☾
Everything started when the Styles family had moved back to Colchester, Essex - known as one of the oldest cities in England.
It wasn't like this was the ideal place for Harry's new home to be, in fact, he had no say in the move. It was sort of forced upon him when his mother and father had gotten a divorce, and Anne wanted to make the financial decision in moving back to her hometown. She had actually lived in Colchester up until she was eighteen years old before she left to go to Uni in London, and that happened to be where Anne had met Des, Harry's father.
It was on the long drive over from London when Anne began boasting about her home town, which was something she had never talked to Harry about before. She really tried to lighten up the town in a positive manner, but Harry was more focused on the fact that he was moving into an older town where more people retire to rather than start a family at - but the worst part about the move was how it was only him and his mother moving and how he had to make the big change in leaving his old life behind in London.
It took until they were breaching the edge of the town when Harry really started to show the tiniest amount of interest towards the move. He noticed the big buildings of the city started to get replaced with a blanket of trees, and he had never seen so much nature before in his life. He was from the big city, so he was used to traffic and modernized architecture instead of being surrounded by nothing but trees. Anne must have noticed the twist in Harry's head as he stared out the window in fascination because that was when she started telling Harry about her family's past, which was apparently a lot more intriguing than Harry had ever imagined.
Anne started with how her ancestors were one of the first settlers in this town. Georgia and Bartholomew Cox, two of the original founders of Colchester.
Harry's interest peaked even more as Anne continued to talk to Harry about their family. He thought it was fascinating how he was a part of a founding family and how the house he and his mother are living in was passed down through their family, of course with many renovations, but Harry's great ancestors had built the original house on the land that their new house is on, so even where they are living comes with a lot of history.
Not only was the history of their family fascinating, but Anne started to explain the tight knit community the town was about. Since Colchester was so small, everyone knew each other on a first name basis so it was easy to feel a part of this community. A lot of the stores and the restaurants were locally owned and ran, so the relationships between the businesses and the customers were also very close. Then there was the fact that everything was in walking distance of each other, so traffic was the least of their worries, the absolute complete opposite to London.
So after that long drive, Harry realized maybe moving to Colchester wasn't the worst possible thing to happen to him, even if the town looked as if it was torn from an 1800's historical page.
Simply from looking at what Harry could see of Colchester from first entering the town, he could definitely tell the building's designs were not up to date. There had been no modernized innovations that even resembled to any of the buildings seen in London, so this was one of the biggest changes Harry has noticed so far. There were no tall office buildings or smooth asphalt roads. There were not a lot of cars zooming by nor a lot of street lamps lighting up the town. It was all aged.
The first thing Harry noticed when they drove into Colchester was City Hall, the tall bell tower that stood right in the middle of town with stores and restaurants surrounding the monumental building, all colored in wooden panels and old, black shingled roofs. There were three lamp post that lit up the circular dead end road of City Hall, and the roads leading up to it were paved in rustic bricks. The entire town was encompassed with a blanket of trees that Harry could have sworn he heard animals howling from as they continued to drive to their new home.
Which, that was definitely new for him.
It took nearly a few minutes of them entering town before Anne was pulling up to their new home. It was a two story house on the outskirts of Colchester, right on the edge of the woods that were surrounding the town. So instead of having a fenced backyard with a big pool like they did in London, they had an oasis of trees and open land and a whole scene of nature that Harry was excited to explore. It was peaceful in Colchester; quiet; private; a major difference from London. It was also a move that Harry wasn't resenting as much now that he was already there and already getting settled in.
Harry was twelve the summer they moved to Colchester. It was a rather big change trying to adjust those fast six weeks of being in a new town before school started up, but it was something he had to get used to. Harry didn't have his sister by his side to complain to or his dad to talk to every day, but he found a way to cope with all the new outdoor exploring he did nearly day, so he adjusted pretty quickly. He loved riding his bike in to town and to admire the trees that passed by, or he loved walking out into the backyard to stare and day dream about the animals he thought lived in the woods. He never really thought much about anything other than trying to enjoy and relax into this new life.
However, it wasn't until the first day of Year 8 when Harry really started to hear the mysterious stories about the town, something that had really peaked Harry's curiosity. Apparently, there was a lot more to Colchester than his mother had let on, and there were these folklores about the town that had been passed through generations that told the stories about the killers in the town - the lurkers in the night - the stories that fed into Harry's fascination to make him want to know more.
"Vampires?" He would always ask the other students eagerly, only to be shut down with condescending laughter that left Harry frowning.
Because in context, the stories that were told sounded as if the stories spoke about vampires, but they weren't. Even after all the characteristics those students would feed harry - the inhuman speed, need to feed off of meat - human meat - and having a bite that could kill anyone who was susceptible to it, so Harry had it in his right mind to believe it was vampires.
"Don't be stupid. Vampires aren't real," the children would tease towards Harry's accusations, and even though Harry didn't believe, he still listened intently as they continued to talk about the folklores until Harry finally understood what they were talking about.
