Chapter 4: It Won't Be A Problem
1094 Words
It was late at night. Vanessa couldn't sleep. She paced around the bedroom, her mind was troubled with the incident that had happened that day. She knew it was real and that she had seen it but why did it wipe off immediately when Levi came?
Vanessa traipsed to the sofa by the hearth to pick up her shawl. She yanked it away and pulled it over her before stepping out of the room. It was cold outside and she didn't want to freeze.
She trudged down the hallway, looking for something to ease her troubled mind. She couldn't sleep this way. She would toss and turn on the bed till daybreak.
She would check out the house since she couldn't check it out during the day.
She wandered around the house taking in its beauty. The sitting room was big with different kinds of furniture, there was a large hearth making a crackling sound. It gave warmth to the big room and set it aglow.
Vanessa moved to the door. She could walk around the grounds before coming back in. She placed her hand on the knob to open the door. It didn't budge and there was no key in its keyhole.
Did they lock themselves in every night? Where could the key be if it wasn't here? If only she could stroll outside, the evening breeze would do a lot to her tense nerves and troubled mind. She left the door, the littlest noise could attract attention, she didn't want to wake them up.
She sighed and sagged against the door. She would have to make do with what she could. Vanessa turned her neck to the large dimly lit hallway. A room was opened and rays of light illuminated the dark passage a bit.
Who could be there? Vanessa's heart skipped a bit. She remembered what had happened that day. However, her legs willed her to move towards the passage, in a bid to satisfy her curiosity.
She walked in its direction slowly so as to not make a sound. Vanessa peeped into the room. It was Alpha Ryan. He was facing the window, his back backed her. She wondered why he was up. He must be a nightman.
What was he looking at?
Vanessa roved her eyes around the room. It looked like a study. There was a table filled with books, ink, and papers. It also had a chair close to it.
The Alpha turned around. She backed away immediately. What would he think of her snooping around his house? He could send her away from the house. Jake would kill her the minute he heard that she had gone rogue.
She looked back into the wide room. The Alpha had stopped by the table. His head was covered by his specially designed mask. Black colored with high and defined fake cheekbones and slanted blackened eyes that didn't move and he was clad in a black cloak.
As if by intuition, the alpha turned his head to her, and Vanessa gasped. She looked around for a means of escape. Her room was farther. There was a slightly open door adjacent to his. She entered it.
Vanessa held her heaving chest as she opened her eyes to take in her surroundings. It was a big library filled with numerous books arranged alphabetically on the shelf stack
"Oh mama," Vanessa whispered.
There were enough books here to last her a lifetime. She didn't have to laze around idly. She loved reading so much. Vanessa moved to the shelf. She trailed her hands on the books.
Vanessa picked one. She opened it and took it to her nose. She sniffed in the old scent it had. Its brown paper showed that it was an old book.
Alpha Ryan knew someone was there, the moment he turned. He saw the shadow edge away. However, when he dashed to the door, there was no one there. He perused the hall carefully. That was when he saw the tip of her green gown in the library.
He moved deftly into the room, pressing his body through the door so he could enter. He saw the way she stared at the books. She hadn't even noticed him. She was lost in her world.
Vanessa felt the hairs on her body stand. She froze. There was someone else in the room with her. Why was she feeling this reaction? What if it was a thief or one of Jake's minions?
She held the book in a firm grip, her mind thinking about different ways to use the minor weapon to cause harm to the enemy. She hadn't spent years away running away from Jake to be stupid.
Vanessa turned around with the book in her hand. It connected with Ryan's neck immediately. He had snuck up behind her
"I'm the one here," his deep baritone voice informed her.
Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief as she dropped the book on the center table. There were reading chairs arrayed by it.
"You startled me," she managed to say.
Fear had gripped her innards but she couldn't show it or it would have been used against her. She was relieved to see that it was Ryan.
"You were the one who drew my attention here. What book is that?"
Vanessa stretched the book to him. She looked at him fully. His face was still hidden behind the mask. She wondered what he would look like if she removed the mask. She didn't dare, the headless Alpha would make her pay for such stupid thoughts.
"It's about the relationship between werewolves and witches. I read the synopsis and I like it already," she settled on a chair.
"I find it quite intriguing that of all books here, this caught your interest," the Alpha drew out a chair and sat on it.
"Well, I'd like to understand if we do share any connection and I'd like to know how to use the connection to my benefit. If you may know," she folded her arms.
"Why?" Ryan quizzed her, dropping the book on the table before them. His whole attention was on her.
"I must avenge the death of my mother," Vanessa's face turned into an angry mask.
It had been years since her mother died yet it was still green in her memory. She could relive everything that had happened that day without forgetting a single thing.
"Who? Who killed your mother?" Ryan laced his hands together on the table.
"Silas. Silas Ethan." Her soft voice had a touch of granite.
- Writer
