(Los Angeles, California).

11:24 PM, 2012.

~Eliana~

As I drove my Mercedes Benz, a 1990 model passed down from my sister, through the streets of Los Angeles, high on alcohol and weed, I turned up the volume of the music, "Teenage Dream," which was used as an excuse to have teen sex and just feel good without feeling guilty, like every other wild sex-driven teenager in America.

Candice was vigorously kissing her idiot boyfriend, Nick, in the backseat. I cast a sidelong glance at them, seeing the poor guy, who could only boast of owning two shirts, pull off her pink underwear and drop his tongue on her vagina, making her cry out loud, yearning for more of what she was feeling.

“Eyes on the road, Eliana,” Sam, who was in the passenger seat, said.

“My eyes are on the road, Sam. Where else?” I asked rhetorically, as I continued to speed up the aging car, like I was anchoring it into its demise and final exit from the earth.

It was the night of our high school graduation, and all we just wanted was to have some fun. I had already been accepted into Yale, and I was going to be off for college in a few weeks time. It was hard to admit, but soon, I wasn’t going to be seeing much of my friends anymore. We were all going to different colleges, getting to meet new people, and inasmuch as neither of us wanted to say it out loud, we knew deep down that things were not going to ever be the same with us after this night. That was why we were drinking our livers out, smoking without caring how badly our lungs got damaged, and practically having wild sex, because we may never get to do all those things again or experience it again.

“You only live once" and “Life is short", were the popular phrases my friends and I lived by. We were just focused on living in the moment, and living our lives to the fullest, and in several years from now, I’d come to appreciate that we had lived the way we did, because not all of us got the chance to live that life again.

“Wanna make out?” Sam asked.

I shot a look in his direction, and I could see his penis pointing out, and I giggled at the sight of that. Candice and Nick were making him horny apparently, and if I were being honest, I also was in the mood to feel sexual pleasure.

While my brain told me to tell him no, my body wanted something else. Hence; my car screeched to a halt, and I bit my lower lip flirtatiously, and with a wink, drew Sam by his collar to myself.

“Now, that’s the spirit,” Candice said with a chuckle, before going back to moaning and screaming off our ears.

Sam crushed his lips on mine. It was warm; inviting, and I responded, with my lips telling him not to stop. He slid his tongue into my mouth, and one by one, I unbuttoned his shirt, pulling myself closer to him.

For as long as I could remember, Sam and I had been friends. His father had one of the biggest Petroleum companies in Los Angeles, and my father was a multimillionaire car dealer, famous in California and in other significant states in America. Our parents had introduced us to each other when we were toddlers, and we had become friends. I had my first kiss with him; even my first sex...but we had never dated, even though everyone was convinced that we were in a relationship. We had no deep feelings for each other, and were just the typical friends with benefits.

He unzipped the dress that I had worn to prom and undid my bra. I helped him unhook his belt, and enclosed my palm on his manhood, about to give him the naughtiest blowjob ever. He trembled before me, and began moaning, while stroking my hair, whispering a lot of sweet-nothings.

“You’re truly the best,” He said.

I giggled. “It’s not like you’ve had any except me,” I said in response.

“Whatever. I’m sure no one could ever beat you in this, he said, sliding my satin panties down, circling his finger around my vagina, sending my heart racing faster, as I moaned softly. He thrust his index finger into it, and brought it out, and while I was maintaining my cool since he was doing it so slowly, I couldn’t help but start moaning louder, as he began to repeat the process more rapidly, making me wet all over.

I wanted him...in me.

Spreading my legs wider; one on the car's glove compartment, and the other on the passenger seat, I begged him to give me an orgasm as I couldn’t wait anymore. He smiled like he had accomplished a big victory, and stroked his penis, then as the tension in the car built up gradually, he inserted his dick into my vagina, and began riding me better than he had ever done in the past.

I moaned, savouring the ecstasy he had given to me on a platter of gold, begging him to go harder and faster on me, because I really wanted him.

“I swear to God, Eliana, I love you,” He said.

“What did you say?” I inquired, making sure he hadn’t said what I thought I heard.

“I said I love you,” He said.

From the look of things, Candice and Nick had also stopped grinding, and were eager to know what would happen next. They were the only ones who acknowledged the fact that Sam and I had no boyfriend and girlfriend relationship whatsoever with each other.

