The Wolves Who Went to Sea- A short story

2

My alarm clock goes off, and I hit the snooze button. It's a Saturday I can sleep in I think as I doze off, but my mother comes in.
    "We have a doctor's appointment today get dressed, and have some breakfast." She says flicking on the light.
I look at the clock it says it's 7:00AM. I groan and I roll out of bed trying to wake up. Then, to my horror I realize my feet, and hands are caked in dry mud from outside, that leaves are scattered everywhere and my window is open. My eyes widen in shock. I am usually more careful than this. My mother's mouth is agape, and she storms out of my room. I don't know why she doesn't lecture me, but I suddenly get a bad feeling about this "Doctor's Appointment". I decide to clean up the best I can. I pick up the leaves and throw them out my open window. I take off my sweaty and muddy clothes, and I drop them in the laundry basket. I put on some fresh clothes before going into the bathroom that is across the hallway. I look into the mirror, and I can see the sacks beneath my eyes. My hair looks like a hedgehog rolled in it. I clean all the dirt off my hands, and then I take a wash cloth to carefully wash my feet. I think for a moment about how strange it is that when I transform my clothes disappear though when I become human again it's as though I had them on the whole time. I am usually more careful especially on hunting nights. When my mother used to do my laundry I would go without any clothes at all, of course that was on rare occasions because I would feel very exposed the whole time, so sometimes when it rained I wouldn't go to the meetings. Until, of course I convinced my mother to let me do my own laundry. Then it was just a matter of keeping my paws dry, and closing the window, which I would occasionally forget to do, but I made the excuse that I like to keep my window open on hot days, and that settled it.
I slip on my socks and shoes before making my way downstairs where my mother is setting down cereal boxes. It is still dark outside with only a little light shining on the horizon, and with only one light on the house is dimly lit giving off a melancholy feeling that makes me shiver. We eat breakfast in silence. Then at around eight we head out to our old red car. I climb into the back seat. When we have been driving for a bit I ask her only one question of many spinning around in my head.
    "Why didn't you tell me we had a doctor's appointment?"
She lets out a sound like she is about to answer, but she pauses to think.
    "It just didn't come up." She answers.
I continue to feel more uneasy than ever, and I drop off the edge when we arrive at a building that says in front. *Therapist*.
As we get closer I see flyers hanging up talking about how if you feel unsafe you should talk to someone. I gulp and I can feel my stomach turn inside. Thoughts rush fast in my head, and I can feel the headache on coming. Therapists aren't bad in fact they are great, but that's only if you need them. I don't know what I'll tell this guy, but I'm assuming my mother must know about my midnight outings if I'm here. A bell goes off when we open the door. The room is lined with chairs, and at the back a counter with a lady. Next to the counter is a door. The room feels to big, but also to small, and I can hear the lights buzzing loudly above. I look at the analog clock hanging on the wall behind the counter, it reads eight twenty-five. My mother rushes up to the counter. "We have an appointment for Dalia at eight thirty." She says, and the person at the counter nods. My mother goes to sit down, and I awkwardly go and sit down next to her.I can't help but nervously tap my foot on the ground. The room is empty except for the person at the counter. The silence seems to become louder every second. I just stare at the clock as the minutes slowly go by. At eight twenty eight a woman comes out of the door and says.
    "Dr. Brown is ready to see you."
She says this in that kind sweet voice, but I don't trust it. I sigh softly as I get up, and I follow the woman through the door into a short hallway with two doors along each side and one door at the very end. The walls are painted a shade of baby blue. The buzzing of lights seems louder here. All my muscles tense up ready to run at any moment. She guides me into the second door to the left, and to my mild surprise Dr. Brown is a woman. Unfortunately that just made lying a little bit more awkward than before, and I can't figure out why know why.
    "Hello Dalia, please take a seat." She motions to a comfortable looking chair that is across from her desk.
Unfortunately the chair is just as comfortable as it looks, and the second I sink into it I am tempted to fall asleep. My eyes droop, but I force myself awake. I have to prove that nothing is wrong first session, so maybe Dr. Brown will tell my mother their is nothing to worry about, just normal teen stuff. Yeah, just going outside and transforming into a wolf and hunting with a pack at midnight. I let out a little chuckle before I can stop myself.
"Whats so funny?" Dr. Brown asks.
I shrug.
"Nothing, just a funny thought." I respond.
"Okay, then if you have no more funny thoughts let's begin this session, shall we?" She says.
I nod and the next hour was full of questions, and I tried to give the most vague answers to all of them if  I had to answer at all.
Q1. "Where do you go at night?"
A1. "It depends, sometimes I don't go out at all."
Q2. "Would you like to talk about anything, anyone?"
A2. "Nope."
Etc.
I keep an eye on the clock the whole time. The minutes seem to stretch on like hours. I struggle to stay awake, much less look awake. Dr. Brown realized about halfway through she was getting nowhere, and so she told me that if I told her something she didn't have to tell my mom and that what I said in here is strictly confidential. I shrugged and said.
"I don't have anything to say."
