Chapter 105
HANNAH
It felt like my stomach had been hollowed out and pumped full of squirming bugs. I knew what the feeling was.
Fear. Anxiety. Mostly dread.
The problem was that there was absolutely nothing I should be afraid or anxious about. The fire incident had happened two days ago now, and I was over it. Did I almost die trying to save the kids? Yes.But did I survive? Yes.
So why did I feel like something very bad was about to happen?
Maybe it was the dream I had two days ago and yesterday. Finally, I stopped dreaming about the fire. Now, I had a very bizarre dream.
Julia died.
When I woke up, I couldn’t understand why I’d see such a dream. I had seen her lifeless body in the dream, ripped out. Was it a warning like other dreams? Why on earth would I be warned if something bad would truly happen to Julia? To save her? I would rather plant 1000 trees in one day.
My fingers kept twisting nervously on my lap as I waited for the skill contest to start, hoping to take my mind off the dream. My mates and Willa were chatting about something. They kept trying to draw me into the conversation and failing. After a while, they didn't push anymore. Maybe they thought I was still hung over not being able to participate in the contest.
That would also explain why they had insisted on coming with me and Willa. Probably thought I would suddenly make a split-second decision to participate anyway. They were here to stop me and, if possible, bundle me out if I tried that.
The feeling of eyes watching me brought me out of my thoughts. My eyes made it to the raised seat at the right side of the arena, close to where we sat.
Edward was stealing glances at me. When our eyes locked, he looked away.
"Show's starting," Willa said, nudging me.
"Oh cool," I said without much enthusiasm.
She didn't notice. She was listening to Cade talk about fighting techniques.
The same moderator at the talent contest took the stage.
After introducing the very important attendees, she said, "And now we go on to the second stage of the contest. In this stage, contestants will duel with each other. The winner..."
The moderator's voice for me trailed off into background noise as I tried to focus on breathing. Every nerve in my body was stretched to breaking point.
What the hell was wrong with me? Why could I feel goosebumps masking my skin?
When the dueling began, it distracted me a little, especially when Julia came on. She fought her opponent with every dirty trick in the book and won.
Julia spent more time on the stage than any other contestant after she won, taking bows and blowing kisses to the crowd, especially in Edward's direction.
Finally, the moderator, with a laugh, had to gently ease her off stage.
"Ugh," Willa grunted, frowning and grunting again in disgust. "As if her head couldn't get any bigger."
About an hour later, the two final contestants came on.
"I need to use the bathroom," Willa said, getting to her feet and heading towards the restrooms.
She didn't spend too much time trying to maneuver around seats. As Wallace was an Alpha, we had all gotten good front seats.
The last bout of dueling lasted longer than the others. I used the triplet’s exclamations and shouts of encouragement as a distraction from my thoughts. Not that it helped much. Just as the dueling was rounding up, someone nudged me.
"Excuse me.”
There was a boy of about twelve standing beside me as I turned.
"Are you talking to me?" I asked him.
The boy nodded. "Yes. A girl in the restroom said to tell you that she needs your help."
The boy hurried away before I could ask him any more questions. It took me a couple of seconds to realize that the girl in the restroom had to be Willa. She had gone to use the bathroom, and I just noticed she wasn’t back. The dueling had lasted at least 20 minutes.
Did something happen to her in there? Was that why I had such a terrible feeling all day? Could the dream be about Willa, but I had somehow seen Julia?
I spat to my feet. I thought about telling my mates about this, but then there was a big chance Willa was fine. Besides, they would only worry once I told them how I had been feeling all day.
"I'll be right back," I said, raising my voice a little to be heard over the noise.
Jace nodded. Cade and Chase gave me a playful salute. My stomach kept twisting into knots as I hurried to the bathroom.
"Willa?" I called out the moment I was close to the bathroom. "Willa are you here?"
No answer.
I cautiously stepped into the restroom. The sound of my heart banging against my ribs was louder than the cheering crowd outside.
I opened the bathroom stalls one by one. They were all empty. Panic started creeping in. Willa was supposed to be in one of them.
"Relax, Hannah," I said to myself. "Willa probably just somehow found her way back to our seats. You're freaking out for no rea-"
I broke off as a drop of something red on the floor caught my eye. Slowly I bent to examine it. It was blood, leading in a trail up to the sink.
My heart was now pounding louder than ever, and I felt cold to my bones.
I straightened and walked over to the sink on legs that felt wooden. When I saw the thing in the sink, a gasp escaped my lips. With a shaky hand, I picked up the bloodstained knife.
"Oh no no," I shook my head.
Images of Willa stabbed and wounded flashed before my terrified eyes.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when the restroom door slammed closed. I whirled around and saw... her
Julia.
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