Invisible String {2} TW

Ch. 12 Smoke and Mirrors

BERSERKER
[4×12]

IMAGES OF THE SAME BERSERKER SHE HAD BEEN PAINTING THE OTHER NIGHT PLAYED IN AYLA'S HEAD. Only this time, she could see its arm. She could see the familiar tattoo of two rings on it. She gasped awake, sitting up. The motion caused her way more pain than she had been expecting, making her gasp and clutch her chest.

"No, no, no," she mumbled, breathing heavily. She looked around the room she was in, seeing the light now shining in. She also saw the now open door. She stood up, staring at the door for a moment. She knew there was no way Kate would just leave the door open. It had to be some kind of trick. But at the moment, she didn't care. All that mattered was finding Scott.

She kept one hand pressed to her aching chest as she made her way out of the room and into the dark hallways. "Scott?" she called, keeping her voice low. She cautiously turned each corner. She could hear berserkers somewhere nearby. She knew they had to be completely aware of where she was. They were letting her do this.

She turned one corner, only to see a berserker down the hall from her. She turned to run the other way, only to be met by another berserker. This one slammed her back into the wall, before throwing her into the opposite wall. Ayla looked up at him, recognized him from her visions. She grabbed at the armour on his arm, using the little strength she had left to pull it free. And there was the tattoo. She met the berserker's eyes, and Scott's brown eyes stared back at her.

"Scott? Scott, it's me," she told him. He threw her onto the floor, and began dragging her. He stopped when he heard footsteps approaching. He walked over to Kate as she entered the room, leaving Ayla on the floor. She pushed herself up to glare at the woman.

"I'm going to have to do a better job of covering that up," Kate muttered.

"What the hell did you do to him?" Ayla growled at the woman.

"How. That's a better story. You see, when I first got away from the Calaveras, I had no idea where to go. But something kept pulling me here, to the Temple of Tezcatlipoca," Kate said, circling the she-wolf. "His name means 'smoking mirror,' and this place is a temple of the smoking mirror." She walked over to the wall, running her fingers over it. "Obsidian.

"When I got here, I found the berserkers waiting for me. They helped me survive. I didn't know quite why until just recently. Until I decided to trust someone I never thought I'd trust. It was then that I found out I could not only control the Berserkers, but I could create them," Kate explained, walking back over to Scott.

"Now, you already know that Scott became an alpha without ever having to kill anyone. He's been through quite a lot without ever having to kill. I think it's time to change that. Shouldn't be hard with the wolfsbane still in your system," Kate told her.

Ayla glared at the woman. Scott pulled a blade from his belt, and she hoped that her fear didn't show on her face. She didn't want to give Kate the satisfaction. "No, Scott," she said, pushing herself back as he began to walk towards her. "No, Scott, no. You love me, remember?" She felt her back hit a rather large rock. Scott lifted the blade, before bringing it down and stabbing her in the stomach.

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Despite what Kate had been hoping, Ayla was currently still breathing. She was laid back against a rock, taking in painful breaths. She wasn't sure how long she had been away from the wolfsbane, but she knew it had been long enough that she should be healing. Only, she wasn't. She wasn't getting any better. She could feel it, she was getting worse.