Arriving back home while carrying an unconscious stranger in my arms was like taking a stroll in the park. For someone that is naive about their life in this world; it will be easy to think that everything is perfect and there is no reason to worry. After all, it is only a walk in the forest.
Releasing a fresh breath of air, I called out my family to come out, “Eve! Lilim! We need help!” The tone of my voice was enough to stop what they are doing in the other side of this door, hearing their loud footsteps and calling of voices.
Eve opened the door, surprised to seeing us again. Lilim, our daughter had her attention placed elsewhere as she was more intrigued of seeing a girl at the same age as her on my arms.
I have alot of explaining to do, but for now, we need to get this girl inside, “I know both of you want an explanation, that can wait once we bring her in and lay her down.” Eve and Lilim nodded in unison.
Entering inside my comfy and warm house, we walked to the living room before gently placing her on the couch as Eve expect any wounds or injuries from her encounter with that beast, there wasn’t; except for a few scratches on her legs and arms.Skoll decided to spoke up on my own behalf, “we found this girl being attacked by some wild beast, she and Adam should have died together for being just weaklings,” he coldly said, not even adding the part of his sentence were we saved her from getting brutally killed and eaten.
My wife was furious at his comment but kept her cool and asked for more details. Skoll began to speak but Lilim quickly cut in between, “who is she?” Our daughter is intrigue about this stranger me and Skoll saved.
It is no mistaking that my family has barely seen a person outside our circle for over a few years now and to have a complete person like this enter our lives is not something they experience everyday basis. Although, atleast they weren’t hostile or against it.
“Is she even alive?” Lilim walked to her sleeping, kneeling down and poking her face. A few seconds later; the person’s eyes slowly fluttered open, looking at the faces around her in panic, “w-who are you people?! What do you want from me? Are you going to kill me?! Oh god, please don’t rape me!” She tried to stand up but was unable to due to the fact of being exhausted. Her mind is in chaos in having to run away from danger.
The three of us were a bit shocked, although we have quickly regained our senses to deal with the situation. Lilim had took step back but came closer to the scared and confused young girl, “hey! My name’s Lilim, what’s yours? Her cheerful response didn’t appear to affect the girl; she was too frightened to react to the words.
Quickly analyzing her body language and clothing, it is without doubt that she came from New York City; especially bad environment from the way she was speaking. The survivor ran away from her abusive household, only to end up being almost killed.
Sighing tiredly, I approach her in a calm and soothing manner, “calm down, we just saved you being almost killed by some wild animal.” Sensing the desperation and fear in her voice, it was no surprise that she became terrified by my sudden presence and fell into silence, “what is your name, kid?”
Despite having not said her name when my daughter asked about it, she instead told me, “my name is Ruby…” When she said her name, the color of her cheeks became red; like someone slapped her across the cheek. Closing her eyes, holding back tears from the pain of remembering.
Everyone except Skoll comforted her, standing and sitting beside her, offering words of support and care.
“You don’t need to tell us,” Eve spoke to her in a comforting tone, “you can leave anytime if you are not comfortable in being here with us. We won’t stop you from leaving and we will not pursue you. Just know that there are more people out there who will listen to your troubles.”
“You have a nice name, Ruby!” Lilim kindly complimented.
Skoll remained silent, leaving us alone without care about the world in this situation. Even though he does not her about the person we saved, I still know that the big bad wolf has caring nature about those he considers to be friends.
Hopefully, Ruby and Skoll can get to know each other as a starting point for him to warm up to other people.Ruby releases a sigh of relief, “I-thank you, I am sorry for lashing out at you people. It is because I’m not accustomed to being treated kindly by strangers,” she looked around nervously like a deer in headlights; which was understandable. Though, she calmed down as she observed the surrounding scenery.
Lilim spoke in a sympathetic and understanding tone, “it is okay, Ruby!” Then, she offered the young woman a small smile, “do you want to stay with us? I always wanted to have a sister!” The girl appeared to be taken aback by Lilim’s proposal. She stared wide-eyed at Lilim’s smiling face.
Me and Eve was also taken aback by our daughter’s offer to befriend and invite a person we barely ever know. However, I had another idea, “Eve and I are going to speak about this in private, okay?” I suggested; causing the two girls to comply in agreement before they start to speak with one another.
Going in the kitchen with only Eve to decide about this decision that our daughter had just offered to this person, like an unexpected gift, to live with us as a new addition to the family. That, too—a person that we do not even knew of until today.
With my arms crossed in defiance, “we should just call the ambulance and have the authorities do the rest,” I retorted to my wife.
