章節 5: Chapter Five
It was hard to place Sophie at one place, Richard had observed. She seemed to move like the wind, ever so fluid and quiet in the hallways it was hard to keep up.
Sophie and her two friends seemed pretty popular in school. They were the three musketeers. That was why it had the school talking, them being seen sort of broken up.
The story was, Camila wasn't the same as she was before, she was now "the biggest thorn in the principals side after having maintained probably the cleanest record ever in high school history", a girl called Claire who was the class president for the seniors had gladly informed him.
On the other hand, Nina seemed to have had a setback in her once huge step to healing, she was walking with a thoughtful, lost look on her face. She was miserable and she looked like it.
His eyes had been mostly on the girl he was following right now, however, Sophie Worley.
In the days he'd been here, he'd learned absolutely nothing about her, her mouth seemed to filter every word she spoke ever so carefully you'd never get anything against her. Her heartbeat which at first had seemed so uncontrolled had turned out to be the most clever trick he'd ever seen, it was never quite right, it was slow when she lied, slow when she was excited, and highest when she was bored.
With her mid-back long hair and her medium height, the only thing that could have been seen as different by anyone who didn't know what she was would be the lightness of her skin. A trait fairly common among the Worley's.
People say that you aren't who you look like but what you act like. Sophie was both and none at the same time.
Despite trying so hard to see the famous alpha who was so feared even outside Bighton, he couldn't.
A petite girl with a round button nose and bright eyes that gave her a pouty look. In his head, he could hear the stories, the tales of ruthlessness that the youngest Worley was associated with. But all he saw was a friendly neighborhood alpha who held her two betas under her very protective wing like a mom and her kids.
Otherwise, she seemed harmless.
Now as he leans on the wall in the hallway watching. She opens her locker and starts packing what she'd probably be needing to take home.
He tries to look, the murderous rage he'd heard about, the ruthlessness, anything. But he had to agree, there's no seeing what's not there. But all stories had a base, they had an origin.
Maybe that's why he'd decided to approach her today, simply watching her from afar had proven both tiring and fruitless waste of energy and time. Now he needed to spook her, she needed to look behind her shoulder and that was the only way to get her out of that cabin she hid at with her pack.
The Lone Wolf was as inactive as Worley which had brought his plans with Helena to shambles. This, among many other reasons, was why he couldn't play down the stories about Sophie, the reason there was a biting cold fear deeply set in him even as he took the first step towards her. Could the Lone wolf be afraid of this girl?
A chilling nerve-wracking fear had him listening to his heartbeat to recheck that she would not hear his nervousness. One that has him asking what he'd say to her, what one would even say to spook someone who was, apparently, the greatest actor of all time from what he'd been seeing.
He scowls at a guy who runs into him, adding a beat to his already racing mind. Whatever look that must have crossed his face has the guy scurrying away with a muttered apology.
"Worley," he calls, voice dripping with as much confidence as he could muster. Trying to look casual, he leans on the wall slightly.
He's close enough that he was towering Sophie who was a head shorter than him, but far enough that he felt at least a sense of security. The space between them was a safety precaution despite knowing Worley wouldn't start anything in school.
"And you are?" she asks, not rude. Just a curious smile that makes him place a smirk on his face, he knew if not now, he wouldn't say anything that the girl would care about.
"Someone who knows a lot," the slight raise of her brow is the only indicator that she's heard him, her lips for a second going to a thin line with a hard face that disappears almost immediately. Replaced by a cheeky smile.
"Then perhaps you know your name?"
He almost chuckles at how much insult she manages to put into those simple words, said with an amount of arrogance and disinterest that would have anyone hating her. This was a far cry from the nice girl who'd walked the school hallways just some minutes before this meeting. And he was glad he'd gotten some kind of raise from her, and surprised too which is how he finds himself muttering the words out loud.
"I'm surprised," he says with a tut-tut voice his head cocked curiously.
"Fancy name," she cuts off the insult he'd been cooking up to his dismay. And again, the two words could never have been spoken in a more insulting way. Despite knowing this was the game she was playing, he finds himself falling prey to it.
"You think you're funny?" he asks, chuckling angrily.
"No, I wish I was funny." this time she bangs her locker door closing it and he knew she would go if he didn't do something. He decides this was it, it was now or never.
