Moonlight Prey.

CHAPTER THREE — FROM BAD TO WORSE.

Chapter 03.

FROM BAD TO WORSE.

Scarlett's POV.

Later that night, as I arrived home with my dad, I settled on the couch adjacent to the one across the room while he went directly to his room.

Tossing my head backwards on the headrest, I exhaled sharply, and pushed my fingers through my hair. Although, I knew that there was little or no hope of getting a better life from our present one, but I just wanted to believe that it was possible.

However, judging from the silence that followed when I asked him that question earlier, I knew that our fate had been decided. Besides, I could tell from the look that masked his face not to get my hopes high.

In the meantime, I sniffled as I wiped the tear that trickled down the side of my nose with a hand.

“Is there something wrong?” Ravenna asked, her voice cutting through my thoughts like a whip.

“Huh?” — the words jolted out of my lips on its own accord.

“Are you crying right now?” she asked, settling on the couch across the room as she shot suspicious glances at me. “Is that what I think it is?”

“No. No, I'm not crying.” I said, shaking my head as I touched my face to know if it was moist. “I was just thinking about a few things.”

“You were just thinking about a few things?” she asked, narrowing her gaze at the words. “Are you sure about that.”

“Of course, I am.” I said, with a brief smile on my lips. “There's nothing to worry about.”

“Alright then.” she said, righting herself from the couch.

“Have you seen my cellphone?” I asked, in a curious voice as she turned to leave. “I can't seem to find it.”

“Oh, it's in your room.” she said, ducking her to the side. “I kept it there when I realized that you forgot to take it with you earlier.”

“Thank you.” I said, in a soft voice as I rubbed my hands against my pant legs. “I was just a little worried that I'd misplaced it.”

“If you had then you wouldn't be sitting right now.” she said, with a shrug of her shoulder. “Or don't you think so?”

“I guess you're right.” I said, letting out a sigh as I righted myself from the couch. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome.” she said, angling her body in the direction of the kitchen.

It seemed like she wanted to get herself a cup of water.

“Ravenna?”

“Is there something wrong?” she asked, turning back to face me with a raised brow.

“Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for what happened earlier.” I said, with a meaningful look in my eyes.

“Me too.” she said, with an apologetic look in her eyes. “I shouldn't have talked back at you.”

“It wasn't your fault.” I said, shaking my head as I maintained eye contact with her. “Things like that happen.”

“I should probably head to the kitchen now.” she said, pointing her thumb backwards to the kitchen which was behind her. “My throat feels dry; I need to get a glass of water.”

“Alright then. Good night.” I said, turned around and strode towards my room.

Once I got in and closed the door behind me, I found my cellphone on the bed. I shuffled a few steps, picked it up from the bed and put it on.

“Oh, no.” I said, covering my mouth with a hand as I realized that I'd missed some calls from Caspian.

Nonetheless, I rang his line to apologize and explain what had happened to him. However, the line kept ringing, but he didn't pick it up. After trying a few more times, I gave up, tossed my cellphone on the other side of the bed, pulled the blanket over my body and closed my eyes to sleep.

The following morning, I blinked my eyes awake with a sense of urgency to meet with Caspian before the other students would arrive. I got off from the bed, and dashed into the bathroom.

In like manner, I dashed out after a few minutes, combed through my wardrobe for something elegant to put on. As soon as I found a nice dress, I slipped into it, picked up a few textbooks, hung my bag over my shoulder and exited my room.

“Isn't Ravenna going with you today?” — my dad asked, with a raised brow as he sat on the couch across the room with both arms spread out wide on the headrest and legs crossed. “Or do you have something to do at school?”

“Of course, I am going with her.” Ravenna said, as she descended from the stairs. “There is nothing to worry about dad.”

“Alright then, you two have a great day at school today.” he said, with a smile on his lips.

“Are they leaving already?” — the voice came from a distance, as my mom walked out of the kitchen with a mini tray in her grip.

On it, was a plate of covered meal.

“Yes, they are.” he said, mirroring her movements as she approached him. “Is there something you want to say to them?”

“No, not really.” she said, with a smile on her lips as she dropped the tray on the center table which was in front of my dad.

Since she didn't have anything to say, there was no point waiting.

“Bye mom.” I said, waving a hand as I exited the house.

But then, as soon as Ravenna shut the door behind her, she quickened her pace to catch up with me.

“Scarlett,” she called.

