The Alley

We left the store back to the house after locking up.

"Don't worry about him, he must have thought you were alone."

Sam's words seemed confident enough for him, but for the sake of the roughly dressed man, I hoped he didn't return or probably be faced with a terrifying fate.

Working in the store became a norm and within few days, I got so used to waking up early and heading to the store. I learnt how to drive, Drake taught me; we made use of the large space in front of Sam's house and soon I was hitting the road on my own.

"You learn so fast don't you?" I smiled in response to Drake's soft and sweet words.

I guess I wanted so much to act like a Human and never like a Werewolf; over a month had gone and never had Kira come out for any reason. Maybe because there was no situation that called for it or probably because it had decided to take a leave. I was wrong though!

We had decided that we were not going to make friends to avoid anyone coming so close so that they may not have to find out anything about me or even get hurt but the neighbors were consistent with coming around and trying to be friendly.

The Johnsons had just moved in, a family of three: a man, his wife and their ten year old daughter Maya. They were lovely people but they were too stubborn for my liking.

"Hello dear, we just packed into the neighborhood and we would love to invite you all to dinner tomorrow." Mr. Johnson just didn't know when to give up. He thought smiling was really going to charm us into accepting the invite. It was basically for I and Drake as Sam was hardly ever around.

Since we took over the store, he relegated himself to hunting and sometimes he would spend hours or days hunting and hanging out with old buddies like himself. He also went back to his old job as a private investigator. I was glad that he had grown over the pain of the loss of his daughter and moved on. He found peace!

"Would you please come to our home for dinner."

Oh no! Those eyes. The innocence! I couldn't say no to Maya.

She stood at the door that morning holding a plate covered with a foil. She was a beautiful girl with lovely eyes bulging eyes, her brows perfectly framed her eyes, her red cheeks brightening as she smiled. Her blonde hair cascading down her neck. She reminded me so much of my old self.

"Oh Maya. Sure I would come."

"Thank You Lyla!" The excitement on her face as she handed over the plate to me was heartwarming. Watching her gallop to her house in excitement gave me so much fulfillment. I was glad I didn't hurt her feelings. One dinner wouldn't hurt right?

Maya seemed to be really lonely from what I had noticed, the neighborhood had few houses around and there were no children close by. She was yet to be enrolled in any school. I could feel her pain.

"Are you really sure about this?"

"It's just a dinner Drake. One exception wouldn't hurt. I couldn't hurt the little girl's feelings."

Drake seemed to be worried more than I was. He sighed reluctantly giving in to the invitation. The cakes in the plate covered with foil were very delicious. I was certain that there was going to be more from where they came from and I couldn't wait to go to the Johnsons that evening for dinner. Something new for a start!

That evening I dressed up in a white gown and black heels; I head learnt how to dress elegantly within a short while and I was loving the whole experience. That was the first time I was going to any other place apart from Sam's store.

Drake put on a black leather jacket, grey paints and a brown shoe. He was looking simple but classy; his long black hairs perfectly resting on his shoulders.

"Welcome Lyla, welcome Drake!" Clara ushered us in. Maya was helping out with setting the table. 'Such a lovely little girl!' I thought seeing her from behind her mother.

Philip walked down the stairs few seconds later and joined us in the dining table. Clara served the dish; it was mutton chops and some vegetables. I loved the way Clara perfectly seasoned the bacon and heated the vegetable. I wasn't wrong about her after all, she was a lovely cook.

Looking at Maya smile in the presence of her parents was very satisfying. She was very lucky and I envied her for that.

After the dinner, we decided to leave, it was already getting late and we had already talked about not staying out too late at night.

"Thank you for having us Philip, the meal was lovely Clara." The young couple smiled in satisfaction following Drake's words of gratitude.

"Will you come again?"

I wasn't sure of what to respond to Maya, especially with the pitiable face she made. Such a charming little girl.

"Surely we will come again Maya." I replied with a smile touching her shoulder gently. She smiled back in satisfaction holding onto her father's hands.

We didn't come with the car since the distance wasn't so long. Walking through the different alleys in the neighborhood, we held onto each other's hands walking slowly without saying any word.

We walked out of one alley and were about to walk into another alley in the street when I sensed the presence of someone from a distance.

"Wait!" I said to Drake blocking him from moving with my hand. He stopped and not being so certain of what was happening her gave me an inquisitive look but I placed my index finger over my lips signaling him to be quiet.

"Stay here." I said softly and walked noiselessly to the end of the alley but there was no one around. I was certain that I sensed the presence of someone from a distance away.

Just as I thought that probably I was being paranoid, I saw a figure approaching from a mile away from me.

"What a lovely couple. Going somewhere?"

"Ah I bet they are coming back probably from a dinner date."

There were two men approaching instead. They seemed very much to be out for trouble.

"We want no trouble, we are just heading home." I said politely to the two men who were right in front of me. Drake was right behind me.

"I see. We want no trouble as well. What do you have in your pockets?"

The man on my right brought out a long dagger strapped to his waist and pointed it right to my face. The other man who seemed to be a bit naïve compared to his partner stood at a corner smiling. I could hear his heartbeat; that was fear of the outcome of his choice of action.

"You know you shouldn't be doing this." Drake tried to speak to them calmly raising both of his hands to indicate that he was harmless and trying to reason with them against their action.

"Go on! Empty them." The man with the dagger bellowed pointing the knife at Drake this time.

I couldn't have it, he had really pissed me off, but I didn't want to do anything I wasn't prepared for. Those men were amateurs, probably hungry fellows looking for victims to rob.

"We have nothing on us, nothing!" I said calmly approaching the man with the dagger. He moved backwards holding the dagger forward and pointing it at me this time fiercely.

"Don't move or I will hurt you!" He said widening his eyes. Funny! If only he knew!

I was really getting impatient with their little drama. Turning towards Drake, I gestured at him with my hands and he nodded in agreement.

"Alright alright, we will give you all we have."

Gently putting his hands inside his pocket, Drake proceeded to bring out what he supposedly had inside approaching the other man without any dagger.

As soon as we was few inches away from him, I got hold of the other man's dagger and hit it out of his hands.

"Run Drake!"

We made our way through the streets. The streetlights were not so bright but we could see the alleys we were running into. We couldn't run home, we just needed to run and hide till they were gone.

But our plan didn't work fully. There was another man waiting in front, but he wasn't alone. Standing under a street light with him was a huge black dog, waggling its tail and sticking out its tongue to expose its sharp canines.

"Not so fast you two." He said calmly and gently lifted up his jacket to show us the gun strapped into his pants. The two men who were running after us soon caught up with us.

"That's a dead end!" The man who was with the dagger said smiling as he halted from running. The other man with him was panting and gasping for breath.