Chapter 3

Chapter 3: "What are you doing here?"

It was just a few months after Christmas- either February or March I don’t remember which. It was the day that I will never forget, and if I were writing down the unforgettable moments it would only be after the birth of Daniel.  This is the one day that I wished never happened. It was the worse thing for Danny to experience. Why did he even bother coming?

It was just a normal day, I had just gotten off of work and I was headed to go pick Danny up from daycare. It was Late February, with the unusual late snow still on the ground, as we drove home.

“Mommy, can I play in the snow, when we get home?” Danny asked me, blue eyes shining.

“Not tonight, baby boy. You get to go visit Aunt Max tomorrow, and maybe you can play with the twins in the snow,” I replied, looking at his reflection in the rearview mirror.

“Okay...” he said, turning his head to look at the passing snow. His small hand was pressed against the glass.

I smiled, and turned onto the exit ramp, exiting the interstate. We lived out in the suburbs, only about 20 minutes away from the restaurant that I co-owned, and where I ran the kitchen. I turned my eyes back onto the road, the center lines blurring in my side vision.

I turned off into our housing development, sighing, as I passed by the houses that held the happy American-styled families. None of them were like mine, but none of them had the determination to protect it’s members like mine does. We never had a normal family, only for about four years for Dean, two for Max and myself, and only a short six months for Sam. The most normal my life has been was when I was studying in France to become a professional chef.

“I’m hungry Mommy!” I heard Danny wail from his car seat.

“We are nearly home, Daniel. So just wait,” I replied back, with a snap at the edge of my voice.

I heard him take a deep breath but nothing came out. I sighed with relief as he didn’t speak. Something always managed to bother me when he wailed at me like that. As I drew closer and closer to my house, I noticed signs of someone either have to be there or that they were still there.

“Daniel, I want you to be a good boy right now and listen to everything I tell you okay?”

I heard no response from him, so I looked into the back seat to see that he had fallen asleep.

“Precious angel, you are,” I whispered, as I pulled into the driveway, parking the car in the garage. I got out of the car, grabbing my bag, before I went and unbuckled Danny, carrying him and his bag towards the house.
I was already on high alert, but my arms tightened around my son, as someone stood up. One person that I knew too well.

“Why isn’t it Leslie, the one who couldn’t handle her husband and ran away from the times got rough,” he sneered.

“Well, excuse me. I have a child to take care of, and you are preventing me from doing it. Laissez moi seul, Pierre,” I spat at him.

Danny moved in my arms and murmured in his sleep.

“Ne dis mon nom comme ça. Tu m'appartiens! Tu avez été depuis nous nous sommes mariés!” Pierre yelled at me, slipping into his native tongue. (Don't say my name like that. You are mine! You have been since we married!)

I held Danny with a single arm, as I walked past him, shoving him out of the way. “I will never be yours again. That’s what a divorce means, Pierre! Je te déteste! I can’t believe you are acting this way in front of your child!”

I left him standing on the walkway as I stepped up onto the porch. I unlocked the door, and said, “Might as well come in. I see we have a lot to talk about...”

He just gave me a weird look and followed me inside. I went into the living room and sat Danny down on a couch, covering him with a blanket. I set our stuff on a table by the closet. Shrugging out of my coat, and chef’s jacket, I turned to face him. He stood there, leaning against the wall, his arms crossed.

“Why are you here, Pierre?” I asked him.

“Why does it matter to you?” he snapped at me.

“Because I left you behind many years ago. I am tired of seeing you. I am finally happy, but you have shattered that!” I spat at him.

“Hmm. Seems more like you are hiding from everyone that you know,” he said as he moved closer to where I stood.

I glared at him and crossed my arms again. My eyes flickered from him and went to look down at Danny who was sitting up.

“Mommy?” he asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Yeah, Daniel?”

“Can  I go upstairs?” he asked me as he noticed Pierre. “Who’s that?”

“He’s just a friend, baby. Go on upstairs. Take Sima with you,” I replied.

He nodded and slid off the couch, going towards the back door to call for Sima, his six-year-old dog. I turned my attention back to Pierre who was watching me with an angered expression.

“Je ne me cache à personne. J'ai une vie ici. Quand je vous ai quitté, j'étais enfin heureux. ” I answered Pierre, my eyes burning with hatred. (I am not hiding from anyone. I have a life here. When I left you, I was finally happy.)

“You think you know it all!” he screamed at me, and I flinched looking away from him.

“No, I know that I don’t know everything, but I know everything there could be to know about you,” I said softly, my eyes flashing dangerously with anger flooding them.

“Don’t even give me an attitude, Leslie. You are nothing but a pet that thought it was free of its owner,” he sneered at me.

“Oh...do you want the poor little innocent looking kitten to show her claws? I don’t like you anymore. I have never liked you except when we first met- because you were different. Pourquoi avez-vous changé à ce point? Nous étaient parfaits ensemble. I trusted you with my heart and then you dropped and stomped all over it,” I spat at him. (Why did you change so much? We were perfect together.)

He looked over at me with such harsh eyes. “You will be mine again. You will always belong to me.”

I just turned away and went into my bag that held the knife I always carried on me. I took a deep breath and turned, and through it towards him, and it landed in his thigh.

“What was that for?!” he screamed at me.

“Leave. I am going to call the police. I would leave and never look back. I would never look back at me and Danny,” I spat at him.

He stared at me for only a moment longer, before he pulled the knife from his leg. The silver blade was covered with the scarlet of his blood. Well...I knew that he wasn’t a werewolf or a shifter because of it. It was after a few seconds of him not moving that I spoke up.

“Leave now.”