Between Beasts

Chapter 13. Escape

As Mary and Ovin half carried, half dragged Jodie’s duvet, laden with her few possessions out the front door, Jodie did one last walk round of the flat to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything and to check everything was turned off and closed. There would be no coming back after this.

“That’s odd.” Jodie mused to herself, looking at the bedroom window. It was still more or less intact, the glass was alright, but the clasp and lock were broken. She couldn’t think when that might have happened.

Jodie made sure the window was closed and put it out of her mind, after all, there was nothing she could do to fix it now and they were several floors up anyway, so it’s not like anyone could climb in. Mary would probably scold her for being worried about someone breaking in and stealing Kevin’s belongings, so she decided not to say anything.

She was leaving Kevin and would be free, she knew it was the right thing to do, but she still didn’t want him coming home to find someone had stolen everything.

“Ow! Be Careful, Mary! I just got a load of coat hangers in my face, and I don’t need any more scars.”

“You be careful, you great oaf! If you pull go any faster, you’re going to pull me down on top of you!”

“Maybe that’s what I’m trying to do. Ow! Stop throwing things at me!”

“I will when you stop deserving it!”

Jodie listened to Mary and Ovin shouting back and forth at each other from the stairwell as they began their decent. They sounded like one of them was going to end up killing the other, but they also seemed to be having fun.

Jodie left her flat, Kevin’s flat now, for the last time. She took a breath, opened the letter box, pushed her keys through and let go.

It was done.

She might currently be technically homeless, but she was now moved out. She looked down the stairs at Mary and Ovin, still bashing and pulling each other around with the laden duvet, happily shouting at each other while leaving a small trail of odd and ends, like the occasional sock or pillow, behind them as they went.

By the time they got down to the ground floor, outside and hauled the duvet up onto the back of Ovin’s truck, Jodie had amassed quite an armful of her possessions which she’d recovered from the stairs. In truth though, she was amazed they hadn’t spilled more out of the makeshift hammock. She had never expected that to work but as always, there was no stopping Mary.

Ovin pulled a tarp over Jodie’s belongings and started strapping it down as Mary hopped up into truck cab.

“Thanks again for this Ovin, I can’t believe everyone’s being so helpful.”

“Don’t worry about it. Teo said we were going to be putting you up for a while, so you’re pretty much part of the cafe Wulf family now. Besides, it’s always fun helping Mary with something.” Ovin cheerfully replied, giving a charming, genuine smile.

Ovin’s particular looks and charm didn’t spark anything in Jodie, but she and Mary had discussed him previously when making a list of how good looking everyone they knew was, and objectively speaking, he was a very handsome young man... in a very ‘pretty boy’ way. Although those scars seemed to give him a rougher, more dangerous edge.

Jodie didn’t want to ask him about the scars which had appeared since she had last seen him, going across the side of his head and trailing onto the side of his face, they looked fully healed so whatever happened must have been a while ago, she must have just not noticed. It would be rude to ask now.

As Jodie thought about it, she began to wonder how old Ovin actually was; he couldn’t be much older than they were, but she was sure she remembered seeing him working in the cafe as long as she could remember, and apart from the scars, he hadn’t changed at all.

Hooonk!

“Come on ladies, lets roll!” Mary shouted, leaning out of the driver side window.

“I swear, I will strap you down in the back of the truck if you mess with my seat position.” Ovin shouted back, strutting forward to wrestle Mary out of the driver’s seat. Jodie smiled, and walked round the truck to squeeze into the passenger side of the cab with Mary.

Ovin pulled his truck into the alley leading towards the back of the Wulf cafe and parked by one of the smoke houses, then he and Mary disappeared inside for a few minutes before re-emerging, followed by Teo.

Teo stood quietly by the back door, watching as Mary and Ovin carried the duvet inside, working far more effectively together under Teo’s gaze than they had previously. As they went inside, Teo turned his attention to Jodie.

“Follow me.” He nodded towards the door and entered. Jodie had no reason to fear Teo, but she did hesitate by the door for a moment. She was nervous. For some reason it just didn’t feel like she was supposed to be here, that she shouldn’t be allowed to go through that door, but she was sure she just being silly yet again.

Jodie couldn’t have known that only the pack were allowed into the old inn, that it was their den and that she was the first human to have been invited to stay since the cafe had stopped being a public inn over a century ago.

She pushed the odd feeling aside and stepped through the doorway.

If the front of the cafe looked stuck in time, the back areas truly matched. Everything was made of thick, solid wood, deep in colour after hundreds of years of stain and polish. She skipped up the stairs to catch up to Teo, who had immediately started striding up the large stairs two at a time, having expected Jodie to do as instructed and follow, not looking back to check that she was.

Teo had no need to look back to know where Jodie was; the stairs, like everything in the cafe, had been built by Teo himself to endure the test of time. Alongside their solid construction, the stairs wouldn’t dare throw doubt on Teo’s craftsmanship by creaking, but Teo could still hear her gentle footsteps and her breathing.

Jodie followed up several flights of stairs and along a wide hallway to the front of the building. You could easily see that the old inn was large when looking at it from the street, it was a solid wood building nestled between far more recent buildings, it stuck out, and the cafe downstairs was spacious, but she’d had no idea just how big the old inn actually was until now.

Jodie couldn’t help but wonder how much the inn and cafe would be worth, between the inn itself and the yard out back of the cafe, which could easily house another building, and with it being right in the centre of the city, the land alone must have been worth millions.

“This will be your room. You may use it as long as you need.” Jodie was sure she saw Teo wince slightly and reach to his side as he pushed open the heavy door.

“Are… are you sure? I can’t believe how kind everyone is being, but I doubt I can afford this Teo.” The room was huge, with a large window looking out onto the street. It was furnished and decorated in exactly the same way as the rest of cafe and inn, with large, solid furniture including a massive bed, her duvet and belonging only covering half of it, piled fur blankets showing on the other half.

Jodie thought that the bed looked large enough for giants to sleep in, and like it had been built strong enough to endure them doing… other things. She flushed crimson once again as she looked at Teo, her mind instantly thinking of him taking her on that massive, solid bed.

“I didn’t ask for money. I closed the inn a long time ago, you are my guest, not a customer. As I said, you may stay as long as you need, but there a few rules which you must abide by. Firstly, you may come and go as you please via the back door during the daytime, although it is rarely locked, I assure you that you are safe here. Second, if you intend to be out past eight PM, you must first come to the cafe and let me know. Third, the large door at the end of the hall is my room, you are not to enter without my permission unless you are in danger. Lastly, you must never use the back entrance or go into the yard after dark. Understood?”

“Yes… thank you, Teo…” Jodie replied, a little stunned. She knew Teo was being far kinder than she could have ever hoped for.

“Very well. Mary and Ovin are checking on a friend in the next room, but I’m certain she will be back shortly. Unpack, make yourself at home and, when you are hungry, you will come down to the cafe.” With that, Teo gave his usual appraising look, followed by a short nod, signifying that he was happy his instructions had been understood and would be obeyed, then left the room, leaving the door slightly open.

Jodie sat down on the edge of the bed to give herself a moment to let everything sink in.

She hadn’t had a curfew since she was child, but she also hadn’t thought about how much anything might cost. Jodie hadn’t really had time to worry about it, but it had never crossed her mind that Teo would offer her a room for free, and certainly not one so large.

She would have gratefully accepted any conditions Teo had placed on her at that moment and made up her mind to find some way to properly thank him.