3 comments/ 6028 views/ 4 favorites These Wolves Alone By: MckenzieMaxin I felt the hot sun shining in through the window, hitting my cheek and warming my face. Although I was already hot, it felt good. I opened my eyes and sat up in bed, looking around my room. It is surprising how real everything actually looked, considering this must be a dream. Knock; knock. I flinched at the noise. "Yeah," I called as the woman who has come to be familiar to me, appeared around my door. "Hi, Hun, you need to get ready; they're going to be here soon." "OK, thanks." I replied. She smiled sadly. "Not a problem, Hun." She mumbled something as she walked away, sounding like, "Poor kid." I sighed and got up to close my door. I turned, facing my room, leaning back against door. I started crying, sliding to the floor. I pulled my legs up underneath my chin, quietly sobbing. Why was this happening? Why am I crying? I stood up, wiping my face on my sleeve and started looking for a good shirt that didn't have a stain on it. I slipped on a pair of jeans lying on the end of my bed. I grabbed the jacket the social worker had gotten me to meet my adoptive parents. My parents had died while I was younger and my Uncle raised me. And, as my life usually did, took a turn for the worse, and my uncle died of a massive heart attack just last week. I sighed and walked out the door and headed downstairs to sit and wait to meet my new parents. "Now, remember, they have two other kids. You want to be nice. Okay?" "Yes ma'am." I replied. I mean, it's not her fault. She's just doing her job; I don't want to be rude. She looked out the window and her face lit up. They were here. "They're here!" I took a deep breath and put a smile on my face waiting to meet the, more than likely, overly happy couple who wanted to help the poor little orphaned kid. "Welcome!" She exclaimed, opening the door. "I'm Martha Dewby and this is Devin Garret Long." She said, gesturing first to herself then to me, sitting on the couch, like I would be Martha. I turned around, to look at them instead of out the window, the smile still plastered to my face. "Hi, I'm Devin." I said as Martha and the couple walked through the living room to sit across from me. I glanced over at Martha who had taken a seat in the armchair off to the side, and she was still smiling. "Hello, Devin. I'm Maria Finley and this is my Husband, Dorian." "Cool." Dorian was tall, with dark brown hair, like my own, and had tanned, leathery looking skin. And Maria was shorter than me, had long blond hair, and her skin looked like porcelain. They looked completely opposite sitting together on the couch in front of me. Silence followed. I watched them and they stared at me questioningly. All the while, Mrs. Martha sat in the chair off to the side, her smile urging, like she wanted to push us into conversation. I could just see her pushing my and the couples heads together, yelling "Talk! About anything! Just talk!" I ended my daydream when Martha broke the silence. "Does anyone want anything to drink" she asked getting up from her chair, "water, soda, anything?" Her smile looked strained. "Water for me, thank you," said Dorian, smiling at Martha. "Me too, thank you." Maria said, not taking her questioning eyes off me. I decided to answer, "Sprite, thanks, Mrs. Dewby." She walked into the kitchen and turned back looking at me, smiling. "So, Devin you're turning sixteen right? When is it again?" I looked at Maria. "One week from tomorrow, November sixth." I said, faking a smile. I wasn't exactly looking forward to my birthday this year. Not like any of my friends or . . . family would be there to celebrate it with me, just growing older, nothing special. "That's nice." She replied. She looked partially nervous, like I would bite her or something, so much for a happy facade. I heard the door to the kitchen open and I stood up to help her get the glasses situated. After they had theirs, I took mine and sat back down on the couch, gulping down the whole glass. I hadn't had anything to drink since I woke up late and I was parched. "So, you guys have gotten all acquainted?" said Martha. "Eh, got a shy kid here." Dorian said, smiling at me. I just stared at him. Well at least I know he doesn't hold back with his thoughts. "Well, we can see how it works out. Are you ready to go Devin?" Mrs. Dewby said, smiling at me too. "Yes ma'am." I replied, looking at all their smiling faces. I sat my glass down on the table beside the couch and stood up. I went up to my room to get the bag I had packed the previous night. Mrs. Dewby had told me only to pack for a week, just in case I didn't like them. Although I had a feeling I wouldn't exactly like anyone I was forced to live with until I was legally an adult. I came back downstairs, bag in hand. Dorian held the door open and I slipped through it as Maria opened the trunk, I set my bag in and turned back around toward the old house I had lived in most of my life. I'm going to miss this house, I thought. So many memories. . . Maria got in the front seat and Dorian slipped into the driver side. Mrs. Martha hugged me and I got into the backseat. Maria waved as Dorian drove off. Off to my new life. . . Maybe it will be better than this one. I sat quietly in the backseat. These Wolves Alone Ch. 02 I woke up when the car stopped. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep, or how far back I had. I looked at the clock on the car stereo and realized we must have been driving for about an hour, so I couldn't have been asleep that long. I didn't get much sleep last night, yes I slept, but I kept waking up to horrible nightmares, filled with scenes from my parent's deaths. I shivered and looked out the window to see the sky had clouded up, and I smelled rain. Maria got out of the car and I followed, getting out while Dorian opened the trunk for my bag. While Dorian ran through a quick tour of the house, Maria made lunch. After sitting in the kitchen eating up the sandwiches she had made. They told me when the other kids would be home from school and then sent me off to my room to unpack. After unpacking I laid down on my bed, tucking my hands under my head. I laid there and thought for I don't know how long. About my parents, my Uncle, how on his last day he kept mumbling to himself and calling me by my Dad's name, and telling me things that made no sense. "When it happens, you'll know. You'll feel that change coming on. Feel it wanting to break free." He had told me that afternoon while we were eating a late lunch, "I wish Dad was still here to tell you all of this, or they should have at least put it in a manual or something." Our housekeeper, Mrs. Flenning, told me it was just the Alzheimer's talking. "Since your grandparents died, it was Mr. Long who took care of your father as he grew