“You’re saying that because the sex is good, right?” I asked.

He heaved a deep sigh. “Actually, I’ve always wanted to tell you that...”

“Stop! Stop, okay? I don’t want to hear any more of it,” I thundered.

Sam licked his lips. “I’m sorry. It’s just that in a few weeks from now, we’d all be off to college and I wanted you to know how I feel before then,” He said.

“Well, you chose the wrong time to bring it up,” I said.

“Eliana-"

“Get off me,” I said.

“You can’t be serious,” He said.

“Well, I am serious. Get the fuck off me,” I requested harshly.

He put his hands up in surrender, and got away from me, just as I had requested.

I didn’t feel horny anymore. I just wanted to get the hell out of here, go home and crawl up in my sheets, wondering why I was scared of being loved by anyone.

Ten minutes later, I had successfully managed to put on my dress and had begun driving off again. Initially, we had wanted to go to the club behind the motel, but after what had happened, Candice had decided that it was best if we all just went home. I’m sure they were all angry at me and hated me for being such a bitch, but I didn’t care.

It just didn’t make sense, and aside from his confession being a hard thing to process, it was probably going to destroy our friendship.

As the car sped in the cold dark lonely road, no one said a word and probably just had several things going through their minds. Suddenly and without warning, a huge man popped out in the streets, in front of my car, and I managed to step on the brakes as quickly as I could, but not without knocking him off the road.

“Oh my god!” I screamed out, panicking.

“Good Lord! What have you done?” Nick asked.

“I...Did I just kill somebody?” I asked, trembling with my heart beating ten times faster than it usually did.

“Hey, stay calm. Let’s just get out of the car and see what happened,” Sam said, squeezing my hand, helping me calm down a bit.

“Guys, look!” Candice said with a spark of fear in her voice, pointing at the windshield.

Slowly, we all looked in the direction in which she had pointed, and to our greatest dismay, saw a gorilla-like human standing on his two feet, partly covered in black fur, with eyes that had a white glow. His mouth widened and his teeth shot out, looking like he wanted to eat us all up.

“Please, tell me I’m dreaming,” Candice said, in a shaky voice.

My lips quivered and I swallowed hard. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Sam prick his arm, apparently praying for what we were seeing to be just one of those nightmares you couldn’t wait to wake up from.

“What do you think it is?” Nick asked, somehow managing to remain calm, even during a crisis, such as this one.

“I don’t know. A gorilla?” I responded, very unsure of my suggestion.

He scoffed. “Looks like a werewolf to me,” He said.

“Werewolves aren’t real,” Sam and I said in unison, throwing his idea under the bus.

Candice was too stunned to speak, and just kept shivering like someone who was suffering from a bad cold.

The animal remained there panting, and staring at us with cold eyes. I knew it was only a matter of time before it ate us up alive, but I was soon going to find out that it didn’t want us to be his supper. He just wanted to end us.

I took out my phone, and dialled my dad’s number, just as the beast took up the car in his bare hands, leaving us hanging in the air for a moment.

Our high-pitched screams filled the air and we yelled our lungs out.

“Ellie?” My dad’s voice came over the phone's speaker.

“Dad, it’s a gorilla,” I yelled.

“You fool. It’s a werewolf!” Nick voiced out loud.

“What are you kids saying? Is this another one of your pranks?” My dad hollered.

Before any of us could give him a response, the beast threw the car in the North, sending the car landing with a thud.

My car was still intact. It was the oldest car alive, but hadn’t yet been ripped apart, despite all that it had been through.

“What are you waiting for, Eliana? Drive!” Sam yelled.

Luckily, the car had landed on all four wheels, and I stepped on the brakes, turning the key in the ignition, and started driving. How the car managed to still move is something I’d never know, but at the time, I was grateful it did.

We heard the heavy footsteps of the beast approach us, and I shook my head, even as I drove as speedily as I could, knowing in my heart that we were all done for.

“Hey, about what you said earlier...” I started, casting a brief glance on Sam, before focusing once again on the road.

“Now’s not the time, Eliana,” He yelled.

A tear slid down my cheek. “We may never get a chance again. I love you, too. I always have,” I said.

