Often Hushed

Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

~: December 14th, 2013:~

The tension is palpable. I squirm in my seat, desparate for something other than her empty company.

The redhead in the front is quiet, but I can hear her gears turning, and I'm not sure I like it.

I stifle a bored sigh and stare out the window, watching the cold, lifeless, abhorrently flat scenery drift lazily by under a pale blanket. Ice hangs off of telephone and fence wires, dangling still-like as if they were frozen fangs, waiting.

I know. I can count the telephone poles. I scoot on the ledge of the back seat, propping my hip to the side so I'm facing the small window directly, shoulders parallel to the cold glass. One, two, three, four, five, six... I count, a smile slowly forming on my lips. My father used to do this with me when I was younger and it was less dangerous to take me along on some of their Alpha pair business trips.

Nine, ten, eleven, twelve... Dad would make me point at each of them as they flashed by, and in my naivety, I would listen. I would move my tiny finger as fast as I could, and it would always end with me getting dizzy. Luckily for Mom, I had a tough stomach. 

Eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two... My eyes follow each of the frosted poles as they flash by, brain whirling like the soft snowfall whooshing around the truck.

Thirty-six, thirty-seven... As Marlene accelerates, they approach and leave almost faster than I can count them. Dad would use this tactic to confuse me- he'd speed up and slow down again. 

Forty-three, forty-four, forty-five... A tear slips down my cheek and I don't have the courage to reach up and wipe it away. I can't even turn when I feel Marlene peeking at me in the rearview mirror. 

Sixty-nine, seventy, seventy-one, seventy-two... "Hold on," Dad said once, "We're gonna go faster!"

Seventy-six, seventy-seven... "Slow down honey, you're going too fast!" A quip from my worried, punctual Mother.

Eighty, eighty-one, eighty-two, eighty-three... "Vanessa, we'll be right back! It's just like any other Pack meeting with a foreign Alpha, don't worry!" Empty reassurances.

Ninety... Tears.

Ninety-one... Anxiety.

Ninety-two... Fear.

Ninety-three... Oh, God, the stench of fear is all over me!

Ninety-four, ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven... Hunting, fire, killing, murder.

Ninety-eight... Mom, Dad...

Ninety-nine... Wolves. Always Wolf. Eternally Wolf. 

The tears flow now, unstopped, and I'm about to let out a whimper-

From all of the speeding up we've done, we're zooming past everything I've known, and then, suddenly, Marlene yells and slams on the brakes. My shoulder is forced painfully into the drivers seat, which disgruntles my neighbor, and then I settle. The last telephone pole slides into place right beside us.

"One hundred," I whisper, still staring out the window. My eyes are fixed on the horizon, unmoving. 

"What?" Marlene asks, turning to look at me. "Did you say something?" 

I shake my head, lips pressed together, still looking off over the feilds. There are hills, here, and slopes, but everything is still buried under white.