The folklores included tales about shapeshifters, humans who transitioned into a wolf form when the moon was full and high. Werewolves - that's what the children always said, something more realistic than vampires, those who took residence in the woods. Those who's territory no one has ever dared to pass in fear of what has happened in the past, fear of being killed, fear of hearing the howls in the night that signify another hunt.
But after each of these stories were told, the children would just burst in to giggles, they would laugh it off. These were just stories. They were just tales. They were folklores to give people a scare into staying out of the woods, however, Harry was interested each time a new story was told. He loved it. He researched it. He spent hours trying to fill his knowledge with more information about these shapeshifters because it was something new and exciting to hear about.
And each time Harry heard something new, he would always run back to his mother and tell her a new supernatural story that he heard for the day.
"Mummy, Josh said wolves live in packs and they live to protect their alpha and kill anyone who tries to destroy them. That's scary, huh?"
Anne would laugh at Harry's nonsense and indulge his crazy stories, but she never fed into it. She nodded her head and would send Harry off his way once he finished with the stories, agreeing with the fact that wolves did live in the woods, but Harry always hated how she never fully understood what he meant. Harry was talking about werewolves where humans would shift into a wolf form.
Harry spent hours researching everything on the internet about werewolves, and he would take to heart every story he heard from his school mates. He discovered the woods in Colchester are divided into sections that different packs take control over, and these packs that run the woods are in a vicious war with one another. Harry was beyond fascinated with the minimal history towards werewolves that one day, he made his own decision to explore it first hand.
"Mum, m' going to ride my bike," Harry called out to her one day after school, heading to the shoe bench by the front door so he could tie his sneakers on.
Harry looked up about the time Anne was walking out of the kitchen, a smile on her face and a mixing bowl in her hand. She leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen and continued to mix the batter she was putting together, "Be safe, sweetie," she reminded. "Stay on the roads."
"Always, mummy." Harry said brightly, jolting from the bench so he could run and give Anne a kiss on the cheek.
Anne shook her head fondly and watched Harry head out the front door. She arched her head so she can see Harry walking down the porch towards his bike before she went back to the kitchen to finish her baking. Once Harry was outside though, he waited for a few minutes to ensure that his mother wasn't watching before he was sneaking around the back of the house.
He remained cautious while he kept jerking his head back towards the windows of the house to see if his mother was still watching. When he never saw any shadowy figures coming from his home, he ran towards the backyard to reach entrance of the woods. Harry stood there for a few seconds with a giant smirk on his face and started to look around to see if there were any signs to warn him about going into the woods.
When there was nothing preventing him from entering, he let out a big breath and finally crossed that barrier to step into the woods. He suddenly felt relief when nothing but trees were surrounding him. He felt a spiritual aurora encompassing his body, and he realized he liked this part of Colchester more than he liked the actual town. Harry smiled as he continued to walk through the aisles of the trees, eyes wide and wondering as he continued to survey the entire area. There was a small ray of orange sunshine passing its way through the opening of the trees that gave a small amount of light in the area, so Harry knew he didn't have long until he needed to turn back towards his house, but, this was one of his only chances to actually see if any of the folklores were true, so he continued walking.
It wasn't until the trees started to turn old and rugged, nearly molded away and destroyed, that Harry started to develop a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He got to the part of the woods where there was no sunshine and no fully grown trees. He was suddenly surrounded in an area where the grass was dried up and nothing but torn up tree stumps were scattered around. Harry took a couple more steps forward and ended up stopping when he realized there was a thick fog spreading across the ground he was standing on. Harry turned in a circle to find the source of this mysterious fog and realized it was traveling from the aisles of trees that were surrounding the open area he was standing in - and this was the moment he knew he had to turn back around and head home.
Except, he didn't know which way to go, and any path he thought about taking was where the fog was coming from, so he was really stumped on where to go. But instead of having too much time to wonder which way he should head out, he suddenly heard a twig snap that make his bones shake in worry.
"Who's there?" Harry asked shakily, turning his body quickly at the sound.
Harry's heart started to beat quicker as he surveyed the entire area to find the source of the twig snap, but he noticed there was no one there. Harry let out another shaky breath and started to back up slowly, keeping his eyes on alert incase anything popped up. However, he suddenly felt a gush of wind fly past his back and a soft fur coat brush across his arm.
"Hello?" Harry cried, jerking his body around again to catch what it was.
Again, there was nothing, but within the few moments of Harry looking behind his body, that was when he heard it.
There was a low, menacing growl coming from the bush directly in front of Harry causing the color in his face to completely drain. Harry could barely see the outline of the head through the leaves of the bust, but the second the sudden animal started to expose himself, Harry could then see the deep, orange eyes staring right back at him and the glimpse of sharp, pointy teeth snarling in his direction. Harry didn't think twice before he was turning around and running the complete opposite way.
Harry took off as fast as he could in any random direction just to get the hell out of the woods. He had no idea where his home was or where the exit was, but he let his legs take over his body in what he thought was the right way. He jumped over large tree roots and ducked under low tree branches that got in his way, doing whatever he could to avoid having anything set him back, but luck seemed to not be on his side because the third time he tried to avoid a large tree root, his foot got caught, and he tumbled forward.
