Unnamed

FIVE – i tried to be brave once… foolishly

"What are you thinking?" Dylan asked later that night after we ate dinner. Dylan had cooked it and I must say the dinner was not bad, unlike his personality.

"Who will take the couch?" I half-lied, tucking my legs closer to my chest.

"No, seriously? Tell me." He plopped on the other far side of the bed.

I contemplated if I should ask or not. I was never sure how he would react with his bipolar personality. Then I decided I should ask and be done with it because if I didn't ask, the question would bother me all night.

"First swear that you would not be angry." I took the only safety measure I knew.

"Yeah whatever!" he muttered while pulling off his sock.

"What will you do if dad finds me?" I dropped it.

He paused in mid of taking his second sock, turned to me with his dark shades of eyes.

"You have promised not to be angry." I reminded him before he could start yelling at me.

He gulped as if he had poison in his mouth. He swiftly took off the sock and threw it against the wall then turned toward me completely.

"Then do not keep asking such questions." He spat through clenched teeth.

"You do not have to be angry hearing truth. I am not going to stay here always. I know dad would find me and take me from here. You know it too." My mind told me to shut up but I could not stop even after seeing that he had started to seethe with anger over my words. "I cannot live with you forever. I have a life back at home. How would you like it if someone takes you away from your life just because they want to keep you safe here? My dad would never let you keep me. He would turn the whole world for me. And even if he does not," I paused. Dylan's eyes were changed completely into those cold midnight blue orbs, challenging, warning me to say further. I should be afraid. I should not finish my sentence. I should have never started this. I could see him breaking his promise. Any minute he would snap. Any intelligent person would shut up, apologize, do anything to make him forget his anger. I did no such thing. Instead, I finished the sentence, "If he does not, I will try to escape." I whispered. My breath stopped, my heart stopped, time stopped.

When he moved again, I could not pace with it. Like in a fast moving car, only catching the fleeting glimpse of the blurred world, I only picked out some pieces only. One second Dylan was sitting across me, next moment, he was on me.

"You will never leave me," he growled like an animal. I didn't get to say anything else because after that I was only screaming- in pain. Grabbing a fistful of my hair, he tilted back my head and bit me on the neck. Fading in and out of unconsciousness, I could only register Dylan's eyes changing light and dark back and forth, pain in my neck and head and blood, a lot of it. Then everything blacked out for good.

---

They are fighting. But why? I have never seen mom and dad talking to each other in raised voice, so why are they fighting? Do they no more love each other?

"Please, do not scream." I cry but my small voice is lost under their yells. I cower against the wall when they start swearing. And then dad slaps mom. I flinch.

There is silence then mom laughs bitterly and turns toward me, "You are not my daughter. You mother is dead." She walks into her room and returns with a suitcase. "Paul Madison, that girl will be your death one day. I hope you'll rot in hell till then." With that, she leaves.

When dad notices me, he didn't yell at me. He marches toward me and took me by my hair, "Did you see what she did? She was ungrateful of everything I did for her." He screams at me. I have never seen him like this. I do not like this dad. "Fay Madison, you are my daughter and you will not leave me like your mom or I will beat the s**t out of you." He jerks me once and I yelp in pain, "Say you'll not leave me."

I nod my head and he yanked me by my hair. I stumble back from the force of it. "I said to say that you will never leave me."

"I will not leave you." I sob while trying to get away from him.

"Louder, b***h!" he pulled me by my hair again.

"I will never leave you." I cry louder.

"Say it again." he demands again and again and I repeat every time, fearing he would hit me.

Then his face morphs into Dylan's and I am grown into my seventeen years self. But he is asking the same question, "Tell me you'll stay with me forever, darling," he picks me up from the floor and cradles in his arms.

I start crying again while shaking my head, "I can't, I can't. I promised my dad to never leave him."

"Then you will die." Dylan's eyes change and he lunges toward my neck...

