Chapter 36

~Eliana~

It was a little bit sunny outside, and boredom was at its peak. I was trying to write something, but it appeared that I had unfortunately come down with a writer’s block. I needed to clear my head, and just write something... anything. I had this deadline by Friday, which was three days away, and I still couldn’t figure out a captivating plot twist in a drama I was co-writing.

When we had gone to the lake house almost two weeks ago, I had asked Alistair all sorts of questions about werewolves, in order to get an idea for this script that seemed so impossible to write. Alistair was too busy to help out overcome my writer’s block, and the next available person I could turn to was Carrie, who I hadn’t heard from since we last saw each other at Sam’s welcome party.

I was already in front of her veterinarian clinic, and I knew she was going to be surprised when she saw me. It had been a while since we had had an alone time with each other, discussing about supernatural stuff and all of that, and we had been drifting apart slowly. We hardly spoke on the phone, and the last time we had texted each other was at the lake house, where she had told me how she had caught two female dogs making out. It was funny to see, as she had only heard of homosexual animals, but it was her first time of seeing it happen in reality, and I was the only person she could think of telling.

For as long as I could remember, I always confused push with pull, and vice-versa. After pushing the door didn’t work, I pulled it, and voila! It opened.

“Good morning. How can we be of help to you?” Carrie asked, not looking up from what she was doing, which was using an injection on a dog.

“You could help me out with my writer’s block,” I said, walking closely towards her.

“Eliana!” She squealed, in excitement, leaving the dog, and coming to hug me tightly.

I embraced her tightly as well, like a long lost friend. “I didn’t know this, but I’ve missed you,” I said, as we withdrew from each other’s arms.

“I’ve missed you as well. You just forgot all about me,” Carrie accused.

“You know very well that I didn’t,” I said, walking over to the dog she was treating.

It whimpered, and I patted its head. “You’ll be fine, sweetie,” I said, smiling at it.

“Of course, it definitely will be fine,” Garrett said, coming out from the storage room.

“You! I literally forgot you work here,” I said.

“Ouch! That statement just hurt my pride. It means you don’t give a damn about me,” He said.

“That’s not true,” I argued, with a chuckle.

“Are you sure?” He asked, wearing a really cute smile.

“Yes, definitely,” I replied.

He placed his hand on the dog, and like what I had seen Alistair do for me at the lake house when he took away the pain I was feeling, he took away the dog’s pain, and with time, the dog felt relaxed, and looked at him, like it would have said “thank you" if it could talk.

“There, there, good boy,” Garrett said, rubbing its stomach.

“He is so good with the animals, I’m lucky to have him here,” Carrie said, unaware of what had just taken place.

“He sure is,” I said, exchanging knowing smiles with Garrett.

“Should I get you something to drink?” Carrie asked.

“Yes, please. A can of iced coke will do, the weather is so hot,” I said, swallowing, to satisfy my thirst for the moment.

“Okay, Eliana. I’ll go get one at the shop next to me now,” She said, picking up her purse.

Garrett stopped her midway. “You shouldn’t walk in the sun. I’ll help you get it,” He offered.

A smile appeared on Carrie’s face. “That’s so sweet of you, Garry. Please, get us two cans, thanks,” She said.

“Okay, dear. Do you want anything else?” He asked.

“Sandwiches,” I answered immediately. Then, on seeing the look on Carrie’s face, I immediately added: “That’s if you don’t mind,” I said.

“Of course, I don’t mind,” He told me.

“Thank you,” I said, wearing a smile.

He gave Carrie a kiss on the cheeks, and the next minute, he was out of the clinic, going to get the coke and sandwiches.

“You’re a very lucky girl, Carrie. He obviously loves you,” I said, pulling a stool to myself, which I sat on.

“I know he does, but it doesn’t mean I should take advantage of it,” She told me.

I smiled, knowing what she was driving at. “I’m sorry if I sounded rude when I told him to get me sandwiches,” I said.

“You didn’t sound rude. It just felt like you were speaking to one of your servants at home,” She explained.

“It did?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes, Eliana, it did,” She replied, sitting beside me.

“I’m so sorry about that, I had no idea,” I apologised.

She shrugged. “I guess I took the matter too far. You’re just used to speaking that way, I’m sure you meant no harm,” She said.

“Thank you for your understanding. Once again, I’m reminded that I’m a princess,” I said.

“Well, that isn’t so bad. I’d have loved to be a princess as well... not just by having a rich daddy and living in a diamond castle, but one in which royalty runs through my blood,” Carrie said.

“I understand...with tiaras and dresses. I mean, I own most of those, but I still don’t have royal blood flowing through my veins,” I said to her.

“Yeah. So, what’s this thing you were saying about having a writer’s block?” She asked.

“Well, I can’t write. I’ve run out of ideas, and I have a deadline, but I just can’t seem to put something down. It’s just me against a blank sheet of paper, and my pen is looking me right in the eye, and I just can’t use it,” I explained.

She heaved a sigh, thoughtfully. “When last did you write?” Carrie asked.

I gave her question a thought for about a moment. “About two weeks,” I responded.

“Well, you can still revive the writer in you. It hasn’t been that long since you wrote something down, so, you can fix it immediately,” She said.