up. He was eighteen so the brothers weren't sent to live in an orphanage. He had us too. The Long family was always a busy family, but I'm thankful they were not too busy to raise them how they should have been raised. My family has been very fortunate to provide our services to every generation of the Long family." I sighed, bringing myself back to the present. Yes, almost every generation of my family has passed away, most from Alzheimer's, but I was the first only child in a while. Since I had no siblings, none were of legal age to take care of me after our parents died. And now my Uncle passed, I was alone. No blood relatives or friends to speak of. I heard the front door open and shut and the sound of footsteps cleared all thoughts of the past from my head. I got out of bed and took a deep breath. How long had I been remembering the past? I looked at the clock, three seventeen. At least two hours. I sighed to myself and headed downstairs. I heard voices in the kitchen so I headed that way. Two kids sat on bar stools with their backpacks plopped carelessly on the floor. One was a young girl, she had dirty blonde hair and looked about eleven years old. The other was a boy, he had darker hair and looked about five or six. But must've been older, just small, I'm guessing he got that from his mother. Maria looked up from a few papers stacked in front of her. "Devin! Come here and meet everyone," she pointed to the girl, "this is Maggie and this is Jonathon." She finished, pointing to the little boy. He looked up at me and waved. "Hi Devin, I'm Jonathon." I couldn't help but smile at the little boys face. "We figured you were resting and were going to let you meet the others at dinner, but you're up." Maria said smiling at me. Jonathon got up and hugged me. "I'm sorry about your family, Devin." My smile faded as I held back tears, hugging the little boy back. Maria frowned slightly, got up from her chair, crossed the room and picked up little Jonathon. "Does spaghetti sound good to everyone?" We all nodded and she handed Jonathon over to Dorian and began pulling pots from the cabinets. "Devin, do you want to go watch television? Maybe you'd like helping the kids with their homework o—", she was interrupted by Jonathon jumping out of Dorian's lap, grabbing his backpack and dragging me out of the kitchen. "He can help me." He said to Maria as we walked out of the kitchen. "Mrs. McIntyre gives our class the hard work to take home and Maggie tells me not to annoy her," said Jonathon as he pulled me into his room and flicked on the light. His room was decorated in cars, his bed was a race car, his walls had cars painted on them, and all around the room on the floor were toy cars. He broke me out of my wide-eyed stare around his room by jumping up and waving his hands in my face. "Do you like it," he asked, looking around his room, "Mom let me pick how to decorate it when we moved here." He said, his face shining brightly. "I do like it, Jonathon. I'm guessing you like cars. I do too." He smiled at me as he jumped into a sitting position on his bed. "They're pretty cool aren't they?" He got a bored look on his face as he pulled his school books out of his backpack and threw them on the bed beside him. One bounced off and he groaned as it hit the floor. "I'll get it." I said and picked it up, laying it on his bed and sitting beside it. "So what's the hard work you got sent home with?" He put a vocabulary book in my lap. "I can never remember the definitions, or the syllables or whatever." He said, and continued talking with a frown, "My teacher says I just don't pay attention and that I have ADHD." He continued once more, "Mom said I didn't, that I was just like any other boy my age, and didn't like school, but I like school, I just don't like words, I like numbers." He said sighing. "Well, I like words. I can help you." He smiled at me and began babbling about his teacher again while grabbing the book back out of my lap and started flipping through it. We sat there going over how to count syllables and making funny ways on how to remember definitions. When I finished helping Jonathon, Maria called us all down to dinner. As we sat and ate, Jonathon told his parents how I helped him and Maggie mumbled under her breath, something that sounded like "Just glad I don't have to help him now." Dorian and Maria continued listening to Jonathon, ignoring Maggie's comments. "So how is your first day with the family?" Maria asked me after Jonathon finished talking. Though, as soon as I opened my mouth to answer, he started again. "I think you're really gonna like it here, Devin. Mom's pretty fun and Dad will always play with you, I will too. Play, I mean. Maggie's the only downer." He smiled at me when he was finished. "Jonathon, why don't you let Devin talk? You're being rude." Maria said, fixing the young boy with a stern, motherly look. "He doesn't mind. Right, Devin?" I shook my head. "You could at least let him answer our questions." Dorian said. The first time I heard him speak since we started eating. I'm guessing that's his parenting voice, it was a lot thicker and deeper than when he spoke while meeting me with Mrs. Dewby at my old house. Wow. You could cut the tension with a knife just about. "It's fine. I'm enjoying it." I finally answer while everyone was silent. All eyes turned on me and Maria smiled. "Good, I'm glad you like it." I let out a breath and took a drink from the glass of water sitting in front of me on the table. Well, I guess I should call Mrs. Dewby and get the rest of my stuff, I only have enough clothes if I wash them a few times. ***** After a week of coming home from school to a house that was still, slightly, unfamiliar to me, and a family as friendly as a prime time sitcom cast pretends to be. It was almost surreal, the way they lived. Maria called Mrs. Dewby to bring the rest of my belongings, which were mostly just enough clothes so I wouldn't have to continue doing laundry three times a week. I already had my laptop and my iPod to keep me busy during out-of-school hours. I didn't actually own that much stuff, as people like to think just because I'm "so rich" and live in a "mansion". That house has been passed down through many generations of my family, it doesn't mean I'm rich, because I'm not. Mrs. Dewby dropped off my things; I avoided talking to her because I knew she'd just ask more questions, or get emotional. So instead I headed upstairs, unpacked the rest of my clothes into the small oak dresser by the window and grabbed a clean outfit from the pile on my bed that was fresh out of the dryer. I headed to the bathroom just down the hall from my room, I needed a hot shower. After I decided the water coming out of the faucet was hot enough to take my mind off everything, I got in. My body instantly