#Chapter 145: Sacrifice
Nina
The sound of the rogues echoed closer. Enzo gave me one final shove up the ladder; I had no choice. I climbed up the rest of the way and crawled out onto the forest floor, sobbing as Enzo reached up and yanked the hatch shut behind me. The last thing I heard as the hatch shut was the sound of the rogues advancing on Enzo and the low, deep growl that rumbled in his throat as he shifted.
That sound was immediately replaced by the sound of frightened gasps, shrieks, and running footsteps through the woods. I looked up to see that the students had scattered, because we were surrounded.
Ronan and Lisa stood in front of me. On either side, they were flanked by their werewolf minions in their wolf forms; Ronan’s hockey team. “Hello, Nina,” Ronan said with a grin, approaching me.
Suddenly, Tiffany jumped in front of me, arms outstretched. “You stay away from her,” she snarled protectively. Ronan merely rolled his eyes and snapped his fingers. In the blink of an eye, two werewolves pounced on Tiffany. I watched in horror as she was knocked to the side. My view of her was blocked, but I heard a scream, a sickening crunch, and then silence.
There wasn’t even enough time for a sob to escape my throat before Ronan stormed toward me and grabbed me by my arm, yanking me to my feet.
“Why are you doing this?” I begged. Meanwhile, Lisa only stood behind him with a grim smirk on her face, “Lisa, you knew Tiffany!” I screamed, struggling against Ronan’s grip to no avail. “She was your school doctor! How could you let this happen?!”
Lisa didn’t answer. Before I could struggle anymore, Ronan let out an exasperated groan and dragged me away from the hatch, through which I could hear Enzo still fighting the rogues. “Go chase down those students,” he said to his minions. “Lisa and I will handle this one.”
“Let me go!” I shrieked, digging my heels into the forest floor and struggling with all my might to get away from Ronan. I managed to wrench myself free somehow and sprinted back toward the hatch, lunging for it with the hopes of opening it so Enzo could at least see that something was wrong, but I suddenly felt something slam into my back and throw me to the ground. Ronan grumbled something behind me that I couldn’t quite make out, and then I felt him pick me up and throw me over his shoulder. He began to walk with Lisa trailing behind him, both of them ignoring my pleas for them to let me go. Even as I pounded my fists against Ronan’s back and kicked my legs as hard as I could, he didn’t budge. All I could do was scream as loud as I could in the hopes that Enzo would hear me, but the hatch never opened.
As Ronan carried me away, I lifted my head and blinked through my hot tears, watching the lifeless form of Tiffany’s body being dragged away by a werewolf and the hatch, along with the sounds of Enzo fighting, faded into the distance.
I wasn’t sure how long they carried me for. To me, it could have been hours or minutes. I eventually stopped struggling as I realized that Ronan wasn’t letting me go.
Finally, we stopped. Ronan tossed me off of his shoulder and onto the ground like a sack of flour, causing me to groan in pain and wheeze from the sudden force.
“There you are,” an all too familiar voice said. It felt as though my heart stopped. My throat constricted, leaving me unable to scream or even speak. All I could do was stare up with wide eyes as a tall, dark figure walked into view and crouched next to me. Edward. He reached out, smiling, and brushed a bit of hair out of my eyes.
“You’ve been very naughty,” he murmured. “But it’s okay. It’s over now. I gulped. “Are you going to kill me?” I choked out. Behind Edward, I heard Lisa’s abrasive, cackling laughter along with Ronan’s low chuckle, but Edward only smiled and shook his head. “Of course not,” he said gently. The snu a hand under my back and helped me sit up. I flinched away from his touch, scrambling to my feet and taking a few steps backwards- but Ronan stepped into the way before I could leave.
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
“I think you know already,” Edward replied, stepping toward me again now that I had nowhere to go. “The choice is simple. Come with me willingly, and the assault on your dear campus will end. If you don’t come willingly…. Well, you’ll still be coming with me, but everyone here will die. So, the choice is yours: life or death for your precious friends?”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I snarled. “You already killed Tiffany. She loved you, you know.”
Edward chuckled, then waved to someone behind a tree. I looked to where he was gesturing, my eyes widening as I saw one of Ronan’s hockey players step out from behind the tree with the dean. They had her wrists bound and her mouth gagged, and her eyes were frantic.
“I know that Tiffany had a bit of a crush on me since college,” Edward said nonchalantly as the hockey player brought the dean over. “It’s a shame. She was such a pretty girl, but… Not my type, as you well know.” He paused, then gestured to the hockey player again. The hockey player released his grip on the dean and allowed her to run over to me. I immediately reached out and untied her wrists, then pulled the gag out of her mouth. Edward and the others just… let me do it.
“Nina,” the dean whispered, her voice shaking, “don’t listen to him. Don’t-”
Edward sighed. Ronan swiftly grabbed the dean. His eyes flashed yellow, and then she fell limp, unconscious, into his arms. “If I was truly a monster, I would’ve had her killed already,” Edward said. “1 promise I’m telling the truth. Come with us, and this whole thing will be a lot easier. Your friends’ lives can go back to normal. No one will remember a thing.”
I didn’t want to believe him. But either way, it seemed that I had no choice but to go with him. “What about Enzo?” I asked. Edward chuckled again. Behind me, I heard Lisa let out a small, annoyed growl.
“Your sweetheart will be fine,” Edward replied. “In fact, he’s looking for you now. If he finds you, I will have to kill him… Understand?”
I glanced over my shoulder, praying deep down that Enzo would come running now and rescue me but if it really would only put him in danger, along with the rest of the campus, then I had no choice.
“Fine,” I whispered. “I’ll go.”
A sly smile spread across Edward’s face. He snapped his fingers, and a purple, swirling portal grew behind him just like the one from the night that K tried to kidnap me. I gulped again as Edward stepped up to me and took my hand. His demeanor was calm and gentle, but his grip was so strong it hurt.
“I think you’ve made an excellent choice,” he said with a smile. “After you,” I swallowed, my heart racing uncontrollably… then took a deep breath and stepped into the portal.
