On A Stormy Night

Ch. 12 Goons

-Elena-

I woke up surrounded by trees. For a moment, I thought I was dreaming but this felt way too real. Then I thought, maybe I'd never left the woods at all. Maybe everything else had been a dream and I'd always been here. If that were true, how long had I been here?

"Mom! Liam!" I called, scared for myself and them.

A laugh came bouncing towards me out of the darkness, it sounded like the source was nearby. That laugh sent chills up my spine. It wasn't the kind of laugh you hear when you think something is funny. It was a strange, creepy, laugh. The kind that makes you want to shiver in fright. I'd never felt so scared in my life.

"Hello," I said cautiously, speaking into the darkness.

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. A slow, creeping, movement, that was completely silent. A shadow, slowly moving closer to me. It was almost predatory, like it was stalking me. My adrenaline spiked but I didn't think running was the right thing to do. I took a careful, hesitant, step backwards instead. I never took my eyes off it, I felt like it might attack at any moment.

"W-Who are you?" I stuttered in fear, as I started to shake.

The shadow chuckled again and responded, "I'm your worst nightmare."

He stepped towards me and smiled, all I could make out were his snow white teeth. I trembled. He took another step towards me, I saw the wicked gleam in his eyes. I backed away from him slowly. On the fifth step I tripped over something, something big. I looked down to see what it was, and realized it was my mom! She was tied up and lying in a large puddle of blood. I was shocked, how had this happened? What had happened to her, to Liam? I tried to shake it off, to push my negative thoughts and panic aside. I bent down to check her pulse, hoping, praying, she was still alive.

"Mom?" I whispered, shaking her gently.

I felt hot tears run down my face. No, no, no! I screamed to myself. I felt something ice cold touch my shoulder. I looked over to see what it was, it was a pale hand. I followed the arm upwards but could only see as far up as his elbow. The rest was just a shadow, except for his eyes, his eyes were red and deadly. I had a strong feeling that something was seriously wrong and maybe I should run after all. It was too late. Before I could even stand up he grabbed me by my arm and threw me against a tree. I tried to move but I couldn't. I waited patiently for the darkness to come, but it never did...

I gasped and sprang upwards in the bed. I could still feel the fear and the pain. I quickly took in my surroundings. I was slightly spirited to see that I was still in the hospital room.

What the heck was that? I hoped it was just a nightmare, but it had felt like so much more. I kept telling myself it was nothing, just a bad dream. Deep down though, I knew it was important.

The hospital door suddenly flew open and banged against the wall. In my surprise, I couldn't stop the ear piercing scream that split the air. I saw two men come bursting in, combat ready.

"What the hell! Why are you here?" I yelled.

They stared at me confused, as if they didn't know why they were here either. I opened my mouth to yell at them again, but stopped when Alec shoved his way through the door. He looked deadly, which instead of being frightening was actually pretty hot. The guards looked at him a little startled, like they were surprised to see him.

"Are you ok? Did someone hurt you? Where are they? Do—," he rushed out in a panic, eyes searching the small room.

I cut him off, "I'm fine, it was just a nightmare...," I said, looking a bit embarrassed.

He sighed and wrapped his arms around me.
"Just a nightmare," he mumbled, trying to calm himself down.

I nodded placing my hand on his forearm and smiling at him in reassurance. He leaned over, pressing his forehead to mine. I heard a throat clear and remembered we weren't alone. I blushed deeply and tried to push him away, embarrassed.

"Sorry Sir? But ummm, dobyou still want us here?" One of the bulky men asked, from the doorway.

I gasped in surprise and looked up at Alec. "What? You're responsible for the weird goons? Why? Why would you do that?" I asked, irritated.

"No, you can go. I'll be taking her home."

They nodded, looked at me, and bowed before leaving the room. I blushed three shades darker. Alec chuckled as he watched me squirm.

"Are you going to answer my questions? Speaking of which, I just thought of another one, How did you even know anything was going on?" I asked, turning my attention back to him.

He scrunched up his eyebrows, "We're mate's? We have a link to each other. Didn't you know that?"

"Well, no. Why would I? I've never been mated to a werewolf before," I said with a giggle and roll of my eyes.

He got up from the bed and took my hand. I looked down at his hand and realized my IV was gone, a bandaid was left in its place.

"Let's go home," he said with a smile.

I smiled back and got up from the bed. Home sounded great to me.