Read Online WILDly by wildly - Free Book Online

was
getting too personal. I didn’t want to dwell on me any further, not
in a conversation with Alex. There were other things that I wanted
to know.
    “Where is Lisa?
Does she know you’re here?”
    “Lisa is back
at varsity, and yes, she knows that I’m here.”
    “Oh. You don’t
look so good. Lisa said you were ill. What’s the matter? Is it
because of Duncan?”
    “Yes, I am ill.
If only this weather....” He stopped abruptly and then cleared his
throat before he continued. “I doubt that it’s because of some person like... like Duncan ,” he said disgusted. “I
only saw him twice recently. The first time was the day that you
arrived, the second time was the night at the party. And he’s not
strong enough to do anything to me.”
    I knew it. It was Alex out there with Duncan on the night of the
party.
    “I knew it was
you!” I yelled.
    “Yes, we
discovered that you were watching a little too late,” he answered
in a regretful tone.
    “What were you
doing out there?”
    “It’s a long
story. I’ll tell you one day, not now. I don’t want to make it more
difficult for you.”
    I thought about
his words and believed him. Although I was finally getting a few
answers, I didn’t want to go against Alex’s judgement. So I jumped
to the next question.
    “Why are you
saving me?”
    “Well,
partially because your dad sent me.”
    “Oh. So you
know my dad?”
    “Yes, I’ve
known your father for a long time. You have wonderful parents, you
really should appreciate them.”
    “I do,
actually. How do you know them?”
    He huffed, out
of breath, but then continued at a tangent.
    “Don’t you love
being outside in the bush?”
    “I’ve always
loved it,” I answered, too inebriated to notice that he had made a
sharp u-turn.
    We ended up
talking: well, he talking and I slurring, about nature. I told him
about my memories of being out in the wild and how I’d always felt
more alive when I was outside, told him every little detail of each
image that I still had in my head.
    He occasionally
smiled or nodded, as if acknowledging or maybe recognising a
particular part that I was describing, getting up every now and
then to refill my glass.
    By the time
that the fire was cold, I was completely smashed.

    When I woke up
the next morning, I had a pounding headache and Alex was gone. His
car stood outside, but he was gone. The last thing that I
remembered was him carrying me to a bed and throwing a blanket over
me.
    He hadn’t said
anything about his plans the night before. I eventually found a
note in the kitchen on the table next to the kettle.
    Had to
leave. Clean clothes in the bathroom. Take my car and go home . GPS inside.
    I made myself a
cup of coffee and went outside to sit on the porch. The first rays
of the morning sun were peeking through a bank of clouds above the
mountain silhouette below.
    The view that
stretched out in front of me was breathtaking. The cabin was built
close to the top of a hummock that looked down upon waving, dense
bushveld. The smell and sense of the bush have always been
especially beguiling to me, And with the marvellous landscape in
front of me, I made a decision.
    I decided to
take control of my life.
    I’ve always
believed in an internal locus of control, and in recent months I
had not been living up to my own beliefs. It was high time that I
stopped being a victim. And stopped dwelling on past events that
I’d never be able to change.
    There were a
few things that I simply had to face.
    I was born this
way, whatever this way was. My parents confirmed that.
According to my knowledge, the people who knew about it, besides my
parents, were Alex and Duncan and most probably Lisa. And Bridget.
The fact that they knew about all the abnormal activity was
actually a blessing. It meant that I wasn’t crazy, I wasn’t alone,
and there were people who clearly cared deeply for me on my
side.
    It also meant
that there were people who weren’t on my side.
    I finished my
coffee