He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, the animal that had attacked us for no just cause, held the trunk of the car, and started pushing it.

I was in a state of panic, and I had no control over the car again.

“Let’s just get out, and run for our lives,” Sam said, unfastening his seat belt.

“What?”

“I agree with Sam. It’s better than being driven into that big tree, because that’s where I think we’re headed,” Nick said.

“Okay, then. Let’s go,” I said, and immediately, Sam and I opened our respective doors, and ran out of the car.

Candice and Nick probably thought we’d never make it out alive, and while they were giving their goodbye kisses to each other whereas Sam and I were already out of the car, the beast successfully drove the car into the tree, and I think something in the car came loose, because it caught fire and in a matter of two seconds, the car exploded.

“Candice!” I screamed out loud, unable to believe my eyes.

I decided to run back to the car in order to save my best friend and her boyfriend, but Sam stopped me.

“It’s already too late. We need to go,” He said, pulling my hand.

“No, you don’t understand,” I said to him.

“Then, make me understand...After we get out of here!” He thundered, and reluctantly, I began to run away with him.

The beast's heavy footsteps sounded heavily behind us, and in a split second, he drew me by the ankle, lifted me high in the air, tightened his hand around my neck, strangling me and digging his claws into my throat, then shoved me into the woods by the east. I hit the stump of a tree, and I began to bleed from my head, coupled with the amount of blood I was losing from my neck.

I gasped for air, but it felt like I was choking, and slowly, my spirit was leaving my body. It was like I was being pulled away from the realms of the earth, but even though I was weak, something in me didn’t want to just watch it all fall apart.

A tear slid down my face as my breath slowed down, despite my body’s will to live.

Someone, anyone, save me. If I’m to die, let me do so after I’ve lived.

That day, I think someone heard the prayer of my weak heart, as a tall muscular person towered above me, just right at that moment.

I was awake, but with a hazy vision. I wanted to tell him to help me out, but I couldn’t speak, so I let my tears flow freely instead.

He crouched to his knees, and let out a sigh, then clasped his hands around my neck. Maybe he had come to finish me off, I wondered, but then, a warm soothing feeling embraced my body, and I didn’t feel like I was dying anymore... I felt alive.

I saw him stagger backwards, and he seemed weak. What had he done to me? Why wasn’t I dying anymore? Had I made him weak?

“Why’d you save her life?” I heard a female voice ask.

“Because she’s the key,” He responded.

I wanted to make sense out of what I had heard, but couldn’t, because as soon as I saw what was definitely a smirk playing around his lips, my eyes gave way to sleep.

10 years later

~Alistair~

I picked up the small picture frame, which showed my foster parents smiling broadly. Dad’s hands were wrapped around mum’s waist, and they looked incredibly happy together. They had always loved each other; little wonder they had died while holding hands. None of them would have been able to survive without the other.

Dropping the picture frame on my desk, my eyes caught another frame hanging from a nail on the wall. I took calculated steps towards where it hung loosely from the nail, and was likely to fall in any given minute from now. It was a bigger frame, and it was a picture of myself, and my foster parents, who had died in a car accident exactly a year ago. I half-smiled as I stared longingly at the photograph, before adjusting it, so that it was firm on the wall.

We had taken the picture twenty-five years prior to now, when I was just seven years old, and on the very day they had taken me in as their son. After my biological parents' death, I had spent days just outside Mr and Mrs Duke's luxurious mansion in San Francisco. For some reason, I had been drawn to them, and one day, when driving out of their apartment, Mrs Caroline Duke looked upon me with affection, and had smiled lovingly at me. All I had told them was my name, and that I had woken up in their estate. I told them I didn’t know who I was and I couldn’t remember anything.

The police couldn’t find anyone or anything related to me, and Mrs Caroline Duke, a devout Christian, was sure that I had been sent by an angel to her. She and her husband had been skeptical about adopting a child after failing to have a child of their own, but when I had just showed up in front of their mansion, they decided it was time.

I heaved a sigh, and took my eyes off the picture, deciding to not think any more of the past, but of the present. Staring at that picture had brought about sweet old memories, but had also left a disturbing hole in my heart.

“Alistair?” I heard Jenny's voice call.

