Pack Member

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Vixen Hunt Manor

'The trees began to rustle, every muscle in his body screamed at him to run, but the terrified curiosity that was his nature compelled him to walk just a few steps further towards the sound. Suddenly, a snapping snarling muzzle flashed in his face, the white teeth were wet with blood, the eyes burnt with a hunting instinct as they rounded on him. then it was gone; a shadow in the mist once again. It was then as he lent his weight against a tree, struggling to draw short gasping breath, that the howling started. Low at first but rising in a  crescendo as more voices joined the chorus. Eyes began to flicker and fade among the branches, growling voices whispered among...'  

 A floor board on the landing creaked, Raph jumped and his Kindle fell to the floor with a clatter.  Stupid book he thought bitterly  as he lent over the side of his bed to pick up the Kindle. Stupid house, it creaks like anything. What a great place to live; with bats hanging from almost every beam, no proper heating. he shivered, almost wishing his family hadn't come into his aunts' fortune. Looking at the kindle, he noticed with no great relief that the sturdy cover had protected it from the hard wooden floor.

A howl from outside caused the kindle to take a further beating from the floor; Raph got out of bed and gingerly picked it up. Glancing over at the window, he noticed that it was open; which would account for the draft that was rapidly making the already cold bedroom, prime land for an igloo. Shaking with cold, he crossed to the window bay. Two of the three wooden framed windows were fully-open, the other was only just ajar. Shutting all three, he looked out over the moon-washed grounds of Vixen Hunt Manor. It was your average, bog-standard manor; old, full of cobwebs, etc. It needed updating, which would be no mean feat considering his mum was an interior designer. 

Movement below caught his eye, 6 or 7 large figures, wolf-like in stature, slunk across a patch of ground between the pine wood and a small forest of oak trees ,that had already begun to lose their leaves. The lead figure turned and faced the house; Raph felt as if it was looking at him, though it could not have seen him from that distance. It held its gaze for about a minute before following the others into the oak grove.

Raph knew that they were only the dogs that the caretaker let out in the grounds every night; but still, after the were-wolf book he had been reading, 'Red claw' it was called, and the fact that Vixen Hunt Manor had a reputation for 'Were-wolf stories' he was a bit jumpy.

The creak sounded again on the landing, and in his nervous mind sounded closer than before. Raph fled back across the room, Closed the heavy door with both lock and bolt, and dived into bed. The bed-springs creaked unmercifully, adding to the other night sounds, which all seemed to be howling like wolves at the moment.

                                                                                *

Violet fingers of dawn crept across a pink sky as the last of the night, and the nervous feeling that came with it, receded to the horizon. The night had been filled with odd noises; Raph had slept fitfully at best; Raphs' full name was Raphael Jones, a name which he often wished wasn't his at all, often he was teased for having the same name as one of the 'teenage mutant ninja turtles'; seriously he thought whenever anyone sniggered at his name; you're 14! Why are you even watching that show!?

He was 14, and had dark brown hair, which he paid close attention to. In frame he wasn't that special, he was strong, but not so much as to stand out. All in all, he was average, nothing different about him; well, actually, it all depends on what you would call different.

At 7.30 when his alarm went off, Raph was far from ready to get up; with a grunt, he turned over, desperate for more sleep. At about quarter to eight, his mother knocked hard on the door, and after trying the handle several times. “Raph, remember it's the first day of school today, and I have to tell you; If you miss the bus, i wont be driving  you to school,I have far too much to do.”