Chapter 27
Blue.
The color blue was surrounding me, nothing but blue. Waves crashing against the earth, the splash sound invading my ears.
What am I doing here?
My lower half was submerged in water, wetting the pajamas I wore when I fell asleep.
That's it, I'm dreaming again.
The river flow was strong but not enough to take me with it. Or is it that I'm not affected by anything in this dream at all?
In a blink of an eye, I was transferred. My wet feet touching the solid ground. I looked around, I'm in the middle of the forest.
My heart picked a beat, not here again. But the atmosphere was different, it was peaceful, calm and bright.
From a huge tree, a woman stepped out, her hands behind her, her hair flowing with the wind. She was beautiful. Her bright blonde hair matches her light blue eyes, her skin was fair and white.
She smiled at me, using her left hand, she motioned me to come closer.
"Who are you?" I asked. She giggled and yet again motioned me to come to her.
Without a second thought, I pushed my legs to walk towards her. She was just smiling and swinging her body left and right like a kid.
I stood in front of her, a few distance away.
"Who are you?" I repeated the question.
She giggled and ran, not looking back. I followed her, running and dodging obstacles like a piece of cake, I felt free. She knew I would follow her, she didn't look back and continued leading me somewhere.
But she halted, turned around and motioned me to come over.
I obliged and looked in front of her, it was the river. My eyebrows furrowed, I looked at her and asked what we hare doing here. And for the first time in this dream, she spoke.
"Across the river." She giggled like a kid. I frowned.
"What's across the river?" I asked her, pointing my index finger to the water.
She shook her head and said again,
"Across the river." Giggling, she jumped into the water without a second thought.
I was shocked, mainly because why would anyone jump into a river? The wave is strong enough to wash people away.
I looked at the water, my face held confusion. Where is she now? Will she come out or is she dead?
I stood closer to the water, picking into it, hoping to see her face or even just her hair.
I gasped loudly when a head popped out, multiple heads. I stumbled back, looking at them.
Their eyes darted to me, and they fucking smiled. Showing their whitey teeth and...
Fangs?
And then everything became dark, cold. I shivered, the cold wind blowing away my hair from my face.
They went quiet, their eyes changed from soft to something so dark and terrifying, their eyes were glowing like a ball.
Not bearing the sound coming from them, I ran. I ran back to the forest, never looking back at them.
I woke up breathing heavily. What was that? Were they vampires? What are they doing under water?
I groaned and got up from my bed, fixing it then heading to the bathroom to take a shower.
Sen frowned and shook her head, indicating a no.
I nodded my head and slumped on the couch, my arms beside me.
My eyebrows shot up from the news. "Why is that?"
We might be the next victim. I understood them, safety before everything.
I got up and turned to Sen, "I need to pack my things. When do we leave?"
Everyone can come in here freely as long as they are a member of the pack, visitors are only allowed if they are invited by a leader or anyone in power.
This is the heart of the pack.
The door was oak and it pivots, the door is secured to a bracket which allows it to rotate. It was awesome, it's the first time that I have seen a pivot door.
The floor is wood tiled. The wall was colored in white, the design was simple yet so extraordinary.
The first thing I noticed in the rooms was none other than the kitchen.
I could never imagine having a kitchen like this. It was so clean and big.
After the kitchen, the Gamma toured us all around the pack house, turning to every corner there is. I began to feel exhausted, I can't wait to see the rooms.
The color white was all over the room, the walls, the ceiling, and even the stuff in here. However, the bedsheet was black, it had a fur like texture.
I walked to the walk-in closet and opened it, I walked inside with my bag and began unpacking my things one by one. I was almost done when a knock came from the door.
I got up from my sitting position and opened it, not bothering to ask who it was. Van and Sen stood there, and without a second entered the room.
I sighed and closed the door, heading back to what I was doing so I could rest up.
"My goodness Katelyn, what have you done to have such a room?" Sen chuckled, looking around the huge room.
I shrugged and smiled. "Honestly, I could sleep at a barn and wouldn't even mind."
Yeah, that chair right there would probably be my favorite spot. I closed the door and faced both of them when I heard Sen call my name.
Van sat in the empty chair in the corner and picked up a magazine, wherever that came from.
But I did outrun and outsmarted one particular person. I'm confident I can pull off another trick up my sleeve.
