ATHENA'S POV.I began to feel cold, and scared. I didn't even know whether it was day or night because the forest was just so dark. The trees had prevented the light from shining in. Every part of my body was alert with the feel of eyes on me. I was supposed to keep on running, but I was loaded with apples, and their weight was quite a lot. I began to walk as fast as I could manage, tripping several times, as I did. My heart was pounding, and my lips kept on running dry. My fingers were trembling, and threatened to let go of the hem of my hoodie, which I had used to hold up the apples. In fact, it wasn't just my fingers. Every bone in my body seemed to tremble. My knees buckled continuously, and threatened to give way and throw me to the floor. The unknown thing, which I felt was following me in the woods, still followed me, and it felt like it was going to strike in moments. I stopped, and looked towards the bushes, taking in quick breaths. The rustle came again, and I took a s
ATHENA'S POV.It felt like I wasn't hearing him correctly. Earnshaw was dead? Maybe I didn't know Gary, but I knew Earnshaw. He was a kind old man. What could have happened to such a healthy man? It looked so absurd.“H…how?” I asked.“He passed in his sleep… just like Gary.”“What?” I asked in shock. Gary died a month ago, and now Earnshaw? Something didn't sound right, but I knew it could easily be a coincidence, so I didn't think too much of it.“Uh… where are you?”“You don't need to worry about me. I…”“Where are you, Tristan?” I insisted, with more force. “I'm at his house.” He replied, and I turned off the socket, tore off the apron I was wearing, and left the kitchen. “I'll be right there, okay.” I said, leaving the Palace. I knew Tristan couldn't be okay. First, there was Gary dying. Not Earnshaw too. He was one of the old men Tristan was really close with, and I knew it would be difficult to let him go. I called for one of the men assigned as my driver, and he drove me s
ATHENA'S POV.I woke up a second later, and could hear the low pitter-patter of the rain on the windows. It was raining. When was the last time I heard the sound of rain? Or maybe I should say, when was the last time I saw rain?I didn't even remember what the atmosphere of rain looked and felt like. Next to me, Tristan slept, although I could tell he wasn't having the best of dreams at the moment. I swung my feet off the bed, and went to the window. Upon pushing it open, a breeze blew in, and it had the soft rain smell with it. The smell of packed earth, and cold.A few drops landed on my skin, and I looked up at the sky. It was a dull gray, and the clouds moved around slowly, and heavily. Were they also mourning for Earnshaw?Could they be whispering their words of condolence?It was in the morning, but it could easily be mistaken for late evening. As I kept on watching, I felt the sky was remarkably beautiful with its hues of gray. Yes. My favorite weather is the fall. I was s
ATHENA'S POV.Yes, it was them. Our car was parked on a narrow road, and there was a large wall blocking the girls, who were definitely directly in front of our car. “You should keep quiet. Do you know how hard I saved, before I could get it? Did you save anything?” The first one asked.“Well, you shouldn't talk to G that way. She would buy it back for you in the blink of an eye, she's just in a financial fix right now.” The second voice snapped.G? Since when did one of them go by G?“Of course. You know I would pay it back if not for the problems I have to solve right now. Mum and dad will kill me if I bring in a problem as measly as your broken camera.” The third voice said, and I recognized that as the voice of the meanest of them.“What? As measly as my broken camera? Well, you should have considered that before you broke it!” The first girl shouted, getting annoyed. “Ouch. I believe I already said I was sorry.” The mean girl said, although her voice was nothing sorry. My driv
ATHENA'S POV.“Y…your car? How… How can this be your car? Your car? You?” The second blonde asked.“Are you… are you playing a joke right now? You were banned from the pack. No rich pack would take you in, so how… How do you own a car and all these things?” The mean one asked. “We're doomed.” The black-haired girl whispered, looking at the car, which they had damaged. Mr. Gladys held out his phone, and I took it. “Do you want me to go on, ma'am?” He asked, and I nodded. “You smashed the window of Miss Athena's car, and broke the side mirror. Here's the cost as presented. For the cost of the window you smashed, you will need to get another one, which should be $530 as stated here. For the installation, and clean up, it's likely to cost you $400, but the price may vary depending on the installation company. “They would have to see the car first, and determine the specific price, so you have to keep, at the very least, $400 in mind. You also have to pay for a rental car, as Miss can
ATHENA'S POV.The mean girl looked like she knew she had made a mistake, as she blinked rapidly, unable to say another word. The other two girls looked at her with contempt, like they wanted to hit her mouth, and fall on their knees begging me.“Al… alright! Let's go to the cops, and see what they say!” The mean girl shouted, trying to instill confidence into her words. I gave a scoff, and got into the passenger's seat, next to the driver seat, while the three of them were forced to sit in the back of the car by Mr. Gladys. “Damn you, damn you… you just couldn't keep your mouth shut, could you?” The black-haired girl said, with gritted teeth.“I should have never come out today. This is bad.” The second blonde added, looking like she would fly out of the window if the opportunity presented itself. “Let's stop blaming me and see what the cops say first. We never know, we might be let off. After all, it's an accident.” The mean girl snapped, silencing both of them.We drove to the n
ATHENA'S POV.My head rang with pain as the noise continued, and it was so difficult to listen to what Tristan was saying. The image of the bloodied man kept on flashing in my head, getting closer and closer in my mind's eye. He was turning…. He was turning… I didn't want to see his face. No! I didn't want to. I could feel myself falling off the chair, but numerous hands caught me. My eyes opened and closed, and I saw Tristan rushing over to me. The servants lifted me, and began to take me to my room, while Tristan followed, and somewhere in that ruckus; I lost consciousness, slipping quietly into a land of dreams. I had been scared of sleeping, as I feared I would see the bloodied man in my dream, but luckily, I didn't see him.Instead, I saw Lorrie, Alpha Ragas and all the people who had made life harder for me falling at my feet, and begging for my forgiveness. It was a blissful dream, and when I woke up, it was at night. My head didn't hurt, nor did I see images of a man covere
ATHENA'S POV.I couldn't believe my eyes. His body was still warm, so why…“Bronch.” I called again, shaking his shoulder. He still didn't move. “Bronch!” I called harder, shaking him vigorously. A sleeping person should have woken up by then. I just couldn't bring myself to face the fact that he could be gone, just like Earnshaw, and Gary. Bronch, who had come to the Palace the previous day with dear Dorothy to see Tristan. He had smiled at me and joked with my baby, who probably couldn't hear a word of what he was saying.How could he suddenly be gone, just like that? No. He was probably in a deep sleep. I tried to fool myself because even if I felt bad, I didn't want to imagine how Tristan would feel. No, he couldn't lose someone else again. He couldn't. How was he going to cope with the loss? Even though I could see his chest clearly stiff and not rising, even though I could easily put my finger to his nose to check if he was breathing, I didn't. It was only after two minut