Never the Lone Moon

Chapter - 2

Norri

I called the number my sister gave me. Someone answered and asked me to wait somewhere crowded. I walked a few miles, and I realised it was getting dark.

There was a cafe packed with people. This must be safe for now. I walked in and sat in the booth, praying I wouldn’t get caught and hoping that the guy on the phone would come soon.

My only hope was to trust them because of my sister and, obviously, my whole family. I was sitting here and watching people come and go out of the cafe. Since it was crowded, no one would dare to do anything. But all I could think about was, what if those guys found me even here and killed me before that guy arrived?

I didn’t order anything, so I didn’t know when they would ask me to leave. My head was filled with questions, and so was my body with anxiety.

Someone was ordering. He was wearing the same jacket as the guy who died in our house. I didn’t see the killers, but they all were wearing the same jackets with the maroon marking on their pockets. I squinted my eyes to see if he had any marks on his pocket.

He turned at once, and there it was. He had the same mark on his pocket. I lowered my head and tried to cover my face. I made sure no one followed me, but that didn’t seem to be the case. What was I going to do now? I had to think of something.

I didn’t know if I should stay here or wait outside. I saw a shadow approaching me.

“Looks like a little lamb ended up right in the den.”

He grabbed my arm.

“Let go of me, or I will scream.”

“Be my guest.”

I looked around, and no one seemed to care. Even when I screamed for help, it was like we were invisible to all of them.

He pushed me out of the cafe, and that’s when I realised I was going to die too.

There was no one outside the cafe, no other guys or the car; it was just us. I took it as a cue and kicked him in the crotch. He let go of my hand and I ran like crazy. I didn’t know where I was going, but I started running as fast as I could.

I heard his screams, and he was fast, as if he had run a marathon before. I was running out of breath, and if I stopped, he would kill me, but if I continued to run, I would die without even getting his hands on me.

It was dark, and I couldn’t see anything but the trees and the moonlight. I changed my pace, but my legs finally started to give up, and I finally accepted my fate once again.

“Got you, you little brat,” he said.

I was trying to catch my breath, and when I looked up, someone was standing near the tree. It was not the guy who was chasing me. There was someone else; he must have been with him.

“Looks like you’re on the wrong way, lad.”

He stepped out of the shadows. His blue eyes were shimmering in the moonlight. His shadow covered the ground as he tucked his sleeves, adjusted his cuffs, and walked towards that guy.

“Should you be here?”

He twisted that guy’s head in one motion “Ahh, he shouldn’t be here.”

He turned towards me and held out his hand for me to get up, “Was he bothering you, love?”

I was still in shock that he had twisted that guy’s head.

If he had sent him to get me, why would he kill him?

He didn’t even give him a chance; he killed him right away.

“Who are you?” I asked.

He smiled. “Just a guy passing by” He paused, “who saw someone getting chased, so I thought of helping.”

“What were you even doing here? At this hour?” I flinched when my phone rang.

I got up, brushed off the dirt, and tilted my head as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. The number my sister gave me was displayed.

“You see—”

I tilted my head to ask him, but he disappeared at once.

“Miss Elenor? Is that you?”

I tilted my head. There was a middle-aged man in a suit.

“Who are you?”

“Oh, my bad. I am Harvey, sent by Mr Alaric Hawthorne.”

“I don’t know who that is,” I said.

“You called this morning, the guy who talked to you on phone few hours ago”

I nodded, “Did you happen to see that guy?” I looked around, “He was here,”

He looked confused, “I didn’t see anyone, let’s get you out of here first; we can talk about everything later,” he said.

I nodded. “How did you find me here?”

“I was looking for you at that restaurant, but I couldn’t find you there.” He paused and looked at the guy on the ground. “I tracked your number. Here you are.” He tilted his head towards me. “Let’s get out of here, Miss Elenor.”

We were out of the woods, and I saw a car parked a few miles away from the restaurant.

“Is that yours?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

We stepped into the car, and there was a driver already inside with the engine on.

“Get in, Miss Elenor. You are safe now.” Harvey looked around. “You don’t have to worry. Your uncle will take care of everything else.”

I stepped into the car, and all I could think about was nothing, not even my parents or anything. For the past few hours, my family had been killed, I had almost died twice, and now I was riding in an unknown stranger’s car and a man who claimed to be my dead uncle.

“How long is it gonna take to reach?” I asked.

“Oh, we are going to Colorado. So—”

I cut him off. “Colorado? It’s gonna take twenty hours from Portland to reach there by car. How did you get here so fast? In like five hours?”

