The Wolf Of Penshaw Lake
Chapter 11

Chapter 10 recap*- For those who may not have wanted to read the offensive themes of the previous chapter.

At Ella’s fifteenth, Heidi flies into a rage and attacks Oliver, Ella’s boyfriend, for sexually assaulting her. Heidi is pulled off by Mason and she runs away from the situation, only to flashback to a time when Dan sexually assaulted her on her sixteenth birthday and took her virginity. Mason comforts Heidi and takes her home.

I felt embarrassed. Weak. Self-pitying. It had been a week since I let my past get a hold of me and I hadn’t shown my face in town since. I was scared of the pitying looks; of how people would treat me. Would they treat me like a loose cannon? Would they feel like they had to walk on eggshells around me? I was sure that, if I wasn’t before, that I was definitely the talk of the town. It was time, however, to show my face again despite how much I just wanted to crawl under my duvet and shrink away into nothingness. We had asked for another week in the little, old hotel on the side of town, but it was time to move into the B&B.

Mum found out, of course. They all tried to keep it quiet, but news of Oliver’s arrest flew around the town like wildfire. As if the town divide wasn’t obvious enough to begin with, Mason’s family and friends barely left the sprawling manor and their little secluded space at the edge of town by the forest. Well, according to mum anyway. Josie nor Dee had gone to work and Jane had closed the antique shop. She was torn, like me. She was proud of me, she said, for standing up for another woman, but that was another dangerous man that I had been in contact with. She was in two minds whether to stay or go. After all, we were only supposed to be passing through.

Despite everything, I found myself begging and pleading with her to stay. The carnal desire that wanted me to stay had increased tenfold, and now, I wasn’t sure if I could leave even if I wanted to. Seeing me that way, so desperate to stay, mum obliged although she couldn’t see quite why.

I didn’t really know either.

It felt like my fault. We were finally settling down and falling in love with our new home, and I just had to ruin that. I felt guilty, although I couldn’t quite piece why. Deep down, I knew I had done the right thing, but it surely wasn’t my place to get involved?

And the way I acted? I could feel my face grow hot with flame and I tucked my knees into my chest as the raging butterflies twisted and turned in my stomach, contributing to the everlasting sick feeling that I couldn’t be rid of no matter how hard I tried. The tears had finally stopped though. I think I had run out.

“Are you going to leave that bed some time this side of the century?” Mum asked, as she continued packing clothes into her case. We didn’t have many belongings, it wouldn’t take long to pack everything up.

I sighed and shook my head, a week was more than enough time to wallow. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and ran my hands through my hair, grimacing as I felt the grease that was coating the roots. I would really need to wash it, and it definitely still needed cutting. I pulled out my small, purple case from under the bed and began folding clothes to go into it.

“You can’t feel this way about what you did Heidi,” Mum said suddenly, packing up her makeup into a little foundation-stained case.

“I shouldn’t have reacted like that. How can I show my face around them again?”

Mum laughed, “They’re probably thanking the lord you were there. Yes, you reacted rather abruptly, but...” She stopped to stand closer to me and pull me into a hug, “After everything you’ve been through I’d say it was justified.”

Pulling away, I chewed at my bottom lip in thought. Mum turned away with shrug, “I’d be proud of myself, kicking his arse like that.”

I let a small smile creep its way up onto my face, “I really did kick his arse didn’t I?”

“Into next bloody year I’d say!”

I snorted a laugh then. Mum was right, as always and I could feel the sick guilt in me slowly ebbing away. All week I had felt miserable, weak and guilty. But suddenly, I let myself throw those feelings away. I wasn’t sixteen anymore and I wasn’t in the hands of my cruel, debilitating step-father.

I was strong. I was a fighter. And I would be damned if I let another man treat a girl that way.

After I finished packing the small amount of clothes I had, I left an outfit on the bed and went to grab a quick shower and wash away a week’s worth of grime from my hair. As I let the water cascade down my back and over my face, I closed my eyes and let my thoughts drift to Mason, the one person who’s face I couldn’t get out of my mind. How he so calmly pulled me out of my panic, how he held me as I cried despite barely knowing me, forgetting that I called him a dick not fifteen minutes prior. He seemed like a different man to the one I saw gripping the bar in The Black Horse almost two weeks ago.

I stepped out of the shower, immediately feeling refreshed. I squeezed the water out of my hair and wrapped it up in a towel and wrapped another around my body. I walked back into the room, to see mum finishing up, by taking our documents out of the safe. I involuntarily gulped as I saw our fake passports.

We were essentially living a lie.

But it was better than our truth.

I dressed quickly, in my jean shorts and a white tank top. My hair still wet, I threw it up into a bun, clipping it into place with a thousand bobby pins. I checked my case, making sure I had absolutely everything, because we would probably never be returning to this hotel. I was glad to finally be rid of the plain, boring, white walls. I hadn’t seen the B&B yet, but I hoped it had a little more character than this place.

The sun hit my face as soon as I exited the hotel. I looked up to see blue sky and barely a fluffy, white cloud in sight. Perhaps it was a sign that things would be good. I wasn’t much of a believer in signs, but at the moment I was happy to believe in anything if it gave me a little sliver of hope to hold onto. We walked down the long road towards the high street and I kept myself on high alert for any pointed looks, any whispers, or anyone I recognised.

