My last lecture was in Biology. Susan had a free period, so she went home early. She asked me whether she should wait for me, but I told her not to. I needed time to think about what's happening in my life. These supernatural creatures, the curse, Mom, and Ethan - all of these things made me worry about what lay ahead in the future. Mom said that I have to resist being turned into a wolf, whereas James warned me that he will come for me when I am eighteen years old and turn me into a wolf. This makes sense, at least according to the letter I found in Dad's office. What is this curse? I need to find out tonight. As I was passing by the woods, I stopped walking and turned my head to look inside. Who knew that these woods would hold so many secrets?
I opened the front door with my house keys and ran upstairs immediately. I had a shower and put on some comfy flannel pyjama bottoms and a plain grey top to go with it. I tied my hair into a long ponytail and put on my headphones. I put 'War of Hearts' by Ruelle on full volume. Her voice soothes me. I needed to relax. Too much stress will make me confused about what to do next.
Next on my agenda was to study Mathematics, and I had to put all of my attention into it. I have to get an A. Time went by faster than I thought it would, and before I could think about anything else, Dad came home. I left whatever I was doing. I immediately went downstairs and saw Dad lying on the couch half asleep. He must be really tired after working for three days. I should not disturb him now, but if I don't ask him today then when will I ever get this chance again? It was just 9 pm. Not too late to ask Dad an important question. After all, it's my right to ask him about this. Who else could I ask? If I had the choice to ask someone else about werewolves and curses and the supernatural, I would.
I sat down right in front of the couch. "Dad? Are you asleep?" I asked. There was no reply. Maybe I can try to tap his shoulder. Still nothing. I shook him more and more, and then some more till he was almost about to fall off the couch. I am such a bad daughter. "Hi."
Dad's black hair was all messed up. His brown and white suit was embedded with permanent creases. He had never looked like the Dad that I imagined him to be. He was handsome, per se. His blue eyes were what had made my Mom fall deeply in love with him. She would always brag about that. And I wouldn't disagree. My Dad had perfect fair skin, a perfect body (yes, no tummy), perfect hair and he smelled perfectly of lavender and roses. I wonder how was he still single? I would think that the women in his office would be ready to pounce on him. But that is not my area of expertise, so...
"Oh hi, sweetheart." He sat up, combing his hair with his fingers to make them look decent. "Is there a problem?"
"Yes...I mean no.....I mean yes and no." I don't know why I said that. I really don't.
"Did someone bully you again?" he asked in a casual manner. Wow, so he thinks I am not brave enough to handle bullies, and that's the biggest problem in my life right now. Great. I am looking forward to this conversation. God kill me!
"NO! Dad, I was in the third grade that one time and the only thing Kate did to bully me then was eating my lunch. So just forget about that, will you?" I said in embarrassment and tried to avoid making eye contact with him.
"Okay," he nodded and continued, "So you had a fight with Susan, or you are sad that you got a B in Math?"
"Dad, I am not a kid anymore to come to you with such silly problems. Can you just hear me out for once?" I said as clearly as possible, to make him understand that this is something serious and not a joke.
"I am sorry, Anna but the last time you wanted help was in the 7th grade. You don't talk to me about your life. I want to know more about you, but either you are not willing to tell me, or I am too busy with work. So I am sorry if I can't guess your problem correctly." He was clearly guilty, and I was the reason why. Maybe I expected too much from him. He was speaking the truth, and I knew it. I used to share every single detail of my life with my Mom and once Mom left, I started sharing things with Susan. In all this mess, I forgot that my Dad still loves me like he always did and that he had not left me as Mom had. I, on the other hand, was angry at him for hiding things for me.
I decided to tell him everything, so I sat on the empty seat next to him and faced him. "Dad, I did not know that you felt so out of place in my life. Maybe I was too busy hating Mom for leaving me that I completely forgot that she left you too, and you loved her as much as I did. I have realized my mistake. I promise you from now onwards, I will tell you everything about my life. But I have one condition!" I said, looking straight into his eyes.
"What?" he replied, with a curious gaze.
"You have to come home from work every night and have dinner with your daughter," I ended the sentence with a smile.
"I will try my best." It will probably be hard, but at least he said he will try to do it. And that was enough for me.
"You will?"
"I will!"
"Okay, now stop with these sad conversations. What was the problem that you were telling me about?"
I had to tell him. Even though it sounded vague in my mind, getting information about this was very important.
"Dad...can you tell me why you have a book about werewolves locked in your bookshelf?"
The look I received from Dad made me more nervous then I had ever been!
_
"Which book?" he stuttered. Dad was absolutely horrible at lying.
"Dad, can you just tell me why you have locked that book up. I know that it's there, and you are clearly lying, so let's not waste time."
He realized that he was caught, so he decided to tell me about the book, "It's a very old book that has generic information about wolves. But why do you want it?" he asked.
I knew that he was going to ask me this question sooner or later. I was prepared with my answer, "It is for a school research project." I, on the other hand, was fairly good at lying. I got it from Mom, I guess. I knew that he won't easily let it slide, so that's why I kept the most important question for last.
"Just one more question and then I will go." I was nervous, but had to keep a strong voice, "Why did a woman named Claire write you a letter warning you about a curse?"