Not that I did not agree with the thought of getting a new member in the family, but the risk is far too high of inviting unknown person that could potentially kill my family. And I do not want that nightmare to happen again of losing those I loved.
Eve shakes her head, frowning of having to hear that coming out of my mouth, “love, we can’t leave a fragile girl and have the authorities handle the situation for us. We do not know what they will do to her and this is a chance to gain redeem ourselves from the past.” Her reason is a valid argument; yet, there was still a lingering doubt in me about my own answer.
She continued, softening her speech, “for our daughter’s sake?” That is when it hit me like a ton of bricks. My wife was right. Not only do we have to be better than the people we were once, we also need to be the people that Lilim can look up to and admire.
This is not about if or when. We are not able to fix the damage of the past. What matters now is to build something better for our child.
I gave in, smiling of my defeat, “alright, she can stay,” hearing those words made my wife return a smile of hers in the same manner.
“Thank you Adam,” as she begins to leave, another question came to mind that resulted me to stop her tracks with the well-placed word, “Eve!” I say loudly, turning around to face me; she looked back at me with a curious expression, “what is it?”
“What is Clover up to?”
The response gave her a short chuckle, “his currently at his bedroom, why do you ask?” Eve wondered of being asked a sudden question.
Shrugging, “nothing, just curious about him,” I said to myself. Though, deep inside, I have no clue why I even asked this. Sometimes, I can be such a strange person that even I do not know myself. Most of the time, it was like—what the hell? But then again, there was no point worrying about it. What matters most is focusing on the present moment.”Okay, if you need anything Adam, I will be in the living room with the girls,” she turned and walked off, leaving me in my own thoughts.
Wiping the sweat of my brow, I sat down on one of the chairs near the table. The next thing I did is to stare at nothing with the only thing being occupied my mind was the discussion of them speaking in the living room not far from me.
Thinking something else, the sound of footsteps drew my attention. When I glanced up, Skoll was already sitting in front of me, drinking a cup of coffee with his usual stoic face. For a second, it felt like it had been forever since he was last here; perhaps because of how long he took to come back from his errand or whenever the hell he just went.
“What?” He asks, not even looking at me.
Lifting my whole upper body straight, “you seem a bit disappointed about what just happened today,” I told him.
Skoll stares at me, eyes narrowed and furrowed, “disappointed? about what exactly?”
“About the fact that you did not get the chance to kill that animal and being persuaded to rescue her rather than letting her die in the cold.”The werewolf simply kept quiet, sipping on the drink and staring into the liquid; this only makes me wonder if he heard what I have said or not gave crap about it. Few moments of silence, he spoke, “bringing that person into this house is a bad idea for either of us,” he stated bluntly.
Not surprised by his answer, “why not? She is a decent and average person. If anything was wrong with her, I would have noticed it from now,” saying that made him think I am too confident in my skills. Looking at his expressionless face, it is like he does not really care about the subject or the people. All he wanted to say is: not bring her in.
Although, I know something else is in his mind. Because of the way he is acting, there is another reason for disagreeing with my opinion of bringing the stranger to this home. His cold demeanor and distant look; it is as though he is not happy with my decision. Just to ensure, I asked him, “what is your problem with the girl in the first place?”
His intimidating eyes looked at me in a swift manner. The instant we lock eyes, he states, “her scent is not like the others.”
“Huh?” Now I am completely baffled about what he meant with his words, “the hell are you talking about that her scent is not like the others?”
Squinting his eyes at me, “the way she smells is off, different. There is no telling if she is human or not; in fact, the more I am near her, the more strange it got.” Scratching the back of his neck, he continues, “it’s almost like an illusion that only comes out to be true when the smell of blood is present…”
That was a baseless claim, but his own thoughts and answer in regards to Ruby had put me on an edge for moment before quickly dismissing it as nonsense, “she is just a person who was forced to run away, give her break, Skoll,” I scolded.
Scoffed at my retort, sighing disappointingly of how he has been talked down; “I don’t trust that person, Adam. Something is off about her and it is not from the simple act of running away. If it is not from the cold or the hunger—then there must be something else,” paranoid and suspicious like a cat, he stared at the girls from the corner of our eyes.
I also followed suit, looking at the three enjoying their conversation and growing bond. Noticing the cold air, the fire, the warmth from the food and drinks, and the laughter of this home. Yet, I still felt uneasy about his claims; the idea of the person we saved is nothing more than a lie to get us closer with Ruby before killing my whole family was incredibly terrifying even to imagine.
But seeing my daughter this happy when she also managed to have friends and sister concurrently makes me believe in a brighter future than being pessimistic like I usual am.
It won’t hurt to try to being generous as long as my wife is happy about it.
