Aliyah Staton
The next morning I woke up early to the sun blazing through the French doors and windows. I pressed a pillow to my face trying to block out the bright light but I was no use. I made a mental note to buy curtains as soon as possible. I wasn't a morning person to begin with and to wake up to the bright sun in my eyes just made my usual morning temper worse. I tossed the pillow across the room and dragged myself out of bed. I stomped over to the still full boxes and starting throwing clothes around the room until I found my robe; I tied it around my waist and headed downstairs.
My father, opposite of me, was in fact a morning person. I came into the kitchen to find him already sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and some toast reading what I assumed was the local newspaper. He looked up from the paper and gave me a quick smile as I headed to the coffee maker. He learned years ago that it was best not to speak to me until I at least had a few sips of coffee to warm my bitter morning temperament. I was happy to find that he already had a cup waiting for me next to the coffee maker; the last thing I wanted to do was dig around the new kitchen to find out where they were kept. I filled my cup and took a few sips before joining him at the table.
"You're up early. I wasn't expecting you for at least another hour," he said as he glanced down at his watch.
"Yeah about that, apparently these people don't believe in curtains. With the sun blazing in the windows I really didn't have a choice." I regretted the angry tone I used the minute the words slipped out of my mouth.
"Aliyah Staton watch you tone with me young lady. I know you are not a morning person, but that doesn't mean you have to take it out on me." I could see the anger in my father's eyes as he spoke those words.
"Sorry dad" I said looking down into my cup of coffee. I really did need to learn how to think before I spoke; it always got me in trouble.
"Anyways I'm glad you are up early we are expecting guests today. When you finish with your coffee get some breakfast then go get ready. Our cars should be delivered later today; I will give you some money to go get some curtains," he said as he got up from the table to go back to his office.
"Thanks Richard!" I said as I flashed him a quick smile as he left the room.
I watched him shake his head like he always did when I used his name instead of dad. It was something that I had done since I was a kid whenever he used my full name to make a point that he was the father and I was the child. It was enough to just get under his skin but not enough to make him angry. It was my way of showing him I didn't appreciate him using my full name just as much as he didn't like it when I used his. He knew I wasn't trying to undermine him, I was just trying to make a point in my own not so polite way. I made myself some toast seeing that it was the only thing laying out and I still wasn't in the mood to search the kitchen to find something else. After eating I headed back upstairs to get ready. I took some time to find all my bathroom necessities and pick out some clothes before I took a shower. I wasn't really looking forward to unpacking all my boxes, but I was already getting sick of not being able to find anything.
After I was showered and dressed I took some time to put away my things. I didn't have much other than clothes and a few personal items. I had learned long ago that if I didn't absolutely need it then I didn't need to keep it. After moving so many times it became clear what items were necessity and what items were just not worth the time to pack and unpack. Other than my clothes all I really had were a few photo albums, some Cds, and my laptop. I heard the doorbell ring downstairs and my father's hurried footsteps as went to greet the guests. I thought about just pretending that I didn't hear them arrive and act like I was just busy putting things away so that I didn't have to bother meeting them but I knew better than to do that. Not only would my father never believe my story that I didn't hear them arrive, but he would also be angry that he had to leave the guests to come up and find me. I shoved the last pairs of socks into the drawer and headed down the stairs.
I peeked my head around the corner of the wall to get a look at our guests. Two men sat on the couch and my father sat in the chair across from them. The first man was older, maybe in his late forties with long black hair that hung freely over his shoulders. He had dark brown eyes and a sharp jaw line. The other man looked to in his early twenties but I remembered my father saying that he would be going to the same school as me so I guessed he was around my age. He had the same jet black hair as the older man but it was cut short not long enough to need any styling. He had the same sharp jaw line as the man that sat next to him; it was clear that he was his son. The only real difference between the two other than the hair and their age was that the younger man had deep blue eyes. I found myself admiring the hard muscles that I could see flowing under his tight shirt. It caught me by surprise when I realized he was speaking to me.
"Would you like to join us or are you just going continue to spy on us?" He said in a deep voice. I almost jumped at the sound and lowered my head as I walked into the room. My father turned around in his chair to introduce me.
"This is my daughter Aliyah."He said holding out his hand to me. "Aliyah this is Anaru Black," he gestured to the older man, "and this is his son Amaro," gesturing now to the younger man.
"It's nice to meet you," I said extending my hand for each of them to shake before sitting down in a chair next to my father. I rubbed my palm where it had touched Amaro. The moment our hands had touched it was like an electric shook ran through my body. I had never felt anything like it before in my life; and my hand still tingled where we touched. I pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind as my father began to speak.
"Anaru is the Tinlet Tribes Chief." My father pointed out.
"I must say you do look a lot like your mother. I wonder if you have her spirit as well as her looks," Anaru said; His voice was deep and hard, but it also had a calmness to it.
"I wouldn't know I don't remember her," I said turning my attention to the fire.
"That is a shame; she was a great person with a big heart," he responded. "I was just going over some rules of the tribe with your father. I am glad that you have joined us so that I can go over them with you as well," he continued.
"I'm all ears," I said turning my attention back to the man. Rules? What rules? I tried to hold my tongue before I said something to get myself in trouble.
"First thing is that we do not hunt on our land. We are at peace with the animals, as they are at peace with us. Second you are not allowed to go into the woods alone. You are free to walk about your property but never in the woods. These are the only rules that I ask you follow, do you have any questions about them?" The elder man looked at me waiting for a response.
"Don't kill things, and stay on the grass. That's pretty simple I think I got it," I said trying to keep the sarcastic tone out of my voice. "Is there anything else you needed from me, I was going to go outside and read for a while?" I asked as I stood up from my chair. I didn't want to stay in the house any longer than I had to; I did my part in being nice to the guests, now I just wanted to be alone again.
"That is all." Was the simple response I got for the man. That was enough for me I grabbed a book from the coffee table, not taking the time to even see what it was and headed for the door. My hand froze on the handle when I saw the two extremely large dogs sitting outside the door starring back at me.
"Umm, there are dogs out here," I said turning around to look at the men.
"They are not dogs, they're wolves!" The younger man said with anger starting to stand from the couch; the older man caught his arm and he sat back down.
"Ok, well do the wolves bite?" I asked no longer concerned with being nice. If that man was going to speak to me like that I wasn't about to show him any more respect then he showed me.
"Not unless they think you are a threat," Amaro spat back not even bothering to hide his annoyance.
"Great, thanks for the reassurance," I said as I opened the door.
I wasn't sure if I was comfortable stepping outside in between the two largest wolves I had ever seen, but I was sure that I couldn't stay in that house any longer with Amaro. There was something about him that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I knew if I stayed any longer I would make a scene and embarrass my father. Neither one of the two wolves even glanced at me as I walked between them; their focus never left the two men sitting on the couch. I made my way down the stairs and over to the hammock in the front yard. I made myself comfortable and looked for the first time at the book in my hands. 'Legends of the shape shifters' I read the cover to myself. I should have figured it would have been some paranormal book of my fathers. I thought for a moment about reading it but just as quickly changed my mind. I just wasn't into all the paranormal stuff like my father. I dropped the book to the ground and shifted to my side on the hammock; I trailed my fingers through the short blades of grass and closed my eyes.
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