Once I arrived back at the dorms the hole in my chest seemed to be almost fully healed. I dragged all my bags of new clothes up to my room. Brie wasn't home so I just started unpacking my bags. When I was finished, she still wasn't back but it was late. I made myself a peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwich then got ready for bed. Never heard her come in.
In the morning I woke up with a buzz of excitement! I was back! I couldn't wait to see Brie, Amy, and especially Michael! Wait no! It was all too easy to fall back into my previous rhythm. I had to put some distance between him and I. I had to focus on school. Maybe if I repeat it enough I'll remember to stick to it... maybe.
It was Saturday morning so I went down the hall to knock on Amy's door. Even though I had a phone now, I didn't have anyone's number besides Thomas. Amy answered the door. When she saw me she squealed and pulled me into a hug. We jumped up and down together like little kids. Truly happy to see each other. She invited me inside.
I had never been in Amy's room before. I had wondered before why she never mentioned a roommate. Turns out, she doesn't have one. Her dorm room only had a single bedroom. Other than the missing bedroom, her room was basically a copy of mine. She started a cup of coffee and we sat down to talk about our breaks. Amy hadn't done much and hadn't seen much of Brie. Not surprising, she had probably spent most of her time with Brian.
I told Amy about my issues with my grades and told her of my plans to keep my distance from Michael and the others. She full heartedly agreed that it was a great plan. Over eager if you ask me, which made me chuckle. I think she was excited because it meant she could spend more time with me this way. I didn't think Brie would take it as good as Amy.
I remembered my phone and Amy and I switched numbers. I got Brie's from her as well. I texted Brie to let her know I was home. In reply I just got a bunch of exclamation marks. Ten minutes later I could hear Brie our in the hall happily yelling my name, trying to embarrass me.
I hadn't told Brie I was at Amy's so when I heard her pass I jumped out with a "boo!" I was trying to scare her but instead I ran face first into none other than Michael. I blushed deeply. He looked relieved to see me but I quickly turned my face from him to look at Brie. Even being this close to him made my heart flutter and my stomach felt full of butterflies. I quickly changed my focus to Brie and Brian. Brian stood beside her with an amused look on his face. Brie had her hands on her hips, tapping her foot, and her face was sporting the biggest puppy dog pout I had ever seen. I immediately busted out laughing. When I did she ran to me and gave me a big hug. When our skin came into contact she immediately dropped her arms.
"Ouch! What on earth was that?!" She complained rubbing her arms. I was pretty surprised. Brie had definitely touched my skin before and hadn't been shocked by it. I thought it was only certain people, but guess not. It's just random apparently.
"Sorry, I guess I shock people. Need to learn to pick up my feet I guess." I grumbled. I was pretty annoyed that it kept happening. Brian and Michael both laughed. I ignored them, trying to keep my determination for what I had to do. I was worried if I even spent a little bit of time with Michael that I would fall right back into the same pattern.
"Could Brie and I have some time just us?" I questioned full of uncertainty. I didn't want to hurt their feelings but I had to do this. The guys just grumbled and walked away. Not before Brian kissed Brie sweetly. As they walked away I could feel Michael's gaze on me. At that moment I suddenly feel another intense headache. The necklace got hot and heavy for a second before returning to normal. When I turned around the guys were out of sight. Amy looked at me with concern but didn't say anything as Brie and I walked into her room.
I explained to Brie about my scholarship and my decision with Michael. I knew it would effect her too. I was praying she would be understanding. She was disappointed but said she understood and would try to help. I just really didn't want to lose my scholarship! We spent the rest of the day together talking. Turns out while I was gone Brie and Brian had gotten really close. She was now spending most nights with him in his room, or he stayed with her in ours. I cringed hoping she kept it to the bedroom. She blushed crimson and I knew I needed to disinfect the shared quarters in our dorm.
The whole time we were talking, Brie seemed to be holding something back. But whatever it was, she wasn't sharing so I dropped it. I noticed a bandage on her neck but she just said she burnt herself while straightening her hair, I felt like she was lying but didn't push it. When it started getting dark Brian returned, alone, for Brie. She told me she was going to stay with him and left. Amy said I could sleep on her couch but my bed was calling my name. I said goodnight and went to my own room. As I drifted to sleep I heard distant howling.
I opened my eyes to see a woman standing in front of me. I don't know who this woman is or what's wrong. She has beautiful silver hair that's matted with leaves and sticks. Her face though beautiful is distraught, her face is a very creamy pale color. Her lips are as red as blood. She has tears running down her face and a bruise just below her left eye. She's holding my necklace in gloved hands. The moonlight shines on the single engraved word "Noel".
For once I know that this is a dream and I try hard to pay attention to the things I can't ever see.
"Take this." She says, "Noel! Take this and run. Put it around your neck and never, NEVER take it off. It will keep you safe."
The woman hears something and turns around to look, then looks back at me with panic and sorrow in her eyes.
"Amiah, are you sure? What about when it's time for her to shift, assuming she does." I hear a male voice behind her mumbling. I can actually make out the man's face as he walks up behind the woman and squeezes her shoulders. He has dark brown hair the same shade as mine and the exact same blue eyes as I have, but brighter, his eyes seemed to almost glow. He is muscular and tan. Scruff covered his face and he also looked beaten up. He takes the necklace, wincing, and slips it over my head.