“Okay. So, how do I go about fixing it?” I asked.

“When last did you read other people’s books?” She asked.

I racked my brain to give an answer to her question, but found it hard to come up with one. “It’s been a while...a very long while. I think, it’s been up to eight months or so. Except I’m going through what my co-writer has written, in order to start from where he stopped, I haven’t really sat down to read books written by people other than me in almost a year,” I replied.

“Well, that’s the treatment you need. Read other people’s books,” She said.

“And how, if I may ask, is that supposed to help me out?” I asked, shooting her a befuddled look.

“Reading books written by other people will definitely give you ideas on what to write, and go as far as motivating you to finish what you have started. It may not make sense to you now, but trust me, once you do it, you’ll come back to my clinic to say thank you to me,” She told me.

I gave a small smile. “I guess I’d have to try it then. Thank you, Carrie. I wonder what I would have done without you,” I said.

“You’re welcome, Eliana. You know, it’s funny how you always come to me for advice on different kinds of stuff, but for reasons best known to you, you didn’t tell me you were now into hunting for animals,” Carrie said.

“Er... what do you mean?” I asked, pretending that I didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Don’t play dumb, Eliana. Everyone has been talking about it...the news, passers-by, customers... practically everyone. You were the one who found Sam, and it just so happened when you were hunting with a group of friends. I mean, I know you’re into animals and all that, but you never once confided in me that you were going to start hunting for animals,” She said.

“It’s not like that, Carrie. I wanted to tell you, but it escaped my mind. The day we actually saw Sam was the first day we went to hunt, and we’ve not gone hunting again since then,” I told her.

“Let’s assume that is true. You didn’t even tell me the miracle of your friend suddenly coming back, and I heard it from Garret. Why? Don’t you trust me anymore?” She asked.

“Of course, I do. Everything just happened really fast. I’ve been helping Sam to settle down, and I’ve not really even had time for myself. I should have told you, but I didn’t, and I’m sorry about that,” I replied.

“But why, if I may ask, have you not been talking about supernatural creatures and all of that lately? You seem to know something that I don’t know,” She said.

“And what could that possibly be?” I asked.

“I don’t know. It’s just seems as though all your questions have been answered, and suddenly, you don’t need me anymore. You don’t seem troubled these days, you don’t seem like you’re still trying to find about anything,” She accused.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Well, let’s just say that life has taken a different turn, and I don’t want to go back to being the crazy girl, coming up with absurd theories and having hallucinations. You said that I look like I have found answers to my questions. Well, that’s not true. It’s just that Sam came back and confirmed that he also saw a wild beast, who had attacked us. Ever since then, my parents and other people have stopped treating me like a nutcase, and that has made me more fulfilled,” I explained, not entirely telling the truth.

“So, you’re no longer interested in finding out if supernatural creatures really exist?” She asked.

“No, I am not. I have been at it for years now, and I haven’t found anything. I love the life I’m living now, free from all that drama. I’m no longer in the news for being a crazy and psychotic bitch, and I’d like it if it can remain the same,” I said.

She nodded her head, in understanding. “Well, next time, just let me be aware of things. Don’t just take decisions, leaving me in the dark in the process,” She said.

I placed my hands on hers. “I promise, I won’t do such ever again. Even if I am to leave this city in a short notice and I don’t have the time to call anyone, I’ll definitely call you,” I promised her.

She smiled at me, and I returned the smile.

“You know, I’ve also been thinking of dropping our supernatural creatures theory of a thing. However, I won’t let go of all we’ve been able to find so far, they’d always remain with me. I also like how things are right now, and I don’t want to keep on searching for what isn’t there. It’s such a shame though. I’d have really loved to see a werewolf or a vampire...”

“Or even a werecat or a zombie,” I added.

“So, what are you going to do? Keep on writing documentaries and scripts, or are you going to change because you’re no longer into that stuff?” She asked.

“I love writing, Carrie, and that will never change. I’ll keep writing, but no longer on the supernatural realm. I’d dive into other ideas and genres,” I replied.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Carrie said.

“Thank you,” I replied, and my stomach suddenly rumbled.

We both laughed out loud, with her assuring me that Garrett was going to be back soon. My stomach could never hide the fact that I was hungry, and lately, I’ve been feeling even more hungry than I used to in the past. I always wanted to eat anything I laid my eyes on. I’ve always loved food, but now, it was more of gluttony and greed, but I couldn’t ignore the desire in me to eat, because if I tried to, my stomach will keep on making annoying sounds like this to remind me to give it food, which I always succumbed to doing at the end.

All I had needed was an evidence to support my theory, and now that I knew I had been right all along, I didn’t even inform Carrie, who had been my partner all this while. If she ever found out, she’d find it hard to forgive me, especially since she had given up since I also didn’t believe anymore.

I just hoped that if that time ever truly came, she’d understand that I did what I did for her sake, and that I had her best interests at heart, by hiding the truth away from her.

My eyes met with someone else’s eyes... someone I had noticed staring at me all this while from outside, but I shook off the thought that the woman who was looking at me, was up to no good, seeing that she just seemed curious, as was normal of a woman with grey hair. Oh! How wrong I was.