Chapter 13
My eyes clashed open when I heard ceaseless cries being released by the person next to me, my small fingers reached to my eyes, slowly rubbing them as I tried to get this weird situation in my head.
Climbing up from my crib, I stared at Erik who was constantly giving out tears of sorrows. From all I knew, he never cried. I shrugged. Boys don't cry so why is he crying.
"Yoo," I tried to scream but since I recently woke up, my voice was low and soft.
I could rarely hear myself but since he was a monster, they are better at hearing...and scaring people to.
Turning his attention to me, he immediately got up from the brown leathered couch and walked to my pink coloured crib. He picked me up from it and placed me on the couch before taking a seat next to me.
"Why awe crying?" I questioned, jumping to his lap and tightly wrapping my fingers around his tie so I couldn't fall down..just in case.
"What happen?" I asked again, staring into his eyes and patiently waiting for his answer.
My expression softened when I saw his mournful eyes with heaps of tears gathered around cheeks, his eyelashes darkened with the salty water as a lightless, dusky glow outlined his dull face.
Something terrible must have happened and I needed to know.
"Tell me?" I begged, I was at the point of crying loudly but before I could he spoke. His velvety soft voice ringed in my ears as his muscular hands firmly held my three year old body.
"I lost her, again. Can you believe it, this is the third time my girlfriend cheated on me. What's wrong with me? I have everything in this world, I am going to be the king in few years yet she used me over that fücking aßshole." He explained, continually rolling his eyes every time when he mentioned her.
Once he stopped talking, he started to cry. Threatening tears once again spilled out from his eyes and onto his glistening cheeks.
"No," I sobbed, clutching his hair in my hands and looking straight in his eyes.
I wasn't seeing the anger he had stored inside for me instead I was glaring at the kindness and mercy he had locked inside his dark heart.
"I am here," I stopped, thinking of the words I learned last week. "I love you! You love me." No the rest line is to cliché. "I will....your girlfriend...forever." I said, throwing my hands in the air.
"I never do wrong...with you." I promised, marking my soul with these few little words of sympathy.
Finishing my lines, he pulled my small body into a tight hug, circling my arms around his neck, I peacefully laid down on chest as that thunderous night passed by.
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"Stop," I yelled at Alex, my hands tightened around his neck as I waited for him to stop but he didn't. He seemed full of energy and that's why he continued to randomly run into different dangerous territories.
"Alex, we need to stop. Something is around," I stated, advancing to his ears so he could hear my alarming voice a little more clearer.
The bright full moon came in my view, my eyes pierced at it like it was the first time I had ever seen a moon, after a minute or so I figured darkness was better than the light.
The moon was better than the sun, immediately capturing my attention at the first glance unless like the sun, burning my soul.
A cluster of musty, heavy and dirty clouds overlapped the moon, stealing most of the light away and leaving the woods dark as always. The hiss of snakes echoed in the veiled silence, other lurking voices clashed together, frightening me a bit more than usual.
The crispy, cold air grasped my body, my frozen tongue violently swirled in my mouth, trying to create some water. My rotten fingernails dug deep inside the horse as I puff out a chilling, cloudy breath.
He stopped, abruptly. Sending the wet mud all around the intoxicated air. I sighed in relief.
Getting off Alex, I jumped on the ground, holding my shoulders tightly as the foggy wind constantly thrashed across the forest.
Carefully, I took small steps away from the horse, not because I heard something really weird but because my legs were shivering worst than fish flip flopping out of the water.
The dress had slightly gone wet because of the drizzling rain gloomily occurring a few hours ago, promising another deadly thunder. The skies had gone dark black, the moon's light conquered the earth and the blurry mist danced with the stormy trees.
Closely listening to the voices of the nature, I encountered with unusual steps coming towards me. My heart begin to beat rapidly with the steps, I looked around everywhere but I couldn't see anything....not even the horse I bought with myself.
"Stay where you are!" A rough male voice boomed across the forest, weakening my knees and sending me down on the ground.
My fingers trailed on the wet, dirty mud as I glared at the fours shadows coming in view from all the directions, trapping me slowly.
I calmed down knowing it wasn't Erik or any of his people until I didn't stare at the metal gun placed in front of my head by a man I had never seen before. His blazing gray eyes burned right through my soul.
"Who are you?" He questioned, coming forward and pulling me up by my arms. Once I was on my feet, I noticed him more clearly.
His strong muscles ripping through his black leather jacket, his jaw sharper than a knife, his eyes lighter than his soul but his stares were more mysterious and deadly than Erik.
"Mara," I lied. "Mara Jackson," I cleared my throat while staring at the gun.
Looking away from me in confusion, he dropped the equipment down and came forward towards my neck, slowly sniffing it as the other hunters begin to whisper.
"You smell like an alpha," he confessed, moving back and pulling the gun once again up at my forehead.
"Theo!" A woman came running to the man, she snatched the gun away from him and then studied my body from up to down.
"She is just a girl...lost girl." the woman said, turning to the man. His burning look clearly stated that he wanted to kill me alive.
