"The Ten of Swords indicate a major disaster of some sort. It represents backstabbing, betrayal and enemies. It can also signify violence, attacks and curses."
Emma couldn't tell how much time had passed since Jacob left with the promise to find another tool to open her restraints. It felt like an eternity. She tried to use her werewolf strength again, hoping the nocive substances she ingested had already left her body.
"Fuck!" She yelled when she failed again.
If only she could have any access to her phone, she could call Addison. She knew her boss would come to her rescue if she asked, even after their heated argument a few days earlier.
Emma also wished she could call Sarah. Just in case everything went terribly wrong.
"Em," Jacob called her again, through the trap door that led to Chris' office. "I'm sorry… I couldn't find anything. Dylan said he used to have some tools back in the radio shack but we couldn't find them."
"Shit! They're already coming."
He immediately closed the trap door as soon as footsteps were heard outside the basement. Emma laid on the floor, pretending to feel very poorly after ingesting that entire bottle of wolfsbane and belladonna.
"It's time for the ritual," Prudence, the leader of the cult announced as she opened the basement's door. "Hey, uh…" Emma spoke, pretending to be too weak and sick to even move, "I'm reconsidering. I don't want to do this ritual anymore. I'd like to stay as a werewolf."
"There is no reconsidering. We've started the ritual and now, we must finish it."
"I… uh… can I make one last phone call? I'd like to speak to my girlfriend."
"We have no time for foolishness! The ritual must start now ."
Two other members came to open Emma's restraints. They tied both of her hands behind her back.
"Hey! There's no need for that…" she complained, when they grabbed her by the arms and started dragging her upstairs. "My phone is inside my purse, in the back of the van. Just get it for me then. I promise I'll be quick."
The cultists ignored her pleads, continuing to drag her like an animal to the ritual site they prepared in front of the lodge. The other counselors all stopped chatting and looked at her direction. They looked shocked to see how tense and unwell Emma seemed.
"Emma!" Abi was the first one to open her mouth. Her eyes went wide in shock.
"What did you do to her?" Laura asked, confronting the group.
"We're only preventing the beast from being unleashed," Prudence answered. "Until its time to banish it for good."
"Y-You a-are not hurting her, right?" Abi asked. She took a step forward, being prevented by another member of the group from approaching further. "I'm sorry, but I don't like the way it's sounding right now."
"We follow some very strict rules, girl," the woman told. "We don't hurt innocents."
There was a magic circle drawn on the floor. The two cultists holding Emma placed her inside it. She recognized the ancient symbol she was lying over. She had seen it many times in her dreams about Eliza.
The sky was already getting dark. She was starting to feel the familiar effects from the incoming transformation. It was taking longer than usual, due to the tea she ingested, but she knew it'd happen anytime that night. If the ritual failed or took too long to be performed, she'd cause a bloodshed. She had absolutely no control over her werewolf form.
The group started chanting in an unknown language, while they walked around the circle lighting up some torches.
Emma observed her friends exchanging whispers between themselves. Her advanced hearing allowed her to learn they were questioning if those women were trustworthy at all. They all seemed to be scared and apprehensive.
The cult leader stood behind an improvised altar. She cleared her throat, making all the rest become silent.
"From now on, the beast is trapped inside this circle. It cannot leave, unless the barrier is broken by a human," Prudence announced. "Beware! Any human who accidentally crosses the barrier, in consequence, will absorb the curse for themselves."
She walked away from the altar, placing herself in front of Emma.
"Beast, come out," the woman raised her right hand and ordered. "Now!"
Emma looked at her confused. She couldn't simply force the transformation. It always happened involuntarily.
"I can't," she said. "It doesn't work like that."
"I SAID COME OUT!" Prudence ignored her words and shouted, as if she was speaking to something else. To a demon or any other inhumane being.
"I can't! The tea you gave me delayed the transformation. But it's going to happen, I can feel it."
"It'll come out when I order it to!"
The woman made a gesture and two of her followers grabbed long spears.
"What are you…"
They poked Emma on both of her sides at the same time. The spear's tip was made of silver, making her scream in pain.
"We'll have to force it, then."
That torture continued for minutes. Nothing changed, except that Emma started to feel more pain than she had ever felt before. Her body had many injuries from the contact with silver.
