31. Ryan calls

A/N at end

Nothing was fixed. Damon did mention that he was okay with me meeting his brother but he did not give me the actual date. If I tried to pester him would be more suspicious so I let it go. I was still reeling from the fact that his brother saved me. The conversation I had with him was still playing in my mind.





"How did he know about me?"




"Huh?"




I shook my head, "I mean how did he know that I was your mate?"




Damon cracked a smile at that. He sometimes finds it funny how I was curious about everything. There were so many things I did not know about his world, his kind and I tried to rely on books but most of them were age-old and incorrect. When I sent him a picture about the book I was reading he sent back laughing emojis. Apparently, that book was hilarious and was meant to be sarcastic than anything. I wanted to take some books from the school library but never got the opportunity to visit. Besides Mrs Pierce was still on leave so I was scared to talk with the other two. They are a proper menace.





"When we are younger the witch told us about our mates. Described them. That's how Dean was able to recognise you even in the dark"





I forgot blinking for a while and stared at him like he was joking. Witch? How can those exist at this age? I thought they burned in Salem.




"You're kidding right?" I asked after a few seconds. He shook his head, a neutral look on his face.




"Witches exist?!"




"Yeah, they do. Not the flying kind. They predict future and stuff and make potions for supernatural creatures"





"Potions? Supernatural creatures what?"




Damon laughed, leaning forward and pressed a kiss on my tip of the nose. I scrunched my face at his wet spit lips and pushed him back.




"You're adorable"




"Yes, we believe there are some other supernatural creatures as well."




"This is insane. We are...people don't even know that"




Damon sighed, "It's better this way you know. They stay in their lane and you should stay in yours"





I snorted, "Their lane? A wolf attacked me in the woods and I would have almost di-"




Damon covered my mouth before I could utter any word. He shook his head, "Don't even say that. It makes me angry thinking that I wasn't there"




"Your brother was" I softly said hoping that it would calm him down somehow.




His shoulders slumped down, "Yeah but it's not the same"




"It's okay"




"It's not. I have to find the real killer and then the person who attacked you and I feel so useless at the moment" He clenched his jaw, his feet kicking at the bench nearby. I flinched at the sound but pulled at his arm which he easily let me. There was no way I could tug him forward without his help.





"Please stop thinking that way. You are doing everything you can and that's something you should be proud of. Damon you have not given up you're still fighting and that's not something a useless person does"





He snaked his arms around my arms and pushed his face in my neck. I smiled, patting his back as he sniffed, his tip of nose brushing against my collarbone. I lightly swayed along with him as he refused to let me go for a while.





"You know exactly what to say"





"Thanks, I guess"





We stayed there for a while before he asked me to walk out with him. There were so many questions I wanted to know but I had no energy to ask. His hug had rendered me numb and wanting for more. As that lead took me nowhere I had no option but to look into Ryan.





As I was about to get up my phone rang. I noticed Kay was still slumped in the corner with her back against the couch. She was trying to find some cottages in woods nearby. I was useless in talking with Dean so Ryan was the only option. We had no idea where the packhouse was and I couldn't ask Damon. He would be one hundred per cent on my tail about it and that's the last thing I needed. That Dean thing might be still in his mind and I didn't want to add any more to that.






Kay was in my room under the pretence that we had to study for statistics tests. My mom was at home tonight because she was feeling under weather and there was no way she would allow Kay if I told her we wanted to hang out.




"Are you going to pick that up?" Kay asked with an annoyed look, pulling the headphone from one side of her ear. I nodded my head, with a sigh I leaned forward and unplugged the cord. The call was from an unknown number. My eyebrows scrunched at that but I answered the call.




"It's unknown"




Kay threw the headphones off her ears and settled in beside me. I tried to kick her away but she only cuddled further. She's a pest at times.




"Hello?"



"Hello, Anya?"



"Yes?" I asked in a questioning manner. The gruff voice did sound familiar but I was unable to recognise it.




"It's me, Ryan. Professor Ryan fro school"




My mouth fell slack at that. Did he know that I was actually thinking about him? I looked around my room, towards the windows to make sure that I was not being spied on. That's the one thing which scared me the most.





"Who is it?" Kay nudged me from beside when I covered the speaker of my phone.




"It's Ryan"




"Why?"




"I'm trying to find out" I rolled my eyes, pushing the phone back against my ear.




"Sir?"




"Please call me Ryan. I thought we went over this already"





I rolled my eyes. Who was he trying to fool with that cool dude attitude? Wow, that rhymed. Shaking my head I tried to focus on the phone call. Ryan was a major suspect because he seemed so interested in the entire thing.





"Sorry-" I giggled in a fake tone- "Ryan. You were saying?"




He cleared his throat from the other side, "Is someone with you?"




I stared at Kay, wide-eyed. How did he suspect that? My eyes automatically went towards the window again but the blinds were closed. My fingers pushed against my lips indicating Kay to stay silent. She rolled her eyes and moved an inch away from me.





"No no. Why do you ask?"




"That's good. It's nothing really. Just wanted to check up on you and ask about the updates on the case. Is everything going well?"





My mouth opened at that. Of course, he wanted to know about the case. That's why he called. Kay was nudging me to continue talking to which I sighed. It made me feel disgusted that he might be the real killer and I was indulging him. Just the thought made me shiver. He was our professor and to think that he may also be the cold-blooded murderer was scary.





"I wish Ryan," I exclaimed




"This case is so useless. It's leading nowhere. I think the police were right to assume that Damon did it"




Ryan was quiet for a while. I chewed on my lips, scared that he might have caught my lie somehow.




"Yeah? You do?"




My teeth grind together as I lied to him. I could feel my fists clench by my side, "Hmm...they had to have a reason right? He was right there in front of the burning building with fingertips all over. I cannot believe I was trying to prove him innocent"





Ryan hummed, "Oh but I thought you two have gotten close. I- one of the students saw you both exiting the boy's locker room."




My eyes widened in shock. How did he know that? Was he spying on both me and Damon? It was bad enough that he was in the same school as us but he was also our teacher. Kay lifted her eyebrow at my blank expression and I couldn't think of anything to say. Ryan was breathing softly from the other side while I kept staring at the wall in front of me. Suddenly that seemed interesting than talking to Ryan.





"That? I was just there for our project. Mr Thomas made us partners for his class and Damon's house is annoying and his uncle and aunty are worst so I thought I can avoid visiting them again."





"Oh cool. So nothing then? I saw you in the library late at nights and thought you might have found something"




I made a sound in the back of my throat to throw him off guard, "Haha please that was for my assignment. We have to write on Gatsby and Damon's useless so I'm doing extra hours work in the library. That's all."





"Oh, good luck with the assignment. Mr Thomas can be a bit picky at times but he means well"





"I'm sure he does" I trailed, aggressively picking at the loose threads in the blanket. How was Ryan so slick? He managed to distract and twist the conversation in his way so quickly. A skill.





After my two seconds, silence Ryan sighed from the other side, "Well I gotta go and get ready for this meeting...it was nice talking to you"





"Yeah Ryan sees you in school" I mumbled trying to muster as much enthusiasm as I can.




"What did he say?" Kay screamed




"He's going to the meeting now" I sighed




"Great then let's follow him"



"How?"



"I have my ways"
***
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