Wolf’s Bane

The call ended right at that moment when the main door opened and Jack came out of the house and into the front porch.

“Hey bro, everything okay?” cheerfully greeted the lumberyard foreman.

“Jack, I’ll get used to that attention if you keep it up. Just warning you, I don’t think you’ll be happy with me if I reciprocate your feelings. I’m a pretty jealous boyfriend, hehe.”

“Yep, with that kind of answer, I can see that everything is back to normal. And that’s good,” Jack replied with a small smile. “I thought your mood would be darker because of what happened to your motorbike.”

“I don’t know, I guess in normal conditions, I would have been really down, but now…” Eron looked at his cellphone, still in his hand then placed it inside his shirt’s chest pocket.

“What do you mean by that?” Jack asked as he leaned on the banister quite near his new hire.

“Well, Scorpia has been my friend in times when I was really lonely, but I don’t feel like that for now, I mean… I used to need her when I had fights with my dad and couldn’t handle staying at home, but then… here… with you worrying all the time about me,” Eron said as he fluttered his eyelashes while leaning closer to Jack.

“What the hell!?” Jack laughed as he pushed Eron and stepped away. “Damn bro, are you sure I’m not your type? You seem to be TOO OPEN to me right now.”

“Nah, you’ll get used to me… but I really did mean it, bro… Miss Diwa’s care and company, the children’s interest and time, your trust and worry… I feel that I’m in a higher and even different Lyonel of comfort here, you know? It was really hard for me to ever feel like I belonged but now I’m starting to think I found it… Do you know what I mean, bro?”

“Yep, I do. I used to feel like that with my sister… We got along great, even if we fought sometimes. I like taking care of her even though she’s older than me, since she was my only sister… Well, she IS my only sister. Also, for some reason, I still feel her out there, you know? I can’t exactly tell you how, but I know that she’s still alive. I just can’t tell where she is or how she survived…”

“You never told me what happened to your sister, man… I mean, if you want to… talk about it…”

Jack took a deep breath.

His thoughts: “Why am I not careful with what I say to this guy? Am I so comfortable with Eron now to just open up topics that I don’t even talk much about, except for very few people who knew me years before? Damn, I just met the guy a few days ago and I’m talking about the ‘incident’ that I don’t even discuss with my parents these days. Ok, so I need to figure out how to escape this topic, especially since Eron seems intent on making me talk…”

“Nah, you’ll just think I’m crazy… At that time, many similar tales were told but now… Everyone would believe that I just lost it if I talked about it again. Most people think that she married a man in the city and just never came back… and Mom and Dad prefer it that way.”

“Your parents are not looking for their daughter who just disappeared? But they’re alive and healthy, right?”

“Oh, yes, they are still doing very well, living in the same house that they’ve lived in since they got married. It’s somewhere on the other side of the village, bro. I’m the one who prefers to stay at the camp. I admit, it’s not just to take care of the business. I guess I got used to living alone when I was still in college. And yeah, they’re not looking for her because they think she’s dead. It’s not that she disappeared, it’s how she disappeared… Sometimes I wonder if I just imagined it… or if I dreamed it, and she is really living in the city with a guy that takes really good care of her. Maybe she’s too busy being happy that she can’t come back here, I don’t know…”

“So, if your parents think she died, then… have you heard anything about her? I know you said that you have this hunch that keeps you thinking that she’s somewhere out there, but besides that, anything else?”

“Nothing. Honestly, I keep asking around, looking for information, and checking all the news, online or printed… All sources that I can get, but nothing. Just once, I thought I saw someone on the street back in the city who looked very much like her, but that’s not possible…” Jack let out a long sigh and checked his phone, which suddenly vibrated. “Talking about my parents, I need to go see them. I’m glad that you’re out of the forest, Eron. Honest. You don’t know what kind of monster that can be lurking behind the trees. See you tomorrow at work, and hope you find a way to fix your Scorpia…”

“Thanks Jack, I really hope I do.”

Just as the foreman was about to leave, he stopped at the bottom of the porch’s three steps and then looked back, “Oh, by the way… I’m kinda suspecting that what happened to your bike was not because of a wild animal or any kind of accident. You need to be careful; you know? Especially now that you live here at Di’s Villa. I have a feeling that weirder situations might come your way.”Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“Do you have SOMEONE in mind, bro?” Eron asked, standing straight and then walking a couple of steps closer to Jack.

“I can’t be sure yet. But believe me that if I confirm what I suspect… Well, I won’t jinx myself. For now, just be careful. Some mad people might be around you even now,” the lumberyard boss said as he put his big and heavy hand on Eron’s shoulder.

After receiving a nod from his new hire, the foreman-turned-friend then smiled and left.