Chapter 254: 254-Fighting The Lurkers
Clementine:
After we returned to the room, I went straight to the bathroom to take a shower. The mark on my neck looked strange. The bite was huge, and even the canine marks were so big they’d turned blue and red.
I thought about Ian’s wolf. In that moment, his wolf radiated such a negative vibe, something dark and unsettling, that it scared me. It was something different, something I might have felt in the North before, though I couldn’t recall when.
After I showered and changed into a black shirt and loose black pants, I walked out of the bathroom, my hair still wet. Everyone else looked anxious and upset, while Ian lay comfortably on the bed, his arm draped over his eyes, shaking his leg like he’d done nothing wrong, and it angered me.
I stood there, glaring at him. From the corner of my eye, I saw Troy watching me, then the others too.
"Clementine, go back to your bed and rest," Haiden whispered from the side, reminding me not to do anything stupid.
But I kept staring at Ian, unable to get over the fact that not only had he hurt me, but he’d also forced his mark on me.
"Clementine," Troy called, trying to break my glare from Ian.
At that point, Ian moved his arm from his eyes, glancing toward Troy to see what was going on. Then he followed Troy’s gaze and saw me standing at the foot of his bed.
Before Ian could react, I jumped on the bed, climbed on top of him, and wrapped my fingers around his neck.
"Hey, hey, knock it off!" Haiden shouted, rushing over to pull me off Ian.
But Ian caught my arms and flipped me over before anyone could reach us, pinning me beneath him.
"Let her fucking go!" Troy hissed, trying to pry Ian’s hands away as Ian forcefully tightened his grip around my fists, pinning them above my head. He pressed down on me, making sure I couldn’t move.
The others tried to pull him off, but he wouldn’t budge. His eyes stayed locked on mine, his face so close I could feel his breath against my skin.
"What do you think you’re doing, huh? You think you can wrap those fragile little fingers around my neck and kill me? You have no idea who you’re messing with, Clementine. So accept my love and be grateful that I’m willing to give you affection instead of hatred," he muttered, his voice low and sharp.
I struggled beneath him, but he had me pinned like a brick wall. Even the others couldn’t pull him away.
"You heard me?" he hissed.
"I’d rather take your hatred and be your enemy than your lover and your mate," I shot back in the same tone, my voice full of anger and disgust.
He didn’t look pleased with my response.
"Well then, bring it on. I think it’ll be fun watching you crumble and cry in front of me," he laughed, while the others kept trying to pull him off me.
They finally managed to free his arm and drag him away. That’s when Yorick slipped beside me. Ian yanked me out of his bed and forced me to stand on my feet.
That’s when Troy attacked Ian. The two started punching each other nonstop. Things got heated and ugly in the dorm room, and I should’ve known this would happen one day because of Ian.
As Troy and Haiden joined in, we suddenly heard a loud scream that froze everyone. The raised fists hung in midair, and the heavy breaths turned silent. I bet everyone even stopped breathing, and their hearts must have skipped a beat like mine did. That’s how agonizing and full of pain the scream was.
"Let me go!" the voice shouted again. "You think you can fucking bring me here and everything will be over? No!" She kept screaming and crying.
I recognized the voice. Shocked and confused, I rushed toward the door. As soon as I opened it, we all ran out. Ian took a little longer to follow, though I didn’t know why.
We stood in the passage, staring at the lurkers dragging one of our crusaders back in the most heart-wrenching way.
"Let me go!" Oriana screamed even louder. Her legs gave out beneath her, she wasn’t even trying to walk. She pressed all her weight down, resisting as hard as she could to stop them from bringing her back to the academy.
We immediately ran toward them, trying to see what was happening and why they were bringing Oriana in such a state. It looked not only disrespectful but also confusing.
If she had the same kind of punishment as us where her vacation ended abruptly shouldn’t they have brought in her other group members too? Why was she the only one being dragged like that?
As soon as we reached the red passageway, we watched the lurkers drag Oriana along the ground by her arms. We stood in a line, blocking them from moving forward. Ian didn’t join us. It was just the rest of us, the sane ones.
"Let her go!" Haiden yelled.
Oriana looked at us, but it seemed she’d been crying for a while. Her eyes were swollen shut. She managed to get on her knees but didn’t stand, still crying in a heartbreaking way. It didn’t seem like she was crying because they’d brought her here, it felt like the cry of loss, of mourning.
The lurkers didn’t respond. One of them pulled out a gun.
"If you think that will scare us—" As soon as Troy said that, the lurker shot him in the shoulder, and his body jerked back.
"What the fuck!" Yorick screamed, leaping at the lurker.
The lurker started to pull out another weapon, aiming at Yorick. But Yorick shifted into his wolf so fast that he was already on top of the lurker.
The others dropped Oriana and went for Yorick, trying to pull him off. At that point, I jumped in, kicking one of the lurkers and shoving another away from Yorick.
It turned into chaos quickly where Haiden and Troy joined as well.