21Suddenly, a young male voice echoes after us.
"MUM!"
I have to do something. I rush over to where she lay and place a hand on her neck gently. She stirs from underneath me.
"No, Whit, you musn't. You try and heal me, you risk dying. The Underworld needs you - otherwise the prophecy will never come true, and the Underworld will be doomed," she just about manages to murmur. Her voice is weak. I shake my head stubbornly. Sapphire comes up to me, placing a hand on my shoulder in comfort. She gapes at Bianca in horror. "Bianca..."
"But I have to try," I press determinedly. "Even if it does kill me; Bianca, your people need you! You can't just give up?! I have to save you! Bianca, you've been like a mum to me these past couple of months and I need you, too. Damn, what about your two sons back at home?"
She shakes her head in defiance.
"That voice...just now," she gasps. My trembling hand caresses over her beautiful thick white fur.
"Do what you must," she finally finishes. "I have lived long enough, Whitney. Even if you heal me, you will not be able to rid me of the venom that now is in my blood circulation. I will die, eventually, slowly - in pain. I do not want that. I would rather die fighting to protect what I think is important than let something like werewolf venom eventually kill me. One of my sons may not be ready yet to take my place, but he will have help to rule the country that will not be his, even though he doesn't know it yet. But Whit, you are the key to the prophecy. If you don't make it, then who will?"
A fresh tear splashes onto her neck. She must've felt it, because she tries craning her neck up at me, yelping in pain.
"There there, don't cry, Whit," she reassures me. "Believe in yourself, trust Luminite, and you will get stronger. Not just physically, but mentally, too. Promise me you will. It was Adolphus all along...Adolphus who killed your mother..." Those last few words...hearing my worst suspicions being confirmed almost reassures me that I was right in the first place, but also scares me, to. Bianca had just faced off against my mum's murderer. If he had killed my mum - and now Bianca, who's extremely powerful - then I've got no hope in hell. And she expects me to defeat him? Not flipping likely.
The other thing, is, who were the other two people who accompanied Adolphus on the night of my mother's murder, then? The people that helped, the other two wolves? Something tells me that I have to find out, otherwise even if I miraculously somehow defeat Adolphus, there'll still be danger. That means another two enemies to kill. Crap.
Bianca's eyes slowly begin to shut. I cradle her humongous head in my hands. I can't bring her back to life; it wouldn't be fair. She would eventually be in pain, slowly suffering, and that is a crueler fate than this. I hear several footsteps pounding behind me. Sapphire and I both turn around. It must be one of her sons, and our friends! Diego, Lily, Tanya...everyone from our group!
"You all right, Whit?" Lily asks me, hugging me close, being careful not to hurt me.
"What's happened?" Diego instantly demands. Tears stream down my face.
"Adolphus...he was here, he was here," I say, beginning to sob. As Lily cradles me, Tanya and Franky both cradle Sapphire - who's crying, also. I feel another hand on my shoulder. I look up to find Howl there, holding me tight. Wolfgang stands behind us, gazing sadly at me.
"That can't be..." Franky murmurs in complete and utter disbelief. Then he clenches his fists. "That's impossible!" There's a certain element of anger in his voice, then.
"Nothing's impossible, not here," Shadow mutters underneath his breath. Kyle and Howl both look stunned.
"We felt it," Howl says, sounding sad and serious for once instead of joking. "Us wolves did. We knew when she fell. Sleep tight, Your majesty." Even Kyle looks solemn.
"Mum, no," I guess who is the young boy who's one of Bianca's sons, says tearfully. A tear trickles down his angelic face as he caresses her thick fur. He's short, but it's hard to tell what he looks like because he's wearing a long black coat.
"I was hoping to help mum out," he next mentions tearfully. "But even their level is far beyond my ability."
All of a sudden he screams in agony as he shifts into a beautiful but much smaller, white replica of Bianca, possessing the same sharp yellow eyes. However, the only one of her tribal tattoos of hers he possesses are dark tendrils that look like whips, which frame his face beautifully. He begins to howl - very loudly. It isn't long until we hear howls coming from elsewhere. Every canine shapeshifter in the Underworld howls or cries out in sorrow one after the other for the fall of the great Bianca. The howls ricochet all over the Underworld, shrouding the Forest of Nightmares deafeningly. The forest afterwards falls silent, dead. A rain of red rose petals flutter down within the dark mist and land lightly all round her, so that in the end she is surrounded in a bed of red rose petals. I delicately pick up one of the petals, feeling weak, and deeply inhale the sweet, savouring scent of the doomed rose flower. Too weak, I fall back down, Sapphire catching me just before I hit my head.
