The Unclaimed Human Luna
Chapter 50

El POV

El came down the stairs with her suitcase first thing in the morning, placed it by the front door and then headed off to have breakfast with her mother in the dining room. She’d had to have all her meals with her mother and Logan yesterday. It was one of the conditions for her being allowed to go. She’d done so, lunch and dinner, even spent time walking in the community with her mother yesterday, they’d sat last night and watched a movie together as well. She didn’t understand it, her mother’s sudden need to be with her all the time. But Logan had simply told her, it’s just one day Eliza, can’t you spare some time for your mother?

Other than packing, which she had done right away, she didn’t have anything on her plate, so she had no reason to say no. He knew it. She didn’t have to worry about running into Conner, he’d gone off on some company retreat apparently along with a hundred other of his employees, she’d been told, when she’d mentioned the dining room was much quieter than normal. Would be gone for several days, maybe a week, depending on how the retreat went.

She’d also not hung out with Marlo and his friends in days, and as far as she could tell, they were fine with that. None of them attempted to talk to her or interact with her when they’d seen her. And one or two of them had seen her, she’d smiled at Hayden himself and he’d frowned right at her.

She’d simply dropped her eyes from him and his hard stare which had made her more than uncomfortable, and moved on. She’d been right. They were told to hang out with her. It had hurt more than a little she’d realised, none of them understood how it felt for her to be here. What was going on with her, her daily struggle with herself, the way Conner was with her. How that in itself hurt, caused pain in her all the time.

So, she had elected to be on her own, after that. It was better being solo, she’d decided, to go back to just being on her own all the time. They were all on Willah’s side of things, not that El had ever encouraged Marlo, but with Willah hating her, so did everyone else, it seemed. They were all Willah’s friends.

So, spending time with her mother was no real hardship. So, she did, spent most of that afternoon and night with her. Then she had gone off to bed early in the hope that she would be able to sleep, though even there in her room, she felt lonely. That ache inside her chest was worse tonight as she lay there in her bed, more so than it had ever been before.

She took several deep breaths and reminded herself she was doing this for her own sanity, couldn’t stay here, it was not healthy. She felt like she was losing herself to that man, wasn’t at all herself when he was in this bed with her. Needed to get away from him, from this place, to get back to feeling normal.

Though she tossed and turned a lot in that bed, couldn’t sleep, couldn’t seem to shut her mind off, her head and body were at war with themselves. She knew she had to leave for herself, but a part of her never wanted leave here, knowing Conner would come to her room and have his way with her. That raw need in him, created so much in her.

“Stupid a*****e.” She muttered into the room as those words of his rolled around in her head once more, crave me, want me, need me. Even right this minute she did want him, one last time before she ran the hell away from him. He wasn’t even here and still she wanted him. It was sick, is what it was to want a man that only used you for s*x and nothing more.

Now she was sitting at breakfast, showered and dressed in her harem pants and her soft green cashmere top, clothes that were comfortable to wear for long periods of time. She needed to be comfortable for the long drive.

She smiled at her mother, was actually happy to be going, though she had slept terribly. She was going to stop by her father’s grave before getting on the plane, tell him she was going to Italy, to get that degree and make him proud of her. Lay his favourite flowers on his grave, he loved daffodils, they had a whole garden full of them. She’d seen him some days after they had just first bloomed stretched out in the garden napping down there by them.

They used to do that together when she was little, nap outside in the garden down by the flowers. He always told her they were the sweetest smelling things, that he just really liked them. The colour, their shape, their scent. Everything about them drew his attention. She also noted that her grandma grew them too. Had potted plants of them in her sunroom. As well as several garden beds of them, all different kinds. Her father, though, he just liked the yellow ones, it was all that he planted.

She was walking with her mother and Logan to the front of the apartment complex when Marlo called out to her. She turned and looked at him, hadn’t spoken to him in days. “El, where are you going?” he was looking from her to Logan, she realised. Didn’t actually think he was asking her, it was more like he was asking Logan.

