The Devil's Moon (Finished)

Chapter 73

I finally stopped an hour later in front of an old ranch style house on the outskirts of town. It looked perfectly normal, and I was worried that I was in the wrong place. However, the light that moved away from me was going straight through the front door.

"Well here goes nothing," I said as I tried to open the door that was locked.

I looked to the key that was in my hand and tried it in the door, and surprisingly it opened the door.

"Of course," I mumbled as I looked around.

It did not look like anyone was here or had been here for a really long time. There was no tire marks or footprints in the dirt to show that someone had been here. I slowly pushed the door open the old rusty hinges made a loud screeching noise that would alert anyone inside that the door was being opened. I stepped inside not knowing what to expect, but this normal house was not what I was expecting at all.

I was standing in an entryway with a small table to my right for what looked like shoes and keys. Across from me was stairs that lead to the second floor. Directly to my right was a nice sized living room with two couches a coffee table and a nice tv that was hung over the fireplace. In that back as a kitchen that I could be seen from every stop on this first floor.

"What the hell is this place?" I asked as I walked around trying to figure out where the hell Vlad had led me.

I ran my hands along the banister that led up the stairs to remove a thick layer of dust that had settled there. I was right it had been a long time since anyone had been here. I looked around, and it looked like it was just a typical house. However, it couldn't be, why would he send me here. I made my way upstairs to find myself standing in a hall with six doors in it. I opened the first to see that it was an empty room with nothing in it. Just the nice hardwood floors and a small closet filled with hangers but no clothes.

I walked back out into the hall and into the next room which was a small full bath with a tub. It even had towels hanging from the towel rack and toilet paper hanging from the wall. This room like every other was coated with a thick coat of dust as if no one had opened this door in years. I walked out and into the room across the hall which was an office that was set up almost exactly like Vlad's back at the warehouse and bar. I walked into the room and around the desk to see that there was a picture in a frame sitting on the desk. It was the only thing in here that was personal at all. I picked it up and whipped the thick coat of dust off of it to see that it was a picture that Anatoly took of us the day Vlad proposed.

Looking at this picture left me welling up with a mixture of emotions. First, I was overwhelmed with the joy I felt that day of the thought of spending the rest of my life with him. That joy was quickly replaced with sadness and pain when the realization hit me that not only will that never happen, but I will never see his face again. I whipped away the stray tear that fell down my face before placing the picture back where I found it.

"What the hell is this place?" I asked Vlad as if he could answer me.

I quickly walked out of the room and into the one next door. It looked to be a small bedroom that was fully furnished. I did not bother to go into it I knew it would be empty as all the rest of the rooms. The last room was also a fully furnished bedroom, but this one was much bigger. With a King-sized bed and its own master bath. On the dresser, there were a few pictures. One caught my eye, and it was the three of us when Vlad and I first started dating. We were at the bar and completely wasted. I was stumbling around, and Vlad was holding me up with an aggravated look on his face as I smiled like a fool. Anatoly had jumped in and snapped the picture before we even knew what happened. I had always loved this picture Vlad hated it, but we kept it framed in the apartment we used to share. And that's when it hit me. This wasn't some big secret hide away. It was a home. He must have bought it before I left. I had always told them I wanted out of the city. That I hated Hell's Kitchen, so he got us a small place outside of the city, so I could get away.