The Fade

Chapter 7 - A

The sound of chirping birds and the flutter of wings wakes me up, like I'm being dragged into a dream.

Opening my eyes, I blink a few times until they focus, frowning as I take in my surroundings. Green and brown being the main colours, which definitely isn't my bedroom.

How drunk did I get last night?

Pushing myself up from the forest floor, I come to the realisation that I'm completely naked. Shit! What the hell did I get myself into last night?

Having no idea where I am, I walk straight ahead, rummaging through the bushes for any items of clothing. Wolves tend to hide clothes in the woods and forest in case they need to shift. Finding a shirt half covered in mud and stinking, I quickly pull it over my head and wrap my arms around myself. As I walk, I realise how hungry I am, like I haven't eaten in days.

What happened last night? Think, Veronica. Mom helped you get ready....and dad was dancing. Is that it? Come on, think!

Everything from last night becomes blurry, the last clear memory I have is talking to dad, and the music got too loud so I went outside. Alexander came to talk to me, but what about? Why am in the woods? And why I am naked?

Figuring I'll figure it out once I'm home, I quicken my steps, not even questioning why I have tons of energy. Hours pass before I finally manage to escape the woods, somehow landing myself behind the damn school.

"It's better than the city." I tell myself.

Knowing my way home, I happily begin to walk through the streets of Riverdale in only a dirt covered shirt that barely covers everything. I'm not tiny, I'm actually 5'9 with a little more weight around my thighs and hips than what most girls like, personally I don't care for a little extra weight. I am who I am.

Reaching home almost an hour later, I enter the house to find it completely spotless clean. Obviously mom hears the door opening and immediately comes running through the house.

"DO HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS!?" She angrily screams at me.

I freeze for a moment. "Uh...no?"

"ITS FOUR IN THE AFTERNOON! Where the hell have you been!?" Her face turns red with rage, eyes darkening to a deadly black.

"Can you stop shouting please?" I wince, rubbing my temples as I head upstairs quickly.

Her anger is the least of my worries right now. It's not like she has any right to control my life when she's basically a stranger. She could have kidnapped me as a baby for all I know.

"I warned you about that family, Elizabeth!" A man shouts, scared, angry.

"How was I supposed to know they would betray us, Kaine? Stop shouting, your waking her up." A woman's gentle voice filters through my memory.

What the hell?

"You're going crazy, it's finally happening." I mutter to myself, heading for the bathroom.

Great, I'll just add voices to the list of problems. Taking a long, much needed shower, I wrap a towel around myself and settle down on my bed, drifting off to sleep for a while.

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Bolting up in bed, my hand instinctively curls around my mating mark, set between my neck and my shoulder, shining proudly.

Severus.

Jumping off the bed, I throw the towel aside as I rush to get dressed, my gut telling me something is wrong. I heard him, in my dreams he was in pain, it's no coincidence that my mark started to burn right after I woke.