"I'd have figured claws and teeth would have been your thing instead of throwing words really," he says in a bored tone, making sure to emphasize the claws and teeth part. Her hand that was placing the lock in place halts for a second before she grins at him.
"I could show you what else I can throw if you'd like to know me," she says, the stupid grin still on her face. Richard could feel his frustration growing, she was not falling to the bait. She looks almost ready to fall about the place despite having known what he was implying.
"Oh, I know exactly who you are Worley."
"Is that right?" she asks, the amused look still on her face.
"I don't know, but if the moon were higher maybe it could shed some light." The cheeky grin, the playfulness in her voice, the amusement, the game. They all disappear and in their place replaced by a hard, cold calculating glare that could have scared anyone. The dark eyes seem to get even darker and her skin even paler. Her mouth disappears into a thin hard line and her gaze seems to stare right into his soul. He bites down a shiver trying not to swallow the lump that had formed at his throat.
"Okay, let's cut the crap. Who are you, what do you want?" It was clear she was done playing games and for a moment he wonders if this was what he wanted. If he wanted her looking at him.
"Let's just say that I'm a guy who knows a lot of things," he decides on that. Using the voice Erol called the I'm a mystery voice.
Sophie could feel the cogs turning in her brain at the guy in front of him, at first she'd thought he was just another guy from school. But looking closer it was someone she'd never seen here. It was not odd to see new students in Bighton High but it was strange that she couldn't even remember his family moving in. And as the smug smile settles on his face, she knows she is right about one thing. If not for the not so subtle statement he'd said about the moon, then it was the way his heartbeat ran, smooth like the sea on a calm day. No highs, no lows.
This guy knew about her, he knew what she was and since he had a human scent, it was hard to tell what he was. He could be a hunter or another werewolf. She was banking more on a hunter, however, the amount of stubbornness and arrogance in his gait was that of the hunters.
"I heard the town had a pretty bad accident here and the woman got mauled by an animal," he starts simply, mouth twitching ever so lightly she could almost miss it. Was it in amusement?
"And what is it to you?" he'd almost all but concluded for her, he was a hunter here on a vengeance path. One of their own had been murdered and they would retaliate.
"Also heard your friend is taking it hard," he says. "Nina, that's her name, right?"
Knowing this was probably a hunter has Sophie worried for a bit, despite everything she'd tried. There had been no finding who had killed Helena and if the hunters were here, it was not a good time, with the Camila situation and the fact that there weren't any other werewolves in Bighton. She wasn't sure how to handle the situation but his statement had left a bitter taste in the back of her mouth. Talking about Nina as he was, she knew he wanted her to react, get angry. But even though she was angry, she wouldn't let herself get caught up in a hunter's games.
"Well, if you take your mom's death easily, you must have a very distorted mind." She smiles cruelly. "I'd say it was nice talking to you, but I have a thing against lying, so, I'll be going."
As she makes to walk-off, his voice stops her. Ever so threatening and loud that she finds herself wincing at the heads that turn around go face them. "I know what you are Sophie, and I'm. not afraid of telling it to the world," he says.
"Oh you do?" she asks, feigning surprise and panic. This was the only way she could beat him, it was the only way she could win right now. By creating an absurdity out of the truth.
"Keep taunting me and I'll hang your secret out in the open for the whole world to see." By now, a couple of students who'd been walking along getting outside have stopped to see what was going on. They weren't used to her talking to other people beside Nina and Mila, it was surprising and would make for great gossip if they could catch what he wanted to say. It reminded her why she hated this school.
"Yeah, might as well tell people I'm a werewolf because with how you're going on about it, one would think I was one." she'd never seen anyone look so baffled and lost. "Or is it a big bad vampire?"
He was at a complete loss for words as the small crowds that had gathered broke out in laughter, he knew she'd pretty much just taken away all his ammunition by making a joke out of it. Now it only seemed crazy, if he ever said it he'd sound nuts. Her smile however leaves her face immediately she steps away from the hallway where she leaves him, mouth open. The mere fact that he knew about her and she'd just basically confirmed it for her was not good at all. And the fact that Camila was probably something, this was not a good time for a hunter to be in town.
***
Camila sits on her bed, hugging her pillow so hard she's afraid if it were a person, they'd be pretty much choking.