relaxed, welcoming the hot water. I only got a few minutes of peace before my mind started working again, twisted memories making me watch my parents being killed, watching them being lowered into the ground in their caskets. I shivered, shaking the memories from my mind. Why now? Shouldn't I be grieving my uncle's death? He was my father figure longer than my actual father. Not like he had a choice really. Don't get me wrong, I know he loved me, as if I were his own son. The one he never had. He never acted like he regretted taking me in after my parents died. I mean, after all, he is my father's brother. But why must I be reminded of the tragedies I faced as a kid? That's harsh. I am tough; I can go into a fight and fight it out as if it were my last day on Earth. I'm too stubborn to die. Yet, I shiver at the memory of my parents' deaths. What a stupid way to torture people, Earth. These Wolves Alone Ch. 03 **Flashback** The one thing I really remember, I mean, more than anything else, was the music. It was so loud you could barely hear anything. You had to shout at each other if you wanted to be heard, which I didn't. That's why I locked myself in my room. Listening to *NSync at a deafening volume was not really on my list of things I wanted to do. Father would be home soon and tell her to turn it off, of course I already tried. She won't listen to me, the kid. Of course he would just lecture her about the neighbors halfway down the road that could hear it, then send her home and go into his work study for the majority of the fast approaching night. Little did I know, my perception of what would happen was half wrong. Yes, he would come in in a soured mood, as usual since mother passed, but he would never go into his study and Natalie, with her loud music, would never go home to her own family. It happened fairly quickly, just a blur of noises to me, as I never left my room upstairs. Father came home, I could hear his and Natalie's voices mingled in with the loud music. Then it was off, as I'm guessing he told her to do, turn it off. I could hear her keys jangling as she grabbed her things to leave and the heavy footsteps of my father retreating to his study. As soon as the door opened as Natalie went to leave, even before my father made it to his study, Something heavy sounded. As if someone knocked her over, as she was trying to leave, rushing into the house. It sounded as if things kept hitting the floor, being knocked over, glass shattered. My father came running back into the room, hearing the commotion, and then...there was a gunshot, and something heavy fell to the floor...a body. Natalie's scream was cut short as another gunshot sounded. As I heard footsteps running up the stairs and through the hallway, I hid under my bed. I heard the noises as they rummaged through the bedrooms looking for valuables. and then they came to my room, I heard them trying to get in, as the door was locked and they had no way of getting in, they finally gave up and ran out of the house. I was thanking, who? Who made them turn around and leave? I was...just thankful that they left... but saddened that the lives of those I loved were taken...what was I to do now that everything I had left was gone? ************************* I couldn't help myself, I was on the verge of tears. My memory barriers had all but disintegrated and my mind was flooded. In a desperate and unthinking attempt to clear my head and give my heart some way to grieve, I ran to the garage and got onto my motorcycle, speeding out of town. As I pulled up in front of my old house I could see the For Sale sign in the front yard was still up so it hadn't sold yet. I went up the front steps only to turn around again and hide my bike in the backyard. Nosy people in this town would call the cops if they saw something that wasn't perfectly in order. As I returned back up the steps I got the spare house key from underneath the potted plant on the porch and let myself in. I saw they had left the place all the same, the only difference were white sheets covering every piece of furniture. It looked ghostly like that. I shivered. I pulled a sheet off of the piece that was in the old place my father's chair used to be. And it was still there. As I looked at it I saw him sitting in it, me on his lap reading me tales of Wolves and Indians, their wars and friendships. As I looked up I saw my mom walking out of the kitchen drying a plate with her dish towel, telling him not to give me nightmares. I felt the hot tears streaming down my face before they started dropping to the dusty floor. I dropped the sheet that was tightly clenched in my hand and ran outside to the deep forest behind the old house. I was still wandering through the woods, panting and leaning against several different trees for support as I stumbled across the forest floor. I heard mice scurrying for safety in the brush. Oh yes, don't let the big bad giant get you. Even if he can't keep himself upright. I thought with a grimace. I didn't know what was happening to me. All I knew was I had to get out of that house before I exploded. I sat down on a large log in between trees. I had to get myself together before I went back. Crack. My head jerked up. That crack was a little too big to have come from a mouse. "Hello?" I called out to the forest. I was tackled off my log and fell to the ground, lying on my stomach. And someone was sitting on me. "Shhh. You'll give us away," she whispered, her mouth right by my ear. "Who?" I whispered back, raising my head to look around. This girl must be crazy; there was no one out here for miles. She clamped a hand over my mouth as I heard footsteps stamping across the ground. I raised my eyes to see to silhouettes running through the trees ahead of us. As they got further away, I was jerked off the ground and pulled through the trees. The opposite way I had come. "Where are we going?" I was shushed again. I planted my feet and it jerked her back to face me. "Tell me where you're taking me or I won't go at all." I said with what I hoped was a serious look set on my face. "To safety," was all she said in reply. And she started pulling me again. I had to admit she was strong. As strong as me even. So, I let her drag me. We soon came upon an old run down cabin, hidden by trees. Shabby place to live if you ask me. She drug me inside and bolted the door close. I was surprised when I turned around. The small house was just that, small. The living area was also a kitchen and a bedroom. And it was all decorated like a teenage girl's bedroom. Pink and lime green everywhere, fluffy rugs on the floor and hot pink towels on the little wooden counter. I'm guessing there was an outhouse outside somewhere considering this place was barely big enough to hold the posters that were on the walls. "This