I turned around, and nodded at her, acknowledging her presence.

“Don’t think about it too much. You’ll be fine,” She said, with a concerned look plastered on her face.

“Think about what? Do you even know what’s on my mind?” I asked, feigning pretence.

“I may not know what’s on your mind, but I can sense that all is not well with you,” She said.

I bit my lower lip. “I just really wish that I had taken that family photograph that mum kept desiring. Anytime she’d ask, I’d just say I’m busy, and we still have all the time in the world to take as many pictures as she wanted. I was wrong, and now, the only family picture we ever took is this one...” I pointed at the frame on the wall. “...this one we took when I was seven years old.”

“It’s not your fault you thought you had all the time in the world, you know. Who thought you’d lose your parents just like that?”

I heaved a deep sigh again. “You’re right. I should stop beating myself up about it.”

“Exactly,” She said, with a smile, then walked closer to me.

“Do you think they’re proud of me though?” I asked, as she started helping me to button the white shirt I had on.

“They were always proud of you. They’d even be more proud of you in their graves. I mean, look at how well you’ve handled the company,” She said, licking her lips lustfully.

“You’re right, but you know something? I’ll never believe that the accident happened just like that. It seemed like it was planned,” I said.

She scoffed. “Here you again. Who do you think would have planned a car accident for your parents, who were loved by everyone?” She asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe-"

“Sweetheart, there’s no maybe. You either have proof to back up your allegation, or you keep it to yourself,” Jenny said, touching my lips with her fingers.

“You think I’m wrong?” I asked.

She shrugged. “I’m just saying. Methamphetamine was found in the driver’s blood if you recall, and of course, you do recall. We have the best memories after all,” She said, then crushed her lips on mine.

I kissed her back, then slowly slid my hands to her ass, groping it intensely, and kissing her longingly. She pushed me to the bed, unbuttoning the shirt she had just buttoned up less than a minute ago. I turned her over, making her lay beneath me, and I proceeded to kiss her neck, making her moan softly, pulling me closer. I was about to peel off her dress from her skin, when I felt claws, not nails, digging my back roughly.

I pushed her away, and stood to my feet hurriedly. I started buttoning my shirt all over again, as she looked at me apologetically, controlling her claws to be invisible once more.

“I’m sorry,” She said.

“It’s not your fault, Jenny. It’s just the stupid full moon,” I said, then reached out to her, planting a kiss on her forehead.

“But you remain the same, even during full moons as if nothing has changed,” She objected.

“You and I are not the same, Jenny. Besides, it also took me several years to fully control my emotions during the full moon. Back then, I’d chain myself in the attic, so my parents wouldn’t find out. However, I mastered it with time. All it takes is time. Soon, you’ll be in charge of who you are and what you want to do,” I told her.

“Sure?” She asked.

I nodded in the affirmative, shooting a small smile in her direction.

“Thanks,” She said, then sat up, adjusting her dress.

“I don’t think you should still come with me today though,” I told her, grabbing my black suit and jacket.

“Come on. I’ll be able to control myself, I promise,” Jenny said.

“Like how you controlled yourself when that good-for-nothing waitress mistakenly spilled milkshake on your dress?” I teased.

She chortled, and put her hands up in surrender. “Fine. You’ve made your point.”

“I always do make my point,” I said, with a wink.

She stood up, cupped my face in her palms, and drowned me in another one of her passionate kisses, and circling my hands around her waist, I responded to her kiss, inserting my tongue into her mouth, and pressing her chest to mine, arousing a deep sexual urge within her.

About five minutes later, she broke the kiss and looked me in the eyes, still with that same concerned look. “Just be safe, okay?”

“I will be safe,” I told her, nodded at her as some form of acknowledgement, then walked out of my living room.

“Let’s take the G-wagon,” I announced to the driver, immediately I stepped into the garage.

The poor man looked like he had been waiting for hours, and would have absconded and given up on waiting for me, if his salary wasn’t mouth-watering.

He nodded his head, then suddenly pointed at my collar, trying so hard to stifle a laugh.

“What’s so funny?” I asked, then looked at the collar of my shirt, only to find out that Jenny's strawberry-flavoured peach lipstick had stained it.

I rolled my eyes, super annoyed because I warned her all the time to avoid the use of lipsticks, whenever she knew she wanted to have sex with me.