She rocks her body to a silent rhythm in her mind, one that she finds calming enough to make the noise in her head disappear for a while.
The white noise that kept dragging her through hell and back at a pace that leaves her head spinning.
With the knock on her door and the soft shuffling of feet, she's pulled from her thoughts that are mostly plagued by Nina and the images she'd been seeing.
The smile on her mom's face is a calm one. Sympathetic and calming in a way but as she utters her first sentence, Mila finds herself drawn back to the questions.
"You've been cooped up in your room for the whole day. I haven't seen Nina or Sophie around for the last week. You ask me, I'd say a lot is bothering you. Want to talk about it?"
Would that smile disappear if she told her what she knew, what she'd seen? Would she believe her or would she take her to a shrink and possibly an asylum? The thought of her mom not believing her is worse than anything she'd ever felt. It was not that she didn't think her mom could, if anything, her mom was one of the most open-minded people she knew of. She would never judge anyone for anything, but this was on a whole other level, it was a new kind of crazy. She wasn't sure she believed it yet herself let alone have someone else believe that it was not in fact, a madness that was plaguing her mind.
She could feel the sting in her eyes that she'd grown accustomed to, it meant she was about to break down. She was doing that a lot of late and trying to fight the tears now was all just a futile effort.
After what had happened with Nina, it seemed so pointless to try when she knew that the moment she faced someone she cared about, they would come crashing in and even with more intensity than if she allowed herself the time to cry. And now as her mom walks over to her, the bed dipping slightly as she pulls herself onto it, she doesn't bother fighting them.
She lets them flow free and unchecked in silence as they sit there.
Mother and daughter both lost and uncertain.
One so lost and unsure of what was wrong. The other unsure what to say, where to begin if there was telling.
She snuggles closer to her mom who gladly holds her in her arms, almost as she had when she'd been a little child and had been afraid of the dark.
She would hold her and sing to her till she fell asleep.
She lets herself be engulfed in the warmth and love in her mom's embrace as well as enjoy the calm silence that was there, both in her bedroom and in her mind.
The whispers, it seemed, only really came when her mind was trying to work on too many problems at the same time, now that she was freeing her mind of worry. Allowing herself the comfort of her mom, the whispers weren't there.
They wouldn't be gone forever, and she knew it, but she'd cherish this moment she was free of them. She was glad her mom hadn't asked her a thing so far, her mind was currently trying to figure out how safe it was for her to tell her mom. How believable she'd have to be to convince her mom she wasn't crazy.
"Honey, you want to talk about it?" Her mom asks again, never once letting go of her as she runs her arms soothingly through her hair.
"Not really." Her voice comes out scratchy and hoarse.
Maybe this was because she'd spent most of her time either silently crying or cursing the things in her mind. However, she does know that she wants to talk about it, especially to her mom who'd be the most likely to understand.
But she wasn't sure, the questions, the what if's, still linger and for that reason, she wasn't sure so she adds the same. "I'm not sure."
"It's alright, no need to rush it, I'll be here to listen if you feel like talking." And like her typical self, her mom was being as understanding as ever which was worse. Despite the clear confusion on her face, she still sounds so sure that she'd wait, she wouldn't force her to talk.
"Thanks, mom." She says, meaning it.
From her safe place in her mom's hands, she looks over her shoulder through the window where the curtain is pulled back.
In other times and circumstances, she would have found the clear sky a beauty. The full moon was settled ever so majestically with the stars all over. It would have been the perfect night for stargazing, the moon shining, sure and bright, unlike her heart that was darkened by guilt and plagued with doubt.
Looking back up at her mom who leans on the bed head, lightly placing one of her arms around her, the other one busy in her hair. She could see now how much alike they looked.
The dark hair always curly and untamed, the brown eyes glinting in the light from the ceiling.
But mostly it was the look on her face, a look she had seen on herself the last few days, she'd come to associate it with all the not knowing. The doubt of what was waiting or whether there was moving forward, the uncertainty of what to do in the situation she's in.
That was the same look that her mom had on right now, a pained expression that simply tells Camila what she had to do.
She couldn't let her mom go on wondering. Wondering something that she'd never really figure out, she had to tell her something. Anything, she wasn't sure what it was she wanted to say but she knew she had to. For her mom, and more so for herself.
