Chapter 76 - The Unforgiving Luna

It didn't take long for us to enter a street.

The sound of their footsteps echoed behind us, growing louder and closer with each passing second.

We were both starting to get exhausted from the long run and I let my eyes search around.

Just in time, I spotted an alley way close by. I quickly dragged Ryan with me as we took the turn. It was as if the goddess was on our side today as there were more alleys.

We took turns and corners into them before our pursuers would notice and in fact, they did notice quickly.

Their speed became much more faster, knowing we could easily get lost in these alleys.

I looked over my shoulder in time to see them spreading around.

"Shit!" I cursed under my breath, taking a corner into another street and increasing my speed to take another corner before they caught up.

We lost them but it was only for a while.

"That house" Ryan pointed and I quickly shook my head.

"What if they sell us out?"

"We'll deal with it. It's our only option for now"

And he was right. We couldn't continue running like this especially after those men had spread out into different alleys. All of these alleys were connected in some way so it would be easier to find us.

We raced towards the house Ryan pointed at. It was a two story decking building which I was grateful for as it made it easier to climb in through the window.

The lights in the room were off which made us to think that there was no one in the room.

If we could just find a place to hide for the night or just for a few hours then it would be nice.

We couldn't keep running like this. My legs were already giving out and I'm sure Ryan must be going through worse.

"Someone's coming" Ryan whispered, staring at the closed door through the darkness.

I heard it too and I quickly said him "Under the bed"

"They'll smell us out"

"If they do, we'll keep them quiet in whatever way we can. It's not like we have any other options" I slid under the low bed and beckoned to him "Come here"

Just as Ryan joined me under the bed, the door opened and the lights turned on immediately, leaving me blinded for a while.

I heard the door close as the person entered and the footsteps stopped suddenly. My eyes narrowed and I waited for it to resume, counting the seconds.

One, two, three.....

A loud shriek followed, one that was so loud mad sharp, I was sure it would wake the neighbors up.

It sounded like a terrified young girl and I wondered why she screamed like that.

Could she have noticed us somehow? I thought until I glanced at Ryan only to notice something from the corners of my eyes.

Ryan had one of his legs stuck out from under the bed.

I gasped, covering my mouth in fear and shock.

No wonder she screamed.

"Ryan?!!" I whisper yelled.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know it--"

"Mona?" A more matured female voice sounded as the door opened and footsteps shuffled around. "What happened? Did you see a rat again? I made sure I killed all of them"

"N-no, Mama. It's not a rat. I t-think it's a--"

She sounded so terrified that I felt sorry. We were busted.

"It's a what, Mona?"

"A zombie, look..." I could tell she was pointing at where Ryan's leg had been before.

"There's nothing there. Go to bed and stop worrying" the woman said, giving her a kiss as they strolled towards the bed and the girl sat on it. "Goddess, Mona. You're shaking so much"

"There's really a zombie... Wahhh..." The girl started to cry "It's waiting to eat me up once you leave. Please don't go"

A zombie? What kind of movies has she been watching?

I heard the woman release a sigh as if she was exhausted.

"Fine. I'll check for the zombie" the woman stood up and I saw a flashlight turn on.

I knew what was coming next and there was nothing I or Ryan could do about it. We could go back through the window or we could do the worse thing which was the only other option I could think about.

A hit on the viral spot. Just to make them go unconscious for a while.

The light shined brightly on our faces at that moment and we squinted our eyes so we could see.

The woman seemed taken aback. Her mouth dropped open as she quickly stood back up, the flashlight, falling from her hand.

Since we had been caught, I and Ryan crawled out of the bed to see the woman holding the little girl's hand tightly.

The little girl looked to be about ten years old. A Blondie with two cornrows.

Her expression of fear swiftly changed to confusion and curiosity when she saw us.

"Their not Zombies... No blood..."

I saw how the woman held her hands tighter as she stared at us while she had her other hand behind her back. I could tell she was hiding something. A weapon maybe.

"Sorry, but we are not here to hurt you" maybe I will later on and it breaks my heart too but it's because I have no other choice.

"We are being pursued by people who wants to hurt us and this is the only safe place we could get into. I'm sorry for startling you"

There was silence. The woman didn't say a word and just stared at me with confusion in her eyes and then she stared at Ryan.

I couldn't bear to do anything to them so I suggested this "We could just leave. Sorry for bothering once again"

"They're out there, Freya, if they take us back, he'll definitely kill us!!" Ryan was scared at this point. Grayson's guys were already scattered around and these place seemed to be the only safe place for now.

