Michael watched me unfold and strew my misery as the tears rippled through my body.
"Please don't cry..." he begged, his voice straining.
I didn't want to hear his voice anymore, the voice that used to comfort me haunted me now. It was like listening to an old busted record of someone you used to love before they died and withered away over and over again. His image now collided with the old image of the Michael I used to love and care for.
Every time I looked at him now, I saw a feral beast. A monster with a demented, sick mind.
The boa constrictor raged back to life as it tightened its grip on my chest.
I wept for the death of my old best friend, "You're not my best friend! You're not the boy I grew up with. You're not the Michael I loved and felt safe with. You're a stranger. A completely sick, hollow shell of my Michael... And I don't want anything to do with you... I want my old Michael back! You killed my Michael! Bring him back! I wish... I wish you'd just die and leave me the hell alone!" I cried as I broke down in tears incoherently murmuring between sobs.
Michael shook his head in denial to his reality, before letting it all out. Tears gathered in his eyes as he muttered a bunch of apologies to me. But I tuned everything out. It was all too much. I didn't know what to do with him anymore. I didn't know whether I could leave him here to rot and be done with it all... I didn't know how to help or how to fix things. I felt like giving up. I just wanted it to go away. The pain of losing a best friend seemed to be more agonizing than I thought it would be.
"I'm sorry," he said over and over again, hysterically. "I'm going to fix this," he whispered, more to himself. "I'm going to make you happy again," he continued, "Because all I've been doing was making you sad." He muttered as he tried to crawl closer on his knees. He moved as far as his bounds and shackles allowed him to move. "Please, Ariel... give me another chance to redeem myself. I'll do whatever you want. I know how to fix this I promise!" He begged and pleaded.
He's insane...
He needed help.
No normal werewolf would kill his own mate.
The cure for him to get better was to stay as far as he could from me.
I was making him sick.
It was my fault. I needed to help him. Maybe there was therapy? May be Selene could help me? If I could just detain him until she's free, she could help me fix him.
"H-how will you fix this?" I asked, my dewy silver eyes glistening in the darkness as I wrapped my arms around my figure as an attempt to try and make myself small, maybe that way I could disappear. Or the ground would swallow me whole.
Michael eyed a bow and silver arrow that hung next to the door.
"Can I ask for one last request?" He asked.
I gathered myself and raised an eyebrow at him, silently questioning his intentions before hesitantly nodding.
"Come close, I want a hug. One last friendly hug before I disappear from your life." He whispered lowly.
I reluctantly approached him, wrapping my slender arms around him.
He hugged me back with all his might, breathing me in. "Please forgive me." He whispered in my ear, sending an eerie chill down my spine.
A dark pit formed in my stomach with his arms around me. It felt filthy. I felt disgusting. Slowly, I pulled away backing up when I felt uncomfortable, "Goodbye Michael." I said, deciding to give up and just leave. Aries needed me now, I would solve this problem later. After all, Michael was my mess to deal with.
Turning my back on him I walked towards the door.
That's when he suddenly pulled downwards with all his strength, breaking off the metallic rod that was planted in the ceiling.
I screamed as it fell and clattered on the ground. With his shackle restraints still untouched, he rushed to grab the arrow dragging the metallic bar along with him.
I backed away from him, taking a defensive stance.
Michael frowned at me. His blue dewy eyes threatening to spill tears.
He shook his head before giving me a weak smile.
Michael looked at the arrow in hand solemnly as he let his tears fall.
"I'm so sorry... Forgive me, Ariel." He said softly.
I watched him warily, fear spiking my entire being, "W-what are you doing Michael? Calm down... p-put that down. Everything is going to be okay." I spoke softly, offering him my shaky hand to hold.
The sound of hasty footsteps coming downstairs from outside were heard.
Aries was coming.
Michael gave the door a brief glance before landing his bright blue eyes on me.
"I love you, Ariel. Goodbye old friend..." he whispered softly, a ghost of a smile playing on his lips, before directing the arrow towards himself and striking it deeply into his chest, through his heart.
