Running From The Big Bad Wolf

14.

"I'm so sorry that you had to be caught up in this whole gang war that is happening." Eric continued to tell me.

I sat on the couch, trying not to hyperventilate. Rhydian ran off to play with his toys and for that I was glad so he wasn't in the room.

My head snapped up to Eric. "Gang war?" I asked him, playing dumb.

Eric must not have noticed. "Yeah. It's been going on for three years now. So many people have died. Many injured."

Huh. "I don't have the slightest clue on what you are on about."

"Then why did you move to Wales?" Eric questioned me.

"Because my brother died!" I snapped back.

"So it has nothing to do with Axel Wolf? And what about the father to that child of yours?"

I kept my head up, being strong. I didn't have to answer him if I didn't want to. Eric sighed and apologised.

"Sorry. It's been a long flight."

"What caused this war?" I asked Eric. In my head, I was whispering, please don't say me.

"Your brothers death." Eric said, making me gasp. "Wolf is the reason your brother is dead." My eyes widened. I knew Axel played a role in Eli's death. "Caity, Axel was the one that killed your brother."

I gulped as I felt my blood boil. Axel comforted me through Eli's death till I left. He spent the night holding me as I cried when he told me. Now I felt hot white rage go through me.

"Caity. You are in danger. Wolf knows where you are. He is coming. He won't be far by now. We have about an hour head start."

I stayed silent and shook my head. "No. That's not possible. No one knows where I am. No one knows who I am. I left Caity behind." My heart was breaking all over again.

"Axel Wolf is coming, Caitlyn. We need to go."

Oh fuck! I got up from the couch and went straight to my room, shoving clothes in to my bag for me and Rhydian. I packed a little backpack for him for his toys and dressed him accordingly to the weather before tying his shoes up.

I wasn't stuffing around. I left within minutes. My bag over one shoulder, holding Rhydian and his bag with my other hand and Eric and I walked hastily down the stairs to the car.

I'm doing my best to protect my son. I will not stop protecting him because I am scared. I will fight for Rhydian till my very last breathe.

The flight was long and restless. I only slept when Rhy did and that was rare. The kid hated being confined to a plane and a seat and would bounce around when ever he could.

When we finally landed, I sighed in relief to get off the plane, clutching Rhydian to me. We moved quickly, got our bags and went to Eric's awaiting car.

Rhydian bounced around some more before I snapped, telling him to sit still. It wasn't long before he fell asleep again. The drive was about four hours and I was so happy to get out off the car. I carried Rhy and our bags with me to inside and Eric showed me Rhydian's room then my room.

I'm here for protection, I told myself. I've been running from the big bad wolf for three years now and just when I thought I was safe, I was running again.

I'm only staying here with Rhydian till it is safe to move on. During the car ride to Cardiff Airport, I had managed to transfer my money to Australian Dollars and transferred it to a bank account that was in my Kathleen name. I knew there was money in there and every month, I deposit a little bit of money to show that the account is active.

The house is huge, like a mansion and there were guards everywhere. It didn't take a genius to work out that Eric was also in a gang. All the signs were there. The men, the money, telling me about Eli's death. Now all I had to do was figure out if Eric is this rivalry gang, or was it another?

The scenery was breath taking. The property was on a well maintained plot that was luscious and green then surrounded by bush. You couldn't see on to the road and even better was on the road, you couldn't tell if there was anything past the small thicket of trees.

I spent every second with Rhydian. Spending time with him that I couldn't do before due to work. I feed him, played with him, we chatted, even though it was a one sided conversation, and we played games.

We played in the yard, under supervision of course and we baked and read books with our baked goods in mouths.

But one night, I heard a noise and I didn't think anything of it, thinking it was a guard. Then I heard it again. It was a thump. I sat up in bed and immediately kicked the blankets off me, running to Rhydian's room.

With his night light on, I could see him sound asleep in his bed, his mouth partly open and his chubby cheeks slightly rosy red from our play today.

Relieved, I went to the kitchen to get some water. I listened intensely for any noises, but heard none. I drunk the glass of water and went to place it on the bench when a hand slipped over my mouth, scaring me.

I dropped the glass but I never heard it smash. Instead, I felt an intense pain on my neck and I slumped to the ground, feeling someone hold me before I blacked out.