84: Him.
**Aife pov**
When I woke up, the cabin was dark, cold and oddly quiet. It felt like I was stuck in some sick ‘moment before the storm’ scenario.
Slowly, I kicked the blanket off me and sat up in bed. Nothing had changed around me, at least not enough to raise any suspicion.
Looking around the dark room, I tried to notice anything that might be the reason for the unease growing in my gut, but I saw nothing, so I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and carefully got out.
Every step I took made a weird, creaking sound on the old floorboards, my bare feet and careful steps did nothing to silence the sound that kept echoing against the walls like a danger alarm.
After taking a few deep breaths, I held my breath as I neared the door. I couldn’t explain why, but I truly felt like something was terribly off.
As soon as my hand gripped the doorknob, I felt it - the electric sensation of dread traveling down my spine. I gripped the handle tighter, feeling how sweaty my palm became against the metal and finally twisted it, slowly opening the door to the small hall.
Like a true coward, I stuck my head out and looked around. Nothing.
I frowned, released the breath I was holding and tip-toed out in the hall, still looking around like something could jump out of the shadows and attack me any given moment.
My steps were slow and measured, I truly feared taking the wrong step, despite being unsure what it could be in this situation. My senses were on high alert and I could feel Clove scratch at the barrier in my mind, but she didn’t say a word, as if my inner self was scared to be overheard, but her activity only put me more on edge than I already was.
With each step closer to the small staircase, more dread sunk in my limbs, making me feel like I was forcing myself to move around rather than let my body do the job.
By the time I finally reached the bottom of the stairs, I finally understood why I had to be feeling so on edge - the cabin was empty. Zion and Kala were nowhere in sight and Jonathan wasn’t there either. I was left completely alone here and it didn’t sit well with me.
“Where the hell is everyone?” I whispered to myself, scanning the small room as if one of them could appear out of thin air only because I asked the question.
Although my voice was quiet, the words still seemed to echo against the walls and Clove grew even more restless than earlier. She started clawing at the wall between us, but didn’t make any effort to explain what was wrong and what she felt.
“Stop doing that,” I whisper-hissed at her, unable to tolerate the scratching sound.
Thankfully, she did but instead, she started whimpering. My wolf sounded desperate, panicked and worst of all - scared to the bone. Although we hadn’t been one for long, I had never heard her sound like this.
“Clove?” I whispered her name. “What’s going on? Come on, sweetheart, you can tell me,” I tried to encourage her although I felt like my blood was freezing in my veins.
I was genuinely horrified to find out what had scared her so much to act mute and thrash around like that, but I still wanted to know.
Clove whimpered again, louder this time, but she didn’t speak or explain herself.
I held my hands outstretched to navigate in the small, dark space and questioned her again, “Clove, come on, if you don’t talk to me, I won’t know what’s wrong. Please, tell me what’s going on; I have a weird feeling but I don’t understand why. I know you felt something, if you didn’t, you wouldn’t act like this.”
The only answer I got, again, was nothing but a terrified whimper.
Suddenly, my heart rate picked up. There was still no sure danger in sight, but for some reason, I felt like something bad was about to happen, so I frantically tried to feel for any object in my mind as I tried to navigate my way toward the main door of the cabin.
I couldn’t see anything at all, so I had to rely on my senses and the little memory I had of how the cabin looked when we arrived and what was placed where. I knew it would be best if I returned upstairs and grabbed my boots, maybe even a warmer jacket, but my fear overrode the logical thinking.
The only thing I could focus on was the need to get out and find the others. I knew I wouldn’t be this scared if I wasn’t alone like this, with Clove still whimpering and scratching like she was trying to escape my body.
“Clove, please,” I whispered as my hands started shaking more when I reached the wall and started moving to the side, seeking the door. “Please tell me what’s wrong. I’m getting really worried not knowing what has you on edge like that and we both need to remember stress like this isn’t good for the baby. Please, let’s both think of what’s best for the baby.”
Clove whimpered again, but when I finally reached the door and grabbed the handle as tightly as I could, she stopped me by letting out the loudest, most deafening scream I had ever heard. I instantly let go of the handle and slapped my hands over my ears as if that could make the scream stop.
“Clove!” I hissed and squeezed my eyes shut, slowly sinking to my knees, still holding my hands over my ears.
When she finally stopped screaming, Clove was panting loudly and so was I. I could feel both our heartbeats thumping in my ears - wild and far too fast.
“Clove, if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I swear I’m going to lose my mind,” I managed to choke out, slowly lowering my hands to place them onto the cold floor to support myself.
She whimpered and eventually, when she finally answered, I felt like my world had stopped with that one, choked word. “Him.”
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