Hannah stood at the foot of the cot, her arms crossed, any worry that had plagued her before replaced by suspicion and annoyance.
Oh no. Josh withheld a groan as he draped an arm over his eyes. "Thanks for bringing me here, but weren't you supposed to get back to class?"
There was a pause. "Are you okay?"
Josh almost opened his eyes again. There was no way he'd read her expression so incorrectly. "Yeah, why?"
"I just wanted to be sure first. And now that we're sure of that, maybe you can tell me what in the world went on out there."
He could imagine Hannah's expression all too clearly—an overly pleasant smile that contradicted the sharpness of her gaze. "You were right there, Hannah. The nurse gave me a check-up."
"You know exactly what I mean, Joshua Alexander. Outside with that guy from the football team. You have three seconds to start spitting it out before I go ask him myself."
Very awake now, he shot up in his cot, a glare in place. "Really, Hannah? You're going there?"
She shrugged. "Only if you don't tell me."
He held her stare, but after a moment, he sighed. She wasn't bluffing. He knew she wouldn't hesitate to track down Darren at some point and demand answers. Caring was a strength of hers, but right then, Josh wished she would care less."
"Look, it's nothing out of the ordinary for us," he said. "Darren just throws his hissy fits, and sometimes that includes trying his best to hurt me."
Hannah stared down at him as if he'd grown another head. "Darren? As in Darren Gifford, the football team star? That guy bullies you?"
Josh fought off an eye roll. "He doesn't bully me. More like he just..." He shrugged. "He releases his anger on me, I guess."
She threw her hands up. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I guess I forgot the definition of bullying."
He met her annoyance with a glare. "Fine then, sure, whatever. I guess Darren knows me. But you know what?" He leaned forward and pointed a finger at himself. "It's either me or some other kid, and unlike me, I'm pretty sure that other kid can feel pain."
There. He threw out his trump card. The nurse had reinforced the knowledge only moments before, and it wasn't like Hannah wasn't very aware of how impossible it was to make him feel pain. She'd seen him fall face-first on concrete just to jump back up without a second thought.
The doctors had diagnosed it originally as congenital intolerance to pain, but not everything about him fell into that. He did feel pain sometimes, but it was little more than a pinprick. The weirdest thing was how hard it was to hurt him. One doctor he'd seen had wondered if it was an unnatural sturdiness when a teacher had freaked out after he'd fallen from a tall tree on the playground and nothing had been injured.
Hannah knew all of this, but instead of nodding her understanding, she looked incredulous. "If you want him to stop bullying, why don't you, oh, I don't know, just tell the principal?"
Josh rolled his eyes. "Because what will that do? Get Darren suspended for a bit? Sent to detention? Sure, maybe. School trouble." He scoffed. "But then what will he do? He'll come back at some point, and he'll just target someone else if he thinks I'll talk. As it is, the only way I get him not to go after someone else is threatening to talk if he does."
He could still remember the day. Last fall, he'd arrived late due to a dentist appointment—which, according to his mom, was not an excuse to skip the rest of the day—to find the school's most well-known football player shoving a scrawny kid against a wall in a small alcove. At first, Josh did debate telling, but he had realized the very issues he presented Hannah. Instead, he struck a deal with the bully: he wouldn't blab, but only if Josh was Darren's only target.
Darren thought Josh was hilarious and planned on beating him into silence. That changed when Darren learned he couldn't be hurt. The deal was made.
And here Hannah was, running the risk of ruining it all. He had to make her understand.
"You're right," Hannah said dryly. "Instead, you should set the perfect example to those bullied everywhere by not telling anyone."
"He. Can't. Hurt. Me," Josh emphasized through gritted teeth. The head collision hadn't given him a headache, but Hannah was going to give him one. Why was she being so stubborn? He had found a way that kept Darren from hurting anyone. It should be perfect. "He's my problem, Hannah. Just drop it."
Her eyes were still hard and her lips set in a straight line, but after a moment, she sighed and glanced away. "Just please tell me you don't make this sound all noble and then use it as a reason to fight him."
Josh had relaxed with her supposed acceptance, but now his eyebrows shot up. "That would be stupid. What kind of punching bag would I be if I fought back?" he pointed out. "What made you think so anyway?"
She frowned thoughtfully. Gears visibly turned in her head. "He had bruises on his arms and near his neck."
Josh shrugged. "No surprise. He's a football star, remember?"
She chewed on her lip. "Yeah, I guess," she mumbled. "Anyway, I should probably get back to class."
Before Hannah could walk away, a sudden thought occurred to Josh. his hand shot forward, wrapping around Hannah's wrist. "Hey, Hannah," he said as she turned to face him. "This is going to stay between you and me, right?"
"I—" She cut herself off and looked away.
If she wasn't instantly telling him no, he had gained some ground. He pushed his advantage. "Please, Hannah. Just trust me this time, okay?"
The fight faded from her in a sigh. "Fine. Whatever. I'll see you later, Josh. Be sure you actually sleep tonight. I don't care if Tom's coming over tonight. I know you don't like the daydream episodes."
Josh grinned. "I make no promises."
"I'll tell Tom to suffocate you otherwise."
"We both know he'd be the one keeping me up through the night. Besides, he'd listen to me first. I'm his favorite."
Hannah rolled his eyes and waved him off. "Just don't be any dumber than you already are please." With that said, she headed to the door—just to release an abrupt yelp.
"Hannah!" Josh was on his feet in a second and stepping toward the door, expecting some threat to be there.
