Chapter 27: The Birthday Secret Key
1112 Words
Lucy’s POV
"My birthday happens to be next week," I muttered to no one but myself, lost as I stared at the calendar I had prepared on my phone.
“Almost here already?” Kara asked like she had been expecting it, raising a brow.
“Yeah, very close. The big awaited twenty-five is here. That's more like quarter-century crisis loading,” I said amidst a laugh. “But that's not really what it's all about.”
“What’s up with you?”
I hesitated, not knowing if I should discuss that with her. “Do you still remember that time I confided in you concerning my uncle, the only family that probably is still alive?"
“Yeah, I can still remember. The one who took care of you and Eli the moment your parents died but left shorty two months after Eli became sick."
I nodded in confirmation. “Well, that same uncle gave me something strange on my eighteenth birthday. It was an old bronze key that I have no idea what it's all about. The only explanation he gave me then was that I wasn't of age to understand then but would understand on my 25th birthday. Before he left, he made me swear never to use it until the day of my 25th birthday."
Kara furrowed her eyelids. “Wait, you mean it happens to be a literal key?”
I quietly pulled it out, like I was waiting for this time to show someone. I had left it hidden for days inside my inner pocket. The metal, though rusty, was strangely cool, and on it was a symbol I had tried my best to identify or read meaning to.
Kara leaned in to carefully look at it. “That doesn’t appear normal to me, Lucy.”
“No kidding, but it should for crying out loud,” I said. “He said it would guide me to the truth of who I am at the right time.”
“Lucy… after we conducted the DNA results, and it came out positive rather than what we expected, don't you think...”
“I know what you are trying to insinuate. Whatever this key succeeds in opening should, no doubt, have a genuine connection to my bloodline. Why is all of this happening to me? Why did Eli suddenly become a different person? Maybe it may guide me on why I can't seem to get Ryker off my head, even with all he did. Everything appeared like fate was knowingly playing chess with me and my heart."
“You think we shouldn't wait any longer?”
“I don't have the luxury of waiting anymore, Kara. Too much had happened, and more are still promising to happen. This is the point where I need answers.”
She nodded slowly, like she understood my predicament. “Where exactly is the lock now?”
“That’s another thing that's giving me sleepless nights… I don’t know where to locate it. But a place just flashed into my mind. I can still remember it like it was yesterday, a place my Uncle never takes a break from visiting. It was more like his meditation place, and I had quietly followed him to the place at age sixteen. He had no idea that such a thing happened till today; if not, he would have been furious."
“Please tell me you don't intend to go there alone."
“Of course, I won't try such,” I lied.
>>>>>>>>>>>>
Later that very night, after checking on Eli before retiring to bed, I stood before the pack gate to observe the movement around it.
By now, my heart was already racing uncontrollably, and the sweat in my palms was unexplainable as I held the key tightly.
“Seems like you are going somewhere?” A deep voice vibrated behind me as I stood there.
I froze on hearing that. When I finally turned, I saw that it was Ryker. I guessed so from his voice, but I didn't expect him to still be awake and monitor my movement.
When our eyes finally met, he looked away. He was too calm for the troublesome Alpha I have been dealing with for the past few months. Even in his calmness, I could see through his true nature how his eyes roamed around suspiciously.
“You’ve been doing everything possible to avoid me,” he stated flatly.
“I've been busy,” I mumbled almost to myself.
“With what exactly? Busy ignoring me while we were at the hospital? Or like what you are doing now, sneaking out in the middle of the night like a rogue?”
I sighed in frustration. “I won’t stoop so low in doing this again with you, Ryker.”
“What is it that you are hiding from me?”
“Don’t even start with me to...”
He moved closer now, his breath in my face. “Does this have anything to do with Eli? Or is it just about yourself alone?”
I blinked, still trying to understand him.
From the way he talked, it's more like he knew something.
“You seem to be forgetting that you are not the only one seeking answers while asking many questions, Lucy.”
“Then maybe this is the right time to finally look for those answers before it's too late."
He stared weirdly at the key I held like my life depended on it.
“What are you holding?”
I quickly hid it inside a pocket in my coat. “It does not have anything to do with you, it's just something that has to do with my past.”
He didn’t seem like something willing to go anywhere. “Where exactly are you heading to standing here?"
“To finally open a hidden door.”
“You are talking in parable, a door to what exactly?”
I smiled, but it didn't reach my teeth. “Hopefully, not the one leading to hell.”
He furrowed his eyes at me. “Lucy, what...?”
“If this is one of your ways to stop me, I swear, I would scream at the top of my voice.”
“And what if something happens to you on the way to wherever you are going?” he asked with concern.
I turned to face him fully. “Then maybe such a thing was meant to happen to me in the first place.”
Without another word or waiting for him to respond, I took off in the path leading to the north, into the darkness, the key safely guided.
- Writer
