Torment & Struggle (A Blood & Lust Novel)

Chapter Five

    I was glad that Raven didn’t need a ride home due to her dance crew meeting every Mondays. This way, I could head straight home, and listen to the soft rock station I’d prefer over the loud, noisy hip-hop station Raven would listen to.

    But on the way home, I couldn’t help but feel like I was being followed. Even after checking all of my mirrors, and the people walking on the sidewalks, there appeared to be nothing out of the ordinary. There weren’t very many cars as I came to a stoplight, and the only people on the sidewalk were those who’re waiting for the city bus. So I couldn’t help but sigh with relief, but that didn’t make the uneasiness go away.

    When the light turned green, I carefully pressed my foot to the gas pedal, going through the intersection, and into my neighborhood. But I still couldn’t stop myself from looking into my rearview mirror every few seconds as I continued the short drive back home.

    I pulled into the empty drive, elated that I get the house to myself because I could finally kill some time by doing the rest of my homework, and do some non-school related reading. I slowly walked up to my room, and after dropping my backpack, went toward my bookshelf, looking for something that will let me escape reality and allow me to enter into a different world.

    Unthinkingly I grabbed the book Draco threw at me the other night, and began reading it for the hell of it. It really is a good book, and it was real easy to get sucked into the story—especially after the first chapter. I really needed an escape pod, and the book was a good invention to take me into the story’s world and away from the real world.

    The next thing I hear is the sound of the back door closing, and I realized that I’ve lost track time. Mom is home. I quickly placed the book back on the shelf, and scrambled downstairs, where I found Mom setting her things down.

    “Hey Willa.” She said, her voice hoarse.

    I swallowed past the tears that were dwelling before I answered, “How was your day?”

    She shrugged. “You know, the usual.”

    “Same here.” I said nonchalantly. Before I could exit, so she won’t see the tears of worry, I quickly asked, “What’s for dinner?”

    “I think your father might be bringing home some pizza. He said that he has some news, and I bet it’s good news.” She answered truthfully.

    “Oh.” I mumbled before I turned to head back up to my room.

    Unfortunately, my mother had the habit of being observant. “Willa, come here.” She said before I could get to the stairs.

    With a sigh, I turned around reluctantly. When I looked at her, I mean really look at her, I could see that most of her hair was gone. I didn’t see the hat she was wearing until she’d placed it on the table.

    “Willa, are you okay?” she asked. I could see the concern in her eyes, and I quickly knew what she’s getting at.

    “I’m fine.” I said, unfortunately, I said it too quickly.

    I quickly turned to get out when she grabbed my wrist, and turned me around to face her. Her hazel eyes continued to scrutinize me as I tried to struggle against her grip, but it’s no use, she’s a lot stronger than me.

    “Willa, are you okay? You’ve been acting strange whenever I’m around lately.” She said, concern marring her voice.

    I sighed, reluctantly, and blurted. “I don’t want you to die.”

    I didn’t bother to look at her, I was afraid to look at her. I was mostly staring at my shoes, so I had no idea what her expression is, the scuffmarks on my shoes were the only thing keeping my attention.