Belle's POV :

"Belle, what are you talking about ?"

Ryan had a confused look on his face, while I was busy with not screaming from the pain.

"S-someone is i-in d-danger", I barely made the words out but Ryan heard them.

"Who ? I-"

His eyes glazed over, probably mind-linking someone. I stood up slowly, clutching my chest from the overwhelming pain. Suddenly, Ryan's eyes widened and he stared at me in disbelief.

"What is it ?", I asked him, knowing it would probably be something serious.

"We're under attack."

My heart stopped for a second when I registered his words. We're being attacked ?

"Belle, how did you know someone was in pain ?", Ryan asked, his voice laced with shock.

"I-I don't know. I felt fear and pain running through my body all of a sudden."

Just then, a loud crash sounded outside the window. I screamed in shock while Ryan covered me with his body. The room shook from the strong impact, debris coming from the open window.

"Come on, we have to go."

Ryan grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room. He was running, while I was just following him.

"Where are we going ?"

"To the safe house."

I walked out of the house to see dust everywhere. There were people running all around, stones and trees littering the earth. I heard a child wailing loudly from a distance.

"Ryan, there's a kid crying. We have to help them."

I started running towards the noise, while trying not to fall and break my head on the big rocks. There was a lot of rubble on the ground. It took me almost five minutes to see a small boy who was sitting on the ground, crying his eyes out. My heart went out to the small kid. He looked at me with fearful eyes when I approached him. I raised my hands, showing that I meant him no harm. I knelt before him, giving him a small smile.

"Hi darling, what's your name ?"

"I-I'm Riley", the kid answered in a small voice.

"Hi Riley, I'm Belle. Where is your mom, honey ?"

Riley gave me a sad look while his lips wobbled, indicating he about to cry again.

"I lost her. I don't know where mamma is."

"Its alright, dear. My friend here, will help you."

I turned around to ask Ryan for help to only meet with silence. Ryan was not with me.

Where did he go ?

Trying to not get scared, I stood up and held my hand out to Riley.

"Come on, Riley. Let's find your mamma."

He shook his head and pointed to his scrapped knees. There was some blood on it, but thankfully, it was not a serious injury.

"Oh, dear. You're hurt."

I felt so sad to see the kid trying to be brave and not cry.

I turned my back to him and squatted.

"Come on, I'll give you piggyback ride. Do you like piggybacking ?"

"Yes, I love them !"

Riley smiled brightly, making me smile as well.

"Well, hop on then."

I wrapped his hands around my neck, and placed my palms under his thighs, careful with his injury.

"There you go."

I grimaced a bit when I felt sudden pain in my ribs. They were not yet healed, and carrying a 5 year old kid on my back was not helping. I started walking from the direction I came from, hopefully I wouldn't get lost again. There was a lot of dust in the air and the dark clouds hiding the sun was making it hard to see anything.The gravel crunched under my shoe clad feet, reminding me of Eros who had put them on me the day before.

Damn, even shoes remind me of him.

Unconsciously, I let out a sigh.

"What happened Bella ?", Riley asked in an adorable voice. His cute mistake with my name made me smile.

"Nothing, Riley Bear. I was just thinking about someone."

"Even my mumma calls me Riley Bear !", Riley exclaimed happily. At least, the kid was not crying anymore.

"Does she now ?"

"Uh huh. She also tells me not to go with strangers."

The sentence made me chuckle.

"Then, why did you come with me ?", I asked curiously.

"Because you are not a stranger."

How could I not be a stranger ? Do I know this kid from somewhere ?

"But darling, I have never met you before today."

"No, I have seen you from-"

The rest of his words droned out when I heard another loud blast. Riley screamed in fear, while I quickly gathered him in my arms and covered him with my body. The boom was deafeningly loud, making my ears ring for a while. There was smoke coming from afar, along with some soot.

I need to find Ryan...

"Riley, darling, cover your nose and mouth", I instructed him softly and stood up with him in my arms I started walking again, in a desperate need to keep this child safe and sound.

As soon as I took a step forward, I heard a low growl which sent chills down my spine. I slowly turned around to see a huge brown wolf, with red eyes and bloody paws. Those red eyes had a crazed look in them, scaring me a bit.

"That's a rogue wolf ", Riley whispered to me softly. My blood ran cold at his words. A rogue wolf ? How am I supposed to face a huge ass, crazy, 6 feet wolf all by myself ?

I took a step backward, but the wolf noticed and let out another growl. There was saliva dripping from his mouth, which grossed me out .

What can I say ? That is very unhygienic and looks creepy.

"Okay Riley, here's what I want you to do. I'll let you down slowly and when I say to run, you run as fast as you can, alright ?"

"But why ? You can become Aang right ?"

I was busy thinking of how to save us from a deranged wolf, while Riley was talking about cartoons.

"Riley, dear, now is not the time to discuss about cartoons."

"I'm not talking about cartoons, Bella. You can become Aang, really."

Is this kid telling me to become bald now ? I was getting stressed by the moment as to how to save our asses. The wolf slowly started inching towards us, the fear inside me rising exponentially.