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.¸
I feel...free. My eyes merge into the darkness that surrounds me. I feel light...and feathery, as I float lightly in the silhouetted darkness. It's like a dark whirlpool underneath me, and the realm of darkness seems to be everlasting in this never-ending tunnel. I'm wearing my sucky school uniform too...how tragic.
Where am I? What's happening?
Fortunately, a bright light begins tearing through the darkness, creating an opening for me to escape. I swim lightly towards it, and I begin to hear a familiar but beautiful voice.
"Whit...babes, come to me," the voice calls out to me. It's mum! I continue my way towards the light.
"Mum!" I cry out in sheer joy and happiness, beginning to swim faster towards the light. Finally! We can be together again!
"No! Whitney, you must come back! You aren't finished here yet!" a familiar voice cries out desperately towards me. It's Tanya's.
"Please, please, please, don't leave us," another voice sobs. Lily.
"You'll be safe here, Whitney, my sweetheart. You don't have to endure any more pain. You'll be free in the Goddess' gardens, where you'll live eternal life," mum murmurs, trying to persuade me to come towards the light. I stop swimming towards it, scared. I'm completely torn. Do I go back to my friends, or am I selfish enough to leave them behind forever for my mum? Voices continue chastising me and calling out to me, begging for me to come to them. I don't fancy hanging out down there in the darkness, though. I don't want to be alone.
But I won't be alone; I have my friends.
But where are they? Where is that beautiful voice? I can hear them, yet I can't see them. I don't understand.
"We'll be together again, darling, don't you want that?" there's an awkward silence until after a moment.
"No, wait, you must go back!" another unfamiliar, but beautiful bell-like voice cried out, panic rising in her voice.. I gasp in anguish, scared.
"You don't belong here! Your duties are not finished back in your world yet!" the voice cries out, going against my mum.
"But what about my mum?" I cry back in protest.
"You will see her again, I promise you. But your friends are finally getting you back. Your duties have yet to be fulfilled." And before I can say anything, I was all of a sudden very quickly being sucked back into the darkness.
"No, mum!" I cry out. "Don't leave me!"
The realm of darkness is sucking me away from the light - my chance to escape this nightmare! I have no choice; I have to go back. But soon my sobs turn into an increasingly-louder heartbeat, and I can hear frantic voices shuddering me awake.
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.¸
"Whitney; Whit, you're not dead, are you?" Tanya frantically panics, all of a sudden gripping my shoulders death-like and shaking me vigorously. "I'm sorry, Whit, you were a great friend. Please, please, wake up!" I slowly begin to adjust to the bright lights flashing around me, then roll my eyes irritably once I'm properly awake. I'm back where I started at square one - in the hospital bed in the infirmary at school. How typical of Tanya to be paranoid. Also, I really wish she would stop shaking me around like a little ragdoll, too, especially after that dream.
Wow, that was so weird. What happened back there...I don't get it. I wish I could tell the others as I'm a little shaken up by it, but Tanya isn't giving me a chance. It also doesn't help the fact that she is literally throttling me to death.
"Careful, Tanya, she's only just woken up!" Lily exclaims hysterically, deeply concerned for my well-being.
"I'm not dead, you moron," I grumble. Tanya's face instantly brightens up with joy, though she is blushing a little in embarrassment as I can sense everyone's what are you doing? stares on her.
"Yay! You're alright, I'm so glad!" with a welcoming grin, she flings her arms around me. "We've been so worried about you."
"Yeah, after we found you, we brought you back here. You were quickly badly bruised and hurt and you fell unconscious," Ria explains. Those horrific memories of that deathly night come flooding back to me instantly.
"Bianca!" I suddenly cry out. "Where is she? Wh-what happened?" Lily hushes me reassuringly.
"I'm so sorry, Whit," she murmurs. "But, um, Bianca...she didn't make it." Now it all comes searing through my mind...how Adolphus snapped cleanly through her jugular, how the werewolf venom from the night she had saved me from, was eventually going to kill her anyway.
"B-but, I..." I am too dumbstruck for words. She's...gone. There's no other way to put it. Why. Why?!
What about the battle as well?
