I drifted in and out of fevered dreams, my body racked with chills despite the dampening touch of the cold towel on my forehead. Each shuddering breath reminded me of the gnawing truth; maybe I was turning. Elena's cryptic prophecy scoffed at for years, was about to bloom in the starkest hues of moonlight and fur. It had all happened so fast, a whirlwind of confusion and pain. My reckless defence of my estranged father, Nico stepping into the crossfire, his panicked teeth sinking into my flesh. Then, the chasm that opened between me and Dad, his eyes spitting venom and accusations, his face an alien mask of loathing.Nico hovered by her bedside despite it all, his face ravaged by guilt. Every tear that streaked his cheeks was a searing needle in my already burning core. I reached out with a shaky hand tracing the path of a glistening tear."Don't," I rasped, my voice brittle like dry leaves. "It wasn't your fault. You were protecting yourself."Nico choked, collapsing onto the mattres
The following week had the students of Tulane University all high-spirited and eager, eager to hop into the new curriculum as resumption schedules kicked off.“You would tell me if something is wrong right Nico?” Ariana'svoice sounded worried from over the phone.She had been trying to reach me but I had been intentionally ignoring all her calls because I wasn’t ready to face my reality yet. I practised how to stay calm each time my nose smelt meat from miles away. My body ached uncontrollably and sometimes my gums put so much pressure on me that I ended up crying in bed. I avoided silver iron like a plague because I had learnt of its cause, and I couldn’t resist the smell of wet earth like Nico once stated.My life was slowly slipping away from my hands and I was too scared to face my friends with my new habit of always sniffing or growling on the bed due to several wolf nightmares. A huge part of my humanity was evaporating into thin air and I knew it, it was going to be a hard seme
“Are you sure about this?” Nico had asked when I decided it was time for me to return to school.Hazel had made sure I was familiar with the symptoms and how to go about them when they came. She had stayed longer than I expected her to, but her presence and help made it bearable to live.When I asked her about what she meant when she said Dad was scared to face reality; “He couldn’t accept your Ma was gone, he couldn’t accept Elena was the killer, he didn’t want to accept, he didn’t want to believe Elena was back into his life. It must have been so hard for him.” Were her words.“How do you know this?” I had grown inquisitive.“He told me the day we finally met at a mini cafe, after so many years of not seeing each other. He struggled with what was visible before his eyes. He didn’t want to live in the truth because it scared him to admit, admit that Elena was not done with us. So he made his mind believe it would be over if he ran away.”All of what Hazel said was not strange to me,
The hard smack from behind me sent me flying off Ariana’s body. The pack was here, and I wasn’t the only one staring at them bewildered. Ariana seemed to have lost her chance of breathing because I could hear the rising beat of her heart. Her feet lost direction and she lay on the floor unable to move or say a word, just breathless pants and terrified eyes.They were already transformed in their full form, and their eyes were focused on me. Did they come to have a share in my prey? Why were they here?Ariana finally found her balance and took off into the dark woods when she noticed the pack was no longer paying attention to her but me. I snared, I growled, I took a stance of defence and looked at them fearlessly, but nothing seemed to scare them from walking towards me. They circled me and watched me fall on my knees and scream out in the pain of my full transformation. First, my bones gradually began to rearrange themselves, taking my clothes apart bit by bit, furs covered my body
“What is wrong with you?” I vented at Nico as soon as Thomas and Richard left the tent. “Why were you indulging them in such conversation?”“Calm down Ella,” Nico’s voice was soft. “I wasn’t indulging,I was only asking questions to be clarified on what next to do. I never would have let them hurt Ariana you know that.” His eyes were laced with sincerity and I believed every word he said. “Hey... hey what's the matter?” Nico moved closer to me when tears began to gather in my eyes.“I almost hurt her Nico, I almost hurt my friend.” I placed my head on his chest and allowed my tears to wet his shirt. “I jumped on her with my claws... I don’t even know if I scratched, or if she got home safe. What if she didn’t? What kind of friend am I?” I continued to sob.“I know you didn’t hurt her Ella,” Nico said.“You are just saying that to make me feel better,” I sniffled.“No. I am quite sure of what I saw last night Ella.”I looked up at him and sniffled again. “What did you see?”“A strong wo
Lola’s place was enough hideout for me at night, but not during the day. I still bumped into Ariana in school, and she still avoided me like a plague.“Ariana still avoiding you?” Lola asked, one peaceful night at her place.“Yeah,” my voice was rough with emotion.“Give it time Ella... she would get around,” Lola said.“And what if she doesn’t?” I knew what the answer was going to be, but somehow I just wanted to live in denial.“You can only try Ella, but you can’t force it.”The noise of crickets suddenly became the only audible sound that filled the room after a long pause. “So why did you leave the dorm?” I asked.“I didn’t leave, I just wanted to be alone for a while... away from the noise and chatter of students who enjoyed living normal lives and had nothing to worry about.” I caught a sore in Lola’s voice that made me feel it wasn’t just about being alone... it was about home. Something troubled Lola about her home but she didn’t want to share, at least not yet.“So are you g
