Chapter Eight: Car Ride

JULIA

I never thought that there would be an escape to this unending forest. I thought I was probably going to be here forever and yet here we were, riding a vehicle towards somewhere unknown. Everything was new to me, from the cushioned seat, tainted windows and deafening silence between Zeke and Amir.

The memories I lost didn’t return but I know for sure I’ve been in a vehicle like this before. Most of the time, in fact. I have no recollection of my identity but at least I got to keep my basic knowledge about the world.

Zeke also looked like he’s used to this kind of treatment. He sat beside me with crossed arms and legs while looking out the window as we made our way out of the forest on a dirt road. He wore a dark colored kimono robe that he didn’t tie together which exposed his chest. Meanwhile, I had a coat—that was meant to be given to Zeke in the first place—over my shoulder.

Amir and Zeke talked about the people they were going to confront all the while Amir was stealing glances at me most of the time. A part of me thought that he was curious about me or where Zeke found me but never had the courage to do so.

“Eyes,” Zeke grunted. Amir cleared his throat and apologized and looked down.

Something tells me that Zeke isn’t an ordinary person. People went to the forest to see him, even his family brought people when we met with them and I was sure they weren’t their relatives. I talked to him a lot when we were in the forest but I never knew his identity and his background or why he was even imprisoned in that cave.

“You’re going to burn holes in the side of my face if you keep staring at me like that,” he suddenly blurted out and turned to me. I look away as embarrassment washed over me.

Have I been staring at him for that long?

“So,” I immediately changed the subject, “Are we there yet? I don’t mean to intrude but what’s going to happen?”

I felt Amir look at me and looked at Zeke. Zeke’s face turned serious and his jaw visibly clenched. He sighed and looked away.

“It’s better off that you don’t know,” he answered.

“Why? Is it serious?” The whole vehicle was silent. I could feel the uneasiness of the people in front.

“Yes, it is serious.”

“Why?”

Zeke sighed heavily and turned to me. It was an expression I have never seen before. He looked pissed and annoyed. I furrowed my brows at him.

“Don’t ask anymore questions, Julia. It’s for your own good.” Zeke’s voice was firm and filled with authority as if he was using power over me. But that just made me feel annoyed.

“How would I know if it’s for my own good when I don’t even know what it’s about?” I started to raise my voice. Zeke looked at me with a bewildered expression. This was the first time I genuinely got annoyed with him. Why was he suddenly acting like I’m a child?

The tension in the air started to rise. Zeke was not definitely backing down. It even looked like he never backed down before and I was a challenge to him. Amir grew uncomfortable and shifted in his seat but I was too pissed off to even bother.

“Can’t you just obey what I say without asking anything?” Zeke grunted and emitted sounds from the back of his throat like a growl.

“Miss—” Amir called me. I turned to look at him cowering. “I think it’s best to follow what he says. It’s for your well being.”

I bit the inside of my cheek and glared back at Zeke. I rolled my eyes at him and scooted further away from where he was seated and crossed my arms. If it wasn’t because of Amir’s kind favor I wouldn’t have backed down and would smack him with my stick if I needed to. How dare he treat me like I’m someone lower than him?

“Julia—” Zeke called me, his voice pleading. I raised my brow, how could he change between personalities in a split second? I ignored him. I was still annoyed that he didn’t tell me what was going on. I felt like I needed to know because something is bothering me. It feels as if someone else is watching us and something bad is going to happen.

“Julia, come on. Don’t act like that now.”

My head jerked up and looked at him.

“Act like what, Zeke? Tell me!” I challenged him. “I don’t want to fight with you. Stop bothering me or else I’ll smack you with this stick!”

I pointed my stick at him. I brought it with me thinking that I would need some sort of weapon when we get in trouble. Like I said, something didn’t feel right. My instincts were tingling and most of the time I’m right.

The man let out a heavy sigh and massaged his temple in annoyance. I ignored him an looked out the window, and while I was staring at the trees, I noticed how stiff Amir was sitting in front of us. The scene he just witnessed must be very uncomfortable since his seat was facing ours all this time.

AMIR

To be honest, I was scared for my life.

I almost regretted asking for the Black One’s help and wanted to take him back to that prison. If I wasn’t desperate as I was now, the thought of bringing him to our home was out of the picture but it had to be done.

The girl beside him. I think she does not know what he is or what he is capable of. If she knew the power that he held then she would think a thousand times before even challenging him in a staring contest. To stare back at someone even more powerful than you meant that you were willing to challenge them for authority. Our kind usually ends  up in serious injuries but in his case, he could have snapped her fragile neck in the blink of an eye.

To see her have so much control over him made me uncomfortable. I could not even breathe properly thinking that she pushed him to his limits and he would go wild and turn the car over and kill us all.

She also warned to smack him with a stick.

Miss, that monster beside you could snap you in half just like he could with that stick.

Even my men broke in cold sweat, I could feel it in our links. I had to beg her to back down or else we won’t reach our destination alive.

‘I don’t think this is a good idea, Amir.’ One of my men told me through the link. We’re lucky that The Black One is not part of the pack yet or else he would hear our conversations in the mind link.

‘We have no choice. We will carry on with the operation.’

‘I’m scared that we won’t arrive alive. That guy has a very, very powerful wolf. I only heard of him through stories.’

‘Focus on the road.’

The link went silent and we were back to being quiet inside the car. That was until we heard a loud crash and our vehicle started turning upside down.

We were ambushed.

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END