"What about the battle that was going on?" I ask them.
"Once Adolphus fled, so did the werewolves," Diego states. "Luckily, there weren't any deaths."
My face finally shrivels up and tears spill out all over the covers. I hug the covers close to me, using them to shield my face.
Howl wraps an arm around my shoulders reassuringly whilst I sob, eventually turning to him to sob.
"I'm sorry," I murmur through sobs. "I'm getting snot all over you." Howl glances down at his chest, grimaces but doesn't make too much fuss. "Don't matter, does it? You're upset."
"Why is this happening to me?" I blurt out all of a sudden. "Why is everyone dying on me all of a sudden? Maybe I really am cursed, not destined for a happily ever after-" I'm immediately cut off by Lily.
"No, no, of course you're not, it's just unlucky, I guess," she says, gently stroking my back.
Howl holds me quietly for a few moments. I feel safe and secure within his comforting arms. He's exactly what I need right now, someone to make me feel safe and loved.
I have lost everything. All hopes of having a mother figure were gone. After losing my own mother so tragically has already torn my heart apart. Poor little Libby is heartbroken to hear about Bianca, too. I had to tell her. She would've found out, anyway; she isn't stupid. I feel so sorry for her, with having to cope with so much at a young age.
I don't want to be here if it means they can't share this world with me, too. I want to be with them again. Just when I thought the sun was starting to rise in my darkness, we're back at square one again. All I've wanted is a mother figure since mum died - not just for me, but ultimately for Libby's sake, too. I hate Adolphus for this, and I'll never forgive him for taking from me and Libby what's precious to us.
I have had two important people brutally snatched from me - important to me. I feel like as if Adolphus has stabbed me in the heart twice, then plunged deep into my bloody chest and wrenched my bleeding heart out, ripping it away from the arteries and veins it's attached to, perhaps even breaking a few ribs along the way. I wish he had - whilst he had the chance; then I could be with mum again. He killed my mum; it was him that night, I know he did. But what about the other two people that were there?
I'm lying here right now, dying, sheets stained with my blood, lying as I bleed from this fatal wound. The nurse does what she can, but my heart stops beating, and my brain soon stops functioning, sending neurotransmitters whizzing around my brain. I'm rushed to hospital, but I'm pronounced dead at the scene. I see my coffin, all brown, shiny and new, with my body laid to rest inside. It's back to its natural curls, looks longer but all nicely combed out and washed of blood. My friends are there - Lily and Libby blubbing like the over-emotional people they are. But I'll still look out for them, I really will.
Why didn't Adolphus kill me when he had the chance? I thought he wanted me dead? And another thing, why didn't he go after Bianca's son as well? I know I would have if I were him, probably snapped my neck or something or maybe tortured me to death. So why didn't he? So many questions to ask - to find out the truth about. All I know is, that I'm dying, right here, right now - but that I'm one step closer to being with mum and Bianca again.
But I can't really wish my own death. How can I do it, to Libby? To dad? To my friends and my auntie Ruby - people that seemingly care about me? As much as I want to, I can't. I just can't.
But at least Bianca is no longer in pain anymore, so she won't die a painful death, well, not like that anyway, because she did die a painful death in the end.
Adolphus killed her, and has stabbed me in the heart twice - broken it in half and teared it apart with those razor-sharp bloodied fangs of his.
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.¸
A few days later...
My wounds have healed up now, and my broken leg has healed up quick within three days as well. Dad's fine, and he's visited me a few times - along with a worried Libby. I have a few more days to pack up for the summer and to attend Bianca's funeral. By one thing I do know for sure: my dad is a wolf guardian whilst my mum was a human. Adolphus is still out there, however. He's escaped for now, but he won't be able to hide for long. And I won't be able to hide for long, either.
There are lots of people at Bianca's funeral in her country of Rocher in the capital called Fangstone. Dad comes along, too - as he is a wolf shapeshifter. I still don't know if Bianca meant anything to him, or if he really knew her, because he refuses to talk about it with us. My friends and Takeo also come along too. It's a massive funeral out in the public. Whilst we don't get to actuallyattend the funeral service in one of Misteria's temples, we stand outside on the pavement - where millions of other people are gathered - and watch the hearse drive past us. As it passes everyone, all the wolf shapeshifters howl in tribute - including dad.