Letting out a heavy sigh, I paused in my stride and turned to face her.

“Really?” she asked, shifting her body weight to one foot as she folded her arms across her chest with a raised brow. “You were going to leave without me.”

“I am sorry, I didn't mean to.” I said, with an apologetic look in my eyes. “However, Caspian has refused to pick my calls. I realized last night that I missed some of his. But when I tried returning the call, he didn't pick up.”

“Why would he refuse to answer your calls?” she asked, with a tinge of curiosity in her voice.

“My point exactly.” I said, with slumped shoulders. “And that's what I want to know.”

“Did anything happen between the both of you?” she asked, with a raised brow.

“No. Nothing happened.” I said, shaking my head. “However, enough of the questions, alright? He'll be in school soon, and I need to see him.”

“Taxi.” she called, signalling for it to stop with a hand. “Are you going to stand there? Or would you hop in and let's go?”

I didn't have much of a choice, so I got in. Barely ten minutes later, we arrived at school. However, while I waited for Ravenna to pay for the ride, I spotted Caspian walking towards the entrance path, towards the school building.

“I have to go now.” I said, pushing the door open and I got down.

Holding him firmly in my gaze, I quickened my pace to catch up with him.

“You didn't close the door, Scarlett!” Ravenna yelled from behind.

It didn't matter to me if I closed the door or not. All that mattered to me at that point was to catch up with Caspian and ask him why he refused to answer my calls. Besides, if I didn't close the door, then she could help me do so.

“Caspian?” I called, trying to close the distance between us. “Wait for me.”

He paused, and turned around. But then, as he realized that it was me, he didn't say a word. Instead, he turned back to face front and resumed his journey towards the door. Having noticed his attitude, I paused, blinking my eyes rapidly in confusion.

“Hey,” Ravenna said, putting a hand on my shoulder as she panted softly. “Did you get to speak with him?”

“No, I didn't.” I said, in a soft voice as I watched him walk farther away from me. “It was as if he didn't know me.”

“Pardon?”

“He ignored me.” I said, as my eyes suddenly became moist with tears. “It wasn't my fault that I missed his calls. At least, he should give me a minute or two to explain what happened.”

“You don't have to do this right now, alright?.” she said, in a consoling tone of voice. “I will talk to him on your behalf. If he doesn't want to talk to you, then he'll talk to me.”

“Do you think he'll give you a minute?” I asked, blinking back tears as I turned to face her.

“Of course, he will.” she said, flashing a smile across my worried face. “Just give me a moment.”

She ran ahead to catch up with him while he was still in sight. On the other hand, I followed behind with drooped shoulders. As I got to the first floor, and turned to ascend the stairs that would bring me to the second, Nora who was descending from the stairs stopped right in front of me.

“Hey, are you alright?” she asked, lowering her head in order to get a good look at my face. “You don't look so well. What happened to you?”

As I lifted my face to her and opened my mouth to speak, I paused as a group of students ran past me. Before I could blink an eye, another group ran past me. It was as if a celebrity had just arrived in school, and they were all rushing to see him. However, I knew that was far from it.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked, in a curious tone.

“It seems so.” she said, in a soft voice. “Come, let's check it out.”

On the one hand, I didn't want to go with her because that was the least of my worries. But on a second thought, since Ravenna had assured that she would speak to Caspian on my behalf, I thought that I could just keep myself occupied while waiting for her to return with his response. That was even if he agreed to speak with her.

Holding my hand, she pulled me along. But then, as we drew closer to the spot where all the students were gathered, the scent of fresh blood hit me. To that effect, something seemed to twist in my stomach and immediately, I froze on the spot.

“Hey, is there something wrong?” Nora asked, taking a good look at me with a look of concern on her face.

“No, there's nothing wrong.” I said, forcing a smile through my lips. “We should check out what's going on.”

“Hey, coming through.” she said, gripping my arm as she created a path for us in the middle of the students who were gathered around. “Move out of the way.”

As we eventually got to the forefront of the scene, my heart sank. Standing right in front of me was Ravenna with blood dripping from her fingers. From the scent, I could tell that it wasn't hers because her blood smelled like a rose flower.

And of course, I wasn't wrong. Turning to the side, I found a young girl lying dead on the floor with multiple bite marks on her neck. However, as Ravenna and I locked gazes, she wiped the blood on her lips with a sweep of her tongue.

My skin crawled.

“What have you done?”