Choices, Love, and Magic (Complete)

chapter 25

Why was Clarissa running?

That was the one thought in my head as I ran as my wolf to the pack's den. When the guards at the door saw me, they immediately stepped in front of the entrance and Hunter, the older of the two, inquired, "Rouge? What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to the wolf the patrol brought in," I told them breathlessly,"It's urgent." Hunter nodded and sent me with the younger wolf, whose name I didn't know, to where Clarissa was being kept. When we got there, I thanked the young wolf and went inside to see Clarissa's cinnamon-colored wolf laying on the floor in the corner.

"Clarissa?" I called, and she jumped up, startled.

She saw me and asked, confused,"What are you doing here?" I sat on the rough stone floor and motioned for her to do the same. She complied cautiously.

"I need to know what you were running from,"I informed her gently, noticing the way she tensed at the mention of running. I'd ask about that later.

Clarissa hung her head and mumbled something, but I didn't hear her. "What did you say?" I inquired, and she burst.

"My village was attacked!" she howled, and then words poured out of her like water from a broken dam. "We were going out to work the fields, and then they came. Pitch-black wolves and terrible vampires and powerful Empowered Ones. They drove us into the village square, pushing and shoving and attacking when we weren't fast enough. 2 Empowered Ones were waiting on horses in the square, both wearing masks. But I could tell that one was a girl and the other was a guy. She was about 16 or 17, and he was somewhere in his forties. He told us that no one else would be hurt if we gave him someone, but she'd left the village weeks ago. My mom tried to tell him that, and he- h-" At this point, Clarissa broke down, sobbing into my fur as I tried to comfort her. "H-he killed her! He k-killed m-m-my mom!"

I spent a long time trying to get her to stop crying, and eventually she did. Surprisingly, she continued with her story, "He started giving orders, and his people were killing all the grown-ups. He had them gather all the kids together, and the animals. One of the wolves came after me, and I was really scared, so I shifted early. M-mom told me that that could happen. Shifting early. But it's supposed to be really rare, so she told me that I should be careful if it happened. That I shouldn't run or anything. But I was so scared, and I forgot. I ran until I didn't hear them anymore, and I didn't stop until I couldn't run anymore." She looked at me with her big wolf eyes and whined,"Now my mom is gone and I don't even know where I am or who I'm with." Clarissa's expression turned calculating. "But I feel like I do know you from somewhere."

I sighed gently and stood. "That's because you've met me before,"I confirmed. And I turned and walked out, almost colliding with Fang as I made my way to the exit.

"Rouge?" he asked curiously,"What are you doing here?"

I'd stopped when we'd almost run into each other, but now I started walking again, calling over my shoulder,"I needed to talk to the werewolf." And I left without a backward glance.

I spent the next few days at my house. Cleaning, organizing, and, most of all, thinking. About Clarissa's story. It seemed to me that her village had been massacred over me. But why?

I couldn't find an answer. So I thought about it.

And I thought about it.

And I thought about it some more.

And I couldn't stop thinking about it, until I remembered the prophecy. "Shit," I muttered, and I tried to remember what it said. I grabbed a paper and pencil and wrote it down as I remembered, sometimes erasing or rearranging when it didn't sound right. Finally, I had it.

She shall be raised until sixteen,

By those who have never seen.

She shall be found, and then her gift

In tradition will tear a rift.

She shall be known throughout the land,

As unknown destruction comes from her hand.

Then she shall fight,

Against the night.

And will die at the break of day.

May all wise ones beware,

Of the one with golden hair.

For she brings death, but sends it away,

When she, herself, dies at the break of day.

I read it again and again, but I couldn't make sense of it. Why would someone come after me for this? Unless....

What if 'the night' wasn't a time of day? What if it was an organization of something? More importantly, how could I find out?

I sighed at that one. I knew exactly how to find out, but I wasn't going to like it. But it was all I could think of.

As I prepared for the trip, I realized that I should probably bring Clarissa. Where I was going, she could find a new home waiting for her. With that in mind, I went to the wolves' cave and shifted just long enough to explain what I was doing. I was told that I would be missed, but they understood. They were happy to hand over Clarissa, too. Apparently she wasn't exactly desperate to get along with the pack.

When she was brought out, I could see her surprise at seeing me there. In human form. I'd decided it was time she knew, and, contrary to my expectations, she was overjoyed to see me again. After all the hugs, I gave her some new clothes more suited to riding a wolf, considering she'd managed to shift back and was wearing a dress. Clarissa changed clothes, I shifted forms, and we were off.

We went to the nearest city, which took hours to reach, to their portal office, to the city I'd passed through on my way to New York. The secretary there was surprised to see me again, especially with a just-turned-12-years-old werewolf in tow, but she didn't push and just got us a portal closer to our destination. From there I went human, and Clarissa and I walked side by side as I told her stories from my life. Stories that she was happy to hear.

I spotted where we were going just as the sun was setting. We reached it as the last of the light was leaving the sky. When the guards asked for names, I gave them one that I hadn't used in a long time.

"Katherine Wilen Ortesia,"I told them, and they quickly waved us by. I wanted to look presentable, so I went to my old room and changed into the appropriate attire as Clarissa did the same, following my lead. Finally I was ready, and I smoothed down the deep blue floor length dress as I willed the knots in my stomach to disappear. I took Clarissa's hand as she held it out innocently in her pale green dress, and we went to find people that I never thought I'd see again.

They were in the ballroom when we found them. They all stopped arguing about whatever it was as I descended the stairs with Clarissa. Stopping halfway down, I smiled sheepishly and waved, calling,"Hi, everybody."

They all just stood there as I finished descending the stairs with Clarissa, and then the first to speak was exactly who I'd expected.

"Katherine?" Antonio asked, and I nodded as he, Hannah, Rebecca, Christian, and Cora stared at me disbelievingly. I wondered idly where everyone else was as I waited for someone to break the silence. Eventually, I spoke.

"I need your help."