When we finally left that place I let out a sigh of relief, and despite best my efforts to wait until we get home to fall asleep as soon as we hit the road I doze off. That therapy session finalizes my decision. I will always love my family, but they will find out my secret. Then I will be taken and they could be silenced in one way or another. It will be safer for them all if I leave before they suspect too much.
The rest of the week my heart aches inside, and school feels useless, and unnecessary. I try not to cry in front of people, but small things seem to irritate me more than usual. This is in stark contrast to how I felt about school before, though I try to remain positive. Stephen, a girl in my class unfortunately takes notice of my behavior. I usually sit next to no one during lunch, so Stephen sits down right next to me, and gets straight to the point.
    "Whats wrong?" She interrogates, and I can practically feel the lights shining into my eyes.
    "Nothing, I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today." I explain.
She narrows her eyes and seems to think for a moment about if that satisfies her question.
    "Okay, please tell me if there is anything I can do to help." She says, then gets up to go sit with her friends.
As she leaves I know that once I'm gone I will miss her. I wish I could have known her better. Maybe we could have been friends. The week continues to go by at turtle speed. Then Friday night arrives, and I wake up at twelve as usual to go out. I shut off my alarm clock before it can go off, and I slip out the window, onto the tree, and over the tall picket fence. As usual Grant joins me a few minutes into my walk. Though the mood is much more somber than our usual friendly atmosphere.
    "Are you going to stay with the pack?" He asks as we walk.
    "Yes, are you?" I respond.
    "Yes, the pack is the only place that people understand me, and I don't think I could live fully without my pack. What convinced you?"
    "My parents suspect something about going out at night and are sending me to a therapist now. The worst part is our appointments are on early Saturday morning. Also for my safety, and for their's."
    "The Saturday morning thing sounds terrible." He sympathizes.
Suddenly we hear rustling in the bushes to our left. My ears prick up and I am alert our conversation forgotten.
    "Who's there?" Grant barks at the bushes his teeth bared.
    "It's just me, Sheba!" She exclaims popping out of the darkness.
I immediately relax again.
    "Sheba, what are you doing here?" I ask, curiously.
    "I arrived extra early to the meeting place, and I overheard Tony saying to Elder Sara that we might runaway tonight or on Wednesday." She explains.
Me and Grant look at each other then back to Sheba.
    "Why so early?" I question.
Sheba shrugs.
    "I guess we'll find out." She says, and then runs ahead.
Grant and I rush after her. I skid to a stop at the outside of the clearing, but Grant doesn't stop as he bolts ahead. I roll my eyes at him and walk into the clearing calmly. I shiver a little when a surprisingly cold breeze hits me, and I know that winter is coming this will not be a good time to travel. I walk straight up to Tony.
    "Why are we leaving early?" I ask.
He looks at me confused.
    "How do you know that?" He questions.
    "Never-mind how I know it. Just tell me why." I bristle.
First he tells us all we have to leave our families with in two weeks then he decides to make it one. This is a big decision to make!
    "It's not official, Sara just felt that the sooner we go the better because instead of a parent seeing a child transform it was an official." Tony explains. I calm down a little.
    "Oh, okay." I say.
Grant walks up behind me as I walk away.
"What did he say?" Grant asks.
"He said that it wasn't official, so I think it's best we keep our mouths shut for now." I say
"Good, I'll go tell Sheba." He says, and begins to walk off.
Then he turns back.
"Also, Sheba has decided to stay with the pack." He finishes, and then trots off.
Once he disappears behind some foliage I walk to the edge of the clearing and sit down. After a little while I am very sure that there should be more wolves showing up, but there's only the five pups including Sheba, and six hunters including Grant and I, Elder Sara, and Tony.
"Everyone, I have an announcement to make!" Tony howls in the middle of the clearing.
We all turn to listen.
    "We leave tomorrow night! I know that some of the hunters here tonight are in contact with the hunters that have not shown up. I give you all day tomorrow to contact the hunters to see if they want to stay. I might be allowing my suspicions to get the better of me by leaving sooner than expected, but I worry that there are other reasons some of our comrades haven't shown up tonight rather than deciding to stay with their families. Elder Sara has informed me that Elder Sam has disappeared entirely from his dwellings, so it's better we run tomorrow rather than in a week from now." Tony explains.
Grant's eyes are wild with fear, and the pups are whimpering as elder Sara tries to calm them. The youngest pup whimpers.
    "I don't want to disappear!"
I try to look brave, but I am terrified. Sheba leans against me. She is shivering.
    "They'll take me next. I just know it, the police officer saw me in the woods!" She says.
    "Don't worry, Sheba. Just one more day and then you can be safe with the pack." I say, trying to comfort her.
    "What if they find the pack?" She asks.
    "I don't know, but that's why we are leaving tomorrow." I say, honestly.
I decide to leave a little early. The trees seem to lean in and the fog makes visibility close to zero. I feel uneasy as I navigate my way home. Sheba follows behind me all the way to my picket fence, and I have a feeling that she stayed by the fence long after I closed my window and went to bed.