Harry let out a yelped as he fell on the muddy ground and rolled on to his side. He could feel his heartbeat in his ears and hear the patter of quick feet getting closer to him, so he knew he couldn't stay down for long. Harry quickly jumped up and started to run again, doing his best to give himself a lead in creating a further distance from the wolf. However, when Harry glanced behind him to see just how far away the wolf was, he realized the wolf was closing the distance more rapidly than he expected.
"Stop!" Harry screamed to no one in particular, picking up even more speed when he knew just how fast the wolf really was.
It was mere seconds after Harry's plea when he suddenly felt paws slamming in to his back, causing him to face plant on the ground again. Harry let out a groan at the sudden collision and slowly turned himself over so he could lay on his back, but that was when he realized the wolf was stalking his way closer to fallen body. Harry's eyes widen in fear as he abruptly tried scooting back from the wolf, but he realized there was no where for him to go when the wolf moved so he could hover over Harry's body.
"P-please," Harry whined in fear, closing his eyes when he felt tears starting to stream down his face. He could feel his lips trembling and his fingers digging into the ground. He could tell the wolf was letting his snout travel all around his body to smell him until the wolf's snout was suddenly going towards his jugular. "O-oh g-god," Harry breathed out, refusing to open his eyes to watch this wolf eat him.
As the black wolf continued to sniff him, Harry continued to shake in fear. He didn't know what the animal's next move was, but it seemed as if the wolf's snout was more fascinated with his neck rather than making any attempt to eat him. But right when the black wolf placed his paw on Harry's chest to pin him down, there was another loud growl coming from behind his body. That was when Harry opened his eyes.
Blue.
Blue was what caught Harry's attention the minute his eyes were able to make contact with something other than the wolf pinning him down. It was the electric blue of cerulean that bore straight into the dark orange of the black wolf on top of him, and it was then that Harry suddenly felt safe. It was an odd feeling being in the presence of two wolfs, but there was a rush of security that flushed his body since this mystery gray wolf had emerged from the trees.
The gray wolf's back was hunched and his teeth were snarling over at the black wolf, looking as if he was ready to attack the other. Harry didn't have much time to process much because one minute the two wolves were growling at each other, and then the next, the black wolf is jumping off of him and focusing on this new wolf behind him. Harry let out a sigh of relief for finally being free, but then the gray wolf stalked over to him and grabbed Harry's shirt by his teeth to drag him behind his body
Harry immediately cowered up against the tree once the gray wolf deposited him, and he was then able to watch in fascination as the two wolves began growling at each other. The two animals were both in a defensive stance and staring at each other as if there was some sort of face off, and it looked as if there was some unknown border separating the two animals from crossing over into each other's areas. Harry had remembered the internet talking about wolves having their own territories, so he was wondering if the imaginary line separating the two wolves was the line that divided the two territories.
The gray and black wolf continued to snarl at one another before the black wolf finally turned away. When it was just Harry and the gray wolf, the animal turned around and pounced towards Harry's body. Harry flinched at the sudden movement and scooted closer to the tree, closing his eyes in fear again and wrapping his arms around his body to what he hoped would be a protective shield.
Except, nothing really happened. Harry cracked his eyes open just a little and noticed the wolf was surveying Harry's body, like he had some sort of fascination for it. Then the wolf stood up and walked towards Harry, so Harry closed his eyes again in fear. This was the moment he genuinely thought he was about to get eaten, but instead of teeth sinking into the side of his neck, he felt a snout rubbing up and down the column of his jugular.
Harry's breath stopped short in his throat when he finally cracked his eyes open, seeing the wolf's fur tickling his nose and feeling the wet snout nuzzling against the side of his neck. The wolf then growled in a deep whine when his sniffed right at the juncture of where Harry's neck and shoulder met, almost in a desperate way before he continued sniffing all over Harry's upper body.
"You're n-not going to h-hurt me?" Harry asked no one in particular, finally relaxing at knowing that the wolf simply wanted to sniff and cuddle up into his side rather than attack him. It was comforting, and that past sense of safety Harry felt when the wolf first arrived had easily returned. Harry's lips curved up when he felt the wolf nod his head, as if he was answering Harry's question. Harry didn't know if the wolf actually understood him, but he did respond, and Harry let out a loud, confused laugh because as ridiculous as this situation was, he felt oddly safe and overwhelmed at the same time.
The fury wolf gave a final sniff and a small lick to the side of Harry's neck before he was finally pulling away to sit on his back legs. Harry let out a sigh and sat up so he could carefully watch what the wolf's next move was, but when both Harry and the wolf's head looked up to face each other, it was as if there was a strong connection the minute their eyes finally locked in on each other, as if everything around Harry suddenly paused and the only thing he could even focus on was the wolf sitting in front of him.
Because in that moment, was when green eyes met blue.
☾
Key components of chapter:
* Overall, we get a brief history of Colchester
* Harry discover people talk about werewolves on his first day of year 8
* Harry walks into the woods one day
* Harry nearly gets attacked by a black wolf
* A gray wolf saves Harry
* Green meets blue