WILLA
My body jerked upright before I understood what was happening. Pain tore through my ribs, sharp enough to steal my breath.
I collapsed back down and forced my eyes open.
A grey, cloudless sky stared back at me. Leaves swirled above in the wind.
Leaves that should have withered due to the winter.
But there was no snow. No winter. Wetness…that was all I felt underneath me.
Then…
Low murmurs surrounded me.
I turned my head to the side. Boots of different kinds. Dozens of them.
They formed a tight circle around me.
I looked up. My vision hazed. I blinked to clear it. When it did, I saw strangers.
Teenagers about my age. Ones I couldn't recognise. All staring down at me.
"What—" My throat burned. "Where am I?"
No one answered.
The last thing I remembered was the monster. The attack.
Oh God!
My heart raced as fear clamped around it. I tried to push myself up, but I could no longer feel my limbs. Moments ago, I had felt a faint flicker of sensation, but now it was gone.
The monster was going to kill me. It would come back for me. I needed to run.
"It's her!" someone shouted.
Her?
What was happening?
My head spun, and my breathing grew shallow and uneven.
Before I could ask anything else, strong hands lifted me off the ground. I tried to struggle, but every movement sent sharp pain through my body.
"To the infirmary!"
"No…" I whispered, but my protest was too weak to matter.
Darkness crept into the edges of my vision.
I tried to stay awake.
I couldn't.
"Stay with me, Elyse."
That was the last thing I heard before everything went black.
—
"It's too late!"
A gasp tore from my throat as I shot upright in bed.
Sweat streamed down my face and the back of my neck, soaking through my clothes. My hands fumbled along the wall for the light switch beside the bed, my eyes fixed on the door, expecting the monster to burst through at any second.
My fingers found the switch. I slammed it harder than I meant to.
Light flooded the room.
And my eyes collided with dozens of others.
Different colors. All gazing at me.
I shrieked before I could stop myself and bolted for the door, ignoring the searing pain in my side. But before I could reach it, a hand caught my waist.
Strong. Warm. Masculine.
Electricity jolted through me at the contact. Heat rushed through my body, making me tremble and gasp as my skin burned.
"What… who are you?" I wheezed, struggling against the arms holding me, but his grip only tightened.
I fought harder.
My thoughts spiraled back to what Mother had accused me of before the monster appeared.
Abortion.
Was this another trap Rachel had set for me? It certainly felt like it.
She would do anything to make me look like a monster. And people would believe her.
"Let me go!" I cried. "I swear I didn't get pregnant. I've never even done it with anyone. I'm a virgin!"
"A virgin?!" a deep voice said sharply.
The sheer disbelief in his tone made me freeze.
I swallowed, my heart still thundering like it might burst out of my chest. Slowly, I looked up at my captor.
My eyes collided with the most brilliant shade of green I had ever seen.
Green like the weeds in the depths of the ocean. Dark. Piercing. Narrowed on my face.
And that wasn't even the most striking thing about the man standing before me.
He looked too perfect to be real. As if someone had sculpted him on a quiet Sunday when there was no rush, when there was enough time to shape the most flawless human possible.
His jaw was clenched, veins standing out along the strong, angular line of it. High cheekbones sharp enough to make any woman jealous. A proud aquiline nose that looked untouched.
And his lips…Cupid's bow. Full and natural.
The kind of lips that would make Rachel cry and curse every bit of makeup she owned trying to imitate them.
I continued staring in awe, momentarily forgetting that I should be terrified.
After all, I had just been accused of having an abortion, a monster had mauled me, and it might still be somewhere nearby.
Yet here I was… gawking.
My fingers twitched, my mind wandering to the most perfect way to run them through those tousled auburn locks without looking completely deranged.
Believe me, I had never been crazy about boys before. I had my share of quiet crushes, but they always stayed inside my head. At school, Rachel had everyone wrapped around her finger. She was one of the most popular girls, and when she told people to avoid me like the plague, they listened.
"You alright?"
His voice was the deepest I had ever heard from someone who looked about my age. The words carried a strange accent that only made them sound richer.
He gazed down at me, concern swirling in his eyes when I didn't respond. The back of his palm pressed against my forehead.
Again… that jolt.
That strange sensation I had never felt before burned beneath my skin, racing through my veins.
"Someone call the doctor!" he barked, gripping my shoulder and steering me toward what I assumed was the bed. "I don't know what's going on with her. She seems conscious, yet unconscious."
Unconscious?
Oh, I was very much conscious. Just confused about why this boy was standing in front of me, acting so kind and concerned. And the feelings surging through me at his touch…
I fought back a shiver.
The sharp click of a shoe against the floor caught my attention. I turned and saw a man step forward.
He looked to be in his forties, tall, with silver at his temples. He wore plain, wide-framed glasses, and his shoulders were broad.
He leaned closer, studying me.
My eyes met his.
Black.
Before he even touched me, I felt it.
That energy.
The malice in those eyes.
The monster.
I flinched away from him and shot out of the bed.
But I didn't get far before someone yanked me back.
"Let me go!" I growled, shoving at the chest of the boy holding me.
"What the hell are you doing, Elyse?" he snapped. "You need medical attention. We need to know if your brain is still intact!"
Elyse.
That name again.
My stomach tightened. I looked at him, then back at the man.
He was frowning at me now, confusion written across his face as if he couldn't understand why I had reacted to him that way.
I must be going crazy. I had to be.
I squeezed my eyes shut, convinced that when I opened them again, I would be back in my room and not trapped in this confusing nightmare.
But when I opened them, I was still in the clinic.
Students still surrounded me, staring openly. They wore uniforms I had never seen before. The strange man stood behind me, and the boy remained beside me.
"Can you calm down and let him do his job?" the boy said again, his hand touching mine.
The contact grounded me, pulling me back into the moment.
"It's okay," the man said calmly. "I think she's just in shock. Nothing more."
Shock?
Barely.
My thoughts were still spinning when the door suddenly opened.
Before I could react, someone rushed toward me and pulled me into a tight embrace. Floral perfume filled my nose so strongly that I almost choked on it.
I was just about to shove the person away when her sob broke through the silence in the room.
"Elyse… you're alive!"