Cara
THE MOON was bright and beautiful in the dark cloudy sky. I could stare at it for hours and hours. I probably had since I had been stuck in the car since early in the morning. To make matters worse, my battery had died now I was bored and had nothing else to do.
"We're here."My dad said and not too soon because I was this close to jumping out of the moving vehicle. More than sixteen hours on the road can make someone suicidal.
"Finally!"I exclaimed in celebration throwing my hands up in the air and accidentally hitting the car roof.
It was nearly midnight we had just arrived at our new house. I was a bit surprised that we were there considering how far Carlifornia is from New York.
Since I was seven we hadn't lived anywhere for more than a year, rarely more than six months.
I grabbed my bag and got out of the car to take a look at our new house. Pushing open the small metal gate, I went into the compound.
The yard had one sad lemon tree with a few lemons on it, surrounded by fresh looking green grass.
The house was larger than our last. Our last residence was actually an apartment in New York. As soon as I started to like it dad told me we were moving again.
Dad always blamed our moving a lot on his work, he was a research scientist at a large company that had branches all over the world.
The lights on the front porch were on. Walking over to the porch, I found a set of keys on the porch and a note.
The neighbourhood was probably so safe that you could leave your door wide open, leave for a week and find that someone only got in to water your potted plants. At least that's what I'd heard about this part of Carlifornia.
I picked up the small note and read it.
Hey Danny.Sorry I had to leave. I hope you like your new home. It's all yours. If you have a problem with the house or just want to talk call me on 555-719-8261.
-Vanessa.
Using the keys that Vanessa had left on the porch I opened the door to the house.
It was cosy and warm. You'd look at it and imagine a nice neat family with a present mother, father and children. Not at all like my family which was just me and my dad. My mom left us when I was ten years. I never found out why.
On opening the door, the first thing you'd would be a flight of stairs with a light blue carpet and a corridor next to the stairs.
Then I remembered something, it's all yours.
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted.
" You like it?" My dad asked behind me.
" Yeah. Did you buy it?" I asked turning to him.
"Yes and before you say anything, we are not moving anymore. We're here to stay. I promise. You're a senior now and moving wastes too much time, time I could spend with my daughter."
He gave me a hug. I was left speechless, not knowing whether to believe him or not. What reassured me was that he had never lied to me or hidden the truth from me.
"By the way, there was a note at the front porch," I informed him. I went and grabbed the note from Vanessa and gave it to him. "Who's Vanessa?"
"I see you already read it... Vanessa is the realiter who helped me buy this house, sweetheart."
"Oh see...Danny ," I mocked him.
***
It had nearly been a week since we moved to this neighbourhood and the last thing my dad and I wanted was to throw a house warming party . It was just too much work.
As expected a lot of our neighbours had come over to say hi. Many of them were picture perfect families who came with either a pie or a cake. It was always a baked good.
So I was not surprised when the door bell rang and in the peephole I saw more of my neighbours , one of which was holding a tray with what I had already guessed was a pie. I opened the door.
"Hi there, " began the woman, " I'm Gloria and this is my family. We are the Sprouses your next door neighbours." The woman gave a smile. Her hair was ebony and reached a few inches below her shoulders.
"Hi I'm Cara, " I introduced myself shaking her hand. She had a firm grip.
" This is my husband George," she gestured to the blue eyed man standing behind her ,"my daughter Piage, " she continued to introduce the others," my son Robbie and my other son...wait... where is Connor?"
"I'm right here." I heard a voice sound from behind the family. George moved away and I spotted the boy lying lazily on the porch swing. He spotted me and immediately got up,coming towards me.
He had black hair and brown eyes . He was tall and easily towered over me, then again most people did since I was only five feet and three inches.
"Hello, I am Connor ,"his voice was a deep velvety baritone. I stuck out my hand to shake but he took it and slowly brought it to his lips and kissed the back of it.
He was clearly a playboy. Dazzling smile, smooth talking, overconfidence and cool attitude, all the characteristics of playboy.
"Connor enough..." his mother interrupted ," we brought you a steak."I can't say I was not surprised. She handed me the tray just as my father came to the door. I introduced him to them and handed him the tray to hold.
