Hey everyone, I’m deeply sorry for the late update. As I’ve informed you guys in the previous chapters about school resuming, it really affected my writings in a serious way. I’ve had several project defense, assignment, class work etc. I just got this little time for myself and decided to use it for this book. I hope you guys understand and give Damon your support. Thank you so much.
Lyla’s POV
“You’re really leaving,” Damon said with an unreadable expression. I blinked, trying to give him an answer that won’t hurt him.
“Temporarily, I promise I’ll be back soon” I reached out to touch his hand but he quickly shifted it away and placed it on the steering wheel.
Even though he had once informed me that one of the pack warriors will be the one to drop me off in California, he later on decided on taking me himself. On the six hours journey to California, Damon barely said ten words to me.
Just okay, Yes, And questions like, Are you hungry? That’s where it all ended. I tried to bring up conversations with him but nothing worked, he was back to the cold man that he was.
We were only thirty minutes to enter California at ten minutes past five and he still hasn’t said a word. I want to hear his voice badly.
“How temporarily?” He asked, confusing me.
“As soon as I get the necessary information, I’ll contact you”
“So it can take years, right?” I laughed, thinking he was joking. The stern look on his face made me swallow my laughter and forcefully compose myself.
“No Damon. It’ll just be several days, I promise. You can stay a few days back too if you want”
“That’s impossible. I have something urgent to do back at the packhouse”
“Okay” I replied disappointedly.
I actually wanted him to stay. It’s possible I only spend a day or two after I get the answers to my questions and I might have the chance to go back with him.
“Remember Lyla, do not disclose all you saw to anybody, no matter how close you are to the person”
I stared at him, surprised at the fact that he couldn’t trust me enough.
“Okay,” I whispered.
“Is this information really that important?” He asked again.
“I don’t want to keep things from you Damon but I should have the answers first before I tell you anything and it’s confusing as hard as I want it to be false” I replied, my voice breaking.
He placed his hand on my thigh and rub circles on it, comforting me. I smiled at him even though it was difficult for me.
Minutes later, he parked the car in front of Henry’s house, my previous home. I looked out through the car’s window and a huge smile appeared on my face. It’s been so long I’ve been here.
“You love being back that much. I haven’t seen you smile like that ever” Damon snapped.
“I just love being back. I can’t wait to see Henry” I replied.
“I guess you couldn’t wait to get rid of me” I ignored his childish response and removed my seatbelt before climbing into his laps.
He looked right behind me, out of the car just to avoid my gaze. I grabbed his chin and made him face me.
“I’m not leaving you Damon”
“I don’t care, you can do whatever you want” he spat back.
“Listen, Damon. I promise you that I’ll be back soon”
“You don’t have to make any promises. You can do back to whatever you’ve been doing before. Back to your little parties, shopping, and even boyfriends. You can even f*ck them, I don’t give a damn”
Angrily, I punched his chest, not once, not twice but repeatedly as tears rushed out of my eyes.
“You’re an asshole” I spat at him before climbing out of his lap. Before I could grab my bags, he tried stopping me.
“Lyla…”
“Fuck off, Demon” I yelled at him.
I opened the car’s door angrily and closed it with the strength I could find.
“Don’t you dare get out of the car or else I’ll strangle you alive. Just go back to that hell you come from Damon” I hurled a string of curses at him before I marched towards the door, entered the passcode angrily, and rushed into the house, locking the door firmly.
I don’t want to talk to him right now. After what seemed like seconds, I opened the door slightly to see if he was still around but to my disappointment, he was gone like the wind.
Who wants to get rid of who now?
I closed the door back and tried to breathe in some air but to another of my disappointment, the house smelled weird.
I tried tracing the source of the bad smell and my nose led me to the kitchen. My eyes almost removed from its socket at how surprised I was to see the kitchen in that state. It was terrible. Dirty plates were piled up in the sink with rotten apples and spoilt pizzas littering the kitchen table.
I opened the fridge to see how empty it was and I saw just a bottle of water sitting on the second layer of the fridge. Henry has always been the type to keep the home clean, sparkling and, fresh at all moments. These things I’m seeing are far beyond what I could understand.
“Lyla?” I turned sharply at the mention of my name and saw Henry smiling bitterly at me.
Words did not need to be said, I dropped my bag and ran into his hands. He picked me up and pulled me closer into his body, hugging me tightly.
“I miss you, brother” I sobbed.
“It’s okay Flower, you’re here. Everything is okay”
Gently, he dropped me back and we smiled at each other. He kissed my hair repeatedly.
“You smell nice”
“And you smell terrible” I scrunch my nose in disgust. He glared at me before pulling at my nose playfully while I yell and try to get away from him.
“What’s going on Henry? Why are you not at work?” I asked, getting serious.
“Nothing, Lyla. I almost lost my mind when you got kidnapped but I got it back after we found you”
He dragged me to the sofa in the living area and made me sit opposite him.
“But it appears as if you still haven’t gained your mind,” I joked, pointing at the whole house.
“Come on flower, drop it already. I’ll call the cleaning services to come around later and get the house cleaned up to your taste”
“Work?”
“I took a break just for today” I nodded and tried not to say anything else.
The black spot in his eyes gave him away and I was worried and angry that I’d made him this way.
He suddenly held my hand and before I could pull back, I was already in his head. All I saw were flashes, and for a long time, I don’t think I’ll be able to get it out of my head.
“Lyla,” he yelled to my face.
“I’m okay,” I said before he could say anything.
“No, you’re not okay. You were staring into nothingness for seconds and I kept on calling your name and you weren’t responding” he replied with a raised voice. He was worried.
“Everything is fine Henry, I swear to you that I’m fine”
He pulled me into a tight hug and began rocking me back and forth.
“I’m fine, Henry. I promise” I informed him.
“Okay sis, okay!”
He sat back down and held his head in his hands. I’ve never seen my brother so scared and vulnerable in years. Ever since we lost our parents, he had taken up the father’s role and had never shown a sign of weakness.
“What’s wrong, Henry?” I asked as I moved closer to him.
“I lost her,” he replied.
“Lost who?” I asked so it’ll appear as if I don’t know who he was talking about.
“Amara” he replied.
“What happened?”
“It doesn’t matter, Lyla. All that matters is that I treated her like she meant nothing to me whereas she meant everything. I messed up real bad and now she’s gone and I don’t even have a clue if she’s dead or alive” his voice was breaking and I couldn’t take it.
Instead of crying along with him, I decided to be the bigger one this time around.
“Mama taught you how to treat a girl, didn’t she?” I asked in our mom’s way of talking.
“Why will ya mess up with a girl? Hun, Henry?”
He furrowed his eyebrow at me in confusion at first but the moment he understood what I meant, he started laughing and I laughed along with him.
“What are you doing Lyla?” He asked, still laughing.
“Making you happy”
“That’s supposed to be my job, baby sister”
“I don’t care at this point, Henry, I’m here now and I’ll make sure I take good care of you”
He nodded not arguing and for the third time that day, I hugged him like never before.
“Promise me you’ll never go missing again Lyla, promise me”
I closed my eyes in despair. At the other end of the world, a big bad wolf is waiting for me, hoping I’ll come back even though he’s been an idiot about it, hiding his feelings behind his stupid words and at this part, my only family is here, hoping I’ll never go back.
It was hard making that decision but at that point, I hugged Henry tightly and whispered,
“I promise”