"Hey! You're hurting her!" Jacob yelled, coming in the direction of the cultists. "You better stop now or I'm gonna make you, your fucking psychos!"
For everyone's surprise, one of the cultists that remained distant from the circle grabbed a shotgun.
"What the fuck?" Kaitlyn asked. "I thought you were some kind of religious group. Not murderers."
"Our kind has been hunt and executed for ages. We must be ready to protect ourselves."
"T-There's no need for that, okay? Jacob, come back. H-He's only concerned for our friend."
"I'm starting to think I made a mistake killing Chris Hackett," Laura mumbled between her teeth as she clenched her fists. "If only I was still like Emma…"
Emma fell on the ground, feeling the usual signals that indicated her werewolf side was about to come out.
"It's almost time," Prudence gave a signal and one of her women handed her a wooden box. She opened it, taking an ornate silver dagger from inside. The cultist showed her palms and the leader opened a gash on both of them. Once the blade was covered by blood she went in front of the altar she had set up and chanted some kind of consecration.
"The second before she transforms, stab her," she whispered to the cultists when she returned them the dagger.
"You didn't say anything about that!" Emma's eyes were wide in fear. "If you stab me with this dagger, I will…"
"You're going to sacrifice yourself for a greater good," Prudence spoke, coldly and calm. "I said I'd banish the beast inside you, but not that you'd survive the process."
"What about Silas, Eliza's son? Wasn't he part of your group? Didn't you want to save him?"
"Silas was an abomination. We were supposed to sacrifice him as soon as he was handed to us. But Eliza still had a heart back then. She felt sorry for that little monster. She ran away before the sacrifice and took him with her."
That was the reason why Eliza was banned from that cult. She wanted to save that werewolf child.
" You are the monster! Let me out! Let me out now!"
The anger and desperation made her blood start boiling. She could sense her eyes getting yellow and her teeth becoming pointy and sharp. Her strength made her able to easily untie her hands, however, she couldn't cross to the other side of the circle. Everytime she attempted, she was taken by extreme pain all over her body.
"It's too late now. Your fate is consummated."
In excruciating pain, Emma fell on her knees again. She couldn't transform. Not at that moment. She had to hold it until she found a manner to escape.
"Well done, my dear friend," Eliza's voice started speaking inside her mind. "They think you're trapped, but they're wrong. I knew this could happen, so I made this curse a little bit different than they know about."
Emma started to squirm to the pain of becoming a werewolf and the strong headache she was feeling at the moment. Meanwhile, the vengeful spirit continued to speak inside her head.
"Now, go! I give you my permission to cross the barrier. Transform and kill them. Each. One. Of. Them."
Her werewolf side wouldn't obey the cultists, but it was obeying its creator. It wanted to come out. It wanted to cause a bloodshed. Emma could feel it. When she opened her eyes, she stared at Ryan and Laura feeling an immense desire of ripping off their throats. She could even see a red aura around them, indicating they were her main targets.
"There must…" Emma spoke to Eliza, attempting to change her mind, "be… another way. I-I'll do… anything to honor Silas… and his werewolf nature. But leave my… friends… out of it."
"What is going on?" Max asked to the other counselors. "Who is she talking to?"
"The Hag Of Hackett's Quarry," Ryan connected the dots. "She's here. We… we need to go."
"I'm not leaving Emma," Abi protested. "These women are planning to kill her."
"We need a plan," Kaitlyn suggested. "A distraction maybe."
"It's too late," Eliza continued. "They must pay for what they did."
"I WON'T DO THIS!" Emma screamed and punched the ground.
The cultist advanced in her direction with the dagger in hands. In one fast and impulsive move, Jacob threw himself on top of the woman, hitting her with a heavy punch, enough to leave her stunned. He grabbed the bloodied blade from the ground and threw it as far as he could into the woods.
"I'll get you out of here, Em."
Before he could do anything, the other cultist had the shotgun aimed and ready to shoot. As soon as she pulled the trigger, Jacob jumped inside the magical circle getting Emma out of the way.
"Jacob!" Emma yelled, noticing he had been hit on his shoulder. She assumed the shotgun was loaded with silver shells, in case the dagger option failed.
"Let's get out of here. I got you covered."
Emma nodded and using her super speed, she started to run.