Bianca's coffin is covered in flowers - mostly lilies and roses. White lilies and red roses. I manage to catch a glimpse of it in the car. The coffin is draped over in the country's flag, which has blue, black and silver stripes in a similar pattern to the Union Jack. Two more hearses drive behind it - presumably with family inside.
Fangstone is a beautiful city - much more so than Roar City trust me. It's full of beautiful white marble, marble buildings with skyscrapers, penthouses and theatres and stuff. There's huge advertisements and the streets are squeaky clean, trust me. The city is lively and busy full of bustling shapeshifters going out and about. Some of the penthouses even have completely triple-glazed large glass windows in the apartments! One thing I notice, is the lack of cars. There are quite a lot of big, double-decker purple buses (purple, my favourite colour!) mind you that come much more frequently than they do in Plymouth and I see a great big Hover craft up in the sky at one point. There's also a large, beautiful green park at the centre of the city by the humongous white palace that you can spot a hundred miles off. At the edge of pavements, there are tall graceful palm trees. In fact, it's almost too beautiful for my liking - so much so that it's a little bit weird. Unlike in Roar City, there are no crappy council houses on the outskirts even, unlike the outskirts of Roar City which are just basically slums. As we were driving through, most of the houses were at least medium-sized and quite beautiful, even. Bianca must have been fond of things bright and beautiful - no wonder there are purple buses, and no wonder her whole kingdom is called Rocher.
On thing I've learnt from all this is: my mum was a witch whilst my dad is a wolf shapeshifter. I've learned that my mum's true murderer was Adolphus, but somehow, I knew all along. I'm not stupid. But there are still things I must know, such as more about my heritage, much more. I only know about my mum's side of the family, but not my dad' last few months have been one, horrific, horrendous, disastrous and dark, Hellride.
Adolphus is still out there somewhere. He killed Bianca, and I'm presuming my mum too, now. It's obvious he did, that's why he's been after me and probably my sister all this time. He'll probably never admit it, but my mum's death won't be in vain.
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.¸
Lily, Wolfie, Howl, Franky, Diego, Sapphire, Tanya, Duma, Ria, Logan, Kyle, Shadow and I meet up at the skatepark in Roar City before we leave for the summer. Duma has his scooter, whilst Franky and Diego both have BMX's whilst Wolfie has a basketball with him. It's the twenty-second of July, and it's absolutely scorching hot out here. We're all mostly in shorts and tops and wearing all light colours (with the exception of Ria, Logan and Shadow.) I'm wearing my Pandora bracelet once again, just because I feel like it. But it's not really just because I feel like it. It's because I still want to feel some sort of connection to mum like Libby (literally) can, and that life is still worth living, and that, to me, it symbolises that life must go on; I have no choice in this world. It also symbolises something that meant a lot a lot to her, and that dad must have loved her very much to buy her such a sweet gift - especially with the cute little wolf charm on it, which was probably a constant reminder to her of him. It must mean that, mum must have loved me very much, to let me have it. She sacrificed herself for us - even though I wasn't physically present at her death, but she was still all the more willing to give up her life for us. That makes me feel bad, and that she shouldn't have had to die for us. It was my fault; perhaps if I had been there, or perhaps if I hadn't had the vision, it wouldn't have happened. Perhaps this is all just some massive big nightmare, and I'll wake up any minute now all groggy and stroppy as usual and march down the stairs for breakfast back at home. Perhaps I should have died on the night that Bianca had died; that way, I would no longer be endangering the people I love the most. But someday, I will join her, and Bianca. Life's just like a circle - a circle full of many charms and surprises.
I haven't received any more death-threats, fortunately. Well, not for now, anyway. I reckon they'll come creeping along again soon, and I won't know who it is, because there is no name; it's just a number that shows up - a number that I obviously haven't got. Whoever it was though, I'll never find them.
"I just wanna say...thank you," I say to them, my voice cracking. "Thank you for sticking by me." They nod, grinning. I feel...exhausted. I'm so glad it's the end of the year and we can have a break; I think we need it. What with the emotional turmoil that has clearly drained me. Lily notices my sadness and places a comforting hand on my shoulder.
That was difficult for me to tell them how grateful I am to them.
"Awww, it's okay; anytime," Lily cheerily says, smiling as if to try and cheer me up. "But this doesn't have to be the end, y'know." She just doesn't understand.
None of them do.
