Part Three- Chapter 48

"...We die, we turn, we are reborn as we deserve to be reborn, based on our doings in this world."

—Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

DARYA P.O.V

Sitting in one corner of the classroom, I was noting down the important points regarding plant pathology that the guest lecturer was discussing. That was when I felt someone's eyes on me. My wolf tensed warily and began sniffing the air around me.

All my classmates were humans and I knew all of them, so I wasn't suspicious. I didn't know the guest lecture but he was human and there was nothing fishy about him either.

Thinking it to be some sort of mistake, I shook my head and continued taking down the points. However, I stopped writing and the pencil slipped from my fingers while my wolf bristled aggressively. Something was seriously wrong and she could feel it.

I looked around the room and then turned my head to look outside the window. The only thing I could see was the library building and through the windows, I could see some students sitting and talking in hushed voices. Yet, my wolf kept growling repeatedly.

"Darya" my neighbor poked me in the arms and I jumped in my seat. Only then I saw the lecturer frowning at me.

"Sorry" I said to him and lowered my head. However, my wolf was pacing inside me, wondering what was wrong. At times like this, I seriously wished that I had Quillon's gifts.

Another ten minutes passed before she finally settled down. I was so relieved that I actually huffed. That once again attracted my lecturer's attention and this time he asked me a question regarding the rise of diseases in plants. Thankfully, I knew the answer to it.

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Half-an-hour later, the last bell rang and collecting all my things, I walked out of the classroom. I was confused by my wolf's strange behavior. She felt something was wrong and I knew I had to trust her instinct because she was right ninety nine point nine percent of the time when it came to things like this.

Konrad was dead, but that didn't mean I didn't have any threats. There was still Sanity and that girl is a psycho. She might be young at age but I still won't spare her life if she comes to attack me. She has killed too many people without even blinking. She was ruthless and now that Konrad, is dead I knew she would target me or my family.

Quillon had suspected it too. He had had some people looking for her after Leah's warnings. It had been a good whole week since I got accepted as the Luna of the pack and almost a month since Konrad died, yet Sanity hadn't made any move to attack me.

Besides Sanity, Quillon even hired an agent to shadow Maxwell. He hadn't got any proof against Maxwell, but once he gets, I knew Quillon would either kill Maxwell or forever imprison him.

As I walking through the long corridors, my wolf wagged her tail in excitement and I turned my head to look at Quillon's Lamborghini in the parking lot. My heart fluttered in my chest and a smile curved on my lips.

It's our new routine. Every morning, he drops me till the Emperor border and from there; Mikhail picks me and drops me till college. But every evening, Quillon himself comes to pick me up. Students passing by couldn't help but stare at that luxurious car. And once the girls look at Quillon, they would keep looking.

As I recalled that, I scowled and then raced downstairs. While I reached the entrance, my eyes met Quillon's who was sitting in the driver's seat. Smiling, I descended the stairs—

THUD!

Gasping, I trembled and took a step back as I stared in horror at the unconscious body, a few steps ahead of my feet.

Everyone froze and turned to look at the dead body of the girl who jumped from the roof of the college building.

My bag dropped from my hands as I watched the blood oozing from the corner of her head. Another girl, who was just behind me, puked out when she saw the blood. Maybe it wasn't just the blood. Maybe it was the shock of seeing someone committing suicide.

"Darya" Quillon wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to his body while I just stared at the dead girl. I had seen her before... she was a junior. "Darya... look at me" Quillon cupped my cheeks and forced me to look at him.

I did, yet I couldn't stop my eyes drifting towards the girl.

"Step back. Step back" the guards ordered as a crowd circled around the dead body. One of the guards, crouched down and checked her pulse. "She is dead" he said to the other guard.

"Did you call an ambulance?" a lecturer asked.

"Already did" one of the students said.

"Someone please take Emily and Darya to the ladies room" the principal who arrived there announced. Emily, who had puked after seeing the girl jump, had fainted soon after. "I will send a doctor soon" he said and then urged the students to step back.

"Darya" Quillon said and I swallowed audibly.

"I am fine... I..." I couldn't continue. Instead, I stared at the dead girl. Was this why my wolf behaved so anxiously?

My wolf was also perplexed because she was pacing inside me.

"What's her name?" the principal asked staring at the dead body of the girl.

"Katherine Robertson" someone answered. "First year student!"

"Darya... come on" Quillon began and urged me inside the building but I shook my head.

"Was someone in the roof with her?" the principal then asked the guards.

"No sir"

"I... I want to go home" I told Quillon and he nodded.

"Let the doctor check you up Darya" Dr. Chapman, one of my professors, said. Probably, everyone realized that I was in shock.

"I will take care of that sir" Quillon assured him and then walked me towards his car.

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We drove in complete silence until Quillon stopped the car in a vacant road. "You have water in your bottle?" he asked me and I nodded. "Drink it" he said and I did the same.

"You knew her?" he enquired after I gulped the water down my throat. I had stopped shaking but I still couldn't get the image of Katherine dropping dead in front of me, out of my head.

"No. I had seen her in passing... I... I don't know why would she commit suicide?"

"Maybe she had some problems" Quillon said quietly. Maybe... but I still couldn't calm my rapidly beating heart. I had been scared when I saw her drop like that from the roof of the university building. She was a human, so there was minute chance of her surviving a fall from such height.

"It was unfortunate that you had to see that" he said and I closed my eyes.

"You didn't see her in the roof?" I asked him massaging my temples with the heel of my hand.

"No... I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings" he replied, rubbing his thumb on my wrist. His touch was comforting to me and slowly, I felt myself relaxing.

"My wolf was behaving weirdly in the last period..."

"Why?" Quillon questioned seriously.

"I don't know... I suppose she saw this coming" I sighed and then rested my head against his arm. "I didn't know Katherine but I still feel sad" I told him.

"It happens" he said and kissed my temples. "She might have had some problems in her personal life which made her take such a drastic step. You will find out soon. Just don't stress yourself over it" he said and I nodded.

"Do you still want to go to Grier Pack?" he asked after sometime and I shook my head. We were supposed to go to Grier today so that Kasey can figure out exactly what she had seen in Quillon's past but now, I just wanted to sleep and forget what had happened.

"My head is aching. It's better if we return to our house" I muttered closing my eyes.

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College was closed the next day. Enquiries were done by the police and no one found anything wrong in Katherine's personal life. Academically too she was a bright student and so, her suicide was shocking to everyone. She had no health issues either. No boyfriend problems... nothing! No one knew what made her take such a drastic step.

To me Suicide is a painful because one has to beg, plead for death to come. The body refuses to give up and struggles to survive but the soul has already given up. When a person believes there is no hope they commit suicide. I dislike suicide because I consider it a sign of negativity... then again; I shouldn't speak about it because I don't know what the mental state of the person who committed the suicide was.