"Sorry about the scare." The nurse laughed from the doorway. She looked over Hannah's head at Josh. "I got ahold of Mr. Willis. He said he hopes you feel better soon."
"Got it." Josh's body stilled pulsed with nervous energy. Maybe the school nurse wasn't a danger, but how long had she been standing there? Had she heard anything?
"Excuse me, ma'am," Hannah said.
"Oh, of course." The nurse stepped out of Hannah's way. "Thank you very much for helping Josh."
"No problem." Hannah turned back to wave at Josh. "Get better soon." She left before Josh had the chance to wave back.
"Now," the nurse began, "if you're going to be staying here during the remainder of the period, I want you on that cot resting. Understood?"
Josh eyed her, looking for any gleam of hidden knowledge. He slowly nodded. "Sure, no problem."
He situated himself on the cot while the nurse sat at her desk for paperwork. His mind raced even as his body tried to shut down. Too many concerns ate at him. The daydreams, Darren's interest in Hannah, Hannah's own new knowledge about Darren, and now the nurse lingering at the door. All of it could be fine. All of it could work itself out and cause no problem.
Or it could all go horribly wrong.
Thankfully, he didn't get to worry for long before sleep claimed him.
Fire. Fire everywhere. He had to find them. He had to reach them and try to save them. They couldn't—
Josh jerked awake with a shuddering breath. Cold sweat plastered his hair to his forehead and drenched his clothes. His heart beat against his chest as the piercing echo of fear clawed at his insides.
He twisted around. Something caught his limbs. Everything was black. Smoke? No, he wasn't trapped in the burning forest. His eyes didn't burn and he could breathe. He forced himself to focus on his surroundings and not the raging impulse to sprint away.
He made out the dresser directly in front of him, then the TV on top of it. A game system rested beneath a TV, a couple game boxes scattered in front of them.
His room. Not the dream, but his room. Josh squeezed his eyes shut and took deep breaths. With each exhale, he went over the events of the day to orient himself. Gym class. The voice. The nurse's office. Going through the rest of the school day. Hanging out with Tom, who as if on cue snored from his resting spot on the floor. And now Josh was here, in bed, where he was supposed to be asleep.
His shoulders sagged as the panic ebbed away. The moment it did, though, he dropped his head into his hands. He had been awoken by the dream again, and now the adrenaline of the dream flowed through him. Going back to bed again was a dream himself. Great, another night of little sleep.
With a groan, Josh disentangled himself from his blanket and swung his legs over the side. The biting chill of the wood floor was an amazing contrast to his heated body. Maybe the outside air would cool him off enough he could get to sleep tonight.
Josh crept out of his room, down the stairs, and to the door as quietly as possible. He paused once there to listen for a creak to tell him if he'd woken anyone up. When no sound came, he slipped out the door.
The autumn breeze greeted him like a welcomed, chilly hug. He gulped down the air, letting it spread through his body and chase away the last remnants of the dream. He stretched his arms and back as he made his way to the porch railing. If he had known the wonders that fresh air could work before, he would have done this a week ago.
He leaned against the railing and looked out over the street. Lamps cast light that chased away patches of shadows. They illuminated the concrete sidewalks and walkways that led to different houses. Trees sprung from little patches of nature between the sidewalks and the road.
A couple of squirrels, defying their sleep schedule, ran along one of the trees across the street, one of them pursuing the other. They leapt to another tree. Josh snorted in amusement when they both almost fell in their near collision.
The squirrels had been what attracted Josh's attention, but as he watched, a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye brought his gaze down. He stiffened. While the street lamps lit the higher parts of the trees, the bottom halves were swallowed by shadows. But that didn't hide the outline of what looked to be a person. Most likely a guy based on height and broad shoulders.
A guy watching him.
Josh squeezed his eyes shut before blinking them open again. The shadowed guy had vanished, if he had ever even been there.
The night chill had grown sinister rather than refreshing. Josh shuddered before turning to head back inside. All today had proven was that he desperately needed sleep, and staying up to watch squirrels wouldn't help, no matter how amusing they were. The daydreams or whatever they were needed to end.
Despite his determination, as Josh stepped into the doorway to his house, he couldn't help but look back over his shoulder, unable to completely shake the feeling he was being watched.
Fun fact: Hannah and Josh are basically me arguing the pros and cons of Josh's actions to myself. Hannah is my logic and Josh is my heart xD
What did you think of this chapter? Of Hannah? What about that end? Let me know your comments on this stuff and any other thoughts you might have in the comments below.
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Patron: SpruceWolf , Book: Shadewylf
Summary:
Thirty-Four is a young wolf with high expectations resting on his shoulders. With a princess for a mother and a soldier for a father, he should have noble and powerful blood running through his veins.
Instead, Thirty-Four is a disappointment. A failure.
But when a certain silver crescent appears on his paw, marking the end of his life as a Peltless and an opportunity to finally be as powerful as he wishes, his world changes forever.
Suddenly, Thirty-Four finds himself meeting extraordinary wolves, and doing the most incredible of things. And, strangest of all, he is told that the fate of Sylvera, the whole world, rests in his paws.
There are dark enemies lurking in the shadows, creatures not seen for decades. Beasts that bring death and destruction wherever they go.
Shadewylves.
Thirty-Four's destiny, it seems, is to defeat them. To strike down the terror they bring, and to restore peace.
If he fails, he brings everyone he knows and loves down with him.
But if he succeeds... the cost might be even greater.