"Get them!" Prudence ordered the cultists. "Don't let them escape. The boy is cursed now too, don't let him go."
Emma now recognized that scene from her nightmares. The woods. She was at Hackett's Quarry again. This is why it looked so familiar. Jacob was by her side, bleeding from a bullet he took to save her life. The screaming came from her friends, trying to stop the cultists from finding them. She wasn't being hunted for killing her younger sister. She was being hunted for being a werewolf. For being so stubborn and refusing to listen to Aurelia, Addison and Sarah.
"Keep running, Em," Jacob said, between pants. "I'm… right… behind you."
"We have to hide."
"Okay. Where to?"
"The cabins?" She suggested. The tree house was a better idea, but it would take too long to get there by boat. And if the cultists followed them to the boat house, she'd be ambushed. She wouldn't be able to jump into the water to save herself.
They entered one of the cabins, shutting the door behind them.
"Listen… I won't be able to hold it for much longer. I'm going to transform," Emma whispered, peeking through a window to check if someone had followed them. "Please, stay here. Don't come after me."
"I think you're forgetting something," Jacob was tired and sweating from the pain. He held his shoulder, attempting to stop the blood loss. "I'm a werewolf now too."
"Maybe not. I don't believe a word those psycho bitches said."
"Okay. Where are you headed to?"
"I'll try to make it to the Hackett House and follow to the quarry mines under it. This way I won't be attacking anyone."
Emma slowly opened the cabin's door, scanning the perimeter around her. Her senses couldn't detect any presence from humans. She took the opportunity to start running as fast as she could. The transformation could happen at any second now.
"Just a few more minutes…" she spoke to herself.
In the middle of the way, she fell on her knees. She couldn't hold it anymore. Her body was starting to shift. She could feel it everywhere - in her skin, her muscles, her bones…
Emma closed her eyes, ready to transform. She started mentally assuring herself she'd be able to avoid attacking her friends. That she'd keep following that path, to the Hackett House instead of coming back to the lodge.
Her werewolf senses alerted her for a nearby presence. She turned around abruptly, ready to attack. Even if she wasn't fully a werewolf yet, her bite was infectious and dangerous.
A loud bang made her ears ache. She couldn't tell exactly where it came from or why she was falling back to the ground.
"F-Fuck…" a burning sensation started in her abdominal area, spreading all over her body. She looked down, noticing the blood was starting to soak her shirt. She had been shot.
"Gotcha," one of the cultist women, arrived at the scene with a shotgun in hands.
Emma still tried to get up and counter-attack, but she was unable to even move. The woman grabbed her by the ponytail and started dragging her back to the lodge.
If that was a regular bullet, soon her body would start to react. She'd get enough strength to at least attack that woman and escape. But she could no longer feel any signs of her werewolf side. The transformation had stopped. It was dying. And so was she.
"Emma!" Abi shouted from a distance, once the woman placed her in front of their altar. Nick attempted to hold her, but she set herself free, rushing to her side. Tears started falling from her eyes. "Oh my god… w-what… what happened? This is all my fault! I insisted you should do this ritual."
"Not your fault, Abi," Emma assured, with a weak smile. "I should… I should've listened to my boss."
The woman pointed the loaded shotgun at Abi, ordering her to back off.
"Please, Abi…" Emma begged. "Get back to the others and go home, okay?"
"But they're going to kill you!"
"Please. They'll be going for you guys next."
"Emma, I can't. I…" Understanding what was about to unfold, Nick grabbed Abi's arm, taking her back to the rest of the group.
The cultists reunited, getting ready to resume what they started.
"Good," Prudence let out one small sadistic laugh. "And now, the final step - the sacrifice."
She walked to Emma with another dagger in hands. Emma closed her eyes, accepting her fate. She ignored Aurelia's warning. She ignored Sarah's intuition. She chose the wrong path - evil disguised as blessing. That was what Prudence and her deranged cult were.
"What is that?" A sudden noise coming from the woods made Prudence stop and hold the dagger in the air, a few inches away from Emma's chest. The cultists exchanged looks between themselves, as well as the ex-counselors.
Emma attempted to use her werewolf senses to detect anything, but they were still gone. One of the cultists grabbed the shotgun again, aiming at random directions. She started to wonder if Jacob had, indeed, became a werewolf.
"It must be the boy! Get him, now!"
