Howl 2

Crumbling

My feet started moving in the opposite direction and I discovered that Vince was pulling me away from the massacre. My older version was dragging him deeper into the dark forest, and the last thing I saw was the peaceful people joining hands to create a great, big barrier around what was left of them.

I blinked again and discovered that we were near the edge of the forest. Lights of a town were flickering on the one side, and the view seemed slightly familiar. But when I turned my head to the other side, my heart missed a beat.

One of the werewolves were standing over a body - a pregnant body. His red eyes flashed in the dark before he turned around and stalked back from where the cries echoed through the trees.

My legs - or Ramona's legs hurried towards the body and I didn't have to look to know that it was my older version. There was gushing wound in her chest and blood was oozing out like a spring. She wasn't moving, but her heart was beating awfully slow.

The next scene occurred in front of a building I recognized as the Beacon Hills Hospital. There was no sign of the woman and I seemed to be in hiding. I had no idea how long I was standing in the shadows, but then the doors of the hospital opened. A couple came out, each carrying a bundle in their arms while nurses trailed behind with luggage and a baby carriage for two. When I took a closer look, I was shocked to see that the couple was a younger version of Mom and Dad.

Past Ramona switched her vision and Mom and Dad started glowing yellow. But when Ramona's eyes focused on the bundle in Dad's arms, I gasped.

It was glowing purple.

***

After she showed me her memories, my knees gave in and I dropped to the floor.

It was too much. I couldn't process it, not all at once.

But it couldn't be true. That baby, it couldn't have been me. There has to be more than once person who can glow freaking purple! Who's says she wasn't lying to me?

But the more she told me, the more I start thinking that it was true - despite not wanting to. The boy, Vince, was my older brother. The woman, my older version, was my mother. And the people around the fire were all related to me; aunts, uncles, cousins, even grandparents. Whether they were close or distantly related, they were my family. And they were all killed that night except for Vince and Ramona.

"Stop." I inhaled and exhaled shakily, on the very verge of tears, "So, I have a brother too?"

"His name is Vince," Ramona replied slowly.

"And he's... why were... did I..." I ran my hands over my face and tangled them in my hair, "I don't even know what to ask. It's... it's too much. I can't... I..."

Too much information. Too many questions. And I wasn't even sure if I wanted to know their answers. My head was a mess, my emotions were a mess. I was a mess.

"It's a lot to take in." Ramona's voice was distant, "I'm going to give you some time to process it."

"Wait." I sniffed and wiped my eyes with the back of my sleeves, "Tomorrow night. Meet me at the... the abandoned warehouse at the edge of the town. We... we need to talk. And I need to... process this."

She nodded silently, and that was the last I've seen of Ramona Melle for that night.

I spent hours walking home. It would've taken me a few minutes if I ran, but I was too afraid if what I might do if I arrived there. From the outside, the Stilinski Residence looked like a normal house where a normal family lived. But walking up to the door and quietly entering felt different this time.