Creatures of Habit - First Blood [ON HOLD]

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

"Wow... ah..." I stutter like an idiot
"Is there something you would like to say?" asks Meredith with a raised eyebrow
"You're just... not exactly what I expected I guess..."
"And what did you expect?"
"To be honest... I don't even know..."
"Good. That's the point," she replies putting her hood up again and turning her back to me. She looks back over her shoulder and says, "Well come on, we don't have all night and this camp is far to close to them for my liking."

Within a minute or so everyone is up and we follow these people into the woods. We don't know them very well at all and I honestly don't trust them. But Omega and Rho say they're the good guys so I agree to go with them. Nobody makes a sound. I hold Noel's hand as we trek through the underbrush of the pitch black woods, she squeezes my hand tightly and looks at me with big, scared, eyes. Shawn seems on edge too. I'm not 100% sure about things between me and him... I mean... I know there was something between us... and those visions I had... I can tell he loved me and still does, but I don't know if I truly love him... I know I used to... but do I still love him? I don't even remember him fully! For all I know those visions weren't even real! No... They've got to be real... Right...?
"Jess? You ok?" he whispers to me
"Um... yeah... it's nothing."
He places his hand on my shoulder and I feel myself shrug it off.
Why did you do that Jess? He was just showing he cared! Says a voice in the back of my head
I don't need him to care. I hardly know him! I counter
You need to let people in.
Why?! Whenever I do they just end up getting hurt! My parents. Drake. It was my fault! I should have just ended it all when I had the chance... everyone would have been better off...
The voice goes silent.

After a while Meredith stops us in a large clearing. Everyone filters out of the trees and for the first time I see just how many people there are. I guess there are about thirty or so, all teenagers ranging from ages 13 to 17 by the looks of it. And each of them followed by a wolf with similar features to themselves. These people were just like Omega and I...
Except, none of these kids have black hair... there were a few like Noel with white hair, a couple with red and a whole lot with brown and grey... but no black... why?

Meredith stood in front of Shawn, Noel and I with her guardian, a strong, intelligent looking, snow-white wolf with light blue eyes, she looked just like Meredith. The rest of the pack formed a circle around us.
"As you know, you're not, well... average..." she says as she paces back and forth in front of us, I follow her with my eyes, my feet rooted firmly to the damp, hard, ground.
"For starters, you have enhanced senses; sight, hearing, smell-" as if on cue something made a soft rustling sound in the trees to my far right and I, along with every other person and guardian, immediately turned to face it with a milliseconds delay. I lifted my head slightly, smelling the air and judging from the sent, it seems it was just a squirrel. Meredith, who had stopped mid stride, sniffed the air too and then continued, most likely coming to the same conclusion as I had.
"You have a lot more stamina than the average person and can easily hold your own in a fight even without ever receiving training of any sort beforehand. You struggle to contain your temper and can be very overprotective. Am I correct?" she stops and peers over her shoulder at me, waiting for a response.
I keep my jaw clenched and simply nod. I recognise myself in her words and by what I'm picking up from Noel, she does too. Shawn though... he seems confused... he's one of these people, isn't he? Like us...? Right...? Shouldn't he also be able to relate to her statements?
"We are all those things too," Meredith continues, "We are all similar in that regard. All of us vary in different ways though, which is where it gets a little more complicated... some of us can talk to and understand animals," check "some are extremely fast," check "others are great hunters or fighters," check "and a very selected few can harness the power of other life forces," she tensed up and whispers that last part as if it held bad memories for her or something... "It mostly depends on your guardian," Meredith turned towards Shawn and I knew instantly what she was going to ask him.
"Where's your gardian?"
I notice his gaze drop and his hands clench into fists at his sides.
"She's... gone..." I hear him mumble
"Huh..." says Meredith quietly with a tone of sympathy, turning away from him as if that was all she needed to know about him. She faces Noel next. She kneels down on one leg so that they're the same height. Her face seems to soften a little and she gives her a small smile.
"Hey pup... aren't you a little young to be out there alone with your guardian? It's not safe you know," she says clearly noticing the cuts and bruises that cover her arms and legs.
"We had no choice. She was taken," says Rho at her side
Meredith sighs. "No one's safe anymore..." she whispers to herself.
"You've protected her well. Thank you, ...umm?"
"Rho."
"Yes. Thank you Rho."
Finally, she turned towards me and Omega and something in her face changed... she looked... sorry almost... as if I was some hurt animal that had no chance of survival and there was nothing she could do to help me.
"Jessica Nyte... we've been anticipating your arrival..." she says a sympathetic smile on her lips, "As you know... you're like us," she gestures to the rest if the pack, "but even on our terms... you're special. We've been watching you Jessica. And you seem to be a very unique variation of our kind since you contain multiple adaptations. You also just happen to be the first to have a black wolf as their guardian in over a century and if something bad were to happen... the last. Ever."
I just stayed silent. How was I supposed to just accept all this? And now she's saying if something goes wrong I'll be the last of my kind?! What's that even supposed to mean?!
"I shall explain more later. For now, get to know the rest of the pack. We'll be setting up camp here and once everything is ready you can catch some shut eye, you'll need it."
And with that, the pack dispersed. Off to perform whatever tasks they are required to do to set up camp, while Shawn, Noel and I just stand there, letting all this information sink in.