“I’ll never understand women’s obsessiveness with makeup, will I?” I asked aloud.

The driver, Mr Coleman, gave a small smile. “Not all women apply makeup,” He said.

“Hopefully, I’ll find one someday,” I said, then entered into the car, whose door had been held by the driver.

It was the day of my parents’ remembrance, and I just wanted to drop off some flowers, and spend sometime at their graveside, in peace and serenity. That was why I was leaving around 5:30 in the evening, when no one would be around, and I could dwell in the serene environment and feel the presence of my parents.

However, when the car pulled over at the cemetery, I was surprised with the fact that a car was packed just at the entrance. Who the hell was still around and couldn’t just leave me alone to be with my parents?

Swallowing hard, I heaved a deep sigh, counselling myself to not think so much of the matter, and that everyone deserved to see their loved ones whenever they pleased. I’d have asked Mr Coleman to just turn around, so we could just be on our way, but it was a necessity for me to say hi to my parents today since it was the day of their remembrance.

Mr Coleman rushed to open the door, motioning for me to alight.

I picked up the flowers that Jenny had bought oh my behalf, and the bottle of whisky I had taken from the house, and stepped out of the car.

“I’ll be back soon. Just sit in the car and wait for me,” I told Mr Coleman, and took quick strides to where my parents' graves were located.

Perhaps, whoever had their car packed outside was just a worker in the cemetery. I was definitely going to pay the owner of the cemetery a huge sum of money to let me in after visitation hours, or probably just buy the cemetery, and set a day when no one could visit in order for me to visit on that day. I should have just buried my parents in the backyard of their mansion, and all these wouldn’t have happened. I was getting worked up just because I hated being around people I didn’t know, and I also didn’t want to show my emotional side to anyone, or respond to questions posed by inquisitive people that couldn’t just mind their business.

It was definitely not a worker's car that was packed outside, as my eyes caught her, sitting on a bench five steps away from where I stood, sipping a glass of what was definitely alcohol.

Her long brown hair fluttered in the wind, and my heart began to beat faster. It was as though my heart remembered who she was, as it raced fast, even before I got a chance to look at her.

It was impossible for someone to stare at you for sometime, without you knowing that someone’s eyes was definitely on you. I had forgotten about this fact, because I kept staring at her, and before I could dart my eyes away, she turned her head slowly, and her eyes rested on me.

It wasn’t the first time we were meeting as I could vividly remember she looked the same way as she did ten years ago, except that she was now an older version of the girl who had been struggling for her life back then, and was on the verge of giving up, until I had showed up and given her a second chance at life.

Her scent was still the same, and maybe that’s why my heart had raced the way it did. It was because I had come in contact with her after so many years.

She stood up, and while I was expecting her to throw an offended look in my way and scream that I was either a pervert or a stalker, she unexpectedly smiled broadly at me, her dimples sending a tingling sensation down my spine.

I swallowed hard. Was it possible that she remembered me? Why was she smiling instead of getting annoyed that a total stranger had been staring at her for no reason at all? Was she thankful that I had saved her life ten years ago?

The tension in the air built up as her adorable puppy-like brown eyes met my cold blue eyes, and for some reason, neither of us let go of holding each other's eyes.

Instead of dwelling in the awkward silence that bewitched the environment, I walked slowly towards her, and stretched out my hand for a handshake with her.

Her smile broadened, as she took my hand, thereby shaking hands with me. Her palm was soft, and felt warm.

“Hi. I’m Alistair Duke, and who’s this graceful lady I’ve been honoured to come across?” I asked, a mischievous smirk playing around my lips.

“I am Eliana Venator,” She said, with a smile that depicted innocence.

Eliana Venator... I had never ever thought in my wildest imagination that I would meet her again in this manner, or in a place that smelled so much like death. Although meeting her again was far from the timing I had had in mind, I was glad the universe had brought her along at the time I really wanted to pour out my anger on the whole world. She’d never know what hit her.

~Eliana~

Everyone said it was a miracle that I had survived the ghastly motor accident, as they’d like to put it. I knew for a fact, however, that what I had survived wasn’t just a motor accident. It had been a wild beast’s attack, but who was going to ever believe a teenager who had just lost her three closest friends, and had been high on alcohol and weed when she had been found lying in the woods? They all thought that whatever I thought I had seen was just a figment of my imagination, or that I was probably hallucinating, and going through a trauma.

