CHAPTER 56

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
All six foot or more so, of him were standing right in front of me, covered in a white handstitched suit and all I could do to stop myself from killing him right now, was bunching my fingers, my nails biting hard on the inner skin of my palm.

“Oh, I won’t take the credit, dear. I’m the one who has been dying to meet you. How are you still alive?” he questioned.

“And how are you still breathing?” I snapped, my jaw tightened as I tried to maintain my calm.

He approached me, covering whatever distance was left between us as he leaned closer,” Do you know what’s the funny part about all of this? I’ve seen you so many times on the cover of magazines, on articles standing beside your fiancée and yet, not once did it click in my head that you are the same kid I wanted to kill so bad despite your name and resemblance. The magic they used on you to camouflage you and fool everyone else, I must admit, had to be extremely powerful. But then again, it was only a matter of time before it wore off, right? Fifteen years later and here you are, standing in front of me, on the palm of my hand, so I can finish off whatever remains of your existence,”

“Dad-“ I raised my index finger to signal Collins to silence as I met at the old man gaze. His eyes held no form of sympathy or regret and that spiked my anger some more. He robbed me of a childhood and my family and my best friend and yet he stood in front of me all mighty and strong like he’d done nothing?

“They were my family, my blood and he was my best friend,” I began, tears of rage welling down the corners of my eyes,” They were all I had and you took them away from me. Well, like you said, I’m standing right here in front of you but not for you to kill me but for me to see to it, the end of your entire kind. I will kill every single wolf, your son included while I make you watch and when I’m done, I’ll make your death the most excruciating you’ve ever felt. I will kill you with my bare hands. So, mark my words, Carson White because I’m going to kill you last,”

“What the hell are you saying Nadia? Look I understand that you are-“I turned around, stopping Collins mid-sentence as I walked over to him.

“You do not understand anything, Collins. The fifteen years of pain your father made me go through are not going to be in vain. I will repay him with more than he bargained for and this time, I will surely win. Whatever we had between us, forget it. All I have now is just hatred for your kind and I won’t stop until they are no longer in existence-“

I heard the growl behind me right before Collins pushed me to the ground, using his body as shield. Almost immediately everything around me stopped moving, the wolf that had been about to attack me, frozen midair. What the hell was going on? Did I do that or something?

“You can thank me later,”

“Blondie?” I gasped in surprise, as I registered the new face running over to me. Was she not the same girl from the hotel? Amanda or something close to that.

“You know I’d prefer it if you called me by my actual name which like I told you last time, was Miranda Townsend,” She said, grunting as she helped push Collins off me.

I dusted my clothes, standing up as I glanced around.

“Okay, what the hell is going on here?” I demanded, taking a step away from Miranda.

“Are you blind? I’m a witch-a time witch to be precise and as much as I’d love to stand here and talk about it, we need to go. My magic is not that strong and they’ll be free from it in a few, coming after our necks if we don’t leave right this minute,”

“Wait, I need to get my friend from the basement,”

“Your friend? You mean the one who was running off like she was on fire or the one who was unconscious on that Hybrid’s arms?” she took my palm, breaking into a run through the woods and into her car.

“Wait, Drake took her?” I questioned, breathing a little fast from the quick run we just had. When did all that happen?

“You know, you are more naïve than I last remembered. How could you trust a hybrid more so an original one with vampire blood so blindly? Drake is known for his selfishness. He only cares about himself and I don’t care if he made you believe he gave a shit about you but you need to steer clear of him. He is nothing but trouble and trust me, you already have enough of that now that Carson White is back in town,” She said.

“Well, he won’t be in town for long because I’m going to kill him,” I snapped.

“Whoa! Easy there, pretty face. Do you have any idea how many of the surviving hunters tried to kill him and they ended up dead in the most gruesome manner? You don’t just attack someone like Carson White and expect to live. He is a veteran werewolf. You need to sit down, plan your attacks as precise as possible and get as many allies on your aside as you can,” she advised.

“Carson White killed my family and my best friend and you are asking me to sit and wait? I’m sorry Miranda but I’m not going to let him breath any longer,” I pointed out.

“Excuse me but Harry was my best friend too. All this time I thought you were dead too and…” she paused, swallowing as her voice grew teary,” all I wanted was to kill Carson for taking away my only two friends. Every night, I practiced magic on my own, trying to learn the strongest, darkest spells I could but then he skipped town and my parents sent me all the way to China for my college. I only came back three weeks ago. Imagine the shock I felt when I saw someone I believed died in a fire when we were only eight, suddenly shows up in one piece in town,”

“Wait, you, me and Harry were friends?” I questioned. She had mentioned before that she was my best friend but up until now, it hadn’t struck me that deep and neither had it added up. Damn! I really needed all my memories back.

“They called us the three musketeers. We were practically inseparable until you um…supposedly died in that fire. Harry drifted and would prefer spending time alone in his room,” A sad looked pasted over her eyes but she was quick to grab her composure, “I don’t know much how you remember but I do hope it all comes back because I’m dying to know what exactly happened and how you are still so alive. Also…um… I haven’t told my parents that you are still alive. I’d prefer you keep it that way and try to avoid as much contact as you can. This new look will only work for some time. Soon enough, someone will piece it all together,” she said.

“Noted. So all this is getting too much to process in one day. So how about we meet tomorrow, say for a cup of coffee?”

“Oh, I understand,” she said pulling to a stop outside Mrs. Heathers’ coffee shop.

When I walked in, Sasha was sitting at a corner booth, ramming her fingers nervously on the table before her but on noticing my presence she was quick rush over, her gaze scanning for any bruises on my body.

“A-Are you okay?” She stuttered.

“Are *you *okay?” I questioned, crossing my arms. I was certainly not upset with her and actually hearing she ran off like that, had me worried even some more about her. She needed to leave this town before it too late but knowing how stubborn she was, she would never agree to leave this town.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry I ran off like that,”

“What happened?”

“Well, after our little fight, I matched into a compound full of werewolves but lucky for me, I ran into Danny. Collins hot friend from Vegas remember?” She went on to clarify even though I already met the guy thrice and two times out of those turned out to be a sexual encounter between the two of them.

“Yeah. Yesterday we spent the whole day together looking for evidence,”

“Well, he took me into the basement and I saw Trina before he helped me run through the back entrance,” She paused, her expression turning horrified,” Trina didn’t even know who I’m, Nadia. My best friend of fifteen years, stood behind that glass wall and she had no flint of recognition in her eyes. The only thing she wanted was my blood,”

*I had done this. If I had listened to Trina and stayed in New York, she wouldn’t be who she was right now. I’d killed my best friend and brought her back as something dangerous. I was to blame for all this.*

“I’m so sorry,” It was all I could say.