-Carmen Silvers POV_
For the next week and five days, I didn't sleep. I didn't see Austin at all. It was like he didn't exist and Caleb had already taken over completely.
He started getting bolder too. He came to my house, chatting up my Grandma, started bothering Lily by touching her and harassing her, he asked Caroline to be his date to the Valentine's Day Dance, he started creeping around Tucker's house as well as Natasha's, he started following my Pack mates around at night in the dark and he was sickeningly close to Alex all the time, during an over exaggerated act of being his friend.
Everyone was still in the dark about when it was going to be Austin's last day, tomorrow night, as a matter of fact.
And I still had no way of saving Austin.
"Alex? Do you think we're ready for this?" I asked quietly, running my fingers over the white and black keys of the piano.
Today was our second last practice before the dance and we were both having a bit of trouble focusing on the music considering the growing concern of Caleb and Austin.
"I think we're ready," Alez said before he sighed, "It's just we both need to get our heads into the music and stop worrying about Austin."
"But it's hard," I whispered.
He wrapped his arms around me and I buried my face in his neck, "I know it is, but it's just for a few hours. Maybe it'll be a good thing if we can relax for a couple of hours tomorrow night," he said gently, stroking my hair.
Tears pricked my eyes.
Relax? On the day Austin was supposed to die? How do you figure that?
"Yeah," I said, blinking furiously to rid myself of those damn tears that did nothing to help, "Maybe it'll be a good thing."
The bell rang and Alex stood, lifting me to my feet while keeping his arms around me. We walked down the music hallway with his arm around my waist tightly and I knew the tighter than usual grip wasn't just to comfort me. He was panicking too, although he didn't show it. But could you blame him? He was going to lose his Coven leader, there was no second-in-command and Robert and Roxanne were two loose cannons that only Austin was able to keep under control.
"Now what do we have here?" a sneer came.
My head snapped up, recognizing the voice first, then the tone. Caleb.
I narrowed my eyes at him while Alex's hold tightened on my waist, keeping me in check.
"What do you want?" I spat.
"Well, I came to sit in on your practice but it seems I'm a little late," that trademark creepy smile on his face. A perversion of Austin. Just like Tucker had said. "Caroline sure knows how to treat a guy right."
I felt the bile rise in my throat, "Go away," I hissed.
"No, I don't think that'd be the best idea. I mean, Austin and I are friends now, the closest kind, and friends tell friends if their girlfriends are cheating on them with their friends, right?" he taunted, brushing his, Austin's, brown hair out of his black eyes.
Alex pushed me slightly behind him, knowing I was very close to snapping. I've been on a short fuse for the past two weeks, and each day it's been getting shorter and shorter.
I could already feel my Change complaints starting up again, the quick heartbeat, the pain in my limbs, seeing red. But I held my breath and squeezed my eyes shut until it went away.
"And as Austin's friend, I should protect him from getting hurt," he sneered.
My vision cleared and I saw Caleb walking towards us. Alex backed up slowly, head cocked to the side. I knew he was listening to Caleb advancing, feeling the air move around him, feeling the blood pumping through his veins to pinpoint his exact location.
