the hole of leaving everything behind.
Kiera was in the dark for a long time.Her eyes were hot and heavy with tears. It was bizarre how much things had changed in the space of five minutes. One minute, they were all there; alive and well. The other, they were gone. Simone was gone. She didn't know what happened to her, or where they took the car. She should have acted quicker when she found the man in the shop suspicious. Her own inability to act condemned her. She should have checked Mikael to see if he was alive. She shouldn't have panicked the way she did. Now, it was too late. She didn't know what to think anymore. She was being driven to a place far away without anyone around her that could possibly save her. She thought about it, but her thoughts were as hollow as her. She couldn't hold onto them and attach importance to them. They were just flowing through her like water. She would be at their mercy, and she didn't even know who they were. She suspected that it had to do with the pack Simone destroyed, the DarkWa
The hours passed. Kiera was growing more uncomfortable than ever. She didn't know what they wanted from her, not anymore. At first, she thought that they were going to kill her. Now, it felt like they wanted to torture her with the sight of Celia. He kept insisting that it was her fault that the whole thing happened. He didn't do much apart from repeating the same words over and over again. It was torturous. They sky was getting much darker, and soon, she wouldn't be able to see. The sky was moonless and heavy with clouds. The rain stopped, but the night was cool. She knew it would rain again. She could smell it in the air. What were they waiting for?What did they want from her? It was harder not knowing what would happen, she realized that now. If they had told her what the intended to do with her—explicitly—she would know what to expect. But it seemed like they were all crazy. She was surprised that two men managed to cause so much damage. Celia hadn't lifted a finger. She cou
Kiera sat back in her chair and sighed. The sun was warm, a little too warm, but the one thing she loved about the sun was how it had the capacity of making her forget the cold days. It was almost as if the horrors she endured never even happened. The only reminder that they did was the empty space in her heart that belonged to Kane, and that would forever remain vacant. It took her a long time to feel normal again, even after finding out that Simone and Mikael hadn’t died that day. It was all a big shock to her, and although she had every reason to feel normal, she didn’t. She couldn’t get the image of Celia’s body out of her mind, and it was strange that that was the scene that haunted her the most, apart from the two of them cutting her neck with a knife and leaving behind a scar that she would bear forever. With Simone and Mikael’s help, though, she began feeling better. Leaving town helped. In fact, the change of atmosphere and the drastic improvement of the weather was enough