Meet Amber, a teenage girl struggling with the death of her father, an overstressed mother- and lycanthropy. All she wants is for her life to go back to normal, but a magical corporation has lost a valuable test subject and they believe Amber will b...
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Chapter Twenty
I awoke to a sharp rapping on my door. I wasn't in the bed, and I had to blink a couple of times before I realized why that was. I was sitting with my back to the wall, looking at the bed where Kimberly was still asleep.
"Idiot!" I hissed, getting to my feet. "Can't do anything right!"
I had meant to stay awake all night to keep an eye on her. With the state she was in, I was worried that she might do something dangerous if I let her out of my sight. Obviously, I had failed, and I continued berating myself all the way to the door.
"Who is it?" I asked softly, trying not to wake Kimberly up.
Instead of answering, whoever was on the other side unlocked the door and opened it. I had to step backwards to keep from being hit, and was completely unsurprised when Victor stepped inside.
"Wake the girl," he said briskly. "You're leaving."
Just as before, I wanted to ask him what was going on, but was too afraid to speak without permission. Instead, I went straight to the bed and shook Kimberly awake.
"Go away!" she said, clamping her eyes shut.
"Wake up," I ordered her as gently as I could. "We're leaving."
This got her attention, and she immediately sat up. "Where are we going? Am I going home?"
"I doubt you will be seeing your family again anytime soon, young lady," Victor said, and I could almost smell the sadistic satisfaction he got from bashing the little girl's hopes yet again. "I am taking you both to your new pack."
"I don't want to go," she said without hesitation, and buried herself under her covers.
"It's the only way we'll be able to get out of here," I told her, yanking the sheets off of her. She glared icily up at me, and I had to fight to keep from looking away. Geez, even this little girl was enough to intimidate me.
"It'll be okay," I said, trying to sound upbeat. "Let's pretend it's an adventure, all right?"
"It's not an adventure," she grumped as she finally got out of bed. "I don't want to go anywhere with you."
"Children these days," Victor mused, watching us with obvious amusement. "They're not grateful for anything you do for them."
I shot him a sharp look. Did he have to antagonize her like that, after everything she'd already been through?
"Don't look at me that way," he commanded, and my head immediately snapped downwards to look at the floor. "Both of you gather your belongings and come with me."
He knew full well that we didn't have anything to take with us except the clothes on our backs, so he turned and marched smartly towards the door. I looked down at Kimberly, who still looked mad enough to punch a hole in the wall, and offered her my hand.
