In Dark August

Chapter 1

I stare at myself in the mirror, trying to find any flaws to my appearance. Today is an important day, one that I'd regret losing.

My long dark hair (which is tied up into a bun) seemed to be okay, my face is alright, my dress fits fine, my legs and arms will always stay tan. I see nothing bad, but nothing good either. I don't want my appearance to destroy this opportunity!

Suddenly, I hear a voice shout out from downstairs, "August, come on! We're going to be late!"

I gasp, chills running up my arms and my heart races. Moon-goddess, I think to myself. Please give me all the luck in the world. I grab my long strapped purse and run out of the bright bathroom. I run down the hallway and down a flight of stairs. As I make it down, I see my older sister, Naomi, standing next to the kitchen counter; her arms are crossed and her foot taps on the floor. She always looks like she's annoyed; she probably always was.

"There you are! You take forever!" she exclaimed, heading for the door.

"Well, I'm sorry! It's not everyday I dress like this. This is a one chance opportunity," I replied.

"You can always just go for another job, if all else fails," Naomi suggested, crudely.

She opened the front door and we both walked through. It was a bright day, the sky dotted with clouds. The tall trees that surrounded the pack house churned and waved in the wind, bringing the sweet smell of the forest.

Then, a figure stepped out of the tree line. It came closer, and soon I could tell it was a man. A naked man, so called my older brother.

I groan, "Ty! Go get some cloth's on! It's really disgusting when you walk out like that!"

Titan came closer, and seemed to ignore me. "Where you guys going? Alpha and some other wolves came out of the house to replace my group. The rest are right behind me."

"We're headed to Augusts' want to be job. She's applying," she says, casually.

I had my hands covered over my eyes. I peeked to see more pack members walk to the pack house, some weren't naked. I swear, half of our pack was never prepared.

"August, stop that bull crap! You've seen me and the pack naked before, lots of times! There's no need to freak out," He said to me.

"I'm not freaking out! I just choose to do this!" I argue.

"Well, you'll have to get used to it. You're going to have your wolf soon, so you'll see us naked all the time," he chuckled in amusement.

I groan.

Naomi suddenly growls, "We have to go, August. Titan, go get changed for Christ's sake! And tell Alpha what we're doing, we might not come back until 8 pm."

Naomi walks swiftly to the pack garage. I take my hands away from my face, to see Titan roll his eyes and walk away. I turn to the drive way to see the garage (on the other side of the pack house) open up and Naomi's white car rolls out. I skip to the edge of the driveway, and watch the car drive up to me. I open the passenger door and jump in.

Click! Went my seat belt. Naomi took a minute to control the air conditioning and seat warming. She suddenly growls, raged.

"Dammit! Somebody's been driving my car without my permission!"

"How do you know?"

"'Cause the damn seat is pushed back all the way!"

I watch thoughtfully as she pushes the button, on the side of the seat, and the seat slowly moved forward. I had someone in mind: Taby-Cat. Taby-Cat's real name is Tobuscus, but we call him Taby-Cat because of his red hair. He was really close to Naomi at one point, when they were little. Some people even asked if they were mated early when they were around 11. But years passed, things changed and they drew apart. They didn't talk, sometimes they would nod to each other, but that was it. I remember when they could get along, but now, not so likely.

"Wouldn't it be Taby-Cat?" I say quietly, knowing she was going to explode.

"YES! THAT'S EXACTLY WHO IT IS! WHY WOULD HE-" she was cut off by a sudden cracking sound.

She was twitching violently, her almond eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed.

I started panicking, "Ack! Calm down! Get out of the CAR!"

I used all of my strength to squish between her back and the seat to open the door. At the same time when the door unlocked the door was pushed open. I saw a flash and Naomi was out of the car. She was laid on the gravel driveway, in a bundle of anger and cracking bones. As I watch, terrified, she grows bigger. I could hear cloths tear, and suddenly a white wolf and torn cloths replaced her.

Her green eyes were the last thing I saw of her before she ran off into the forest.

"What. Just. Happened," I state to myself.

I sat there, bent over the arm rest with my hands stretched on the drivers side. I then realized, right that moment what we were doing before, and it made my heart stop. I snap my head to look at the clock, and it read: 5:27. I had to be there by 6:00!

"Crap! I'm not gonna make it! Ahhh!" I say in frustration.

I unlock the seat buckle and jump to the drivers seat. The leather seats squeaked when I landed my butt, and I giggled. I yanked my seat belt on and pulled the stick shift to drive. Then I sped out of the driveway; luckily I brought my drivers license!

----

I walked out of the Community Library, I'm pretty proud of how my interview went. I only ever was 1 minute late, thanks to Naomi's great timing. Plus, the lady that was interviewing me was really interested on what I volunteered for. About five months ago I ended volunteer work at a dog shelter. It was an easy job to walk the dogs because they smelled the wolf on me. 

I feel even more confident about this job because it's a human job. The people in the town don't know about the pack, and if they did there would be no pack here in the first place. Most of the pack members aren't good with communicating with humans, they stay away as much as possible. But its also bad for me because I have to go on grocery trips. 

She told me, towards the end, that it would be a while for her to except anyone for the job, but she'd let me know if I got it.

I unlocked the car doors and opened the one to the drivers seat. I shut the door and turned the keys so that the engine would start. The ride to the pack house, I cranked up the music. I learned that Naomi's speakers are fricken' awesome! I turned down the driveway when I saw two people standing on the middle of the road. I pulled to a stop and realized it's Naomi and Ty.

What did I do now?

_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

*Where ever the picture may be, it's the picture of Naomi's wolf.*

So, how has my sweet readers been? Good? Good.

I'm not expecting a lot of readers, but its a learning experience!

~Aries