HIS SCENT IS A MOON LIT LIE

Chapter Fifteen

Elara's POV

"Elara." My mother voice snapped my attention up. She rose quickly and walked toward me, her expression stretched tight "You are home early.."

Her eyes were wide with shock, Gabriel Cross on the other hand remained composed, I could feel his sharp gaze flickering over me as if he could read right through me.

"Skipping school?" His brows lifted slightly

I adjusted the strap of my backpack and clutched my stomach tight. "Bad cramps so the nurse suggested I rest at home." I lied calmly .

The both of them went quiet, I could tell they were either still accessing my lie or they did not believe it at all. I bent a little and whimpered to sell my story.

Gabriel merely shook his head.

"What about you two?" I asked, glancing between them.

Mum opened her mouth but Gabriel spoke first.

"We were just talking." He muttered, folding his arms.

"Yeah..." I trailed off, shifting my gaze to Mum before returning it to him "About what?"

Mum cleared her throat, her smile was a tad too wide to be genuine. "It is nothing serious. You know, Gabriel and I are just catching up on old stuff."

I nodded slowly, although I could tell she was lying but who was I to talk? After all I had been lying a lot too, even as far as using my friends.

"You said the nurse wanted you to rest. You should be in your room, resting." Something about the way mum's shoulders were stiff made me feel uneasy. My eyes shifted between the both of them again. What were they really talking about?

I inhaled sharply, irritation curling through my chest. I hated how I was always in the dark about everything. Everyone around me was keeping secrets.

"Yeah, I should go." I muttered . Gabriel’s gaze remained fixed on me as I shifted on one foot to the other.

Just as I took a step forward, Gabriel’s voice stopped me in place, loud and authoritative. I gritted my teeth and turned around.

"Not so fast though." He said.

I froze, jaw tightening, and turned back.

"Gabriel, what are you doing?" Mum snapped. Her glare at him was pointed, seemingly conveying a message but he deliberately ignored her.

He cleared his throat and continued. "How are the new neighbours treating you? Getting along well?"

"What?" I blinked. Why did he care about Jordan and his family?

"I-I...I uhm..." I stuttered.

"They are quite distant, Elara is not so close with them." Mum replied in a stern tone. I nodded my head in agreement at her. "She is right." I murmured.

The look on Gabriel’s face was skeptical, he tilted his head to the side as he stared at me.

"Is that so?" He crossed his arms.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Is this some kind of interrogation or something? Why are you asking me all of this?" I turned to face mum. "Why is he asking me all of this?"

Mum started to speak, but Gabriel cut her off again

"I saw you with the tall one the other day. Jordan, right?"

His smile was bland. "You two seemed....pretty close."

A lump formed in my throat.. "We are not." I said quickly, maybe too quickly. I adjusted my posture and rephrased my words. "I barely know him, like mum said we are quite distant."

Gabriel shrugged, it was obvious that he didn’t believe me at all. "That is funny. He does not strike me as the type to spend time with strangers. Are you sure there's nothing else going on?"

My heart pounded. I needed a defense-fast-but my mind was blank. I couldn’t let him know anything.

"Why are you asking me this? Are you stalking me?" I raised my voice at him.

Gabriel Cross did not flinch. His look remained perfectly stoic as if he was discussing the weather. "I am just looking out for you Elara. It is dangerous to hang out with a boy who just recently moved in, don't you think so Vivienne?"

I clenched my fists tight, trying and failing to rein in my anger. Who was he to tell me what to do? "It sounds more like you are the danger. What kind of grown man 7spies on a teenage girl. Are you stalking me?" Against all logic, I spat the words out without thinking, rapid fire.

I regretted them immediately. Challenging Gabriel would only make things worse for me.

"Elara! Upstairs, now!" My mother scolded me immediately.

I shot one last dagger glare at Gabriel before storming up the stairs, my steps louder than the voices behind me.

I rushed into my room and slammed the door behind.

A groan of frustration escaped me. I leaned against the door, breathing hard.

It was like everyone has chosen today of all days to annoy me.

My mind wandered to Gabriel’s interrogative questions. The questions echoed in my mind. They weren’t random - they were calculated. He knew something, Maybe too much.

I recalled the words he’d spoken to me as I stomped away. Something about warning my mum to remember who she truly was. As much as I wanted to ignore those words, I couldn’t. They nagged at me. So far I’d been edging towards danger recently, there was no denying that my mother had been suspicious lately.

There was no use pretending that I wasn’t curious. I carefully pushed open the door and inched towards mum’s room, I pressed my ear against the closed door, tensed and ready to spring away if it opened suddenly.

But all my stealth was useless, their voices were low whispers and I couldn’t help but think it was deliberate. They didn’t want me to overhear anything.

I slipped into my parents' room hoping I would find something off, anything at all to prove that Gabriel and mum were up to something fishy.

The king sized bed was made, the curtains were drawn together, leaving the room a little dim. I rummaged through the drawers and then the closet but there was nothing out of the ordinary.

I was just about to give up when a sudden idea occurred to me. I walked to the bed and crouched low, reaching blindly, my hands felt under for anything unusual. My hands brushed something that felt like fabric.

I snatched it and pulled it out. It was covered in dust, a bundle wrapped in thick clothes tied with a leather string.

My hands trembled as I slowly unwrapped it.

Inside it was a long ancient knife with strange markings carved around its blade and beneath it was a folded map of the town.

The map was covered in symbols

Not ordinary ones

Not harmless ones

My heart raced

What was my mother hiding?