We couldn't go back out.

We might have luck on our side. I thought as I turned around, leaving Ryan to follow.

"Let's go"

I was just about to jump out the window when I heard the woman call out,

"F-freya? Ryan?"

I froze in my step, my eyes glancing at Ryan before we both turned around.

"Is it really you guys?"

My eyes narrowed as she asked. I tried to see if she was someone I knew but her face didn't ring any bell to me.

"Who are you?"

"Are you Freya?" She asked, ignoring my question as she took a step closer as if her fear earlier had been lost.

"What if I am? Do you know me?"

"You just need to answer with a yes... Or no" she said, something flashing in her eyes then as if changing her mind, she said "No, you don't need to answer that. You are her, Freya, Jameson" she called and glanced at my brother "Ryan Jameson" her mouth dropped open as she asked "How are you both alive? This must be a dream"

I took a step closer to the woman with all my guards up. My eyes were watching her carefully in case she was trying to play any tricks.

"I'll ask again? Do you know us?"

"Yes" she whispered.

"How?"

Instead of answering first, she chuckled as if she was in disbelief. "You don't recognize me? You used to hate me so much"

Hate? My brows furrowed as I tried to think but it still wasn't coming up.

"Gabriel's daughter. Lorelei. It was Ryan who uttered this behind me and then it clicked.

Lorelei? She was our neighbor back when my parents were alive!!

I wasn't very familiar with her at the time which could explain why it was easy to forget. I had seen her a few times but nothing more than that.

I definitely do not hate her.

"You finally remember?"

"Maybe I would've done that earlier if you hadn't used the word 'hate'"

"You hated me"

"I barely knew you" I corrected.

"Funny" she breathed and I saw her eyes tearing up while the little girl's eyes darted between us.

"My Dad always used you as an example when lecturing me and I tried to get close to you but you always ignored me. What else could it mean?" she cleaned her eyes before the tears would fall "I'm so glad you're alive however. That day, you all just disappeared..."

I sighed and patted her shoulder, letting my guard down a bit as we both sat on the bed.

"What happened that day?"

"It was your birthday. Your dad had prepared a secret birthday party for you. Everyone was excited and looking forward to that day. I even prepared a huge gift with my savings for you but the next day.... Everything disappeared"

I frowned at that and she chuckled lightly.

"Strange right?"

"How did everything disappear?"

"It just did" she shrugged. "Your house wasn't there anymore. Your parents were accused of being traitors and they suspected someone around was in on it with him. Everyone around was chased out of town and the area had long been abandoned. We moved here later"

Ah... So that was how it happened.

"Where have you been all this while?"

" Just trying to survive Lorelei" I looked up at her and smiled. She seemed like a good person and like she really cared so why had I ignored her in the past?

I remembered how we had first met. It was an unpleasant experience and maybe that was why.

Was I really so childish though?

"Mommy, are they your friends?" The little girl finally spoke and Lorelei smiled.

"Yes, Mona. They're not zombies so you don't need to worry"

"Hi, Mona" I smiled at the little girl but she didn't smile back. She was cautious as she stared at me yet her eyes were filled with so much curiosity.

So cute!!

"Hi, auntie" She finally replied and returned her attention back to her mom "why were they hiding under the bed if they were not Zombies?"

As she said this, a knock sounded aggressively on the main door and I quickly shared a glance with Ryan.

"It might be them" he said.

"Who is it?" Lorelei asked, puzzled.

"The people who want to kill us" I answered and a look of understanding crossed her eyes as she stood up.

"Come with me" she said and I shared a glance with Ryan as we followed her hurriedly.

I didn't know what she wanted but a part of me wanted to trust her so we followed her.

We got to the living room and Lorelei shifted the table away and opened the rug slide where we saw a door on the floor.

She opened it with a key and stood up from her knees.

"You can stay in here while I deal with them"

I swallowed, a part of me wondering if she really could be trusted but I had a feeling it would be alright so I played it on gamble and went down the stairs first into the basement. Ryan followed next as the knock earlier had now turned into banging sounds.

It was as if they would break down the door at any moment.

I breathed out in fear, praying to the goddess everything goes well today.

The door closed on us but I could still hear the banging and everything that was happening upstairs.

I heard Lorelei open the door just then and then footsteps poured in. Alot of them.

"Search every single place" sounded a masculine deep voice and this voice reverberated so many times in my ears because i recognized it.

I always will.

Ezra!!!

As if that wasn't enough, another person spoke, he sounded lazy yet so dangerous.

"What took you so long to get the door?"

Grayson?!!