HERE IT IS! This is the sequel to Wolfheart! This is the beginning of Darkheart and the new problems for Cale and Sara to overcome! There will be a lot more thought in this, meaning Cale's thoughts. It will probably be a little more boring at times, too. Though I may have lied. I'm not completely sure. It depends on Cale. Haha now I'm talking like some insane person again. Forgive me. Enjoy! HAPPY READING!!!
1
I ran past everyone with ease.
Running came easily to me now, and since I had my human-werewolf abilities, it came in handy during track season. I listened to the people cheering from the bleachers, trying to act as tired as possible even though I wasn't. Sara warned me about giving away the secret that easily.
I preferred to run longer distances, because before my werewolf instincts came in, that was what I'd usually run in track. The loved the wind blowing through my hair, though it wasn't as pleasurable as running while phased.
I could have probably walked the last two laps of my two-mile race. I was so far ahead of the others in my race that I almost laughed, but then remembered that I had the unfair advantage. But hey, when life gives you lemons, aren't you supposed to make lemonade? Well, it didn't matter at this point, although lemonade would've tasted so good right now. My mouth was feeling a bit dry, not that it affected my race at all, but I'd recalled the last time I drank anything was during lunch with Nat and Emmett.
I couldn't believe that our last day of school was only a week away. Then, Emmett wouldn't even be in school. But I'd have Nat, which still helped a lot. Hopefully both Sara and Nat were with me next year. But I couldn't even imagine next year happening. I couldn't imagine myself as a senior in high school. A senior! Since when?
Hey, you only have a two hundred left. Act like your tired and collapse after you pass the finish line. Just stay cognizant of who's watching, Wolf warned me.
Oh yes. Wolf. He'd always been in my head ever since that incident with…yeah. I tried not to remember Cecilia, who was still "missing". She was the reason Sara and I had our dramatic breakup in the winter, even though it really wasn't a breakup. I was still bent on killing her if our paths ever crossed again. Hopefully they would because I was even stronger now than I was before—if the strongest wolfheart any hunter had seen was capable of improving.
I kept my pace going through the two hundred meter mark and picked it up a little bit for my kick. Then, before I knew it I was passing the finish line, breathing as hard as I could to make it believable.
"Nine minutes even," the time-recorder shouted. I smiled, as if happy with my performance and watched the others from my team come in. I could've probably beaten the world record if I'd really wanted to, but a four and a half minute mile time was good enough for me—and good enough to win for the team. We took first, second, fifth, and sixth. I guessed we won. But right after I went over to Sara and wished her good luck for her event.
Sara was a sprinter, not to mention the best sprinter on the girls' team. She could probably beat all of the guys as well, but we kept an open mind on how far we should have pushed our abilities.
"Good luck," I whispered in her ear.
"Thanks…not that I'll really need it. But…good job…I guess," she said with a small chuckle after. We'd gotten used to not really meaning what we said when congratulating each other on another win or wishing each other luck. It was sort of a wasted effort.
We weren't really allowed to talk to girls unless both of our races were done, but I obviously ignored that particular rule. Sara was worth it.
As the officials got ready for the girls' 400-meter, I kissed Sara unnoticeably before she left to get her blocks ready and whatnot. I wasn't much of a sprinter, having certain pluses as a human or not. Well, at least I could run fast as an actual wolf.
Trying to get my mind of wolfhearts for the moment, I tried to think of something else. School sifted through my thoughts. Being a senior. Wow. I still couldn't get my mind off of the subject. It was just too huge. Being the oldest class in the school, then college after that. College. I didn't even know what I was going to do for college. I was practically clueless about schools and applications, and I'd set that off until now. Kariss wasn't really nervous. She'd said with my grades I could get into any school. I was sort of canceling out Princeton, though. Going to school with Jordin was just out of the question. I mean, how weird would it be going to college with your big sister? And then there was Sara. She had good grades, too, but I wanted to go where she went. I wouldn't be able to stand four years away from her. It was unthinkable and heart wrenching just thinking about the possibility.
Oh, possibility. I was trying my best to stop thinking about what was possible or impossible anymore because I truly did not know. But I thought that it was maybe the mere guess that counted while thinking if something was impossible. However, in all honesty, not even Sara could tell me what was an impossibility or not, because the world of supernatural possibilities, rather, had not been explored to that extent. Again, it was really complicated. I was just a bit obsessive-compulsive disorder about that subject: I needed to know everything.
