The Ugly Wolfling

Chapter 1

 I combed the fair frizzy clump of a bird's nest I call my hair. I looked at my sea green eyes in the mirror. Once again my parents were not home as they were every full moon. I have never known why. They said I'll know on my next birthday. They told me that's when it sets in. I crawled into my bed. It was warm and snug.

 My dream that night was odd. I was running through the woods, at fast speeds I never knew existed. The moon above me. The stars twinkled in the sky. All of a sudden, hot embers from a flickering fire spat on my back. The heat rushed through me. I yelped like a dog and collapsed.

 I woke up in a hot sweat. I checked the time. Mom and Dad should've come back an a hour ago.

 "Mom?" I call. My voice echoes through the villa making it feel hollow. I pulled my anorak over my grey cardigan. I adjusted my glasses. I left a note written in calligraphy for my parents in case they came home. My parents usually took the foot route through the long coniferous woods behind the villa. I decided to walk that way.

 A smell of blood cam from deep within. I followed the smell. It got stronger with every step I took. Blood smeared on a pin tree told me to go back and get help but my feet continued to move towards the smell. I found my father with his throat slit open staring lifelessly into the sky. Then I heard the sobs. My mother sat hugging her knees. A smudge of brown dirt on her cheek. Blood and dirt mixed in her fingernails.

 "Mom?" I gasped, I gave her a hug.

 "I k-killed h-him." she gasped, with every word she grasped for a pocket of air. "Emily call the p-police." she gripped my cardigan tightly. I ran away, barely digesting her words. My head ached like I had been kicked in it. I wanted to stick my fingers in my ears.

 As soon as I got through the door I dialled the number for the police. An hour later I saw a patrol car pull up. After they asked me some questions, I watched as a body bag was pulled out and a demented woman in handcuffs.

  I had to go live in Salem, Massachusetts with my grandma, Pauline Hartland. She lived in a house which outlooks the sea. When I reache the house it was small. It looked one story but there was a basement.

 "Emily, look at you, haven't you grown." she smiled. My grandma was only fifty five and looke the age of most of the parents at my old school.

 "Nana Pauly." I smiled and hugged her. Taking in the smell of her rosewood perfume. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and helped me put my things in the cottage.

 The cottage looked like something frozen in time. Every table had a white doily on it. Every picture of me was from when I was seven or eight. The TV was an old thing that I doubt worked.

 "This was my mother's home." said Nana Pauly. The shiny door knob on the door that lead to the basement glinted in the corner of my eye.I slowly walked towards it. "You can't go in there." I turned and nodded.

 "Why not?" I asked.

 "I'll tell you when your fifteen." Nana Chuckled.

 "I'm fifteen in a month." I said. Laying my back against the door. The carpet of the house was beige. Stains had accumulated over time and what must have been a lovely floor at one time now looked like a filthy mess. The floral wall paper was riddle with damp and the corners peeled. At sometime it must have looked real nice.

 "Would you like to see your room?" Nana asked. I nodded and picked up my box of things. Nana opened the door to the creepiest room I've ever seen. The smell was dank and rancid. There were china dolls stacked up in rows against the wall. A small bed was pushed against a huge broken window. There was no comforter but instead layers of yellowish sheets. A book case sat at the end. All the books had collected more dust than I had thought capable. The only lamp in the room was a metal latern with a candle in it.