Chapter 2: HALLUCINATIONS?

Chapter 2: Hallucinations?

Just when she thought it was all over, the werewolf suddenly stopped attacking and ran off into the night. Aria was left lying on the ground, injured and alone. She didn't know what to do or who to turn to.

She struggled to get up, her arm still bleeding profusely and she stumbled on her way to at least find some sort of transport to get herself treated.

She hailed a cab to a nearby clinic to get her wound treated. As she got into the cab, she covered her bandaged arm with her oversized jacket. The pain was still fresh in her memory, but she tried to keep herself calm and composed.

As she entered the clinic, a nurse greeted her, "What happened to your arm, dear?"

Aria tried to compose herself and lied, "I was attacked by some wild animal, but I couldn't make out what it was."

The nurse nodded and proceeded to clean and treat the wound, "Well, you're lucky it wasn't worse. You'll need some antibiotics to prevent infection and a tetanus shot just to be safe."

After the treatment and the drugs being administered, She headed back home, covering her bandaged arm with her oversized jacket.Of course,she did not want anyone to find out about what had happened.Lydia was waiting for her at the door and asked why she was so late.

"I had a long day," Aria replied, trying to hide the pain on her face.

Lydia sensed something was off and followed her to her room, "Are you okay? You seem upset."

Aria sighed, "It's nothing, just some severe headaches. I'll be fine."

“Do you need some drugs to ease the pain?”

“I already took some but thanks anyway.” Aria said as quickly as she could and dashed to her room.

She took off her jacket and looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was pale, and her eyes were tired. She examined her arm, and the bandage reminded her of what had just happened,standing out against her medium brown skin. She felt pity for herself and wondered why this had to happen to her.

Suddenly, she found herself sobbing uncontrollably. She couldn't understand if she was crying because of the pain, the fear, or the fact that she missed her mother so much. If her mother were here, this would not have happened. She cried for a few minutes until she was able to regain her composure.

“That fucking bastard!” She cursed under her breath angrily.”Whatever that thing was…”

She tried to shake off her emotions and focus on the present. She knew she had to be careful and keep her wound a secret from her family. She didn't want them to worry about her.

Besides how was she going to say a werewolf bit her?.

Aria took a deep breath and dried her eyes. She drew a quick bath,changed into her pajamas and crawled into bed. She felt exhausted from the day's events and hoped that sleep would bring her some relief from the pain and emotional turmoil.

But she could barely sleep a wink that night.

Sleep only finally came when it was 5am in the morning.

Aria’s eyes flew open as her alarm clock blared much louder than usual. She groaned and reached for the snooze button, but as she moved, she realized something was off. Everything seemed so much clearer and sharper. It was as if she could hear Chloe's laughter from her room and even her phone conversation.

How was that even possible?

She got up from her bed, wincing as the pain shot through her arm.

She couldn't believe it. Her sense of smell and sight had increased. She looked around her room, everything seemed brighter and more vivid. She was getting a little bit scared. What the hell was happening to her?

She made her way to the kitchen for breakfast, but felt uneasy. Lydia could tell something was wrong right away. "What's wrong, Aria?" she asked.”Are the headaches still there?”

"Nothing, I'm fine," She lied. She didn't want to worry Lydia. She had to figure out what was happening to her first.

“Alright,grab some food,I made your favorite.”

At school, everything was too loud for her sensitive ears. She had to cover her ears every time the bell rang. In class, the sound of the chalk on the board was unbearable. She couldn't concentrate on anything.

Finally, during lunch break, she ran into the bathroom to calm down. As she entered, she heard two girls whispering at the other end. Normally she wouldn't be able to hear them, but now their voices were crystal clear.

"Did you hear about Leo? He's like some hot rich billionaire everyone's crazy over. I heard he's into threesomes," one of the girls said.

“Leo Argent?” The other girl responded.”I really can’t wait to have him inside of me.”

Aria rolled her eyes. Stupid girls waiting to be fucked by some stupid boy.

Who the hell was Leo Argent anyway? She had heard a few things about him but had no interest.

Once the girls walked out giggling,she could hear someone crying in one of the stalls.

Aria hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should give the girl some privacy, but she knew how lonely it could feel to be crying alone.

As she stepped out of her stall, she saw the other girl opening her stall door.

The door creaked open, revealing a girl she had seen around school a few times before. Zoe, that was her name. Aria remembered that she had unintentionally been rude to her when she just transferred.

“Are you okay?” Aria asked. “I could hear you crying from the end of the bathroom.”

“I don’t think I was that loud,” Zoe sniffled and wiped her nose.

Right.

“Why are you crying? Is everything okay?”

“What do you care? And also don’t fucking tell anyone you saw me crying you hear me?”

Aria could smell the saltiness of the girl's tears.

"I'm sorry," Aria said. "I was going through a rough patch. I didn't mean to be rude before. Are you okay?"

Zoe shook her head and let out a sob suddenly. "My parents are splitting up," she said.”I’ve been trying to be strong but things are so hard right now.”

"I'm so sorry," Aria said. "That's really tough. Do you want to talk about it?"

Zoe nodded, and the two girls sat down on the bathroom floor, talking for what felt like hours. Aria listened as Zoe poured out her heart, sharing the pain and confusion she was feeling.

“This shit is fucked up,” Aria sighed.

“Tell me about it,”

“Things are gonna turn out fine eventually,” Aria said,trying to make her voice sound reassuring. She was also trying to reassure herself as well.

“That’s an unusual oversized jacket but it’s quite pretty,” Zoe commented.

“Shhhh” Aria put her index to her lips.”I am trying to hide a wound from my family.”

“I’ll keep your secret.” Zoe tried for a smile. “You know? I see you totally being my new best friend.”

“Just maybe. Talking to you seems easy enough.” Aria rose to her feet.

“How about we go get some icecream? I need one after crying my eyes out.Is my makeup ruined by the way?”

“You look like the Wicked witch from the West,” Aria felt a smile tugging at her lips and Zoe’s eyes widened in horror.

“I gotta fix that ASAP! I can’t ruin my reputation,”

Aria watched in amusement as Zoe raced to the mirror fixing her smudged mascara and applying powder as well as lipstick to her face. Zoe was easy on the eyes. With wild blonde hair held in pig tails,smokey eye shadows,bright white alabaster skin and an extremely petite figure, she looked like a baby doll.

She was sporting a very skimpy black dress that showed just the right amount of cleavage, her rose tattoo on her left tit very visible.

Eventually, they decided to head over to the cafeteria to get some ice cream. It was like they had gone from being strangers to close friends in just a short time.

After they were done waiting in line for their ice cream, Aria accidentally bumped into a guy who was walking past, spilling her cup of ice cream all over his shoes.

Aria's heart sank as she looked up to see the most gorgeous fuck boy in school, Leo, standing in front of her. He was very tall and muscular, with dark curly hair and piercing blue eyes. His perfect features were marred by a look of annoyance as he glared down at his ruined shoes.

The Leo Argent. Her rotten luck.

"I'm so sorry," Aria started. "I didn't mean to-"

"Are you kidding me?," Leo interrupted, cutting her off. "You know how expensive these shoes cost? You’ve got eyes yeah? Use them properly and watch where you're going next time.”

Yeah,rude motherfucker.

He turned away to leave but then stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her,with shock and recognition in his eyes.

Okay creepy.

Leo's wolf suddenly spotted her. He could feel his instincts kick in, telling him that this girl in front of him was his mate.