Chasing the Omega (Small Town #1) by Jessica Edwards - HTML preview

Chapter 24

The drive to the school takes about twenty minutes. The silence in the car gives me the time to think to myself about the last couple of days. I think about the day Terry's body was found and almost losing Sam tonight, and I honestly believe that this day couldn't possibly get any worse.

When we get to school, the car stops just outside the entrance, 'I won't be long.' I unbuckle the seatbelt and open the door.

“Sam's mum told me that her keys might be in her locker considering they weren't found anywhere near the car.”

I nod in understanding. “Okay.”

“Do you want me to wait for you here?”

She's most likely really tired from work so I shake my head. “No, it's okay, go home and rest.”

“I'll see you at home.” She waves and leaves.

I wave back, walk up the steps and into the school. The doors are surprisingly still open at this hour, maybe a few teachers are still here doing last minute preparations for tomorrow.

I walk leisurely down the corridors and eventually arrive at Sam's locker. I grab onto the lock and enter Sam's combination code into it and the latch easily opens. The day we became best friends was also the day Sam and I gave each other's combination code. The reason why we did this was that if we needed anything from each other's lockers, we could always help ourselves.

I look inside Sam's locker in search for her keys but come up empty handed. I check again to make sure that they're there but her keys are nowhere to be found. I close the locker and turn to leave when I see what appears to be a single light ignited in a classroom.

With light footsteps, I draw nearer to the classroom and open the door when I notice that this classroom is familiar.

Who could be here at this hour?

I jerk in surprise when a voice brings me to attention.

“Looking for these?” Sitting in his chair holding a chain of keys on the end of his finger is Mr Edmund.

I peer at the keys he holds. “Are those...Sam's keys?” “Indeed.” He sighs “Kids these days, so irresponsible.”

I frown, confused on why he has her keys. “Why do you have her keys?”

“They merely came into my reach.” He twirls the keys around his fingers and stands. “I presume that you're here to collect them?”

“That's right...”

He stands in front of me and gives me the keys. “How is Sam?” Even though he's asking about her, he looks as though he doesn't care at all.

I snarl. “She's unconscious sir, whoever hit her, hit her pretty hard.”

He turns his back on me. “How awful. You must be worried for your friend.”

“You have no idea. This week hasn't been the best of weeks.”

He looks back at me with a malicious grin. “That I can understand.”

With the keys in my hand, I turn to leave when he calls my name.

“Yes?”

“Tell me, Alice. How do you manage to live life without your father in it?”

What the..?

“Excuse me?”

“I've read your school records, and I was quite surprised by it. We have something in common you and I.”

“We do...?”

He points to himself. “I too haven't met someone who should've been a part of my life, but wasn't.”

Why is he talking with me about this? “Have you never met your father too?”

“No, my son actually, I haven't seen him nineteen years.” He sits down at his desk and takes a book from a drawer. I

notice it's the book we were given today in class.

He has a son?

“Did you have a chance to read this book, Alice?”

I shake my head, shock still registering in my brain. “I read the first couple of chapters and it seems like a very interesting story.”

He looks at the cover in fascination. “This book is one of my favourites.” He turns the book over in his hands and stares at the cover. “You see, this story is about a man who fell in love with this woman from overseas. The man spent months in that country and eventually fell in love with it. One day at a nearby cafe, he noticed this beautiful woman sitting alone reading a book, and he kept asking himself while he was looking at the woman if he had the courage to approach and talk to her. As he was doing that, the woman unexpectedly turned his way and smiled at him, and he felt that was enough of a reason to go to her.” He puts the book down and stares at me. “They were inseparable after that, spent days and nights together and even talked about having a future together, but she knew one day he would have to leave and go back to his own country. When that day came, she surprised him by saying that she would leave with him, and they left together.

Years went by, they got married and even talked about having children. They tried and tried until they were gifted with a beautiful baby boy.” He clears his throat. “But things started to fall apart after that for the man and woman, they started to drift apart. To cut a long story short, she fell in love with another man, who already had a wife and a child. A beautiful baby girl. The father of the girl ran away with the man's wife, taking along her son with them. The man never saw his son again, and the father never saw his daughter again.”

“Do you know what happens next in the book?”

He sighs. “That I do not, I've never read this book before.” He picks up the book and throws it in the bin placed next to the desk.

