Sara’s POV
I nibble on my nail as I pace the room. I’m dying to get out of here. Dying to know how Kai is doing, where Christian is. But I can’t.
We have all been confined to our dorm buildings all day. No classes, no cafeteria, nothing. It’s been ten hours but feels like ten weeks. And the worst part is that no one knows when they will let us out of here.
I wanted to stay with Kai in the infirmary, but they didn’t allow me. I haven’t seen Christian since he was confined to a private ward in the wee hours of the morning.
God, Christian.
Watching him fall apart shredded my already aching heart into pieces. And the worst part was that I couldn’t do anything for him.
He showed up at the infirmary with that girl who had visited him yesterday. But she was already dead. He tried to revive her for a good ten minutes.
The roar of pain he let out when he realised she was gone for good rattled the room and pierced into me like a jagged knife. I’ve never heard or felt such raw pain. Even now, it’s like I can taste it in my mouth when I recall that agonising sound.
He didn’t let anyone get close to her for close to an hour. And then, finally, the healer was able to sneak up on him and sedate him. When I left this morning, he was still passed out cold in the private ward.
I head to the door and open it. Peering into the hallway, I catch sight of several students milling around, some conversing outside their rooms. Everyone is restless and anxious.
I leave my room and head towards the stairs. Since we are not allowed to go to the cafeteria, a food station has been set up in the common room on the ground floor. If there’s any news on any kind of progress, I have a better chance of hearing it there.
My hopes to hear anything good are dashed the moment I step onto the ground floor. A group of five students are near the exit, demanding to know when we can leave the dorm.
The guard says there hasn’t been any new instructions and asks them to step away or they’ll be taken into custody. Staying stuck in the dorm is way better than being taken into custody. They back off.
I’m about to head back upstairs when the doors open and Levi walks in. The relief that washes over me is monumental, and I don’t realise I’m rushing towards him until a guard barks an order for me to stop running.
I grind to a halt. What am I doing? We are not exactly friends
Levi jogs over to me. His eyes scan my face, and then my body. “You are okay,” he says.
I nod. Seeing the worry on his face, I no longer feel foolish for running towards him.
“Christian? Kai?”
I shake my head, and his face goes two shades pale. It’s obvious what he thinks I mean.
“No, no,” I follow up quickly. “They are okay. Just injured.”
He exhales heavily. “Okay. Okay.” He looks around. “You’ve been confined to the dorm.”
“No one is allowed to leave,” I tell him.
He reaches for my hand and is leading me towards the stairs before I can keep up with his actions.
I hold onto his hand firmly, deriving comfort from his touch. I allow myself to feel the relief I felt when I saw him walk through the door. I feel calmer now that he is here.
“How are they?” he asks me when we get inside our dorm.
“Kai had a bad neck injury, and a nasty bite, but he’ll be okay.” He had several other injuries all over his body, but those were the most threatening ones. “Christian is…he wasn’t injured. He…there was a girl who came to see him yesterday. She was killed.”
I watch as Levi goes paler for a second time. “Cat?”
I nod. I found out her name because Christian screamed it raw. “You know her?”
He nods and then kicks at the coffee table. “Fuck.” He runs his hand through his hair and grips the strands hard. “How…how did she…was she at the party?”
“Not when I left.”
He releases his hair as his head snaps to me. “You were there?”
“I went with Kai. But we left before the attack.” Only because I passed out. “He went back, that’s how he got caught up in it.”
“How could he take you there? Those parties have always been a disaster waiting to happen. Getting drunk in a rogue-infested jungle, how stupid is that?”
He is right. It’s stupid.
But everybody was so sure the rogues would not dare attack. They never have. Until last night.
He paces for a bit and then looks back at me. “Are you sure it was Cat?”
“I heard him call her name.”
He halts and stares at the floor. “He must be devastated.”
“He is. They had to sedate him and lock him up in a private ward.”
I want to ask about her. Levi knows her and realises the kind of impact her death would have on Christian. Who was she to him, exactly? Because I don’t think what Kai told me about their relationship even begins to cover it.
Was he in love with her?
“When was that?”
“Around five in the morning.”
“And he isn’t back yet?”
I shake my head.
“What do you think they will do?” I ask him. He might know something.
“There’s going to be an uproar, for sure. Packs might demand the school to get closed.”
I frown. “What? Can they do that?”
He nods. “Of course. They’ll not want to keep their kids here after such an attack.”
“Where will we go, then?”
“Detention centres, probably.”
My heart skips a beat. “You mean prison?”
“Probably, for those who were sentenced here by a court. Parents who sent their kids here as disciplinary action will just take them back.”
I’m going to prison. I’m going to a werewolf prison. I suddenly feel dizzy. North Academy is not a nice place to be, but it’s a much better place compared to a werewolf prison. Delinquent kids get sent to North Academy. Hardcore criminals get sent to prison.
If the school is really getting closed, then I need to change my plan. My escape plan, that is. Not that I have one. I haven’t had time to think about what to do since Melanie told me about Victor’s intentions last night.
Now, I realise it should be my priority. If I thought I had little chance of escaping North Academy, I can be sure I’ll have none of escaping prison. None at all.
I’ll have to spend the next two years behind bars. If I can make it that far. Victor could just as easily arrange to have me attacked in prison as he would here. And there’ll be no one to come to my rescue.
“Hey.” There’s pressure on my arm. Levi’s hand. He is guiding me to sit down. “Are you okay?” I sink into a couch. “Sara? Look at me.”
I do. There is genuine worry in his eyes. None of that aggressiveness that has been such a part of him for the past few days.
“I need to get out of here,” I tell him.
He holds my gaze, steady. As if he understands what I mean without me having to explain.
“Okay.”