Wolf Pack

Chapter 1

'Today, is gonna be the day that they're gonna throw it back to you...

My eyes fluttered open. The alarm by my bed blared 'Wonderwall' softly, and I smiled. I listened to it for a while, enjoying the fact that it was Friday. I could smell bacon cooking on the stove, and my smile grew wider. 

Finally, I sat up slowly, stretching. I looked around my small room, at the Classic Rock posters, the worn wooden desk in the corner, the walls painted with late-may sunshine from my two windows. I didn't want to get out of bed. Of course, I had to. There was school. What little of it there was left, anyway.

I was a senior at Freshwater Public High School, and was about to finish up the second semester. After that, I would head off to the University of Richmond to study art. It was a little hard to believe that I would be an adult so soon, heading off to college and then to live the rest of my life. Honestly, it was a little overwhelming. 

I sighed as I pushed off the covers and padded over to my bathroom. Call me crazy, but my bathroom was my favorite room in the house. Its walls were a rosy pink, and it always smelled like lavender from my special soap I bought in Italy, on a trip abroad with my class junior year.  I would be sad when the soap ran out.

I undressed and hopped in the tiny clear-glass shower, humming to myself. It was already a wonderful day.

I finally turned off the water and stepped out, wrapping a fluffy pink towel around my body. I walked over to the sink, about to brush my teeth, when I suddenly caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I gasped.

There was a long, jagged scratch running from my right ear all the way to my chin. And it was bleeding everywhere. There were stains on my face where dried blood had probably been, before my shower. I ran into my room in a terrified daze and looked at my pillow: blood everywhere. I shakily walked back into the bathroom and stood in front of the sink, staring at the deep cut that hadn't been there when I fell asleep last night. A whirlwind of thoughts and questions ran through my head as I stared at my reflection. Had something happened to me while I was asleep? Did I sleepwalk and run into something? 

The thing that scared me most was that this cut seemed too deep to be a sleepwalking kind of thing. It looked like I had gotten into a fight with an angry cat. Or lion. And it was fresh, too, like I had gotten it just a few hours ago. 

Once the initial shock had subsided a little, I hastily reached for my hand towel to stop the bleeding. It stung like hell.

"Hyacinth? Are you almost ready? You're gonna be late for school!" My mom yelled through the door of my bedroom. The sound of my mother's voice reassured me. I ran out of the bathroom and flung my door open.

"Mom! Look at this! What is this?" I shouted, gesturing frantically to the wound across my face. Her face went pale.

"Cinth, what happened?" she asked gently. The look in her eyes, though, told me she already knew. I furrowed my brow, confused and suspicious.

"What?" She said.

"Do you know something that I don't know?" I asked. My mother's face went pale again.

"No, of course not!" She said too quickly. "Why would you think that?"

"You just... never mind." I turned around, annoyed, and walked back into my bathroom. I brushed my teeth, smeared on some mascara, brushed my shiny blond hair, and threw on a pair of jeans and a top. I walked downstairs and sat at the table.

"Whoa there, what happened to you?" my dad asked, a combination of amusement and worry in his voice. 

"I don't even know, dad," I said. "I woke up, and this... thing was on my face. Mom was acting weird, too. It's just been a really strange morning so far." I sighed, picked up some bacon, and chewed distractedly.

 "Huh. You want me to take you to the doctor this morning?"

"Mm... no thanks. I don't really want to be absent when it's this close to graduation. Plus I want to see my friends before the weekend." I grabbed my backpack off the seat next to me and headed for the door. 

"Okay, kiddo. Be careful!" My dad called after me. I smiled a little and closed the front door.