It was for that reason that I had gone through therapy for a year, and when I didn’t change my story about what had happened, and how what I had finally agreed to be a werewolf had attacked my friends and I for no just cause, everyone assumed I was going crazy, and never even tried to believe a thing about what I said had happened ten years ago.

I took a sip of the glass of alcohol by my side, crossing my legs.

Ten whole years had gone by since the death of my friends. Candice and Nick had been buried side-by-side. As for Sam, his body was never found. That night, there had been a heavy rain, and many people agreed with the idea that his body had been washed away and carried off by the sea, instead of my theory that stated that the animal that had attacked us had possibly eaten him alive. Somehow, I didn’t believe that he had actually died, but I never voiced that thought out. An empty casket had been buried in his honour, and every year, I’d come to this same cemetery where I was, sitting on a cold hard bench, drinking alcohol and fighting off the pain that defined my everyday life.

Someone’s eyes were on me... I could feel it.

It was probably just another one of the spies my dad sent out to make sure I was safe from a far distance, even though I had told him countless times that I was fine on my own.

I turned my head slowly to make sure I caught his gaze just in time and without warning, before he could hide, and once again, make me question if I was sane and in my right senses.

When I caught his eyes though, it was quite obvious that he was no spy, because none of the spies my dad ever hired were good-looking like the one standing just five feet away from where I sat. He had fair skin, pink lips that I so badly wanted to kiss even though I didn’t know him, and straight jelled black hair. His sparkling blue eyes didn’t dart away, not even for a second, and he seemed awed by me.

It had been very long since a guy last got awestruck by me, or maybe not, but this was the one I had noticed in so many years. I didn’t know why, but my lips gave way to a smile. I should have yelled and asked why he was staring at me, but instead, I smiled at him. Was it my fault though? Was I wrong for being completely mesmerised by him? I mean, who wouldn’t be held spellbound by a guy that looked this good?

I stood to my feet, still smiling broadly as he made his way towards me, with fine calculated steps, that made my heart start racing fast, which was not usual in every sense of the word.

“Hi. I’m Alistair Duke, and who’s this graceful lady I’ve been honoured to come across?” He asked, extending his hand for a handshake, which I took gracefully.

“I am Eliana Venator,” I said, with the smile never leaving my lips.

He released my hand, and gave a half-smile. “What are you doing here all by yourself?” He asked.

I cleared my throat, trying not to be noisy in doing so. “I... um... I just came to say hello to my...” Pointing at their graves which were close to each other, I added, “...friends.”

“Friends?” He asked, looking confused.

I gave a nervous chuckle, nodding my head in the affirmative. “Surprised because there’s an ‘s’?” I asked.

“Yeah, I am,” He honestly said.

I swallowed, and stared at my feet for a while, before looking back at him. “I was involved in a car accident with my friends...three of them...and only I survived,” I explained.

“What the - Jeez! That must have been really hard for you,” He said, expressing a look of worry on his face.

“Yeah. I still think about it every single day. I can never get over it, Mr Duke. They were all I had in the whole world, and it’s been so unimaginably painful to live without them,” I said.

“I’m sorry about all you’ve been through, I really am,” He said.

I forced a smile. “It’s not your fault,” I said.

“So, how long has it been?” He asked.

“Today makes it ten years, but it still feels like it happened only just yesterday. I’ve never really been able to move on,” I told him.

“No one ever really moves on from shitty things like that. You know what’s surprising though?”

“What?”

He shrugged. “Today’s also my parents’ death anniversary,” He said.

“Oh my goodness! So, that’s what the flowers are for?” I rhetorically asked.

“No, they’re for you,” He responded, with a clear sarcasm.

I chuckled. “I’m so sorry about what happened with your parents. Has it been long?”

“No. It happened a year ago. Car accident,” He responded.

I shook my head, sadly. “Isn’t it funny how we all feel so happy when we get a car, but could reach the end of our lives in that same car?”

“It truly is funny. You strike me as a smart woman,” He said.