"It's no where near the end," Wolfie mutters. "Adolphus is still out there, and he's gunna wait until the right time to attack. Don't let your guard down, Whit, 'cause I've got a feeling that he's still after you." I nod.
"I know," I reply.
"We can always meet up, again during the summer y'know," Tanya suggests.
"Yeah, we could go to the beach or whatever!" Lily squeals excitedly. "And have a beach party! As long as there's lots of lush chocolate..." We all look at her.
"Y'know, one day you're gunna turn out to be as fat as Fatboy if you're not careful," Duma sneers, playfully poking her in the stomach.
"Shut up I won't," she mutters back.
"That's a bit tight, isn't it?" Diego comments. "Y'know, if I were you, I would keep my mouth shut. 'Cause as long as you say stuff like that, you're just gonna be smacked by lots of pissed-off girls." Duma narrows his eyes at him.
"Don't say stuff like that," Duma snaps back, trying to hide the hurt in his eyes.
"We can still train with Takeo after the summer, right?" Kyle asks, getting into a stance as if ready to fight, fists up and arms in front of face.
"Sure. I've got his phone number, so I'll just let him know," Diego says, nodding.
"Thanks, mate," Kyle says.
"No problem."
"You know, with all this training I'm gunna get so sleepy; I might end up falling asleep in class," Shadow says, yawning as if to prove his point. Logan nudges him.
"You already do that, anyway, you numpty," Logan says, smirking a little, dimples showing.
"I know," Shadow says, smiling a little. Tanya raises a brow at him.
"Weird," she mutters under her breath.
"Shut up," Shadow snaps back, sounding blunt yet without much emotion.
"You know, sometimes I walk in my sleep," Logan says, slyly grinning a little. "I tend to do that when I go to bed absolutely shattered."
"No one cares, Logan, okay?" Franky snaps at him. Logan gives him a sly sneer in response. I notice the glare in his eyes - although the rest of his facial expression says otherwise. Diego places a hand on his shoulder, holding him back.
"Cut it out, Franky," Diego sharply says.
"Yeah, anyway, we've got a hell of a lot improvement to make," Ria mutters under her breath.
"Like I need improving!" Franky boasts. "You're just weak, Ria."
"I think you need to improve your fighting technique a bit," Wolfie adds, nodding at Franky. Franky glares at him.
"I don't need to be told what to do, thanks," he retorts back. Wolfie steps back a bit, his hands held out in protest. He has in a pair of Skullcandy earphones.
"Whatever," he replies. "Y'know, lets just sit back and enjoy the summer. We need to relax for a while after all we've been through. Especially you, Whit." He winks at me. Howl frowns at him a little.
"Thanks, Wolfie," I reply. Which reminds me. I need to thank Tanya.
"Hey, Tanya, thanks for inviting me to your party!" I happily exclaim out to her. "It looks awesome!" She looks at me like what?
"What? I haven't even given out the invites yet...I mean, you are invited, but..." her voice trails off as she realises why I already know about it. "Oh, yeah, I forgot, you're psychic." We all giggle a little at that.
"You can't hide anything from me!" I say. "Still, I might need the invite to show dad, is that okay?" She nods casually.
"Yeah, I've got them on me now", she says, handing one out to each of us. The invites are in envelopes. They're pretty, red with a black intricate pattern around the outside. It's in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she lives.
"Can't wait to go to America for the first time!" Lily happily squeals.
"Yep, I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma, so, hope to see ya there!" she says, clapping her hands excitedly. "Man, I can't wait."
"I'm going," Franky says. "Ain't nobody stopping me."
"I'll probably be able to go, I'll have to ask first, though," Ria mutters.
"Same," Lily chips in too.
"I'm going," Diego firmly says with a grin.
"Ditto," I say. "No matter what."
"I dunno, I'll ask first," Sapphire says. "Hopefully I should be able to go."
"I'll be able to," Howl proudly boasts. "Don't wanna miss out on the food!" He gives me a flirtatious wink and I smile flirtatiously back at him. Him and food. Mind you, I love food too, so I can't complain.
"Me too," Duma says. Tanya smiles happily.
"We're going, aren't we, boys?" Kyle says, slapping both Shadow and Logan on the back whilst Wolfie rolls his eyes in irritation.
"Sure," Logan says. "Even though I've never been that keen on parties, I'll go because it's for Tanya's birthday, just like I did for Lily's birthday." He smiles at Tanya in appreciation. Shadow has a twinkle in his dark eyes.
