Creatures of the Night: Awakening (Original Draft)

Chapter 22 - Nicolas

I sipped on my cup of coffee, looking at the taupe cobblestone below my feet. The breeze and light snow hitting my bare face at a steady rate. I glanced around at cars an people passing by, most of the people wearing their winter coats. They seemed a bit bizarre to me, it was April and the temperature was slowly rising. We didn't need winter coats anymore, a jacket was enough to keep warm.

I tucked a strand of loose hair behind my ear, observing its natural curl was returning due to the dampness of the air and from the weakness of my hairspray. I was planning on meeting Molly here, but it seemed she was running behind.

"Ma'am," I turned my attention towards the cafe owner standing in the doorway. "It's only forty-two out here, you should really come inside so you don't catch a cold."

"Do you seriously believe that being out in the cold is going to make me sick?" I laughed at him and shook my head. "That's a silly little myth."

He didn't respond with a reply to me, instead I heard the cafe door shut close, the bell signaling that he had shut it. Another harsh blow of wind came out and hit me hard, sending a shiver throughout my body. I glanced around, becoming irritated that I didn't see anyone wearing bright red.

"Molls is going to die if she doesn't show up." I clenched my teeth and pulled my lightweight jacket tighter around me. I didn't want to be out today, but Molly insisted that I came to the Writer's Cafe with her for some girl time together. Sometimes I wish she and I weren't friends; she didn't enjoy sports at all, so she wouldn't watch the game with me.

I continued to wait out in the cold, tapping my foot as I stayed there. A few strands of hair fell in my face and into my mouth, my reaction being one of spitting it out and struggling to tuck it behind my ear. As my patience was being eaten away, I became more irritable.

"That's it!" I stood up from the metal chair and grabbed my drink off of the table, brushing the white powder off that had built up on it. The wind was picking up, making my skin sting as I turned to the left into it. I then began walking home, feeling my legs slowly become numb as I made my way there.

~~~

As I began to reach for the doorknob to the inside of my house, I heard yelling. I leaned over and tried to look through the living room window, trying to see what was going on inside before walking into a possible disaster. The window was too far, and the strain in my back and neck became too much to handle for me. I let out a sigh and then turned the doorknob to open a large scene in front of me.

"Look, if you can't deal with the fact that Nicolas is also a werewolf now, then I don't know what I can do to lower the risk of us all being attacked!" My dad threw his hands up and turned to walk away from my mother.

"Don't you dare turn away from me, Joshua. This is not something you can walk away from!" My mother yelled back at him, taking a step towards him.

I shut the door behind me quietly before trying to walk stealthily around my parents. It seemed almost impossible with my dark clothes against the white walls and carpet of the living room.

"Hunter," my mother turned to me and grabbed my arm. "Are you glad with how you are now? Living with this curse like your father? Are you afraid of what it will bring?" Her dark brown eyes looked up into mine, unwavering the entire time.

"The curse doesn't bother me. It's a part of me that I must accept. Sure, my view on it is awesome considering I never knew about it before, but it's important that I live up to my role. Didn't I promise to you a while ago that I would stay safe?"

She let go of her grip on me and looked down at the floor. "So you're fine being a monster?"

"Kierra," my father started. I looked at him to see his blue eyes staring straight at my mum, his frown deepening on his face. "What are you saying?"