EVE

|9|

Was I dead?

It sure felt like it. My whole body ached and when I opened my eyes, all I could see was white.

"Is this heaven?" I pondered out loud.

"Not quite, I'm afraid." A voice came from beside me, causing me to scream in shock.

My head turned to the side and I realised Carla was sat beside me, an anxious expression plastered across her face.

"Carla?" I whispered, still unsure whether I was dreaming or not.

"Yeah it's me," she replied, scooting her chair closer to me as I sat up.

A sharp pain shot through my head and I clutched it as I looked around. This was definitely no heaven, I quickly noticed, recognising that I was back in my room.

"Be careful Eve, you hit your head pretty hard when you fell," Carla advised, helping to prop a pillow behind me.

"When I fell?" I asked, having no recollection of anything that had happened since - oh wait, I started to remember little flashbacks - Alpha Stone in his office, Alpha Stone getting angry, Alpha Stone with his hand around my neck.

"Oh my gosh," I whispered, my hands covering my mouth, "Alpha Stone strangled me."

Carla made a weird face at me. "Not quite Eve. You actually fainted before he could do anything."

My eyes shot wide. "I fainted?"

Carla nodded her head. "Yeah and you hit the floor pretty hard too."

I raised my hand to my head to massage it; I could start to feel it pound. How long had I been unconscious for?

I voice my thoughts to Carla. "A little over an hour. The doctor checked you when you were knocked out and said you were fine and that you would wake up when you were ready."

My throat felt dry, parched like the Sahara desert. I could really do with a glass of water.

"Eve." I looked up at Carla. She looked at me with anxious eyes and then reached over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I just really wanted to thank you for trying to help me."

I shook my head, ignoring the pain.

"No Carla, I needed to thank you. You gave me a brilliant opportunity and it's my fault I couldn't finish what I started. It's only fair we share the punishment."

"About the punishment," Carla started, oh gosh, "Alpha Stone said he would show mercy. He said he had another plan for us." Wait, we weren't gonna be killed?

"So what is the punishment?" I asked, not completely sure if I wanted to hear what Carla had to say.

★☾★

"This is it!" Carla exclaimed, spreading her hands out in front of her.

I looked around the room, utterly confused. The room in front of us had several exercise machines and weight lifting tools and in general seemed like the pack's indoor training area, and from the smell of stale sweat lingering still it was clear the room has just recently been used.

I glanced at Carla who was already watching me with a forced smile.

"Uh Carla, what exactly are we supposed to be doing here?"

Carla was ready to answer when someone interrupted her. The voice alone made my heart drop and I refused to look in his direction.

"What you are supposed to do, is to clean every single item in this room, including the floors until they are sparkling enough for me to see my reflection in them."