“To California.” She stated simply.

“What? Why?” his eyes moved right to Logan “Really now, when the full.”

“Enough Marlo.” Logan cut him off. “I have given El permission to go and visit her father’s grave site for his birthday.”

“But Logan.” He shook his head slightly. “Really now?”

“Yes. I think now is a good time. She will be back in five days.”

“If she doesn’t run off again.”

Her eyes moved to Marlo, and she glared right at him, didn’t need him bringing that up, Logan might just change his mind and then her plans were shot to s**t.

“She is going with her Grandma, Marlo. A family trip, and rules are laid out. I think this will be good for El, show her we trust her to come back. Right El?” Logan’s eyes landed right on her.

“Yes, Logan.” She nodded “I do appreciate you letting me go. It is important to me.”

“I understand El.” Logan smiled at her. “I’ll work a bit harder on our relationship when you come back, less rules for you.”

“That would be nice. I would like that.” She nodded.

“You can use all those lake toys you purchased.”

“Oh, yeah I forgot about those.”

“It’s fine El, I’m glad you’re starting to fit in. Now remember you have to use the card I gave you, the whole trip. Check in on social media and pick up your phone when I or your mother call.”

“I will.” She assured him, would do so till she was on that flight that was. “I do need to go, or grandma will be waiting on me at the airport.”

“I’ll take your suitcase.” He nodded and picked it up “A bit heavy, El.”

She walked next to him, not something she would normally do. “You said if I was good, I could stay a few more days and hangout with Cordi, I packed extra clothes for that.”

Saw him smiling down at her. “Good, thinking ahead and I will let you stay extra days if you follow all the rules. As I said I would.”

She smiled right up at him, “I will, oh I got my acceptance to the university and got a dorm with four rooms allocated to me as well, got that yesterday afternoon, but only read it this morning before coming downstairs.”

“Excellent. Would you be amenable to me selecting some roommates for you?”

She looked right at him and huffed. Although she wasn’t going to be attending that university, it was actually still annoying that he wanted to do that. Saw him look right at her at her reaction to his question. “Can’t the university just allocate students and I can make my own friends?”

He nodded. “I guess so. How about a compromise, one I choose two perfect strangers you can make friends with.”

She nodded “Alright, I can live with that.” She wasn’t going to live with any of it. But if he thought she was, that was all that mattered right this minute, she was still letting him know she was annoyed but compromising with him. Likely better than her just nodding and agreeing, he might see right through that.

He put the suitcase in her father’s car, which she was being allowed to drive. He’d not even argued it, just nodded and said alright, when she’d brought it up. Her mother hugged her tightly, “I’ll miss you El, come back safe, okay. Don’t be any trouble for your grandma.”

El actually laughed at that one. She was never actually any trouble for her grandma. “Like I would do that.” Couldn’t, even if she wanted to, that woman would smell a lie a mile away. “we’re just going to sing crappy car tunes at the top of our lungs and eat junk food a lot.”

Saw her mother smile “Try to eat at least one proper meal a day.”

She nodded “I will, If I can convince grandma to.” She smiled and got in her car, looked at her mother as she started the car, this was likely the last time she would see her for a very long time. Years in all likelihood “I love you mum.” She told her.

Saw her mother hug Logan as she stood next to him. “We love you too, El.” She said, “Now you’d better not keep Sloan waiting.”

Eliza nodded, and clipped her seat belt on, before driving away from them, was finally getting out. Freedom just a short, 15-minute drive to the front gates, prayed with all she had that they would be open for her to leave. That Logan didn’t suddenly change his mind, nervousness was setting in and her stomach was all squirely, as she approached the gates, they were closed, slowed down as she approached.

Then they slid open, and she breathed a sigh of relief, bit her l*p as she drove out of that place and looked in the revision mirror to see them close. That part of her life was over now, she was about to take that huge step on her own. Drove herself all the way to the Salt Lake City airport. A two and a half hour drive or there abouts.

