Secret Lives

Chapter 14, Letting Go

Chapter 14

I had made my way down to the basement late last night after I was clean again.

The marks that covered my human body barely bothered me, their deep but faint scars reminding me of my hunting life.

It wasn’t long before I had fallen asleep.  The quiet tapping of the rain on the tin roof relaxed me as I curled up under the warm blankets.

Waking up, I had expected to be woken by the loud shrill of Mario probably being drunk off his face upstairs but surprisingly I heard nothing.

Even after I had climbed the stairs to the top level, it seemed neither boy was up.  The only sound being the strong breeze that pushed against the house and threatened to tear it from its foundations.

Deciding to try and calm my raging stomach, I walked over into the kitchen, this room still being unusual to me as I pulled open a cupboard revealing cans of various items I assumed were food.

Unable to scent anything that smelled familiar, I shut the doors quickly now walking over to a fridge as my eyes landed on a picture held by a magnet.

The photo looked torn and old but the people in the picture was still clear as I recognised both the man and the girl.

Mitch was standing there with his arm wrapped around a girl, her bright eyes making me realise that I had seen them before somewhere.

The bright green eyes were filled with life as I remembered them, the girl was not a touch over 18 and Chris and I had broken into her house, the scent of the Alpha leading us there.

I had killed her in cold blood and seeing her face again, something sunk inside me which I thought might have been regret but I couldn’t tell.  Mitch’s face looked so different then, his features didn’t look as tired as they did now, the loss of this person obviously having affected him.

I needed to make sure he didn’t find out I killed her.

Too focused on the picture, I didn’t even have a chance to open the fridge and look inside before I heard the soft steps coming into the lounge, my eyes now meeting Mitch as he realised what I was looking at.

I really hoped he hadn’t been standing there long……

‘I expected to have to send out a search party to find you this morning; didn’t realise my kitchen was so interesting to you’.

Turning so I was blocking the picture which I was sure Mitch knew was there anyways, his slow approaching steps made me back away, already kicking myself for acting different.

The moment he entered the kitchen, I was pretty much standing against the counter, Mitch’s eyes scrunching in concentration as I tried not to let my thoughts betray me.

‘What?  Are you afraid of me now or something’?

Opening the fridge, Mitch shrugged now grabbing a bottle of milk out as he chugged down half the contents before sitting it on the bench and looking back at me strangely.

My voice was not my own as it spoke and nor did I mean to say what I did but I couldn’t help myself.

‘Was Rachael a nice girl’?

I could already see his body stiffening at my question, his eyes narrowing as he assessed my question.

‘How did you-‘

‘Good morning dear cousin and burden on our household; who’s up for doing something awesome today’!

Looking over to see Mario running in, I could tell Mitch hadn’t heard him, his eyes still telling me he was still trying to work it out.