I watched as the 400-meter runners got ready for their event. Sara was in the first heat—the fast heat. The official for that particular race spoke through his megaphone, informing the racers on his first commands that he will give them to start. Then, he blew the whistle, informing them to get on their blocks. Nat was holding Sara's blocks as she usually did, telling her good luck.
"Runners set," the official commanded, then he shot the gun and they were off.
Sara sprinted out at what looked through others' eyes to be full speed, but I knew she wasn't even close to being winded. She left the other runners in the dust and circled around the first two hundred meters in twenty-six seconds, then kept it around for the last two hundred, slowing down a bit and finishing with a fifty-four second time.
Everyone sitting on the bleachers roared with happiness as Sara came in, absolutely destroying all of the other girls that came at least five seconds behind her, which was a huge lead in a sprinting event.
Sara came up to the bleachers, acting out her tiredness as best she could and I congratulated her. She gave me a blank look and then narrowed her stare at me. I put my arm around her shoulder and she leaned on me.
"Oh, Nat's going. Hurdles are next. Let's watch her crush everyone," Sara said. We both laughed after.
Werewolf power or not, Nat was a beast at hurdles. Like, she was second in our championship as a junior, and the only one that beat her was a senior who wouldn't be here next year, so she was going to be one of the best hurdlers in our championship next year.
The gun went off. We saw Emmett holding her blocks as she shot around the first turn of the track. Nobody could keep up with her. The nearest girl was two hurdles behind her and dying out fast. It was unbelievable how many strong runners we had. And all of the strong runners were in my group of friends. Emmett wasn't exactly a runner, but he was amazing in long jump. I couldn't grasp how great the coincidence that our little group consisted of the majority of the track team's best athletes.
Nat ended up finishing first, obviously, but they never said her time, so I'd have to ask her after if she'd beaten her personal record. She looked content, though, so I guessed that she did pretty well—not that she wouldn't be happy about beating everyone in her race. Nat wouldn't be mad at that. She wasn't really a "mad" person, but quite the opposite.
"So are you and Nat in the relay?" I asked Sara.
"Duh. This team wouldn't be able to afford having a four-by-four relay without us. Otherwise we'd get creamed," she replied.
I chuckled quietly. "Oh yeah, and I'm the conceited one. I mean, you're talking about Nat also, but still. So conceited, Sara. Tisk, tisk."
"Yeah. You're such a bad influence," she reprimanded showing me a slight smile. Even though it was true that the relay would be dead without them, I still liked to tease Sara about the way she acted sometimes. It was piled on to my list of favorite things to do.
I laughed harder now. "Sure, Sara. Because I'm so bad."
"That explains how you're completely horrible at the two-mile," she replied sarcastically.
Well, I wouldn't say that…
Wolf, shut up.
Yes, sir, he obeyed in a deep voice.
That's annoying, too. You're not my dog, I said back.
Wolf didn't understand the concept of obedience. Since I won that argument back when we first met about not being the same person, I still gave him his freedom. I let him run around when I didn't feel like it. I let him take over sometimes—not as me, but when I didn't want to go through a whole full moon and he could control himself. He was also good during tests, though. It was like I had a cheat-sheet inside my head. He regretted doing it because he said that I wasn't learning by him telling me the answers, but then I replied by telling him that I would never be on my own anymore since he was inside my head. Apparently it was good enough to shut him up.
Emmett came up on the bleachers and stood next to us, leaning over the rail watching as the guys' 800-meter race went by. His face expression was unreadable, like he wasn't happy or sad or any of the emotions you could think of. He was just observing.
"Hey," I said, nodding my head in his direction.
"Hey," he responded blankly. "Good job in your races."
"Thanks," I said for both Sara and me.
"Getting ready?" Sara asked before I had the chance to ask the same question.
Emmett nodded, answering her question silently. Then, an official made the first call for long jump. Emmett moved right in one swift movement as if he knew it was coming at that exact moment. I was amazed at how he did this since he wasn't a werewolf. And I would know if he was because I could track down the werewolf smell. It was similar to everyone's, but one person's werewolf smell was mixed in with their own scent, which made the difference.
Five minutes later the second call for long jump was heard. Emmett was getting ready doing pre-event stretching enough that it wouldn't hurt him before jumping, and doing drills to warm up until finally the last call came.