Everything from this point moved in slow motion.
Michael's bright blue eyes widened with fear, pain, and sorrow.
While he smiled at me reassuringly at first. I couldn't help but notice as the muscles of his face began to slacken and the light in his once bright blue eyes dimming.
I watched in stunned silence as the light of the flame that once burned in his eyes blew out.
I watched as Aries and Landon crashed through the silver door that burned their flesh in a sizzling kindle, lightly brushing their bodies with a flame wherever it touched.
I watched as they took in the image before them. Aries yelling at Landon to call Dr. Darren, still uncomprehending the death of Michael, and Landon scrambling to comply.
My eyes never left Michael's as he fell to his knees before me. And while his smile faltered, he fell to the ground and blood splattered from where the arrow pierced his chest.
It was as if his heart burst into flames from the silver's impact, burning into ashes.
I could see the red liquid splurge into the air some of it landing on my face and clothes.
The scent of blood dimming the oxygen in the air, densely suffocating me that I could almost taste it.
And it's hard to explain, but I felt it.
The piercing of his heart.
It was as though that arrow went through me.
I watched everything happen in slow motion as if time stopped. It was as if my soul had left my body, watching everything unfold from afar. My actual body, I could see, was a sobbing mess. Fallen to the floor. Grasping at Michael's body. Failing to breathe. Screaming and wailing to express my grief. But in reality, my mind was quiet. Watching in silence.
The uncontrollable shaking of my body brought me back to reality. And I couldn't handle the overbearing pain.
Everything went black.
Chapter 47- Battle of the Witches pt.1
Ariel
The darkness felt like years, but it was actually a few hours before I woke to my bitter reality once more. My waking felt more like a heavyweight that lifted off my chest. With a loud intake of breath, I peeled my eyes open and took in my surroundings.
I was in the pack's infirmary.
I had passed out after I saw my old best friend take his own life. Or maybe I was the one who did that... Maybe I was the reason that he killed himself... They say people who kill themselves might have suffered from depression or another mental illness prior. So maybe I was the reason for his illness.
"Don't think like that." A strained voice sounded.
It was Aries.
He took his lower lip in between his teeth nervously before rising from the chair placed in front of the hospital bed.
I watched him silently knowing well that he was in my head. That he could hear everything without having to speak.
The weight of the guilt I had inside towards him, towards Michael, and towards everyone, was too much to bear.
I wish I could be stronger. I wasn't a strong person. Not a strong friend for people to lean on. Nor was I a good Luna/Alpha. Nor was I a good mate.
I felt like I was a burden on everyone's shoulder. Even my best friend couldn't handle me and took his own life.
They say the
dead don't feel their own death. But it was rather the living who felt the pain and guilt of losing them.
It was true.
Here I was, turning Michael's death into something about me when it wasn't. I should be thinking about how much I'm going to miss him. How sorry I am for how it ended for him. How horrible I feel for not being able to communicate to him his importance to me regardless of how much I hated who he became.
Sighing, I sat up, feeling the need to silence the storm in my head.
Aries was by my side in a second's flash.
He engulfed me in his arms. Hugging me tightly. His warmth seeping into me like hot sunlight on amber.
Digging my fingers softly into his back I held him back with all I had. Tightening my grip around him, I shook, unraveling.
I sobbed.
Aries hugged me tightly, and he shook.
Startled I pulled myself out of my misery as I cupped his face softly in my hands. "What's the matter?" I croaked.
Aries looked into my eyes, his warm blue ones looking tormented. I took notice of the creases on his forehead, the dark halos around his eyes, and his pale-looking lips. He looked drained.
"The war has started... we're losing.." he whispered his voice sounding gruff.
"What..." I whispered shakily, my tone still carrying shock.
Suddenly the walls around me tumbled down, the sky above rolling harshly into the ground as darkness loomed over us.
I screamed and Aries hugged me tightly, caging me under his body as if trying to protect me from the world outside.
