FicWad

I woke up in my room, lying on top of the covers in the same clothes I’d been wearing for the past week.
What a weird dream, I thought. I stretched on the bed and stood up, looking around I felt dizzy and out of place. As I walked out of the door, I heard quiet voices coming from what I could only describe as the living room. As I walked in, everyone went quiet. I was about to say something, when I saw the scratch marks in the floor. It wasn’t a dream. As my head tried to process this new information, I slid to the floor and sat there staring at the claw marks. No-one said a word, they just stared.
When Kyle broke the silence, he said, ‘What the hell is she?’
‘She’s one of us,’ replied Darren, who gently picked me off the floor like I weighed no more than a baby. His arms felt strong and warm as they cradled me. He took me over to the sofa to where the others sat. I slowly regained rational thought and blinked, ‘Back with us?’
‘I think so,’ I said timidly, aware of every single eye on me. ‘Did all of that really happen?’
‘I’m afraid so.’ He laughed quietly, ‘Do you believe me now?’
I nodded stiffly.
‘So tell us what happened,’ Eric said cheerfully. ‘You were talking in a weird language or something?’
‘What?’
‘Yes, when you were talking to the air,’ He grinned, ‘Sorry, the creature.’
‘I don’t know. I could understand it; I thought I was talking to it in English.’
‘No, some weird language.’ He smiled, ‘Not even Owly over here could pick up its origin.’
I looked and saw between Eric and Kyle sat Tyler looking more fragile than ever. He had cuts all over his arms and legs but he smiled up at Eric as he was mentioned, clearly not offended by the nickname.
‘How are you feeling?’ I asked Tyler.
He shrugged trying to be nonchalant but wincing at the same time.
‘That good, eh?’ I smiled.
‘We need to talk.’ Kyle demanded of Darren.
‘About what?’ Darren asked.
‘About her.’ He said as if I wasn’t there.
‘Okay, then talk.’
‘What the hell does she know and who the fuck is she?’
‘Well, I haven’t gotten all the information I need out of her but...’
I interrupted them then saying, ‘Stop talking like I’m not here. Jeez, if you have something to ask, ask me not him.’
‘Okay then, same questions.’
‘I am what I am. I am a girl, just like any other but I come from a powerful tribe who have old magic, I believed I possessed no magic, that I had been passed but my Grandma always told me I had the greatest power all, but she would never tell what. I guess I kind of know now and what information do you want to know?’
‘How did you know his name?’
‘From a story that has been past down from generation to generation.’
‘A story?’
‘Tell us, please.’ Tristan said quietly with a voice that sounded unused.
Everybody looked at him in surprise; he blushed in embarrassment and cowered away from the attention.
‘Okay.’ I said gently, bringing my voice down to a whisper I began. ‘I was told that this story must never leave my house and must never be told to someone who did not belong, a secret kept for generations until he was found.’ I glanced at Darren who was staring at me intently listening to every word. A hush had descended upon the room and the only sound that could be heard was breathing, in and out.
‘A silhouette of a crescent moon, a curse in my family, a baby born under the light of a crescent moon would carry the curse of death for him. Darren.’
Every one stared at him but he ignored them continuing to look at me.
‘The curse started long ago when our tribes wielded the spell to bring about a power that could defeat the creature, it backfired slightly meaning that the two people that could stop the creature would fall in love but could never be together. ’ I paused unable to keep talking.
‘Shit,’ Kyle exhaled sharply, ‘So what does this mean?’
‘I guess it means I’m stuck here’ I replied, realising I would never see my family again.
And that was how it started. How I became a part of their family.
I began to talk to all the boys more, coming out of my room just to hang out with them. I liked Eric and Stick with their easy smiles and sense of humour, it would’ve been almost impossible to dislike them.
Tristan was still quiet but we held hushed conversations together, I enjoyed hearing his opinion on things but every time Kyle walked in the room, he would stop talking to me and rush to Kyle’s side.
Kyle was still giving me the cold shoulder; he would glare and mutter whenever I was in the same room as him. I had become used to his want to hate me.
I was hanging out with Darren the most though, sitting in his room while he read and I wrote. I wrote about everything my family had ever taught me about the tribes.
I was sitting in Darren’s room, with my feet curled on the bed and a small book Darren had given me to read.
‘How’s the book?’ Darren asked, looking up from his own book.
‘Great.’ I said enthusiastically.
‘I knew you’d love it,’ He said, smiling the real smile that I saw so rarely. I leaned in towards him automatically drawn towards his smile. He was staring at me with that smile and started to move towards me. He was looking at my lips and then back into my eyes, as he leaned in our lips were millimetres away from touching when I smiled back and I saw something register in his eyes. He pulled back from me abruptly, like he didn’t know what he had been doing. I looked him through wide eyes, confused. I thought he had been about to kiss me and disappointment spread through me suddenly. I moved off the bed and out through the door, looking back at him before I left. He glanced up at me with a look of what I thought was distress and confusion and then it was gone, his face a blank page of a book, like it always was, unreadable. Darren began to read again, ignoring me now. I quietly closed the door back behind me.