"You have to keep this on to keep you safe. With it on no one will be able to tell who you are. When the time is right and you're safe you can take it off forever. But not until you're safe Noel. Please listen baby. I love you so much!" The woman said quickly, you could feel the heartbreak in her voice.
"I love you Noel, now you must run. Run as far as you can. We will come for you, just run and be safe!" The man said urgently.
"Noel! RUN."
I hear screams and growls as I'm running as fast as I can. I make it out of the woods and onto a street. I hear the woman's blood curdling scream before I'm blinded by a light and everything fades to darkness.
I woke up, sitting straight up. I had more information! The woman, I think my mother, was named Amiah! And I saw the face of the man and heard his words! All this new information was swimming in my head. I had to try to find them! They could still be alive! I pondered what they said about the necklace and a shift but wasn't sure what it meant exactly. I had no way to know if I was 'safe' or not so decided to continue wearing it. It was almost a security item for me, something I always had that made me feel safe.
Today was Sunday, and tomorrow would be the first day of the second trimester. I needed to drop off my records from the group home and wanted to go to the library to try to find something about my parents. I was really trying not to get my hopes up but it was hard. I had a name and knew what both of them looked like!
I gave Miss Baker my records. She thanked me and wished me well and I left. I had never been to the dorm library but it was easy enough to find. I spent hours searching online but ultimately came up empty handed. Slightly disgruntled I left to head back to my room. On the way I heard people mumbling in sad voices, and even some sniffling. I glanced to where the sound was coming from and saw most of the residents of the dorm out there. I saw Amy, silently bawling her eyes out near the back and walked to her. When Amy saw me she threw herself on me, still careful not to make skin contact, and I helped her walk back to her room. She was crying ugly tears by then, sobbing. Only word I could make out was "Brie." My heart dropped.
When we arrived back at her room I gave her time to calm down before she was able to tell me the story, still between sobs. Apparently Brie had, for some unknown reason, gone into the woods alone last night. She was hurt pretty bad and currently in the intensive care unit at the near by hospital. My heart broke and my head swam with questions. Why would she be out there? Why was she alone? Where was Brian?! I cried with Amy but I was mad, how could Brian let her go alone.
I could feel my anger rising. I started feeling the familiar headache and the burn of my necklace but I didn't care. I barely even registered the pain. Amy was clueless what was going on, until I felt like I was about to explode out of my skin. My anger was rising until everything went black.
I woke up feeling groggy and unsure of my surroundings. I opened my eyes to Amy's scared face. She looked me all over before her eyes fell on my locket.
"I think it hurt you..." Amy said quietly while looking at my locket. "I think maybe you should take it off." I just shook my head at her and sat up slowly. I could see the concern in her face so I gave her a smile to let her know I was okay. She was already worried about Brie, she didn't need to worry about me too.
With the thought of Brie I sat up, I ask Amy and she agreed we should go see Brie. So we got around and left. It was getting late but we were together. It was a short walk to the hospital. It was connected to the dorms that Brian and Michael lived in.
We ask the receptionist where Brie was, she told us the room number and pointed us in the right direction. Amy seemed extremely uneasy being here but was braving it for Brie, I assumed.
We rounded the corner to her room. We could barely hear low voices coming from her room. I clearly heard the word 'werewolf', right before Amy pushed open the door, announcing that we were there. The voices immediately stopped and I glared at her. Whatever was going on I wanted to hear it. Her eyes were open wide and she had an innocent look plastered on her face. I turned back to those who were talking.
It was Mr. Lincoln, Michael, and Brian talking with a man who I presumed was a doctor. The broke up their conversation the second that Amy had pushed open the door. Mr. Lincoln and the doctor bid farewell to the guys then to us before walking out the door. After they left I looked down at Brie. My poor friend was unconscious and covered, from head to toe, in bandages. She had a tube down her throat and several drip bags running through an IV on her arm. I cried at the sight of her, as did Amy. We held each other.
Suddenly anger rose inside me. I could feel it itching to get out. I let go of Amy and stood up straight to face Brian. I could tell he was torn up about this but my anger didn't care, my anger didn't see reason. I felt the headache coming, but once again I was able to ignore it. My necklace started growing hot and felt like it was almost vibrating as I stared Brian down. I then smacked him as hard as I could across the face. I felt like he would retaliate. I could see the anger in his eyes. I knew he wanted to. But I could also feel the anger rolling off of me. He went to his knees and dropped his head. What on Earth was that?! Stunned, all the anger left me as quickly as it had come. The headache faded and the necklace cooled. I fell to the ground in a heap right by Brian. I could see the tears leaking from his eyes even with his head down. Instantly I felt awful for what I had just done.
"Brian... I..." I started to apologize but when he looked me in the eye I saw the hate. Hatred for me, and even more so, hatred of himself. On the side of his face was a perfect bright red imprint of my hand. I clasped my hands over my mouth and instantly started crying. "I'm so so sorry! I swear I don't know what came over me!"
Brian locked eyes with me and nodded before running out of the room. Everyone else in the room was silent. Amy wasn't looking at me and Michael stared at me with a hard expression. He walked out the door after Brian without saying a word. What is wrong with me? I don't have a huge temper and I'm certainty not violent. It's like I can't seem to control myself anymore. Thankfully Amy nodded to the door and we walked out together after telling Brie goodbye. My head was such a mess, and I felt awful for the entire scene. Especially because someone I considered a best friend was laying on the bed, in a coma, in the same room, while I flipped out. I have never been so ashamed of myself.
"He deserved it." A very elegant voice whispered in my head.