chapter five

Laura, tired and downtrodden trudged along the dirt path, towards the outskirts of the city. She had barely escaped her stepfather who wanted her dead. Laura knew she was lucky to be alive. There was no doubt that as soon as they sniffed her out, her head would be severed, that was how much they hated her.

Laura lost her strength and with the final strength she had left, she slumped to the ground. Her breathing was hitched and even her wolf was too weak to assist her. Being an Alpha, Laura's powers were far greater than anyone else's. She could sniff out things, faster than any of the other pack members but now, none of those powers mattered because she was beyond weak to do anything.

Just before she slipped into a dreamlike trance, voices filled her head and she didn't know whether it was real or not.

"Do you think she's alive?",a voice said.

"She's breathing, she's alive but I can't find a pulse even though her heartbeat is steady", another voice said.

"Where did you find her?"

"At the side of the road".

Laura groaned, trying to open her eyes but it proved futile. It seemed as if her whole body was run over by a truck. She could feel the bones of her body becoming stiff as she tried to adjust her body to a more comfortable position.

"She's alive", the voice said.

"Quick, let's hide", the other voice said.

Laura opened her eyes finally as she looked around, trying to see where she was. She could hardly remember anything as all she could remember was a fuzzy memory that wasn't clear to her.

"Where am I?",he croaked.

Just then, a slight movement crossed his eyes and she looked up to see two children hiding behind a huge rock.

"Hey", Laura shouted.

That proved to be a mistake as a pounding headache forced her to lay back down. Laura coughed, spitting out dirt and a bit of blood. She didn't know where she was and she hated not knowing because that meant he couldn't be in charge.

The children walked towards her, giving her a suspicious look as one of them poked her rib with a stick.

"Oww, that hurt", Laura croaked.

"Sorry. Who are you?",the first child said.

"I think I should be asking you that question, who are you?", Laura croaked.

He sat up, holding the side of his head which was pounding in apparent anger to his body movement. He couldn't explain but somehow, his senses were heightened and even his eyesight seemed ten times better than it was the last time.

"I'm Tim and this is my brother Josh", Tim said.

Laura could see that they were identical brothers and the only difference they seemed to have was Tim's hair being a shade darker than his twin.

"What's your name?", Josh asked.

Laura thought long and hard about this but try as he may, she couldn't even remember her own name. All that occupied his mind was just a haphazard memory that seemed not to make any sense to him.

"I... Can't remember", she sighed.

"Don't worry, it's normal especially since you just survived the forest?", Tim said.

Laura stared at him, trying to understand what he said. Forest? She had no memory of having been in a forest. As she thought about it now, Laura realized that she had no memory of who she was.

"Forest? What do you mean?",he said.

"Oh heck, this is going to take so long,'' Josh sighed.

"Will someone please explain to me what's going on?", Laura thundered.

Apparently, her wolf had been reawakened and it needed answers and fast.The children shuffled back in apparent fear over her outrage. Laura noticed that her voice was louder than she expected. It seemed to have a deep tone to it that wasn't there before.

"I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry",  Laura said.

She felt bad for shouting at the kids when it really wasn't their fault. Now, they would find it hard to talk to her.

"It's okay, this is totally expected", Josh said.

"Please, what happened to me? I need to know", Laura said, quietly.

"We found you by the side of the forest, almost dead. But Josh here felt your pulse and we discovered you were alive, just barely though", Tim said.

Laura thought about this but she still couldn't remember anything which was getting more frustrating by the minute.

"Could you take me to where the forest is?", Laura said.

She knew that if she saw what they were talking about, he could have an idea of what was really going on.

"I don't know if we can find it", Josh said.

"Find it? What do you mean? Wait! How many days wereI out?", Laura asked.

"Days? You've been out for months", Tim said.

Laura sat in silence as his words resonated around her head. He couldn't believe what she just heard, he had a hard time believing it but now that he thought about it, he knew it could be true. He was really out for that long.

"Months?", She stuttered.

"Yes, months", Josh said.

"Okay, just please show me where this accident occured", Laura said.

"Alright, but can you walk? It's a bit far from here", Tim said.

Laura rose up to her feet and to her surprise, she stood on steady legs when she expected to collapse as a result of being out for so long.

"Yes, I can. Please, lead the way", Laura said.

"Come on", Josh said.

The children led the way with Laura following closely behind. He stared at his surroundings still not recognizing anything. Everything was so strange to him and he had a hard time putting his thoughts together.

"We're almost there", Josh said.

Soon, they got to a barren road filled with different scraps of materials. Laura had never seen anything like it. It was beautiful yet so bare and fallow.

"We're here", Tim said.

Laura stared at the spot where she thought she might have been found. All his memories came back.

"Are you alright, you have a sick look on your face?", Josh said.

"There were some people chasing me. Do you know where they are??", Laura said.

"They escaped before our leader came. Do you now remember anything?".

"Yes, I do", Laura said.

Laura's memories were coming back in quick spurts. It was all coming back in full force and she knew she had to relive the memory if she wanted to plan ahead. Her stepfather and her stepbrother were the enemies and she knew she'd be a fool to ever trust them again. This was not the first nor the second or third time they had attacked her and Laura knew it was only a matter of time before she got killed.

"Someone saved me. I saw brief flashes of him. Do you know him and can you take me to him?" Laura asked.

Somehow, she knew whoever had saved her was going to be instrumental in her revenge mission. The time to get back at the people who had caused her pain and anguish was here and she knew she had to get on with it before it was too late.

"Yes, we do. Right this way."