Cherry Blossoms

Yana meets another werewolf named Gabe.

  Yana’s paws hit the ground with enough force to stop a freight train. Behind her, Emily landed easily, even though it was a two hundred feet fall.

    “That wasn’t such a bad fall, huh?” She asked.   

    “Not at all. Sadly, that’s the highest cliff around these parts.” I say, and she groans.

    Suddenly she sniffed the air. Her face grew taut with a look I recognized.

    “Hungry?” I asked.

    “Yeah. I’ll see you back at the dorms.” She said, and then was gone.

    I sighed. Emily seemed to be getting more and more distant every time we talked. Something was going on with her.

    Looking out from the cliff, I took in the view. Below me, a river snaked. Sandy rocks seemed kind of small from here.

    Oh! The cherry trees must be blossoming! Below me I saw soft pink blossoms. Those cherry trees would only last a few weeks.

    I leaped down from the cliff, dropping like a rock before my feet touched the ground. The shock that tingled up my legs was just a little touch.

    Padding through the woods, I wondered where John was. Ever since he met Argentum he had been vanishing a lot more frequently, almost as much as Emily.

    My nose twitched suddenly. Something, no someone, was ahead. Male, big and muscly, about my age, nobody I knew personally.

    Pushing through the leaves with my nose, I saw a beautiful dark brown wolf with blue eyes. His feathery tail swept the ground, and he seemed to dance on his paws.

    I stood there stunned, and then he lifted up his muzzle and let out a long slow howl. It was deep and beautiful, and then he sniffed the air uncertainly.

    Shrinking back into the brush, I prayed he wouldn’t see me. Please don’t turn around, please don’t turn around-

    He turned around. Of course.

    “Who’s there?” He asked his voice smooth.

    I stepped through the leaves and brambles, finally coming out and shaking my fur free. Glancing away from him, I stood there, waiting for him to do something.

    Suddenly something soft brought my chin up. I stared into his piercing blue eyes, tinged with amusement. The soft thing was his tail, and he brought it down to intertwine with mine.

    “Such a pretty face. I wonder if you’re as beautiful as you are now when you’re human.” He murmured.

    “Uhh…”

    “I’m Gabe. Who are you?” He asked.

    “I-I’m Yana.” Real smooth, I know.

    “Well, Yana. Did you come here to see the cherry blossoms too?” He asked, his ear flicking back to the trees.

    “Yeah. They only bloom this time of year, so I figured I would come by.”

    “I know. Amazing aren’t they?” He asked, and we looked out at the trees.

    “So, Yana.” He said, and I followed him to the base of the tree. “Have I seen you before?”

    His tail brushed my long fur out of my eyes. “I don’t think so.”

    “Well, Yana. It is a pleasure to meet you. I always make an effort to meet all the pretty girls.” Gabe said.

    “You are so sweet.” I say, and he focuses me with his amazing blue eyes.

    “Wow. You’re eyes are so beautiful.” He said, staring into mine.

    “Yours are more than mine.” I say, and he smiles.

    “So, ever been cliff diving...”

    6:22 p.m. (that evening)…

    After spending the entire with Gabe, I went back to the cave for dinner. Simeon and John were already there, so I was the last one to join the table.

    “Sorry guys.” I say, now back in human form. John said nothing while Simeon complained about making them wait.

    “Alright guys, settle down.” Mother said, and a delicious smell wafted over us. “Thanks to your father, we have a fresh deer.”

    “Dad, you caught a deer?” John asked, amazed.

    “That is so awesome. What happened?” Simeon asked, and Dad launched into a story.

     Only mother caught on. “Honey, you smell funny. Like a…like a boy.” She said, leaning away.

    “WHAT!? WHO?” Simeon, Dad, and John in unison.

    “Oh, just this werewolf named Gabe. I met him today.” I say.

    “When? What was he like? Is he cute? What did you two do together?” Mom, ecstatic.

    “I met him this afternoon. He’s really sweet and outgoing, and yes he is cute. All we did was just talk by the cherry trees that’s it.” I say.

