"Could it be?" Patrick looked twice to see if he was seeing what he saw. The men across the room had large fangs.Patrick excused himself and walked to the bar.As the waitress passed him, he whispered in her ear and she understood what he needed.He ordered a drink and returned to the table.As the waitress walked out of the kitchen , she held her tray clumsily.Approaching the table she tripped over her own feet and spilled the tray of garlic all over the Ray family, including officer Duke."I am so sorry. " She pretended to get a few napkins and dab their shirts. But she rubbed it in further so that it stained their skin.Patrick watched as the men across them started to gag and leave the restaurant. His hunch was right and he now watched officer Duke intently.He didn't know what sort of trick officer Duke was pulling but he knew it wasn't a very good one.Officer Duke started to rant and rave at the waitress and she apologized profusely.He grabbed the tissues from her hand and st
"Dammit! There's no keys!" Patrick shouted." Check in the back."Ella and Stella checked the back seat of the car frantically," nothing!"Patrick banged his hand on the steering wheel.He looked at his fossil , silver watch," we have just over an hour to get to the courtroom!""We could turn into wolves and run all the way." Stella suggested."No. We could risk being seen or caught. Do you really want to sit in a zoo!" Patrick cursed loudly as he took out his cellphone."Urgh. Why is this happening to us. I have no signal. Check your phone's!"Ella and Stella checked their phones as well. " Not signal."Patrick ran inside to ask to use the landline but it was out of order. He cursed loudly as he returned to his family."We are stuck here." Ella sat in the back seat of the car and thought about her dream. She closed her eyes and in her mind she called for officer Duke. If they had some sort of connection, he would hear her.Down the road, blocked by some bushes, officer Duke watched a
Patrick did not care if he sounded harsh, but that was the reality of the situation. He couldn't understand how these journalists could just force themselves and their opinions on people.He hoped in all his harshness, officer Duke took the punchline. They all entered the courtroom which was still empty. Taking a seat right at the front, they waited.Ten minutes passed and now the courtroom was full of the people who was there earlier. All waiting for the verdict.They gossiped loudly amongst themselves, each creating stories about the Ray family and speculating about them being seen with officer Duke.Patrick was about to stand up to give them a mouthful when the judge appeared and banged her gavel viciously on the desk.There was immediate silence in the room." Can the suspects in question stand up?" The judge said loudly.Brook stood up and continued to chew her bubblegum with her mouth open while Bobby rose with his head hung low." Our fellow jury members have come to a conclus
"Please. Dad." Ella pleaded.Stella looked at her daughter and then at Patrick. She hugged Patrick and then whispered in his ear."Alright Ella. You can stay. Just this one night. But by tomorrow afternoon, we need to leave this town forever." Patrick said reluctantly Ella hugged her father tightly." I will pick you up at seven." Officer Duke said before bidding them farewell.They jumped into the car." Why Ella. Why do you have such bad choice in men?" Patrick burst out. He could not contain himself any longer."Dad. He isn't bad. He is an officer of the law. He saved my life once. Do you know?" Ella said with a grin. She finally got to tell him about the story of the gargoyle that everyone was talking about but didn't know the exact story."No Ella. I don't know. How could he possibly save you? What trouble could you have possibly be in? And wasn't he the guy that arrested you? " Patrick snapped." Yes dad. He did arrest me but not because he wanted to. Brook had put him under a
Ella's heart raced in her chest." Come in."Patrick Ray walked in and took a seat on her small couch."Dad. It's you." Ella replied dryly."Who were you expecting? Officer Duke?" Patrick asked." It is a hotel Ella. They aren't going to just allow a guest up to your room without calling you. Maybe he isn't coming!""Maybe he is just late." Ella snapped."Maybe he has diarrhea!" Patrick laughed."Maybe he is on the way." Ella rolled her eyes."Maybe he is dead!" Patrick snapped."Dad. Really now. Did you hire a hit man to kill an officer? I mean dad. How can you just ruin my date." Ella's eyes were large as saucers."No Ella. I rather you learn by myself. I won't be here forever to protect you." Patrick woke up and hugged his daughter." You look just like your mother on our first date."The telephone rang and Ella quickly ran to the phone."Miss Woods, there is a gentleman here waiting for you in the lobby." Jon's monotonous voice came through the phone. He sounded as if he was rather u
" What should we get you?" The waitress asked as she took out her pad and pen." A bottle of champagne." Officer Duke replied. " And...""And everything on the menu." Ella completed his sentence. " I want two small portion of everything on the menu.""Are you sure?" Officer Duke asked. " That's a lot of food for two people.""I was going to do this tomorrow. All alone. But it is nice to have some company to sample every dish. I need to know that we are up to standard before I go back home. I don't know when I will be back again." Ella dismissed the waitress."Ella. You forgot to call your dad." Officer Duke reminded her.Ella did as he said. Patrick Ray was happy that his daughter was at the restaurant, but he already knew this since his men had followed her.He wanted to be extra careful . He didn't want to ruin her date and asked them to be hidden.Ella stepped away from the table."Dad, I already saw the men in the black mini cooper." Ella said sharply. " I am sorry honey." Patric
