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Later that evening, Shirley was lying on her stomach in the garden outside their apartment. The garden was well adorned with lillies, hibiscus, roses and daisies. Shirley had single handedly nurtured every flower in the garden. Gardening made her feel close to her late mother somehow _ her mother had loved gardening too. A novel was in front of where Shirley was lying. Occasionally, she would look up at the sky, to admire its beauty. It was a full moon that night. Millions of stars like tiny speckles of dust littered the sky. It was indeed a sight to behold. There was just one thing that Shirley liked about the bomb her father had dropped early that morning. Aside from the fact that she was going to be homeschooled and be literally under house arrest, Maxwell was going to be moving into the apartment for the meantime. Shirley had found out earlier that day from Maxwell himself, after she had wrapped up all her lectures for the day. A room had already been arranged for him and he ha
She had thought that he had only been messing with her when he offered to make them dinner but now as she sat on the long stool in the kitchen, resting both her arms on the table and watching him work in a funny looking apron, she couldn't help but smile widely. Maxwell looked so serious as he moved about the kitchen. From preheating the oven to, to spraying a baking dish with nonstick spray. His movements were so organized, almost like a professional chef. Even the way he chopped the vegetables was fascinating. Shirley almost felt like she was watching her favourite chef cook life. Maxwell was making them baked chicken Tacos as per her request. When he had asked what she wanted him to make them for dinner earlier, she had just spurted out the first thing that came to mind. She hadn't been expecting him to really go to the kitchen, wear an apron and start cooking it. Maxwell stirred in the chicken, taco seasoning, tomatoes, and green chiles in a bowl. Next he placed the taco shells
Shirley helped Maxwell clean up after dinner, and then while he moved around the house ensuring that all the doors and windows were locked, and the security system and alarm was in place, she went through her email. He joined her in the sitting room when he was done, he took a seat across her. She spared him a quick glance when he stepped in, and then she returned her gaze to her laptop in front of her. She finished going through her email a few minutes later and closed the laptop. Maxwell's eyes were glued onto the television in front of them, it was the business news channel playing at the time. "You know where my dad went to right? You know what he is doing? Please tell me, is he in any danger? What exactly is going on? He seemed pretty tense earlier today, it was hard not to notice..." she suddenly spoke. Her voice shook and when he turned to stare into her eyes, he saw the fear playing in them. She sighed softly. "He never tells me anything, whether it is what he is doing or w
It was a full moon, two young teenagers stood under the moon in each other's arms. "It's a beautiful night tonight, if it weren't so cold I could stay out here forever," the girl spoke and the boy chuckled, reaching out to pinch her nose playfully. "Let's head in okay, it's really cold out here" the boy whispered taking her hand. She nodded and together they started to make their way back to an apartment not far from where they had been standing. The teenagers were almost at the gate when suddenly, something fast came at them. It was so fast that they didn't see it but a sharp scream erupted the girl's lips as she felt her flesh being torn from her arm. She looked at the arm that was hurting and saw that her flesh had indeed been torn from it. They were deep claw marks on her arm. Another scream erupted from her lips. The boy saw this and screamed as well. He reached out to carry her when the thing came at them again, pushing him down and separating the two. There were more screa
"Was there another incident in the lab?" Max asked the person on the other line in a hushed voice. What greeted his ears was silence, compelling his blood to boil. "I just asked you a question! F**king answer me!" he screamed. He could hear the heartbeats of the person on the other line pound faster and he scoffed. "It… They…" the person on the other line stuttered. "Do you realize how big of a mess things are right now? You gave your word to keep things under control!" Max went on, obviously in a rage. Only the person's unsteady breathing could be heard. With a sigh, Max hung up. ****** "Good afternoon," he greeted the young lady that had just stepped into his office. Her dark hair was stylishly short and had a tinge of purple embedded in it. Her eyes were violet and she had a sly smile playing on her lips as she placed the box she was carrying on the table, and then sat down across Mr Blakes. "Is this it?" he asked, referring to the box on his table. "You bet," she said and s
She smiled when she noticed him still staring, and then she leaned towards Maxwell to whisper incoherently into his ears. Maxwell played his part very well and laughed along with her. It was a round table dinner meeting setting. There were at least 30 people sitting around the table. It was a collaboration dinner meeting of representatives of top companies in the fashion industry nationwide. They weren't there to talk about work but they were there simply to chat and have fun. It was something they did every now and then, it was one of the social gatherings they usually had to help them connect with one another. After dinner, they moved to the underground part of the restaurant. A game house was there where different kinds of games were displayed. From a mini casino, to a pool table house, and even a mini golf court. Some people moved to the casino, mostly the young men and just a few ladies. The older men made their way to the golf court. Shirley, holding Maxwell's hand firmly,
