Book Two – Ch.#14
Over the next few days, I found myself feeling anxious. Under the constant watchful eye of both my father and Gavin, I continued to play along with my usual daily routine. Acting as if nothing was amiss. Doing all the training that was asked of me. But, inside, I was thinking back to that keycard.
The one I‘d hidden under my mattress. Waiting for exactly the right moment for when I‘d be able to use it.
…A moment I found finally presented itself on the night of the third day.
With my father expected to be staying overnight elsewhere for a late meeting and Gavin only working until seven o‘clock, I saw an opportunity to take advantage of the soon–to–be quiet house.
And I devised a plan to leave as soon as the sky grew dark.
A few hours later, I was slowly scaling to the ground from my bedroom window. This being something I did with ease and without being seen. And though I never thought to use my abilities to go behind my father‘s back, I certainly couldn‘t deny that it came in handy.
Soon, before much time had passed at all, I found myself facing the door I‘d been thinking of so incessantly. The door I‘d been wondering about every day, contemplating all of the things I could possibly discover once I entered through it. A door that might just possibly change my life forever.
And I stared at it.
…And stared.
…….And stared.
And I kept staring, even while my hand reached out several times to knock, failing every time to go through with it.
…I‘d been so certain in my decision and come all this way, only to But then, suddenly, the door opened in front of me.
“...Are you just going to stand out there all night?” came a voice from inside.
It was his voice. I recognised it well now.
“I ah…,” I started, feeling a little awkward for being caught. “I‘m sorry. I just… I—.” “It‘s okay. No need to be sorry,” he said, his face then appearing from the other side of the door.
Instantly, that same effect started to hit me, a reassurance spreading throughout as his presence held me. “I get it. If you need more time to think, I can just leave this open. I‘m not pressuring you to d–.”
“No!” I quickly blurted out. “No, it‘s okay. Everything is okay… I‘m ready.” I came here with determination to get answers. I couldn‘t back out now. Whatever happened tonight, at least I could say that I tried. My mistake would only lie in wanting to hope for a better life.
“Okay… well, come on in,” he said.
I was ready to step through the door but was stopped as he held a hand out to me. Just as he had done so once before.
However, the last time he‘d done that, I had been too overwhelmed to reciprocate. Too many thoughts and questions holding me back, so unsure of everything that had been happening at the time.
Now, when I looked at his outstretched hand, I saw a possible beginning.
(*“I just need you to trust me,“*‘ he had said to me that day.
Well, I couldn‘t be sure if I was ready for that just yet, but I was at least willing to believe. Believe that there was a chance of this being real… if only for a moment.
sparks tingled along my
cheeks began to burn ever so
more ways than one around him. I could see
of proof. I‘m risking a lot by coming here and I feel it‘s only fair
where I stood, he towered over me, something that I became painfully aware of as I became
I can
looked at me only intensified. As if he were
it was
“Make yourself at home.”
stepped back, releasing me, and quickly I walked around him into the living room. Desperately trying not to
some people‘s houses in here. Room enough to host an elaborate
an ideal place to do something where people might see,” he said as he walked behind me.
to just spin right back around again. Because he stood to the side as he
He didn‘t seem phased in any way though, his lip twitching into a smile. “It‘s my favourite shirt,” he said, as if it were
from my cries in protest. The skin that was revealed seemed moulded
tried to
Ruined?” I asked
a little confused. “You asked me to prove
to do that in here, was he? And my mind immediately recalled the massacres I would wake up to post–change. “Isn‘t that… dangerous?” I quickly asked. “Do I need
immediately made him laugh, much to
make assumptions based on the knowledge I had. And that
me. And, instantly, a shiver ran through me involuntarily. “Raven,” he said quietly, drawing in my attention. “I
me wanted so
pieces of furniture out the way, clearing an area in the middle. By the time he was done, there was a semi – large open space in which he stood looking at me expectantly. “Are you ready?” he asked. I
something
in shocked silence as I watched him shift forms in a mere matter of seconds. Changing
didn‘t feel like running or feel even remotely afraid, as I
crouched right in front of him. And, in response, he laid down on the
Would this wolf move if he instructed it to? He looked at me as if he knew exactly who I was,
trust that instinct… reaching
soft,” I mused aloud to
contact, allowing me to continue feeling the different textures. And though I didn‘t feel the same sparks as
be something I
blackouts and bloody murders to anything even close
he raised his head and gave me a nod, confirming that this really was something attainable.
learn this,” I whispered. “I don‘t want to
years. But seeing Kieran like this now… knowing that he could teach me and was willing to help me learn about who I really was…
normal. Natural. No lies or nefarious intentions… just
telling me the truth so far…
see. I was taken a little off guard by the sudden movement but tried not to react. He had clearly proven
was back to his normal self and tugging on
he said,
immediately made me
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