"I'm sorry Ariel, I have failed..." he whispered in my ears.
The sound of more hinges rattling, as doors and walls exploded was all I heard while the whole building began to demolish.
Aries growled and roared as bricks pelted his body.
I wanted to cover and protect him too.
He impulsively thwacked a big chunk of concrete with his arm to push it off of him. He reached for a pair of boots and urged me to put them on quickly then hooked his arms underneath my legs and arms carrying me off the bed as he rushed out of the collapsing building.
He growled orders on our way out but was too fast for my tired eyes and ears to register what and who he was ordering.
The dark sky rumbled as torrential rain bombed over us unexpectedly.
"They're here..." Aries growled under his breath.
The air was thick and foggy.
Clouds of fog closed in on us from every side in their glum grey state. People were screaming and running away from the disastrous natural attacks the witches have been shelling over us.
Aries looked around him with eyes turning into glowing amber. Anger and desperation morphed onto his face.
He slowly put me down next to him, making sure I was steady, while still gripping tightly onto my hand.
"Can you run?" He asked.
I nodded.
"What happened?" I asked.
He tightened his lips into a thin line. I immediately understood that this was not the time for us to be discussing anything.
Stepping forward he narrowed his eyes looking into the fog momentarily, before rushing into a full sprint pulling me along with him.
We ran.
Where?
I didn't know.
I couldn't see. But I followed him blindly.
The ground beneath began to feel moist as the rain pounded down on us hard.
Dirt and soot began to climb higher up our boots that almost sank in the quicksand-like muggy ground. We tried our best to get out of its clutches as we rushed into the unknown.
The air started to clear up as we entered a somehow dry area, whilst the whole place around still had fog and rain all over.
It was a clearing. One which Hermes created midst all the chaos.
And there he was standing on the edge waiting for us. Along with everyone else.
It seemed to be a safe place he created, for whoever was able to come from the pack.
The rest of the werewolves were still out there. Struggling and fighting for their lives.
"You got her." My father's relieved voice resonated from between a crowd of people as he weaved his way out towards us.
"Of course I did." Aries snapped, seeming agitated and on the verge of an outburst.
"Good. We couldn't continue without her." A smooth deep voice rang.
I immediately knew who it belonged to, "Hades." I said acknowledging his presence as I cracked a weak smile.
His gaze seemed to soften for only a sliver of a second before hardening again. "Took you long enough to regain consciousness."
I couldn't tell if he was serious or if he was being sarcastic so I just settled for a neutrally toned reply, "How long was I out?"
"Almost 24 hours," Aries stated.
I inhaled sharply.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, as I looked at my mate apprehensively, feeling the guilt pool in my stomach.
I had let him down. I had let everyone down. I wasn't there by his side when he needed me because I was weak.
Aries' eyes watched me silently.
"Don't be." He said curtly before comfortably placing a hand on the small of my back, nudging me forward toward my pack.
He was encouraging me to give them a diplomatic speech of comfort.
"Hi." I started as they looked at me silently.
I cleared my throat.
Only about half of the pack had made it to this safe spot, some were too far away, and some were fighting instead. We were two packs merged into one. Too many people, near and far.
"Alright everyone, I know I have been out of service grieving over my old friend's death when all hell broke loose. But I'm here now. And I'll always be here for you all. We are here to protect and guide you, so don't be afraid."
"How do you expect us to trust you when our children's lives are on the line?" A tanned woman with jet black straight hair said with doubting and fearful blue eyes.
I opened my mouth to speak, and closed it again.
"I don't." I finally spoke, causing her to huff flabbergasted. "I don't expect you to trust me." I repeated clearly, "Because trust is earned and I still didn't do anything to gain your trust. I am rather asking you to trust Alpha Aries. Someone who has proven more than once to be worthy of your trust. And I am asking you to fight by my side. By our side. Not as your leaders, but as your pack brother and sister. Fight for your pack and fight for your lives." I said.
Aries (Gods & Monsters Series Book 1) Page 42