looks like Justin Bieber's bedroom." I said with a smirk. I got punched in the arm for that one. "He likes purple. And you're bleeding." She said. "Yeah, well, happens when you get knocked to the ground by rogue teenage girls. Who are you anyway? I mean, you just tackle me and drag me here, I could be a rapist or something." "Yeah and I live in a mansion," she said gesturing around, "You're no rapist Devin, trust me." She finished with a smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "How do you know my name?" I must've looked nuts because she laughed at me. Seriously though, she didn't look like the stalker type. What did she do, steal my wallet? "Oh, c'mon now, that hurts." I must have still looked freaked out because she laughed again before making a straight face, "You really don't remember do you?" "Remember what, you? I mean, you look familiar but this is a small town, everyone looks familiar." She frowned. "We use to play together. My mom and dad used to come over to your house for business with your parents. You were always hiding in your room because you were afraid of me. Because I accidentally hit you once and broke your nose..." She giggled. I admit it. I was shocked; I could feel my jaw touching the floor. "Jessie? Jessie Sullivan? I can't belie—what are you doing living out here?" I remembered her. Jessie Nicole Sullivan. We did used to play together; when our fathers met at each others houses for business and our moms talked over tea. She was the girl boys my age at the time were afraid of. She was about a month older than me. Back then, much bigger. I was a scrawny kid but I finally grew out of it. She was beautiful too; then and now. She had light brown hair down to her waist and deep brown eyes that widened when she was excited and closed when she giggled; she also had a curvy figure. She had always made me laugh when we were little. But sometimes her dark side shows, especially when someone hurts her or takes something that's hers. When I took her toy by mistake her anger flashed and she hit me in the nose. You know the rest. "Yeah . . . well, when my parents died I just couldn't cope I guess. I hated living with my aunt so I ran away. I was just coming to the woods to cool off when I found this little place. I went back to my parent's house to find they left it all as it was. So I snuck into my old room and brought my stuff here, what I could fit in here anyway. No one comes into these woods anymore, except for the occasional hunter. So I thought it would be safe." She grabbed a hot pink cloth and dipped it in a pan of water on the stove and put it to my lip. I winced and she continued. "So what are you doing out here Devin?" I thought back to my almost explosion. The feeling of anger that engulfed me, and then the drive to my old house; and the memories I had found there. "I had to get some fresh air." I answered vaguely. She just nodded her head knowingly. "All better." She said with a smile, eyeing my lips. I touched a finger to them and winced at the pain I felt there. "Ow, not all better!" She shook her head at me. "Don't be a baby. It's going to be sore of course." I just stood there awkwardly watching her put up the rag. "You know, I never thought of you as the type of girl to end up living in a shack in the woods." She turned and faced me. "Yeah, well . . ." She trailed off. I walked around and sat on the black futon in the center of the room. "What are you doing?" she asked, staring me down questioningly. "Um . . . sitting?" I'm kind of sore after being knocked t—" "I get it. I get it," she interrupted me, "but we have to see who those men were. I can't have nasty ole pedophiles running around." I gaped at her. "I thought they were hunters." "They had no guns." She said flatly. "Fishers?" "The lake is miles from here, and they had no poles." "So, who were they?" I asked, looking at her curiously. "Duh, that's what we're going to find out. Right?" I stood up shaking my head. "No, I have to get back, they'll be worried about me soon." "You're really going to leave me with pedophiles creeping around." I shook my head at her again. "I really doubt, they're pedophiles, Jessie. You said yourself, hunters come out here occasionally, maybe they got lost." "Without their guns, Devin?" "Maybe they went to take a piss and didn't want to shoot themselves in the ass." She just stared at me. "Was that supposed to be funny?" "Yes . . ." She shook her head. "It wasn't." "Are you sure you aren't just paranoid?" In a voice filled with flatness she replied, "Yes, I'm paranoid. I don't like old men running around the woods that surround my house." I sighed. I doubt she would let me leave. We hadn't seen each other in, I don't know how long, and now 'old' men are running around the woods she lives in. I pulled my cell from my pocket and called Maria. "Hey Maria? I just ran into an old friend and I'm going to spend the night with him. Okay?" I listened to the quickly said reply coming over the phone. "You don't have any clothes with you. Are his parents there? Will there be alcohol? Is he throwing a party? What about you're birthday tomorrow?" Wow, I thought. She sounds like a real mom. I replied to each of her questions. "We wear the same size. Yes they are. No there's no alcohol. Not that I know of, I'll come back if there is. And I don't care." Okay, so three lies, small lies. No harm no foul. She confirmed that I could stay and I hung up and slipped the phone back into my pocket. I turned back to Jessie who had an excited look on her face. "Please tell me I'm just staying for the night and we're not actually going out in the woods to look for these 'pedophiles'." She pouted at me. "We have about two hours to dark, and you still need some fresh air, you look sick." She stepped forward and touched the back of her hand to my cheek and forehead. "You're hot." I smirked at her, feeling exactly what she was saying I was, sick and hot. "Well thanks. I try to take care of myself." She slapped my arm. "Quit doing that." I pouted at her. "No hitting the hot guy." She rolled her eyes at me and headed for the door. I followed her, because I know she would have just left me standing there, pouting. When Jessie got outside she quietly ran, crouching when she heard noises, to where I saw the men running past after she had tackled me. Luckily for me it was easy to keep up with her, even the ducking under tree branches and jumping over logs. I had always been a good runner, and my uncle had insisted I try out Parkour. Parkour is another aspect of my life I have, so far, unfortunately left behind. Even though Parkour focuses on moving around objects with speed and efficiency, it trains you to be able to identify and utilize alternate, more efficient paths. Right now I am thankful for being a Traceur. Otherwise I'd