Chapter 24

~Eliana~

I took Sam’s hand in mine, and squeezed it gently, then smiled warmly at him, giving him all the assurance he needed to step out of the car with me, for the press conference that was to take place in about fifteen minutes.

“Please, sit by my side,” He said.

“I already told you I don’t want to do that. The press conference was set up for you, not me,” I said, reminding him.

“I know, but I’m way too shy to face everyone in there,” He said.

“One would think that being a wolf for ten years would have stopped you from being a shy person. Didn’t you face hunters and wild animals?” I asked.

“It’s not the same thing, Eliana,” He said.

“You know nothing goes for nothing, right?” I asked, with a wink.

He chuckled. “Ten years later, and you’ve not still changed. Name your price,” He said.

“You’d take me on an ice cream date tomorrow,” I said.

“I was planning on doing that anyway. Your favourite flavour is still Vanilla, right?” He asked.

I nodded, in the affirmative. “Yeah, I’m still practically the same Eliana you’ve always known,” I told him.

“Yeah, except that you have a degree, and you’re doing well for yourself as an anonymous scriptwriter,” He said to me, his tone laced with sadness.

“You’re still young, Sam. I know they’re a lot of things that you could have achieved in ten years, but at least, you’re alive, and you have many more years to do all that you weren’t able to do over the last ten years,” I told him.

“You’re right. At least, I’m alive, and I can still do pretty much anything, unlike Candice and Nick, who don’t have that opportunity,” He said.

“I didn’t mean it that way,” I said.

“I know, Eliana. I’m just saying that you’re right about me not being sad. I should be happy and thankful, because I got a second chance at life, which anyone would have prayed for,” Sam said.

“Exactly.”

“I think we should go in now, before my parents think something is wrong,” He said.

“Yeah, we should,” I agreed.

The bodyguard that his parents had stationed to watch over him for twenty-four hours opened the door, and we both alighted from the vehicle, a navy blue Ferrari, with tinted black windows.

He linked his arms with mine, and we walked closely together, as the paparazzi, ran after us, taking candid photographs of us, as well as the news reporters, who were obstructing our movement, by asking questions that didn’t even concern them. If there was a profession I hated, it would definitely be journalism.

Journalists just didn’t know how to mind their business, and derived pleasure in prying into people’s lives, and telling the world about people’s private lives. If I were the president, I’d instruct journalists to focus on only reporting issues that concerned the country, instead of engaging themselves with the personal lives of celebrities.

Sam and I were both putting on suits. While he wore a three-piece navy blue suit, with a black shirt, a black necktie, and black pocket square, matching the outfit with Jimmy Choo black leather shoes; I, on the other hand, had on a bright pink Givenchy tailored trouser suit, with black silhouette heels, and I carried a black leather bag.

The bodyguards that had followed us all the way from Sam's house, in a different car, came forward, and pushed the reporters and paparazzi backwards, making room for us to enter the press conference hall.

Sam’s mother, who he looked exactly like, stood up immediately she sighted us coming into the conference hall, and ran to embrace him tightly, still finding it hard to believe that her supposed dead son, was actually alive, and in good health.

“Eliana,” She called, placing her hands on my cheeks, in appreciation.

“Thank you for bringing my son back to me,” She said for the umpteenth time.

“It wasn’t a problem, Mrs Evans,” I told her, with a smile.

Years ago, at his funeral, I had pulled his mother into my arms and embraced her tightly. She had told me that she was looking forward to being my mother-in-law, but fate had been so cruel to her, and that she never even got to see him graduate from college.

When I had taken him to his parents’ house a week ago, he had been putting on Garrett’s clothes, and when she laid eyes on him, she didn’t embrace him, but she embraced me, saying that she knew I’d bring him back to her someday. Apparently, she had also believed her son hadn’t died, but didn’t voice out her feelings, and had just kept trusting that she’d see him someday. That’s why even when the guards and his other relatives had thought that a ghost had come to see them, and were hiding in fear, she had opened the door widely for him to come in.

A week later, the news had spread like wildfire that Sam Evans, one of the four teenagers who was involved in the ghastly motor accident ten years ago, whose body was never found, had returned home alive. A lot of speculations and rumours had been going about, so, his family had decided to hold a press conference, so that the whole issue could be clarified to the public.

The hall was filled up, and everyone watched in disbelief as Sam and I walked side-by-side to the table, to address them.

I noticed his hand shaking, and gave it a small squeeze. “You’ll be fine, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks,” He said.

“All you have to do is tell the truth,” I told him.

“The truth?” He asked, slightly raising his brows.

“You know what I mean,” I said, just before we took our seats.

My eyes met my mother’s own, who was sitting beside Mrs Evans, wearing a huge smile on her face, apparently proud that her daughter was going to be in the news for something good, for the very first time.

