The Beast Across The Lake

Chapter 17

                                   

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Isabella
At home, I walked past mom who was passed out on the couch to the fridge and grabbed a can of beer. It was inevitable to think of him. Tonight I had beyond embarrassed myself, but something in Caleb's tone, the aura of both his and the sheriff that hinted that they might know something had kept me at the edge of curiosity.
The clothing line wasn't there, I was sure of it. It might have been dark out, but it had been raining all day. It would make no sense anyway for Caleb to hang out his clothes.
I remembered darting up the stairs in search for Caleb the night that I had seen the beast. I could have sworn that I had walked past a closet that sheltered a washer and dryer.
He doesn't need a clothing line, he's lying...but why?
Why does Caleb want to hide the existence of the beast? And why the hell does the sheriff think Caleb's dangerous?

I was halfway through sipping the beer, mind lost in the thoughts of Caleb when I finally let out a sigh and walked back to where mom was.

"Mom," I whispered and nudged her shoulder," wake up."

Her eyes fluttered open," what?" she groaned out.

"It's late, go sleep in your bed."

She groaned out something in complaint and nodded her head. I didn't wait to witness her get up, instead, I hurried back to my room.
After a shower and a change of clothes, I attempted to do some homework. My thoughts were occupied, I was just half paying attention.
I whipped open my MacBook and pulled up the news on the wolf attack in Waru Forest.
I reread everything twice in search for the mention of Caleb's parents death but could not find it, and began to do some research on the Waru Family itself. It was half an hour later and I was ten browsers deep of useless information when I found a blog with less than a hundred readers every year.
The author's name was Maya John. The title of her most popular piece of work at over 200 views was; THE TRUTH ABOUT THE WARU FAMILY.

The piece of writing was essentially a conspiracy theory but the wildest one that I had ever read. It suggested that the Waru Family have been living in the state of Vermont for centuries, not as humans but as wolves in packs in the forests. Over the years, they have descended to become shapeshifters. Werewolves, half-wolf, half-human. The article suggested that there were others besides the Waru Family. One name in particular rang a bell, as if I had heard it before somewhere. Altaha.
Who did I know had that last name?

Beware of the Waru Family, especially on nights where there is a full moon, and as always, I am just a resident of Vermont, and all opinions are my own.
-Maya

I thought back to the night of the beast. It had indeed been a full moon. I checked the date of the blog post and confirmed that it was written even before the wolf attack on Caleb's family had occurred.
Of course I could not take the piece of writing seriously. I sighed, realizing that I once again had wasted my time.
The next day was Friday which meant it was the day of the game. Matt and Holden were pulled out of classes all day, Caleb wasn't in school either and I could only wonder if he too was at practice for the game. Kyla reminded me half a dozen times that tomorrow, which was Saturday night, we were due to go out and drink.