be lost in the woods, looking for a crazy girl worried about pedophiles. Finally she stopped in a clearing and crouched again, looking at tracks that covered the ground. Look to me as if they just ran every which way in the clearing. She mumbled to herself. "What?" I asked, she looked genuinely worried now. "Nothing, I can't explain it to you." She said, shaking her head. "What do you mean?" What did she mean? She can't explain it to me? Was the whole situation Devin proofed? Made to where I couldn't understand? Cause I sure didn't understand what was going on now. "Devin, these...people, they tracked this clearing up like this so anyone tracking them would lose their trail. This dirt makes better tracks than anywhere else, a tracker would go here first. The leaves and moss out of this clearing don't make track-able tracks. The fact of the matter is, the tracks stop at every opening of this clearing. You generally can't tell which way they came nor which way they went." She took a deep breath after her speech. "You seem to know a lot about tracking. How did you know all that?" "I guess you could say it's my profession." She said nodding her head with an expression that tells me she was way of in another world. "You live in the woods and your profession is tracking." I said, thinking. She rolled her eyes. "No, I live in Neverland and I raise sexy unicorns, Captain Obvious." Well, she was suddenly back on earth. "Is there such a thing as a sexy unicorn?" She slapped me unexpectedly. And it hurt. "Ow!" I growled at her. Her expression was one of shock, but changed in a snap, to annoyed. "All unicorns are sexy. Now stop being childish and walk." She pushed me toward one of the many openings that led back into the trees. Jessie stayed a few paces behind me, mumbling to herself, something I couldn't really make out. Wait, was that Italian? She continued, not realizing I was listening to her, slowing my pace so I could hear her more clearly. "Lo sapevo." She said, shaking her head. I stopped walking completely and she ran into my back. "Ow." She said, rubbing her nose. I turned to face her. "Knew what?" I asked her. She looked at me blankly. "What?" She asked, still looking confused. "That's Italian, Jessie; you said 'I knew it'. What did you know?" She looked half shocked. "I didn't know you spoke Italian." She said, obviously ignoring my question. "I do. Don't change the subject. Is it something about those guys?" She looked at me seriously. "Well, they're long gone. And I'm guessing they were looking for us." She said. "Looking for us? Why? I'm not even supposed to be here. Why would they be looking for a couple of teenagers?" I was rambling on, yes. But I was shocked. Who would be looking for two kids? I mean, yes, one is living in the woods, I'm sure there's a law against that somewhere. But me? I groaned out loud. This just keeps getting better and better. "How old are you Devin?" She asked, randomly, but her face was intense, serious. "I'll be sixteen tomorrow morning. What does that have to do with anything?" She nodded. "And where is your Uncle?" I grimaced. And she saw it. "Heaven? Hell? Take your pick. Because he sure ain't here." I turned back around and began walking the way she had pushed me. I was curious where she was going with that, but I wasn't going to stick around for the pity party, I've had enough of that. I stopped walking away from her when she called out to me. "He didn't tell you then." She said to me. "Tell me what?" I turned around to face her but was still far enough from her that she had to walk about seven feet to stand right in front of me, face to face. "About who you are. Who we are, or rather what we are." I shook my head. What we are. What the hell was she talking about? "What?" I asked, my life didn't make sense anymore, all I had were questions and when those were answered I was just left with more questions than what I started with. "Wolves. That is what we are." These Wolves Alone Ch. 04 Ever been in one of those situations where someone is telling you something and all you can think is How stupid do you think I am? Why even waste your breath telling me this stupid ass bullshit? But something, somewhere, somehow you know that it's the absolute truth? Well this was like that. All I thought was: This is complete and utter bull. But something inside me clenched, and it seemed like every gap was closed, and every question I've ever had about my life was answered. "What the hell kind of bullshit is that?" I asked, almost screaming the question. I whirled around to face this girl I've known, practically, since I was born, who said we're...wolves? "Real bullshit, Devin; you're turning sixteen, you're anger keeps rising, and your body temperature is too. Just like all the cliché books and movies. You're becoming one of them, just like I'm one of them." "You're...You're a..." I stuttered. She was a what, a wolf? Is that what she was saying? My brain didn't comprehend this. She's saying she's a wolf and I'm just supposed to believe that, really? "I'm a wolf, Devin, just like you. Just like our parents. They were Alphas, they lead a pack. We, me and you as well as other wolf descendants, turn for the first time on our sixteenth birthday. That's why you haven't changed yet. "How could I not know I was... am... a wolf? Who doesn't know something like that about themselves?" I was angry and frustrated and my voice just kept rising. It took all my will power not to turn and break something. "Remember when I said your Uncle didn't tell you? Whoever is your closest living relative by your sixteenth birthday, tells you who you are. In your case he didn't, couldn't. So I'm telling you, because you need to know and no one else knows, really. Our parents are dead and we really have no one else... except each other, now." Each other. What about Maria and Dorian, my newest family... Jonathon and what about Maggie? I sighed. Wait, didn't she say she ran away form her Aunt's house? How could she say we had no one else when that was only true for me? I have no one; no parents, no siblings, no one. "What about your Aunt? You have her." She sighed and dropped her head. "After I ran away a lot of things happened... and one of those things was my Aunt having a heart attack. I heard it on the police scanner in my house—it's my connection to the outside world—a couple days after I had ran away. I didn't even go to her memorial, I stayed hidden." "Oh," was all I could say. I guess it was true; we really didn't have anyone else. "It's getting dark, we should finish this tomorrow, let's make our way back." As quick as a flash, a white wolf stood before me, it had one black paw and began running, quickly, back the way we had come. I gasped. Was that Jessie? Was that, I guess, her wolf form? Beautiful, just as in human