Ashes Everywhere: The Calm Before the Storm

“Run. Run as fast as you can. Trust no one. Listen to no one. Humans are pawns. Play with them. You will choose your Queen, your Rook, your Bishop, your Knight, and eventually, your King. All human’s are you pawns. You, my dear, are the person playing the game. And the person playing does not listen to her pieces. Remember that. Now go. You have a mission to accomplish.” The city was in flames behind the white wolf. She ran as she was told. She would do as her Alpha told her. But they were not about to let the future Alpha of this strange species get away. The humans hated anything that was not ‘normal.’ An explosion sounded from behind. The wolf whimpered as she was thrown out into the cold snow, and was forced into her human form. Snow covered her body. Her clothes were in tattered pieces, burning as she screamed. But still, she got up, and ran. It must have been a mile or two later. She was lucky that they were so arrogant. Humans. Just the word had a growl rising in her throat. They were the people who had destroyed everything. It was them. Finally, this unnamed girl’s body collapsed into heap. The cold wind had blow out the last flame of will power she held-the only thing keeping her body up and moving; and everything went still. 

It was just a normal day. I was walking home from school; thank goodness it was Friday. I rode a bus, but it was still about a half mile walk from the stop to my house. I walked it two times, five days a week for as long as I could remember, and nothing special happened. For 15 years of my life, nothing special happened. I still remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember thinking of how my English project was due next week, how my math test was coming up. I can recall worrying feverishly about these things that seemed so big and important at the time. For a while, everything seemed normal. It took me a while to notice how quiet it was. I mean, I lived on the outskirts of a small town with no really busy roads, and most people had enough land to isolate them from their neighbors. So, I was used to things being quiet, but never was nature completely silent. There was always crickets chirping, or birds singing. Perhaps the rustling of the late spring leaves in the cool breeze; but not now. Today as I walked home from school, it was completely and utterly still. Have you ever heard people talk about ‘the calm before the storm?’ Where the animals flee for their lives because they know something we people don’t? Well that’s exactly what this was, only much worse. Or better, depending on how you look at. For the sake of the story I’m about to tell you, I’ll be optimistic. I will never forget, as long as I live, the calm before the storm of Kiyoko Lycan, that hit harder than any tornado ever could.

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“Thank God it’s Friday. And only a little homework for the weekend!” I was excited for this weekend-my mother was going to be out so I got it all to myself, though I’ll probably just waste it on the computer. At least that’s what I thought as I walked home. The air was cool, and it was just a little too quiet. I was lost in my thoughts though, worrying about school. I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach and hurried up a bit, my long blonde hair swaying in the Spring breeze. I thought I heard a growl.

“Did I hear something? My mind must be playing tricks on me. It’s too early for anything big enough to make that sort of sound.” I couldn’t help wondering, though, if there was a wolf. I’d always been fascinated with wolves, and the only time I’d ever seen one was in a zoo. They’d been extinct in Colorado for years, though the government was trying to fix the mistakes now. Classic. I had just finished convincing myself that it was my imagination when I heard the sound again. It was definitely a growl. But why was something that big out this time of year? It could still freeze in March. I know I probably should have run for the hills, or at least picked up the pace in order to protect myself, but something made me stop. I guess, now, looking back on it, you could have called it a string of fate that was attached to all of my limbs. I should have moved, but it was like an invisible force was holding me down. It wasn’t fear. Actually, it was closer to excitement. I stood, watching the bush in which I heard the growl. I saw a pair of the strangest eyes ever, and was sure I’d imagined it, but a form did collapse in front of me.

It took me a minute to register it was a human girl, and strange looking one at that. I couldn’t see her face under the mountain of hair that was same colour of the melting winter snow that still lay in patches on the ground. Her clothes were in tatters, and her hair was a mess; it was burned and singed. I couldn’t imagine where she’d gotten all the wounds on her body, but I could tell that she needed help, and fast. I know I should have called the hospital, the way I should have run while I had the chance I suppose, but I couldn’t. Still to this day, I couldn’t explain why I picked up the girl and ran the remained five minutes to my house.

“It’s a good thing Mum won’t be home for a few days. I wonder how I’ll explain this?” I mused as I reached the house, panting. We lived on a good amount of land, right near a forest. My house was two stories, with my room on the second. Normally I would have complained about having to carry a human up the stairs, but this girl was so light. I set her on the bed...and then realized something. I had decided against calling am ambulance, so what was I supposed to do? These scars were no simple cut, and the burns looked bad. I settled with using my health class knowledge to clean her up. Finally, after about an hour of trying my best to help that poor thing, I agreed with my stomach. Food was a necessary. It didn’t take long to make a delicious meal of leftover chicken. I was contemplating where to eat it-here or in my room-when I heard the dog whimpering. Chicken in my mouth, I dashed to my room.

“Shrimp, what it is?” Now, Shrimp was no small dog. He was a big Australian Shepard, and didn’t ‘whimper’ at much. But the dog was doing just that, and at my new friend no less. As soon as I dashed through to door, I was met with a pair of interesting eyes.

“So I wasn’t dreaming it up...” I thought. Her left eye was an albino pink-her right was a pale, dead looking blue. And this girl was angry. Though she could hardly stand up, and clutched my bed as she did, her fury was obvious. Never in my life had a seen a more terrifying look. I suppose, now that I look on that moment, you could say that her eyes were not just angry. They were full or fear and sorrow. But couldn’t see that then.

“H...Hey. No need to worry! I...I just found you on the road, and you looked so hurt...” I held my hands to show her that I didn’t want to hurt her. Whoever she was, something bad had to have happened in order to make her act to violently. Something horrible must have ensued for her to get hurt so bad. “Look. You’re still not fully recovered, so just lay there and I’ll bring you something to eat!” The chicken leg was on the floor (I’d dropped it in surprise). Shrimp was feasting on it. “Look...here! I’ll back up, and you can take as much time as you need. I’ll...I’ll get you some water.” Never had I wanted to get out of a room more quickly. The air was tight, and the girl made me want to bow my head and whimper. I mean seriously, how much sense does that make?