"No!" I woke up gasping for the air, and then closed my eyes against the sharp pain in my head.

"Are you alright?" I recognized Hailey's voice asking me softly as she stroked my forehead. I didn't answer.

"Fay?" She called again. I groaned and opened my eyes. I was in Dylan's bed with Hailey, Beth, and Jean sitting around me. Xavier and Chris were standing by the window, engrossed in a serious conversation. I rubbed my head to recall what had happened but everything was so hazy.

"What happened?" I asked instead. Maybe they could tell.

"Do not you remember anything?" She asked sounding a little concerned and way too hopeful. Why would she be happy about me forgetting something? Anyway, I tried again but my mind was blank as black.

"I do not. I, uh... Dylan and I were arguing, then... Then, um, blood. Oh my god, I remember, there was a lot of blood. I-I-" I fell back on the pillow with a grunt. The more I tried to remember, the pain was stopping me by increasing. Again, my mind went blank. "I feel like I am going to throw up," I whined.

"Here drink this." Xavier stepped forward with a cup in his hand.

"What's this?" I eyed the clear liquid. I took a sniff. It smelled like rose and sandalwood.

"This is Hailey's homemade concoction, a kick-ass for your headache. Come on, drink it." Chris urged.

Without further thought, I gulped it without choking. As soon as it hit my stomach, it wanted to get out. I flashed toward the bathroom and emptied my stomach's content in the bowl. I just wanted to sprawl on the hardwood after I had flushed and washed my face and mouth.

"Everything's good now, Fay." I was too spent to notice who had picked me up and brought me back in the bedroom. I snuggled into the pillow when someone drew a blanket on me. The concoction was doing weird thing to me. Yes, there was no pain in my head and I was not feeling nauseated but now I felt like a part of my memory was lost. I could not recall anything. The harder I forced my mind to recover the memory, all I could recall was Dylan and I were talking, then there was a void and the next thing I remembered was waking up here. Everything felt so weird and scary. Why did I feel like they were hiding something big from me?

"I cannot recall anything. Do you know what has happened?" I asked when I thought I was good enough to be normal.

"You fell."

"You hit your head."

"You passed out."

Jean, Beth and Hailey answered simultaneously. I stared at them and they gazed at each other.

"We mean, you fell from the bed, hit your head against the bed and passed out." Beth mended quickly.

"Oh, I really do not remember anything." I confessed.

"Well, when everything is better now, do you guys want to drink something?" Hailey asked, rising to her feet.

"As long as it's not your medicine. It makes my mind fuzzy." I complained, still mentally battling over my lost memory.

"That's what it was for." Xavier drawled sliding beside Chris on the couch.

"Stop scaring her, Xav." Beth chastised, throwing a pillow toward him.

I had not realized Hailey had left until she returned with beer cans for everyone. I denied when she passed me one.

"So who wants to party? Dylan is back with Fay. We can do it like old times. Mrs. Clifford is not here too. What could be a better time than this? What say?"

What kind of people were they? They threw parties for kidnappers?

"Hell yeah! There is nothing better to do unless Beth says we should marry. Now when you think about it, it doesn't sound bad either," Xavier exclaimed jumping on his feet. He grabbed Beth by the waist, twirled her around and went down on his knees, "Bethany Mary Slater, will you be the mother of my pups?"

Everyone burst out laughing; even I could not stop myself. They were so carefree and happy.

"You are a goof!" Beth pulled him to his feet and kissed his cheeks.

"I'll take it if that's a yes."

"Later but right now, partying sounds good." They both sat on the floor. Everyone nodded his or her agreement.

"So, this one is going to be for our new member Fay. What do you say, Fay? Do you like it?" Hailey asked.

"Me?" I questioned, confused why would they care what I thought?

I was not a member of their family. If they thought that I was going to join them in kidnapping innocent, they were wrong. That reminded me I had not seen anyone else kidnapped here. Was I the only one or they really were telling the truth that they were not kidnappers. Maybe they were not but Dylan was. But still, they were treating me like I had been always a part of them.

