Part One
Today is the second day now since Tara had become a part of our household. Yes, Tara started living at our house when she realized she was more comfortable with werewolves. She’d taken up a small area beside my bed in the basement. It was like she was actually my sister, which was nice. Here’s how that day went down.
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Saturday morning I was up and about cleaning the house like Emily told me to. Vacuum the living room, clean my room, and wash the floors in the kitchen and the bathroom. Yeah, I felt right at home. The radio was blasting ‘Stand Up’ on KCMS 105.3 FM as I was dusting the tables and decorative shelves. Emily walked through occasionally, making sure I was doing everything okay. “Don’t forget the top of the TV,”
“I know, I know, that’s the third time you’ve told me Emily,” I answered, laughing and rolling my eyes. Picking up my rag and Pledge, I to moved on to the end tables. She nodded, muttering ‘Right, right,” to herself before going to fold the laundry. Not too long later, she and Sam came out, telling me they had some business to take care of in town and they'd be back later. I waved good-bye and, as they left, blasted the music.
A few minutes later, the door bell rang. I was dusting off the ceramic pieces on the corner shelves. “Just a minute!” I called out, dumping all the pieces onto the couch and running to open the door. A smile formed on my lips when I saw who was standing there.
“Tara! You’re here!” I glanced at my watch. “Why are you here so early?”
“I... came back to live with you. If that’s okay with everyone…” She peered past me into the living room, glancing around, looking for something. "Are Emily and Sam here?"
“No, but I’m sure they won’t mind. I mean, look at me! They didn’t have a problem letting my stay here.” Tara looked a bit confused. It dawned on me that Tara didn't know the reason I was here. My hand latched on to her arm and I sat her down on the couch, placing the ceramics onto the shelves before sitting next to her. I launched into the story of my life up to this point, minus all the 'when I was a child' things.
Tara was staring at me blankly. "Sam and Emily aren't your parents?"
“Nope, they're not even married.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, Emily is Sam’s fiancée though.”
“Oh, okay,” We continued our little small talk as I grabbed us some snacks and two sodas. We chatted until they came back home.
“Why, hello there! You must be one of Mirabelle’s friends. I’m Emily,”
“Oh, Emily, this is Tara. You know, the girl I was telling you about on Thursday?” I said, smiling. “Yeah, she’s also my friend. A really good one at that.”
“Well, how lovely!”
“Um, Emily,” Tara started, “I was wondering if I could, well, stay here with you guys.”
“That won’t be a problem at all dear. You’re welcome here anytime.” Emily said, sitting down on my right side. “How old are you?”
“I’m 17. I’ll be turning 18 next Wednesday.”
“Oh! We’ll have to throw you a birthday party then.”
“Oh, no! You don’t have to do that!”
“Oh, yes we do! 18 is a special year. You need to celebrate its start.”
Emily went back to her house work while Tara and I went on talking. “Tara, do you… like anyone?”
She looked over to the kitchen, then back at me. “Can I tell you a big secret?”
I nodded, “Of course!”
“I already have a mate.”
“Really?! That’s great! What’s his name?”
“Connor, he’s from my old pack.”
“Oh. Well, where is he?”
“You see, the rest of my pack rejected me, so he had to stay with them,”
“You know what,” I said suddenly. “If you imprinted on him, I’ll bet he’s looking for you right this very minute.”
“You think?” she asked, skeptical of me.
“Yes, I’m sure of it.”
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Now, today, I was up in my room trying to find something to wear to church. Since I wasn’t able to go last week or the week before, I absolutely had to go today. I picked out a long, red dress and dark wash skinnies under it. Emily had said it was going to be cold out, so I grabbed a blue sweatshirt and my black converse. I stepped over Tara and made my way out the door to the nearest church that wasn’t Catholic.
I don’t have a problem with Catholics, but the Moravian religion isn’t quite like the Catholic, more like the Lutheran. Hands of God Lutheran Church was the first one I came upon. The greeters at the door smiled and shook my hand, telling my good morning. Politely, I greeted them back, asking where I was supposed to go. “Don’t worry,” the woman said. “This church is pretty small, so you can’t get lost too easily.”
She was right: once I knew where I was going, I was sitting in a pew and listening to the beautiful organ music. At roughly 10am, someone rang the bell and the service started. The pastor got up and greeted everyone, then went on to start the liturgy. It must have been contemporary Sunday because a large group got up in front of the congregation and led us in song. I knew every one that we sang.
I was practically beaming by the time it was over. Pastor Robert was awaiting near the exit to shake everyone’s hands. Once I got to him, he smiled. “Welcome. You must be a visitor. I’m Pastor Bob,”
“I’m Mirabelle Carson.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you Mirabelle.”
I was about to walk out, but then I remember what I was going to ask him. “Pastor, where’s the…” I had to think a moment, remembering where they said in the newspaper where they were buried. “Thomas Cam Cemetery?”
“it’s right down the road, and may I ask why you’re looking for it?”
“Oh, I wanted to go visit my mother and father,” I said quietly, trying not to choke up.
“My, I’m very sorry for your loss!”
“Thanks,” I got away from there as soon as I could. The walk took about five minutes, and then I walked up the walkway, looking in every row until I found it:” their headstone. It was red granite, with their names engraved in the top, the sayings “Loving mother” and ‘Beloved father’ were right below them. Tears fell, my knees giving out.
“Mommy, daddy,” I whispered. “I miss you two so much. I really wish you didn’t have to leave me. I do have a boyfriend, though. Can you believe it! He’s a werewolf. No kidding!” I laughed, the tears falling harder now. Sobs broke through the ice in my throat, rocking my entire body.
