Free Web NovelChapter 273: Visiting Malo’s House (2)
When Mrs. Griffin saw that I wasn’t going anywhere, she finally let me in. She stepped back from the doorway with a tight jaw, her shoulders stiff as she gestured toward the living room. She told me to make myself at home while she went to get Malo.
I offered to visit him in his room, but she said that wouldn’t be necessary and that I should just wait. She practically raised her hand to stop me from moving, her entire posture screaming panic.
Her voice was entirely too low, her eyes blinking rapidly as she hurried.
Something was off.
I knew she was lying about him being at home.
But I played along to see how far her lie would go. I leaned back against the cushions, crossing my legs and keeping my ears sharp for any sound coming from the upper floor.
While I was waiting, I saw a girl by the staircase. She was almost the same height as the boy who had opened the door for me earlier. She had been there the whole time, leaning against the railing. Her small fingers gripped the wooden banister, her wide eyes locked onto me through the shadows of the stairwell.
I waved my hand and smiled at her, but there wasn’t a single expression or reaction. She just kept staring at me like I was some alien who had invaded her house. She didn’t blink, her face perfectly blank as she watched my every move.
So I reached into my hoodie pocket and brought out a lollipop. I had two with me. I pulled the small candy out, the bright plastic wrapper catching the light.
"Look what I got. A strawberry lollipop..." I said, slowly waving it at her.
I noticed her licking her lips as her eyes followed the candy. The stubborn look on her face melted just a little bit, her gaze glued to the red wrapper moving back and forth in my hand.
"If you want it, come and get it."
I made my voice sound childish, the same way I play and talk with the pups. I kept my tone soft and gentle, trying to show her that I wasn’t anyone to fear.
She started moving, her movements slow as she came closer to where I was sitting. Her bare feet made absolutely no sound against the floor as she edged toward the couch, one tiny step at a time.
I couldn’t help but smile at the way she held one finger against her lips. She looked completely torn between her hunger for the sweet and her fear of getting caught.
The whole thing felt like it was taking forever, but I was patient with her. I held the candy still, letting her make the final move on her own terms.
Then she reached out for the lollipop. Her small fingers snatched it from my palm, quickly pulling it back against her chest.
"Hi, my name is Faye. What’s your name?" I asked after giving her the sweet.
"Mimi," she whispered. Her voice was barely audible, her head tilting down as she fiddled with the plastic stick.
I played along and whispered back.
"Oh, you must be the one they call Mirabel. Malo talks about you all the time."
She was trying to open the wrapper, so I helped her. Her tiny thumbs were struggling with the tight plastic, so I gently took it back, peeled the edges open with a quick snap, and handed the red candy back to her.
She sat down on the couch, giving all her attention to the lollipop. She popped it into her mouth, her shoulders finally relaxing as she sat right next to me.
"I heard your big brother was sick. Is he really sick?"
"No," she said. The word came out completely clean and instant around the candy, without a single second of hesitation.
"Does he happen to be at home?"
"No."
I wondered where that boy was. My heart gave a heavy thud against my ribs, a cold knot forming deep in my stomach.
The kids were confirming he wasn’t at home, while their mother was trying to cover up the fact that he wasn’t.
Malo had been acting strangely before he stopped coming to school. He was down, he stopped talking, and he was always lost in thought whenever the group was discussing something.
Last Saturday, I heard he didn’t even come to the gym.
"Emm, Mimi, can you tell me where your big brother is? Do you know where Malone is?"
"Mommy said we should not tell anyone." She muttered, her eyes suddenly darting toward the hallway where her mother had disappeared.
"You can tell me. I’m his friend. Friends should know where their other friends are. Do you have a friend?"
I tried every possible way to get the girl to talk. I kept my voice smooth, trying to reassure her that she wouldn’t get into trouble for helping me.
"My big brother is my only friend..."
"Alright, tell me where your only friend is."
The girl leaned closer to me and made a hand gesture, telling me to come nearer. She waved her small hand toward her face, her eyes growing wide and serious.
I leaned in. I tilted my ear right toward her mouth, holding my breath so I wouldn’t miss a single syllable.
"Our father gave him to the butcher."
"..."
I stared at the little girl, trying to understand what she meant by the word butcher. The word felt completely wrong, sending a sudden spike of pure wolf panic through my veins as my mind scrambled for a meaning.
"Do you know where this butcher is?"
"No. Only our father knows, and he is upstairs in his room... You should go before he comes...."
The way she whispered felt like she was trying to warn me about something, but I couldn’t figure it out quickly. Her small hands were shaking slightly against her knees, her eyes fixed on the ceiling above us.
I needed someone to explain what Mimi was talking about.
Why would Malo be with a butcher? The thoughts were racing through my head at a mile a minute, making my breath hitch as I realized the danger he was in. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
I stood up, wanting to find Mrs. Griffin and ask her where her first son was.
But the moment I stood up, a sudden, blinding explosion of pain crashed against the back of my skull, making the entire living room spin violently around me.
When I turned to see who it was, it happened to be Mrs. Griffin holding a metal rod. She was standing right behind the couch, her face twisted into a desperate, angry sneer as she gripped the heavy iron pipe.
Definitely that wasn’t meant to knock me out, but I was already feeling dizzy. My vision blurred at the edges, hot blood instantly rushing to the surface where the metal had torn my skin.
"You should have left when you had the chance. Why do you always keep interfering in our family business?" she said, aiming to hit me one more time. She raised her arms again, swinging the rod back for another heavy blow toward my face.
But I grabbed the rod firmly. My wolf reflexes kicked in just in time, my hand shooting out to clamp onto the cold metal before it could touch me again.
She tried pulling it away from me, but she couldn’t. She yanked with all her body weight, her teeth bared as she tried to wrench the weapon from my grip, but my strength held it perfectly still.
Just when I thought I had things under control, another massive force struck me from behind, the heavy impact fracturing through my skull like a lightning bolt.
I didn’t see who it was, but that blow sent me crashing to the floor and losing consciousness. My knees gave out instantly, my body hitting the ground with a heavy thud as the room completely dissolved into blackness.
Before everything went dark, I managed to send a distress call to my closest Beta.