form; I thought. I shook my head and followed the white wolf. Unlike the way to the clearing, I stumbled on the path back to Jessie's little shack, stunned by what I had just seen. As we approached the little brown, wooden, shack, she shifted again, and Jessie was standing in front of the door. Just as before, I was shocked. Would I ever get used to her doing that? What about when I become a wolf, how would it feel? Would it hurt? I thought for a moment. Maybe I should ask these questions to the actual wolf of us two. I walked through the door to find her standing over the little stove in the small kitchen space, something boiling in water in her only pot. "How do you get the stove to work with no power out here? And how do you always have water?" Those were the questions I wanted to ask the first time I was here. "Wood: burns, heats, voila. And as for water there is a running creek about a four-minute walk, one and a half-minute run, from here. Boil the water and use it for whatever I need. So I know it's, mostly, clean; from boiling it." She smiled, knowing how smart she was and proud she was able to live on her own...or rather, survive. "Does it hurt?" I asked. I wasn't scared of the pain, but if it was who you are, a part of you, it shouldn't hurt you, should it? "No," she replied, knowing exactly what I was talking about, "it seems strange at first but after a while you won't want to leave your wolf form at all." "Then why not stay there, if you like it so much." It didn't seem that hard to understand. "'Excessive time in one's wolf form results in living permanently as the wolf until the time you die.' No more seeing people, no shelter but the woods, no more eating cooked meat—assuming you like cooked meat—no more human perks. Although most would prefer to be a wolf, most die in a very short time. Being a domesticated human doesn't give you a whole lot of advantage—if any—after being thrown into the wild with no training or no real experience. I'd say it's better to live longer, with short times being a wolf and living your life as a human." "Sounds like you're quoting a book..." Well of course, then her opinion, obviously. Jessie was always opinionated. "No, just what my aunt told me after my first change. All the different things that came with it I guess." She shrugged and put a bowl on my lap. "What's this," I asked, looking down at it...it looked strange. "It's supper, I hope you like rabbit stew." These Wolves Alone Ch. 05 Ugh, what is that smell? I opened my eyes and looked around. everything was blurry and a dull gray color. Am I still in a dream? I was on the floor, wrapped in a fuzzy blanket Jessie had given me last night, she was on the futon. I sat up and started coughing. That dull gray color was smoke, I realized. I jumped out of the blanket and shook her awake. "What is it?" She asked, and her eyes widened as she saw my panicked expression. "The house is on fire. We have to get out." I told her quickly, trying to seem calm so she wouldn't panic too badly, but inside I was screaming at her. She jumped up quickly and started for the door, grabbing some things on the way out. I ran after her, still choking on the smoke I had inhaled. We ran out the door and into the woods. I didn't know where we were going, all I knew was we had to get out of that house. Jessie seemed to want to get as far away from it as possible. "Where are we going?" I tried to ask her, but it came out more as if I was just breathing out the words, sounding almost like a wheeze. "Somewhere away from here, someone will se the fire qand then we're screwed." She just kept running and then we came up to the edge of some trees and I realized where she was headed; my house, or rather, my old house. This is the way I had come when I found her. . . or well, she found me. "Why are we going there?" I asked, watching her carefully weave through the briers and small tree limbs, emerging through the trees into a clearing about three yards from the backyard of my old house. "No one will look in an abandoned house, plus it's far enough away. It's a safe place." She replied, going through the backdoor that was still unlocked from when I had used it. I followed her in. "How did the fire start?" she asked me, heading upstairs and into my old bedroom. Looking outside the window beside my old desk, I noticed that the sun was just now peeking over the mountain tops. I shrugged at her question. "I don't know, I woke up choking on smoke--the house was filled with it--and woke you up so we could get out of there." The whole time I was speaking she just nodded and fiddled with her police scanner she had grabbed while running out of the house. Finally she found the static-y chatter about the fire in the woods. She stayed silent and listened. ********* "That was a stupid idea! Doesn't he know that the cops would come to a forest fire? We could have caused the whole town to burn down!" "Now is not the time to be finding your morals, Frank. If you're in from the beginning then you're in. No turning back or--" I drew my finger across my neck in a slasher fashion and let my head drop and tongue hang out in a bad impression of someone dying. My partner just sighed and continued trudging through the woods the same way the two teenagers had ran. He was right, our boss, they ran. He told us to stick around in case they escaped the house fire. I just hoped Frank hadn't left any evidence of arson. If he did Boss would have both our asses. 'No evidence, no trail, nothing left.' His exact words. "Do we even know where we're headed?" "To the boy's house. They wouldn't go to a place with people, not with them being two teenage runaways. At least the girl wouldn't risk it. But we have to get there soon. We have to keep the boy from changing. That's what we're here for." Our orders were to kill. To stop him from knowing who he really was and knowing who his parents were. It would have been easier if he hadn't have come out to the woods. Following him back to his old house from where his foster parents lived was great at first; no one there, secluded and private, and no one would look for a dead body there; but then he ran out into the woods and we tracked him. Losing him would have meant losing our heads. Frank pulled his cell out of his pocket and punched some numbers into the keypad, holding it up to his ear. "Yeah, it's Frank," he said into the phone. "The boy is going back to the Uncle's house, and the girl is with him." I wasn't close enough to hear the answer from the other end. "Yes, they are already at the house putting it out. They escaped before anyone saw the smoke." "Yes sir. We're here. What do you want us to do with the girl?" I looked and saw the backyard come into sight in between the trees. He hung up the phone and put it back in his pocket. "Both of them," he