She parked the car and headed into the airport to find her grandma, wasn’t hard to do. Her flight had landed 10 minutes earlier and she was strolling from her gate towards the front of the airport. Smiled right at El and waved at her. Eliza ran right over to her and hugged her so very tight, just stood there and held on to the woman. Uncaring of anyone looking at them.

“You’re alright El, we’ve got this.”

She pulled back, and looked at her, nodded her head as tears welled up. It was really starting to hit her, that she was really going to do this, run away to the other side of the world, to likely not have any contact with her own mother ever again. Took a deep breath in and said, “I’m alright grandma.”

“Your scared, is all.”

Eliza nodded “A little.”

“Come on, we’ve got a few hours before your flight.”

“What?”

“El honey, this is an international airport. Why I chose it? You’re going today, will be on a flight in a matter of hours.” She touched her face and really looked at her. “Are you certain, Eliza?”

She nodded “I am, I don’t belong there, grandma.”

Got a slow nod from her grandma, “Alright I’ve book us a hotel room for a few hours, I need some things from you to keep them off your trail for as long as possible. I’m good at finding people El, so hopefully I’ll be good at hiding you.”

“Until they know what you did to help me get away.”

Saw her grandma smirk. “Let them come, my bite is worse than theirs, I assure you.”

They went off to the hotel and to her surprise, her grandma had her sit down and record her voice, read out phrases that she thought would be good responses to any questions that Logan or her mother might ask her. Had El put her own spin on those phrases. Even had her go and stand in the bathroom and holler from there, a few phrases.

Had her laugh a few times, and g***n, sound annoyed even. “You’ve done this before haven’t you.” Eliza asked her.

“Maybe just once.” Her grandma chuckled “I’m not just a find your daughter kind of person. That’s just what I’m known for.”

“How many people have you gotten out, grandma?”

“You don’t need to know that. I don’t keep records either.” She smiled at her. “Now, give me your phone and credit cards, everything that man Logan is using to track you all the way to California.”

“Grandma?”

“Oh, you’re going to make that trip. Check in like he told you too, answer all those phone calls and then the day before you’re supposed to come back, I’m going to shut all your social media down and poof, your gone. Though for him only a day. When realistically it will be near on a week.”

“You have done this before.”

“Mm, it’s in my nature to be cunning and clever. Do sneaky underhanded things. And honey, I like letting my true side out more than you could possibly know at this point.” Looked right at her and tilted her head a little. “Perhaps one day you just might.”

El laughed softly and handed over everything. She watched her grandma pull everything out of her suitcase and pack it into a new one altogether. Frowned at that, “did your stepfather offer to put it in the car for you?”

“Yes.” She nodded.

“Likely put a tracker on it then, I’ll be taking that with me. Right, I got all your important stuff. Now I need you to transfer all your money to this account in Italy, it’s your new bank account. Your aunt Juliana will give you full access to it when you get there.”

Looked right at her and smiled “You ready to start your new life, Kit Hunt.”

Eliza nodded, Kit was her middle name, “then let’s get you on your flight. And me off on our family trip.”

Her Grandma took her right to the Gate, not something she would normally be allowed to do, but somehow managed it, looked right at the security guard and he nodded “Sloan, good to see you.” opened the gate for her, to let her through. El looked right at her. “I know some pretty high-up people, get a bit of leeway.” She smiled right at her.

Stood with her at the Gate and hugged her tightly, “I love you El, you’ll be safe with Juliana. She lives on a massive commune, might be a bit weird for you, but after Logan’s gated community, I think you’ll do just fine.”

Hugged her right back and thanked her once more before stepping onto that plane and being directed to her seat. Surprised her that she was going to the first class. Had never travelled like this before, knew her grandma had money but never brought it up or asked her about it. She didn’t live like a wealthy person, the only things she spent money on was her garden and her fox collection.

Then the plane was taxiing and then up in the air and she was flying away to the other side of the world, to her new life. Free and clear, for at least, as her grandma said, almost a week. Rubbed at that ache in her chest, that just wouldn’t go away.