FINDING MARY

Chapter 3-New Beginning

Chapter 3-New Beginning
The taxi finally stopped in front of the motel.
I stared through the window for a moment before opening the door.
The building looked like it had been forgotten years ago.
One of the lights above the entrance kept flickering, turning the darkness outside into brief flashes of yellow and black. The paint on the walls was faded, and the sign above the door leaned slightly to one side.
It wasn’t exactly the place I had imagined when I told Mary we were going to start a new life.
But it was all we could afford.
I stepped out of the taxi and stretched my stiff legs.
Mary climbed out behind me.
She immediately turned around and looked back at the road.
I noticed.
She had been doing that ever since we left the lake.
“You don’t have to keep looking back,” I said.
She didn’t answer.
“Mary.”
She finally looked at me.
“What if it comes back?”
I knew exactly what she meant.
“The wolf?”
She nodded.
I glanced toward the dark road.
There was nothing there.
“We’re far away from the lake now.”
She looked unconvinced.
“But it followed us.”
“It was injured.”
“That doesn’t mean it can’t follow us.”
I sighed.
“Come on. Let’s get inside.”
We carried our bags into the motel.
The inside was even older than the outside.
The hallway smelled like old soap and damp sheets. A single fan turned slowly from the ceiling, making a soft clicking sound every few seconds.
The woman at the front desk barely looked at us when I paid for the room.
She handed me a key.
“Room six.”
“Thank you.”
Mary followed me upstairs.
Neither of us spoke until we reached the room.
I unlocked the door.
The room was small.
There were two beds, a tiny table beside the window, and a bathroom door that looked like it had been repaired more times than I could count.
Mary dropped her bag onto one of the beds.
“This is our new beginning?”
I smiled despite myself.
“Apparently.”
She looked around.
“It smells funny.”
“Try not to breathe.”
She laughed.
It was the first real laugh I’d heard from her in weeks.
For a few seconds, everything felt normal.
Then my shoulder began to hurt.
I sat on the edge of the bed and pressed my hand against it.
Mary noticed immediately.
“Your arm.”
“I’m fine.”
“You keep saying that.”
I looked at her.
She was staring at me with the same worried expression she’d had since our parents died.
I didn’t want to make her worry more.
“Mary, I’m okay.”
She sat beside me.
“You were bitten by a wolf.”
“I know.”
“A strange golden wolf.”
“I know.”
“It talked to you.”
I froze.
She looked at me.
I slowly turned toward her.
“What did you say?”
“You heard it, didn’t you?”
I swallowed.
“I thought you didn’t hear anything.”
“I didn’t.”
She looked down at her hands.
“But I saw your face.”
I didn’t know what to say.
I looked at my shoulder again.
The wound was strange.
It wasn’t bleeding anymore.
There was no swelling.
No redness.
Nothing that looked like a normal animal bite.
Just four faint marks beneath my skin.
I touched them carefully.
A strange warmth moved through my fingers.
I quickly pulled my hand away.
Mary noticed.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
She frowned.
“You’re hiding something.”
“I’m tired.”
“So am I.”
“Then get some sleep.”
She stared at me for another few seconds.
Then she sighed and lay down.
I watched her turn toward the wall.
Within minutes, her breathing became slow and steady.
I remained sitting on the edge of the bed.
I couldn’t sleep.
My mind kept returning to the lake.
The golden eyes.
The voice.
Run.
And the way the wolf had looked at me.
Not with hatred.
With recognition.
I eventually lay down and closed my eyes.
For a while, there was nothing.
Then I heard a whisper.
“You can’t run.”
My eyes snapped open.
I sat upright.
The room was dark.
Mary was still asleep.
I looked toward the window.
The curtains were moving slightly.
“Who’s there?”
No answer.
I got out of bed.
I checked the bathroom.
Empty.
I looked beneath the beds.
Nothing.
I returned to my bed and sat down.
My heart was pounding.
Then the voice came again.
This time, it was closer.
Not outside.
Not in the room.
Inside my head.
“You can’t run from what is in your blood.”
I froze.
My hand moved slowly toward my shoulder.
The four marks were burning.
I pulled my shirt aside.
The wound had changed.
A faint golden line was glowing beneath my skin.
I stared at it in disbelief.
Then it disappeared.
I blinked.
Nothing.
Just my skin.
“Sam?”
I quickly covered my shoulder.
Mary had woken up.
“What… what’s wrong?” she asked.
“Nothing.”
She sat up.
“You look scared.”
“I’m fine.”
She stared at me.
I forced a smile.
“Go back to sleep.”
She hesitated.
Then she lay down again.
I turned toward the window.
Outside, the wind moved through the trees beside the motel.
For a moment, I thought I heard footsteps.
Slow.
Heavy.
Coming from somewhere beyond the road.
I held my breath.
The footsteps stopped.
Then silence returned.
I didn’t sleep for the rest of the night.
By morning, I had made a decision.
We had come here to start over.
We had no money.
No parents.
No home to return to.
But we still had each other.
And as long as Mary was beside me, I couldn’t afford to give up.
Before our parents died, I had spent months working on a business idea.
I wanted to start small—a transportation and agricultural supply business that could grow with time.
It was risky.
But it was something.
The problem was money.
We had almost none left.
Still, I wasn’t going to let that stop me.
After breakfast, Mary and I left the motel.
We spent the entire morning asking questions.
I spoke to shop owners.
I spoke to traders.
I asked people where I could find someone willing to invest in a small business.
Most people listened politely.
Some told me I was too young.
Others laughed.
By afternoon, my confidence was beginning to disappear.
Mary noticed.
“Don’t give up,” she said.
I looked at her.
“I’m not.”
“You look like you are.”
I smiled.
“Maybe I’m just tired.”
“Then rest.”
I laughed.
“You sound like Mom.”
Her smile faded.
So did mine.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then I looked away.
“I miss her.”
Mary lowered her eyes.
“Me too.”
We stood there in silence.
Then a voice came from behind us.
“Sam?”
I turned.
It was the taxi driver.
He was standing beside his car, holding a drink in one hand.
He looked at my shoulder.
“How is the wound?”
I immediately covered it.
“I’m fine.”
He raised an eyebrow.
“That wolf nearly tore your arm off.”
Mary stepped forward.
“You saw it too, right?”
The driver’s expression changed.
“I saw enough.”
I looked at him.
“We’re actually looking for someone who might be interested in our business.”
“Business?”
I nodded.
“I have a plan. I just need someone willing to finance the beginning.”
The driver was quiet for a moment.
Then he smiled.
“Maybe I know someone.”
“Who?”
He looked at me.
“A prince.”
I almost laughed.
“A prince?”
He nodded.
“A very wealthy man.”
Mary’s eyes widened.
“Would he really help us?”
The driver shrugged.
“If he likes your idea.”
I looked at Mary.
Then back at the driver.
“Where can we find him?”
The driver pointed toward the distant hills.
“His estate isn’t far from here.”
I looked in the direction he was pointing.
Something about the idea made me uneasy.
But we had come this far.
We had nothing left to lose.
So we followed him.
I didn’t know it then, but walking through those gates would be the moment my life changed forever.
And the man waiting on the other side of them was not the kind prince I believed him to be.