Dawn of the Sun Wolf

Chapter Twenty-Eight

I tossed and turned in bed, Nixon's words really stuck in my mind: "Prepare ourselves". It played in my mind over and over again. No matter what I tried, I couldn't shake it out of my head, couldn't get the worry away. I pulled out my phone and scrolled through the contacts until I found Logan's name.

"You up?" I sent. I nervously flipped my phone in my hand before I got a surprisingly fast reply.

"Always for you," Logan sent back. What's wrong?" Logan then asked before I could reply.

"Trouble sleeping," I sent back.

"What's on your mind?" Logan then asked seemingly knowing when to ask the right questions.

"Nixon talked to Austin and apparently told Austin we need to prepare ourselves," I sent him.

"I know," Logan replied. "Austin texted me about an hour ago,"

"Do you always know what I am thinking?" I asked.

'You'd be surprised 😊," Logan sent.

"No, I wouldn't," I sent, doubting his ability to read me that well.

"So, you're thinking about what Nixon told you, and you're worried about what that means and what's going to happen in the next few days, as well as worrying about how your parents feel about and even though it's not good, you're still trying to impress them," Logan sent.

"I hate you," I sent blushing, luckily Logan wasn't here to see.

"No, you don't 😊," Logan replied. "You don't have to worry, I'll protect you, the pack will protect you, and we'll be okay." I was still nervous, but Logan's reassurances always helped calm me down a little.

"Yeah, I'm still worried, though," I replied.

"Don't be--just get some sleep, angel. I'll see you tomorrow," Logan sent.

I looked at the time--it was almost 1 am. I sighed, put my phone on the desk and laid down again to try and get some sleep.

I looked up and I was in a different room. I recognized it: I was in the paper mill again. I started to move around the main entrance area. I couldn't hear anything; even using my hearing, it was nearly silent. I continued to move around the mill, going to the area where we had the meeting. Every couple of turns I would stop and use my hearing; each time I heard nothing. Finally, I was approaching the room. I stopped once more and focused in on the area ahead of m,e trying to listen to even the softest sound. Finally, I heard something: it was a low breathing, quiet but there. Slowly I stepped out from around the corner and moved towards the room. I stepped slowly; each step I felt my nervousness rise. I could hear my heart thumping in my chest, the blood rushing through my body. I stepped through the door and into the room to see Jade calmly sitting in a chair in the middle of the empty room. I cautiously approached her before stopping about twenty feet away. She then stood up and moved a few feet towards me. I noticed she was in a long black silk dress. She continued walking at a slow, almost methodical pace before she was standing just a foot away from me. I was paralyzed by her presence; I couldn't move back even if I wanted to. The scars on my chest were burning now. Jade then leaned in close so her mouth was right next to my ear and whispered one word: "Soon."

I shot up in bed, breathing heavily. I was covered in sweat. I brushed the sleep out of my eyes and grabbed my phone--it was 5:30. I knew I wouldn't be going back to sleep anytime soon, so I rolled out of bed and into the shower. At least with waking up early, I was able to take an extra-long shower. Even still, by the time I got downstairs, it was only six; no one would be down for another fifteen minutes. After a quick breakfast, I found myself watching the morning news. It was really boring for the most part; some more stuff about the upcoming pierogi festival, which was still a couple weeks away. What did catch my attention, though, was another story about a missing drug addict. The report was over quickly, just saying he was last seen near the forest. I don't know why it caught my attention; there was just something about it. It was then followed by the sports report, and then the weather, which was calling for rain for the next few days. Eventually, Kathy and Mark came down, both questioning what I was doing up so early. I shrugged off their questions and they seemed to feel that was acceptable enough. The rest of the early morning my mind was awash with thoughts of the dream and Nixon's warning. Luckily enough for me, Austin was up fairly quickly and we were on our way to school.