Chapter 30
-Farley-
The street filled me with nostalgia. From the sound that each paving stone made to the cracks which I avoided like second nature. This place was my home for fifteen years, and I would still consider it my home. That wasn't the safest place to go; that'd be too easy to predict. So, Pax and I walked for a few more streets.
He was confused and I wasn't being entirely truthful with him, but that was just because of any ears which were eavesdropping, or could potentially be used for answers. It wasn't common for humans to get involved with werewolf affairs, but anybody could come up to a person and ask if they'd seen me.
The houses grew shorter the further we walked. We went from two story houses to one as we reached the bungalows. That was all we called this area, even though there were street names. Everybody knows what you mean when you say 'pass through the bungalows'.
The sun had less room to hide here, so it hit my back full-force, glaring through the shirt as though threatening to set it on fire. I didn't need to search for the birdbath or bird feeders to tell me when I got to Mary's. I was still uncomfortable calling her by her first name; but she wouldn't accept otherwise.
"Where are we?" Pax asked again. His voice made me feel like I was doing something wrong; I was keeping secrets from him. I technically wasn't really keeping secrets, but I wasn't answering his question. He had a right to know where he was.
"We're at the bungalows," I answered. We had finally slowed down. "Do you know what those are?"
He shook his head. "I've not heard of the word before." He raised a hand to his mouth, reducing the shine which appeared on his skin.
"It just means a single-story house. A house with no stairs," I explained. "I don't think anybody would come here if they're looking for two teenagers."
Pax nodded, but he still had a confused expression. "I'll take your word for it, makes sense, kind of."
I chuckled and opened the gate with my hand which wasn't holding Pax's. "Trust me, I think you'll have a pleasant surprise." I didn't need to knock on the door, it opened before we got halfway down the path.
"Farley, Pax, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Mary asked with a smile. "Come on, come in. You two look like you're about to die of thirst."
Pax waved sheepishly. His eyes were wide, but they were aimed towards the floor. "Hi," he spoke quietly. I wasn't sure if Mary heard him or not.
I shook my head but entered her home. "I'm sorry for the zero notice," I said. "We were just walking around, and I thought I'd show Pax my neighbourhood."
"Walking? You look like you've ran for miles," she put her glasses on the tip of her nose and stared at me. "You're not going on runs for a day like this? You'll melt."
I opened my mouth to reply but before I could I was hit in the arm with a tea towel. "Don't you go making excuses young man. We can't have you neglecting your health." She put the tea towel back on the cream coloured radiator before pointing into her living room. "Now go on in there, I've got a fan running."
I begrudgingly went into the room, pulling Pax behind me. Mary's house had never changed, save for the size of the television and thus the cabinet it stood on. The walls were still the same patterned wallpaper, and the settee was the same flower-patterned material. The fireplace made up half the wall and was adorned in the same dog statues as it always was.
"The nostalgia is suffocating," I joked and moved over to the two-seater.
Pax's shoulders were tense and his head slowly moved left to right. His index fingers were tapping on his leg, it didn't take me long at all to realise that the tapping was in time with the clock, due to the swinging of the pendulum which was in the corner of my eye.
"I would've known that this was her house, even if we didn't see her," Pax whispered to me.
I chuckled. "Do you want me to describe the room?" I asked.
He bit his lip and nodded. "Please?"
I took the hand which I was still holding and shifted so it rested on the cushion we were sitting on. "This here is a cream colour, whilst there's a flower pattern here." I traced the pattern with his fingers. There wasn't any difference in textures which I could tell, but the patterns weren't the easiest to follow. "The carpet is green and has similar flower patterns. The fireplace is a red wood. There's statues of dogs on them, which I'm not moving."
"Do as you like, dear," Mary said. She came in holding two large glasses of lemonade. "If you damage them, I'll make you wish you were never born."
I took both glasses off her and handed one to Pax, his hand looked comically small. "Thank you," I said and put my glass on the coaster beside the settee after taking a sip. "We'll make sure to look under your supervision."
"Thank you," Pax thanked quietly and took a sip from the glass. His eyes scrunched up but a smile appeared on his face. "What's that?"
I put a hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter. "It's lemonade, it's a little sour."
He shook his head, a tear dripping down from his right eye. "It's nice though," he said and took another sip.
