CHAPTER 20: A NEW CHAPTER

She was nervous as she held the bus ticket in hand whilst standing in the short queue waiting to board the bus headed to a city, she had heard of but never went there before.

She couldn’t help but recall how melancholic she felt when she left the place, she had called home even it was just for a short while. However, when she remembered why she had to leave, she could only accept this new chapter of her life.

After all, it was all for her sake. If she didn’t leave, it meant that putting Hazel’s life in danger and didn’t want to be an ungrateful wolf. It would eat her alive if anything were to happen to those closest to her because they were trying to protect her.

That’s why, despite the fear of starting a journey bringing her to the unknown, she still gritted her teeth and reluctantly boarded that train.

She had to fight the urge to alight the train and follow Hazel as the train started moving. But when she thought about how useless she was currently, she forced her butt to remain seated on that chair.

She didn’t even have a phone to reach Hazel but Hazel had promised her that when everything was clear. She would contact her to check up on her and that kept her sanity throughout the two-hour journey.

Upon arrival in that town, she had followed directions according to what Hazel had told her. She shortly found the bus station where she purchased the ticket to go to Sodon City where someone was going to pick her up.

She didn’t know who was going to pick her up but it didn’t matter. She trusted Hazel and nothing would happen to her. After all, Hazel still needed her. She won’t kick her aside for now.

With that in mind, she obediently followed the queue and shortly found herself sitting on her seat which was by the window. She specifically chose that seat. After all, she could see the scenery outside and see places.

She couldn’t remain ignorant of life as she had been previously. She might die without even knowing how she did it.

The bus quickly filled and the second part of the journey started. according to what she heard; it would take a maximum of ninety minutes before she reaches the next city.

She wasn’t in the mood to eat anything at all. So, she didn’t bother to buy any food earlier. However, the person sitting next to her was like a messenger of the devil.

She was too persistent.

“Lil sis, you look very pretty!”

“I am eating. Do you want to give it a taste?”

Sitting next to her was a young woman. Should be a few years older than her and she happen to have a beautiful smile.

Just ten minutes after the bus departed, this enthusiastic sister couldn’t let her be. Elowyn just wanted to spend the journey brooding and thinking about the future, but the other party didn’t allow her.

Moreover, she couldn’t hit a smiling face or ignore the other party. As a result, Elowyn was forced to engage in her first-ever long conversation since the night she fell off the cliff after Hilary stabbed her.

“I am Lizzy by the way and you?” her neighbor enthusiastically introduced herself and since it reached that point, what could Elowyn do?

“I am Elowyn,” she softly responded, her voice not very loud and too low.

Lizzy’s eyes lit up when she heard Elowyn’s voice.

“That’s a nice name you have there. Where are you heading to?”

“Thanks,” Elowyn shyly responded before adding to avoid the embarrassment, “Sodon and you?”

Lizzy’s eyes brightened upon hearing that answer. Elowyn couldn’t help but have a bad feeling when she saw that.

“Haha, we are fated. I am heading there. In fact, I live there. Are you a local or traveling?”

“I am visiting relatives,” Elowyn responded confidently without giving anything away.

Lizzy clapped her hands enthusiastically when she heard that. “That’s great. How about we become friends? Let’s exchange numbers. We can chat and meet when you have time!”

Elowyn didn’t expect that Lizzy’s enthusiasm was that overrated. In fact, she didn’t expect that anyone would be so eager to chat with her. She knew for sure that she was withdrawn. It wasn’t just because of Hilary and Veda, but she was already like that.

The years she spent living in that forest turned her that way. After joining Hilary’s pack, because she was human, she had tried her best to minimize her presence. She understood well how much these werewolves looked down on those who were weaker than them. thankfully, she was surrounded by those who at least cared. Or at least had pretended like they cared.

Otherwise, if they truly cared. They would have warned her in advance that Hilary’s heart was no longer with her but they didn’t do anything. Such people were cold hearted and couldn’t even be labeled friends.

So, it was something new to be honest, having someone so eager to befriend her despite the cold shoulder she had shown the other.

She felt embarrassed to be honest, recalling her attitude, but it couldn’t be helped.

“I ….. I am afraid that I can’t exchange with you,” Elowyn embarrassingly responded, recalling that she didn’t have a phone.

There wasn’t any time for Hazel to buy herself one of the clothes. She had a few clothes which only fit the satchel. But Hazel had given her cash so that she could buy when she got to her destination.

So, for the moment, there was no phone, and she didn’t know how that would make Lizzy think. After all, she might sound or look as if she were trying to mark boundaries.

Lizzy on the other gaped as she looked at Elowyn completely baffled by that response. That was the first time that she was hearing something so absurd, she hoped for a moment that the other party was lying to her.

However, seeing the white mist surrounding her, Lizzy knew right away that Elowyn wasn’t lying. She was being truthful, and that was even more shocking.

“You …. Were you living under some rock? How are you supposed to meet with your relatives like this?” Lizzy didn’t know what to say to be honest. She suddenly felt worried for Elowyn.

Elowyn abashedly scratched her head upon hearing that, and Lizzy facepalmed when she saw that.

“It can’t possibly be your first time to Sodon City as well, right?” she asked anticipatedly hoping for a positive answer but when Elowyn responded, Lizzy was having a headache.

“It's my first time,” the answer came as a whisper.

“You ….” She was at a loss for words, but still continued, wanting to get to the bottom of the story. How could she be so naïve to travel on her own? Didn’t she know that the world was a scary place?

“You have someone picking you up, at least, right?” she asked with her heart clutched in her hands and this time, thankfully, there was a positive answer that Lizzy liked.

“Yes, someone is picking me,” Elowyn confidently responded this time around.

“Okay, that’s good,” Lizzy relievedly said, and Elowyn chuckled faintly as she looked outside, not knowing how to deal with Lizzy, who was overreacting more than Hazel.

“I will just have to make sure that whoever is picking you do so before I go. It’s not like I have anywhere to run off to anyway,” but then she heard Lizzy adding which made her snap.

What was this woman trying to do?

Unfortunately, she couldn’t dissuade Lizzy from letting that stop. She could only sulk as Lizzy continued to amaze her with her strong, extroverted personality.

Time passed very fast and since there weren’t a lot of passengers on the bus, they arrived much faster than supposed to.

As they alighted from the bus, Elowyn was pretty nervous. She wasn’t sure who was going to pick her up, and she wasn’t the only one worrying.

After all, Lizzy felt that it was her duty to make sure that her new friend was sent into the right hands. She couldn’t let such an innocent soul be stolen by anyone.

Once they were off the bus, the two looked around in search of the one doing the picking but since there wasn’t much information provided, they both couldn’t notice anyone though while looking around, Lizzy couldn’t help but narrow her eyes as she clashed gaze with a very familiar face that she would never forget in her entire life.

‘What is she doing here?’ she furiously thought as she gave the other party a side eye before nudging Elowyn.

“Elo, let's go to the mall first. There is still time. Let’s buy some food!” Lizzy suggested, thinking to herself that the other party might not have arrived.

Elowyn felt that it made some sense. After all, they indeed arrived earlier. Not only that but she was now hungry and eating some food would be quite helpful.

She would search for the other party later. It won’t take that long to come back. The mall was just that close.

The two of them reached an agreement and started making their way to the mall. Elowyn had thoughts about food but Lizzy had other plans.

And so was someone else.