SERAPHINA'S POV
It begins to slowly descend on me as the weakness spreads to the rest of my body.
I've been betrayed.
My body loses control over itself and I tumble backwards off my seat and onto the hard-tiled floors of the cafeteria, feeling the entirety of me quake in anaphylactic shock.
Still, all I hear is only an increased tempo in their murmuring.
There is curiosity but no concern or gasps of horror, no one rushing to my aid to help - no one caring.
It's like they've all been brainwashed to see someone shivering in pain and not give a shit, especially when that someone is me. The pain only grows increasingly unbearable, like molten lava spreading to every bit of me though my veins.
"I did just like you asked me to, Alpha." I hear Gabe speak now, but to someone else.
All sounds seem faded but I hear the conversation clearly.
And from nowhere, that demon, Artemis, pops into my vision, a sly smirk on his lips while Gabe bows to him with respect over and over again, accompanied with a hint of nervousness.
"You carried it out perfectly. As agreed, you get an immunity for one more week." He commends Gabe, placing his hands on his shoulder and my supposed 'friend' lights up like a Christmas tree with blushing cheeks.
He bows again.
"Thank you for your kindness, Alpha. Thank you so much!"
"Yeah, yeah." He waves him off, already bored with his presence.
Gabe wastes no time, scurrying off by walking right over me, only pausing for a second to stare right into my eyes and his are as empty as before. Then he passes by as though I'm nothing but a speck of dust on his feet.
"G-G...Ga-be." I manage to force the words out of my lips, desperately reaching for the sweet boy who'd been a bit of a relief to me for these few days, but he's already gone, never turning back even once.
"Aww, the sting of betrayal. I'm thinking about basing the school's next drama on a story like this. It'd be a musical titled 'Seraphina and the peanut.' A beautiful tragedy about a human girl who thought she stood a chance." Artemis speaks now, taunting me with that cruel grin on his lips.
He bends down, close enough that I can hear his next words clearly even while I'm in my own agony and I feel my consciousness slowly seeping away from me.
I can't make out the rest of his features except those piercing predatory blue eyes.
"Did you like my gift? I made it myself." He refers to the sandwich he purposely poisoned for me. "I hope it was to your taste; I'm not much of a good chef."
More tears pour out of my eyes uncontrollably as I sob.
"Why?" I just barely whisper to him. Speaking now is painful and a drag. Even the coldness in his eyes chills me despite the fact that I might just really die this time.
Just like Olivia had warned.
"Why?" He chuckles at the question like he finds it stupid without a shred of remorse. "Because it's my haunting desire to be your worst nightmare, darling. I promised to bring you to your knees, to make you beg for a mercy I might not spare, and clearly, I'm doing an excellent job."
"You're a p...pig." I spit out with as much venom as I could muster.
"Maybe, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm the only hope if you want to live right now. This is the part where you beg for your next breath. Beg me, Sera, and I might save your miserable life. It'd be shame to watch your pretty little fire get snuffed out because of your insufferable pride."
"I-it's c...called d-dig...nity, asshole."
"Beg for your life." He gritted, eyes burning into me.
This obsession to make me bow might just his ruin, because if this bastard thinks he could put my life in danger just to have me under his thumb, then he is in dire need of a reality check. I will not bow to a coward who parades as a prince.
"No."
"No?"
"F-fuck...fuck..." Before I can directly swear at him, my time runs up quickly and I feel my consciousness seep right out of me.
***
I'm floating in an endless sky, on the fluffiest clouds ever, just like all my dreams begin, and like all of them, nothing matters in this make-believe world.
Not even me.
All the things that bother me, the problems, the things I have to do, the werewolves and bullies-they all disappear, leaving me with a deep feeling of calmness. Time doesn't matter here, and I can do anything I imagine.
I soar through the sky, yet my own body only grows heavy, like I'm sinking deep into thick black waters. It doesn't make any sense, and I don't bother to fit logic in to any of it.
I only let myself soar.
This peaceful feeling surrounding me... I want to bask in it forever and yet, a part of me knows that wanting that would mean never waking up ever again.
'Seraphina'
A voice as light as the wind blowing though my hair whispers my name softly, drawing me into the misty fog ahead of me.
'Sera?'
I don't answer or rather, I don't think I can even if I wanted to.
There's a sudden pat on my shoulder and when I turn around, there's someone there standing so close to me with her face blurred out, but I get the strange sense that she's smiling at me.
There's warmth emanating off her as though she knows me too well. It's ethereal, filling me with an unable pull to this strange woman. This isn't a nightmare; it's too comforting to be one.
"Who are you?" I ask this mirage hiding away in my own dreams but she chuckles, the wind picking up and tossing her long brown wavy hair in the wind.
"Soon.' She whispers, her laugh sounding like the twinkling of lights before she fades into white smoke right in front of me and my eyes open.