said to me and I nodded in response as we walked up to the backdoor. These Wolves Alone Ch. 06 {Chapter 6 Black As Night} "Fire is being contained." Came the static-y voice from the other side of the radio. "Any sign of arson?" Someone else on the channel asked. After a static-y 'no' came through the line, Jessie turned off the radio. "How on earth could the house catch on fire? There was nothing left for that to happen....it has to be arson...maybe those men in the woods." Here we go again, I thought. "Why would strange men in the woods set a random shack on fire, Jessie?" I knew there was something wrong with those men being in the woods...something more than strange. I could feel it in my gut. They shouldn't have been there at all. So why where they? "Who knows? Maybe someone wants me dead...or maybe you're just a jinx. Maybe someone wants you dead!" She was suddenly in my face. "You didn't bring trouble with you when you came here, did you? Why did you come here anyway? What are you running from?!" I heard a low growl rumble in her throat. I was the bad guy now.... "Calm down. You're not mad at me and you know it. And yes, I'm sure several people want me dead. I'm not exactly what someone would desribe as loveable. We both ran away for the same reasons. To run from our past. The past we hate." She sighed, finally gaining control over her emotions, and nodded. "You're right....I just want to know why someone wants me....us...possibly dead." I didn't either but there was no way we could have caused that fire, the house would have gone up in flames way before the daylight came. **********{Jessie's POV}********** I can't believe it. What am I going to do now? Where am I going to stay? That was my home. I can't stay here...what if someone comes in to look at the house. That is if someone even wants this old house; but still, I can't take that risk. I wasn't about to let myself get into the hands of some foster home. I can't even imagine myself in the hands of the government. I sighed and laid back on the bed, thinking how much more comfortable it was than that old futon I had. Lost in my thoughts, I almost missed the strange sounds coming from the side of the room occupied by Devin. I looked over to see him on all fours, coughing, almost vomiting, and making a sound sounding something like a mix between a groan of pain and a growl, breathing hard as his body heaved. He's going to hate me for lying to him...I thought. I told him what I was told. It doesn't hurt. Which it doesn't, at least as much as it would if you were expecing the pain, and especially if you were against it coming. He let out a half scream/half howl and suddenly there was a wolf standing where he had just been. It was black as night. ********Devin's POV******** This hurt like hell. Who knew growing hair all over your body, a snout out of your face and claws out of your fingers could hurt so bad. Not only that, I was burning up, but from the newly grown fur all over my body or from the rage I was feeling, I didn't know. I trotted to the wall mirror hanging on my old bedroom door and blinked at the wolf I saw there. Black, so black it almost looked evil. Hell, it was evil, it was unnatural. People don't just turn into wolves. Can you hear me? I heard a voice ring throughout my head. Loud and clear, cap'n. A loud bark spew from my mouth as I tried to speak the words aloud and Jessie laughed. This whole wolf thing might be harder than I thought. *************** {Author's Note} Guys I am SO SORRY it has took almost two months for me to update! I have been so busy writing other stories ( I have 3 going at once) and our internet has been screwing up so much. I know this is so short but apparently people don't understand the difference in the Point Of Views. So next on will again me from the pair of hitmen. Will upload it soon! These Wolves Alone Ch. 07 {Chapter 7 Intruders} A loud bark came from up the stairs and Frank, my partner, jumped. Some hit-man, I thought to myself. He must have already changed, I cursed myself. If Caleb found out we'd be dead. "What was that?" Frank asked me, looking worried. "We have to go now!" I growled back at him, running up the stairs. I went to start opening doors to find the teenage duo, but all the doors were propped open. Except for one. I headed straight for it and tried the doorknob, that let the door open. Two pairs of eyes stared at me, surprised and a scream erupted in the room. It was the girl, she was just standing there screaming. I had to cover my ears. ***********Frank's POV*********** He headed up the stairs and I followed, already pulling out my gun. He headed straight for the closed door and opened it quickly and held his large hands over his ears as a scream came from the room. A growl erupted from the room as well and a black wolf charged at Jeremy, snapping at his thighs. He fell back and hit the floor with a thud as the girl ran from the room; right at me. I pulled the trigger and shot the ceiling as strong jaws and sharp teeth connected with my wrist, sending it upwards with a snap. Plaster began to cover the floor and the gun fell from my limp and bleeding hand. When the gun hit the ground, it went off. Drops of blood splattered and a loud yell filled the small area we were in. I realized Jeremy was still laying on the floor and cursed myself. I took a swing at the white wolf and it connected flinging it against the wall, but not nearly as hard as I had wished. The black wolf was standing over Jeremy and growling loudly and snarling at him. Jeremy was holding his shoulder where the bullet had ripped a piece of skin out. *****Devin's POV***** I tried to send a thought to Jessie, like she had to me. I have no idea how to do this, I thought, just to myself. I hoped she was still alive. I couldn't believe that bastard knocked her against the wall. I stood up, shifting back into human form like I had been doing it for years. "Who are you?" I asked the man beneath me with a hint of growl still in my voice. "Your killer, that's all you need to know." I dropped to my knees, straddling the man in the floor and my fist connected with his jaw and he spit blood. "Why are you here?" He spit again, this time the blood hit my cheek and I had to keep myself from gagging as made my fist connect with his jaw again, this time knocking him unconscious. While I had been talking to the man the other man was kicking at Jessie and blood was spilling out of the open snout of her wolf form. I leaped to my feet again and charged at his legs, trying to knock him off balance or even break his legs but he got me first. His foot connected with my chin and I tasted blood in my mouth as the result of chomping down on my tongue. He lifted me up by the collar of my shirt and his fist connected with my already sore jaw. I scrambled to get