10 - Sadie

Slowly, I came to. My eyes fluttered for a moment, my lids almost too heavy to lift. I knew I had been out for a while - my muscles were aching and I felt...well...dead. I shifted my weight so I could get up, but found soft bed sheets underneath me instead of the hard wood porch. Everything from what happened before I passed out came back to me in a rush, and I jumped up, instantly alert. I was lying on a bed, with a blanket over me, and a glass of water on the cabinet next to me. Seeing it made me realize how dry my throat was, and I gulped the entire glass down in seconds, almost choking. Then I noticed. I wasn't in my house. The bed sheets were black, with wisps of silver on the duvet. The flooring was thick silver carpet, and the walls had a beautiful forest painted on it - looks like it was by hand.

 

I stared at the marvel on the wall, impressed by their handiwork, until I heard a cough coming from the doorway. I looked up, and there was Damien, leaning against the doorframe, looking like some sort of Greek god. He was in different clothes now, but they still made him look like a supermodel. The new marvel in the room had all of my attention, but I was still uncertain of how to act. He hadn't approached me, but from what I saw yesterday, I knew I should have been scared. Instead, I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

"Explain." I knew it sounded rude, but come on. I was in some random guy’s house, who I may remind you, TURNED INTO A FRIKKING WOLF IN MY BACK YARD! He continued to stare at me, but moved towards the window ledge, perching on it, and he sighed.

"I’m impressed you haven't gone screaming to the police yet. You’ve obviously got more guts than I heard." a crooked grin slipped across his face for a second, then it was gone. Worry set in, and he began his long explanation. About bloody time too.

 

"I know this is hard to understand, you probably think you've gone crazy". Damn straight. “You’re not, trust me. When I first found out about everything I thought I had gone crazy too. But this is happening, and it’s very, very real." he stopped then, almost as if he was struggling to speak.

"I’m not meant to tell you anything until you find out yourself - I wasn't even meant to let you know I existed, but I had to. You have a right to know. There are things out there that aren't, quite, human." id figured that out for myself, genius. You turning into a wolf in front of me kind of sealed the deal.

 

"We have to keep our existence hidden from everyone, or else we'd probably be killed within days. Humans are scared of things they don't understand, and anything they are scared of, they destroy. We call ourselves Shifters. We can change our form into that of a wolf. Not a normal wolf, obviously - we're much larger than normal wolves. And some of us have gifts. Powers if you will. It’s not superhero stuff, like flying, or invisibility. A select few of us are what we call Aura. They can control, or influence a certain element, or being. I am one of these. I can influence fire, in any way I want," and to demonstrate that, he held out his hand, palm up, and a small ball of flames came to life in his hand. The colours flickered from red to orange to purple then to blue. It was beautiful. It was dangerous, but beautiful.

 

"There are others in my pack who are Aura. Some of them you know, but I can’t tell you their names, not yet. I can’t tell you much more, other than you cant tell anyone, not even your mother." thoughts of my mom finding out that there are man-wolves running round the forest flickered through my head. They involved a lot of screaming, yelling, and crying. Not good.

 

"Okay, so you guys are like, werewolves or something?" humour spread across his face, and he chuckled, a low rumble emitting from his chest.

"I guess you could say so. There are differences though. We don't change at the full moon - we can choose when to shift, and it is painless and quite quick. We can control ourselves when we are in our wolf form. We still have animal instincts, but we don't act upon them."

 

I sat there, in the middle of his bed, soaking in everything he had said, and surprisingly, I was okay with it. I thought I would have gone crazy, running out of the house, screaming, but I just sat there. It was kind of cool to be honest, being able to turn into a big-a*s wolf. But one thing struck me as odd.

"So why do I need to know all this?" his face dropped.

"I can’t tell you that, not yet, but you would have found out sooner or later. I just told you earlier than I was meant to. I’ll probably get in trouble for this."

He stood up abruptly, looking out of the window towards the forest, a frown settled on his face. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't ask for any information. He didn't offer any.

 

"Come on, let’s get you home. You’re looking better than you did an hour ago." so he had been watching me sleep. I know I should have thought of this as creepy, but I found it kind of sweet, watching over me, like he did when he was just a wolf. I missed those times, when everything was so much simpler. I didn't have to question everything I had ever been told. I could just accept that things weren't real, and live a normal life. I missed the days when I would look out of my window and see my wolf watching me, keeping me safe from other monsters that lived out in those woods. It was still a bit odd, a girl befriending a wolf, but not unheard of. Now I knew he was something more. I hadn't decided whether he was a fantastical creature, or a monster yet, but I knew I would have to decide soon. I just hoped it wasn't the latter.

 

I followed him out of the room, down the stairs and out the back door. I still didn't have a bloody clue where I was. All I saw was trees - to me left, my right, and right in front of me. I knew we were deep in the forest though, because all of the trees were closely packed together, and I couldn't hear any noises that suggested we were near civilization. All I heard was the trees in the gentle wind, as if they were whispering. A girl and her wolf, the new gossip story of the forest. I laughed out loud at the absurdity of my thoughts, and he turned to me with a quizzical look on his face. I just shook my head, and he dropped it.

 

"Alright then, which way should I go then?" I knew I’d be lost in minutes, but I didn't know whether he would go with me or not.

