Shadow of the Day (Wolf Moon Sequel)

Chapter 33: Checking In

Ivy

"Hey! Hey Ivy wait up!" A voice called behind me.

Lila raised her eyebrows as she turned her head to see who was yelling. Immediately she grinned. "Ill see you later okay?" She said before quickly striding away.

Dumbfounded, I stopped and turned. Blood rushed to my cheeks. It was Matt. He caught up to me and although he smiled he looked worried.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey yourself," I replied. "Whats up?"

He kicked at a chunk of ice, hands stuffed deep in his coat pockets. "Oh just the usual," he said, then looked up and met my eyes. "Whats up with you?"

He didn't sound so casual anymore. I sighed. "Nothing, Matt."

"Whats wrong?" His brow furrowed at my exasperated tone.

"Nothing," I repeated as I started to walk into school. It was too cold and too early to deal with him being worried.

"Come on," he said, his long legs easily allowing him to catch up and keep pace with me. "Whats up?"

I strode straight through the hallway without looking at him."I hate the way you look at me." 

"What? How am I looking at you?!" 

"Like I'm losing it. Or like I'm some sad charity case that you need to be worried about. I can take care of myself, you don't need to be so panicked," I replied.

"Of course I'm worried about you. Its not that you cant take care of yourself its just that you don't know what you're up against so you don't understand the gravity of the situation," he said.

"Well for your information, Lila told me exactly what I'm up against. Caleb's brother," I said, feeling a little smug now that I had this bit of information on my side. Matt suddenly stopped. Not the reaction I had hoped for or expected honestly. I stopped and turned. He looked pale and frozen to the spot.

"She...she told you about Caleb?" He asked quietly, fear in his eyes. The look made me feel uneasy. What was it about Caleb that seemed to strike fear into people? Even if he was abusive in some way why this the reaction he instilled?

"Yeah...I asked her because she said she knew Devin's brother and I had heard he'd been murdered recently. I asked her if she knew anything about it and she said she did," I shrugged. "Then she told me what happened finally. Well more or less, she skimped on details which I get because she looked really upset so rehashing probably wasn't on her to do list. But still."

"And you're okay with all this?" He asked, eyes wide and stunned.

"Of course I'm not okay. Some asshole hurt my sister and now his brother is hanging around," i said impatiently. Hello? How dumb of a question was that?

Suddenly, his eyes narrowed. He pulled back, arms folding over his chest. "Wait a second. What exactly did she tell you?"

What the hell was that? "She told me he hurt her and people she cared about. That he always won. That she was happy he was dead and that the serial killer from a few months ago had gotten him."

Matt just stood there, staring at me.

"Why? Is that not everything?" I asked, suddenly feeling my irritation seep away into hurt and doubt. Had she kept secrets? Again?

"More or less. I mean she probably doesn't want to get into too much detail because its not something she likes to tall about, but there's more to it than just him "hurting" her," he said. He must have seen my expression because he immediately started backtracking. "I don't know much about what happened either Ivy. I don't know what's the whole truth. But i know she hates to talk about it because she doesn't want us to worry or feel sorry for her. So she might not ever tell us what really happened. But she opened up to you right? That's a start."