"What's next Ella? Should we get all the weird things out of the way?""Well. Everything else here on the table are cooked items. It shouldn't taste too bad. Let's have a try at the muscles . I also haven't tried this as well. I am not quite the seafood person. I prefer my chicken and steak." Ella said taking a shell full of muscle topped with garlic sauce.She slurped it out and began to chew.Grabbing a napkin from the table , she spat out the mouthful of muscle. " It tasted like I was chewing salty sea sand with an overpowering taste of the bait that fishermen use."She watched officer Duke chew and swallow his muscle with ease. He sucked the shell and placed it in his side plate. " That was delicious.""That was awful. Even the garlic sauce couldn't disguise the fishiness." Ella barfed.After getting through the balance of the starters , Ella excused herself to the the ladies room. She had drank too much water and her bladder felt as if it was going to explode.As she exited the b
Ella wondered if this was a red flag!As quick as the question came to mind, it has left. She didn't want to think of Jason that way. He didn't seem as if he had bad intentions in him.It could all just be a coincidence Ella told herself, trying to make it sound as convincing as possible in her head.She pulled out a tissue from her bag and handed it to Jason," here, you can wipe your hand and stop the bleeding. This is a rather odd place to take me.""I just thought that Maybe you would want to see what happened to the gargoyle that attacked you." Jason shrugged."Maybe I would not want to visit a gargoyle that tried to kill me." Ella rolled her eyes.She looked at the time, it's already ten fifteen." I am an idiot, I wasted forty five minutes on something so daft. Let me take you to a special place." Jason led her to the car.He knew his plan had failed and he now needed to move on to plan b. He had thought, this would be quick but now he would have to work harder and longer for h
"Trust you?" Ella choked out. She was a mix between furious and panicked. She was worried about Tyler , scared of Brook and now the person that betrayed her is asking her to trust him."Yes. Ella. I am sorry. I know I can't change the past but I can protect you now." Bobby inched his way closer to her." My sister wouldn't have needed protecting if you just stayed faithful to her. "Ella stepped back.From the corner of her eyes, she watched Brook start to sit up on the ground. " Her heart pounded in her chest and her hands shook.She started to bang the gym door frantically, screaming for Tyler." No one is coming for you Ella. Trust me. I will keep you safe from Brook. " Bobby grabbed her arm tightly.Ella screamed loudly as he began to pull her towards the forest behind the university.A loud bang, the gym doors swung open and a large silver grey beast jumped out. He sprinted across the park and toppled Bobby onto the grass.Those green eyes were unmistakable.Bobby let out a large
Three o clock came and Ella walked to the library. She felt like a disgrace for not being a team player and letting Tyler do all the work. She decided that although she didn't like him, she would just have to stick it out. Maybe she is wrong about him but only time will tell."Ella. You are being weird. I don't know why you don't like Tyler but eventually it will affect your grades." Mary stood behind Ella who was standing outside the library doors and looking in."Mary. It isn't what it seems." Ella said as she struggled to move her feet into the library. It was if her legs were jelly. Her mind was unwilling to go in no matter how much she persuaded herself."Oh no. Not this again. My Luna had been suppressed for so long and now I had to have a trigger." Ella thought to herself."Ella. We don't have all afternoon. If your aren't going to go in atleast step aside. Justin and I have an assignment to do." Mary snapped.Ella drew in a deep breath, calming her nerves. Her legs had now re
"A literary passage is an excerpt from a written text. It can be as long as a chapter, or as short as a sentence. Usually, the length of a literary passage is several paragraphs long. This excerpt can be any genre of literature, from poetry to fiction." Tyler answered the question.Ella thought that he sounded like a web browser."Thank you, Mr Style's. That is the correct answer." Mrs Moore clapped again." I guess we have two A grade students sitting next to each other. I am sure you two will get on like a house on fire."Ella rolled her eyes at that statement. There was no way she was going to be friends or even an acquaintance with him.Tyler smiled and looked at Ella who just stared at him coldly. There was tension in the air between them."Let us now dig deeper into the passage. What is this passage about? Who wrote it? Why do you think he wrote it? Does it have a deeper meaning?" Mrs Moore asked.The only two people who actually answered the questions were Tyler and Ella. "You