out of his grip but he had the fabric wound so tight it was seemingly impossible to me and all I could do was panic. All I could think was that he was going to knock me out like I did his friend and then finish Jessie off, and maybe even me too. I suddenly knew why people in horror or thriller movies always made the stupid choices or couldn't defend themselves; because the panic filling their brain was clouding every logical move and decision and I was just hoping that sometime soon I could get my brain to function. But while I was being held there, pondering what would happen or if I would die and hoping the worst didn't happen to Jessie after I was gone, somewhere I heard a gun go off. *** [Author's Note] Yes, I know it's short, as are all of my chapters. But I have come to the conclusion that I am just one of those writers that write short chapters, so I guess y'all are gonna just have to bear with me, because whatever I do they always come out short. But either way I hope you enjoyed it! Next chapter up soon hopefully! :) These Wolves Alone Ch. 08 His jaw dropped and blood spilled over his lips, bubbling as he tried to breath. Warm blood had splattered onto my neck and face as the man coughed and his legs went limp. He fell to the ground as his heart stopped. My jaw dropped as I saw Jessie standing behind him with a gun in her hands, arms extended and blood splattered across the front of her body. She bent down and set the gun on the floor. "We need to get out of here, who knows how many more people are after us..." She trailed off and went back into the room and started searching drawers. "You won't find any clothes in there; Mrs. Dewby brought all my clothes to the Finley's." Jessie disappeared and once again a white wolf appeared in her place. Follow. Jessie's voice came into my head right before the white wolf went out of the room and descended the stairs and out the open back door. Where the men must've come in through, I thought. To keep up with her I had no choice but to shift again and follow her lead as she started running through the woods. I almost lost her two or three times with her weaving around trees and wads of tangled up briers, some my fur even got caught in it and that hurt, like pulling out a toe hair hurt, but worse. I ran up to the edge of a lake just as I heard a splash and water coated my fur. I watched as she peeled off her shirt in the water and began rubbing it together, rubbing the blood spots out of it. My tongue suddenly felt dry and I realized it was hanging out of my snout, without thinking I licked my lips and jumped in as well. "We'll wash out our clothes here and maybe look a little decent. Then we'll get out of here. We've already stayed too long for our own safety. We need to find out what those men were after and why they were trying to kill us." I nodded and began scrubbing the blood off my face and the little bit that had gotten onto my clothes. "You know, it hurt like hell. It felt like my body was being ripped apart." I glanced at her and pulled my shirt back on after deciding that was about as clean as it was going to get. "I just told you what I was told. I was only told so much and since you have no one to tell you these things in the first place, I'll just share with you what I know and we'll learn the rest together." She disappeared into the water and I could see her rubbing the blood out of the hair that had been covering her face. When she re-appeared above water I asked, "Where are we supposed to go while we're soaked?" "We need to find out why those men were after us before we really go anywhere, which means going back to that house. I know, I said we should get far away from there but we need answers and we can't just leave two dead bodies for a realtor to find. Then we'd have the police on our butts as well." I got out of the water and hung my shirt on a low tree limb. My shorts would have to dry while we walked back. Jessie came out of the water and wrung her shirt out and put it back on. She squeezed as much water as she could out of her shorts and then put her wet hair back in ponytail. "Think you'll remember where you left that?" She asked, nodding to my shirt on the tree limb. I shrugged, "I can smell my own trail now right?" She rolled her eyes at me. I thought it was a pretty good idea, a perk to being this...thing; not getting lost. We started making our way back to the house. The walk back was silent except for the crunching of leaves as we walked over them. It was almost too cold to be walking around shirtless and I shivered in the breeze. When we got back we went back upstairs to find there was only one body lying on the floor, a puddle of blood beneath him. I cursed and slammed my fist against the wall. "Where is he?" Jessie asked, panic flooding her voice. How could I have missed that? How could I have left him here unconscious? I cursed at myself. Nothing I could do about it now. All I could do now was take care of the one and get the hell out of this place. I went into the bathroom that connected to my bedroom and ripped the shower curtain from the rod. I laid it beside the body and rolled him across it, rolling him up in it tightly. "Help me." I gestured to his feet and she grabbed the end of the curtain, lifting him up as I did the same with my end. We carried him down the stairs and out the back door. After all but completely dropping him, Jessie finally put her end down and asked, "Where are we going to put him? We can't bury him, we don't have a shovel." With that thought on my mind I laid my end down and went to the small storage shed on the other side of the yard and started going through the stuff inside, searching for tools. We couldn't bury him in the backyard because it would be just a matter of time before someone started a garden and found him. I grabbed a hammer and a small shovel and started back to the house. "What are you doing?" Jessie asked a curious look on her face. I ignored her and continued what I was doing. I took the hammer and pulled out the nails holding the underpinning to the house. After opening a wide enough spot I crouched and made my way in. It was just tall enough that I could dig with ease and get deep enough. I started digging. After deciding that it was a good enough size I went back out and Jessie gasped. I looked down to find my chest smeared with dirt and some cuts on my arms where they had caught on the way under the house. "Come on." I urged her, we needed to get this done and get out of here. We both picked up our ends of the shower curtain and crouched to get back under the house. I went in backwards and pulled our load through the hole while Jessie pushed. We finally made it to the spot I had dug out and pushed him in. I started covering him back up with dirt and prayed no one would find him under here.