The words hung heavy in the air, each syllable a hammer blow to Ariana's already fracturing world. "Lola? Thomas?" she croaked, her voice barely a whisper. "They are... He is... one of you?"I sat across from her in the dimly lit classroom, winced. The confession had been arduous, each name I had shared chipped away Ariana's carefully constructed reality. But honesty was what I agreed was the only path forward."Yes," I confirmed, my voice heavy with regret. "They are part of the pack. Like me. They are the pack.""No... no... you can’t be serious," she choked out, the words laced with disbelief and a sliver of desperate hope. “I would have known, I would have known if Thomas and Lola were...” She looked at me with tears in her eyes.My face etched with the weight of the truth. I couldn’t bear seeing Ariana so heartbroken."Why?" she breathed, her voice barely a whimper. "Why didn't you tell me? Why did you lie to me, Ella? All this while you knew... and you let me chase him around li
It was the weekend already, and while others sat at home watching their favourite TV show or made pancakes with their siblings, I sat in a barbecue grill shop, with no interest whatsoever in the barbecue or the customers who rained praises on the uniqueness of the smoked fish. But I was thankful for the noise, the busy environment, the servers who went all out to please the customers and the customers who asked why it was taking so long to have their big grill of goodness. It somehow made the world seem so small and bearable.“Ready to order Ma’am?” one of the servers stopped at my table.“Not yet, I am waiting for someone.” I smiled at him and looked around in search of Nico.I had promised him that I was going to tell him how my meeting with Ariana went. The hickory smoke curled around me, carrying the tang of ribs and brisket as I tapped my foot impatiently. Nico just had to be late. I sighed, swirling the ice in my cup of sweet tea, the condensation leaving trails on my fingers.S
Two months later“Hurry up! We are going to be late!” Claire screamed from down the hall.“How did she get to dress up so fast?” Ariana asked. Lola opened the door from outside. “Hey you guys, I think we should hasten things up, or else we would miss the speech.”We hurried along with her, excitement surging through our bodies. It was the graduation ceremony. Nico was graduating! I was super excited about it because he had several fallbacks in school that made him re-take a lot of classes, extending his year of graduation.“What took you guys so long?” Claire examined us.“Sorry Claire, we were just trying to get prepared for the ceremony,” Ariana smiled.“Are we done with the chit-chats?” Lola was getting impatient. “Alrighty then, let's go!”“I thought you said we were going to miss the speech... the ceremony hasn’t even properly begun,” Ariana frowned when we got to the ceremony ground.“Well... better late than never,” Lola shrugged.“I don’t think that’s the best way to use tha
“Would you stop pacing around and glancing at your watch nonstop?” Lola said. “You are making me lose my cool you know.”“Yeah... you are keeping us on our toes here,” Claire agreed.I had finally told them everything that happened during our visit to see the witch. They were most excited about the demise of Elena. Telling the pack on the other hand was a hard choice to make, but we had to make it. Nico called for a meeting and the pack was informed about the progress and conditions involved.“As the leader of this pack, it's my rightful duty to choose what’s best for us. But I also must lead you without spite and a regretful heart. The condition brought to us by the witch is not one that we can control. And it would be selfish of me to do this without telling my pack about it. That’s why I have called this meeting, to hear from you brothers... and sisters,” Nico’s voice thundered with authority. “What your take is on this... and whatever we decide as a clan shall stand... no matter w
It was shiny like they had been soaked into a bowl full of glitter. I looked at the tiny bottles as we drove back home. The cure.It was finally in our hands, but somehow I couldn’t help but wonder if we made the right choice. Was the cure going to cause a feud between brothers and friends just like Agnes said? Was it going to bring death? Was it going to get to its final stage of completion? “If after forty-eight hours the blood of a willing hunter is not mixed in the potion, the potion ceases to be active. And don’t bother about coming back here to look for me... because you won’t find me.” She vanishes into thin air after laying the potion on my arm.I looked at the potion again. It had already been mixed with my blood and that of Nico’s. Now it was up to my Dad. Forty-eight hours.#I held on to it tight, like my next wake depended on it.****“Are you sure about this ?” Nico looked at me with concern.I nodded. “It’s now or never Nico.”“You know the last time all three of us we