Before they could do anything, two vultures passed between them. They couldn't be humans, moving at that speed. But they weren't werewolves either, otherwise they'd have started a massacre already.
"Freaks!" Prudence yelled. "Abominations! They're here!"
The figures revealed themselves. Emma immediately recognized them - Carl and Matteo. They were both members of the pack. Addison's most trusted men, they were only below her in their hierarchy. The corners of her mouth curled up in a smile.
"Let the girl go, witch," Carl ordered. Although he wasn't in his werewolf form, his eyes were yellow and his teeth were also lupine. "Or all the members of your cult are gonna die."
One of the women pointed the shotgun at the second man, Matteo. He easily grabbed the shotgun from her hands, smacking her in the head with it and leaving her unconscious. Then he bent the shotgun in half with his bare hands and threw it away.
"What are you waiting for?" Prudence angered at her followers. "Take them down! Now!"
The women grabbed other weapons, knives they were secretly carrying and the spears they used to torture Emma. It was useless. They were no match for the two werewolves. Soon, Prudence was the only cultist to be standing.
Matteo came in Emma's direction, examining her wound. She had seen him only a couple of times at the den. He was tall, muscular and very handsome.
"Was it silver?" Matteo asked, furrowing his brows in concern.
"I-I think so," Emma answered. "It's not healing."
He took her in his strong muscular arms, ready to take her back to their car. Emma spotted a third vulture arriving at the scene. That one was even faster and stronger than the previous two. It could only be…
"Addison," she mumbled.
The woman stopped in front of Prudence, exhibiting some of her werewolf traits. Emma started to wonder how that was even possible. Not only they still remained half-human and conscious during a Full Moon night, but they also showed part of their werewolf nature at the same time.
Addison was more merciless than her men, grabbing Prudence by her neck and hissing at her.
"How dare you?! How dare you attempt to kill one of our members?"
"You… will burn in hell… together with the other freaks of your kind."
The ex-counselors were beginning to get tense and scared. If Addison and her men transformed into werewolves, they could easily kill all of them.
"Get out of here!" As if she could sense it, she looked at them and ordered. "This is between us and this demonic cult now."
"We need to find Jacob," Kaitlyn told. "He was helping Emma to escape and he's injured too."
"And he could also…" Abi swallowed dry, "be a werewolf right now."
"Find the kid," Addison ordered Carl. "Take him back to the den too"
"I'll curse you!" Prudence spoke, when Addison released her from her grip. "You'll remain in this horrendous form for the rest of your life."
She started to mumble a few words in an unknown language when the female werewolf grabbed her by the throat again, shoving one hand inside of her mouth and ripping off her tongue. She tossed it away.
Prudence still had a lot of hate in her eyes. Addison could tell she was still cursing her inside her mind, her hands also made some odd gestures.
She threw the elder woman back on the ground, smashing both of her hands under her boots. And then, in one last move, she left her unconscious.
Carl emerged from the woods, helping Jacob to walk. The boy looked pale and weak from the blood loss. There were no signs he was about to turn into a werewolf.
"Where are you taking him?" Nick wanted to know.
"He's hurt," Abi shouted. "He needs a doctor and so does Emma!"
"Trust me," Addison gave Prudence one last look, before spitting on her unconscious body and walking away. "They'll be in good hands."
"S-She's dying! If something happens, this is your fault!"
"Go home, kid. You've seen a lot for one night."
"Em!" Jacob shouted once he was placed in the backseat along with Emma and Matteo. "Fuck! I-I shouldn't have left you alone… I…"
"It's okay," she said after letting out a pained moan. She had just learned Matteo was a doctor. He was pressing her gunshot wound, attempting to stop the bleeding. "They found me when… I was just about to transform. They'd have… gotten you too."
Addison and Carl both entered the vehicle without saying a word. They started to drive away as fast as they could. Somewhere in the middle of the way, Addison let out a deep sigh, followed by a punch in the driving wheel.
"Mountebank! I told you… your fucking little…"
"I'm sorry," Emma lamented not listening to her advice too.
"I won't fucking kill you, you know why? Because you're already dead anyways."
She started to wonder if that was really true. If that was indeed a silver bullet, wouldn't it kill her instantly? Did that mean there was still hope her body would eventually start to heal? Her mind was starting to become foggy and her eyes too heavy to stay open.