“We’re going to travel by flight, Miss Elenor. So don’t worry. We will arrive in about four to five hours.”

Oh, I completely forgot about that option.

When we reached Colorado, it was dawn, and we went straight to his house. Harvey showed me around and showed me my room, but I couldn’t sleep at all.

---------------

I was walking down the streets, and I thought about how I was going to live without my family. Of all places, I was trapped living with a stranger. I refused to go to that place. All I could think about was why I hadn’t found the guys who killed my parents.

I rang the bell, and Harvey opened the door.

“I told you not to go anywhere. Where did you go?”

“I was just walking down the street. Chill, Harvey. No one’s gonna kill me here. We are like millions of miles away from my hometown,” I said while walking towards the stairs.

He shook his head, “Dinner’s ready. Come eat.”

I walked to the dining hall. Alaric was already there; he glared at me like I had killed someone. I didn’t care and sat in the chair. I couldn’t get myself to eat. All I could think about was my family.

I looked at him. “Are you going to tell me why my sister asked me to see you?”

I remembered my dad telling us that we had an uncle and that he was dead long before I was born, but here I was, having dinner with him and staring at him.

It had been a week since I arrived here, but all he had said was nothing, not even a word. He always conversed with Harvey, but not once with me. That was not my problem. I told him all about what happened back at the house, but he didn’t even flinch. I was crying my eyes out, but he didn’t even flinch when he heard about his brother’s death.

I kept asking him if he knew who killed my family and about the person I saw in my room, but he didn’t even bat an eye at anything.

All he did was sigh at the sight of me and leave for his study when he got home. No wonder he had no wife or kids. It was just Harvey, his butler, and him in this gigantic mansion.

Yet Harvey seemed to be nice; he took care of me like his own. He would sit with me when I cried and get me food when it was time. He was nice.

“Ahem, how are you settling in?” Alaric asked.

I nodded. “I don’t know. Two days ago, I lost my whole family; now here I am, sitting with a stranger who’s supposed to be my uncle, eating dinner.” I took a bite of food. “How good can a life get?”

He didn’t seem to be bothered by my comments. He stared at me for a while. He got up and went into his study. I looked at Harvey; he followed him.

Now I was all alone in the vast dining room.

He came back with the file in his hand, and Harvey looked concerned. Alaric slammed the file down, and a few papers, which looked like letters and photos, fell out. The front of the file opened.

“What is this?” I asked.

Alaric looked at Harvey.

“The adoption paper your father made, if anything happened to your father or mother.”

I stood up. “But they said you’re dead. What’s all this, and why would they? I mean, did they know that something like this would happen? Why did they say you’re dead, and who the hell are those guys who killed my family?”

He didn’t say anything. He went back to sitting and ate his dinner. He looked at me for once, then at Harvey.

“You see those files? That piece of paper is the only thing stopping me from throwing you out on the streets, so be grateful and sit and eat your dinner. That’s all you’re getting today.”

I glanced at Harvey, but he lowered his head.

“You’ve gotta be kidding. No wonder my mum and dad told us you were dead.”

I didn’t sit. I stormed out of the room and went straight to my room. I was thinking that, with the right directions and tools, I could find those people myself.

One thing my parents taught me: never back off from any situation, and I can’t stop until I get my revenge on those people.

I gathered the things I needed and waited until midnight to escape.

I was in my bed, my bags packed and waiting, when the clock hit midnight. There was a period when I noticed Harvey unlocked the door at midnight for the servants to take out the trash. When the clock struck midnight, that was my cue.

I looked out the window to see if there was anyone around, but no one was there, and the full moon was glimmering beautifully.

The clock struck midnight, and I was on my way to the kitchen back door.

As soon as I stepped out, I saw Harvey.

“Dammit.”

He saw me when I opened the door. He looked concerned; his eyes widened, and I heard a growl from afar, as if there was a wolf or lion in the forest.

Harvey rushed to my side. “You should not be here.”

He urged me in as he glanced at my backpack. “What are you trying to do, Miss Elenor?”

He asked me to go in and lock the doors, but I refused to go.

“I can’t, Harvey. I can’t stay here; I have to leave. Please help me, Harvey? Please? Don’t tell Alaric.”

But that didn’t seem to bother him. He was looking back and forth between the woods and the house. He tried to convince me, but we heard another growl. This time, I could see it. Its eyes were glowing in the dark like a fire ruby.

“Harvey—there—”

“You should get in,” he said.

But it was too late. The large wolf, covered with dirt and blood, was rushing towards us. It was larger than the usual wolves that roamed in the woods.

Before we could react, it was standing in front of us.

It was growling as if it had seen its prey.