Creatures of the Night: Awakening (Original Draft)

Chapter 9 - Nicolas

I sat on the bricks surrounding one of the massive oak trees in the school yard while watching some middle schoolers trying to do a kick flip over by the bike rail. Last night did shock me, Molly had contacted me and explained her grandmother had faked her death so she could have a three year vacation without having phone calls from family. Her grandmother was weird.

A yell brought me back to reality, one of the boys had fallen and cut his knee open. I ignored it and started to think again, but the kid kept bugging me. No matter how hard I tried to shut him out I only felt the urge to go make him feel better. On top of that he was nearly ten yards away from me and I could hear him crystal clear, must be a werewolf power I obtained.

I got up and jogged over to the three boys, by the looks of it they were sixth graders. One sat on the ground holding his knee in both hands tenderly, he had a pained expression on his face.

"Are you okay? Do you need to go to the nurse's office?" I asked.

"No, it's just a scrape. Thanks for the suggestion though." He replied while standing up. His friends reached out to help him walk.

"Alright, take care!" I gave a wave to them before walking back to my spot by the tree.

I sar back down and unzipped my dark gray hoodie, it was getting warm outside. My outfit was simple today, a white polo with dark blue jeans and black flats. I looked up into the treeto see the assortment of colors, the great variety made the view look like a painting of reds and browns and yellows. Another lovely day in Maine, just a few more days until it would drop down and become the frozen world of winter.

"Nic!" A voice called out to me.

I turned my head to see Austin running towards me. He didn't look all that well, his usually gelled hair was thrown askew and his face was quite red and puffy.

"Hey, Austin, how are you?"

"I'm fine," he said while trying to catch his breath. His breathing was shallow and quick, somewhat wheezy if you payed close attention.

"Why are you so exhausted? Did you sleep in or do a four mile run this morning?"

"No, neither. You know how Molly and Aster live right next door to me?"

"Yeah, I don't think they have lived anywhere else. Why? Is it because of their grandma?"

"I think so." He scratched the back of his head and continued on. "There was a bunch of noise going on, like pans and plates banging all over the place. A scream too, sounded like Molly saw a dead rat or something. She kept me up all night long."

"I bet Aster had a bad night too," I added.

"Yeah, I bet he slept in. Poor guy. It must suck to live with crazy old Molly."

"Try being at her house on a two day retreat."

"Oh?" He asked while still taking short breaths.

"Yeah, in sixth grade when Molly and I were in basketball the entire team went to her house."

"Why her house though if I may ask?"

"Her dad was our coach," I replied while checking my phone.

"Ah," he looked around and squinted. "Do you have any idea where Gwen is? I have to ask her something."

I looked up and around the area we were in. I didn't see our punk friend, no brunette with strange bangs for a mile around.

"Nope, I don't see her."

"Dammit," he muttered. Austin also pulled his bangs out of his face in frustration. "I really wanted to know."

"Sorry, Austin. Ask her in second hour then since you two have Greek Mythology together."