"The Sprouses were nice enough to bring us a steak, dad"
"A steak?" Dad asked with surprise in his voice."Ummh... I mean thank you."
"We figured you've received so many pies and cakes, so we decided to bring you steak instead...plus who doesn't like meat.Welcome to the neighbourhood. We'll be right next door if you need anything. Have a nice day." With that they left.
"See you later ,Cara."Connor said, flashing his pearly white, as he left with his family.
My dad closed the door and we got back inside. It was chilly despite it being only the beginning of autumn.
"At least it's not another apple pie,"I joked. Dad placed the steak on the counter. " plus now we don't have to order pizza."
It was chilly despite it being the beginning of autumn. Freezing, I turned on the heater and put on a sweater.
As we were having dinner later that night my dad got an emergency call from work.
He rushed out leaving me to watch a Breaking Bad marathon all alone on the couch.
As soon as dad was out the door I threw myself on the with a blanket and put my show on. Now that dad was gone the house and the popcorn was all mine.
Most teens would throw a party if they were home alone but I chose to sit and watch TV for two reasons ; the first was that I knew no one in town, the second reason being that I always got bored at parties, well the few I'd been to. I always ended up standing alone in any corner I could find without horny teenagers making out and looking at memes on my phone.
As usual by midnight passed out on the couch. Thankfully I woke later, at around two in the morning and went to upstairs to my room. Dad had a key so he could let himself in at whatever time he came in.
I locked my room (as I always did every night before bed), secured my mom's necklace in my sidebed locker drawer, switched off the lights and got into bed. I curled up deep inside the warm and cosy blankets, my eye lids getting heavier and heavier.
That's when I heard them, the howls and growls outside my bedroom window, out in the forest.
I was successful in ignoring the sounds but I knew in that moment that there was more in those woods than meets the eye.
***
CaraTHE WEEKEND practically flew away for me. It seriously felt like I blinked on Friday and on opening my eyes it was Sunday evening, the next day being school.I was dreading going to school especially since I was the new girl for the umpteenth time and I was now in my senior year. Who in hell starts at a new school in their senior year? Me.I counter checked my bag for all the requirements for the thousandth time. I didn't want to forget anything then have to ask a borrow a complete stranger. Plus this was California and as I'd heard , the kids here weren't exactly welcoming."Here is your lunch money," said Dad handing me fifteen dollars."Thanks,""If anything bad happens call me...immediately and I'll come...OK sweetie." I hugged him tightly.We left the house, not forgetting to lock it.I got into my car. I loved my car. It had been a birthday present from my dad.The car was a convertible red Audi TT. It was a two seater and dad had told me that part of the reason he got it f
Cara DAD CAME INTO the home office, a yellow file in his hand. The broad smile on his face fell when he saw me and what I was holding. His body instantly tensed visibly. The file in his hand fell to the floor. The tears I'd been holding in came down. "What's this?" I asked. He approached me, reaching out for me but I moved back before he touched me. "I can explain..." I saw something in his eyes, something like fear but payed no mind to it. "Then by all means please explain...e-explain why yo-you never told me about this?" I stuttered out, demanding an explanation as to why he'd kept something like this from me. As the letter stated, he had been keeping me away from my mother, denying me the choice of whether or not I wanted to see her. I was angry at him. Furious even. For a very long time I thought that she abandoned me and never wanted to see me but according to the letter that I now held tightly onto, she did want to see me. We agreed when I left that I was not to even co
Jasper I had told those idiots to stop but I may have been too late. Messing with humans was something young werewolves enjoyed doing but many times the end result was not good. I was the first to spot her and I thought I could just scare her away a little but they took it too far. This was a result of their stupidity and ignorance. Could they not have just left her alone? The girl now lay on the ground unconscious and her head bleeding. Ivan was going to be furious. He had told us to stay away from the humans. Then again, in our defence, the human was on private property. I wasn't even sure she was alive and frankly, I did not want to check. But I had to before calling Ivan. He was the only one who would know what to do and it was his name on the title deed. Plus he hated it when anybody kept anything from me him. The few who had...well, they weren't killed, death was too easy and what good would it do? We had all shifted back. I knelt down close to the girl's limp form but