"Come on, let me take you somewhere," Maxwell said and started to bring Shirley down, as gently as he possibly could. After making sure she was standing properly, he picked up one of the two helmets on the motorbike and put it on her. Then he put the other one on himself and both of them got into the motorbike. He made sure her hands were firmly wrapped around his waist before he started the motorbike and they drove away. **** Sitting in a dimly lit room were two men. Mr Blakes Lucas took a sip of water and placed the cup back on the table. "So a werewolf had killed my wife?" he asked and the other man nodded. He was the person they called the hunter. He was a fair skinned man who looked almost fifty. His grey hair told that much. He had grey eyes too but he had quite a fit body build and didn't exactly look old in his body. "Your wife's death was an unfortunate incident. I am so sorry," the hunter said. "I just want justice, that is all," Mr Blakes said. "And Justice you will
Shirley could barely sleep a wink all through the night. The memories of the previous night kept replaying in her head… After they had pulled apart from each other, Maxwell had planted a kiss on her forehead. His hand still held her waist as he stared deeply into her eyes. "So, does that mean we are like a couple now?" Shirley asked, her eyes boring into his. "Well, if you want to put it like that then I guess we can put it like that," he said, smiling. She chuckled and then embraced him. Hearing him call the both of them "we" made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. "You have no idea how happy I feel right now. I know I barely know you and you barely know me but we will make this work, right?" She pulled apart from him ad she asked the question. Her eyes searching his. "We will make it work princess," he muttered. After admiring the night sky for a little while more, he had driven them home, and then they had ordered pizza for dinner. It had been perfect… It was barely dawn when Sh
Lucas Blakes seemed taken aback by Shirley's question so he didn't answer immediately. However, his expression turned sour as he too dropped his cutleries and leaned back on his chair, searching Shirley's eyes. "You were intimately involved with Max, so shouldn't you know? Didn't he tell you how he was sent by the government to spy on me and stop me from uncovering the truth about your mother's death? Did he not?" There was a certain heaviness with which Mr. Blakes spoke. Judging from how her father was speaking, Shirley could tell that he was expecting her to be surprised and even shocked by his sudden revelation about Max being a spy. So she feigned the reaction he was expecting. She knew her father well enough to know that he wasn't accusing her with his choice of words, he was simply revealing something to her. "Max was a spy sent by the government?" she asked, even lowering her voice so it was almost a whisper and pulling off a quite appalled expression on her face. He nodded
The smile Shirley wore proudly on her face was beginning to make her cheekbones hurt, still she kept the smile on her face as she kept posing for the camera. She was having a photo shoot session, modelling for a make-up brand of which she wasn't just a model but their spokesperson. The name of the makeup brand was, Glitters. "Let's take five," the director said to Shirley who nodded before moving away from the stage. Monique met her halfway, offering her a bottle of water, with the cap already off the bottle. "Thanks," she muttered to Monique and took a quick drink from the bottle before returning it to Monique who accepted it with a slight bow. Shirley moved her hands to massage her face, especially her cheekbones. "Get the last set of lipsticks, we are shooting that in 2," the director's voice rang out. Shirley knew that was her cue to go to the make-up artist so they could start trying the different shades of the last set of lipsticks on her, and then start shooting her, wearing
It was quiet in the car as Amelia drove down the road until Shirley caught sight of a bar by the side of the road. "Pull the car over Amelia. Let's go there," she said to Amelia, pointing at the bar. Amelia sighed softly but she pulled the car over. She could use a drink herself. "I am getting drunk tonight," Shirley declared as she started to take off her seatbelt. "Wear this," Amelia said to Shirley, shoving a pair of sunglasses into her hands. "You are Shirley Blakes. There is nothing much this could do but it's better than nothing, wear it," Amelia urged. Shirley nodded slowly, and then put the sunglasses on. The two girls soon got out of the car, and then started for the bar. "I will have a shot of vodka please," Shirley said to the barman, a young handsome man, as she took a seat on one of the long stools by the bar counter. Amelia sat on another stool right next to her. The barman got started on Shirley's order, when he gave her the shot she gulped it all in one go. "
