Stella's POV

My heart raced in my chest as I backed up against a stone wall. In front of me was the large shadow creature and took a step closer to me. Its arms dragged on the ground as its black eyes looked into me. Silently, it took slow steps closer to me with a blank expression on its face.

"What do you want?" I begged it for an answer as I flattened myself against the wall.

The creature stared at me silently before vanishing into nothingness.

<>

With a gasp, I shot up in my bed covered in sweat. I kicked the sheets off my body and choked out a cough as I tried to take deep breaths.

"That same damn dream. It's just a dream," I muttered as I rubbed my face. I got up from my hot, suffocating bed and shuffled to the bathroom.

As I turned on the light in the small bathroom, I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I looked tired. It wasn't healthy for me to continue to have the same dream over again. This was the fourth time this week, and the image of the shadow haunted my mind even as I stood here.

The monster had to be from Churchwell. I was sure of that. But what I didn't understand was why I continued to have the same dream. It always chased me, silently, however I didn't know what it wanted from me. All I knew was that I needed to get away, to protect myself. But how dangerous was it?

My phone showed the last text message I sent to Gray, begging for him to text me back. There were so many questions that he could answer. I needed him. I missed everything about him; his laugh, the way he bit his lip as he wrote in his notebook. I just wondered if he missed me just as much. He probably didn't because if he did, he would have contacted me.

"Gray, please just answer," I mumbled with a sigh. Although I knew it was halfhearted. It had been a month and a half since I returned from Churchwell. If he hadn't contacted me yet, he wouldn't contact me. That much, I was sure of.

I washed my face as my mind drifted back to the night of the battle at Churchwell. As unwelcome as the memory was, it still popped into my mind like a door-to-door salesperson.

Graywick took me up to that castle room and showed me to the royal family. In that room with all four of them staring at me, he wanted to prove that anyone could be royal like them. Surviving the Darkling scratch was proof that I could be a half blood, whatever that really meant. He tried to tell them that because of their rules; they were killing people. He wanted to see change, but they casted a spell around me. They told him I had to die.

I took another deep breath as I gripped the sink as my heart raced. I never would have the chance to tell Gray what they wanted to do to me. They told me I was a danger because I lived. There was so much I wish I could have said to him before I left. Instead, I said little to him. The more I thought about it, the more frustration bubbled within me.

As much as I wanted to fall back to sleep, I knew I wouldn't be able to. All these emotions caused me to remain on edge, unable to calm myself down.

In the night's silence, I heard shuffling upstairs and anxiety hit me. With the darkness blanketing the room, it gave me some sense that it was too early to wake up. But as I checked my phone, I realized that in just a mere 30 minutes, my alarm would go off. I drew conclusions that the shuffling upstairs was just dad, getting ready for his day at the office.

With a sigh, I changed into my outfit for the day and walked up the stairs to see Bec making a pot of tea.

"Hey, want a cup?" Bec asked with a smile as I sat on a seat on the island.

I yawned, then shook my head. "Nah. I'll just take a cup of coffee."

"You are just like your father," she said with a chuckle. "You're up early today. What's up?"

"Just thought I would get a start on studying early today."

She nodded, taking the answer as the truth.

"Ah, Bec, and Stella, look at this! We are all up early today," dad said with a smile as he walked into the kitchen. "Stell, did you call your mom yet?"

My mind went back to the choppy connection phone call I had with her the night before. She mainly talked about her project, so the call was easy but long. "Yeah, I called her. She told me to tell you thank you for pushing me to call."

He beamed as he poured a cup of coffee for me, then him. "Since we are all up, Bec and I have some exciting news to share," he said as he wrapped his arm around Bec.

"We're pregnant!" she shouted with an enormous smile.

For the first time in over a week, I felt pure joy and excitement. For a second, I didn't worry about the monster that haunted my dreams. All I could feel was happiness for Bec and my dad. They had been trying for a while and this news was so exciting.

"What?! I can't believe it!" I smiled as I got up from my chair and gave Bec a hug.

"You're going to be a big sister," dad said with a smile.

I smiled at both of them and nodded. "I never thought I would be such a thing."

"You'll be an amazing big sister," Bec said as she hugged me again.

"Ok, I need to know details. How long have you known? How far are you along?" I asked, hoping to get more information from them.

Bec quickly drove into how she knew for a few weeks, but it wasn't official until yesterday when she took a pregnancy test. "This time is different. I can feel it, Stella. I'm not going to lose this one," Bec said confidently as she took a sip of tea.

I nodded as I reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze. That much I prayed for.

By the time it was time for school, the excitement from the morning news had worn off. I was back to my sleep deprived self. With a yawn, I pulled my books from my backpack and looked at the time on the wall, knowing I had another five more hours to stay here.

"Hey, you, you ok?" Alice asked as she stared at me that morning in class.