"Let's just hope there's not too much sugar in that," I joked and moved to the floor. I shuffled over to the fireplace and took a statue of a Labrador off the fireplace. It was a lovely dog, with its tongue sticking out happily.
I sat back on the settee and waited for Pax to stop drinking; he had already drunk about a quarter of the glass. "This is my favourite," I said as I handed it to him.
His touch was delicate. He held the back of it like it was the head of a baby and used his other hand to trail the dog's features. A smile lingered on his face as he reached the tongue.
"That's adorable," Pax whispered. "He's a very happy boy."
"Thank you, I got that ten years ago when I was on holiday in Spain." Mary sat on her three-seater, leaning on a blanket she kept on the arm of the chair. "I like to collect dogs, since I'm not allowed to have any here."
Pax frowned. "Why would you have dogs?" His expression was clouded in confusion and innocence.
"Some people have pets. Dogs are a very common kind of pet. It's kind of like having a friend who you look after and care for, my friend used to have a cat and a hamster...or quite a few hamsters," I explained. I hoped that Mary didn't think that it was strange Pax didn't know. If she did, she didn't say anything.
"I used to have a Labrador just like that one." Mary pointed at the statue in Pax's hand. "His name was Jordan, he was with me through meeting my husband and our marriage. Wouldn't let me get close to any other dogs."
My phone started to vibrate in my pocket. "Excuse me," I said and headed through the kitchen and into the back garden. "Hello?"
"Farley? Are you alright?" Rowan's voice came through the phone. Relief flooded through me like a tap being turned on. "We're on our way out of the house, we know where you are. We're going the opposite way."
"I'm fine," I said. "We're fine. Good, let's see where they go and pray, they give up." I'd have to be even more on guard now. "I don't think that there'd be any reason for them to come here."
"Unless they pick up on what we're doing," Rowan answered. "Oh, you didn't want a reason. We'll be in touch in about half an hour."
"Alright, send everyone my love. Howl if you need anything," I joked at the end and only had enough time to hear Rowan laugh before I hung up the phone.
I put my phone back into my pocket and observed the garden for a moment. Mary had quite a large garden, in comparison to the other bungalows I'd seen. A large brown fence surrounded the perimeter, along with flower beds and pots dotted everywhere they could be placed. The path was thin and led to a single bench near the back of the fence. She had some folding chairs in the space between her house and her neighbours house, but they were easy enough to get in and out.
I checked on the plant which I had affectionately named 'Sid' next to the bench. I had planted Sid when I was younger and since then it had been completely overrun by weeds and other plants. There were only two traces that I had actually planted poppy seeds into the pot, and those flower heads wouldn't last long.
The birds were singing and the air was fresh. I turned back to the house, looking through the window. The window gave me a view of Mary's kitchen, flowers on the windowsill and a baking tray hanging ulcerously on the edge.
I coughed and covered my mouth as a strong fragrance hit my nose. It stung the hairs and made my eyes water. It was like vinegar mixed with something I couldn't describe.
The tears filled my eyes and distorted my vision. I couldn't walk in a straight line, and panic started to settle in. My breathing became laboured and my mind started to race.
It couldn't be haying fever; I'd never had it and it was incredibly sudden. The inclusion of vinegar made me suspicious. It might just be some sort of new cleaner that Mary's started to use, she was the type to experiment.
The panic was fading but my breathing difficulties weren't. This wasn't normal.
I stood up and took a few shaky steps towards the door. Rustling came from behind me, but I didn't have time to turn before a pain shot through my head. I thought that I had been shot by an arrow for a few moments before I crumbled to the floor. My vision was nearly completely black with some blurry grey dots floating in the abyss.
I tried to get to my hands and knees, I wasn't going to go down so easily. But I didn't have anything that I relied on and I couldn't even grasp what direction I was facing.
A rough hand landed on my shoulder and forced my stomach onto the floor. My hands scraped across the pavement, taking some of my skin with it and causing the flesh to burn.
"That was easier than I thought it would be," a female voice said from above me as my head dropped.
Hello lovelies!!
Thank you for reading :D
Question of the chapter is Do you get on well with kids?
Asking this because my little cousin is here right now and I'm completely ignoring my babysitting duties by updating this and editing another chapter. But that's fine because my mam's here. I think that I get on well with kids, despite not really interacting with them much, they always just seem to like me for some strange reason.