Marked by the Alpha Team (Luna Merrick) novel Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

LUNA

I was fast asleep when all of a sudden, a very sharp and loud sound broke through the silence.

It hit me like someone had slammed a metal door right next to my ear, and my whole body immediately jerk split second I thought the is coming from aside my own head, like something had cracked open in my

bloomed behind my

sharp and hot, the kind of headache that makes your vision swim.

I sat up so fast the blanket fell off my shoulders. My heart was pounding, and my breath came short and quick. The room was dark except for the faint blue glow from Ivy’s phone charging on her nightstand and the ray of moonlight from outside the window.

I turned toward her side of the room. Ivy was still curled under her blanket, breathing slowly and evenly, fast asleep. She hadn’t moved, not even a twitch, and that to me made no sense. The sound Had been so loud it felt like it shook the walls. So how could she sleep through it?

I rubbed my temples, trying to ease the throbbing. “Ivy?” I called out even though my voice ended up coming out small and rough.

Unfortunately, I got no answer.

“Ivy,” I tried again, but still nothing.

I called her name a few more times, louder each time, and finally, after many tries, she stirred. She rolled over, blinking sleepily, her hair a red mess across her pillow.

“What…?” She fumbled for her phone, glanced at the time, then looked at me with worried eyes. “Luna? What’s wrong? Are you okay? Why do you look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

I swallowed. My mouth felt dry. “Did you hear that?”

She frowned. “Hear what?”

“The sound. It was… really loud, like a bang or something, and it literally happened right here, just a few minutes ago.” I tapped the side of my head. “It gave me a headache the second it happened.”

Ivy sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. “I didn’t hear anything. What did it sound like? Was it that bad?”

I let out a frustrated sigh. “It was so loud I thought it was in my head, like someone dropped someinifig heavy right next to me. How did you sleep through it?”

She looked even more confused. “I swear I didn’t hear a thing. The dorm’s usually quiet this late because of the rules, se maybe it came from outside? Or… I don’t know, the pipes?”

I opened my mouth to argue that it hadn’t sounded like pipes, but before I could finish the sentence, another sound exploded in my ears, and this time it wasn’t one bang.

It was voices. The your es of two people arguing, very loudly, overlapping, and angry. They were saying words that I couldn’t fully catch, and the only thing I could pick up on was just their sharp tones and rising volume. It felt like they were standing right outside our bedroom door, shouting at each other. The noise was so clear and so close that I touched and looked

toward the door.

Mut Ivy didn’t move. She just sat there on her bed watching me with growing worry

pppp

Chapter 20

She voices kept going, snapping at each other, cutting each other off, and getting louder, and my hea

pressed my palms to my ears, but it didn’t help. The sound wasn’t coming from outside. It was inside de de hand inside my head.

Пlooked up at Ivy, desperate You can’t hear that?”

She shook her head slowly. “Hear what. Luna?”

The voices.” I whispe

rguing, and it’s almost like they’re right outside the door. Can’t you hear

Ivy’s face went pale. She climbed off her bed and walked to the door, pressing her ear against it for a few opened it and looked out into the hallway, but there was nothing and no one.

The hall, from where I was seated on my bed, looked dark and empty.

She closed the door again, quietly, and turned back to me. “There’s no one out there,” she said softly. Tr’s completely wr

I stared at her. The voices were still going, fading now, but still there, sounding a little muffled but still angry argument happening in another room that only I could hear.

My hands started shaking. “I’m not making it up,” I said, and my voice cracked. “I swear I’m not.”

“I know.” Ivy said quickly. She came back to my bed and sat beside me. “I believe you. I just… I don’t hear r

I pressed my palms harder against my ears. “It’s so loud. How can you not…”

The voices cut off abruptly, and then there was silence. Sudden, complete silence. My ears rang, and the heada once more, then eased a little.

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