What Lurks in His Eyes

Chapter 9: The Arms of the Alpha

Song: World on Fire by Les Friction

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I don't know exactly how many days or weeks I've been out here, tied to the pole. Everyday, people would gather around and mock me. Some would kick me, but seeing that I don't react, they would curse at me before walking away.

The weather has varied from harsh rainstorms to hail, and my body can't take much more of the wounds, pain, weather, mental and physical abuse. 

My ribs and hips stick out of my shriveling frame, and I can only imagine that my facial features are sunk in as well.

My breath has become shallow and labored, and I often black out at random times.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that I am dying.

I am dying, slowly but surely. 

Finally, I am dying.

I can feel Death as he creeps upon my soul and I can feel the darkness tug at my eyelids. I can hear my mind whisper "It's almost time to go" as my heart tells me "It's time to go home."

Even my senses are shutting down. My sense of smell is dulling and my hearing is fading. 

I can feel my heart slowly stopping, little by little. Soon my body will be nothing more than a pile of forgotten bones in the dirt.

Soon I will be nothing more than a memory being blown away in the wind.

My life has been nothing more than a single wave tossed in the vast ocean that crashes upon the shore and fades away. I'm nothing more than a vapor in the wind, here today and gone tomorrow. I am a flower quickly fading.

"I'm coming home mom." My weak voice whispers. "After all these years, I'm finally coming home."

I smile at the peaceful thought, and my mind blacks out till the later hours.

* * *

Evening dawns upon the Black Blood territory, but unlike the chatter and occasional laughter I hear in the distance, it is silent.

Everything is deathly still.

As I fall in and out of consciousness, a battle cry echos across the land. The cry rattles me to the bones and makes my heart rate speed up. Distant yelling and screaming pierces the air, followed by angry howls.

In my fuzzy state of mind, I don't know exactly what is happening.

"All children to safety!" A man frantically shouts.

I watch as tiny bare feet run past my eyes in a panicked state. Some children cry at the confusion taking place, while some grasp their stuffed animals as if their lives depended on it. Mother's escort their children with worry evident on their features. I too, can feel the chaos nipping at my bones and blowing through the air.

It isn't long before the smell of spoke taints the air and fills my lungs. The sound of growling and angry howls clash through the sky, and shouts of pain and anger tickle my ears.

I hear the sound of screaming women and children as the attackers cause chaos to fall upon the pack.

The little girl who offered me water earlier squats down at my eye level. Her bottom lip quivers as a tear rolls down her cheek. She's about to reach out to me when a woman, I'm assuming her mother, grasps her hand and yanks her up.

"Ellie, leave this rogue alone, we have to get out of here!" The woman scolds.

"B-but momma, we can't just leave her here!" Ellie sputters, tripping over her words. Her voice sounds so torn and upset.