Nico drove at a speed that made my inside turn. We informed the pack of our search and they offered to tag along, but we told them it was something we had to do by ourselves.“Remember, when it looks like danger is lurking, howla at us,” Lola made a wolf joke.Ariana and Claire were also aware of our trip and they offered support in the only way they knew how to. “If anything goes wrong, just call us and we will dial 911 straight up!” Ariana said.“You can’t bring the police to a werewolf and witch fight,” I reminded them smiling.“Oh... that’s right,” she gave a cringed look. “But still,” her eyes spewed concern. “Be careful.”“Promise to come back to us,” Claire said.“I promise.” I hugged them. After a few hours on the road, Nico, like he was reading my mind, chuckled. “What funny,” I asked him.“Nothing. I was just wondering why they all made it look like we were not coming back.”I laughed. They did make it look like that. Everyone reacted in a way of love that was easy for them
The familiar smell of grilled barbecue stung my nose. The noise in the restaurant was never changing. Customers still ranted about their orders, and servers hurried their way to please. “You mean you can’t remember those group of chatterboxes who sat down at that table two weeks ago?” I asked the waiter, already frustrated.“No Ma’am. It's impossible to remember the customers we have here in a day because we are highly patronised,” he bragged. “Not to talk of the ones from weeks ago,” he shook his head sympathetically. “They were like four of them,” I continued adamantly. “Three elderly men and one woman,” I searched the waiter's eyes, waiting for a positive reply.He shook his head. “Nope... nothing Ma’am. I am so sorry,” he picked up his iced drink and resumed his duty.“Let it go, Ella,” Nico sounded drained.“Let it go?” I shouted, and then realised I might have drawn attention to us. “Let it go?” I repeated in a calm voice. “Why would you say that? You know how much this means
“Wait, so you guys killed Garry?” Claire asked confused.It had been a week since we heard last from Elena, and everything seemed to have gone back to normal. I was back at the dorm and so was Lola, except for the time when she needed to go get stuff from her coursemate or go buy groceries, which I knew was a BIG FAT LIE!Ariana and I were cool again, and we were closer than ever before. The tension had tied between us, and they had learnt to accept me for who I was. Dad on the other hand was still finding it difficult to adjust to my new development. He never picked up his calls or replied to my voicemail. Nanny was more welcoming than he was, and she always invited me to come over for the weekend, but we all knew how disastrous that would turn out to be at the end.“No, we didn’t,” I tried to pass a clear message to Claire for the umpteenth time. “I wasn’t a wolf at that time, but I knew of their secret. There was a werewolf hunter who was sent to hunt them down and kill each one of
Relief washed over me as I stared at the pack that gave me so much pride. Finally, the time was here and there was no turning back now, not even for Elena.Elena stared at them for a few seconds and burst into laughter. “I see... I see what you did there,” she looked at me. “Very clever.” She turned to face Nico. “And what makes you think your little friends can stop me?”“We might not be able to put an end to your existence... but we can stop this foolishness of yours,” I said, opening my palm to release my claws. There was a distraction now, so whatever move I made, I was sure to have the backing of my clan. I cut through my net with my claws and landed on the floor with my feet. Claire and Michael looked down at me, I could almost see the surprise in their eyes, but this was no time for pity party or storytelling. I quickly removed the knife from my pocket and aimed at their net, setting both of them free.“You are out-numbered Elena,” I turned to face her. “There is nowhere to hid
The building smelt rusty and reeked of herbs and portion. A typical witch den. We searched all the empty rooms but couldn’t find Ariana or Elena.“Any luck?” I asked Claire. She shook her head in response.“Are you sure about this place?” Michael was beginning to get uncomfortable.“Yes I am,” I said. “My Dad gave me this location, and he is sure about it.”“Are you sure about your Dad?” Michael’s impatience was rubbing off on me in a very displeasing way.“Well if you think this is not the right place, why don’t you go ahead and find the right one then,” I snapped.“I didn’t say that,” he tried to deny.“But you assumed it,” I retorted.“Guys, guys,” Claire tried to ease the tension. “We are not even halfway there, and we are already fighting. How are we going to get Ariana back if we continue like this? aren’t we supposed to be together in this?”Claire’s words sunk deep, reminding us of the reason why we were in the god-forsaken building in the first place. “Now,” she continued whe
The silence in the study amplified the beat of Dad’s heart, I could hear his breath slowly leave his lungs, his feet turning cold and his eyes lifeless. “What are you doing here?” there was a spite in his voice that I could not ignore. “Who let you into this house? Aguiella!” First time I heard Dad yell Nanny’s name, and it was not in a pleasant way.“There’s no need for that,” I lowered my voice, hurt by how quickly Dad wanted me out of the house. “I won't be staying for long,” I searched his eyes. “I... I just need your help.”“Whatever it is you have come for, I am sorry to say, but you have wasted your time. I don’t need you to be here, I don’t want you to be here now leave.” There was nothing calm about the way he said it, even though his voice seemed calm. He steadied his eyes on me, and I searched for the tenderness it once had, but it was gone!Of course, I knew waltzing into Pa’s house wasn’t just going to be a walk in the park. I didn’t expect to be specially treated now tha