Chapter Thirty
The Dream
I was almost positive that I was dreaming. The fact that Ivy was sitting at the bottom of my bed wearing a white sundress with her long hair flowing freely down her back pretty much gave it away. But just to be sure I crawled to the end of the bed and poked her arm. She seemed solid.
"Ivy?"
"Why did you just poke me?" She scowled just the way the real Ivy would have; maybe this was real.
"What are you doing here?"
She shrugged. "Am I not allowed to visit my sister?"
"Yeah, but how did you get in?"
She stared at me blankly then smirked. "How should I know? This is your dream."
"So this is a dream?" Disappointment filled me like a ton of lead.
She laughed merrily, further solidifying the dream theory. Ivy never laughed so freely. "Don't look so sad, Willow," she cooed.
I sat back more comfortably across from her. "So why are you here?" I asked again.
She raised one perfect eyebrow. "You're not doing too well here, are you?"
"It's a lot harder than we thought it would be you know. Just wait until you have your own pack to lead, then you'll see."
"I don't have long to wait now. Soon I'll be of age and I'll have your pack." I clicked my tongue in disapproval. "What's this?" Her face lit up as mine darkened. "Do you mean to tell me that you've grown attached to them?"
"It's different than I thought it would be," I scowled.
She laughed again, the sound filling up the room and making it lighter somehow. Without thought, I was smiling with her. It was just like we were kids again, back when it was us against the world. Before we morphed and came to realize just what the world was.
"I don't know what to do," I admitted softly.
"But you do, Willow."
"I do?"
She nodded eagerly. "Despite all her faults, Bella taught us how to lead a pack."
"There are so many things that go wrong."
"Just follow your instincts, sister, the rest will fall into place." She turned suddenly to look behind her as if someone had called her name. When she turned back to me, her eyes were wide with terror. "I have to go."
"What? We're in my dream. Why do you have to … " I looked behind her but I saw no one.
"I know, Willow, but," she grasped my hand tightly in hers until her knuckles turned white.
"What's wrong Ivy?" From somewhere far away there was a steady sound of pounding. Footsteps? Someone with very heavy footsteps.
"It's almost time, Willow," Ivy said in an urgent whisper.
"Almost time for what?" The pounding was getting louder.
"It's almost time for you to come find me."
My heart slammed to a stop. This wasn't the first time she had told me that. "What?"
"Please, Willow," she cried loudly over the pounding. "It has to be you. Only you can save me."
"How?" Panic was starting to claw at my throat, making my voice sound funny.
"You have to be strong." She gave a little shriek as something unseen grabbed at her arm. Thin lines of blood marred her skin.
"Ivy!"
"You have to be strong, Willow," she screamed. "Come find me. Don't let him eat my heart."
The pounding was so loud I had to let go of Ivy's hand to cover my ears. There was a bright flash of light and her face changed grotesquely. Her cheeks and eyes sunk, giving her the eerie similarities of a skull. There were cuts of dried blood all over her face and her eye was black and blue with bruises.
"Ivy?" I cringed low when another flash lit up right above me. Then, very suddenly, Ivy was gone. "Ivy!" I screamed again; over and over until my throat hurt. All the while the pounding continued.
I jolted awake so abruptly that I fell out of my bed, slamming my head into the bed frame. "Ohh," I groaned. There was a tickling sensation on my forehead and when I brushed it away my hand came back streaked red. "Ouch," I whined.
The pounding from my dream sounded again, making my chest tighten painfully. I skidded under the bed and shoved my fist into my mouth to stop myself from crying out. It wasn't until I heard Rueben's voice that I started to come to my senses.
"Willow," he called, "if you don't open this door in three seconds we're coming in. One."
I scrambled back out from my hiding place, cursing under my breath when my hair got caught in the springs.
"Two."
With a hard yank, I freed myself from the bed but had to sacrifice several strands of tangled red hair.
"Three."
"I'm … I'm fine," I called still trying to catch my breath. "I'm fine, Rueben. I just had a bad dream."
"Who's in there with you?"
"No one." I looked around the room just to be sure but I did appear to be alone. The sky outside my window was light but overcast a dark grey so it was impossible to guess at what time it actually was.
"We heard you talking to someone." There was a pause of silence. "Gage is out here with us, so we know it's not him."
