"Soph! Soph, wake up!"
Sophia's slumber was interrupted by a strong commanding voice....Violet's?
Droplets of water splashed on her face.
She sat up straight, in a tub filled to the brim with water. Her whole body, with the notable exception of her head, lay submerged in the tub. Once again, just like in her simulation, Sophia's mind reached out to the water. She closed her eyes once again, feeling the flow of something she could not name within her. With each splash of water, the flow spread to every inch of her soul, every depth of her bone. All her pain, fears and anxiety seemed so far away...especially when her whole body felt so light, so free and unbreakable.
And yet, even as Sophia stood, climbing out of the tub, the magical bliss lingered, providing small comfort as she began to face reality. "What happened?"
Ashton reached out to hand Sophia a towel, realizing her friend was dry despite the long soak and retracted his hand sheepishly. "What do you remember?
"The simulations......After that, everything's blank." She got out of the tub, walking past her friends out a door, into another room. It wasn't much. Five beds with matching cupboards and different symbols on the walls. Above them were words. Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gamma and Omega.
"We're alive," Sophia said, glancing at all her friends. "Does that mean we're....."
"The Big Five Wolf Pack?" Rosemary replied. "Yes. But, there's something else we need to tell you."
Now that Sophia was out of the water, the mystical feeling seemed to be fading away. Exhaustion overwhelmed her body and she limped to the closest bed, plopping herself onto the soft mattress. Her muscles ached and the LED lights above her head were like blades stabbing her eyes. "How long was I out? Where's Logan and the others?"
Ashton sat next to Sophia on the bed, while Rosemary, Violet and Etsuki sat by the end to face them. He spoke first. "An hour, give or take. By the time we woke up, Logan had already put you in the water. He said that as your elemental power, the water would be able to heal you. The rest of us woke up about 10 minutes ago."
Rosemary reached forward and took Sophia's hand in hers, rubbing warm circles with her thumb.
Sophia's heart sunk. "What's wrong?"
Everyone turned to Etsuki, who looked at Sophia in the eye. She had the strength to say it, but it gave her pain to hurt Sophia more. "Remember that cartoon you and Vi and Rose loved to watch when you kids, 'Avatar: The Last Airbender'? How the spirit of the Avatar passes on after their deaths to the next generation?"
"Ummm....yeah, I know that." Sophia still didn't get what the big deal was. "And the reason we're talking about that old cartoon is?"
"Because Adrian said that's how the Big Five works too." She spat out. "The new Pack can only be reincarnated once the old Pack has passed on."
Sophia was silent, still unsure where this was going. "Ok."
Etsuki spat out a word. It was in Japanese so no one understood her. She wanted to just tell her, her instincts told her to. But this was Sophia. She deserved a proper explanation. "Logan just told us that Adrian's uncle was part of the previous Big Five Wolf Pack too. He said.... in the simulations, we harnessed elemental powers and shifted in the cubicles, making us the new Big Five Wolf Pack. That means that all the members of the old Pack, like your biological mom and Adrian's uncle......they're gone, Soph. Dead."
"Oh." Sophia couldn't decide what to think. The emotions raging through her mind; sadness, anger, hope and loss, were jumbled in one big mess and she couldn't tell where those feelings were directed at. Reliving her worst nightmare, the night at the bar? Watching Logan beat her douche-ex boyfriend up and get arrested for it? Realizing his stubbornness and loyalty to her, despite her flaws were a few of the many reasons Sophia had fallen in love with her best friend? Finding out she could control water? Learning that by being one of the most powerful people in the world, her biological mother-the woman she saw just once in a dream- was dead?
Ashton wrapped his arms around her. Then, Violet, Rosemary and Etsuki joined in the hug, in silence.
They knew better than anyone all they needed was each other, with or without the empty comfort in words.
Time was running out. Ashton and the girls knew this. They didn't know how they knew it. All five of them walked into the main hall together.
Adrian and Andrew's breakfast lay untouched on the conference table as the duo listened attentively to Logan. The other Alpha seemed to be in the middle of a briefing, with smartphones, printed CCTV footage and phone records. The three men turned at the sound of footsteps.
Adrian's red-rimmed eyes could not be more obvious.
Violet was the first to make her move. She ran towards her boyfriend and tiptoed to hug him. The Alpha buried his face in the crook of her shoulders and said nothing. There were no words to explain the feeling of losing the only family you had left. The image of the evil man in her simulation faded away as Violet focused all her attention on the heartbroken man who truly loved her right here.
A minute passed in silence. Logan packed all his equipment and documents; Sophia didn't think of seeing what was written on them. His eyes first landed on Sophia, who sort of drifted towards him. He looked tired, the bags sagging under his eyes. "I'm sorry about your mom, Soph."
She shrugged. "I don't know what to feel about losing a mother I never knew."
"The grieving process takes a lifetime. You don't need to feel now." He held her hand and spoke loudly so everyone could hear him. "When we pulled all of you out from the Testing Room, there was blood everywhere. Then.....this appeared. He pointed to writings on the walls, written in their blood.
The Big Five you won't expect,
Powers unleashed yet wolf still intact,
There will come betrayal and stabs in backs,
For it will take one to best the beast in black.