"Hey!" Matteo touched her face. Emma tried to force her eyes to stay open and focus on his words. "Stay awake. We're almost home. Aurelia and I will take care of you."
"As if you're able to perform a miracle," Addison argued. "Or Aurelia."
She recognized the entrance of the rural property. They had arrived at the den. Jacob could be in danger with so many werewolves out there, as it was a Full Moon night. She tried to open her mouth to speak but Carl escorted him out of the car first, taking him away. Addison helped Matteo to get her out of the car and carry her to Aurelia's cabin.
It was becoming impossible to keep her eyes open. She glanced at the moon one last time, as if she was praying for Goddess Moon, as Aurelia called it, to save her somehow.
"Emma!" A familiar voice made her eyes snap open again. Sarah came running in their direction. Her face was covered by werewolf blood to cover her scent.
She knew it. She had sensed Emma was in danger. She was the one to tell Addison and ask for help. If it wasn't for their bond, Emma would be dead right now.
"Go back inside," Addison told. "The werewolf blood isn't enough to keep you safe."
Matteo placed Emma on a small bed and went to his car to get his medical tools. Sarah grabbed her hands while tears streamed across her cheeks.
"Oh my god, what have they done to you? You were in so much pain… I could feel it, in my own body."
Emma was able to open one weak smile as the girl touched her. Being in her mate's presence restored a little of her strength.
"A-All… I could… think about was…"
"Shhhh, don't speak. You're too weak."
"I have to," she coughed, making her wound hurt even more. "I… I just… all I wished was that… I had one last chance… to tell you… I love you too. I-I'm sorry… I couldn't say it that day."
"This is not your last chance, okay? We'll get to say it everyday now. There isn't a day that will go by without you hearing these words from me, okay?"
Emma nodded. Sarah kissed her hand, squeezing it even harder.
"Let me check on her," Aurelia approached the bed in a hurry. "Silver bullet, definitely. Luckily, it didn't have enough silver to kill her immediately."
"Does it mean she's going to live, Mrs. Sutton?" Sarah asked, apprehensive.
"No," Addison was the one who answered. Emma had never seen her looking so angry, so stressed before. She paced around the cabin, biting her nails anxiously. "Only that she'll probably agonize for days first."
"Addie!" Aurelia reprehended her. "Matteo will remove the bullet and clean the wound. I'll prepare a special medication. We still can save her. She's a young and strong woman."
"And also a werewolf. Werewolves do not survive silver bullets."
"This one didn't have enough silver. We need to get her body to react and expel it from her system."
Emma felt her eyes getting too heavy again. She tried to keep herself conscious, but it was becoming too hard. Her mind would no longer obey her wishes. She gave Sarah one last look. If she was going to die, the girl she loved was the last thing she wanted her brain to register. No one had made her so happy as Sarah did, in the last few months. She had given her life a new purpose, a new meaning. If only she hadn't ruined everything.
Her vision started to fade. Everything was going black. She could barely feel the pain while Aurelia cleaned the wound in her abdomen. Even breathing was becoming difficult, taking a big amount of effort. But it was only when Addison took Sarah out of the bedroom that she allowed herself to close her eyes and collapse.
Sarah was sitting by Addison's side in Aurelia's living room. She wanted to get up, go back to the bedroom and ask how Emma was doing so far, but she couldn't. The fear of listening to some terrible news made her legs too weak to even move.
It was insane how she felt absolutely everything, including the moment Emma had gotten shot. She was struck by a sharp and intense pain in the same location. At the same time, a new instinct started screaming inside her. One that begged her to act and do anything to save her mate.
"If only I wasn't an ordinary human…" Sarah thought, biting her lower lip nervously. Right now, she couldn't feel anything, even if she tried. She wondered if that was a good or a bad sign.
She kept pressing her phone's button every second to check how much time had passed.
"Stop," Addison grunted. "You're getting me even more stressed doing this."
"I'm sorry," she placed the phone aside. "It's just… it feels like an eternity ago that we left them alone."
"67 minutes and 29 seconds. I'm counting."
"This is… very precise."
