The Pack - On the Run

Our walk was unexpectedly quick.

It was clear Louis was familiar with the forest. He could have walked in blindsided and still found his way home. His steps were sure and unusually quiet as he moved around dead leaves and twigs thickly littering the floor, never placing his foot on the wrong spot. The only sound I could hear was his soft even breathing, which apparently had a strangely therapeutic effect on my shattered nerves.

I felt so relaxed and, well, safe despite him being a total stranger that I almost fell asleep on his back. I even found myself leaning my forehead against the nook of his neck at one point - to my utmost embarrassment. Not that Louis minded.

The closer we got to the house, however, the darker my mood became until we hit the gravel path and, once again, anxiety twisted my insides.

“You alright there?” Louis asked suddenly, his melodic voice lulling some of my panic.

“Y- Yeah... All’s good,” I lied, trying to sound sure where, in fact, I was far from it. I dreaded meeting with mum after my little outburst. I was afraid of the look on her face, terrified to learn that she would still be scared of me, that she would reject me.

Louis didn’t comment on my lie, though it took no genius to tell he didn’t buy the word I said. Not when he could feel my iron-like grip on his shoulders.

“Your mum must be worried,” he murmured, correctly guessing where my thoughts drifted, and I willed myself to relax.

We covered those four-five steps leading to the porch and neared the doors in no time. My pulse picked up, and my heart started hammering in my chest, threatening to break out of my rib cage.

Louis went inside the lodge and into a corridor. The warmth immediately hugged my chilled body, but I felt nothing but the jumbled nerves that were gnarling my insides and driving me crazy with stress. We headed straight for the spacious, rustic style kitchen from where mum’s and Rosalynd’s voices were drifting. Once inside, I carefully slid down Louis’ back, closing my eyes as I braced myself for rejection-

Which never came.

“Josie, thank God!” I heard instead as the quick steps followed. Mum wrapped me in her warm embrace, squeezing me so hard as if she was scared I would suddenly perish in front of her. Warm tears prickled my eyes, and I hugged mum back, smelling her familiar, motherly scent and finally falling apart in her grasp.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered softly, though I wasn’t even sure for what was I apologising. It didn’t mind - mum understood.

“Shh, it’s not your fault. It’s alright, it’s okay, sweety. I’ve got you, I’ve got you...” She murmured softly into the side of my head, her voice clogged as she stroked my tumbled hair while I sobbed silently.

“Let me make some tea,” Rosalynd suddenly decided. “Jack is probably on his way with Mikey as we speak.”

I sniffed, finally collecting myself and unglueing from mum, red rushing down my face to my neck as I quickly wiped the tears from my cheeks. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Louis. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and one leg propped on the hard surface behind him. His attention was solely on the ground, and he didn’t look up, even though I could tell he felt my gaze...

I gulped, biting my lip as I shifted my attention back to Rosalynd, unable to stand the vibes I was getting from the boy. I understood on some primal level that he was thoroughly pissed, though nothing, absolutely nothing, indicated it.

My eyes landed on Rosalynd, who was still wearing a burgundy, floor-length dress from the party. It wrapped around her legs as she made her way to the big, wooden table standing in the middle of the kitchen. She looked royal, like a queen, but still somehow motherly with the cups of steaming tea in both her hands.

“Louis, stop standing there like an idiot, drilling a hole in my floor, and sit down,” she chid her nephew, drawing his attention. The boy snapped out of whatever dark place he had been, and a crooked smile curved the side of his mouth.

It didn’t reach his eyes.

“Nah, I’m good,” he said when the front doors opened. I smelled my brother before his childish voice reached my ears.

“Mikey...” I whispered, turning around just as the boy rushed into the kitchen and straight in my arms.

“Josie!” He screamed excitedly as I lifted him off the ground, hugging him tightly.

“Never run off like that again, you silly-billy,” I breathed into his hair, taking comfort in his smell.

Then, the strangest thing happened.

“You!” Exclaimed mum accusingly as a man I had never seen in my life appeared in the doorframe.

I looked at him, noticing how tall he was with his 6′8". Just like Louis, he had jet black hair (although his was closely cropped to his skull), quicksilver irises, strong jaw, and lean silhouette, concealed by the thick, woolen turtleneck and unzipped navy-blue jacket he wore.

“That is surely an unexpected turn of today’s events,” The man, Jack, if I got that right, said calmly, raising his brows.

“Do you know each other?” Asked Rosalynd curiously, just as mum suddenly grabbed her from behind and locked her elbow around the woman's throat in a choking manner, holding a knife she had pulled literally out of nowhere to her neck, a stone-cold expression on her face.

“Mum, what is going on?” I loudly demanded while a guttural growl vibrated through the room, and Louis took a step forward. As if on que, Jack's large hand landed on his son's shoulder, stopping him.

Mikey started to shake in my hold.

“The blade is silver. Take another step, and I swear I will shove it straight in her neck,” mum said in an odd voice while she tightened her hold around Rosalynd’s throat.

“Easy, Melinda,” Jack directed his words at my mum, but it was Louis, who reluctantly relaxed under his dad’s hold.

“What does it even matter, mum? And why the heck are you holding a knife to Rosalynd’s neck?” I cut in, my voice incredulous and strangely loud in my ears. I licked my suddenly chapped lips, tension making me sick to my stomach.

Mum ignored me.

“Josephine, go upstairs and bring our luggage down. Take your brother with you.”

“But mum...”

“Do as I say!” She screamed at me, and I winced while Mikey started to cry. “I thank you for your hospitality and finding my son, Jack. We’re leaving, and if you let us go in peace nobody will get hurt.”

“You’re making a mistake,” The man's voice was calm as he regarded mum cooly. “There is no cure for what your children are going through. It can't be stopped and you know that. Dover Hill is all a rouse. Your so called friends lied to you to lure you in. They will take your kids from you and use them like lab rats. And after they’ll be done torturing them, they will get rid of them,” he said as a matter of fact, nodding ever so slightly at Rosalynd, who answered him in the same way. Mum didn’t see it, too distracted by her own frenzy.

“Shut up. Shut up! You know nothing!” She exclaimed, loosening her grip on Rosalynd’s throat. “It’s because of your kind that my family...!”

Quicker than a flash, Louis’ aunt somehow slipped from mum’s grasp, spun on her heel, and knocked mum cold with the side of her hand. I gasped as mum’s eyes closed shut, and she fell straight in the Rosalynd's outstretched arms.

Mikey stopped crying while I gaped like a fish to the silence that followed.