Starlit:A whole new world

Chapter 4-Tangled in the web (part 7)

-Come,he whispered,looking around instictively for familiar faces.

He gave her his hand and led her to a well hidden door.Τhe wall of the opposite building was filled with graffities,although only few of them could be considered as art.After she came up the first two steps in front of the door,she went inside the old toy shop.

The first image she faced was huge spider webs and tons of dust on the old toys,that used to be once new and shiny,and were giving joy and spark to the eyes of little kids when they were looking at them being decorated  at the windows of the shop.That view made Alex feel a bit of melancholy and a shiver run through her.

-Where are we going?,she asked,being careful not to trip over some battens which were left on the dirty floor.

-You'll see,he answered and smiled as he saw the question on her face.

Τhey walked behind a long counter.There,a few steps further,was a wooden ladder which led to the attic of the shop.While they were going up,she squeezed his hand out of agony,perhaps even fear.She didn't even know herself.Whatever was the reason,it made Brandon's heart beat louder.

He hadn't shown his "shelter" to anyone all these years.Until he reached high school,when he left together with the other werewolves,he used to come to this attic every day and play music in secret.There,he was the person he wanted to be.Inside such a small room,he was feeling more free than anywhere else.And now that he was here once again,it was the first place he searched for. This,and a girl he accidentally met in the woods one day.A month later he left and didn't see her again.Untill now.Yes,it's exactly what you think.The minute he saw Alex in front of his door,he knew.Her eyes,her smile,even her voice,gave her away.He couldn't hide his happiness for finding her after all these years,but when he realised she was the witch he was searching for,a battle started inside him,that only got worse when he realised how much in love he still was with her.

-Be careful,he said and opened the door putting some force,because with time,it didn't open easily.

After some plaster fell,they went inside.

-Incredible,she said enchanted,and moved forward.

The wooden roof was full of small holes which let the light of the sunrays fall into the room like a thousand spotlights.Even the moats of dust that were floating in the air and falling in slow motion on the floor,seemed beautiful.Α smile was spread unconsiously on her face.

They had so much to learn about each other,and Alex wasn't sure they had the time for something like that. Brandon stood beside her.

-When I was a kid,I used to come here every day after school,he said and looked with affection the place that kept his dreams so well for all these years.

She seemed to be troubled by his words.

-You lived in our town?,she asked him.

-Yes.Untill I was eleven years old,he answered.

-And then?Why did you leave?,she continued with her questions,as her curiosity kept growing.

-There were very few of us left in the pack.Μost were killed,so we were forced to leave this place and find our brothers in the north,he answered.He avoided to look at her.

Cruel memories of people and situations rose from the deepest corners of his mind.Alex went numb.

-Killed by who?Wizards?,she managed to mumble.

-You really want to hear the answer?

She knew that the Wizards wouldn't just sit there doing nothing,but it's completely different to hear about it.Your worst fears come alive with flesh and bones.

The Werewolves have been through a lot because of the Wizards,and she was one of them.In what kind of a glass world they were letting her leave in all these years?She was feeling bitter and ashamed.How can they take lives so easily?They don't care about the pain they'll cause?

However,what Alex doesn't know yet is that the pain of a loss,no matter what that is,brings a thirst for vengeance which can only create even more pain.Futile.She couldn't look at him in the eyes.She had to leave.She did a few steps to the door.

-Excuse me.It was wrong of me to come here,she said.

-Wrong?Why?

-Because I'm afraid we're gonna have to hurt each other one day.

-I understand.Do you want to hear a story before you leave?,he told her and touched tenderly the palm of her hand.

He did the same thought once but he didn't care about tomorrow anymore.He wanted to be with her and what he was most afraid of right now,was losing her for the second time.He tangled his fingers through hers.

She closed tightly her eyes for just one moment.She was feeling her legs heavy,as if they were tied up with invisible ropes.She knew she should run away and never look back,but she didn't  want to.Her heart was telling her to stay.

-Years ago,I found myself in the middle of the forest after my first hunt.I was filled with scratches and covered in mud.As I was walking,with my hand hurting terribly,I heard a girl calling for help. I approached and saw her trying to untangle her dress from a bush covered with thorns,while holding in her hand a bouquet of wild roses.

Then,like a lightning,it went through he head and she remembered.She remembered everything.The morning walks with her grandma she awaited every weekend.The mud in her new shoes.The smell of the wet soil from the storm of the previous night and the roses's,that had the morning dew still on them,piercing her nose.

-Her eyes had such spark when she saw me!,Brandon continued.-Or at least that's what I wanted to believe.At first she was scared,but then she explained to me that she got lost and asked for my help.After I untangled her dress from the thorns,she smiled kindly and thanked me.Suddenly,we heard a loud growling.A huge wolf appeared between the tree logs and looked at her straight in the eyes.The girl hid behind me scared and I whispered to her that no matter what happens,I will protect her.The wolf went past us with slow,threatening moves and then dissapeared in the forest.A woman's voice calling for her,made the girl put herself together quickly.She told me she had to go and gave me hastily...

-...A pink rose,Alex whispered.

That day,she was overran by her childlike curiosity following an animal and lost her way in the forest.That memory began to fade as the years went by and it seemed very distant,almost like a dream.But now it was so vivid in front of her.She couldn't believe she was seeing again the "strange boy",as she used to call him.She even remembered that when she told Lana about her little "adventure" she was upset for days.Now she knew the reason.That huge animal that had threatened them,was a werewolf.

~To be continued~ <3