Normal Coyote

Chapter 10

My eyes flickered open. I expected the same bright white light from earlier that day to blind me. Instead, I woke up to the blackness of the night sky. I could see the tops of tall trees moving slightly from the wind. I felt dead leaves underneath me. My head was resting on something soft. Something was holding my right hand.

“Ali! Don’t move.” Alex’s smooth and calming voice said. I looked up. He was sitting down and leaning on our rock in the preserve. My head was resting on his arm and his other hand was squeezing mine.

“What happened?” I croaked, completely ignoring what Alex told me and trying to sit up.

“I think you passed out again. I found you collapsed outside your car. Why did you get out of your car?” He asked helping me sit up.

“I needed air.” I said, now successfully leaning on our rock next to Alex.

“Well if that happens again, you need to stay put.” He said, with a slight chuckle. “Ali, are you okay? What made you so stressed out?” Alex asked, now sounding worried and curious.

“Alex, I need to tell you something. It’s going to sound absolutely crazy.” I said slowly. What was I about to do? I could lose Alex and my mother forever if they both found out.

“What? Ali, what’s going on?” He said quickly. He had this suspicious look on his face, almost as if he knew exactly what I was going to tell him. But that was impossible. How would Alex know anything about the supernatural?

“I... I’m not normal.” I started. I tried effortlessly to tell my mouth to stop talking. This could ruin everything I had left.

“Well I didn’t think you were normal. You’re unique. You’re you, Aliyah.” Alex said, squeezing my hand, now looking confused.

“Yes but I’m... I’m not hu-”

“ALI!” Another familiar voice yelled from 50 metres away. I could see perfectly with my enhanced sight that it was Braeden. What was she doing here? I quickly acted as if I couldn’t see her, for Alex’s sake.

“Who was that?” Alex said, looking around frantically.

“It sounded like Braeden to me. But why would she be out here by herself?” I replied, looking around as-well even though I knew exactly where she was. I could hear her running towards us and thought it was safe to look at where she was.

“Ali. I have to talk to you. Now.” Braeden said. Her makeup was smudged down her face. She had been crying. She looked terrified. Then I started to smell blood.

“No. Braeden, Ali has just passed out and hit her head, she’s not in her right mind. She needs to relax, she’s stressed. There is no time for a girl-chat.” Alex said, sternly. He stood up. jIt surprised me how harsh he sounded. All that I knew, was that I had to speak to Braeden immediately.

“Alex, I promise I’m feeling a lot better. Just let me talk to her for 5 minutes. Please.” I pleaded.

“Fine. But don’t overwhelm her Braeden.” He said, sharply. He sat back down next to our rock and watched us walk over to a nearby tree.

“Ali! What the hell were you thinking?! You cannot tell Alex about you!” She whispered, but still seemed like she was shouting.

“I was... wait... how did you know?” I said. Braeden was not a werewolf, she didn’t have enhanced hearing, what made her think I was going to tell Alex?

“Okay... this is the second thing I have to tell you. Ali, you know how on the first day back at school I said that I had a feeling you were in danger?” Braeden said quickly. I nodded. “Well, tonight, I heard you.” 

“What? Heard what?” I said, now scared of what she heard.

“You were shouting.” She seemed hesitant to go into details, but I knew by now that it must be bad.

“Braeden, what was I saying? Tell me!” I started to fret.

“You were saying; ‘NO! ALEX! PLEASE! NO!’ and you were crying. You sounded terrified and hurt.” My face went pale. What was she saying? Alex would never hurt me. “Then I started to hear your thoughts. You were thinking about where you were in the preserve so I came straight away. After that I started to hear your conversation with Alex, even though I was still in my car. That’s how I knew you were going to tell him. I could hear you were contemplating it and I could hear what you were saying.” She finished, sighing and looking at me waiting for a reply.

“I... Alex would never hurt me.” I said, sternly, looking straight at Braeden.

“I know that, but Ali, just be careful around him from now on. I’m a banshee, I predict death and usually when I’m foreseeing something, I hear things. I’m hearing you, and Alex.” She said, calmly. “You better get back to him before he drags me away from you.”

“Okay. Thanks, for, warning me.” I said. 

“No problem. And, Aliyah?” She called out, as I walked back to Alex.

“Come back to my place. You can stay with me for as long as you need. You need friends right now.” She said with a sympathetic smile at the end.

“Thank you Braeden. I’ll meet you at your place.” I said, smiling back at her.