Chapter 71 - A Meeting That Didn’t Go As Expected

>>Yohan

I dropped Maya at the university and picked Ruda up from the dorms.

I had already taken the hostages to the hospital and the only thing that was felt to deal with was dad.

The trip was long. The pack was in the countryside and in the car there was just me and my little brother, who were going to face their parents for their wrong dealings.

Quite weird if you ask me. No child would ever stand against their parents like this, not in any normal situation but I guess this isn’t a normal situation.

Maya was right, if she wasn’t involved, I might never have made this decision, like any other person who was attached to their parent, I was going to stay quiet.

I know full well my actions were wrong but I could never find the courage to question my father.

Perhaps, the thing I was most afraid of was to find out that he really was wrong. So I pretended not to know, I didn’t pry in any further and deluded myself that it must be my imagination.

But alas, in the end, fate brought the duty upon us.

I turned my head and glanced at Ruda.

He was staring out the window, at the passing meadows, the dandelions of which were swaying because of the gentle wind while the grass waved along.

It was a sunny day even though it was cold. The sun’s heat was cold but the light was as bright as on a hot summer day.

“You okay?” I asked Ruda.

He nodded, “Just,” He moved his hands in the air, “Preparing myself.”

“Okay… Say? Did you and Maya talk?”

“About?” His eyes were still focused outside

“She said she was going to freeze her semester.”

“Oh?” He looked at me, “She didn’t tell me anything- actually,” he remembered something, “We both haven’t talked in days.”

“Really? That’s strange.”

“Yeah, I didn’t have the time to think about it before, we used to text each other every day but now we’re really distant and she’s freezing the semester? That’s so strange, so unlike her...” Even Ruda thought this was weird.

“Is that so?”

“You seem worried about something.” He noticed

“I-uh- I think Maya is hiding something from me.”

“Hiding what?”

“I don’t know. But she’s lying to me about something.”

“Lying? How do you know?”

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but everytime she lies or wants to hide something she fiddles with her thumbs. She rarely lies so it’s hard to notice that habit.”

“Ah…” He came to a sudden realization, “So that’s what it was.” He scratched his head, “But she rarely ever hid something so I barely noticed.” He slumped against his seat, “What could she be hiding?”

“I don’t know, but I feel like it’s something big.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Lately,” I shook my head softly, “I get this strange feeling from her.” I licked my lips while I tried to find the right words, “Like something is off.”

“I wonder if that’s why she hasn’t talked to me either.” He turned his head and began to look outside again, “Strange…”

We didn’t exchange any words after that, my mind was full of things and I knew Ruda’s thoughts were occupied too.

***

When we arrived at the pack, it gave me a strange sense of nostalgia. I have lived in this place for most of my life.

I had seen it grow.

It used to be such a sad place and now, it’s become glorious. No one would ever be able to tell what it was before.

The people were shocked when they saw me and Ruda together, in our lives we’ve never travelled alone together, moreover they were more surprised to see me, alive and healthy.

I was pretty much supposed to be dead after all.

But we didn’t have the time to explain things to them. Our first priority was dad.

We went straight to the pack house first. It's a huge mansion in which all the officials of the pack live but the owner is the current Alpha. The officials also have their own home since the pack house is mostly used for meetings and when important decisions are being made.

Dad wasn't there.

One of the maids working there told us that he was in his house, so we went there.

That house was the one dad grew up in and the one we brothers grew up in as well, after becoming the Alpha he had it renovated but still it had an old feeling to it.

It was a wooden structure and the doors had no locks. For some reason, they were never installed. Well nothing really happened either so I guess it was fine.

We entered the house and looked around for him. Considering the situation it was surprisingly easy.

He was standing in the lounge near the lounge window, sipping his tea while quietly gazing out.

“You’re here?” He turned his head towards us and smiled, “I see you’re healthy Yohan.” He walked and sat down on the single seater couch, “Come on boys, why are you standing?” He gestured towards the couches in front of him, “Sit down.”

Ruda and I looked at each other in suspicion.

It was a bit strange, every other person was shocked when they saw me so healthy but dad wasn’t even surprised. He was calm like he knew everything.

As if, he was ready for everything.

We both decided to sit down on the triple seater couch in front of him and he smiled. There was a table between us and I remember, oftentimes we ate here with dad instead of eating in the kitchen. “A little late for lunch but I’m sure you both are hungry.”

