Chapter 27

It was very early in the morning when the ceremony began. Valentina was there for the first thirty minutes of it out of courtesy for Jaxon and Kinsley. After which she had excused herself.

Hiking at night had taken a toll on her. And Remy too. After watching the northern lights, she was so tired and drained that Remy had to carry her all the way back home. And when they finally settled in to get some sleep, they barely got at least two hours of sleep before Kale came to wake them up.

Apparently the ceremony began at the crack of dawn then all the other festivities continued for the rest of the day. She had come out for public appearances only and she nestled back into her bed once she started to feel the brutal sting of the cold.

Luckily, they would be leaving soon, she couldn't deny the beauty of Alaska, but she didn't want to spend an extra day in the cold.

She was tired and she felt cold all the time. Her fingers were always numb from the cold and she was constantly rubbing her hands together. Unfortunately, she was the only one whom the cold seemed to be affecting since the rest were all werwolves, their body temperature was warm and regulated.

For once, she missed her bed, she missed the mansion. She missed Ellen fussing all over her and she missed Marielle with her weird gazes and cryptic questions. It was too bad she was going to have to leave all of them, because she definitely knew and she was sure that she was going to miss them a lot.

But she had to leave. Remy was not being truthful to her and she could not stand it. She could not stand being a pawn in whatever game he was playing at. Even though he had told her about the mantle, he still didn't mention anything about the ritual which led her to believe that there was more that he wasn't telling her.

She had been plotting her escape since then. She wasn't sure where she would go yet but her mind kept drawing her back to that town. Maybe the town would have the answers that she was looking for, even though something about the same town seemed to always trigger her nightmares.

She would still leave. All that remained was how to sneak past Remy and make sure that he never followed her or got where she was going.

....................

Valentina did not return home with Remy. no, she did not. When they arrived at the airport she had made the flimsy excuse of wanting to go to the bathroom. Kale was meant to follow her and stay at alert but she had pretended and sent him panicking to buy some tampons for her. He had fell for her trick, even though it wasn't really a trick, she really did get her period, the only part where she lied was where she pretended as if she didn't have any tampons.

Poor Kale had left looking so stressed while searching for tampons and she had slipped out of the airport and took the first taxi out of there.

The first thing she did was get a change of clothes and a new phone, one that Remy wouldn't be able to call or blow up. Surprisingly, he had not started calling her yet. She wondered if that meant he was close to finding her or he that he had truly given up on her.

Then she went back to the town. And as usual, the sense of nostalgia that hit her seemed like a familiar feeling that she normally craved.

She had withdrawn a lot of cash back at the department store where she got clothes, just so Remy wouldn't track the credit card payments to the recent place that she was going to. And it worked.

She lodged at a boarding house this time, sceptical of hotels and motels and knowing that that was where Remy was going to look first. And after that she wondered what she was going to do with her newfound freedom.

Valentina quickly found out that her newfound freedom sort of bored her. Running wasn't fun when there was nobody chasing you. In fact, she was almost tempted to call Remy and give him some clues, but she stopped herself. After about four days in town, she ditched the hat and scarf disguise, it was quite clear that Remy wasn't in town searching for her.

And with no memory of who she was once or what the town meant to her, she quickly grew tired of lounging around aimlessly.

On the fifth day, she decided to go to the hospital.

The hospital where he had been rescued. Sure, it was meant to at least hold some answers for her. She thought as she looked up a few of the stories connected to her death and resurrection on the town's local sites.

Apparently, she was quite the local media sensation. Her story was the best news the town had in years and they couldn't stop talking about it for weeks.

"Dr Calloway will see you now."

The nurse said as she let her into the doctor's office. She had been waiting for a total time of at least twenty minutes and would have given up and left if she had anything serious to do. But her days, much like her nights were restless and filled with nothing but the thirst for answers and the relentless boredom that plagued her.

Dr Calloway was an old man, but he had a kind face. He stood up when he saw her a small smile on his face. He looked pleased to see her. Valentina was relieved, she didn't even know that he would have granted her an audience.

"Mrs Combe! What a pleasant surprise."

Valentina smiled bashfully.

"Dr Calloway. I hope I'm not taking too much f your time by requesting for this meeting..."

Dr Calloway shook his head.

"Nonsense.I was stunned when the nurse told me you were waiting for me in the hallway. I became very curious.."

"If you don't mind me asking, what is the purpose of this visit?"

He asked. The both settled in their seats, Calloway behind the desk and his monitor and Valentina in front of him.

"Well.. I just needed some answers. And it looks like you're the only one who can give them to me..."

"She started and Calloway raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure of how I can be of any help to you Mrs Combe."

"Oh! In many ways Dr Calloway. Many many ways."

"I want to know about my death. I want to know how I was brought in here, what happened that day..."

Calloway leaned forward, his eyes wide with confusion.

"You still don't remember?"

He asked and she nodded her head.

"No. I don't"

She added.

The doctor was silent after that. His lips formed into a deep line and his expression became unreadable. Then , after what seemed to be a really really long time, he finally spoke.

"It was around midnight, I was tired, my shift was about to end so I was looking at a patient while you were brought in. Some hiker had found you in the woods. He didn't know what was wrong but when he found you, you were lifeless with no pulse."

Valentina shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"It was a mystery. There was no identifiable marks on your body or sign that you had struggled or been poisoned or been hurt in any way that showed that you had suffered physical pain. It just looked like you were sleeping."

"But you had been declared dead. All that was left was an autopsy report to find out what exactly killed you."

"What about my clothes, didn't they have any ID or anything on them?"

She asked and the doctor shook his head.

"No. They didn't."

"We didn't even find a wallet."

He added sadly.

That was why they had declared her missing and probably how Remy had been able to find her because the news of the missing woman who came back from the dead was a sensational news that had spread far and wide.

"And were you there when I woke up? Why do you think I woke up? How does that even work medically?"

Dr Calloway shrugged.

"I can tell you, there is no medical explanation possible that can explain you coming back alive. You were declared dead. No vitals, no heartbeat, no brain activity, there was nothing. It has been one of my greatest mysteries."

"But then.. you had woken up and then I just knew something was different."

Valentina leaned forward.

"What do you mean?"

She asked and he shrugged.

"I don't know. It just felt unusual. Unnatural. You were staring at your hands and legs for hours, like you couldn't believe that they were yours."

"I don't understand."

She shook her head in confusion.

What did he mean?

Dr Calloway nodded.

He didn't understand either. And he had struggled to understand it for a long time but he couldn't pretend like he did. But he was sure of one thing, when she first woke up, she acted like really really strange.

...............

"Hello."

The voice was frantic, muffled.

There was a short grunt in reply, followed by a gruff voice.

"What is it?!"

"Well, you asked me to give you a call if I saw that woman again. I just did."

"What?! Where?!"

"In our hospital. She's in our doctor's office right now."

"And you're sure it's Valentina Combe?"

The woman wiped her brow as she nodded, looking around frantically to avoid being caught.

"Yes. It's the dead woman who came back to life."