Night of the Alphas

Chapter 30

My head throbbed as I opened my eyes. I groaned and closed them again. What happened?

"Oh, thank God," Summer said, rushing over to me. "I was starting to worry about you." She placed a cold washcloth on my forehead. "How are you feeling?"

"Not good." I held my churning stomach. "What happened?"

"They took you away," Alex's voice rang across the room. "You were gone for hours. When they finally took you back here, you were running a fever. Oh, and you had something on your arm." I heard the sound of footsteps coming towards me. Then I felt Alex's cool hands pick up my arm. "Open your eyes," He said softly.

As my double-vision focused, I started to notice something on my wrist. "Do you see it?" Alex asked.

"The puncture mark?"

He nodded. "We've been trying to figure out what it is."

"But- What happened? Why do I have it?" I paused. "And why'd they take me away in the first place? And who's 'They'?"

"You mean you don't remember what happened?" Jay's thin voice cut through the room like a blade.

"No, I don't."

"Alrighty, let me tell you a little story," Joshua sat down next to me. "Once upon a time, there was a boy named Zane. Now, he was pretty smart most of the time. But one day, he decided to be stupid and challenge an AFM trainer. They beat the crap out of each other while Zane's friends were trying to get him to snap out of his stupidity. However, he was letting his teenage-wolf-boy hormones get the best of him and wouldn't stop. Then, this big scary guy came with his little lackey squad and knocked Zane out cold. Finally, those little lackeys took him to their office and did God-knows-what with Zane." He pretended to close an imaginary book. "And now little Zane is sick and suffering for his bad decisions. The end."

"Oh, shut up. This is serious," Zaria interjected. "We need to figure out what actually happened to him."

I sat up, but immediately laid back down. I couldn't move without feeling like I was going to puke. "Maybe they put something in me."

"What, like a shot or something?" Abel asked. His usual uninterested and slightly monotone voice had taken on a nervous edge.

"Most likely," Summer examined the puncture. "Directly into your bloodstream, too."

My fingers twitched. "What does that mean for me?" I asked. "Will it hurt me?"

"Whatever it is, it's already hurting you," She said. "You should probably rest."

"Okay." I closed my eyes, trying to get to sleep. But the longer I laid down, the more memories of the fight started to come back. Every once in a while, I would think of those two little girls... What were their numbers again? I couldn't remember. Nothing seemed real. It all felt like some strange dream. After a long time, I was able to get to sleep. However, I didn't stay asleep. Every time I started to drift off, I would feel a sudden wave of nausea. The only way I could make the sick feeling go away was if I got up and walked around the room for a minute or so.

I was still exhausted and sick when sunlight started streaming through our small window. We followed the same routine as yesterday, and soon the same woman was at our door, telling us to go outside for training.

"Ma'am," Abel pointed at me. "He's sick. Maybe..."

"He should get the day off?" She said dully.