Matteo finally left the bedroom, making them both stand up at the same time. He told them he had managed to remove the silver bullet and stop the bleeding, but Emma wasn't showing any signs of improvement. She was unconscious and her vitals were dangerously unstable. Aurelia was still trying to be optimistic, assuring them that if she survived that night, she still could recover from that. She had prepared one of her natural medicines to help Emma to heal faster.
"So that's it," Addison stormed. "She's going to die."
She headed outside, slamming the door in frustration. Like Sarah, she was wrecked. She only had a different way to show it.
"Don't listen to her," Aurelia placed a hand on Sarah's shoulder, noticing she was about to break. "What happened to Emma triggered some painful memories."
"Shouldn't we take her to a hospital?" Sarah asked. "I mean, they have more resources to save her life."
"Let's wait a few more hours. We'll do it if it's necessary."
Aurelia brought her a cup of tea. Sarah took a small sip. The knot on her throat made her unable to drink. Her stomach was also hurting from all that stress.
"You should get some rest, my dear,"
"I can't," she shook her head in denial. "Is it okay if I go there to be with her? She… uh… she needs to know she's not alone in such a delicate time."
"Of course, you're her mate. Your presence by her side will help to keep her strong."
Sarah went to the bedroom where Emma was. She grabbed her cold hand, warming it with her own. She closed her eyes, trying to feel their bond. It was still there, weak and oscillating. But it was still alive.
It had been there since day one. Since Sarah met her during the wedding. She now understood why she was so agitated in hospital after her car accident. It was a Full Moon night. Emma was going through one of those painful transformations. The scary creature that appeared in her dreams everytime she fell asleep that night was Emma's werewolf form.
She also understood why she had those nightmares in the last few months - they were trying to warn her about Emma's possible future. They had stopped when Emma was starting to fully accept her werewolf side and follow the right path Aurelia saw in the cards.
"Hey, Emma," she decided to speak to her girlfriend and let her know she was there. "It looks really really bad but… you're going to heal, right? Like you healed that night the car almost hit me. Only a few hours and you were… slaying again."
Sarah let out a small nervous laugh. She knew it was a different case. Emma would only heal due to her werewolf side and this time, she was shot with a silver shell. The only thing her werewolf side wasn't immune to.
"I'm sorry I wasn't speaking to you these last few days. I was kinda mad at that 'thank you' but I'm not anymore, okay? I know you freaked out. I'd probably freak out too, if you had said it first."
Emma obviously didn't show any reaction. Sarah couldn't feel it, even through their mating bond. It was almost like she was already gone.
"I… I just need you to come back to me, okay?" She started to sob, even if she had been attempting to appear strong and confident in Emma's recovery. "If you still want to break this curse, I'll help you in every possible way. As long as it's safe. And if you don't want it, I already told you… I love you exactly the way you are."
Later, a discussion started to form in the living room. Sarah could listen to it through the cabin's walls. Apparently, Addison had returned from her walk, drunk and even angrier than before.
"This is my fault!" She shouted, throwing something against the wall in the process. "I should've stopped her. I should've trapped her inside that stupid basement or something."
"There was nothing you could've done, Addie," Aurelia was trying to calm the woman. "The girl has a mind on her own."
"I shouldn't have trusted her to make the right choice, she's fucking twenty. Nobody makes wise decisions at twenty."
"She's not Amelia. Or…"
"Don't you even dare to say her name, Aurelia," the werewolf leader interrupted her, raising her voice. "She's a traitor. She betrayed us. She doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in these sacred lands."
From what Sarah could hear, Addison had an older sister named Amelia, who used to be the pack's leader after their parents passed away. Amelia was shot with a silver bullet, exactly like Emma, but she died shortly, even if they made every possible effort to save her.
There was a second older sister. The one who shouldn't even be mentioned. Sarah started to imagine what she could've done to piss off an entire werewolf pack.
"Werewolf gossip," she told Emma. "You're missing it. I can't wait to tell you so we can start our crazy theories about Addison's family."
A while later, the blonde was defeated by exhaustion. She fell asleep, sitting on the chair next to the bed.
Sarah woke up in the morning, after a short and dreamless sleep. She didn't know how much time had really passed, but the sun was starting to rise outside. The first thing she did was to check on Emma. She still looked the same. A small smile appeared on the blonde's lips. Her girlfriend had survived the night.
Matteo entered the bedroom a few minutes later to examine her.