"'Course I'm going, any party that allows me to stay up all hours I'm definitely going," Shadow says, the slightest hint of a grin on his usually emotionless face.
"Great," she says, grinning. Then, whilst Duma and Franky and Diego go to do a bit of BMX-ing and, or, in Duma's case, scootering, I sit with Howl on the bench watching.
"Y'know, Howl, you were really brave," I compliment him. He blushes a deep red.
"Really? I don't think I was," he replies, sounding unsure. "You're a great comrade, Whit, and you're really pretty." Now it's my turn to blush.
"Look, I was wondering, do you wanna...hang out, sometime?" he asks, blushing madly, looking away slightly. I blink in surprise and smile.
"We will, won't we, during the summer?" I say, peering at him, slightly confused.
"No, no, what I meant, was...do you wanna go out with me, Whit?" He dares to ask, tomato red now. There's a slight pause. I dimple at him. I like him, I guess. He isn't really fat, and has actuallylost weight after all that's happened. His face isn't as full, and he's quite lean now, actually. He's also cute and fun to hang around with.
"I, I was waiting to see which one of us would pop up that question," I say awkwardly. "'Course I will." He smiles back, gratefully, his thumb gently caressing my cheek.
"Great, then," he confirms. He leans in close with his full, liquid-filled lips, grasping my hand gently. I feel my face flare up as his lips gently brush against mine. It's such a sweet, simple kiss, and I'm surprised at how good a kisser he is. I gently kiss him back, savouring the feel of his lips against mine. It's...nice. I pull back after only a moment, then lean against him, cuddling up close to him. He wraps his arm around me lovingly. I love the feeling of being cosied up to a guy like this. Hmmm. From a few meters away, I feel Wolfie's glare radiate onto us like the heat from a hot oven.
"Awww, that's so sweet. Whit and Howl making out," Tanya cheerily calls. Lily, Sapphire and Ria squeal in delight, clapping their hands.
"Shut up, we weren't making-out!" I protest, embarrassed, my cheeks burning badly on my tanned face. That's hardly what I would call making-out.
"Shut up, Tanya, you're so immature," Lily defends me, then dimples apologetically at me. "Don't worry, Whit." I smile gratefully at her.
"I'm bored, how about some basketball, guys?" Diego suddenly pops up, snatching the basketball away from Wolfie playfully and spinning the basketball skillfully on his finger. We all chorus 'yeah!' in agreement and flounce off into the basketball courts together.
"Yeah, so who's gonna be team captains?" Duma suggests.
"Oh me!" Franky suddenly jumps off his bike, letting it go crash into the gate. "I wanna be captain!" He's jumping up and down like a ginger weirdo.
"Fine then, Franky here," he says, rolling his eyes. "And I personally think that Whit should be team captain too 'cause she's a star." He smiles at me. I smile back at him gratefully.
"So, pick your teams," he says.
"Ladies first," Franky says, gesturing at me with his hand, bowing down. I giggle nervously. I pick Lily, Tanya, Howl, Logan, Kyle and Wolfie whilst Franky picks Duma, Diego, Shadow, Sapphire and Ria. Diego drops the ball in between me and Franky. Naturally, Franky catches it first, his reflexes too quick for me and begins dribbling it and passes to Diego. Diego, being too tall and fast, practically smashes past all of us and slam-dunks it into the basket - although he does struggle against Wolfie, Logan, Shadow, Franky, Tanya and Kyle a bit to get the ball into the hoop and only struggles against Duma for speed. Kyle, however, is probably the only one out of them who can match Diego's basketball skills, able to do slam dunks too. We all stare at them both in amazement.
"Do you both play basketball or something?" I ask them.
"Yeah, for school," Diego replies. Kyle shrugs.
"Sometimes," he says, grinning.
In the end my team loses, and to be honest, it was a bit unfair. I mean, they have Diego - the strongest out of all of us - Duma - the fastest out of all of us, and Franky - who's also fast and strong. All five of the wolves are quite agile, fast, strong and most of all, staminatic. Mind you, both Ria and Sapphire are fairly competent in basketball too. I mean, even Lily's good. Tanya and Wolfie are definitely good and Howl's good, too. To be honest, they're all good if you compare them to humans (I mean, humans obviously can be good, but shapeshifters are stronger and quicker than humans, even in their human forms). However, Diego, Wolfie, Logan, Shadow, Kyle, Duma, Franky and Tanya make the others look bad, even though they're good.