My dad's eyes were on the verge of popping out of their sockets. He replied in a shaky voice, "Did you really read that letter?" He looked confused first, and then started mumbling to himself, "But I was supposed to throw it. The emails must have distracted me." Then he looked back at me and he completed what he had to say. I was really worried about him at this point. "You don't need to worry about that, it is not related to you. It's me she wants." He pointed at himself. I took his finger and reversed it to point it at me, and I said, "You are wrong for the first time. Because in the letter, she clearly stated that she was talking about me the whole time. That indirectly means that she wants me." After finishing my statement, I took his hand and placed it back on his lap.
I could see from his expression that Dad had realized he could not hide things from me anymore. He is not good at lying, but sure is good at expressing himself! His face reveals everything. I wish I could have gotten all my answers by reading his expression only; then I would not have had to make him go through all this. Dad definitely looked out of place when we were talking about all this supernatural stuff. But I, on the other hand, felt like I had some sort of missing connection to the supernatural world. I had found out as much as I could on the internet, but deep inside I knew that this story was something completely new and unheard of.
Dad gave up, took a deep breath and spoke, "I knew that the day will come where I will have to tell you things that do not make sense to you. I don't have a valid explanation about whether these creatures that I am about to speak about, exist." I had to tell him that I knew werewolves existed so that he would not waste time explaining it to me.
"I know that you are talking about the huge supernatural and immortal creatures that are called lycanthropes, or in laymen's language - werewolves. All I need to know is, where do I fit in in all this mess?"
"So you know about them!" Dad was a little taken aback at first, but then he decided to tell me more, "Let me tell you a story first."
No. I did want to listen to a story. I wanted to know what was going on with me, and what that letter from Claire meant. I was so confused all of a sudden, "Dad, but..."
Dad interrupted me, and said in a serious voice, "Hear me out and you will not regret it. I promise you." I trusted him, and I decided to stay quiet and listen.
"There was a small town in the district region of America where a family of three stayed. It was not an ordinary family. This family had special magical powers. People at that time would not believe them, and may have even killed them if they found out, so they decided to keep their powers a secret..." I already knew the answer so I said, "They were called witches. Right, Dad?"
My dad smiled and replied in a calm voice. "Yes." He continued, "Jessie, the only daughter of the family was the most powerful and youngest of them all. The only problem was that it took her time to learn to control her magic. In that same town, there was a huge forest where there lived a pack of wolves. It was the biggest pack in America and had about fifty members. The alpha wolf's name was Mark. Alpha is..."
"The leader of the pack and the most powerful person who can control the pack at all times... I know!" I said in excitement.
"Well, you know quite a lot. Anyway, you must be wondering what is the connection between these two people? Well, for starters they went to the same high school. Mark was 18 and a senior while Jessie was a junior. Mark's father was an alpha too, so when he died in a tragic accident, his son Mark automatically became the alpha. Even though they both went to the same high school, they never met or spoke to each other. But fate had another plan for them. One day, Jessie was late to come back from school. Suddenly, a few drunk men started following her. She knew they were behind her, so she started walking fast. She was waiting for her home to come into sight so that she would be safe. But before she reached home, they approached her. They teased her a lot, and one guy even tried to touch her inappropriately. Immediately after that, Mark attacked and bit up all these guys. When she saw Mark, she felt comfortable around him, because he had saved her life. She was yet not an expert in magic so he had come to her at the right time. "Thanks," she said in a polite way. "Your welcome," he smiled. They both felt a connection between them, but they were not sure whether the other person felt the same or not. She did not know that he was a wolf and he did not know that she was a witch. "The way you handled them was amazing," Jessie said with curiosity. "I go to the gym." They started laughing. Later they exchanged phone numbers and even realized that they attended the same high school. Jessie and Mark loved each other's company. They started studying together and even became friends. There was a time when they knew every detail about each other's life. But high school does not last forever. Soon, Mark was going to graduate and leave. They might not ever see each other again. Mark was about to leave when Jessie... ummmm... Anna, let's continue this tomorrow okay?" Dad was dead tried but I wanted to know more. Did Jessie tell Mark to stay? When will they tell each other their dark secrets?
"Dad I want t know what happened next, please tell me now only!" I said, making a puppy-dog face. I hope he says yes. Say yes!
"No!" Dad said clearly. "I have no energy to tell you anything further, so keep some patience and I will continue tomorrow. I promise, Anna." Dad got up from the couch and headed straight to his bedroom. Damn, now I will have to wait till tomorrow. I got up and climbed the stairs. I was also very tired I did not even realize that it was already 12 am. When I went to open my door, I heard a screeching noise as if someone was walking inside my bedroom. Oh God! I started breathing heavily. Who is in my bedroom at this hour? If it's a ghost, I swear I will run away from this house, or rather, I will stop watching horror films. I slowly turned my doorknob and opened the door. I started screaming. I did not know who it was that I saw, but I just decided to scream. A hand covered my mouth with lightning speed before I could even make a sound. This person pushed me towards the wall and came much closer to me than I was comfortable with. As my vision became clearer, I saw those eyes that looked familiar. After a while, it was very clear who they belonged to.
Ethan.
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