But if anyone did notice me, they didn’t show it. We walked onto the high street and it was bustling with life, as it should be on such a beautiful day. But we were anything but inconspicuous as we looked for anyone that we might recognise, or might recognise us. I looked to my right and saw mum’s face light up as she saw the ‘open’ sign in Jane’s antique shop and the kind woman running around inside. I, too, looked into the different shops and saw that Dee’s was open, Dee herself tending to a customer with her usual bright smile adoring her face.

“It seems everything is back to normal,” Mum whispered.

I nodded, noticing Kate walk into Blossoms’ cafe. Yes, it definitely seemed that way. Mum must have noticed me looking because she bumped me with her shoulder and gestured towards the cafe.

“Why don’t you go and catch up with your friends? I’ll go and see Jane so she can take us to the B&B.”

I nodded and watched her leave before turning around and making my way towards Blossoms’. A sudden feeling got me turning to my left, only to see Mason striding towards me. I gulped as I took in his beauty. He was practically other-worldly. I forced myself to stand up straight and not buckle at the knees like my body was threatening to do.

′Get a grip′ I told myself. ′This is not some historical fiction where ladies swoon at the mere sight of a good looking man.′

But, man, I could feel myself swooning. He came to a stop in front of me and smiled softly, as though I was some frightened lamb.

“Hey Mason,” I said first, before he could say anything. I had attempted to come across as strong, but I just sounded cold.

Taken aback, he frowned. He cocked his head slightly,‘cute’I thought. “Hello, I wasn’t expecting to see you today.”

“We’re moving into the B&B today,” I replied, I was being short with him, and I felt guilty, but I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed about crying all over him that night in the middle of the woods.

“Can we talk?” He asked, “Somewhere private?”

Private? Private was not a good idea. I didn’t like private, I much preferred wide, open spaces with lots of people.

“Is talking here not okay?” I asked, folding my arms, keeping my case to my side with my leg.

Mason pursed his lips as he mulled over my answer, “I wanted to talk about the other night.”

I shook my head and picked up the handle of my case, ready to stalk past him. “I do not want to talk about that.”

I quickly walked past him, but I felt his hand grip my shoulder and spin me round. In shock, I looked straight into his eyes but felt my blood run cold as I saw that they were not his normal, beautiful chocolate brown ones.

They were pure black.

I stumbled back, my heart threatening to burst out of my chest as I kept my eyes on Mason, who closed his own for a second and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, they were back to their regular colour.

But I wasn’t daft. I wasn’t seeing things. Mason’s eyes turned black. That, I was sure of. But why? I definitely didn’t have the answer for that.

“I really need to be going,” I stuttered.

“I’m sorry for scaring you, but I really want to talk. I promise it won’t take long.”

“I really want to go.”

I dodged around him and continued my quick pace up towards the wolf fountain. My mind was racing and I just did not see the wonky slab of pavement in front of me. My ankle twisted and I let go of the case to throw my hands out in front of me to break my impending fall.

But the harsh impact of landing on rough, solid ground never came. Instead, I felt myself stop falling abruptly and felt fingers digging into my waist and around my shoulders. Someone had caught me and wrapped their arms around me. The feeling felt oddly familiar and it only took a second for me to realise who had caught me.

Mason.

He pulled me up to a standing position and let go of me. I looked up into his concerned eyes and felt my lips part as I inhaled a shaky breath. It felt so cliche, but in that moment I felt as though I was in some kind of romance novel.

“Thank you,” I breathed. “How did you even catch me?”

Mason smiled, “I watched you walk straight towards that bit of wonky paving. I knew you would trip.”

He still got to me way too quickly. I had pretty effective reflexes, but I was nowhere near as fast as Mason. I accepted his explanation, but something in the pit of my stomach told me that there was something more to it.

“Look, you don’t want to talk yet. I understand. But I’m here for you Sophie, if you ever need anything.”

He sounded sincere and genuine, was it possible that Mason actually liked me? I felt my stomach twist with something other than guilt or fear. It was a slightly new feeling, but one I quite liked.

I nodded, “Thanks Mason. I was going to see Josie and Kate, but I’m going to go back to my mum now and help her move in.”

He sent me a grin, that both calmed and excited me, “That B&B holds some good memories for me. Take care of it won’t you?”

I smiled back, his grin was infectious and I couldn’t help myself, “Of course,” I replied.

Mason turned around and walked back the way he came, glancing back he smiled when he saw I was still watching him and he held his hand up in a wave. It seemed so out of character for someone like him, that it left me feeling giddy inside. I picked up my case again and headed back, past Blossoms’ and towards the antique shop.

I was surprised to see the blonde hair of Kate walk into the small alley beside Blossoms’ and I noticed Josie was with her. Curious, I crept along the wall until I could hear snippets of their conversation.

“He just needs tell her.”

“He can’t Kate! She’s not ready for...”

“Shhh, I know, keep your voice down.”

“Did you see them then-”

“It was so cute...did you hear that?”

I quickly stood up and sped up my walk away from the alley, not looking back in case it was obvious I was the one who had been listening in. Something in me told me that they were talking about me and Mason. But that just begged the question that was now running and circling through my mind.

What did he need to tell me?

What wasn’t I ready for?