Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Alara

I feel like I’m being watched.

He is out there but I couldn’t be sure what he was going to do, making me feel a little nervous because it was making me feel like I was going to go a little crazy. I know grandma didn’t like it but I didn’t care.

Everything that I’m doing is for myself and I knew that I was going to do whatever I could to just do things on my own. I guess that I couldn’t figure out yet what I wanted to do but I was content and happy.

And being this content and happy made me think that maybe I’ll get to meet him. I don’t know if it was going to happen but I did know that I was going to be alright. But it just makes me wonder who the person is that is going to give me all of his attention.

“Grandma, do you truly think there is someone out there who would end up following us?” I asked him, feeling a little weird about it because I couldn’t be sure what else to do, “you said that there is a beast in the woods?”

“There is.” Grandma agrees with me, a small smile on her face but I know she is worried, “I don’t think that it is a good idea for you to be going out there by yourself. I'm sorry, Alara, but I’m afraid that it is getting more dangerous.”

“I know but I don’t think that I’m in danger out there.” I corrected her, and now she is really staring at me with wide eyes, “more so, I think that I am protected… I know that it sounds odd but that is really how I feel.”

Grandma’s eyes furrow a little bit and I can tell that she is thinking about what I’m saying to her, “I understand what you mean, but that is a little strange in itself, Alara. Those woods… They hold beasts that humans like us shouldn’t dare go around because we could be in danger.”

I don’t think that she is going to listen to anything that I’m saying right now but I don’t try to think about it, worried about what could end up happening if she realizes that I am really not afraid of what is out there.

If anything, I’m more afraid that if I keep being cooped up, then I am going to go crazy.

According to what grandma has told me, she had a little sister whose name I can’t remember now. She was like me, loving to be in the woods and just doing our own thing. But then one day, she came back talking about this man she met.

A man who was half-human, half-beast.

And she fell in love.

She told grandma that she was going to leave with him and she wanted grandma to go, too, to possibly find her own mate. Grandma didn’t want to, and that was the last time that she saw her sister.

No one knows what happened to her, but I guess grandma blames the beast that managed to seduce her sister. I don’t see what is so wrong with falling in love but I don’t think that grandma sees it that way.

I tell myself that if I were in her sister’s shoes, I think that I would have brought him home to meet the family rather than keep him hidden. I think that is the reason why grandma wasn’t so keen on allowing him to be here because I don’t think she trusted him.

I think that she was afraid of him and she was worried about losing her sister in the process. If I can be honest, I think that grandma is overreacting a little bit because it shouldn’t have gotten to that point.

I think if anything, they should have just been happy and not cared about anything else. If grandma knew that her sister was out there, then maybe she should have gone looking.

But no, she preferred to be out here, just holing away in a cottage. She did meet the love of her life but she never got to have her family again. She never got to be happy and she never dared to have anything else.

I guess I couldn’t believe that she would just let her sister run away and never be happy. Truthfully, something makes me wonder what else I can do but I couldn’t be sure if it is something that I could do with it. If anything, I will be happy.

And I won’t dare let anything else come from that.

“Just promise me that you are never going to go into those woods.” Grandma murmurs again, and I can see that she knows that it is going to cause me issues, “because I don’t want to lose you, too.”

I hate that she would even have to think about losing me, but I also know that I don’t care. I’m just wondering what else I can do about it before it really ends up being more than I can agree to.

So I have to lie and make her think that I’m going to do as she wants and not care about anything else. Truthfully, what is the worst thing that could happen?

“Okay, I will try.” Is all that I can promise her, wondering if it is going to be more than I can ever handle, “I will do whatever I can.”

Something tells me that it is going to be harder than imagined. I don’t know what I’m going to do about it but I do know that it is going to be alright. I guess I couldn’t believe that not even a day later, everything would be alright.

And I would end up breaking that promise.