"She still smells like an alpha-"
"But she is a human, let's get over this." the woman cut in.
"Whatever," he rolled his eyes before walking away.
Giving him a dirty look, the sweet woman turned around to me and pulled her hand out.
"I am Helen, and he is my brother, theo." she said, shaking her strong arms with my weak ones. Her hands were really rough, seeing that they were dirty and bloodied to, I pulled away.
"So are you from somewhere around?" She asked.
"Yes-not exactly. I don't know, I am confused." I replied bluntly, have no idea what to say.
My words quivered before falling out of my mouth, I have never spoken to anyone outside the castle and this was making me quite nervous especially the scene occurring a few minutes ago with that spooky man.
She laughed, looking down at my clothes. "So you are from the past?" she joked, holding my dress up and feeling the cloth. The past?? Do I look that old.
"What?" I asked confusingly.
"Never mind." she waved her hand in the air. "So where are you heading to, in this cold winter?" Like I knew the answer to that.
"I don't know, I just have to get out of here before the sun rises." I said, moving my fingers to the rose and scraping the glitter of it while looking down at the ground.
"Are you in danger? Like they aren't that many humans around, and you seem quite unsure of where you are going." She paused. "We could give you ride if you want, after all you look messed up and we wouldn't want you to die in this cold." She offered.
The moment her offer finished, another voice raised from the forest. "No way we are letting this old, creepy woman walk with us." the same man from earlier insulted me. How old do I look? Am I that old.
"Come on, theo she isn't that old first of all. And have you forgotten I am the leader of this trip, not you so keep your pretty mouth shut until we don't reach Lotrich." She yelled back at him.
"Damn it, go on bring her with you and then don't haunt my soul once you are dead in the middle of your trip." He walked away as the others followed his lead.
"Fine," Helen said, grabbing my hand and dragging me behind the line.
"Hey, I don't want to be a problem between you both. I'll leave and I can find my way out...I mean I came this far, I can go further to." I blurted out, pulling my hands away from the woman.
I am a living danger.
She stopped. "You are coming with me...at least till the train, from there you can go anywhere-"
"There is train around?" I asked, rudely interrupting her.
"Yes, it's one hour away from here. That's where we are heading to and from there we go to our own cities. Old right....we aren't allowed to use cars in this area, it's kind of restricted." She sighed.
Even if I mistakenly go with this woman, where would I stop, I have no place to go and all I have is nothing except for Alex who isn't anywhere around either. This is only my last option, I could go somewhere far away from the castle and then maybe I could search for my mother.....or father.
"Okay, I'll come with you." I smiled while agreeing.
"Great, remove your rags and put these on." she said, pulling her bag out and throwing me a bunch of weird clothes I had never worn in my life.
Slowly, I picked each of them up and stared at them for a complete second, trying to find the hole where I should put them on.
"I sorry," I said, handing her clothes back to her. "I am perfectly fine with this dress-"
"Helen, you might want to speed up because I am not going to wait for grandma to walk with her small tiny, old steps." I flinched when the same annoying voice ringed in my ears.
"Shut up, she is probably younger than your ass." she screamed back at him.
"Come on, wear these fast." She turned to me. I opened my mouth to speak she immediately cut me off.
"I swear you will look way younger by wearing these clothes rather than those weird Victorian clothes, who even wears them now." she smiled.
I breathed out before pulling the long dress of my body, once it was off she stared at my body like is was a fresh piece of meat while I struggled with keeping myself warm in this insanely cold weather.
A whistle interrupted the silence, I gasped when I felt his warm breath around my ears. This isn't him, he isn't Erik, I shouldn't be terrified. I clutched the dress closer to my bare chest, as I moved away from him.
"Go away creep," Helen pushed theo back.
"Whatever," he rolled his eyes once again and continued to walk while I stood under the tree, shivering like a leaf.
"Sorry, he can get a little crazy at times. Here wear this," she said, handing over the thin shirt to me. Taking it away from her hands, I looked for the places to put my arm inside and once I found it, I immediately wore the shirt.
Dropping the dress down the woman came to me and closed my buttons from the top. Next she handed me a pair of black jeans, having no idea of how to put them I shrugged looking at her.
"God, you have never worn these." She asked, taking it off from my hands as I nodded in reply.
She straightened the cloth in front of my trembling legs and ordered me to put my frozen legs inside it.
Doing what she said, I succeeded in putting the jeans but they were slightly loose from the bottom, clearly showing my white panties.
She groaned in frustration, "These are the smallest size, how come they don't fit you." she said, putting her hands inside her black bag and pulling out a belt. I gasped at the sight of it, in the fear of that slashing down my back I moved a little back.
She came forward to me before kneeling down and putting the belt inside the loops of the jeans. Staring at every precise movement she made, she successfully tighten the belt around my waist.
Getting up from the dirty ground, she handed me another leather jacket, putting it on I zipped it up till my neck as the warmth spread over my body. This was interesting....quite interesting.
"All ready....let's go." She finished off, taking my hands with hers and leading to the path of freedom.