"Mom." She calls, never once looking at her mom's face to see the expression there but she feels her mom's head turn as she replies with a simple, "Yeah?"
Her heart beats harder from the nervousness as she pulls herself from her mom, meeting her gaze for the first time. "There's something I need to tell you."
"Oh, thank God." Her mom says with a little teasing smile slightly brightening her otherwise dull expression. "I was going crazy trying to figure out what is eating at my baby girl."
Although she feels the moment get lighter at her mom's slight smile, she feels herself want to hide in her mom's shoulder at the way she'd said her 'baby girl' both embarrassed and worried.
Would she still think the same of her if she told her the truth, would she still hold her as she had right then. Or would she see her as the monster she felt herself to be?
Even going to seventeen, she still felt so close to her mom, they had always been like that, loving each other, always the two of them. She had never met her dad and her mom didn't seem to want to talk about it. They were a team, she, and her mom.
Now she wondered if that would all change if her mom would hate her but somehow she was also confident she wouldn't.
"I'm not a little girl any more mom." She mumbles softly fighting the embarrassment, facing the wall for a moment.
Seeing her mom now, she finds a look she'd only describe as somberly serious, it was as if her mom was thinking of something really painful. Camila doesn't get to talk before her mom breaks the silence.
"You remember Grandpa Will?" And she did which she shows with a nod, not without wondering why her mom would bring up grandpa. Grandpa Will had died when she was eight, she still remembered because it was one of the only times she'd ever seen her mom broken, hurt to an extent that nothing, it seemed, would be able to pull her back. But she'd managed and it was one of the reasons Camila was so proud of her, one of the reasons she so much wanted to be like her.
"He used to say that, 'If you're falling, don't look up, don't wait for a rope and don't hope for a soft landing. Just close your eyes and let go."
As Ivy recalls her father's most favored line of the many he'd used. She fights to keep the melancholy off her voice, losing her dad had been one of the most trying times she'd ever had. It was one of the only times she'd felt she wasn't enough for her daughter.
But now, here she was again, she runs a hand down Camila's arm, as always when she looked at her daughter, she was mesmerized by how fast she seemed to have grown. She'd taken so little of her father that it was almost impossible to tell, but the sadness on her young face now was trying. At the incredulous look, her daughter gives her, she can't help but chuckle softly, remembering how skeptical she'd always been of the same line.
"I never quite understood why he'd say that at the time. I always told him it made no sense, I thought it meant to give up. But it was quite the opposite. I came to understand later, it was about trust and hope. When we feel like we're falling, we like to think that we are all alone so we struggle and grapple for control.
But we're never alone, there's always someone who's with us, that person is the rope. So you don't have to look up hoping for a rope or look down, or hope for a soft landing because if you trust that person who's with you, they'll always pull you up." She explains, a smile gracing her face at the funny look Camila had on hers, bordering awed to disbelief but mostly understanding.
"Mom that is..." Camila starts before she trails off, a thoughtful look claiming her face, she seemed to be connecting the dots in her head.
"All I'm saying is, you shouldn't fight whatever it is you're fighting on your own like you are. You can't push everyone away, it doesn't have to be me, but you should talk about it with someone. And stop pushing Nina and Sophie away." She knows she's giving her daughter a choice, despite what she had said earlier, it had to be a choice made with a clear mind to tell her what it was that bothered her.
"Thanks, mom, that means a lot, "At first, Mila had been unsure if she wanted to tell her mom the whole story, the truth. But after that, she knew who her rope was, she was her rope, her and Nina and she'd been hiding. Especially from them, afraid that they'd leave. She had to trust them not to leave, she had to trust that they'd trust her. She'd tell her mom and she'd tell Nina when they met again.
"I hope you have time because it is a long story," she adds determination coating her voice.
"I'll always have time for you, always," her mom's reassuring smile gets her feeling at ease as she launches into her story.
***
Sophie watches the full moon all bright in the sky. The tingling sensation in her body making her feel uncomfortable. The urge to just let go and give in to the pull of the moon. Sitting outside the cabin, she listens to the noises in the forest knowing that Jing and Norman were out there. Worry nudges at her mind as she lets her mind drift to thinking of Richard. After leaving him inside she'd asked around and found out he was new in town, whoever he was, he could be dangerous to her to Betas running through the woods searching.
