The Hybrid Demon-Wolf

5. Burger Joint

CHAPTER FIVE

“Are you okay Faith? You have hardly said anything all the way home,” Peggy pulled the car to a stop in front of the mansion, quickly stepping out of the car. I was not okay, not even in the least and I’m pretty sure she knew that too damn well. What angered me the most was how she pretended not to.

“I’m fine,” I said through gritted teeth as I stepped out after her, straddling my back pack on my shoulder eager to get to my room. I pushed away the strand of hair sticking to the side of my face, tucking it behind my right ear.

“No, you are not fine,” she insisted as we stepped inside the house.

“Okay. I’m not fine. At first, I just thought they didn’t like me because I was the new girl and then today Alexander is hell bent sure that I’m here for a reason. Look, I know you said Alexander and Lucian don’t like anyone but I have a feeling there is more to the story than you are letting on. Why would they just choose to hate me when they don’t even know me? I’m new in this town and I didn’t have a single clue this town existed before I came here. So how you tell me what exactly is going on in this freaking town,” My chest was heaving and face flustered but I never let the determination go unnoticeable.

“Wow, I didn’t realize they were bothering you that much,” She muttered after a second of hesitation, her eyes laced with a distant guilt. I had feeling that she knew something but was hiding it from me for some reason. What I didn’t understand was why. If this was something that was somehow related to me, wasn’t it her responsibility to actually tell what exactly it was before I go crazy trying to figure it out?

“What is going on girls?” My mum appeared on top of the stairs, a look of curiosity dancing all over her face.

“Nothing,” We answered at the same time while wearing fake smiles.

“Well then. How was school? The teachers gave you any problem? You know you can tell me,” she pressed on, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Don’t worry Aunty. The day was just normal. Nothing interesting happened. Though Faith and I were discussing about a party we both got invited to this Friday. She was not sure if you would agree,” I stared wide eyed at Peggy. Party? I had never been to a party before and we were definitely not discussing about a party. Why would I even want to attend some goddamn high school party when I was trying to keep a low profile?

“Faith wants to go to a party?” My mother’s tone was bathed in a thick mixture of shock and surprise. Who could blame her? She knew I was one of people least enthusiastic about getting drunk surrounded by a bunch of teenagers. Not that I hated it but I just didn’t think I was the type of to party at all.

“Yes,” Peggy lightly pinched my arm, making me almost wince out aloud as she answered.

“You really want to go to a party darling?” she was obviously trying to believe the fact that I would go to a party.

“Of course not,” I glared at Peggy but she just shrugged, crossing her arms.

“Look hun, if you want to go to a party, then go ahead. Growing up, my mother was pretty strict on me. I don’t want you to feel caged like I did. Just be responsible,” She smiled encouragingly as she came down the stairs, halting right before me.

“I know that mum,” I said even though deep down, I wanted to tell her I was not Roman. My brother had lived to make use of every second for fun he got, making him the total opposite of me. He did try to make me go to a party once but he wasn’t convincing enough. God! I missed him so much.

“Just don’t get pregnant,” she warned.

“Mum, I’m not going to this party or any party for that matter. By the way, Peggy and I were going to head out for a tour of the town. If you need something, we can get it for you on our way back,” I offered.

“Going out now?” Her expression had grown hard, the smile slipping off her face.

“Yes, now mum. Is there a problem?” I questioned, curious of her change of expression.

“No, there is absolutely no problem at all. Just make sure you come back before nightfall. We are still new in this town. Who knows what happens when night falls?” she chuckled in what I could term as nervous.

“Don’t worry. I doubt this town has anything interesting to even last us an hour,” I sneered.

“You might be surprised,” She patted my shoulder before walking past me to the kitchen.

After changing out of the simple floral dress, I wore a pair of dark blue jeans and sky-blue sweater with a pair of white converse shoes. My eyes briefly fell on the camera lying on top of my study table. Ramon had given that to me on fifteenth birthday and for split of a second, I contemplated on taking it with me but I loved taking pictures only when I was alone. Maybe one of these days, I would get to spend a day with nature, taking pictures.

The ride around town proved to be as boring as I had anticipated. Peggy showed me several cliffs, three boutiques which was considerably big in size and pretty lavish, six salons, three grocery shops, two large stores and a mini-supermarket; so far. Well, it was indeed a small town compared New York and the only upside of living here, would probably to take a break from the noise. The only thing that had been enough to get my attention was the old Library at the end of the street. Its doors had creaked the moment we swung it open and inside it was deserted just like I had expected, except for the old lady managing the place. There was just something about the smell of books that would trigger butterflies at the pit of my tummy. I wasn’t exactly the typical nerd from the movies but I getting excellent grades and being on the top most of my behavior were my priority.

“And now my personal favorite,” she pulled the Merc to a stop at the parking lot of a Diner.

“A diner?” I questioned, shaking my head in amusement. I was more of a restaurant girl back in New York but then again, I was now stuck in a town in the middle of nowhere. The Diner had the pleasant homey feeling weaved around it.

“Trust me after the first bite you would not want to stop coming. Besides that, they have a variety of drinks and even fries. Of course, there is other food but everybody loves their fries and burgers,” she beamed, a set of pearl white teeth showing.

The bell chimed as we walked in, the door swinging closed.

“Peggy. We missed you yesterday,” The old man behind the counter grinned at Peggy.

“Well, I missed your burgers more Mr. Wilkins,”

The chatter between Mr. Wilkins and Peggy was lost on me as I took my time to survey the rather crowded place. I almost lost my sanity on realizing almost everybody had stopped talking and was now looking at me. I hated attention and since yesterday, that’s the only thing I seemed to be getting a lot. What was with the people in this town? Were they just being curious of a new face in town or was there something more I was missing?

“Faith? Faith?” I shook out of my trance, pushing the fear down my throat.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I replied.

“Just ignore them. People love to stare at a new face,” she pulled my arm to an empty booth by the corner.

I tried to avoid the burning stares but with each passing second they seemed to be getting under my skin. I wanted to sink into my seat and disappear but something about those stares was disturbing.

“Why are they staring at me like that?” I whisper-asked eventually.

“You are a stranger and this is a small town. People are bound to stare at you. Besides that pretty fiery red hair is quiet eye catching from far. There only about two other red heads in town and their hair is just the slightest shade of ginger,” she brushed it off lightly.

“Of course,” I agreed but I was not convinced at all.

She had placed an order for two cheese burgers and a plate of fries alongside two diet cokes.

“The burgers are mine by the way,” she warned snatching them before I could lay my hands on them.

“Okay,” I pulled the plate of fries my way.

While eating we began talking about random things. Well, not so random considering Peggy was just talking about her list of guys she is either crushing on or they are crushing on her. We had not realized the time had flown by so fast until Peggy who was facing the door, suddenly cussed.

“We need to go now,” she stated urgently, pulling my arm.

“Why?” I asked sliding off the booth, wondering what was suddenly the big deal.

“Your mother would be completely worried if we got really late and it’s already seven thirty,” The urgency in her voice was disturbing but this was clearly not the time to voice out my doubts.

After paying up we headed for the door and I was about to pull it open but someone else beat me to it from the outside. The fear that I had felt when I first laid my eyes on Lucian seemed to have tripled immensely as I stared at him now.