KILL ME AGAIN!

Chapter 6

Someone didn’t want me to remember.

The thought followed me all the way home.

It sat beside me on the bus.

Walked beside me down the street.

Followed me upstairs.

By the time I reached my bedroom, I was exhausted from thinking about it.

I threw my bag onto the chair and closed the door behind me.

Then I locked it.

I stood there for a moment, staring at the handle.

That was new.

I had never locked my bedroom door during the day before.

I didn’t like what that realization said about me.

I was becoming afraid of my own house.

I walked toward my desk.

The old book was still there.

I had forgotten to return it to the library.

I stared at the worn leather cover.

Then at the black rose beside it.

For several seconds, I considered throwing both away.

Instead, I sat down.

I opened the book.

The page with the strange symbol was exactly where I’d left it.

The crescent moon.

Three marks surrounding it.

And beneath it:

What is bound by the First Moon cannot be broken by death.

I traced the sentence with my eyes.

Death.

The word made something inside my chest tighten.

I turned the page.

Most of it was missing.

The next few pages had been torn out completely.

I flipped forward.

More damaged pages.

Then I found something.

A name.

Kael.

I froze.

The name appeared in faded ink near the bottom of a page.

Nothing else.

Just one name.

Kael.

I stared at it.

The name felt strange.

Not familiar exactly.

But it made my stomach twist in a way I couldn’t explain.

I read it again.

Kael.

Who was Kael?

I turned the page.

The next page was blank.

I flipped another.

Nothing.

Another.

Nothing.

I went backward.

The name had disappeared.

I checked the previous page.

Nothing.

I stared at the book.

“No.”

I turned back.

There it was.

Kael.

I blinked.

For one second, I wondered whether I had imagined it.

Then I noticed something else.

A small mark beside the name.

The same crescent moon.

My phone buzzed.

I jumped.

Unknown number.

I didn’t want to look.

I did anyway.

You found his name.

My blood ran cold.

I stared at the message.

Another appeared.

That was not meant for you.

I slowly looked at the book.

My fingers tightened around the cover.

I typed:

Who is Kael?

The message showed as delivered.

No response.

I waited.

Nothing.

I typed again.

Who is he?

Still nothing.

I threw the phone onto the bed.

“Fine.”

I stood.

“Keep your secrets.”

The words had barely left my mouth when something crashed downstairs.

I froze.

My mother.

“Mum?”

No answer.

I hurried out of my room.

Another crash.

This time, louder.

I ran down the stairs.

The front door was open.

My mother stood in the living room.

She looked frightened.

I had never seen that expression on her face before.

“What happened?”

She turned toward me.

“Go upstairs.”

“What?”

“Arielle, go upstairs.”

I stopped.

“Why?”

She didn’t answer.

Instead, she looked toward the open front door.

I followed her gaze.

Someone stood outside.

A man.

Tall.

Broad shoulders.

Dark clothes.

He stood beneath the porch light, completely still.

My mother stepped in front of me.

“Who is that?”

She didn’t answer.

The man looked toward the house.

Then toward me.

I couldn’t see his face clearly from where I stood.

But something about his presence made the room feel smaller.

My wolf remained silent.

Completely silent.

The man took one step forward.

My mother grabbed my arm.

“Upstairs.”

This time, I listened.

We moved backward.

Then the man disappeared from the doorway.

I blinked.

He was gone.

My mother rushed to the door and slammed it shut.

She locked it.

Then locked it again.

I stared at her.

“What was that?”

She turned toward me.

Her face was pale.

“You need to stay away from the Blood Moon Pack.”

I frowned.

“What?”

She said nothing.

“The Blood Moon Pack?”

She looked toward the staircase.

Then back at me.

“I shouldn’t have said that.”

“You absolutely should have.”

“Arielle—”

“Who are they?”

She shook her head.

“It’s complicated.”

“Everything is complicated lately.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Then explain it.”

She looked at me for a long moment.

There was fear in her eyes.

Not for herself.

For me.

“You need to leave.”

My heart dropped.

“What?”

“Not tonight.”

She swallowed.

“But soon.”

“Leave where?”

“I don’t know yet.”

I stared at her.

“You’re scaring me.”

“I know.”

That was the first time she admitted it.

She reached for my hand.

Her fingers were cold.

“Promise me something.”

“What?”

“If someone from the Blood Moon Pack approaches you, you do not go anywhere with them.”

“Why?”

“Because they are looking for something.”

“What?”

She looked at me.

“You.”

My stomach dropped.

Before I could ask anything else, my phone buzzed upstairs.

Once.

Then again.

Then again.

I didn’t move.

My mother did.

She looked toward the ceiling.

“Don’t answer it.”

I stared at her.

“What?”

“Whatever happens, don’t answer it.”

The phone stopped.

Silence filled the house.

Then my mother whispered something I couldn’t hear.

I looked at her.

“What did you say?”

She shook her head.

“Nothing.”

But I knew she had said a name.

A name I had never heard before.

Or at least, I thought I hadn’t.

Kael.

The sound of it sent a strange chill through me.

I didn’t understand why.

I didn’t know who he was.

Yet somewhere beneath my confusion, something inside me seemed to recognize the name.

Not my mind.

Not a memory.

Something deeper.

I hated it.

I hated all of it.

The secrets.

The messages.

The strange book.

The black rose.

The man outside my house.

And now this.

The Blood Moon Pack.

I went upstairs anyway.

My phone was lying on my bed.

One new message.

I opened it.

You were warned.

I stared at it.

Then another message appeared.

Now they’re coming for you.

I looked toward my bedroom window.

Outside, the night was completely still.

But somewhere beyond the darkness, I heard a wolf howl.

My wolf didn’t answer.

For the first time, I wondered why.