She tries to enjoy the tranquil and the pacific it provides but the thoughts of Richard won't leave her. She couldn't help but wonder who he was and what he was planning on doing now that outing her was out of the picture.
Perhaps that was why when Norman suddenly appears behind her and starts saying something that sounds that was vaguely close to, "You're becoming..."
She lashes out at him, throwing him away from her on instinct his back hitting a tree with a clear thud and his face turning in pain. Her line of thought and the nagging feeling begging her body to let go of her human look had left her vulnerable, making her break her concentration. The shriek of pain from Norman brings her back to her senses as she shakes her head surprised that things had taken such a toll on her.
"The hell Sophie," Norman shrieks as he lifts himself painfully from the ground. "What was that for?"
"You surprised me, that's all." She admits with a sigh.
"You know, Helena's death is working you up more than you want to admit. Whoever did it must have been passing by, they aren't here. We've searched all over and there's no scent, no nothing. There's nothing to follow, the scent is only there, and even there, it's fading already."
Despite everything, Sophie's worry grows as she thinks of Phoebe. She would want revenge, she definitely would want whoever it was to pay. The only wolves in town that she could think of were her pack, which meant Phoebe would come after them. And that made her fear, Phoebe was a Trueborn Alpha. And also the only self-proclaimed Lone Wolf she had come across, she understood her decision however, it was already hard being a werewolf as it was, having a pack for her would be impossible. Not with her family being who they were.
Unknown to Sophie, Phoebe walks the night through the Worley woods. Her blue eyes shine bright as she gives in to the pull of the moon. Her muscles crack before she fully transforms, the once painful process now feeling like a simple twisting of the muscles. A predator born, the lone wolf surfaces as she rushes through the woods following the wolf scent that reaches her nostrils. As thousands of sounds flit through her ears she pushes them away, focusing on finding the heavy breathing of a Lycan that she knew was bound to be found. She had to know whether it was one of Sophie's pack that had killed her mother.
The trees all bounce in and out of her view as she dodges them swiftly her white fur pushed back by the wind. The almost nonexistent footfalls of a Lycan reach her ears as she nears the northern part of the river. As soon as the girl comes into view, she trails her before focusing on hiding her scent completely, becoming the hunter. The girl stops immediately, turning around carefully taking in the air almost imperceptibly. Her orange eyes glowing brightly roam the woods as Phoebe ducks behind trees swiftly making small noises she was sure would drive the girl insane. The girl's heart starts beating rapidly and Phoebe can almost smell her fear. She stops and stands still as another noise reaches her ears, the scentless air alerts her of the presence of another trueborn wolf.
The girl growls softly, sounding a warning, a dare, and a call. Phoebe keeps to herself, listening, watching the woods for the newcomer. The sudden appearance of a big brown wolf almost throws her concentration. The blue eyes alert her that the newcomer is an alpha. 'The girl has no chance..' She can't help but think as the girl's eyes widen, despite the determination she knew this was an alpha and she was afraid. The new wolf circles the girl, a deep menacing growl leaving its mouth. The fact that lycans can't transform fully into wolves gives them an advantage for weapons but trueborn were fast. And the girl was no match for an alpha.
As the wolf makes his jump, aiming for the girl's neck, Phoebe decides not to ignore the girl as she gives a deep growl filling it with power. An order, the call of an apex predator. She can tell the wolf is surprised and scared as it hesitates mid-air, it's wolf form shedding slightly to show the partial face of a boy. Upon landing, its claws find the girl's side and a pained howl leaves her mouth as the Trueborn vanishes into the night. The girl transforms back to a human her eyes sagging slightly before falling to the ground with a thud.
Pushing towards the girl, she transforms back to her half-wolf form before picking her up and heading towards the Worley cabin where she was sure Sophie was. The new and dirtier truth shakes her up. It hadn't been Sophie or her pack, as much as she had already doubted the possibility, she hadn't entertained the idea of another alpha in town. This new wolf in town meant trouble, he had already caused trouble by killing her mom. She was now sure what he had been doing here, pitting her and Sophie against each other, make her suspect Sophie for the death of her mother, and make Sophie think she'd killed her beta in retaliation.
He had wanted to remove competition, make Sophie and Phoebe fight, whoever won was bound to be weak at the end. The winner would be easy prey, easy to kill.
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