Running on all fours, that is with both her hands and legs touching the ground, Shirley continued down the woods. She had used the route through the woods to the hospital as she couldn't quite run on all fours on the main roads. Not if she didn't want to cause a frenzy, she hadn't lost her rationality quite to that point. Amelia had tested Shirley's super speed during a few of their training session, how far she could go. Shirley could go faster than a speeding car. That was why she didn't bother to use a car. The thought that Max could already be on his way to kill her friends fueled her speed as she ran in the woods. Her eyes were a glowing blue, the fangs had grown out of her mouth, her claws were out too, her ears were a few inches longer... Shirley continued to race until she neared the hospital. Taking deep breaths in succession, Shirley stood on her two feet, and then started to dust off the mix of sand and grasses from her body and clothes. Her eye colour and ear size had retu
"I don't understand, how can he not be human? And how the hell can you even tell?" Shirley asked. "I am a witch Shirley and witches can feel energy. Humans, werewolves, witches, every kind existing has energy unique to its kind," Amelia explained. "So is umm, Alexander a witch because he can't be a werewolf, if he was then his sister would be too and she would have most probably already healed from that bullet wound but she clearly hasn't, or is she a born wolf that hasn't turned yet, oh my God! Is that it?" Shirley blabbered, her gaze on Amelia intent. "Woah slow down Nation's Fairy, I did say he is something, didn't I? If he was a werewolf or a witch, I could have just said it point-blankly," Amelia pointed out. That's right, thought Shirley. "So what is he? Wait are there other kinds aside witches, werewolves and humans?" Shirley was astounded at the possibility. "Well, remember the time I mentioned gods existed?" Amelia asked and Shirley's eyes widened. "No way! Alex is a god
The day went by very quickly, after Shirley's examinations for the day, she stopped by at the hospital to check on Alicia. There was a crowd of reporters and the paparazzi at the entrance of the hospital when Amelia and Shirley arrived. When Shirley and Amelia stepped out of the car they had driven to the hospital, the reporters and paparazzi swarmed around them. "Shirley Blakes, are you here to visit Alicia Gilbert?" "Are you two close friends?" "What can you tell us about the shooting?" "Do you know anyone who could have targeted Alicia Gilbert?" They bombarded Shirley with countless questions, flashing their cameras and microphones on her face. The escorts that always followed Shirley around, led by Amelia, swung into action helping Shirley easily weave her way into the hospital with a natural smile, while they kept the reporters back. ****** "How is she doing?" Shirley asked as she moved closer to Alicia's bed, her eyes watering up on seeing the tubes and machines attached
It was soon dawn and Shirley hurriedly prepared for school. Her first semester examinations started today and even though her life had taken a huge drastic turn in the past few weeks, Shirley was confident that she would do very well in the exams and this was because, not only had Shirley been studying hard prior to the examination period, she was plenty experienced in her field of study. She had been working in her father's company since she could remember anyway. He had taught her everything about the business sector that he knew. After the first semester examinations which was going to last for a week, there would be a two weeks break, and then after the break, the rest of the academic year would be spent doing her internship at her father's company. That was the arrangement. As Shirley stood in front of her dressing mirror, she heaved in a deep breath, closing her eyes. When she opened her eyes, the colour had changed from chocolate brown to a glowing blue. She smiled, and then
Shirley was so immersed in her thoughts, Amelia noticed and that wasn't the only thing she noticed. Amelia could see some sort of turbulence playing in Shirley's chocolate eyes. "Is something wrong?" Amelia asked, taking light steps closer to Shirley and only stopping when there was just a small distance between them. Shirley's eyes blinked when Amelia spoke, and then she shook her head in negation, a little too quickly, compelling Amelia to furrow her eyebrows at her. "It's nothing," Shirley spoke in a tone so low, Amelia almost didn't hear her, and then she added, "We should go." "What happened to wanting to do everything within your power to help your friend?" Amelia asked with a raised eyebrow. She could tell that there was something Shirley wasn't telling her and she didn't like it. "I am helping her. At least we now have additional information about this person who shot my friend. The person had been in some other country until yesterday evening. And in that country, it had
The cloud was still dark as the sun was yet to rise. Strong winds were blowing, compelling Shirley's hair to dance to its rhythm. Occasionally, a few strands of her hair would move to cover her face and she would have to hurriedly tuck them in behind both her ears. It was a futile move because it soon moved to cover her face again when the wind blew past her again, making her repeat the process of trying to tuck strands of her hair behind her ears. Shirley shuddered momentarily from the coolness of the early morning breeze that suddenly washed through her, and then she gripped both ends of her coat and zipped it all the way up. It had only been zipped halfway before. Her hair was all over her face again compelling a frustrated grunt out of her mouth, however, she did nothing about it anymore. "Picked up anything yet?" Amelia's voice sounded behind Shirley and the next thing Shirley knew the girl had moved to gather her hair in her hands, and then use a hair band she had fetched from