    “Still though. I want to know about him. Who are his parents? Do I know them?” Dad wasn’t so happy.

    “Dad, calm down. We’re just friends.” I say.

    “Whatever. Honestly I think this is awesome. She’s been spending too much time with that vampire girl.” John said, digging into the deer.

    “You’re just glad because I won’t be around you as much.” I say, and he shrugs.

    John and vampires don’t mix at all. Period. When Emily comes over, he eats quickly before rushing off. Emily doesn’t mind having him around but the tension is so thick a knife couldn’t cut through it.

    And of course, John being my older brother, he was protective of me when he could be.

    I devoured my food quickly and excused myself, saying that I had homework to do. I love my parents and all but sometimes, you need a bit of space.

    I raced back to the dorm quickly so none of the teachers would see me returning and find out that I escaped. Waiting for me, sitting by the fridge, was Emily.

    “You smell different.” She said immediately, taking a sip of animal blood.

    “You too? Mom said the same thing”

    “I’m serious.” She leaned forwards and smelled my arm. “You…smell like a werewolf boy! Who is it?”

    She was excited now. I sighed and decided to get it out of the way quickly.

    “I met a werewolf guy named Gabe Wens, and on a scale of one to ten, he is a nine or eight point five.”

    “Dang, he is hot. What happened?” She asked, sitting on my bed.

    “We talked under the cherry tree while it was blooming. I like Gabe a lot.” I say, leaning up against the desk.

    “What does the family think?”

    “Mother is ecstatic. Father, Simeon, and John…not so much.”

    “So John doesn’t like huh? I like this Gabe guy now.” She said, smiling.

    “Me too Em, me too.”

    7:34 P.M. (same day)…

    That day, I stopped by Silver’s dorm to exchange fabric. Emily and Fiona were poring over a Goth magazine while I talked to Silver.

    “Okay, I have big news.” I say, sitting on her bed while she measured some fabric.

    “What happened?” Fiona asked, looking up. Emily already knew so she just flipped the page.

    “Okay, so earlier when I was outside near the cliffs, Emily and I were playing-

    “She met a werewolf dude she likes and spent the entire afternoon with him.” Emily broke in.

    “Shut up! Is he cute?” Fiona said.

    “He’s between a nine and an eight point five on the scale. She told me so herself.” Emily said.

    “Good God he’s cute.” Silver exclaimed.

    “Well, as long as we’re sharing secrets here, I think Silver has something she wants to share.” Fiona said, and Silver shot her a glare.

    That got everybody’s attention. Silver shuffled her feet awkwardly and looked away. Whatever this was it was huge.

    “Umm, yeah. Does everybody remember when the ceiling fell in Fiona and I’s dorm? Well-

    At that moment, Emily got a call. She pulled her small phone out of her pocket and tapped the screen.

    “Hello? Who the heck is this? Oh, sorry sir. My bad, I apologize sir. Where?” She grabbed a pen and pencil in a flash. “Really? There? Kind of crazy at the hotspot in town. Okay okay I’m going. Bye.” She hung up.

    “That was a call from the VTS. A small gang, about five, is practically murdering people at the town hotspot. I got to go.” And with that, she was gone.

    Silver and Fiona exchanged a look of confusion. I took in a breath before explaining.

    “VTS stands for Vampire Tracking Squad. They track the bad vampires and recruit the good vampires for them. Emily is one of the vampire agents so she goes out and kills the evil vampires that harm humans.”

    They stared at me for a full minute before my phone vibrated. Flipping the phone open, I saw that I had something scheduled.

    “And now I got to go too. I got to go meet up with Gabe. See ya.” I say, flicking a wave before vanishing.

    In a second, I was at the cherry tree that I had met Gabe at earlier. Sniffing the air, I saw that I was the only one here. Gabe must be late.

    Picking up a jagged rock in my teeth, I etched a symbol into the tree. Standing back, I stared at the symbol that represented me.

    The tree was now special. It was where I made a memory that hopefully will end well. Smiling, I sat down and waited for Gabe.

Author's Note

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