Chapter Thirty-one

**OLIVER**

My breaths came in short, hard pants as I jolted awake from my slumber. The air felt cold and sharp, my sheets drenched in sweat. I looked to my side, sighing in relief that Gabriel was still fast asleep. My mind drifted back to the strange dream I had just had.
Two people at the riverbank. Not just any two people, the ones that had stumbled through the border a few days ago. According to Gabriel, the man had died, and the girl was still recovering. Their eyes had shone an unnatural red, as though they were being possessed by Skokie wild force. The more I stared at them, the more I felt the spirit of the goddess leave me. The more I looked at them, the more I grew weaker, the more life was sucked out of me. I took a deep breath and gathered my wits about myself.
I sighed as I crawled out of bed, careful to not wake Gabriel as I tiptoed out of the bedroom, and made my way into the kitchen. I slid into the round dining table with a bottle of vodka, and threw back three shots in rapid succession, grunting and closing my eyes against the burn of the liquid as it rolled down my throat.
As I sat there, I felt the overwhelming presence of the goddess, her whispers causing a steady throbbing at the back of my head. I sighed and threw back another shot. She has gotten stronger in the past few weeks, I could feel it. In the way the river moved when I stood in it, or when I made supplication in it.
I thought about my dream again and thought about how this would be the second time since they stepped foot into this territory that I would see them in my dreams. Was the river goddess trying to tell me something? Was their presence a bad omen? I leaned back in my chair and sighed, oblivious to Gabriel sauntering into the kitchen until he took the seat across from me.
“Tough night?” He asked as he settled into his seat, his eyes a tad bit puffy and his hair spiked up at the ends. He ran his hands through it forcing the stubborn strands to sleep.
I shrugged. “You could say that.”
Gabriel nodded. “Do you want to talk about it?” He asked.
I opened my mouth as though to speak, but the words refused to come forth. I sighed and shook my head. “No. It’s nothing.”
Gabriel cocked his head to the side and regarded me with unabashed curiosity and worry in his eyes. His eyes trailed from my face to the glass in my hand and the bottle of vodka on the table.
“You’re drinking so early?” He asked.
I looked down at the drink and shrugged. “A shot or two is a good way to start the day, don’t you think?” I asked and laughed.
“The bottle is half empty,” he stated.
I looked at the bottle, shocked to see that he was right. However, I didn’t feel inebriated in the slightest. Rather, I felt more alive. I laughed wistfully. Must be the effect of being possessed by a river goddess.
“Hmm…it is…”
Gabriel nodded slowly, his eyes staring daggers into my soul. “Did she make you do this? The goddess?”
I sighed and sat up in my chair, smiling to myself as the sun began to rise, staining the sky a bright orange color. I ignored Gabriel’s question and his probing eyes and allowed my mind to drift back to the girl in the hospital.
“She’s awake, isn’t she?” I asked. “The girl.”
Gabriel hesitated, and in his eyes, I could see the wheels turning. He didn’t know what to make of me.
Frankly, I didn’t know what to make of myself either.
“Yes,” he answered finally. “She is. Why?”
I sighed and rose to my feet, carefully depositing the glass on the table, and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Gabriel asked.
I could hear the chair scrape across the wooden floor as he stood to come after me. I sighed exasperated, and continued for the door.
“Where are you going?!” He asked again, his voice rising a pitch, grating on my nerves.
“Leave me alone, Gabriel.”
Without waiting for him to ask me another question or tell me I couldn’t go anywhere after the number of shots I’d had, I threw on my coat and stepped into the early morning sun.
I took a deep breath of the moist air, smiling to myself as the fresh smell of moist soil and green trees drifted up my nose. I started for the hospital, my mind focused on the girl who lay recovering in the hospital bed. I smiled performatively at the greeting of the pack members as they walked past.
I waltzed into the hospital, ignoring the greetings of the staff, my mind solely focused on the strange girl. I could feel her, sense her. I finally arrived at her door, and without knocking, I opened it and let myself in, closing the door behind me.
Her eyes fluttered open and landed on me as I advanced into her room, recognition apparent in her gaze. She immediately looked away, as though aware that she had let too much out with just one gaze.
She knew me. But how?
I pulled the only chair present in the room to her bedside and sunk into it, making myself comfortable. The sun had now risen, its bright rays giving life to the otherwise gray room.
“How are you feeling?” I asked performatively, not concerned with how she felt.
She rolled her eyes at me and turned her face away from me. I chuckled, and leaned back in my chair, my head beginning to whirl from the alcohol.
“You know me…” I said. “How? Since you arrived here, I keep seeing you everywhere…”
She scoffed and turned to face me. “You’re the goddess’ priest, are you not?” She asked, her nose scrunching with disgust.
My ears perked up, and I sat up in my chair. “You know about the goddess?” I asked.
She scoffed and looked away from me. Her demeanor suggested that she was done entertaining me and any other questions I might have. I nodded slowly to myself and pushed myself to my feet, as I walked out of her room and the hospital, I was aware of an eerie presence watching me, I turned around, and was confronted with the face of the dead man. I blinked and he was gone. I stood there, in front of the hospital, and wondered if it was the effect of the alcohol or if I had just seen the ghost of a dead man.