XXXII. Menacing

Cara

And only I can protect her

,the words echoed relentlessly in my mind.

Without knowing what I was doing, I jumped out from where I was hiding behind the wall, at the staircase. I did not care that they now knew I had been eavesdropping. Ivan had probably already known.

"Protect me? Protect me from what?"

Both men turned to me. Ivan's dark grey orbs were glued on me. As always, I felt stark naked under his stare.

"It's difficult to explain," answered Ivan. He pursed his lips, avoiding my eyes as if they burned his own.

"Try. Explain." Enough was enough. I was adamant on getting the answers I wanted.

"There's a witch. She will stop at nothing to...harm you. She wants to...to kill you," he faltered. Surprisingly, my father did not even flinch.

He knows.

"She attacked Liza and if you do not get away from here, she will strike again." The world suddenly feel in, the room closing in on me. Ivan rushed to me but I stepped back,   refusing him to touch me.

What I got from his statement was that my friend was hurt because of me. Had it not been for me, she would have been off somewhere - probably at a party- safe, unharmed.

"Why?!" My voice cracked.

"To punish me. Revenge."

"So this all is your fault!" My father boomed. His face was angry. His eyes held deep emotion.

"It is. But I'll fix it. She will not be harmed." This time Ivan addressed my father. He continued in a tone of determination,"none of you will. I'll take you somewhere safe. Under my care, no such thing will happen."

"I have said you are not taking her anywhere!" Hostility was thick in my father's tone. Both men were mad as hatters. By the look of it, a fight would break out at any moment.

Studying Ivan, I noticed a few silver specks on his suit. I had no idea what had taken place since I had only heard the last part of their conversations.

"I must. If not...everyone else will be in danger."

Ivan's words burned like vodka does to your throat. It then became clear to me that by being here, I jeopardised everyone else's safety.

Liza was hurt. She had barely recovered. Who was next? Alice? My father?

As long as I was around, no one was safe. I was a menace. My presence was menacing.

The silence was deafening. A heavy tension hung in the air, it was almost physical, its weight pressing on my chest. "I'll  go with you," I decided out loud.

My announcement was met with a loud gasp from my father. "Cara, no! It is my duty to protect you,"he pleaded, puffing. "We'll go somewhere. They'll never get to you."

'They' meant Ivan and everyone else in his world, all the creatures and all the dangers that came along with them. But there was no running from them. We humans were so oblivious to them yet they controlled everything. They were practically the government. They made the rules and without knowing, we obeyed.

"No, dad! I have to go."

"You can't!"

"Yes I can."

He advanced towards me, placing his hand on my shoulder. His globes looked pleadingly into mine but I did not waver. I'd made my decision." Cara, listen to me, you have no idea what you are getting yourself into."

Somethings I did out of impluse, this I did because everything in me told me so.

"And you do? I'm eighteen years old. I can go wherever I want ...And you can't come with me. I don't want to put you in danger."

Daniel Eldredge Matthews broke.

I broke him.

I was leaving him. Just like my mother had. What made me any different from the woman who abandoned her own daughter and husband. I who'd  always feared abandonment was abandoning my own father.

It's for the best ,I reassured myself. The guilt was clawing at my insides.

I fell into my father chest, circling my arms around his torso.  Tears were heavy on my eyelips but I did not let them flow. If he saw me cry he would never let me go.

It's for the best ,I reminded myself. I went on to repeat the same words over and over again until I felt better. I never did.

I swallowed down the pain. The emotions nearly chocked me. It felt as if there was a large rock blocking  my foodpipe.

"Ivan will keep me safe," and by going, I'll keep you safe." Don't worry. I want to go with him."

***

The bottle of lotion shook in my hands as I placed it in the duffle bag on my bed. I'd been told not to pack too heavily. There would be clothes where we were going.

God! I did not even know where were going. All I knew was that I was leaving to protect everyone else. To protect my father, no sacrifice was too great, no price was too much.

"Ah!" I burst as the I tried to work the stubborn zipper.

"Let me." Ivan strode into the room. His footsteps were light. He was careful not to wake Liza who was heavily sleeping on my bed. He gently drove the zipper up and buttoned up the bag.

"You don't need all this. Where we're going you'll have all that you will ever need," he said, cupping cheek in one hand.

"Where are we going?"

"Far," was all he said.

"How long?"

He did not answer.

"How long?" I asked again." A week? A month?"

"A few weeks but I would want you there forever."

"I will not leave him forever."

"I know that," he responded.

"Am I doing the right thing?"

He leaned down, wiped away my tears with his thumb and pressed his forehead against mine. "Everything you do is right."

Seeing that I was not convinced, he spoke again,"He'll be safe, I promise."

"You are very good at making promises."

"My word is my will."

***

I took one last glance at Liza. She was such a heavy sleeper. It was night now.

In a few hours, what had happened would not matter. A witch would arrive and erase her's and her parents' memory. She would believe that she had spent the last two days at my place and I had gotten her bruises when she went to the woods on the night of graduation.

My canine dug into my bottom lip as I thought of what was going to be done to them.

This was not right. One's memory wad their property and everyone deserves to remember. Even the bad memories?

I convinced myself that it would be good for her. Sometimes past experiences wound you and slowed you down... but othertimes they built you up and strengthened you.

The door shut inaudibly as I exited the room. Again I told myself that I was leaving to keep her safe. To keep everyone safe.

***

I stared at the two Bentley crossovers. They were inky black and spotless. They were so much like Ivan. Dark, holding an essense of danger.

I looked back at the house. I spotted my father looking down at me from one of the windows upstairs. He had not even said goodbye. I  mouthed 'I love you' to him and turned away before he saw the tears that were forming in my eyes.

A man emerged from one of the vehicles. He was about to open the back door for me but Ivan stopped him. He then whispered something to him.

The suit-clad man entered the other car as Ivan opened the car door me. I sat in the passenger seat as Ivan drove.

He expertedly pulled out the curb, handling the wheel as he did everything else, with dominance and great power.

My breathes condensed onto the polished glass windows as I stole one last glance at the house.

It all felt like a dream...or a nightmare. I felt as if I was watching this happening rather than living it. This was a movie and I was in audience. This was a book and I was flipping the pages.

Ivan's hand on my lap caught my attention. I made no response to it. But I knew what it meant. He was saying sorry.

Although I wished to blame him for all this,I could not. But I also could not ignore the feeling that he was hiding something. There was more happening than I knew.

The machine moved at high speeds between houses, then between trees. Somehow, the summer heat disappeared and a chill rose up my skin.

And before I knew it, the vehicle came to a slow halt.