The wind picked up and arms seemed to have wrapped themselves around me. At first I thought it was just the wind, but then a voice whispered in my ear, “Shhh, it’s okay, I’m here now.” I looked up, seeing Seth’s own tear stained cheeks. “My father’s here. Would you like to meet him?”
My eyes widened. “Oh Seth, I didn’t know,” all this time, I thought, and I’ve just been upset with my own tragic life, not thinking about others. I should’ve realized.
A huge sob burst out and I fell into his lap. He leaned over me, just holding me and crying.
After awhile, I asked him, “How did you know I was here?”
“My connection with you told me. I could feel you. Your sadness was making my own heart throb. I had to make sure you were safe. And you are. Nothing’s wrong, and your with me.”
As soon as Seth said that, a twig cracked behind them. Seth snarled and put me behind him. After a moment of no movement, a shirtless figure came out from the shield of the trees. Seth groaned. “Not you idiot,”
As the figure came into my full view, I screamed. It was the stupid vampire who attacked me before. Seth whirled around, eyes wide. “What’s wrong?”
I cowered into his chest, not wanting to look at that bastard. “Just get him the hell away from me!” I hissed, not looking up. Seth turned his head to look at the vampire again. I could feel his body tense. The warmth of arms had disappeared and I was rolling in the grass, away from the two. I only stopped once I hit another headstone. With an ‘oof’ sound escaping my lips, I sat up and watched the fight unfold.
“Don’t tell me you’re the stupid vampire who-“ He cut off when the bare-chested man laughed. It was a deep sound, making my body shiver. I just wanted to curl up in a ball and disappear. Of course that wasn’t going to happen so easily.
Seth bared his canines, but the man cut him off before he said anything. “So what if I did? I though she was pretty. I thought she’d be a very yummy eat.” He smiled, extending his own fangs.
“Can it dude. I don’t need any shit from you. If you ever, ever go after Mirabelle again, I will hunt you down and kill you.” She uttered, growling the entire time. The vampire smiled, then his face contoured for a split second before he said, “Ah, so you’ve imprinted on her. That explains why you’re so protective of her.” His evil grin widened a bit, then in the blink of an eye they were on each other. Seth had changed and his cloths shredded all over the ground.
Their movements were in sync, which made it sort of… beautiful. In its own way I guess. It was scaring the hell out of me, but yet I couldn’t pull my eyes away. The vampire slashed at Seth, but he pulled away just in time, then tried clawing at his arm. After a few minutes of this, he jumped high in the air and into the tree line.
“Until next time my friend. Now I must go my way. I bid you and your wonderfully lady good day,” And, just like that, he vanished into the shadows of the trees.
I stood up, legs shaking. Seth came over in his mammoth werewolf form and rubbed his face against my own. I let out a shaky breath I’d been holding since the start. I put my arms around his neck, closing my eyes, trying to calm my breathing. In a split second, he was human again. Waiting a bit before I felt his arms go around me, I knew it was okay to open my eyes. I looked up at him, tears brimming and falling out. Ever since that day, I’d been even more prone to crying.
He lowered himself and kissed me once again, calming me down further. His arms circled my waist and lifted me up. My tears fell and hit out locked lips, making them taste salty. I let out a heavy sigh against his lips. “I wish it could be like this forever Seth,” I muttered, pulling away and opening my eyes, looking up at him. “No supernatural beings, just…normal, non cannibal people.” I put my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes again.
“I’m sorry, but that can’t ever been. You know that,” Seth started rubbing circles in my back. After a few minutes of that, I pulled away and smiled.
“I want you to meet someone. Well, two people actually.” I grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the spot momma and daddy were buried. I placed him next to me, and then faced the grave. “Mom, dad, this is Seth, my super-hot werewolf boyfriend.” Seth literally fell on the ground, laughing his butt off when I said that. I glared down at him, then, being the way I am, I smirked then plopped down on his stomach. All of the air rushed out of him, leaving him breathless. I laughed until, with a tremendous amount of force, I was pushed onto the ground for the second time in the last 20 minutes.
After laughing some more, we both got up and linked arms, making our way back to Emily and Sam’s house. It was a long walk, but with Seth by my side, holding my hand, it didn’t take as long.
We walked inside and saw Tara sitting on the chair, reading. She looked up, smiling at us. “Well well, if it isn’t the two inseparable teens. And how was our morning?”
“Oh Tara,” I said. “You’re not an adult until next Tuesday!”
“I know, I’m just practicing.”
“Why?” Seth muttered, taking a seat next to her.
“Well maybe I’ll want top be a mother some day. Don’t you want to be a father?”
Seth’s eyes widened, and I laughed, he looked at me, shaking his head. “Yes, hopefully, but it’s not like I need to practice.”
The phone started ringing and I ran to the kitchen to answer it. “Hello?”
“Yes, is this Emily Young?”
I remembered Emily had gone out to the store to pick up food to make supper, so I just said, “Yes, this is. Who may I ask is this?”
“I’m Chuck Cramer. We have been investigating you for the past week after a suspicious call we recieved a few days ago, and we’ve found out that you’ve been housing a child who isn’t any relation to yourself. We’ve even sent a worker over to inspect the situation.” I thought back, remembering that salesmen. Oh crap…
“I’m calling to inform you that we will be coming by next Wednesday to pick Mirabelle up. Please have her ready to go when we get there at noon. Enjoy the rest of your day,”
The receiver slipped from my fingers, dangling and hitting the wall. What? I'm...I'm leaving? I couldn't move any part of my body. My eyes were glued to the phone jack while my hands fell to my sides. This can't be happening. I could feel my legs give out and I slid to the floor with a soft thump. How am I going to tell Seth and Tara?