#Chapter 87: Ambushed

Atwood

I’m awoken in the morning by the sound of screaming.

“Lycan Atwood! Lycan Atwood!”

The young maid, Polly, bursts into my study. I fell asleep sometime in the early morning on the couch after a sleepless night caused by worrying about the situation with my mother and wondering where Alice is.

“Lycan Atwood!” Polly pants as I groggily sit up, rubbing my eyes. “I’m so sorry to wake you…”

“It’s alright, Polly,” I respond. The mousey brown-haired young maid looks completely frazzled as though she just saw a ghost. “What’s wrong?” I ask.

“It’s Miss Ruby,” she says breathlessly, pointing in the direction of Ruby’s room. “She’s fallen ill.”

My mind suddenly begins to race with a million things. Did Alice return in the night? What did she do to my Ruby?

I abruptly stand to go to Ruby, but am stopped by a sudden wave of nausea and dizziness. My brain feels foggy, as though I’m in a waking dream. Am I still asleep?

“Sir?” Polly’s voice fades in and out of reality, her usual sweet and chip