Persephone

Chapter 14: Sisters

Chapter 14: Sisters

Percy gasped at the beautiful exterior of the house that appeared at the end of a very twisted path in the forest, the hummer making an oddly quiet noise that didn't seem to frighten the wildlife surrounding them. The house - it was just there, sitting in the midst of all the greenery, polished and yet wooden, something that looked like it was built to be there. 

"Wow," Percy breathed as the hummer pulled up at it's side. Uriah's brother, Brandon, fidgeting in his seat, finally sighed and then quickly opened the door and rushed out. Joseph drove, his fingers tapped along to some kind of folk music, and for the first time, Percy saw him clearly, instead of all dusk and shadows and muscle. He had a friendly, almost hipster-type face, young yet his eyes carried some kind of ancient wisdom of a king. The woman beside him - she figured out that she was his wife - was just as youthful-looking at him with a smile on her face that made Percy think that they both knew a secret and wouldn't tell anybody else. Percy thought they went perfectly together.

Soon, she was helped (more like pulled out of the car) by Uriah who was excitedly looking around for something...or someone. Joseph and his wife got out soon, and joined them walking up the tiled runway when suddenly, Uriah pulled her back as a red-haired girl stormed out of the house, her face pink and flushed.

"You don't trust me!" she yelled back at another girl who followed her out.

"Of course I trust you! I just don't trust the people around you." The girl who was following her had black curly hair with mermaid-blue ombre highlights, a cute button nose and pale olive skin which was dusted with rosey pink.

"You sound like my mom!" Red-head's voice was so loud Percy wondered if she was a top-cheerleader or something.

Joseph sighed and then told Percy, "That's Anna--" he pointed to Red-head, "-- and Nina," he pointed to Ombre-hair. "They're half-sisters," he explained. "They fight a lot, but they love each other," he also added. 

"No, I don't!" 

"Yeah, you do!" 

Then the most magical, or what Percy preferred, "awesome" thing happened. Anna, the red-head, growled and then in one fluid motion, landed on her fours and transformed into a reddish-brown wolf - and bounded into the forest. Nina went after her, running on her two human legs - although she was wearing only snake-skin doll shoes.

Then Uriah had to catch Percy's unconscious body before she hit the tiles.

*

She woke up in a cheery orange-lit room, and groaned. God, this is humiliating, Percy told herself. If she kept on fainting on everything extraordinary, might as well fall into a coma and never wake up from it. She rubbed her eyes and then sat up, seeing that Uriah was fiddling with a phone with her earbuds on.

"Hey..." she said, removing the buds and then tucking them in a pocket. "You okay now?"

Percy shrugged. "Dehydrated, but okay, I guess."

"Here." Uriah moved from her chair and to the window where a pitcher of water and glasses stood, and poured out a glass, which she brought out for her. 

Percy downed the glass without stopping. "Thanks," she said and handed the glass back. Uriah took the glass, put it down, sat down herself on her chair, and then looked at Percy, as if she was assessing the girl who had fainted the moment she saw another girl transform into a wolf. A big 'What?' was already on the tip of Percy's tongue when Uriah spoke up first.

"Do you know why you're here?" she asked.

Percy tucked her feet underneath her and sat like an Indian. She shrugged. "Otherwise from Joseph, I've no idea."

Uriah nodded thoughtfully. "Well, it's like this then. You've probably heard of Twilight, haven't you?"

"More or less. Never really read it either..." Percy trailed off, thinking about Belle and her phone.

Uriah squared up her shoulders. "Hah, the only part there that's right is about its weres," she said with a little chuckle. "Except that we don't need any fancy tatts on our shoulders or ... the full moon to transform, or whatever you call it."

"Wait, you said 'we'..." Percy felt suddenly stupid to have asked that question, but fortunately, Uriah looked patient enough. She still couldn't believe that she was hearing this small discussion about Weres this time.

"Yup. Dad's the alpha of this pack - Braithe, by the way." She pronounced the word like 'bra-ee-thaye'. "Been living here long actually, and we're the good guys. This house is the Pack House - and you'll probably see the other members sooner than later." Uriah let out another chuckle, which, Percy thought, was kinda cute for a girl who's underneath the sign of 'Fierce'. "So, as I was saying, you're here because, as Dad had told us, your mom helped us. So we're helping you in return."

Percy looked at her, deadpanned. "Wow..." she said finally.

"Yeah." Uriah leaned forward, an excited glint in her eye. "And I really know what it's like to have a little sister. I mean like, seriously. And no, on Anna and Nina - they're too ballistic, plus they've already got each other and I don't go much with them, but you.... how'd you like that sound?" she asked hopefully.

Percy clutched her legs, looked at Uriah and then rocked a bit back and forth. What she only knew about big sisters is that they were awesome as heck. But there were also some stories where the bigger the sister was, the younger would be scraping up at her leftovers. Or was it the typical Cinderella? But looking at Uriah - simply just looking at her, this girl with the fierce eyes and aura that made you feel like she was a force to be reckoned with in a good way - made her want to say 'YES' immediately. But... 

"DINNER!" Someone suddenly hollered from downstairs, making Uriah jump out of her chair and then holler back: "Coming!" 

"Come on!" she then told Percy, holding out her hand with a smile. "You'll absolutely love dinner, I swear to it."

Percy took her hand without a second thought.