Unconsciously, I liked it. Any sane person would not believe them, would not like their jokes and would not talk to them or even sit with them. But I was eager like a child to be noticed, even if they were friends of my kidnappers. I had always wanted to be a part of something or someone. Where I'd be important enough to give my opinions, express my wishes, participate in a conversation rather than nodding head like a dummy.

"I like parties." I muttered, excitedly.

I had no idea how teenagers partied because dad never let me go to any. He said they were wild and vile things. It could not be that bad to try one. Besides, this could be my only chance to escape from here. I should not miss it.

"Then we should do it as soon as possible." Jean clapped cheerfully but that cut short by the door slamming against the wall.

Holding my breath, I watched Dylan walking in, followed by a worn out Luke. His shirt was wrinkled, hair were in every place and there were dark circles around his eyes. Jean wasted no second in joining him and gave him a small kiss.

My attention shifted to Dylan who was examining me like I was a bird he had never seen before. The shades of his eyes were battling between the light and dark. If we ever get on right terms, I would like to ask him how he did that. His gaze flickered toward my exposed neck and I squirmed.

"We're returning to the mansion... with Fay." Beth announced in a tone that shouted 'no arguments are allowed'. I was very thankful but Dylan was not easy to agree.

He glared so hard at Beth that I was surprised that she was not in ashes yet. "She will not leave this place," he ordered through clenched teeth.

"Do not be hard, Dylan. Let her come with us." Jean requested in her soft tone. Xavier and Chris muttered their opinion about me coming.

"Yes, you should let her come. You know, after what has happened I think she should not be here for a while. It could trigger her memory." Hailey stated in her as-a-matter-of-fact tone.

"What do you mean?" I piqued in.

"It means you need some fresh air. There's a lot of it in the mansion." Xavier answered for her. Okay! They didn't sound suspicious at all.

Dylan waited while contemplating the idea. He was unsure and reluctant to agree. I could see the gears in his head working at full speed as he shot daggers at everyone. Finally, he gave in.

"Fine! She can go." He agreed in a tone that suggested he wanted anything but that.

"Thanks-"

"But I want her back by night." He put a condition. I mentally groaned. It was already evening. That was so much less time. Apparently, everyone else was satisfied with that much as they nodded their heads.

"Let's go, sheep. The grass is calling." Xavier joked, ushering everyone out of the room. I was the last one left to exit and before I could step out of that door, Dylan held me back by my arm.

"I'll not be there-" I liked the sound of that. "but that does not mean you could do something stupid like escaping. I will know and you'd be back here. And I can guarantee you that it would be very, very bad for you. So no running, okay, sugar?"

"Y-yes. Of course." I was not planning to run today. I was going to do that with full planning on the party night.

"Smart." he tucked a piece of hair behind my ears and gently pushed me out of the door. Everyone was waiting for me in the living area. "I want my beer cans back and from next time, there should be no walking, talking, drinking, eating in my room."

"Yes, Alpha!" everyone chimed together.

When we were a safe distance from the mansion, Chris turned toward Xavier, "Did you hear him, Xavier? Our Dylan is growing up and forming into a splitting image of his mother. I am leaving this pack."

Everyone jumped at loud howl in distance but ended up laughing. I didn't laugh because I had heard wolves love human flesh.

The walk back to the mansion was full of goofiness, goofiness, goofiness and it was less scary with Dylan's friends.

"Why does not Dylan live here?" I asked randomly.

"He is not a fan of living around many people. He needs his space and peace, that's why he lives in that cabin." Beth told. That much I had gotten when I had seen him for the first time in my class.

"Anyway, we guys are leaving for our usual stuff-" Chris started but I interrupted.

