DALIA'S POV
“All of you kneel! Kneel before your one true king. The man sitting on the old, rusty iron chair proclaimed, ”
Wolves twice the size of a normal wolf bent their heads, a sign of respect to their king.
Turning to the man standing beside him, he asked him.
“How many made it through the ritual?”
“Only 20, my king.” He answered, bowing his head.
“We only have 50 werewitches!” He shouted angrily, getting up. “You haven't been doing your job properly. Maybe you need to be taught a lesson to help you do better.” He screamed. He raised his hand and pointed it to the man. The man held his neck, wincing in pain and gasping for air.
"Please, my lord, I promise to do better; give me another chance." He choked out an apology to the king.
“How was he able to do that without touching the man?" I wondered. “And why couldn't anyone see me?’
The king suddenly turned to where I stood, baring his red teeth at me. I shouted in horror and woke up from the dream.
Sighing loudly, I cleaned the beads of sweat on my forehead. Why do I always have such dreams?
“Maybe I am a wolf.” I said, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud at my own stupidity.
I looked around my room, wondering what to do with myself today. Being a sickly child, I have been homeschooled by my parents all my life.
I decided to go on a walk. I have always found peace in the quiet and calm forests close to where I lived with my parents.
My parents were already out for the day, so I dressed and left the house.
After walking for a while, the weakness started to set in; even though I enjoyed taking walks in the forest, I could never do that for long because of my sickly body.
I sat down on a rock, breathing heavily and trying to steady my rapidly beating heart.
I looked around and realized I was close to the part of the forest I was always warned by my parents not to enter. But weirdly, I felt a pull from there. Something in me was urging me to go there.
I got up and walked slowly towards the section of the forest. Clearing the way with my hand, I expected to find monsters, but I was met with a garden of beautiful flowers. The forest was magnificent.
The sun washed the garden with a golden glow, and the daisies peeped through the pea-green grass. The daffodils looked as yellow as the ducklings in the pond. Bunnies bounced through the garden like frogs with fur. Bird songs fill the garden.
It was wide and open, sloping gently down to a cosmic-blue river. It was truly magnificent. It left me breathless.
I kept going, enjoying the view, until I realized I had lost my way. Everything looked the same, and now I couldn't find my way back.
Frantically searching for a way out, I didn't notice a rock in front of me until I hit my leg on it. The force of the hit propelled me forward. I lost my footing and fell and rolled down the field.
My ribs hit a rock, and I let out a loud cry. I kept grasping onto any branch my hand felt, but they broke each time, and I kept falling.
When I noticed I wasn't rolling anymore, I opened my eyes and groaned. All my body ached, and I was certain I had broken a few ribs. I couldn't get up from where I lay because my legs felt numb and couldn't move.
Having no other option, I prayed to any God that was listening to not let me die. I regret not listening to my parents.
“Why did I come here today?" I thought to myself. Regretting my actions.
“Are my parents even going to find my body? Maybe they will only see my bones after the wild animals have eaten the flesh.” Tears fell from my eyes. I was in so much pain.
As much as I tried, I couldn't get up. Tears kept rolling down my cheeks, and suddenly I heard howls of wolves and paws digging into the earth. From the sound, I could tell they were running in my direction.
“Is this how I am going to die?” I shouted. Great fear gripped me as the sound of their paws hitting the earth got closer. I closed my eyes tightly and held my breath. I heard somewhere that wild animals often left if they noticed you were dead, so I practiced it even though I didn't know how true it was.
After a while, I didn't hear the sound of the wolves. I turned my head around only to behold a big brown wolf. A creature I have only seen before in movies and books. It looked magnificent but scary at the same time.
It raised its neck and howled loudly, causing other wolves to appear behind him. I didn't know when I would get up to my feet. The fear in me gave me the strength I needed to finally run.
I was immediately tackled from the side by another wolf. I hit the ground and lost consciousness.
I woke up and found myself in a hospital. Alarmed, I tried to get up but noticed I was chained to the bed. The last memory before I blacked out flashes into my head. The big brown wolf with deep blue eyes was the last thing I remember before losing consciousness.
“I must be remembering it wrongly,” I murmured to myself.
“It's impossible that I met wolves, and I am still alive in a hospital with no part of me missing.
All the thoughts swirling around my head were causing my head to spin. I was about to lose consciousness again when a lady entered the room.
“It seems she has woken up.” I heard her telling someone before I lost consciousness again.
I woke up again, and this time I was more aware of my surroundings. The hospital looked like every other hospital. I have been to a lot of hospitals, so I can tell. The windows were covered with blue curtains, and I was hooked on some machines. The constant beeping of the machines was annoying me, but I knew better than to unplug them.
“Someone must have found me in the forest and taken me to the hospital.” I thought to myself.
I tried to find my phone to call my parents, but I was chained to the bed.
“But why am I chained to the bed? Did I destroy private property when I was in the forest?” I wondered.
Realizing that I could only find out what was going on when someone came to check on me, I decided to relax.
Soon after, a lady walked in.
“I see you have regained consciousness.” She said, checking on the machines I was plugged into. “How are you feeling? She asked and suddenly started laughing. “That was a stupid question, wasn't it? I'm sure your body aches all over.”
“Where am I? Who are you? Where is my phone? I need to call my parents.” I rattled out questions.
“Calm down, young lady. You will get your answers in due time. But for now I should go tell Beta that you are awake.” She turned and left the room.
“Beta? Not a doctor? Or is the beta someone’s name? I shouted after the woman, but there was no reply. “Maybe that's the doctor's name,” I concluded when she didn't answer.
All my attempts to get up proved abortive. Not only were my hands tied, I was in severe pain.
The lady returned with another man and another lady.
The man had the same color of eyes as the wolf I met in the forest, and the lady's eyes were the exact replica of the wolf that tackled me to the ground. I remembered clearly because I didn't know it was possible to have such blue and green eyes.
Confused, I shook my head to remove the thoughts because it was impossible.
“Who are you people? And where am I?” I asked.
“We are asking the questions here, young lady.” The man said. “Who are you and what were you doing in our territory?” He barked out.
“Territory?” I asked confused. I was only taking a walk in the forest when I accidentally kicked a rock and fell; I rolled down the slope and got severely injured.
I started laughing. “You won't even believe what happened to me. I saw wolves, like actual wolves. You don't believe me, right? I also don't believe it myself. I wonder why they didn't eat me.” I said, looking at them and laughing, expecting them to join me, but they all looked serious.
“Your eyes look just like those of the wolves I saw.” I looked at both of them. “One was just as blue as yours,” I pointed at the guy, and the other was just as green as yours,” I pointed at the girl. Looking mesmerized
They looked at me surprisingly. The lady asked,
“Are you human?”
I laughed even harder at the stupid question. Causing my ribs to ache.
“What kind of question is that? Am I supposed to be a spirit?.” I was stunned at the question, and I was also getting a little worried about how weird they are.
The lady turned to the other man. “She seems to be human, but she doesn't smell like one.” She said.
"Okay, you guys are getting me scared now. If it is a prank, please stop, and can someone give me my phone, so I can call my parents? I want to go home.”
But none of them were listening; they all turned and left the room.
Tears fell from my eyes. Something felt wrong with this place. “It seems I have fallen into the wrong hands,” I cried out. “What have I put myself into? I could have just stayed home!” I lamented as I cried even more.