Anyone could have seen the tension that rose from the middle of the dance floor, but the music and high jubilees of the clubbers shut out every distraction that Michael and the stranger currently creating. I moved closer to Michael and touched his back, signalling him to let go. But his grip grew tighter and his gaze more fierce. “Ahhh...ahhh...let go...let go,” the stranger cried. “I am sorry if she’s your girl, I was just having a little fun. Nothing personal...ahhh... I promise.”“Look at her face,” Michael commanded “I said look at her face!” the stranger raised his head to look at me, I looked away slightly, feeling embarrassed at the commotion I had caused. “Whenever you see her, never again trouble her, or else...I would come for you,” Michael sounded deadly. The stranger shivered as he nodded, and straightened his hand when Michael finally let go of him.“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said quietly as I walked to the bar. I was grateful that Michael showed up, but I just fe
The house felt like Nanny had left her oven on with nothing inside to bake. Every corner of the room steamed, winter suddenly felt like summer. I tried to adjust my body con gown to knee length as Dad's eyes washed over me, his expression like he had just tasted a rotten mango. I felt sick.Of all places to get caught, it had to be at the CLUB. I shut my eyes as the embarrassment surged through my body. How did Dad get there? What exactly would be my explanation?I was still mad at Nico for his behaviour and his stupid assumption, I didn’t want to deal with anything extra at this point. But Dad’s eyes demanded answers, they were so furious I doubted if it was answers they sought or to reprimand me.“What were you doing at the club on New Year’s Eve Ella?” his voice was calm, but I could see beyond them that he was trying so hard not to blow off on me.“Ariana decided....”“Don’t you dare pin this on someone else,” There it was. His voice finally lost its control.“Caro Mio,” Nanny tri
I felt trapped, both in my house and betweenher Dad and Nico. The home wasn't a cosy nestanymore, it seemed like four wallsholding me captive. Even my beloved books, usually windows to exciting worlds, felt like prison bars. They all tried to reach out to me, but my heart was still too heavy to speak to anyone.Ariana and Claire had come to visit after countless times trying my phone, but Nanny told them to visit some other time. Nico’scalls were endless, he kept calling and texting, apologizing for what he said. I cried while listening to his voicemails, reading his text and looking at his pictures. The house carried a weight heavier than that of a truck filled with cement. There were no more sneaky smiles at dinner, no shared secrets giggled under our breath, no late-night gossip or stories. Every room was heavy with unspoken feelings, like dust bunnies of hurt and misunderstanding. It was suffocating.Nanny, sometimes felt like a warm blanket in a freezing room. She tried to mend
“Don’t tell me it cost a dragon's head to get here,” Arianawelcomed me with her usual sarcastic tone.“You don’t want to know,” I said dryly.“It did?” Claire sounded amused.I finally left home after several days of constant watch from Dad’s interrogative eyes and Nanny’s subjective plea. Dad watched me like a hawk and Nanny assisted when he was not around, her calm voice projecting how much she would always defend Dad “You know Papa loves you, you don’t need to be like that.”Coming out to Claire’s house took a lot of convincing. He offered to drop me off at her place, but Nanny luckily intervened and Dad let me go under the condition of...“What!!!” Ariana and Claire said in unison, amusement running all over their faces as they looked at my location app.“Wait a minute,” Ariana chuckled. “Your Dad asked you to keep it on so he could monitor your location?” her voice filled with questions.I nodded, feeling more damned than the last. “He insisted that I give him the address of Clai
A few hours ago“We need to talk Ella,” Nico repeated.“We would give you guys some privacy,” Claire and Ariana left the house, leaving an awkward silence hanging in the air.“So...” “I am sorry,” Nico hurriedly cut in. “I wanted to apologise for the other night at the club. I am sorry about how I sounded, it wasn’t right that I made you question yourself. I just got so hot seeing Michael all over...”“I know Nico,” I said, my tone bitter. It was a lot to recollect, the pain and humiliation of that night. “I know you didn’t mean that, hell!! I would have flipped if I saw you kissing another girl,” I smiled. We chuckled at the light joke, the tension of the room slowly dropping and melting down our defence walls.“What happened redhead? Why have you been distant? You no longer pick up my calls or respond to my text. If it hadn’t been for your friends who set up this meeting, I am sure I wouldn’t have been able to see you. Tell me Ella, what happened that day?” Nico’s sincerity was so
“Hold on a minute,” Nanny’s tone sounded bewildered like she had just realised what Dad was saying all along. “Werewolf? What do you mean werewolf? Do they even exist?” Her voice quickened.I heard Dad take a deep breath before he proceeded with the story. “At a certain time in my village back in Italy Nanny, the era of witches, werewolf and werewolf hunters were not folklore. Werewolves attacked humans, beasts and sometimes witches. Hunters were the only ones trained with the ability to stop them, sometimes we were trained by the witches themselves, and we were not expected to be friends or marry and werewolf...”“Wait...you said `we were trained`” Nanny wanted clarity and so did I in the little corner I moulded myself, trembling from each revelation.“I was a werewolf hunter,” Dad lowered his voice.“Mamma Mia!!!” Nanny exclaimed in Italian.Papa was a werewolf hunter? How much was he going to reveal? And how much did he hide from us? Did he have a hand in Garry’s death? Was he frie
“I could stand here and tell you how much I despise you for being selfish, for regarding your feelings over mine, not caring how it could affect me sometime in my life, but I won't. I just want to know one thing.” Hearing him say those words so carefree had a way of adding to the pain I felt. I didn’t care how he tried to justify himself, he deceived me, he lied to me and Mom. “Did Mom know ?” It took both Dad and Nanny by surprise. “Did Mom know who you were before she got married to you?” A feeling of betrayal I never knew I could ever feel struck, and this time, it was from my family. It wasn’t the childish feeling of Mom going far away without telling me, but Dad’s inability to see how much he had hurt me. “Did you tell her or did you just lie to her like you did to me?” I yelled. “That enough young lady,” Nanny moved closer to have a good stare at me.“No...let it go, Nanny,” Dad said softly. I ignored his move to protect me yet again and continued to glare at him. “No...noshe
I lay in my bed listening to Dad go off about how I knew Nicowas a werewolf all this while to Nanny and how I decided to keep it away from him. After the nauseating feeling I felt in my stomach when Dad narrated how Mom died, I lost it when Dad mentioned me staying away from Nico. It seemed to be the only thing he cared about, regardless of how much wrong he had done. I was very adamant and had retorted, telling him I wasn’t going to stay away from Nico and in fact, I already knew he was a werewolf long ago.The look in his eyes could not be explained, it felt like he lost all hope and trust in me, and I could tell for sure that he felt betrayed. Well, the feeling was mutual, as I saw no reason to trust him any longer or even live under the same roof as him. He ended up dismissing me to my room, and I strolled past Nanny’s disappointed gaze. Honestly, I couldn't care less at this moment,there was so much at stake. With so much uncovered truth, I needed to know what my next move would