Skinwalker - Completed

CHAPTER 1

(Rylie's POV)

In Hindu mythology, Yakshas are the closest myth to a werewolf. They are the guardian warriors of Kuber, recruited to guard his wealth. They are a class of demons, usually benevolent caretakers of natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots. They appear in Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts.

There is another fleeting mention of 'werewolves' in Hindu mythology. Krishna, made from the black body hair of Vishnu, could use his magic black hair to summon a pack of black wolves. He used his hair to create several werewolves to make people in Vraja migrate to Vrindavan. Great panic spread among the cowherds of Vraja. They saw the wolves rushing at cows, calves, men, and women alike. To their terror, some wolves formed packs of five or ten. Some came in troops of twenty or thirty, while yet others counted up to a hundred. All the wolves created from Krishna's own body had his blackish complexion and bore the mark of Shrivatsa. Seeing this, the elders decided to move the camp to Vrindavan. The place was laid out in the shape of a half-moon.

Rylie's mouth moved with the words in the pages of the book she was holding. She grinned and took out a pen, and a notebook from her bag, and scribbled important words and events in the texts. Then she continues to read.

She squinted her eyes and used her brown arms to shield them from the afternoon sun blazing on the horizon. Other students are busy in their worlds of socializing, yet she is busy with her own book.

She shrugged. She couldn't care less, so she goes back to her reading.

When her eyes gloss over a text, her eyes went big. This is it! She will prove to her father's critic that the latter isn't a failed archaeologist. She will step in her father's shoes and ensures that she brings honour again to their family.

Her hands started trembling in excitement, and a big stupid grin appeared on her lips.

She quickly took out another book from beside her. It reads Native American werewolf legends. She flipped the pages and stopped at the table of contents. When she sees the topic she wants to read, she flipped the page to 103.

Again, Rylie's mouth moved, almost reading the text aloud. Her fingers moved too, gliding onto the pages.

Wolves figure prominently in the mythology of nearly every Native American tribe. In most Native cultures, Wolf is considered a mythical being associated with courage, strength, loyalty, and success at hunting. Like bears, wolves are considered closely related to humans by many North American tribes. Origin stories of some Northwest Coast tribes, such as the Quileute and the Kwakiutl, tell that their first ancestors transformed from wolves into men. In Shoshone mythology, Wolf plays the role of the noble Creator god. While in Anishinabe mythology, a wolf character is a brother and genuine best friend of the cultural hero. Among the Pueblo tribes, wolves are considered one of the six directional guardians associated with the east and the colour white. The Zunis carve stone wolf fetishes for protection, ascribing to them both healing and hunting powers. They also tell the great Totem of the wolf for protection and guidance.

She bit her lip and highlighted the part about tribes' first ancestors transforming from wolves into men.

And a totem? Rylie thought to herself. It sounds so familiar. Where had she heard or seen about it? She racked her brain for answers, and then she remembers it! She immediately got her scrapbooks out. She stamps all the newspapers with all the articles she could find about a historic dig, and now it's paying off.

She grinned again. She's much closer to figuring out what her dad found during his archaeological dig!

In the Shasta mountains, home to the grey wolfs, a totem was found. A tribute to the Wolf God.

The title of the article said Rylie talked to herself aloud.

She has to find that Totem! Rylie feels so excited; she sprang up from the bench and shoved all her things inside her bag. But before she could finish doing it, a yelp came out of her mouth. Someone bumped her from behind. It was all too late when her things came spilling out of her bag.

Her hands reached out to catch it, but it was already on the ground. Shaking her head, she scrambled to get her things that were scattered on the grass.

"Oh my gosh! Cole, what did you do to the poor nerd."

A high-pitched voice entered her ear, putting a hand on it. Rylie threw a daggered look at the girl wearing a skimpy outfit of red tube dress that almost looked like blood. There was a tattoo all over the girl's wrist wrapped in a circle. If it could worsen, the girl also has friends behind her back, tapping each other on the back and laughing. They are a group of people with similar shades of white skin.

Rylie stopped herself from rolling her eyes and letting her anger show on her face. She knows these people. They are in her class, and they always make fun of her—the so-called 'popular' ones.

"If you don't have anything to do. Please don't bother me." She pursed her lips.

She heard another laughter from them. Her eyebrows knitted, she gritted her teeth and closed her fist. These buffoons disturbed her quiet afternoon, and she was not having it. They could go to hell for all she cared.

"Do you want to pick a fight?" A girl with a wide mouth and upturned eyes as big as a coin said that.

If Rylie knows better. She should be scared because the blond girl was staring at her intensely, and her smile was all fangs. It was so piercing that it almost made her cower. But she is already used to having bullies around, knowing they stopped nagging once she ignores them. She'll just have to get out of here to make them leave her in peace.

Though it was hard to look away from that stare. Rylie snapped out of it. She looked away and got on her knees to pick her book up.

"You're seriously ignoring me?!"

Rylie closed her eyes tight before opening them. Have to ignore it. Have to endure. She muttered, but before she could pick up the last one, a hand reached out and picked it up and handed it to her.

Rylie looked up, and her mouth formed into an 'O' when she saw the face of the stranger who helped her. She slowly stood up and face her hero, or should she say, her heroine.

The girl who rescued her had lovely almond-shaped green eyes, an intense nose, and a sharp jaw around the edges. It was the first time she got to see a beautiful girl that radiates so much charisma. The girl had a toned body and piercing eyes, too, but not in the wrong way. She also has black hair that flows in a wave perfectly behind her shoulders.

"Don't bother her, guys. We don't do that, remember?" the green-eyed woman's tone was scolding.

Everyone doesn't know or probably wouldn't care, but Rylie Scott is lesbian, and she quickly gets a crush on any girl who helped her, much less puts an eye on her. She just wouldn't want anyone to know because she knows they will add it to a list of insults to her.

"I------I-I...Uhmmm, thank you for p-picking it up."

"You're welcome."

Oh my gosh! Rylie puts a hand to her heart to stop it from beating hard. The girl smiled, and it is a radiant smile she had seen in a while; it was all fangs, not that Rylie thought that there was no other girl who smiles at her that often. But this one has a girlish smile. It was soft and feminine!

"Let's go" The girl looked back to her friends, who are annoyed for some reason. Like they don't like following her but can't really do anything about it.

Rylie sidestepped and glared at the first girl who bumped her earlier. That girl is also trying to bump her again. She was just fast enough to think what the girl is going to do.

She smiled andwatched the back of that Latina girl. Wondering why that lithe woman is beingobeyed by a group of jocks and an obviously spoiled daddy's girl.