The Chase

Chapter 23

So it’s been a lie. Everything was a simple, big, fat lie.

A murder! Under my roof!

I wanted to fling him out my doorstep and slam the door in his face.

I tore through the house and left through the front door. The sky was dark but I kept walking and didn’t look behind me once.

That bastard! He played me!

For a second I didn’t know whether I was talking about Tyler or Gabi.

They both played me! I'm not a fool. Oh, God help me if I am. That look on Gabi’s face, I wanted to remove it with my claws. Was that pity in his eyes?

I rubbed angrily at my own betraying eyes.

And he knew! He knew I was a shape-shifter! They both did! And not a word! All this time I was hiding and fearing for him. Fearing for the unknown. I thought he was helpless and all this time he was in alliance with the ENEMY? I don’t care if he left him! I don’t care about anything! His own brother was the Darkness’s sidekick! AND HE KNEW!

My teary eyes blurred my vision and I didn’t care where I was going.

And . . . and he . . . he kissed me. And I . . . kissed him back.

That bastard!

I deserve this.

I let my guard down.

I opened myself up. Allowed myself to have friends. Deluded myself into believing I could lead a normal life.

Who was I kidding?

No one but myself.

What now? What was I supposed to do now?

I stopped and rubbed at my eyes some more. When my vision became lucid again, I looked around and took in my surroundings. I was in the woods. I always ended up in the woods. I sat down and spread myself across the forest floor. It was a rocky terrain but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything.

The sky was dark. Too dark. No stars were in sight. The moon was obscured.

I sighed and took a deep breath.

A sudden though occurred to me. I hadn’t Changed. I was angry and I didn’t Change.

Did that mean anything? I hoped not.

I dozed off a bit after I had calmed down and woke up to a sudden movement behind the bushes. I didn’t get up right away. It could have been a rabbit, snake, or a small toad.

If it was a mountain lion, which I was sure didn’t inhabit this area, I could simply Change and take it on. I didn’t fear death. I didn’t fear anything at this point.

I sat down and propped myself up against a large trunk. The sky was still dark but a few stars were starting to show here and there.

I sighed. I hoped Jane and Jacob were okay. They were the only people who meant anything to me right now. I didn’t care about anyone else.

Did Tyler and Gabi leave yet?

I shook my head. I didn’t want to think about them. I refused to let myself think about them. They were nothing to me.

But could I really forget everything so easily?

Yes, I told myself.

I knew it wasn’t true.

You have to forget, I told myself again.

But how could I? How could I forget the first day I bumped into him on the street? Or when he followed me into the woods after having dinner with his family? Could I forget when I first met his friends and how he made me feel like I was already part of the group? What about that hopeless moment when we were handcuffed to each other? The trampoline? The ditching? The car breaking down?