Castellanos - A Flame That Never Dies

Scorching

Eliana Tessa Castellanos

I went back when the moon was high up in the sky. I dragged my body away from the shore as I made my way towards the back door of the café to enter the house above it.

I headed towards the bathroom still dripping wet. The moment I entered the shower, I stood underneath it, not caring to remove my clothes that was already stuck to my body.

The scorching water washed away the saltwater from the sea. It was the only thing that burned me, so I welcomed the pain. But even that got to a point where I couldn't feel the pain anymore.

When I felt all the sea wash away from my body, I finally step out the shower. The cool night air flooding in through the open balcony from my bedroom hits my scorching flesh, but it doesn't bother me anymore. It was not the first time.

I finally take off my clothes and stand naked in front of the tall mirror in my bedroom. Only a few dark red patches coated my body now. It was already healing. My hair was growing a little longer than a few days ago when I cut it really short.

I weave my hand through my hair and pulled it slightly. Damn, this Lycan body of mine. I can never leave it short not even for a week. It grows right back.

It wasn't that I hated my long hair. It was just another way to detach myself from my life from before. A change. That's what I told myself when I first chopped it off.

The more I looked at my reflection, the angrier I got. I turned around and fumbled through my small wardrobe. I took out a short red spaghetti strap dress and pulled it on with just a red thong underneath. I quickly dried my hair and coated my lips with red lipstick like the dress I was wearing. I put on a nude heel with only a thin strap to hold my feet and a cuff like strap around my ankle with a zip at the back.

I grabbed my clutch and put my phone in with some more cash. I grabbed Harmony's car key from the table in the living room and walked out the dark empty alley.

I drove the car out the small town and headed towards the club that I went to a couple of days ago. My hands on the steering wheel tightening the whole way as his pained eyes flashed over my mind.

The familiar smell of alcohol and sweat hits me once again. Slowly, I make my way through the bodies of intoxicated humans to the bar which was almost crowded. Thankful to my long limbs, I managed to grab hold of the counter and pull myself forward.

"Give me something strong." I demand as soon as the same guy from the other night stops by me.

He chuckles as he sees me. His eyes going over my exposed skin and licks his lips. "Right away."

I think I stayed there for almost an hour. Now the crowd had moved onto the dance floor, leaving the area around me quite empty.

"I didn't know you would come back." The guy says. I roll my eyes at him and turn to the side. I gulp down another glass. "Yeah. I didn't know either."

He chuckles again. "Oh, by the way, your brother came looking for you a few days ago." I turned to face him and raised my eyebrows. He reached into his jeans pocket and held out a card. "Said to call him, if I saw you again."

My eyes go to the card on his hand. Elias is not someone who would openly hand out a card. I mean he doesn't even have one. But I haven't seen him for decades. I don't know what he's been up to.

I try to snatch the card from him, but he takes his arm back. "Hold on. What do I get in return?" He leans on the counter with his free hand on it while the other goes behind his back.

I smirk seeing the game he was trying to play and lean my own body over the counter. I bring my head to his side so I could whisper it in his ears as the loud music thumped the whole place.

"Your life."

I feel his heart beating faster while his body freezes. I snake my hand around his back and snatch the card from him. I lean away and sit back in the stool with the card on my hand.

Alastair Stamos.

Definitely not my brother.

The name just doesn't ring a bell. I don't know him. Why was he looking for me? And why would he lie?

The wheels in my head starts turning as I reach for my purse. I grab a lot of cash and slam it on the counter. I look hard into his eyes. "Take this and do not utter a word about seeing me here. Do you get that?" I hiss.

I know my face right now did not look pretty. I wasn't in a mood to play anymore. He gulps and nods his head slightly. "Good." I turn around and hurry out the club. Once in the car, I fist the card into my hand as the flames burn it to ashes. Then I speed down the road.

It's still dark when I reach the house. I open the door and place the car keys back. Not bothering about Harmony's sleep, I walked up the cemented stairs. My heels clinking loudly in the silence of the night as I made my way up and into my room.

I was so deep in my thoughts that I didn't even notice his smell or his presence as I stood facing my closed door. He was here. In my room.

I dreaded to see him. At the same time, I burned to.

"What are you doing here?" My voice sounds awfully loud in this quiet room. "I clearly asked you to leave." I turn around with my arms now folded across my chest.

I saw his huge figure by the window, already looking my way. His face shadowed by the dim light from the moon outside. He released a deep growl as he scanned over my body from head to toe, before it landed back on my eyes.

That alone was enough to light up the fire in my heart.

My heart was starting to jump over and fall into his arms, but I held my ground and stood tall. As I looked into his eyes, something clicked in me. "Alastair Stamos. Did you send him?"

I was sure now. It was his doing.

When I didn't get a reply, I release a deep breath. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

I feel my eyes sting as all the pent-up emotion starts to pour out of me. Why can't he just let me forget? Why can't he just pretend that I didn't exist? "Just leave me alone-"

I don't get to complete my sentence as the huge Lycan engulfs my body. His arms go under my arms and wraps around my body while he buries his head deep into the side of my hair. My arms dangles on my side and my breath gets caught in my throat.

"Never." He growls.