What?

“Then, what were you just talking about?” I have no idea what's going on.

“I was telling you about my life story, sad isn't it?” He stares intensely at me.

I look around, avoiding eye contact with him. “I don't know what you want me to do with this new information.”

He shrugs. “Do with it what you will.”

There's one thing I am curious about though. If Mr Edmund was the man with the son, who was the man with the daughter?

“Ask me the question you want to be answered, Alice.”

I look back at him, he grins at me. “Who was the man with the daughter.”

He chuckles. “Can you really not guess? Surely you know the answer to that.”

Why do I feel like it's related to me?

He nods. “Your father fell in love with my wife, and he left you and your mother to raise my son.” He emphasizes my.

I hear my heart beating in my throat. “No...”

“Yes, yes, yes!” He slams the desk with every yes. “Did you ever wonder where he was all these years? He's been overseas raising my son like his own, but can you imagine how happy I was when I learned that the man who took the woman I loved away from me had a daughter, in this very school.”

My eyes start to water. “I've got nothing to do with this. I hate my father for leaving me and my mother.”

He looks at me in pity. “He took away something from me Alice, and now I'm taking something away from him.” He stands from his chair.

I tremble from my position in the door and watch as Mr Edmund starts to breathe heavily when the sound of bones stretches the silence in the classroom. His jaw suddenly dislocates and develops into a vicious fanged mouth and soon after, his entire face structure transformers into a wolf, when hair starts to appear all over his body, I gasp in horror when I see that his eyes have turned blood red.

I whimper in absolute fright when it suddenly occurs to me that the colour of this wolf's fur looks oddly familiar - the dull shade of grey with big chunks of the fur missing, and the scars on its entire body. I feel like screaming when I realize that this wolf was the one that bit me the night of the full moon.

This all happened because of him.

When the wolf starts to prowl closer to me I know exactly what its intent is. I run out of the classroom door and down the corridor when the wolf lets out an ear bursting howl behind me, causing my heart to beat rapidly inside my chest. I exit out of the school with Sam's keys in my hands and run to the only car left in the lot. I manage to pick the right key and unlock the car in record speed. I see the wolf run out the doors of the school just as I close the door.

I turn on the ignition, drive away from the school and start to head home, breaking every speed limit along the way.

It takes me half an hour to drive home, and when it comes into view, I let out a sigh of relief. I stop the car and rest my head against the steering wheel. I stay in that position for a few minutes to steady my heart and breathing.

I turn my head to look at the house and notice that the front door has been left open.

Why would my mother leave the door wide open?

I exit the car and run to the doorway but stop when I see the house in complete disarray.

“Mum?”

I wait for her response but not even a sound is to be heard inside the house. I check outside to see if her car is there and frown when I see her car parked in the driveway.

Where did she go?

I worryingly walk inside the house and enter the living area when I suddenly slide on something on the floor. I lower my head and immediately start to feel nauseous when I see a trail of footprints covered in blood, leading out into the garden, additionally I start to think the worst.

“Mum!?” I yell.

With my heart beating inside my ears, I run to the door leading to the garden with trembling legs and let out a bloodcurdling scream.

“No.” I repeat to myself while shaking my head.

My eyes glisten with tears when I stare at a body floating face down in the swimming pool. The colour of the water no longer blue, but the colour red.

I pray that this isn't who I think it is, but something tells me that I know exactly who's lying in the pool.

With unsteady feet, I drag my feet closer to the pool - my heart breaking with every step I take.

Crouching at the pool's edge where the body floats nearer to me, I reach to pull the body out of the water and notice by the colour of her hair and the clothes that she wore to work this morning, that this is the person that brought me into this world.

With all the strength I have, I pull her out of the water and rest her gently on my thighs.

As I look at her, lying motionless in my arms, there's only this numb feeling inside of me.

Why would someone want to do this to my mother?

My mother, who was a good and kind person to others around her, a person who hasn't had the best life, raising me all on her own without a father, I wouldn't have been the person that I am right now if it wasn't for her.

I lean over her with trembling lips, kiss her gently on her cheek and rock her lightly in my arms, while the tears continue to fall.

Recognition filters on my mind, that the person I love the most in this world, has been taken away from me forever, and all I can do is scream.