69 Chapter 69: The red vial

They had gotten out of the cave with the help of the stone. At first it didn't want to let them go. But Elize ensured the stone that she will return for it, when the time comes. She had no idea when it was. But it was the only thing that she could say at the moment to ensure the mystical object. Zack had looked at her weirdly when she was talking aloud to the stone. She ignored him. She didn't want to deal with his bullshit right then. She had more on her mind. If what Zack said was true and his grandfather was back, she was not too eager to go out of the cave. But since, her absence could lead to a full blown war, she gave in to his request.

In the blink of an eye they were outside the cave, at the exact same spot Elize was before they fell in to the water. She remembered her horror at falling in. She drew back reflexively from the bank. Elize didn't want to go through the same passage again.

'I will wait for you chosen one.' The Tohar Sehlah's voice echoed in her head.

Elize looked towards the cave and waved before turning towards the edge of the forest. Tall trees demarcated the boundary between the clearing and the forest. She didn't want to go back in there, given what had happened to them earlier. Zack had transformed into his wolf as soon as he had come out. For some reason, he was back to his golden brown fur. There were no white stripes on his body and his size was also smaller than the big wolf she had seen Zack transform into a few days back. His wolf 

'Please get on. We don't have time.'

'I'm not coming anywhere with this thing.'

'This is my fastest form Elize. It's dangerous for you to stay here like this. We need to get going now.'

'No!'

Elize didn't see it coming. She was suddenly thrown up into the air. Before her scream came out, a brown blur appeared beneath her. She tried to grab on to it by instinct. Her fingers locked on to smooth fur. Before she knew what was happening, she was on the back of Zack's wolf moving from one tree to another in record speed. 

"Damn you!" She cursed as she clung on to his neck for dear life. 

She didn't know if she should be feeling glad or angry. He was the one who said that they had to maintain a distance. Now it was the same him who was carrying her on his back. What did he really want? Why is everything so confusing with him? Elize thought as the wind made her hair kept slapping against her face. She had finally decided to trust him above everyone else. How should she be feeling if he was trying to push her away?

As Zack took a sudden jump towards the ground, her heart dropped for a second. Her grip on his neck tightened and she closed her eyes. The feeling was nothing short of terrifying to her human senses. For some reason, she was scared that she'd fall off his back. She was so scared that she didn't know that they had already landed. 

"Ehem." Someone cleared their throat. 

Elize slowly opened her eyes and looked around to see her brother and Irina in front of her. She sighed in relief, knowing that she had landed safely. Her reaction was not unnoticed by Zack whose shoulder suddenly got stiff. Elize looked away from his sad eyes in guilt. 

'Do you not trust me anymore?' His voice sounded in her head, tinged with sadness.

''I want to. But you're not really helping the case here." She replied.

"What?" Alex asked, startling her.

Elize turned towards her brother in shock. Oh shit! She had said that aloud!

"Oh it's nothing. I was just joking with Zack here." She replied with an awkward chuckle.

She slid down from the giant wolf's back and landed smoothly on the grass surface. With a happy sigh she slid into her brother's open arms. She was relieved to see him. Finally, she felt relieved. She had gone through so much after the ritual. She got to kow things she wished she never had to know. If there was one person in the whole wide world who'd always be on her side, it was her brother. Alex's arms around her tightened as he chuckled.

"Hey! You're squeezing me here!" Elize complained, trying to wriggle out of his grip.

"Haha! I heard you're human now! How are you going to get back at me?" Alex teased.

Elize narrowed her eyes at her brother. "Don't try to play me dirty just because you're stronger than me now. Once I turn, I'll be as strong as you." She replied, jutting out her tongue at him.

"Let's have a match then!" 

"You're on!" She replied, giving him her widest grin.

Alex loosened his grip on her and stepped back. With a heartfelt smile, he extended his hands towards her head. Elize grabbed it and patted herself on her head with her brother's hands. Alex laughed as a response. 

"I'm glad you're here kiddo. I've been worried sick." He said, cupping the side of her face with his free hand.

Elize felt warm inside, seeing her brother smile like that. She had missed him more than she could explain. But somehow she had missed Zack more while she was away. She thought back to the moment they had met at the edge of the pack boundary. Zack was more shocked than glad to see her. Was he not happy to see her from the start? Did something change between them during the time that she was unconscious?

"So am I." Elize replied, absentmindedly.

"Me too." A musical voice cut through her distraction.

Elize turned around to see the beautiful red haired witch who had been away from the Island in the past few days. Ever since the incident with the wraiths, she'd been missing. Agatha had said that she had gone back to her homeland for some important task. Elize being who she was, didn't ask more than that. She didn't like to pry into other people's lives. She had missed Irina dearly during the time, and now she was glad the witch was back, at a time when she needed her friends most. 

"Irina! Oh how I missed you!" Elize exclaimed, rushing towards the witch. 

Irina welcomed her with open arms, their embrace mixed with their laughter ringing through the clearing.

"Haha! Me too kiddo! Me too!" Irina said, patting her back.

Elize enjoyed the embrace for a minute or two when suddenly she broke away, looking at the red haired witch with surprise.

"Wait, so did Alpha Li really come back?" She asked, hoping that that particular information that Zack had passed on was wrong. 

It's not like she disliked his grandfather, she hated him with her every being. The man was always doing all sorts of ominous things, and what he had done to her on the night that she had suffered from the Dam Sehlah was not something that she could easily forget. The darkness that always latched itself on to him was much potent than those of wraiths- a clear indicator that he was up to no good. Elize was not too glad to find out that that very man had possibly returned.

"Yeah. The situation is quite bad." Irina said, shaking her head.

"Then shouldn't we get going?" Elize asked, as if it were the obvious thing to do.

She wanted to look him in the eye and curse him for his actions that finally had lead to her becoming a mere human. If he was really stirring up trouble, then her actions would be justified, she thought.

"She isn't going anywhere." His commanding voice interrupted her thoughts. 

Elize looked towards the direction from which the voice came. Zack stepped out of the vehicle wearing one of his many black t-shirts and a khakhi shorts. For a moment, she was awestruck at the sight of the man. He didn't look like the lost puppy that he was a few moments ago. The man walking towards her radiated power and might. His Alpha vibes were back. Wait, did getting his car back give him an ego boost or something? For a moment, she was reminded of the transformation of Zack's wolf during the attack. Was that all in her head? If not, why had his wolf gone back to normal ever since then?