I rubbed harshly at my eyes, which were still tear filled from my bizarre dream. What had that been about? Was Ivy in real danger? I wiped away my tears, causing more blood to get on my hand. I pinched the bridge of my nose, my mind still fuzzy. I had forgotten that I was even bleeding.
"Willow?"
And the boys. "Yeah?"
"We're coming in." The door handle turned but they didn't open it all the way, uncertainty evident.
"No, I'm fine," I called weakly.
"Someone is in there with you," Rueben's voice came more clearly through the cracked opening, "just tell us if it's … you know … a private thing."
"A what?" What did that mean? Who did they think was in here? "I'm alone, Rueben, so alone." I sniffed loudly and bit down hard on my knuckles. "I had a really bad dream, I was probably just talking in my sleep." My voice came out warped and throaty but they didn't come in. "Um," I cleared my throat, "what are you guys doing here?"
"Can we please come in?" Jed asked very softly.
I puffed out my cheeks and quickly swiped once more under my eyes. "Yeah. Ok."
One by one the boys slinked into my room, staying pressed against the wall. "Are you all right, Willow?" Gage asked cautiously.
"Yep." I nodded my head quickly but stopped when I realized they probably couldn't see me. I pulled myself up to sit on the bed facing them. "I just had a bad dream."
"What the hell happened to you?" Gage roared. He was the first on the bed but there was a soft blur of colors as the others crowded close.
"Nothing!" He gripped my chin roughly and turned my face from side to side. "What are you doing?"
"You have blood all over your face."
"I do?"
"What happened?"
"I … uh … " I closed my eyes tightly, trying to think of what could have happened. Then I remembered. "I fell. Off the bed."
"You fell?" Gage obviously didn't believe me.
"Yeah, I hit my head." I gingerly touched the gash on my head. "It's fine, though."
"And your hair?" Jed tweaked a place on my head.
"Got caught on the springs."
"You fell under the bed?" Gage's eyes narrowed slightly.
"No," I pushed his hand away from my face. I would probably have a bruise there now. "I crawled under the bed when I heard you guys knocking."
"Why would you do that?" Jed asked, his eyebrows nearly as low as Gage's.
My head still felt foggy though and it was hard to tell what was real and what had been a dream. It felt like I had been under water for too long and was still trying to catch my breath. "I … uh … "
"Why would you want to hide from us?" Jed asked again.
"I didn't know it was you. There were wolves coming for us - I thought you were them."
"There's no other wolves here, Willow," Gage's voice had become softer.
"No. You guys scared them away but they took Ivy." I shuddered at the memory.
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"Ivy was never here."
"Is Ivy her sister?" I heard Steven ask. I didn't hear an answer but it didn't matter.
"I know," I half sobbed. "It was just a dream." Several hands reached out to pat various parts of my body. My head, my back, my arm. It might have been comical any other time, but the dream was too fresh. I flung my arms out to ward them all off. "Why are you guys here anyways?"
"Time for school," Rueben mumbled.
"Gage said you went to bed upset," Rodney added.
"It's time for school already?" I looked again towards the window. "You guys can go, I'm staying home."
"We'll stay with you," Tyson offered.
"No," I shook my head and took a shaky breath. "You guys go."
"We're not leaving you alone." Rueben looked like the very suggestion was offensive.
"I'm fine. I just need to go back to sleep. You guys go … do some damage control." I smiled weakly at Steven.
"What does that matter now?"
"It always matters, Colby." I squeezed his hand briefly. "Good practice."
"We don't want to leave you like this," he said solemnly.
"I know you don't, but I'm going to have to insist on it." I pushed my hair firmly behind my ears. "You guys go to school and I'm going back to sleep." I waved my hand in a wide arc, shooing them all out of my room.
Reluctant, but obedient, they all filed out until it was only me, Jed and Gage. "You can't sleep," Gage said in over exaggerated sadness.
"Why not?" I started to scruff up my face but realized that my head was kind of sore.
"I don't know how hard you hit your head but you are definitely not acting like yourself."
"I'm fine," I said for what seemed like the fiftieth time.
"I don't think you are," Jed seconded Gage's opinion.
"I'm tired."
"You go shower and I'll cook breakfast."
"I'm not hungry."
"I know you're not, but I'm going to have to insist on it."
My lips turned up despite the quivering I still felt in my stomach. "Fine," I groaned.
"That's my girl." He pinched my chin before bouncing off the bed.
"You're just a great big bully!" I called to his back as he and Jed left me alone again.