New Place, New You

THE HOUSE TO HER NAN'S PLACE STOOD BOLD. Those bricks were laid one at a time, perhaps on a fine spring day. She let Her eyes wander the roughness and how each is very straight. Her Grandparents made this house with love, that's for sure.

"Harlow!" Her Nan came rushing out, ill or not. She was always excited to see her only grandchild, just as Harlow was happy to see her too. 

"Nan," Harlow felt no reluctance to run and meet her Nan halfway. She was embracing her tight.

There is no gem, no diamond, more significant than her Nan. Though life crushed her, though she suffered, she shone brightly for her and her mother. She showed them that one could survive and learn to thrive, find the good stuff, and have genuine gratitude.

She was a lady of admiration, and for sure, Harlow looked up to her. 

"Look at you." She says, pulling slightly away. "You've grown since the last time I saw you." She wrapped her arms around Harlow once again, going back in for another hug. There was no protest against the action; Harlow felt comfort.

Moving didn't seem so bad; she didn't realise how much she had missed her Nan until now. It had been months since she had seen her.

"Hey, mom." Her mother said, dropping their bags down on the ground. The only ones they'd pretty much brought her by themselves, the rest of their staff were sent here ages ago by moving trucks. 

A twinkle of happiness lit up in her eyes when she saw her daughter, her silver-blue filled with excitement. "Elena, sweetheart." She says,  hugging her. 

"I've missed you." Lisa mummers, releasing a sigh. It defiantly had been so long since she'd seen her. 

Once in a while, her Nan would come out and visit more often than she should, but since she was getting older, it was getting difficult for her to travel at such a long distance, especially since her husband had died was all alone.

Now that she was sick, her mother decided it was best; her Nan had done so much over the years that for them, they had to repay her in some way, even if that meant moving to a place you barely knew. 

"Oh, sweetheart, I missed you too. Come now, let's get inside." Lisa urged them, gently edging them towards the house.

The house hadn't changed since the last time she was here. There was the same table where her Nan would place her keys situated to the side of the small room. The walls still had that deep colour reduced hated so much; it strongly reminded her of blood. Nothing covered it except a tiny clock that hung loosely from a nail. The carpets were the same colour, and she wondered if her Nan liked the colour or if it was the design of the house.

A tiny television was in the corner; it had moved from where it used to be in the far centre from where it was now. She frowned, noticing her Nan hadn't changed anything literally since her last visit. Six years ago, she'd stay here for three d, and herHer mother wouldn't allow her to stay any longer; Harlow always wondered why but always concluded that her mother just missed her.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see who she saw. It was her Nan. With a smile on her face, "Now, Harlow, I know for you it's a big change, but I think you're going to love it here." 

She hoped so.

Harlow didn't particularly know what to say, so she smiled. A kind smile, but inside she didn't know how to feel about this massive shift that her life had taken. Moving just wasn't for her, and the anxiety that came with the spit of nervousness had her mind on overdrive. 

"Um, mom, where's my room?" It was too much to take in all at once, so she needed a bit of a hiatus and the only way she could have that was to have a minute alone, where she could simply breathe.

"Up the stairs and down the left."

She knew that was the room she was getting, and she always stayed in there every time she visited. Essentially it was the guest room, but now that they stayed there for more than a couple of days.

Harlow bent down and picked up her suitcase; it was small and light. Her closet didn't contain many clothes; it consisted of jeans, sweats and a plain t-shirt. She wasn't into fancy, stylish clothing, but that was also because they couldn't afford it. Money was always tight, but she and her mom got by, even if that meant she had to work.

The stairs had that squeak every time she stepped on each step as she reached the top floor. They were old but still safe. 

Once in her room, she shut the door and leaned against it. She was breathing slowly. Her breath seemed to stutter in her lungs before she let it go, feeling the tension drain from her body. Her breathing returned to normal, and she felt as if she could face the problem.

How did she feel so weak when she was the predator, a werewolf. Then again, she couldn't call herself that...she was barely strong even to cast herself as an om, and a. A low ranked wolf. The pack she was from, Blood-Moon Pack, always teased her for her lack of strength and being here in the Crescent-Pack. It just felt just as intimidating as ever.

The Crescent pack was the third-largest pack globally, consisting of about eleven thousand wolves. Her kind expected things of you here, and she didn't know to feel about that either.

She only hopes her Nan was right about her loving it here cause right now, she didn't feel like she did.

'Calm down; it's not even been an hour.' Her wolf always seemed to interject in moments of panic. Sometimes she loved it, and sometimes Harlow always hated it.  

She always loved connecting with her wolf; it was like she had a split personality, like another being lived inside of her- which technically was true. It was nice knowing you weren't completely alone in this world, and she wouldn't know how to cope.

Being psychically connected allowed you to have a conversation within your mind with them. Some even don't have the opportunity to. Some wolves are too feral to distinguish between humans and animals, but that rarely happens. The chance of that probably of ever happening was like one in a million people.

Yet, she was glad she had an upside to this werewolf business.

'Fair point.' Harlow replied.

With that, Harlow picked up her suitcase and threw it on her queen-sized bed. Unzipped it, she began to unpack her small amounts of clothes, taking out her tops and bottoms and placing them neatly on her bed, next to the suitcase. 

The sigh left her mouth heavily. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.