"She survived the night," Sarah said when she noticed the werewolf male was too quiet and serious. "It's a good thing, isn't it?"
"Her body isn't healing at all," Matteo told. "I suppose there isn't much we can do, but wait and see if she'll react."
"Does it mean…"
"It's highly possible. I'm so sorry."
Sarah left the bedroom and went outside, where she allowed herself to cry. She didn't want to cry in front of Emma. She didn't want her to sense her agony, though it was impossible due to their bond.
The other werewolves had already shifted back to their human forms. Some were returning to the manor, to meet their human loved ones. They were supposed to be having that moment right now, if only Emma hadn't agreed with that stupid ritual.
When she came back to the cabin, Aurelia and Addison were having breakfast. They invited her to join them but she didn't feel like eating. She threw herself on the couch, trying to remember one of the prayers her grandmother taught her, ages ago.
"If only she had claimed you…" Addison spoke when she looked at her.
"She did," Sarah stood up and showed the small scar on her collarbone. "One month ago. W-Why? I-Is there anything I can do?"
"Yes, we can use your blood. It won't be as powerful as if you were a werewolf, but it'll help her to heal."
"Let's do it then. Right now."
Addison grabbed a dagger, opening a small gash on the palm of Sarah's hand and allowing a certain amount to fill the bottom of a bowl Aurelia gave them. The Elder then mixed some herbs and oils to the mixture, before heading to the bedroom to apply it to Emma's wound.
"Now we have to wait and let your blood do the work," Aurelia smiled. "She'll probably feel better in a few hours."
Emma was having a turbulent and strange dream. It was like she was still trapped in that August 22, two years earlier. She was doing everything again, from the moment she woke up that morning to getting bitten by Silas again. The same dream replayed over and over again.
She took the opportunity to test new possibilities regarding that traumatic day. Her very first attempt to change everything was telling Jacob that she knew about his plans of breaking the van and if he did that, she'd never forgive him. He didn't. However, the van didn't work anyways. A new problem trapped them in that awful place. She also tried to convince the group to stay in the lodge, picked 'truth' instead of 'dare', went after Abi instead of Jacob… the night still ended the same way, with her getting bitten by Silas.
At some point, Emma just sat on a large rock and let out a frustrated sigh.
"Really?" She shouted at the silent and empty woods. "Am I dead and Hackett's Quarry is my version of Hell? I mean, I made some bad choices that day but… there were other places I'd rather be stuck at."
She decided to walk around. Having breakfast was pointless now she was… well, dead. At least she wouldn't have to endure all that tension in the air again, because she had just dumped Jacob the previous night.
"Or maybe…" another possibility crossed her mind, "this is limbo! Yeah, I saw it in a movie once. There's a lesson here I need to learn. I just have to pay attention to the details."
"Uhhh… are you rehearsing a monologue or something?" A voice behind her made her cheeks burn in embarrassment. She could really feel it, even though that dream was a hallucination from her dying mind.
She turned around. Kaylee Hackett. Score! That was an event that never happened on that traumatic day. Maybe there was the key.
"I… uh… you could say so."
The girl was carrying a large backpack. She kept looking at a watch on her wrist, as if she was waiting for someone.
"I'm searching for my brother, Caleb. Have you seen him?"
They were going to run away. They were tired from hiding. Tired from being trapped in cages when they transformed.
"No, I'm sorry. Are you… going somewhere?" Emma asked, trying to extract as much information as she could.
"Uhh… we…" Kaylee became nervous and agitated, searching for an answer. "Summer is over! We're headed to New York to find better job opportunities, you know?"
"I… I know what you are, Kaylee. I'm like you."
"W-What?! What are you talking about?"
"I'm a werewolf too."
"Shhhh…" the girl grabbed Emma by the arm, dragging her to an even more secluded area of the woods. "How did you… Did I bite you? Or Caleb? Shit shit shit… we need to get you out of here. If they find out, you're going to be trapped here forever."
"Okay!" Emma decided to play along. She had to find out where they were going and what prevented them from leaving that place. "Where are you guys going?"
"We'll find Anton and Grace from that podcast Ryan showed us. We'll tell our story. Maybe someone can provide us some answers."
"I can help. I think I know where they're located. Just let me grab my bag."