Sara and I made our way down to the runway. Emmett was third in the order against the opposing teams, whose names I didn't bother to remember because it would just be another win all the same.
The first jumper, Brandon Conway, who sat next to me in Spanish made his first attempt but failed because he stepped over the line. Then a guy from one of the other teams with long blonde hair that went down to his shoulders jumped fifteen feet, eight inches. He walked away from the sand pit reluctantly, displeased with his first performance of the three chances he would get.
Emmett was next. He stepped up to his mark on the runway and started out, gradually gaining speed until he was at a full sprint. He flew into the air, his foot about an inch away from the line, and landed into the sand pit, making his footprint.
The official called, "Twenty feet, one inch."
Emmett was extremely happy with this jump because he'd beaten his personal record by two inches. I silently congratulated him, giving him a smile, as did Sara. He returned it with the same gesture.
We waited for the other jumpers to go and repeat the cycle until Emmett came up again for the second time, getting nineteen feet, nine inches, which wasn't as good as his first one. Then Nat popped up next to me.
"Hey, sorry I'm late. I had to help put the hurdles away. How's he doing?" she asked.
"He got over twenty feet," I informed, looking at her. She was breathing heavily and her hair was wind-blown from rushing here. I almost laughed.
"No way! I can't believe it. I mean, I can believe it but still," she rejoiced quietly as the next jumper stood up to his mark.
"Yeah. His second jump was, like, nineteen feet or something. I don't remember. But yeah," Sara complied.
"Awesome. Wow I'm so proud of him." And after that the blonde kid from one of the other teams was up, jumping around eighteen feet. Not even close to Emmett. I was sort of excited with knowing that we all won our individual events.
"First call, ladies' four by four relay!" one of the officials called from behind us. Sara turned around so fast I couldn't even tell her good luck. She was about ten feet away when we noticed that she'd gone, and then stopped her. Sara really didn't believe in luck. She was more of a make-your-own-luck kind of person. It bugged me a little, but I got over it after I realized that with Sara there was no need for luck, either. She was one of the few people I knew who did make their own luck. It was almost unbelievable how unbelievable it was, which really didn't make sense, but it was still strangely true.
"Good luck, Nat. Crush these chumps." I showed her a wide smile with a slightly devious and impish quality.
"Thanks. We will," she assured me, going over to join Sara and the other two girls on their relay team and put on her spikes.
Then Emmett landed in the sand before I could turn my head to see his jump. It wasn't as good as his two before, but his first was good enough to put our team in first for long jump. Almost too easy when Nat, Emmett, Sara, and I were on the team. It seemed like it was as bad as cheating, which reminded me of Wolf secretly giving me the answers during my tests.
Would you even be able to remotely pass without me? he asked out of the blue, responding to my previous thoughts.
Um, did I or did I not have straight A's before you came around? I countered.
Well, how would I know? It's not like I was inside your head at that time. Notice the key words, 'before you came around', he replied matter-of-factly.
Whatever, I muttered, knowing he was using his famous sarcasm toward me. Seriously, it was almost like he inherited it from me. And I could almost hear him telling me that he did inherit it from me. That he inherited all of his personality from me, but he didn't because he knew how I would just shut him down…again.
"Yes!" Emmett rejoiced, coming my way. I didn't realize that I had actually been looking at him, but was dazed out from talking to Wolf. Oddly enough, it actually happened quite a lot. Sara would be trying to prove a point and I would be inadvertently ignoring her, having my own conversation with Wolf. Sometimes she wondered if Wolf was even real, if I was making him up just to have an excuse. It's not like Wolf had ever talked to her, either, so her hunch was just made more believable, but it just wasn't true, which I assured her of.
"Good job, man. You beat twenty!" I congratulated, giving him a high five.
"Thanks. Hey, are they starting the relay yet?" he asked.
I turned my head to look over at the general area of where the start was. The blocks were set down, girls moving toward them, and lines forming for the second, third, and fourth legs of runners.
"I'm judging by look of it…two minutes?" I guessed, putting my hand to my chin.
"Right. Nat's the second leg and Sara's anchor?"
"I believe so. They're going to destroy the other team like they've done every time. I just don't get tired of watching it." I laughed.
"Yeah, figures. With Nat and Sara they just can't lose. It's literally impossible," he commented as we started walking over to the bleachers. I caught Sara's eye as she was lining up with the rest of the anchors.