"What do you mean by usual stuff? Are you going to kidnap someone else? I knew you guys were lying when you said you are not kidnappers. That's why you call Dylan by his secret name, Alpha and your gang, pack." I accused.

"Oh lord, look at her." Xavier laughed. "Has anyone told you before that you look cute when you get angry like that?" He ruffled my hair and I stepped back.

"No!" I snapped.

"Well, you look cute. And we are not kidnappers, for the last time. Our parents are not home, someone has to look after work. That's what we mean by usual stuff. Do not panic." He elaborated. I inhaled in relief.

I watched the three boys swaged toward their cars. I could not help but notice how tall and build up they were and incredibly handsome. Not even them but the girls too.

With their flawless features and amazing bodies, they could make any girl happily turn lesbian for them. Sometimes, they didn't even seem human with that kind of perfection. I bet they were angels, well, except for Dylan.

Basil was playing with Marcus by the fountain. When he noticed us, he ran toward us. "Pooh, you have promised that you'd take me with you. I don't like playing with Marcus. He is so big; I can never beat him in any game." He complained to Hailey

"I heard that, pup." Marcus hollered from the fountain, now flocked by Jean and Beth.

"Sorry for this time. You can drop Fay home later tonight. What say?" Hailey offered, ruffling his hair playfully.

"Yo!" he agreed quickly.

"Why do you call him pup? He is not an... animal." I quipped in curiosity.

"Ah, it's, um... he sometimes acts like an" Hailey stopped, scratching the back of her neck, "animal. A wild little thing he is." Hearing that, Basil puffed out his small chest proudly and knocked on it three times.

"You guys are so weird." I said moving along with Hailey and Basil toward the door. "Aren't Beth and Jean coming with us?" I asked, glancing back at the girls who were walking with Marcus toward a car.

Hailey turned back then faced me, "They must be going to the city. They always do that with Marcus. But do not worry, I am with you." She patted my back.

"And me too." Basil cheered. Hailey led me in her bedroom suite. We three fell on the king sized bed.

"Why do you live here, in outskirts?" I enquired. Since it was not a small matter, she folded her legs Indian style and divulged the information for me.

That's how we spend our evening. She talking, me hearing. Their ancestors had been living here for centuries. This land of over hundreds of acre had always been their home. Their parents never thought of leaving this place, neither did they want to.

Other members of their community, ("We're like a tribe. Does not mean we dance around a fire at night." Hailey giggled) lived together on the other side of the forest. The main residence and other homes were there. This mansion was just a gift to Dylan from his parents. He tried to live here for a few days but then thought of sharing with them. Except, now he did not live here. He designed and constructed his cabin in the middle of woods instead. The conversation then turned to their love lives. ("I have girlfriends back at school." Basil informed) She didn't have to tell me that. I had noticed all the uncompressed love of the couples in this short span of time. I would be blind not to notice their kisses, hugs, adoring gazes, unconscious touches like they could not live without each other.

Never once Hailey steered the conversation to my family. She asked me about school, my friends, my likes and dislikes, everything but my family. Maybe that never crossed her mind or she forgot but when she asked what my dad did and said never mind afterward, I knew she was deliberately trying to avoid that topic. But why?

We were in the middle of watching a movie when Jean and Beth barged in, stumbling on their heels, "Look what we've got you." They exclaimed raising shopping bags in their hands.

"It's not a bad thing that you look hot in Dylan's cloth but we cannot let you walk around half dressed like that. Keep it as a small gift from us." Jean said, dumping all the bags in front of me.

This was too much. It was not like I was going to stay here forever. They didn't have to buy me anything. I thanked them though. No later than that, the boys had returned from their work too. We all scattered around Hailey's room and purposelessly surfed through the channels. Dylan came too. Apparently, it was late and I was not home as he had asked. After fifteen minutes of crying, begging, yelling, puppy dog eyes, fake tears, he agreed on taking Basil with us. I bid a goodbye to everyone as he picked up the shopping bags and we left.