Wolf under an oak tree.

Ada and I watched three films before we got tired and I said my goodnights to her and I started climbing the stairs to go up to my room. Once I reached my bedroom door, I opened it to be greeted by a dark room.

I thought I switched on a lamp before going out earlier?

I slowly went inside, making sure that I do not stamp on any foreign objects, before I reached the table lamp, I switched it on and that is when I noticed that there was a neatly folded paper left on my lampstand with a dead rose on top of it. My heart started to palpitate, and a cold sweat broke on my forehead, knowing that someone has entered my room without my knowledge. So with shaky hands, I took the rose and noticed that it had the smell of chocolate and lavender combined in it.

I think I have smelt it somewhere, but where was it?

I raked my brain trying to locate the smell, and as if someone threw a bucket of cold water on me, I knew where I had smelt it before. This was the perfume that Alan gifted me before we started having issues in our relationship, and I only used it once.

Oh my God! Did...did he come here when I wasn't home?

A lone tear escaped my eye, and a cold chill went down my spine. What if someone was home when he was here? Would he have killed them?

Lots of thoughts were running in my head, but I quickly wiped the thin layer of moisture that was forming on my forehead and slowly unfolded the paper.

Dear Iris,

I know you must have missed me an awful lot because I sure did. I searched for you far and wide, but I never knew that you were hiding in Akaroa. But that's alright, so now that I have found you, I suggest that you come back to me willingly. I will give you a week, and if you are ready, I will be waiting for you at the cafe downtown.

Hope you take the best possible decision, love. We don't want any blood spilling now, don't we?

Yours truly,

Alan

My knees gave out, and I crashed onto the hardwood floor, the paper lying next to me, and tears continuously flowed down my cheeks, staining the once dry paper. What have I done? If I go back to him right now, he will for sure give me the slowest possible death that ever exists because I fooled him and left him to die in that apartment. Black dots danced at the corner of my eyes, just thinking about what kind of torture he had in store for me, and right when I was on the verge of passing out, I heard something.

Beep, beep, beep

The sound of my phone vibrating in my pocket brought me back from the darkness that tried to consume me, and I slowly took it out from my pocket, and I rubbed my eyes a few times to clear the blurry vision, and I saw that the call was from an unknown number this caused my heart to start racing all over again, and I felt my throat tightening, and my hands were sweating presumably.

Please don't be Alan, please don't be Alan.

I kept chanting those words before pressing the call button, and I kept the phone to my ear.

“He...hello?” I stammered.

“Iris, what happened to your voice?” it was Mike!

“Uh, I have a sore throat. Anyway, why did you call?” I lied and prayed that he wouldn't ask any more questions.

“Oh, I called to ask you about the vision that you saw. I want to know when will that happen.” Mike said, and for a few seconds, my mind was blank trying to decipher what he was asking.

“Oh, you mean the one where you get stabbed?” I asked him.

“Yeah.”

“I don't know, Mike. It can be tomorrow, or in a week or even months I don't really see when it happens.”

“But you are sure that I will get stabbed. Do you at least know by whom?”

“No, I didn't see the person’s face either, but all I know is that you should be cautious and if you can, please avoid going into town for so time,” I said, and he hmmed before the line was silent again.

“Also, did you tell Jace and Walter about the vision I showed you? I completely forgot to let them.”

“I didn't tell them, and can you please not tell them either, I want to make sure that it is between the both of us for now.” this sparked my curiosity.

What is Mike trying to hide?

“Mike, your life is potentially in danger, and you want me to keep quiet about it? I mean, if you let them know, I guess they can do something to save you.”

“Iris, please promise me you won't tell them now, please?” now this was weird, what is he trying to hide from them?

“I will promise you if you will tell me what you are trying to hide.” I started, and I heard him sigh.

“It's complicated, Iris, and I don't want you to be lying to your mate because of me either. But trust me when I say that it will never bring any harm to the pack, and I will tell everyone about what I am hiding very soon, Iris. And, I know you will understand my reasons for that when the time comes.” Mike was very adamant about not telling me, and I know that he will not be telling me at all, so I sighed, knowing that I might have to find this out on my own.

“Fine, I will not ask anything for now.”

“Thank you. So, I guess I will see you tomorrow morning?” he asked me, and I thought for a bit.

I know that I have my worst nightmare come back to life, and I don't know if I should let Jace know about it.

“I guess. Good night.” I said, and after that, the line went dead.

What am I going to do about him? I don't think that running away again will help either, and this time my family is at stake.

All this thinking is giving me a headache, so after neatly folding the paper and keeping it back on my nightstand, I went to the washroom and took a nice bath before lying down on my bed.

I think I will think about this in the morning.

With those last thoughts, I closed my eyes and drifted into a dreamless sleep that I am sure will be haunted by my past that was kept buried for over a year now.