Anchors were usually the fastest runners of the relay, mainly for catching up to other teams if theirs was falling behind, but with Nat as second leg, catching up wasn't really needed. Plus, watching the relay was the headline of the meet. The big finale that everyone looked forward to watching because it was so intense and gave you the biggest adrenaline rush you could ask for.
The warning whistle went off and the starters got to their blocks. We were in lane two, which was even better. Not the outside but not completely on the inside. The official got out in front of them, gave them the instructions, and then raised the gun slowly. Everyone on the outside of the track was getting ready. The tension was building.
And building.
The gun went off.
The starters went off, leaning around the first turn and leading onto the 100-meter straightaway. The batons were gripped tightly in one hand and everyone cheered. I saw one girl go up first as the official brought her to take the baton as it was given to her, meaning the first runner was coming. And meaning we weren't in first.
Then that girl left and Nat was brought up to receive the baton from our starter. I could tell she was nervous by looking in her eyes. I could see all of her emotion in her eyes. Then, she took the baton and all emotion was wiped clean. She was just running. She was running and gaining on the girl in first place, determined to catch her by the second turn, which she did, actually speeding up on the last turn contrarily to slowing down, which the girl, now in second place, did. Nat handed off the baton to our third leg runner who took off at a decent pace that was good enough to hold our place in first, and then for Sara to shoot around the track. It wasn't long before she did get around, actually passing one of the second leg runners from another team. The shouts were getting louder. Everyone was rooting our team on, amazed at their speed.
Sara got the baton and flew around the first one hundred meters, acting winded, but I could tell she was laughing on the inside. I was, too. Her legs went faster. And her arms went faster. And faster. She sped up until nobody in the audience was cheering anymore. They were in awe. So awed that I was getting a little nervous that she would go under fifty seconds, which was definitely not good if we wanted to keep the fact that we were werewolves a secret. But it looked like she was just bordering it. I prayed that she didn't. It was be too conspicuous. I almost wanted to yell out for her to slow down, but everyone watching was completely quiet and it would've seemed weird for me to yell that at someone going that fast. It seemed that even the girls running weren't even completely focused on their race, but watching Sara. What was she trying to do? Tell our secret to the friggin' world? But I started reprimanding myself for sounding too much like Mr. Barren.
She was going faster than any of our guys could even dream of going and still wasn't getting tired. At least, it was clear to me that she wasn't.
Her audience let out an ear-bleeding cheer as she blew through the finish line, acting completely winded. At least she made some of it an effort. Her time was forty-nine seconds. A five second crush on her official personal record, which was too large to be human. Much too large.
I went up to her, passing Nat but only giving her a small smile for congratulations and approaching Sara.
"Are you crazy or something?" I asked in bewilderment of her actions, putting a hand on her shoulder to act like I wasn't the crazy one for reprimanding her because she went too fast.
"Oh, come on I was just having some fun." It sounded like something I would say.
"Maybe a little too much fun?" Yeah, I definitely sounded like her father. It annoyed me being compared to him, even by my own thoughts. It was still true. Was everything going in some sort of reverse order? Like I was reprimanding myself, even though it was Sara, not me. And I was Mr. Barren. Yuck. I cringed at the thought of becoming Sara's overly protective father. No, I was her boyfriend, not her father. That would just be a creepy thought.
"Sara?" a voice asked from behind us. It was Nat, Emmett following closely behind. I turned around.
"Yeah?" she asked, looking up from her fake recovery.
"You did…awesome," she complimented.
"You too," Sara and I said in unison, looking at each other and laughing.
"Sara you did awesome! That was faster than anyone on our team, boys and girls!" Emmett pointed out from behind Nat. He must've already congratulated her.
"Thanks, guys." She got up and we walked over to the bleachers where a group of people was waiting to tell Sara how fast she was going.
We pushed through and tried to leave the meet as soon as possible. Nat, Emmett, and Sara were all coming over to my house for dinner and a movie. I was actually looking forward to tonight, since it was a Friday and we had the whole weekend to hang out before finals and our championship meet. I felt really good about my group of friends. I felt very comfortable around them.
Sara and I rushed to the Buick and Emmett and Nat went in Nat's Jeep, which was almost identical to Kariss's. We were more than glad for our human-werewolf abilities to make it a quick escape from the crowd that was about to drown us. And we drove out of South Eugene High School's parking lot so we could spend time with our friends for the last time before the school year ended and life started getting a little more serious.