"Okay, Riley, please listen to me-"

"No, Bella, you can use air !"

What is he talking on about ? Maybe the kid hit his head earlier when he fell.

"Riley, I cannot use air-"

Wait a minute.

I remembered my time in the dungeons when I had pushed that dude into a wall. Eros had said that I was using some sort for magic. But I don't know how I did it. It just happened.

"I-I don't know how to do it, Riley. So listen to me, you run away from here and find Ryan for me. Can you do that for me ?"

Ryan looked confused. Poor kid thought that I could use magic.

Wait, how did he know I could use magic ?

As soon as I placed Riley on the ground, the wolf let out a threatening growl, walking towards us. I moved Riley behind me, protecting him from the wolf.

There was a sinister look on the wolf's face, as if he was grinning evilly. Suddenly he pounced on me, the weight of his body weighing me down. I screamed, the wolf's paws were on my stomach, while his face was inches from mine. I could feel Riley wriggling under me.

Think Belle, think ! How did you use your magic ?

The wolf raised his paws slowly, holding it over my face. I tried to remember the feeling, the feeling of helplessness turning to courage, the pulsating in my blood, the heat under my palms, the burning in my body, the strange blue glow around my hands. Soon enough, I felt the same familiar burning inside me. I concentrated, expanding the feeling throughout my body, to my palms. The wolf was already drawing blood from my stomach, his nails digging deep into the hoodie and in my soft skin. I ignored the pain and focused on the burning. Riley was squirming beneath me.

Just hold on for a bit, buddy.

The wold was baring its teeth at me, as if playing with me. It raised its paw at me about to swipe at my neck. Right then, I felt the warmth around my palms. Just as the wolf as about to go for my neck, I placed my hands upfront and let go. The weight on me disappeared in a second. The wolf crashed in a tree and fell down, unconscious. Riley started coughing loudly, grabbing my attention.

"Oh my God, Riley, are you alright ?"

I checked his body thoroughly, thankful to see that there were no new bruises.

"I-I told you ,you could be Aang."

I ruffled his hair,letting out a laugh at his words.

"You did, kid. You did tell me."

Truthfully, if it weren't for Riley, we would've been dead by now. I was scared to my bones, the fight or flight instinct was running through my head.

But I still don't understand how did he know ?

"Riley, how did you-"

Another loud boom reached my ears, the debris falling all over us. Were they attacking us with bombs ?

I quickly picked up Riley but he started fidgeting trying to get down.

"What's wrong, dear ? We have to go. "

"I can walk, Bella. I'm a big kid now."

"No, honey, you were hurt on your kn-"

My words dried in my throat when I saw that Riley's knee was perfectly fine. No bruise, no blood.

How...?

I'm sure there was blood from him scrapping his knees, but then, his knee looked flawless.

Maybe, the blood wasn't his, or he must've not been hurt that badly.

Even though that explanation sounded crazy to me, I had no time to further dwell on it.

"Come on, let's go."

I grabbed his hand so that I do not lose him. We were running as fast as we can when I saw a clearing ahead of me. Feeling happy to see something clear in this dark surrounding, I bee lined towards it. As I got closer to it, I started getting confused. There was a lake ahead of me, a thick canopy of trees surrounding me.

This clearing looks like the same from my dreams, and when I first came to this place.

I slowed my pace, treading carefully towards the lake. There was loud thundering in the sky, the wind was blowing more strongly. It was an effort to keep walking straight with all the wind pressure pushing me back. My hair was dancing all around me, covering my eyes from time to time. I stopped at the centre of the clearing, trying to think about how to proceed from here.

"Bella, can I go to the lake ?", Riley tugged at my hand, giving me puppy eyes.

God, why was this kid so cute...

His brown hair was blowing in the wind, along with his black superman shirt.

"No, darling, we need to find my friend, remember ?"

His face fell quickly upon hearing my rejection. I felt bad , but I had to get Riley someplace safe.

I tried remembering the route to Eros' house, doing my best to not dwell into the disturbing memories from that day.

"B-Bella, I see something in the trees", Riley grabbed my hands fearfully. I followed his sight into the dense forest. I couldn't see anything at first, but soon, red dots entered my eyesight. Is that what I think it is ? Soon enough, a dozen rogue wolves walked out from the forest.

Oh Lord, how can I encounter trouble twice in the same place ?

I pushed Riley behind me, while the wolves were growling lowly, trying to intimidate me and succeeding in it. More and more wolves kept coming out from the forest, lessening my chances to get out from here, I placed my hands in front, ready to attack if need be. But I knew that I would fail miserably. I was no match to dozens of these beasts. I walked backwards to the lake, while the beasts kept advancing onto me. I was almost at the bank of the lake. I pulled Riley in my arms, in a dire need to protect him. I sent a quick prayer to God above,to save this child. There was no hope left for me. I was getting ready to accept my reality when I heard one word that rebuilt my hope all over again.

"BELLE !!!"

I'm so sorry guys, there was a mess, and one of my chapters was not uploaded. I hope you can see it now and get a bit more clarity while reading. Thanks so much peeps, and do vote and comment !!!