“I do?” I asked, wondering if there was another person present in the cemetery apart from me, who he could possibly be talking to.

“You do, or am I wrong?” He asked, giving me a look that sent butterflies dancing in my stomach.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Everyone around me just seems to have a different opinion,” I said, hinting that it was probably the first time someone said that I was smart.

He held me by the shoulders. “Well, everyone around you must be wrong,” He said, wearing a half-smile again.

“Thank you. You should go see your parents. I’ll just go home,” I said.

“You’re right, I can’t believe I almost forgot. Believe me when I say that I wish we didn’t have to part, but there’s nothing we could possibly do. I’ll see you around,” He said.

I gave him a small smile, then as quickly as he had come, I watched him walk away, and soon, he was out of my sight.

He’d see me around? Seriously? Where would he ever see me? He should have just asked for my number, goddammit!

A small feeling of anger surged through me and I just picked up my purse, then walked off, with many thoughts going on in my head as to why Mr Alistair Duke had just left when I had told him to, without so much as a kiss on the hand, and without bothering to ask for my number, because he obviously didn’t want to ever see me again.

Perhaps, he hadn’t enjoyed our conversation. I was just so bad at making long interesting conversations with people, but for once, I really tried to have one with him, because I felt he was worth the effort. I didn’t even tell him that a wild animal we had never seen again was the reason for my friends’ death; I had simply told him that we had been involved in a car accident, in order to be taken seriously for once.

“Shoot!” I exclaimed, upon getting outside and discovering that Davies, my driver was nowhere to be found.

I took out my phone to dial his number to order him to come back as quickly as he could from whatever tavern he had found himself in.

The message that greeted me as I turned on my phone, however, read:

“Received a call that my mother choked on something, and was rushed to the hospital. I’m sorry, ma’am."

I rolled my eyes, clenching my fists hard as the anger in me multiplied four times over, and tried my best to be calm. The idiot had practically left my keys on the driver’s seat. I mean, what if someone had stolen my precious baby? It was a White Maserati, and I had only just gotten it last year as a birthday present.

I sat in my car and touched the steering wheel, and my fingers trembled. It had been so long since I had touched a steering wheel, because I just couldn’t drive a car after that incident.

“You strike me as a smart woman,” Mr Duke’s voice echoed in my head.

A tear slid down my cheek as I remembered the only encouraging thing someone had said to me in a very long time.

“I can do it. I can do it.”

Those three words didn’t make a difference like it usually did in movies, as even though I tried to convince myself that I could actually pull off driving a car after ten long years, my hands failed me.

The memory of our car being tossed in the air like it was nothing filled my head. I was hyperventilating, and I was shaking all over. Tears formed in my eyes as I remembered trying to flee for my life with Sam, while Candice and Nick were getting burnt to ashes.

I heard a tap on my window, and fearfully turned around to see it was, with my heart beating rapidly, afraid that I may see the creature that had haunted me a decade ago.

“Are you fine?” He asked, staring deeply into my eyes, as if to make sure I was fine.

I wanted to nod my head as a positive response to his question. Instead, I shook my head profusely, as the tears that had been threatening to fall came rushing down in torrents.

In that moment, he opened the door to the driver’s seat, pulled me by the arm, and placed his hands on my shoulders, as a means of trying to calm my nerves down.

“Try to breathe,” He said.

I opened my mouth trying to get air, but I couldn’t stop myself from just shaking like a leaf being blown by a cold wind, as my heart pounded with fear.

“Inhale and exhale, please,” He said, expressing a look of concern, staring into my eyes.

I drew in deep breaths and exhaled three times, and I was beginning to get a grip of myself.

“You’ll be fine, okay?”

I nodded slowly.

“Er- do you need me to do anything for you?”

“Anything?” I managed to ask.

“Yes, anything. What should I do to make you feel better?” He asked.

Impulsively, I wrapped my arms around him, and just when my brain told me that I shouldn’t have done that, he pulled me closer into a tight embrace, and made sure my head was buried in his chest, then started patting my hair slowly.

With him, I felt safe, and I wanted to remain in his arms, comforted by his warm embrace. I really didn’t want to ruin his suit with my tears, but I couldn’t hold my tears back, and started sobbing quietly, while he held me close to him, like he was never going to let me go.