Shattered Silence

PROLOGUE

Thunder clapped from the skies and I rose to my sitting position in an abrupt manner. Sweat drifted down my forehead, trickling down my face. My eyes were wide as I placed a hand above my head, trying to ease the throbbing ache. I can feel my heart thumping inside my chest.

I’ve been having dreams from the past few nights.

But I just don’t get it . . . when I wake up, there are no memories of it in my brain. It felt as if, the more I tried to remember what happened, the more it fades away. The dream appeared to be slipping from my grasp.

I grabbed my hair due to frustration and growled at myself.

How can I not remember?

-*-

“You seemed really . . . worn out.” Rosy quipped as I took the seat in front of the table and stared at the plate full of food. I shrugged my backpack off my shoulder and placed it beside me.

We are currently facing the other members of the pack inside the pack-house. Aunt Farris, Rosy and I were forced to stay here for a while because of the damage done to our house from the last battle between Darren’s pack and Adrian’s flock. The Michaels didn’t seem to mind. They said it’s their littlest way of apologizing for the destruction they caused. However, Adrian was helping rebuild the broken sections of the house.

I yawned and waved my hands at her, using my sign language. “For the hundredth time! You can speak, kay?” She shoved a spoonful of her food inside her mouth and chewed.

I smiled at her with a blank expression. “Sorry, I forgot.” I yawned again, covering my mouth. Grabbing the spoon, I scooped up a Zoe’s Japanese fried rice and sliced some egg. “Wow,” I said, swallowing the food I just chewed. I wasn’t surprised—it always tasted good. “You really are a prodigy in the kitchen, Zoe.” I looked at Darren’s mom and she beamed at me.

“Woop! Finally, someone recognizes how delish my dish is!” She giggled.

“Mom, stop acting like a child . . . please? Why can’t you be more serious like you did before?” I glanced at my right to see Darren. His blonde hair was messy and he was wearing a button-up shirt with fading jeans. He stole the seat beside me and rubbed the back of his neck while doing so.

As he looked at me, a smile curled onto his face.”Hey, babe.” He winked.

I raised a brow at him questioningly, making him chuckle. "Don't call me babe . . . it's pretty annoying." I told him. It didn't really flatter me. It sounds more of a punch line. Well, because it is. I prefer being called by my nickname or full name. Babe sounds really uncomfortable and Saf was still cuter.

“You seem pretty upset. Anything wrong?” He asked, his expression shifting from cocky to a worried one.

 “No. Just didn’t get enough sleep.” I said.

“But the Saf I know wouldn’t let her sleep-depraved self to get into the way. Tell me, something’s bothering you.” It was Rosy who spoke up.

I glanced between Rosy and my food. “How can you know me so well?” I chuckled.

“Because I’ve been with you since we were in diapers. It’s normal for me to know.” She answered while chewing and pointing her fork at me. “Now, tell me what’s up.” It was more of a command.

“Just a bad dream.”

“Another one? Come on, Saf! Tell me what you have been eating before going to bed. Had any midnight snacks lately?”

“I think I took some chips to fall asleep?”

“That’s it.” She pointed out, grabbing the glass of water and downing it all. “Now cheer up. You can’t stay forever looking like a zombie.”

“I do?!” I stood up from my seat in alert and began running back to my room.

I heard laughing behind me and I turned back to see that I was tricked. “You gotta be kidding me, I look just fine!” I exclaimed, smoothing down my red hair.

“Not a while ago! You didn’t.”

I smiled and shook my head, the bothersome thoughts leaving me. I walked back to my seat and sat down. For a minute, I felt happy again. But the feeling I had minutes ago refused to leave me completely. I can’t help but think of it. But right now, I’m relying on them to help me.

From the past few days since the war occurred, since I regained my voice back and since I met Darren, I never really thought my life will change drastically. All because Darren was brought to me.

I never really doubted the feelings he had for me. He’s been really sincere about it and treated me as gently as possible. I was surprised when he didn’t rush me. He seems pretty contented of me just being by his side.

“Eat up! We’ll be late for school!” I heard Rosy whine.

I smiled slightly while shoving another spoonful of Japanese rice inside my mouth. It was Rosy's usual line. Even if we are early at school, she always say we're going to be late.  

“You don’t have to whine you know.” Daniel grumbled. “Sometimes it gets pretty irritating.”

“But I thought you said—“ She paused, gasping in shock. “Are you only saying those things to flatter me?”

Daniel looked at her with his brows puckered. “Did it work?”

Rosy’s face turned red. “You—“

“Now, now. I was only kidding!” He put his hands up in mock surrender and smiled at her sheepishly. “But seriously,” His expressions faltered. “Stop whining.”