I yawned with a nod as I pulled out my books. My normally curly hair was slicked back and pulled into a ponytail, my clothes slightly wrinkled. I gave very little effort into my appearance today as sleep still hung over my head like a rain cloud. "I'm fine. Just tired."

"You look tired."

"Gee, thanks," I said as I rolled my eyes at her.

"Hey, I'm just being honest here. You have looked tired most of this week. Anything up?"

I shrugged as I thought about the nightmares I had almost daily. "I think I'm staying up too late studying."

"Oh, that's a slippery slope there, my friend."

"You got that right."

"Anyhow, I was going to go ski today after school with Bobbie Jo. want to come?"

I thought about the homework I had, but the thought of escaping for a few hours sounded more exciting than I would like to admit. I never thought I would enjoy skiing, but it was actually more fun than I thought it would be. "Sure. I'll come."

Alice beamed at me as the teacher walked in. "Great! We can ride together after school."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll text Bec to tell her not to pick me up."

"Oh, and just an FYI, Eli might join us."

For a second, I ran the name in my head to see if I knew him. "From math?"

She nodded. "I think he has a thing for you."

And just like that, I didn't want to go any more. I was not interested in meeting anyone, especially when Gray was still on my mind. "I'm not sure about that."

"Are you serious? He's hot and you're hot."

"Well, at least we have that in common," I said sarcastically.

"Right? That is what I was saying to Bobbie Jo," Alice said, not picking up on my sarcasm.

"Ok, please tell me you all did the reading last night," the teacher said to the class.

Time passed by and soon I was sitting at a lunch table with Bobbie Jo, Alice, Timberlynn and a few other people that Alice deemed as friends. I picked at my food, half paying attention to the conversation the group had. It wasn't until some said Gray that I looked to see who said it.

Bobbie Jo leaned back in her chair and shrugged as she said how she put together a homework packet for Gray.

"Who picked up the homework packet?" I asked, speaking up for the first time since lunch began.

"A woman does once a week. I think it's his stepmother."

"It's actually his foster mother," I corrected her. "Else?"

"I don't know her name. Honestly, the less I know about that boy, the better. I just get such an odd vibe from him. I'm glad he's gone," Bobbie Jo said as she took a bite of her salad.

Alice carefully looked at me, making sure I wouldn't rip into her. Bobbie Jo was new to the group; she didn't know how I felt about him. I could almost hear Alice whispering, 'be nice' under her breath.

"Maybe it's because you don't know him. He was really sweet if you knew him," I said, trying to keep it as nice as I could.

"That's not Alice told me. She said he was still odd even when you got to know him better. Well, I guess that's what you get when you're a killer."

I glared at Alice, who quickly looked away from me. I bit my tongue, although I wanted to chew Alice out in front of everyone. They didn't know who a killer was. Gray was not a killer. He was a good person, and they would never accept that.

"He's not a killer," I snapped just as the bell rang. With that, I got up from the seat and walked away from the group, ready to have a better conversation.

The lunch conversation was practically the only thing I thought of the rest of the day. I fumed over the words said against Gray. But also hoped for the thought of seeing Else. Maybe if I was lucky, she could relay a message to him. Soon Else and that hope consumed the anger I felt against the rumors that people continued to spread.

I think Alice knew she stepped out of line with the lunch conversation too because it wasn't until we were at the ski resort when Alice spoke again.

"I'm sorry about lunch," Alice said as she sat down beside me.

My head snapped up to meet hers. We had been silent until now, but I wondered if this was the right place to have the conversation. "I don't know why the school still talks about how he's a killer when there is no solid proof. That he is."

"You know how rumors are. They are hard to kill."

"They are if you keep those rumors going."

She frowned, not liking the conversation. "It's not just my fault."

"No, but you don't even try to defend him. You have talked to him. You had interaction with him. Do you really think he is a killer?"

She chewed on her lip as she got her ski boots from a bag. "Everyone has their opinions."

"I guess they do," I mumbled as I snapped my ski boots to my feet. Suddenly I wondered why I came here to begin with. I should have known this would not turn into anything enjoyable, especially after lunch.

As I stood up, a pounding headache came to me almost immediately, knocking me back to the bench I got up from. It caused me to grimace as I pushed against my head, hoping to ease the pain.

"Are you ok?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, just a headache."

"Oh, those are the worst. I have some painkiller," she said as she offered a pill bottle she got from her coat pocket.

"Please," I said as I took the bottle from her and downed some pills.

We were silent for a moment as she put the pill bottle back where she got it from. "I am really sorry about how the lunch conversation was handled. I know how you feel about him. I'll do better to not bring up those rumors."

"Thank you. That means a lot to me."

"I know," she said and stood up from the bench. "Let me know if that headache doesn't go away. I can always take you back." And with that, she left me in the locker room to wait until the main medication kicked in.