Violet knelt forward to take a closer of look. The bloodstains were dry. Must've been there for quite some time.
"What is it?" Ashton asked.
"A prophecy," Andrew concluded, crossing his arms across his chest. "Most probably about you five. If interpreted correctly, this could be a lead on how to beat the Seekers."
Rosemary's face wrinkled in confusion. "But we have the Piece. Doesn't that mean we've already won?"
Adrian shook his head. "Far from it. The Piece is not the only way to find the Holy Grail. If we don't stop them, Denisovich and Sarlov will become immortal....and raise an army of immortal werewolves to conquer the world."
Adrian kept to his word and remained silent the entire time Logan convinced him of his request.
The two men were up to their knees in Vamoose Multi-Cleaner, cleaning the splattered bloodstains from Ashton and the girls from the walls of the testing room. It was the least they could do, now that The Big Five's recent transformations have destroyed the room and left it all in ruins. It was just the two of them, seeing as the others gathered at the main hall to finish packing their stuff and clearing up the rest of the base, which gave Logan the perfect opportunity to get a moment with Adrian alone. One Alpha to another Alpha.
Once Logan finished saying what he had to, Adrian still couldn't believe him. He leaned back against the walls and slid down, hugging his knees across his chest. He looked at Logan, trying to figure this man out. "What you want won't be easy. This will change your life. To do such a thing is.....insane. Are you sure you wanna do this?"
"I've never been surer about anything in my life." He insisted. "I finally found the strength to do what I've always wanted to do."
"Where has this new-found strength come from? Her?"
Logan's expression hardened. He looked away, but Adrian saw both his fists tighten, whole body tensing. Something he noticed Logan did that he never realised; whenever he set his mind to something. "I'm not doing this for her. I'm doing it because of her."
The next day, the eight supernaturals found themselves back on the next flight home.
After all the fiasco from the last flight, Sophia thought Logan would probably want to sit with Adrian or someone else. Not that she'd mind, of course. It just would be less fun because Ashton would never let her sit next to him on a plane when the foods coming, she sends half her meal spilling over. But to her delight, she stood up to make way for her best friend who took his seat next to her aisle seat. She smiled up at him. "Hey."
"Hey." He snapped the seatbelt on and adjusted his seat. "Any new movies you feel like binge-watching? I saw Matilda somewhere on the screen."
"Sounds great, but honestly, I'm still so exhausted after the testing room." She pulled out an eye mask from her backpack. "Nothing made me feel quite as better as the water."
Logan nodded, recalling the information they concluded already. "Of course. Water is your elemental power. Violet's is darkness. Rosemary controls ice, Etsuki is a fire goddess and Ashton is the Flash."
Sophia snorted. "Oh god...please don't tell him that. He'll never let me hear the end of it. Lightning powers make him run super fast? Ridiculous."
"Speaking from the girl who breathes underwater." He chuckled.
Sophia slid the mask over her eyes, plunging her vision into darkness. Before she could think about it, she opened her mouth. "Logan?"
"Yep."
A small part inside of me, a secret place I never knew, realises 'best friend' cannot be used to describe you, Logan. Ashton and the girls are my best friends. But you mean so much more to me. You always have. From the moment we met in middle school, you changed my life for the better. You challenged me to take more risks, you gave me excitement when all I was emptiness. You are a part of my life and heart. You are my other half. Someone I love far more than I should.
Stupid. This was stupid. "Nothing. Goodnight."
Logan stared at Sophia's peaceful smile that only appeared in her slumber, hoping she has good dreams. He was ready to say what he had to.
I love you, Sophia Thomas. Not only because you accept me for the complicated man I am, but because you inspire me to be brave and not let fear dictate my life....just like you.
But he said nothing.
Sophia and Logan both went to sleep that night, wishing they had the courage to tell the other how they felt. They left the unspoken hanging over their heads, waiting for the right moment to come.
Two days passed since Ava Romano found out her 'friends' had been lying to her this whole time. But the anger burning in her heart remained. She always knew werewolves were deadly, barbaric and dangerous. Never did she think some would be smart and cunning enough to hurt her in another way, personally. Especially Ashton, the boy she liked.....thought she liked because he wore his emotions on his sleeve and hid nothing, unlike her. But no.....even the innocent ones harm. Ashton broke her heart. After him, and the pain it brought her, could she ever love again?
Ava still remembered her father's disappointment in his posture when they returned home. She could still feel the sting of the belt he lashed on her to teach her a lesson. That if she couldn't keep a cool head and let emotions get in the way of her job, she would end up with more pain the belt could ever give her. Even now she heard Chris Romano's stern voice as he landed blow after blow on her skin.
I'm teaching you how to feel pain, Ava. Those werewolves have made you feel far worse. Be the Huntress your mother was, stop being a wimp and kill those mutts. You either come back with their heads.....or don't come back at all.
He was right. In order to make her father, and the entire community proud, she had to think of Violet, Rosemary, Etsuki, Sophia and 'gorgeous Ashton' as the monsters they truly were. By doing that, she could finally get rid of them once and for all.