“Good afternoon, everyone. Um... since I’ve never held a press conference, I don’t know what to say, but um... I’m glad that each and every one of you decided to show up here today. I am Samuel Evans, and I’m here to discuss a few things about my life, that has gone viral for about a week now. I am so nervous about all of this, so, I’m thankful to Miss Eliana Venator for agreeing to sit by my side through all of this,” He said.

“What a nice opening!” The moderator declared, as people started giving him several rounds of applause, much to his surprise.

“I told you everything will be just fine,” I whispered, also clapping, with a smile on my face.

“It’s probably just fine because you’re here,” He said, in a low tone.

“Mr Evans, you were missing for ten years. May we know why? Was it amnesia? Did you lose your memory, and couldn’t find your way back home?” A reporter asked.

He cleared his throat, and spoke into the microphone, “No, I didn’t lose my memory. I actually was unconscious, and fell into a coma. Like everyone guessed, my body was washed away and carried off by the sea, due to the heavy rain that fell that night. However, I was found floating on the water by some people in a remote village, and found out that I was alive surprisingly, then they kept me in their local hospital, providing oxygen for me to be able to breathe with every day.

“A few months ago, I had suddenly woken up, and I looked around for my friends, only to be told that ten whole years had passed, and the villagers didn’t know who I was, or where I had come from, but had still kept me, believing that I’d someday open my eyes. With their help, I was able to afford to come back here. However, I was fooled and kidnapped by some men, who I had disclosed the family I came from to.

“They tied me up, and said that they were going to ask for ransom from my parents, and I told them that it wouldn’t even work, because they probably believe that I’m dead , but they didn’t listen. The day before they were to place a call to my parents, Eliana, who had been hunting in the forest, came across the mud House I had been locked in, while my kidnappers visited the bar, and when she entered, she was shocked to see that I was still alive. That’s practically the whole story,” Sam lied, saying the exact story Alistair and I had told him to.

He couldn’t possibly say he was a wolf for ten years, and couldn’t transform back into a human being. Everyone would think he was crazy, my parents will try to hunt him down, and even if people found out that it was true, they’ll be terrified by his presence. He’d never get to live like a normal human being ever again, because society was definitely going to reject him.

“Sounds like the storyline of a movie to me. Is everything you said truly correct?” A doubting Thomas, in form of a reporter, asked.

He scoffed. “Whether it sounds like the storyline of a movie or not, the bottom-line is that I was in a coma for ten years, and I only just found my family, thanks,” He said, firmly.

A smirk played around my lips. I liked the way he had instantly and directly put the reporter in her place.

“Mr Evans, do you think you’d be able to describe the village where you were found?” Another reporter asked.

He shook his head. “Sadly, I am unable to. I can’t seem to recall where the village is located, and I never got to know the name. My family and I, are however, trying to go to villages with rivers, in order to find out the exact one, whose villagers had saved my life, and to repay them for their good deeds,” He replied.

“Miss Venator, this question is for you. Do you usually go out alone at night to hunt for animals in the forest?” A reporter asked.

Although I hadn’t seen that question coming, it was an easy one to answer. “Well, I never said I was alone. I have a group of friends, who I hunt with. They’re private people, and don’t want to be involved in any of this,” I responded.

“Why do you hunt, Miss Venator?” The same reporter asked.

I shrugged. “Isn’t it obvious? My surname is Latin for “hunter”. I hope that answer is enough for you,” I said.

“I have one more question for you, Mr Evans,” The doubting Thomas said.

“Go on,” Sam said.

“Ten years ago, Miss Venator had said what had happened was not just a car accident, and added that a wild animal had attacked you, and ripped the car apart. Is that true?” She asked.

Sam and I exchanged confused glances. We hadn’t thought that such a question was going to come up, and as a result, we had not prepared the answer to give to it.

“You don’t have to answer it,” I whispered to Sam.

“Maybe this is an opportunity to stop the world from thinking you’re crazy,” He said, also in a whisper.

“You know, when I heard that everyone doubted Miss Venator, I began to feel bad for falling unconscious all these years. It’s sad that no one believed her, and have been seeing her as a crazy person for ten years. Well, I am here to tell you that Miss Venator was right. We saw a wild animal... no, a beast... it was walking on two legs, but it was definitely not human. It attacked us, and while Eliana and I tried to escape, he pushed the car into a tree, and it caught fire, burning up Candice and Nick.

“He ran after Eliana and I, while we were trying to escape, and flung her into the forest, then as I was running away from him, I got trapped, and fell from a high building, and the rest is history,” Sam explained.

He shot a small smile in my direction, and I smiled back at him. Although he hadn’t planned it, his reply had been perfect, and as I watched the reporters scribble down on their notepads in confusion, I felt happy. If Sam had been around all these years, I wouldn’t have been referred to as a wacko, because there would have been somebody to back me up, but as people say, “better late than never". At least, people could now get to believe me, all because I had gotten my best friend back.

There was this unsettling feeling I felt however, and it had been lingering on ever since Sam was transformed back into a human being. It was as though things were different now, and life was going to be more complicated than it ever was.