"I’ll lead, you'll get lost" he said, mirroring my thoughts. “It would be a lot quicker if I carried you, but only if you don't mind." he waited for my reaction, anticipation visible in his expression. He handed me a rucksack, and I gave him a questioning look. 

"I can't carry it if I'm carrying you; I'm going to need it later. You okay with me carrying you?"

"No I don't mind, but I'm pretty heavy" how the hell is he meant to piggy-back me through a forest, probably for miles, faster than we could walk? 

"Trust me, you won't be." and he shifted in front of me, again looking to me for my reaction. 

 

Crap, I forgot about that. It’s scary how quickly you can forget that he wasn't human. He seemed normal, as if we had been friends for ages. In actual fact, we have been, I was just unaware that I was friends with him. The large white wolf in front of me lowered himself to the ground, and flicked his head, an invitation for me to climb on. It seemed crazy, the idea that you can ride a wolf. Granted, this wolf is bigger than any wolf I’ve ever seen. More horse sized than wolf sized, but it still seemed crazy.

 

I tried not to think that he was also a man, as I climbed on, and settled into the crook in-between his shoulder blades. I grabbed the fur on his neck, there being nothing else to hold on to. He lifted himself off of the floor, and barked softly, questioningly.

"Yeah I'm fine, let’s go." I was thinking of what mom would say when I turned up, the day after I had left. He set off, at a slow walk, and then increased his speed as soon as he hit the trees, almost galloping through the forest. Everything had turned into a green blur, and I honestly thought we were going to hit something, but we never did. It felt strange, going so fast, but not even feeling as if we were going any faster than walking. His strides were long, but smooth. I didn't bump around as if I was horse riding, and it felt like I was sat on a fluffy couch going a billion miles per hour.

 

It took only a few minutes to hit the treelike behind my house, and I could see the security lights were on, even though it was light out. That means mom hasn't even come home yet. It’s been a frikking day woman!!!! This was unusual for her, she normally came back every night, even if it was at stupid o'clock in the morning. Damien stopped just before we got into the back yard, and lowered him again. I hopped off, walking forward a few steps, and then I felt a tug on my back, as he grabbed the rucksack with his teeth. I let it go, before I toppled over backwards, and turned to see him trotting off behind a tree. Well bye then. I turned back towards my house, wondering why mom hadn't come home, until I heard a snap in the trees behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw him standing there, once again a man. He had on a pair of jeans, and a grin that could make any frail woman swoon. Even I had trouble keeping my mouth closed.

 

"I had to change - our clothes don't pop in and out of existence, so I have to carry them, or hide them sometimes. Sorry, I wanted to say goodbye properly and sorry"

"Sorry? Why sorry?"

"I didn't want to scare you, and I know it’s hard to get a grip on the idea that the world is bigger than you knew."

"Its fine don’t worry. I'm a tough cookie, I adapt easily.” I said at him, winking. Woah, where the hell did all of this confidence come from??? I blushed as soon as I realized what I had done, and I saw him grinning at me. He knew.

 

"Well, that always helps in a world that’s ever-changing." he said, winking back at me. My slight blush turned into a full on red face, and I shyly let my hair fall into my face to hide it.

"Thanks, for showing me the truth and stuff. Um, see you later, I guess?"

"I’ll be where I normally sit, and sorry for keeping you awake, ill be quiet from now on" he mimed zipping his lips shut, and I couldn't help but giggle.

"Well, goodbye then" I said as I turned to walk up to my house. He was silent until I opened the door, and I heard him whisper,

"If only you knew." I turned abruptly to ask him what he meant, but he had gone, already merging into the darkness. Confusion left me standing on the porch for a few minutes, but I let it slide, and went inside, in case mom turned up. I walked into the living room, and my heart stopped. My breath caught in my chest, and I froze to the spot. This couldn't be. I had to be dreaming, but it seemed so real....

 

"...Dad?"

Reviews

[vaishnavi]

writing piece is nice but if you ask for feedback then i will suggest you that you should make more suspense so that the readers will enjoy and then you should continue the suspense till the end of chapter and then suddenly close the chapter ( so the readers will be awaiting till the next chapter comes and so you can make a long chain of readers )

[Wolfwhisperer]

i have changed it, is it any better?

[vaishnavi]

i could see that you have changed some incidences and now they are good you have changed some dialogues too... but one thing i will like to say in the 6th or 7th paragraph u have written

s**t, i forgot about that. its scary how quickly you can forget that he wasn't human

u have used ** which makes the work looks like a small spot on the white wall
when anyone reads it it could guess it in a second that it is written 's**t' so there is no need of putting stars (***) because when we saw films with the subtitle or the dialogues written below it only the particular words are not shown and they are not shown as s**t instead they are completely *
and the word s**t is not done the stars so it will not make much difference if you will writ the complete word ^_^

the other thing i will like to say is that u have end up with a suspense
keep it up now i am eager to read other chapter

[Wolfwhisperer]

thankyou very much, i will change that immediately. the next chapter is uploaded, i hope you enjoy

[Wolfwhisperer]

ah, next chapter isnt up yet, sorry i thought this was the previous chapter, i will get cracking on that straight away

[vaishnavi]

okay i will be waiting for that

[Wolfwhisperer]

ive added the next chapter, sorry it isn't very long, ive been preoccupied, but im gonna be writing more often now

[vaishnavi]

oh okay
could understand
am too not regular to write

[Wolfwhisperer]

ive added more chapters now