Where My Demons Hide

Chapter 2

    I sat on the couch and Blake sat next to me. We were watching Teen Wolf and I was mesmerized by the show. I had always secretly wished mythical creatures existed. There was something so fascinating about them.

    I felt like someone was staring at me, so I turned to look at Blake, who sat near me. He was staring at me, his eyes gentle, and I raised my eyebrows. I wondered what he wanted.

    Since he wouldn't say anything, I asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

    Blake blinked and then looked away, seeming to snap out of a daze. I noticed his cheeks had reddened and staring at him, I wondered if he was okay.

    "No reason," Blake answered eventually, looking back at me and smiling. "You have something on your cheek."

    "I do?" I raised my hand to my cheek, trying to wipe whatever was there.

    Blake watched me and his eyes held an affection - as if he thought I was a delicate little girl. He had always been protective over me because of that.

    "Luna, let me help," Blake said, putting his hand on my cheek.  

    Blake gently began to rub my cheek with his thumb and I stared at him. He stared back and I could've sworn I saw him leaning forward. But then, Chelsea and Perter entered the room, causing Blake to jump away from me.

    "Hey!" Chelsea exclaimed. "How are you two?"

    "Fine," Blake muttered, his face red as he looked away.

    "Good," I said, smiling. "How are you two?"

    "Great," Peter answered. "We're going to go to a meeting. We'll see you two later."  

    We said our goodbyes and Chelsea and Peter left. They were a sweet couple. Caring, too. I was forever thankful they were the ones to let me live in their house when I had nothing.

    Silence surrounded the room and Blake and I brought our attention back to the tv. Blake wouldn't look at me and I wondered if I did something wrong. He was fidgeting in his spot and I tried to think of what I did to make him this way.

    Once Teen Wolf ended, I said, only to break the tension, "I wish werewolves existed."

    "You want them to exist?" Blake said, surprised. "Why?"

    "They're cool," I said, shrugging. "All mythical creatures are cool. Our world would be so much more interesting if they existed."

    "They're monsters." His voice lowered. "They shouldn't exist."

    The drop in his voice surprised me, so I frowned. Staring at him, I wondered where that came from. Blake and I often watched Teen Wolf together and I wouldn't consider any of the werewolves in the show monsters. I wondered where his thought stemmed from.

    "Yeah, I guess it would be cool," Blake said, finally breaking the tension we shared. "Let's... watch the news."

    "Okay."

    Blake scratched the back of his head awkwardly and switched the channel to the news. Once again, there was a breaking news report and I froze, remembering what I learned yesterday. I had tried so hard to forget it, but before I knew it, Haiden's face was appearing on the screen.

    My eyes locked on his eyes and something in me twisted. Memories of us filled my mind and my heart hurt. There was no way Haiden could be a murderer. My kind Haiden just couldn't be.

     "Witnesses of The Demons crimes say that Haiden Jaeger is the head of the group," the reporter said, causing my eyes to widen. "He is the most dangerous of them."

    That couldn't be true. My heart was pounding from the news and I stood up. I didn't want to hear more about my Haiden. I didn't want my image of him being tainted.

    I stalked out of the living room and to the front door. Blake called after me, but I ignored him. There was something I had to do and I needed to do it alone.

***** 

I was in the middle of the forest and I felt oddly at peace. I hadn't been in it for years, but it still felt like home to me. Because of that, I smiled as I strolled to my favourite spot.

Ever since Haiden disappeared and I got tired of waiting for him to return, I forced myself to stay away from the forest. It always brought back memories of Haiden and I and with him gone, those memories had become painful. But now, with the thought of Haiden being out there somewhere, I found myself going to our old meeting spot.

Admittedly, I was probably being really stupid. Haiden was a criminal. I had no idea what he was capable of, but I hoped to see him. If only for some sort of closure, I yearned to find him in the place where I met him.

Before I knew it, I was standing before the rose field, where roses escalated towards the sky. It was as beautiful as I remembered it to be and my heart lightened up. But, my heart also stuttered as I stepped onto the path that led to its centre. Although there was a one in a million chance that Haiden would be there, my heart began to race.

Slowly, I made my way to the centre. When I neared the clearing, I shut my eyes, wanting to be surprised. My breathing turned heavy as anticipation slammed into me.

But when I opened my eyes, I grew disappointed when all I saw on the bare patch of grass was the single tree trunk that we used to sit on. It was rotting away now because it had been too long. Haiden was never coming back.

I dragged myself to the trunk and sat down, growing upset. It was stupid of me to feel this way, especially since he was a criminal, but I couldn't help it. Sometimes people touched you in a way that left you always feeling them, and that was how I felt about Haiden.

Closing my eyes, I just sat on the log for hours, reminiscing about everything Haiden and I once did. This was my own way of getting closure and although it didn't help, it was nice to think of Haiden. It was nice to remember the kind soul he was.

Without even knowing it, I then fell asleep. It happened all of the sudden as I sank to the grass, pressing my back against the log, and let sleep consume me.

*****

    When I woke up, my eyes flew open and the first thing I saw was a black wolf sitting a meter away. I gasped at the way it stared at me and I stood up quickly. The wolf didn't react as it observed me.  

    I never knew there were wolves in the forest and I had no idea what to do. Turning around was a dumb idea because my back would be vulnerable to any attacks, so I stayed where I was, staring at it. The wolf didn't seem mad, so I took that as a good sign.

My heart was pounding and my breathing grew heavy as fear consumed me. Wolves were huge, I realized. They were strong, too. And with its green eyes on me, I felt like I couldn't move.

    Staring back into its green eyes, I frowned at the familiarity of them. They were stunning and vivid, reminding me of emeralds. And something about that colour was so familiar, causing me to frown. 

    Suddenly, the wolf turned around. It ran off into the roses and my eyes widened, knowing the thorns must be painful. And then without a second thought, I turned around and raced home. I was lucky and there was no way I was risking another encounter. 

    But as I ran, I kept thinking about the wolf's eyes. I had seen them before. Even though I had never seen a wolf before, I had seen those eyes somewhere. The question was, where.