Midnight Bloodshed

Chapter 1- the girl with the birds

I take a deep breath of the cool mountain air and let out a howl. I slowly raise off of the ground and test the ground with my paws, making sure the muddy dirt is stable enough. With a toothy grin I realize that it is, and with another howl I start to run. I run past trees and jump over rocks, I can feel the wind ripping through my fur. I run until I find it hard to catch my breath, and then I run farther. I can hardly hear anything anymore over the sound of my own heart beating 100 miles a minute. I start to see black spots in my vision, and sadly I know it's time to stop. I collapse onto a pile of wet snow under the warm mid July sun and focus on my breathing. One...two...three I count over and over again, trying to get my heart to calm down and do it's damn job. Finally, after what seems like hours of me trying I feel myself begin to breath deeply again. My heart returns to it's normal beat and I lie on the forest floor, drained of the little energy that I had to start with. I stare into a melted snow pile next to me and lap up some of the freezing water. The water ripples, distorting the reflection of my face. I look down and see myself, white coat and purple eyes. I raise my paw and strike the water so that the ripples continue and I no longer can see my face. I try to relax, to calm my racing thoughts but it's no use. I think about how pissed my father will be, I think about how pissed my sister will be and I think about how pissed my pack will be. At the same time I think about peanut butter sandwiches and the bird that Is eyeing me from a few feet away. Speaking of the bird, It looks at me and chirps the hops a bit closer. I raise my nose up off of the cold ground, but the bird quicky flies to a branch and stares at me, yet again. I slowly try to focus my breathing and then I think about my human self. I try to remember every detail, from the length of my fingernails to the tiny white scar on my left wrist that I got as a baby. Slowly, my bones begin to pop and twist and then I'm lying on the ground, human this time. I stand up and brush the snow off of my white dress. That's one of the good things about being an albino wolf, when we shift we are wearing either white dresses or white shorts for guys. I stand up on shaky legs and walk over to the bird. The bird chirps happily and hops down onto my shoulder. 

"Hi little fella" I say softly to the bird. The bird raises off of my shoulder and flies around my head. I giggle at the silly creature and watch, wide eyes as another bird arrives. This one wastes no time coming to land on my hand. I take a finger and stroke his blue head and the bird chirps happily. I laugh as more and more birds come to circle around me, flying and playing with each other. I watch the birds until I hear a twig snap behind me. I spin around quickly and see a girl around my age running up to me. I growl and take a step back- the birds fly over to her and fly around her head. "Leave" I growl. "This is pack territory" The girl laughs and flips her long brown hair over her shoulder. 

"Sorry about them." She says, her voice is high pitched and chirpy like the birds that fly around her. "I'm still learning to control them, it's a bit tricky." She raises her hand and one of the birds comes to land on it, the small blue bird that came to me. She raises her other hand and looks at the birds sternly. "peto!" She shouts. The birds begin twirling faster in the air and then they pelt themselves at me. I scream and raise up my arms to protect myself. "Shit, sorry!" The girl screams. "Ummm linquo!" She shouts and the birds fly away into the forest. I slowly raise my hands off of my face and the girl is standing, biting her lip and staring at me. "I am so sorry, like I said I sometimes get the commands wrong, it's hard learning another language!" I just stare at her blankly and she continues to ramble on and on. Eventually I hear the word elementum escape from her mouth. 

"Wait- what did you just say?!" I exclaim, I can feel my cheeks flush with excitement 

"I said that not all elementum are fast learners, it's hard! You obviously know, with those hair and eyes I bet you are a snow twirler, right?" The girl looks at me for a few seconds, her eyes wide. I stare back at her, eyes equally wide. 

"Are you saying...that elementum are real?!" I exclaim, my heart picks up and starts beating faster and faster. I take deep breaths to sooth it, but it's not helping. 

"What's wrong with you? I can hear your heart beating, and it's really fast." The girl says with concern in her voice as she strokes the feathers of the bird. I swallow and shift my weight, looking around awkwardly. 

"I um...have a heart condition. Back to my question, are elementum real? I just heard stories when I was a kid but I thought they were just stories!" The girl looks at me strangely, and then she opens and closes her mouth a few times. 

"Who exactly are you?" She asks me. I can feel my heart beating faster and faster so I sit down on the ground and close my eyes. "You okay?" I ignore her and focus my breathing. Maybe elementum are real. The stories that amazed me since I was a child couldn't possibly be real could they? 

"Please, just tell me." I say softly. The girl sighs and offers her hand out to me. I looks at it for a few seconds and then grasp it and she pulls me up. 

"I can show you, come with me" She says. She starts off into the forest and I look around. It's getting dark soon and I should have been back hours ago. No one is really going to miss me, I'm the weak little alpha's daughter who can't do anything. If this girl decides to murder me, I can't protect myself. I have never been taught to fight or protect myself, I have always had guards to do that. Guards that are probably freaking out about where I am right now. The only person that will actually have concern about my whereabouts is probably my sister, Emma. If I do go with her I have the chance to find out about the thing that has been enchanting me ever since my mother first told me the story when I was two years old. The last words she ever spoke to me were 'elementum. never forget' and then she died in front of me. It's definitely worth it. "Coming?" The girl says, looking back at me. I take a deep breath and grin

"Yeah, lead the way" She smiles and takes a deep breath, shifting into a large golden brown wolf. I shift and her eyes grow wide, she howls and takes off running into the deep green forest surrounding us. Here goes nothing!