Ella's blood froze in her body when she heard the words that flowed out of Annie's mouth.Annie was apologetic but Ella was now growing angrier by the second. Annie had gone back on her word.She was supposed to make sure that Bobby, Brook and Jason spent their entire five year sentence in prison and rehab.Bobby and Brook were let off on good behaviour while Jason was on parole.Ella's fists clenched as she disconnected the call.She wondered if that was Bobby or just the boy she had met.Monday morning Ella reached her class and took her seat. Everyone was silent and Mrs Moore called someone in from outside of the class."Meet Mr Style's Tyler Styles.He had just transferred in from another college to complete his final year of journalism with us."Everyone greeted in unison and he nodded back at them.Ella knew that this was the boy from Salt Rock and it irritated her."Please have a seat next to Ella." Mrs Moore pointed to Ella.His surname made her stare at him coldly. She wonder
"Ella. Will you be my girlfriend." Scott whispered lovingly in her ear."This can't be." Ella mumbled to herself.Scott stepped away when he heard those words. He didn't stand a chance to be her boyfriend and she made it quite clear. He didn't want to offend her again by being in her presence after asking her such a question. Her answer was quite clear and Scott walked away.James followed Scott while Mary excused herself to go to the ladies.Ella stood frozen in place.It was dark where she had seen that familiar figure. She rubbed her eyes thinking that she was mistaken but those features were unmistakable. She looked at her phone and up again but the familiar face she had seen was now gone.Her throat was dry and her palms were sweaty.She weaved her way through the crowd to get a closer look at where she had seen that person she thought she knew so long ago.As people danced, Ella tried to maneuver her way through the basketball pitch without getting bumped. She had finally made i
*Three years later*Ella had forgotten about her revenge, she reminisced about the homecoming dance at Palm beach high as she touched the large trophy on the shelf in her dorm room. Although the university was a half an hour drive from her home, she opted to stay at the university. She thought that she would get more work done here than she did at home.She only had this to complete before she would do her practicals at the Palm newspaper firm.She now wondered if she ever did want to be a lawyer or was she just living in some fantasy.She felt as if she had sacrificed too much of herself.Although many boys at the university tried to date her, Ella wasn't much of the dating type. Most of them just wanted a quick fling or a long-term relationship that would probably end up in marriage. It was three years and Annie and Ella had drifted apart. Annie took up the full time job of being the management at the hotel and both their lives had become equally busy.Annie had even stopped tortu
Ella faked a smile. That afternoon she went home with a glum look on her face."Why the long face, Ella bear?" Patrick asked. He was concerned by her almost lethargic behaviour."The day I hate the most us tomorrow." Ella said as she dragged her bag behind her."I am guessing that it is the homecoming dance. We host it every year Ella. I think it will be good for you to go. You get a second chance . This time you might just enjoy it." Patrick tried to brighten her spirits and change her mind. "It's like rubbing salt to my wounds." Ella grunted." I know that it was a horrible experience, but it led you to me. Trust me. This won't be like the last dance. There is no Bobby or Brook. And besides you don't even have a boyfriend. Who is going to betray you? James Wallas? Or Scott Moore? But the most interesting question is, which one of those dodos is taking you to homecoming dance?" Patrick teased. His tone was light and full of giggles."Oh my gosh , dad. You never fail to surprise me w
The year was almost over , it was the last week of school and Ella had made a lot of friends since her book was published. She had written short stories afterwards for many other anthology books in different countries. Her had become so busy that she had forgotten about her past until they had announced a homecoming dance on the last day of school.Memories flooded Ella's brain and she stormed off into the rest room. The overwhelming feeling made her nauseas and she opened the tap, splashing handfuls of water, wetting her hair and her blouse.She patted her face fry with a paper towel and exited the restroom feeling slightly better."Are you alright?" Scott and James asked Ella as she took her seat next to them in the cafeteria.Ella smiled weakly. " I'm alright. I'm just not a fan of the homecoming dance."They both looked at eachother and then at Ella, they decided not to ask." Well, if you aren't going, then we aren't going." James sipped his milkshake."Don't be foolish. You can'
"Chapter Five.A surprise visit."Annie was laid to rest. Everyone returned home. Peter returned to his study to drown his sorrows with a bottle of whiskey. Martha took Adrianna to her room. It was 6pm and the house was silent. Suddenly a loud knock on the door startled Mr Russell. He peeped through the looking glass on the door and sees old Mr and Mrs Walters. He quickly opens the door and welcomes them in, escorting them to the large sitting room. They sat on the large grey and red L shaped couch. It was italian style, soft and very comfortable. They looked around while they waited. The room was designed beautifully. Annie had designed it herself, red and grey curtains. Her paintings hung on the wall. Throughout the house were Annie's paintings. All were unique like her, beautiful and elegant. They massive 85 inch flat screen was mounted above their electric fire place. And a small glass coffee table was in front of them, letters lay unopen on it. Old Mrs Walters instructed Russell