•*´¨`*•.¸¸.•*´¨`*•.¸
Later on, dad comes to pick me up from school. Everyone else will be getting the 'Hell express', which apparently is some sort-of ghost-like, invisible train like portal that isn't quite like the Hellriders, into King's Village train station in Roar City where they'll all catch different trains back to where they live in different parts of Griffin. The people who live in Griffin get dropped off at King's Village station, whilst people from other countries will stay on the Hell Express until they get to a train station in the capital of their country. Apparently, the Hell Express is relatively quick, so it doesn't take forever to drop students off.
Only Tanya, Franky and Sapphire - whose parents live in the human world - will be getting their parents to pick them up and they'll go through some ready-made portals. All students who live in the human world have to do that too. I have my stuff all packed, and my friends are all standing outside, about to wave me off.
"See ya, guys, and thanks so much," I cry to them, hugging Lily, Sapphire, Tanya and Ria. I smile at the boys however when I turn to Wolfie he suddenly pulls me into an embrace, his strong muscly arms wrapped tight around me. This embrace reminds me of when Riley used to hug me, his hold safe and secure. However, I felt bad about Howl, so we only have a small hug and I pull back after a moment. I can't kiss Howl because dad's there watching, but I fling my arms around him tight.
"I love you, Whit," he murmurs fondly, his lips whispering against my ear, tickling.
"I love you, too, Howl," I reply, though I'm not so sure. We embrace for a bit, his hold tender and gentle. Then I pull back, dimpling flirtatiously at him.
"See you after the summer, yeah, Whit?" Wolfie says to me. I nod at him, then, grabbing my stuff, turn around and walk towards the car to face a special someone in the back seat.
"Libs!" I cry out joyfully, dumping my suitcase and other bags on the ground and rushing into the car, flinging my arms around her. "You're all right, babes."
"I've been so worried about you," she says, hugging me back. "But you're good again! Yay!" We giggle together.
"Right, then, you all ready to go?" dad demands, sighing impatiently. I nod, grabbing my stuff and shoving it into the boot of the car, close the boot shut then climb into the front seat next to dad. Mum's sweet scent still lingers here where she used to sit. I snuggle down into my chair, inhaling it deeply, hugging my knees to my chest sadly.
"Whitney, get your feet down," he snaps. With an irritable sigh I stomp my feet down on the floor childishly.
"This is the final straw, Whitney," he begins lecturing me. "Soloman's told me all about your bad behaviour this term. He's giving you another chance when you go back in September; after that, you will be expelled. How many times do you plan on ruining any opportunities that come your way? How many more times do you plan on trying to ruin your education? Well, say something then?" Seriously. And I haven't even been expelled yet - like you said that Soloman had apparently said, that I have another chance after September, donut, so I haven't ruined anything just yet. Another thing as well, I don't particularly appreciate his tone.
"Stop talking to me like that, dad," I retort back at home, putting my feet up on my chair again, just to annoy him.
"Answer me properly, Whitney, and for goddess's sake, Whitney, get your feet down. I want to hear it from your point of view - your school term, everything that's happened."
Now, with Bianca gone, well, all I can is, dad, that we're back at square one - in the infirmary again. That's all I can say for now.
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Soloman's POV
I watch in disgust at the little merry scene that is currently playing outside of my very own institution. It was a big mistake to let Whitney come here. I had hoped to use her powers to my advantage to protect the kingdom, as a pawn, but it hasn't worked. Now she has turned her school mates against me, I am sure of it. They already seem suspicious of me. After that little stunt that Franky had pulled in the arena, I am sure that they have twigged that I'm the one who is starving civilians to death, and I had to punish them so they wouldn't remember anything. Of course, I don't have that sort of power to modify and erase memories. Only one person of a certain species has that power. I had even warned them not to say goodbye to Whitney, but they still have! Such naive little runts - especially that Lily. Her little group are now my enemies, after inadvertently rebelling against me by training with Takeo out in the Forest of Nightmares (which is forbidden to go in) and Franky's stunt during the cage fights. I will have to keep a close eye on them when they return after the summer.
It is okay, though, because I have the rest of my pawns carefully resembled, and, the great wolf queen Bianca is already dead. That is one less piece to have to contend with. They are all pieces in my little war of chess.