Rosy smacked him at the back of his head. “Jerk.” She huffed and stood from her seat. She started walking out of the door which looked pretty amusing.

“Wait for me, babe!” Daniel followed her out of the room.

“No! Don’t call me that! You're really acting really weird and I can't stand it! Can't you be more practical? Tell me! You aren't even . . .” Their voices eventually faded, causing a few members of the pack to chuckle.

Lucky for us Aunt Farris isn’t here. She’s away on another business trip of hers. If she's here, she'll be scolding us off.

“Seems like they are bickering again.” Zoe said, smiling to herself.

“As always,” someone mumbled, but I didn’t catch who it was.

I sighed. I did not need to call her Z1 because Z2 isn’t here. The fact that I’m calling her that is only so that it’ll be easier to call which from which. Both of them found it amusing when I told them why. I just wished Z2 could be here right now. She’s got some business with Adrian, though. But she promised she’ll come visit when she got time.

“Come on,” Darren slightly nudged my side. “We have to get going. I don’t want Rosy yelling at me again.” I stood up from my seat, snatched my bag from the floor and followed him.

I waved at his mother before finally leaving the room.

School.

School’s been like hell from the past few days.

I know that since I can talk now I should fit into the society. But no, things only had gone worse. I tried so much to convince Darren to hide my situation a secret. But he told me to show off and be proud.

Of course, this led to Caitlin’s humiliation when I spoke in front of her. Since then, she’s been making my life in school worse when Darren isn’t looking.

I can sing beautifully, like many people say. I was often praised because of it. No one expected a mute to have an exceptionally alluring voice. But as my life folds to a simple happiness, another hell would strike again. And if there’s hell, there’s a devil.

Caitlin didn’t make my life any better. She appeared to be unsatisfied about making my life and Rosy’s worse. I can’t believe she was already spreading rumors about us without us knowing. When we arrive at school, we’ll hear different things concerning us—and they aren’t even true! Mute or not, that girl’s been getting to my nerves.

Prom night is also approaching.

I’ve received a couple of invitations which I never really expected I would have, but I am waiting for a special someone to ask me—if he even decides to ask me. I mean—there’s a big possibility Caitlin would beat me to it.

-*-

I rode with Darren while Rosy settled on Daniel’s convertible. The whole ride’s been utterly quiet, besides the blaring music that was projected by the radio inside Darren’s car. I’ve been too much occupied what kind of situation I will be facing again once we arrive at school.

I never really understood why Darren was so rich. He’s got a bike, one average car, and one sports car. Despite of that fact, I never took the advantage of spending their wealth. Besides, their hospitality’s been enough for us. With them allowing us to stay on their humble home, it was already more than an honor.

Did I just say werewolves can be possessive? Since Rosy discovered that she and Daniel were mates, Daniel never allowed Rosy to be lost from his sight—besides the situation with the Aves that occurred just weeks ago. Darren, as I noticed, he’s been a bit cranky from the last two days. Even if he’s sweet a few times, I got to admit he’s been around me less.

Both of them didn’t much tell us about their kind, but I suppose it got something to do with that.

Snow on South Carolina was still there and still fell. The weather was still cold, so we all were wearing trench coats to keep us warm. We were still on the winter season, and Christmas passed a few weeks ago. But I'm still happy. 

Turning my head to the side so I can have a good look at Darren, I noticed he was biting his lower lip. His eyes were strictly focused on the road, never even sparing me a single glance. He was gripping the steering wheel tightly, causing the muscles to bulge from his skin. I can see he looked so bothered.

Concerned by this look, I reached out my hand and placed a hand on top of his shoulder. Just making that move caused some sparks to erupt under my fingers—as if the heaving had sent down the tingles to pelt down my skin. He was a bit startled by my sudden action, but quickly relaxed himself after a while.

Frowning, I began speaking. “Are you okay, Darren? Is there anything wrong? You've been acting really weird.”

I can't help but relate this situation to what Rosy said a while ago . . . 

I saw him stare at me through the corner of his eyes. “No . . . I’m fine. I’m just thinking about something. Really—I’m good.” No matter how much he tried, I can’t get myself to believe on what he was saying. He wasn't pretty convincing.

So not wanting to push it any further, I pulled back my arm and settled it above my lap. I nodded my head in understanding. “Alright. Whatever you say,” I told him. “But if there’s anything bothering you,” I added, glancing back at him. “You can tell me.”

Besides the big change, he’s been acting really weird.

 I'm not really good at doing sequels, guys. I tend to get really lazy when it comes to the second book. Forgive me if I deleted Shattered Silence on my wall. I've been really busy lately and I'm ging to explode. =\