She shook her head and laughed along with me.
I just hope that something comes in mind when the game starts.
We were standing just like how we were with the last game. I was at the left side of the line, waiting for the countdown.
The ropes were now red and the ribbons tied to the trees are yellow, ones that I can visibly see of course.
The countdown started from 20 to 19 and so on, just like the Tag You're It game. My hands began to sweat, my heart beating faster every time the number goes down.
4...
3...
I just hope I can catch up to them.
2...
1...
Bang!
The loud gunshot signaled the start of the game, having every participant running through the forest, except me.
I stood there, waiting for my countdown to end in the big hologram. The crowds started to murmur, now that they knew who was captured by the Alpha.
I blinked a few times to hold the tears back, now is not the time for crying. I need to win this game for me, for Sen.
My countdown ended and I ran, I ran how fast my legs could go. I was heaving, my breath fanned my face, it was hot which means I'm tired already.
I saw the ribbons then halted. Wait a minute. The yellow ribbon was scattered everywhere. In every corner of the forest, it's all yellow.
How would I find a way out. I don't know how to win this, I hate going zigzags. My heart picked up a beat, rushing blood throughout my whole body.
I didn't know what to do, why is the yellow ribbons everywhere? Why? Why?
I tried recalling the last game. Yellow was the starting line and red was the finish. So why now was it flipped?
Why is red the starting and yellow is the finish?
They watched how every players ran to every direction, following the yellow ribbons wherever it leads.
The ribbons that were tied to the trees were yellow, not red. The host did not give enough information for a reason. It was all in the Tag You're It. The battle of memory and strategy, he said.
How good their memory was to recall the current events happening, and how they recall it. That's the battle of wits.
And it looks like, someone has the intelligence to notice what was wrong.
Both Van and Sen frowned, wondering why she stopped.
But they were both shocked to see her walking back, back to the line, also in a confused state.
Sen couldn't doubt Katie, she watched as Katie crossed the line. She was her friend, she needs all the support she can get.
She calmly crossed the line without caring for anything.
I walked backed to the starting line, my face held confusion. Yet I continued to walk, unsure of my choices.
I crossed the line and looked back, confused if what I did was correct, I think it was. I just didn't know if it really was.
The speakers boomed, the host spoke through it.
The crowd goes wild and started to cheer me. I was shocked to say the least. I didn't know it was right but it worked.
I won, a smile formed on my face and I chuckled. Who knew I'd win this game with a disadvantage? I shook my head and headed towards where Van and Sen resided.
I had a few come to me but I only smiled at them and reciprocated their actions.
Me, Abbigail, Delora, Mariel and one person I don't know crossed the line and won the game, Delora and Abbigail followed closely behind and won minutes later after I've been congratulated. Mariel and the other person arrived later on.
Battle of memory and strategy, how amusing. My hands were behind my head as I lay down on the bed, thinking about the game.
It was all about the last game, the ribbons played a lot in the game so I paid attention to it. Surely they wouldn't put the same thing over and over again without a reason.
If it was a real race, then the yellow ribbons shouldn't be scattered and should be moving only to one direction, the finish line.
But no, it was everywhere. Every tree that I could see had the yellow ribbon attached to it, so I doubted the game.
Turns out, I was right. I hate red but I paid close attention to it than any color because it catches my eyes, just like that.
When I recalled the host's words, he mentioned that the color red is always the finish line. I argued with myself whether to head back to the starting line or not but I chose the former.
I turned around and never looked back, my focus solely on the red rope hanging, held by two people from both ends.
And I won first. The satisfaction I felt crossing that line and got announced as the first winner is music to my ears.
Sen and Van engulfed me, hugging me and holding proud faces. Especially Sen, she was so stressed out from the last game, this game was my remedy, our remedy.
And I couldn't feel more happy knowing I put a smile on both their faces.
When we came back from the pack house, Sen stopped me from going up and said she'll cook anything I want. I laughed loudly and told her I was craving for some chicken curry.
So she cooked for me, her and Van. We all ate together in the kitchen and laughing without a care in the world.
It was the best day that happened to me when I entered their world. It's not so bad after all, I can feel myself slowly bonding with them, my heart warms knowing they'd take care of me in every step of the way.
They were my escorts, but they are also my friends.
The second I'd had in years.
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