“No dad,” Ruda answered, “I’m not really hungry…” He wasn’t looking at him, he had his gaze glued to his hands that were resting on his thighs.

“That’s strange, the city is like 6 hours drive away. Did you eat somewhere in the middle?” He asked and I shook my head.

“No, um-”

“Then I’ll ask for the food to be served here.” He called the lady from the kitchen who took care of the house in his absence, “Chloe, can you serve us lunch here please.”

“Yes sir.” She nodded and went away.

Dad looked back at us and smiled but we couldn’t return it and seeing that his smile faded too.

“Boys.” He started, “I know this is hard.” We both looked at him, “I know why you’re here.” He said and both of us looked at him wide-eyed.

“You do?” Ruda asked.

“Of course, you’re here to have lunch with me, it’s been years since we had a family dinner. I’ll call your mother too.” He took out his phone and called mother.

Ruda and I were dumb founded, we glanced at each other, not sure what to say.

I knew Ruda would never be able to speak. He’s still young and he’s well aware what the consequences of our actions will be.

“Dad.” I started but he gestured to me to hold on with the tea cup still in his hands.

“Oh yes, The boys are here. Sure. Oh, we can wait. Okay then, see you in a while.” After he finished inviting mother over he put his phone down and smiled at us again. He was smiling a lot today.

“Dad, um- we’re not here to have lunch.” I needed to make things clear as soon as possible or else I feel it will only get more difficult, “Actually-”

“I know.” He cut my words and stared at the almost empty tea cup, a sense of sadness loomed around him, “I know you both already know what I’ve been doing behind everyone’s back.” He nodded softly, “And you’re here to ask if all you’ve heard is true.” Ruda and I both gulped. I could feel my heartbeat accelerate. “You’re right.” He smiled again, “I am the one responsible for it.”

“Why!!?” Ruda’s sudden outburst startled me, “You’re admitting you killed people?!!” He was frustrated but dad replied normally, “Our own kind at that!?!”

“I am and I’ve been doing it for years.” He gave us a stern answer that shut us both up.

There was no suspense, no trying to evade the answer, he didn’t try to run from anything. He just confirmed everything.

Why?

Why is he doing this?

Did he know we were coming?

He seemed prepared for it.

After a rather long pause of painful silence I decided to ask, “How did you know?” I looked at him, “About me.”

“The evening you went back to your house, I got the report of how healthy you were, I knew then and when you chose to keep low, I knew you found out, especially everything since we couldn’t find your assailant and one of my men.” A sad smile appeared on his face, “Did you see your mother there?” He really knew I went to the magic realm, well I guess, that was the only place where I could be healed this perfectly.

“No, I still haven’t but I met aunt and Quincy.”

“Were you disappointed after learning the real truth?”

“...” I actually had no idea what to say. This was all very confusing and it was painful, “I don’t know.” I nodded, “I guess I was.”

“And is that why you didn’t see your mom?”

“...” I couldn’t answer because I wasn’t sure. I knew she wasn’t at fault but maybe it was because of dad that I needed time before seeing her.

“Oh Well,” He leaned back on the couch, “You came here because you want to stop me right? Bring me to justice or something. No worries.” He placed his tea cup down on the table, “I’m ready.”

This was weird.

This was too easy.

Something just felt off.

This was the reason we came here but still for some reason I couldn’t accept it. I felt like there was more to it but what more could there be to it?

It was messing with my mind.

Could I not accept it because he was my father or because I was denying it for no reason, or was there really something?

I glanced at Ruda. He had the same expressions of disbelief and worry on.

“Why did you do it?”I asked the question as Chloe brought the food and served it on the table. I didn’t even think about it, it just came out of my mouth before I even realized.

“Why did I do it you ask?” He thought about it.

His eyes wandered towards the window, beyond which you could see the forest in a distance.

“You both have been my pride and joy.” He gazed at the window, I don’t know what he was looking at since there was nothing of interest there, “Really proud of you both.” He really looked at us, “Just always remember that.” He gave us a warm smile.

He then picked up the spaghetti tray and put some of it on two dinner plates then handed one to me and the other one to Ruda.

“Eat first, Let’s have one last meal together and then we’ll talk.”