Cara I LET OUT A LOW GROAN of discomfort as I tried to get up. On opening my eyes, the first thing I saw was a wide grey ceiling with an eye-catching crystal chandelier in the middle of it. My first thought was; when did we put in a chandelier? Then realization hit me like a bus going at a hundred miles an hour. This wasn't my room. This was not even my house. 'Oh God, what have I done? ' was my next thought. Using my hands I lifted myself to sit up. The bed was large and the bedding were soft. Had I not been in such a panic, I would have stayed inside a little bit. The room I was in was absolutely spectacular, items of luxury filling. This was definitely not my room. Perhaps if I go back to sleep, when I open my eyes I will be back at home. I did just that. It did not work. Then all the memories of the previous night came flooding back. From the letter to the woods to the wolves, all of it was pouring back. I tried to remember all the details of what happened before I woke u
Cara WANTING TO TAKE AS LITTLE TIME AS POSSIBLE, I hurried up in the shower. The hot water hit my back, soothing and cleansing my skin. I felt refreshed as the water ran down my locks bring out their brown colour. When I was done I wrapped the large white towel around my body. I found some clothes on the bed. A navy blue dress, a black bra and black panties. The panty and bra stilled had the tag on so I knew they were unworn. I didn't dwell on the fact that they were my exact size. I dressed quickly hoping Merideth would give me directions home or at least tell me where I was, in more details than ' Vasiliev Property '. Taking one last look in the mirror, I made sure I looked fine before going to search for Merideth. The dress was beautiful and fit my body well but it did not do anything to raise my spirits. I could not wait to get back home. Sure I would have to have a difficult conversation with dad once I did, but that little fact did not matter at the moment. All I wanted wa
Cara "I won't get lost, Ivan." "I'll take you and that's that." His voice was deeply and rougher than usual. I almost squealed at the sound. It told me to do as he said, nothing more, nothing less. "Fine....thank you." "It's my pleasure. Let me just get something." He made off upstairs. I was left to admire the place in the meantime, not straying far from the dining room. I took myself on a little tour sure that Ivan would not mind me looking around. Unless he was hiding something but what were the chances of that? It was taking him longer than I expected so I went further and further into the house. The walls were tall and decorated with all kinds of paintings. Most of them were historical paintings like from famous battles all around the world. They could have been as old as the battles themselves. They were in good condition, probably due to being well maintained. One caught my eye. It took the centre position between all the other paintings and was larger in size. I ran my
Cara AS EXPECTED, the door was unlocked. In fact he had left it half way open as if he was expecting somebody, probably me. I went right in. The house was cold. Dad must have left a window open overnight. I heard someone talking ... shouting. " As I have told you before, she has been missing for nearly 18 hours...don't you think I would have called her by now if she had it...yes, I filed the fucking report," the shouting was coming from the kitchen. " Yesterday in the evening at around six thirty..." Going into the kitchen I found my father standing by the counter, a landline in his hand. He had a look of worry mixed in with annoyance on his face …with a hint of desperation. All this time I was 'missing' I had never really thought about what effect it would have on my father. As I stood there watching him on the phone - with the police probably - , I remember just how much he loved and cared about me. I should go missing more often. He didn't see me till I spoke." Dad..." The p
CaraIvan stood tall at my doorstep, staring right at me, his expression unreadable."Ivan? What are you doing here?" I asked, proceeding towards him. I can't say a part of me wasn't happy that he was here. Admittedly, I was elated to see him again. Question is, how the hell did he know my address? Perhaps Jasper told him.I was standing a few feet away from him, his large form between me and the door.He spoke huskily, his voice like a drug, addictive and intoxicating, " I came to apologise for not being able to bring you home yesterday." That seriously could not have been his reason for coming all this way."I don't believe you. You came all this way...just for that?" He visibly stiffened. I knew then that that was not his only reason for coming. Maybe he wants his hoodie back."I-I wanted to see you again...to see if you were feeling better." He moved out of the way as I pulled out the house keys from my bag. Fumbling with the keys,I searched for the right key then opened the door.