In Kaylee's company, Emma returned to the cabins and took her bag before any of the counselors, or the kids, returned from breakfast. She followed the girl to the road, where Caleb was supposed to meet them.
The boy arrived after a while, looking very agitated. He was surprised to find Emma there with his sister.
"What is she doing here, Kay? She shouldn't be here at all."
"She's like us, Caleb," Kaylee said. "She said she's infected too."
"Dammit! Anyways, I managed to convince Gammy," Caleb told. "We had an ugly fight, but she spilled something… about the quarry mines. There's something down there, connected to what we are."
"Is it what Septimus was hiding when he shut it down?"
"Apparently it is."
Before Emma could gather any more information from the Hackett siblings, she started feeling pulled again. The dream would soon start over, taking her back to the beginning of the day.
"No!" She complained. "Not now, please."
It was useless. She could no longer hear what Kaylee and Caleb were talking about. Their voices were becoming distant. The scene around her also started to fade.
"The quarry mines… the quarry mines…" Emma repeated to herself over and over again, so she would remember those words once she was back to the beginning of her endless dream.
She opened her eyes one more time, ready to be facing the cabin's ceiling again. Instead, she had a pair of light blue eyes staring at her.
"Sarah?" She called, confused by the fact her girlfriend wasn't supposed to be part of the dream.
"You woke up!" The blonde's blue eyes filled with tears as she wrapped her arms tightly around Emma's neck.
She sat down with some difficulty, examining her surroundings and noticing she was in an unfamiliar bedroom.
"Uh… how long have I slept for?"
"Almost 24 hours. I… I thought you wouldn't wake up. You got shot with a silver bullet."
The details from the ritual finally came back to Emma's mind. The last thing she remembered was being examined by Matteo and Aurelia. She was in a very bad shape. Not even Addison believed she'd be able to live.
"Hey, uh… before anything," there was one thing she promised herself she'd do if she survived. "I want you to know that when you said you loved me, it kinda triggered something inside me. It was like our bond was permanently sealed in that exact moment. I felt so overwhelmed, I just couldn't react. I couldn't find the words to say it back."
"This is okay," Sarah pressed her forehead against Emma's. "I'm just glad you're back. I thought I was going to lose you."
"I love you. You're the craziest but also the best thing that ever happened to me."
"I love you too. All of you. Even the werewolf side."
"How did I survive a silver bullet anyways? Am I no longer a werewolf? But…" Emma looked to her abdomen, noticing the wound was healing quickly. "It's impossible for a human."
"Our mating bond, remember? You said your blood would be able to save me. Apparently mine does too, even if I'm human."
Their moment was interrupted by Addison and Aurelia rushing to the bedroom. The Elder's eyes also filled with tears as she came to involve both Emma and Sarah into a hug.
"Mountebank!" Addison stood by the door, her grateful smile slowly turning to a scowl. "I… You're so screwed, your imprudent bastard!"
"She'll never forgive me, will she?" Emma asked, breaking into a nervous laugh.
After being able to take a shower and eat some of the delicious food Aurelia had prepared especially for her, Emma decided to find her boss to apologize. Addison was at the manor's gym room, unleashing all her rage into a punching bag.
"Yes, I'm imagining your face on it," she spoke, noticing her presence.
"Ouch," Emma approached carefully, unsure if she was being serious or not. "I'm so sorry. I should've listened to you and respected you as a leader. I made a terrible mistake and I can assure you it won't happen again."
"Do you realize you're only alive because you claimed your mate, right? If it wasn't for Sarah's blood, right now I'd be meeting your parents for a difficult conversation."
"Yeah, she told me. Aurelia was surprised to see how fast her blood healed me, considering she's human."
"I hope you learned your lesson," Addison grabbed a bottle of water, drinking it all in one sip. "We still need to wait and see if there aren't any consequences from the ritual."
"Like?" Emma asked, concerned.
"I don't know. It can range from new abilities to changes in the transformation. It could last for days now or become more painful."
"God, no. They didn't really do anything. I think their sole purpose was to kill me."
"There's also your friend. He could be a werewolf now too."
Jacob. She had forgotten he jumped into the magical circle to save her life, even at the risk of getting cursed himself. Besides that, he also had gotten shot in his shoulder.
"Oh fuck! Is he okay?"
"Apparently. But we're taking you both to Aurelia for her to check the results of this damn ritual."