Wolf's Creek (Book 1 of the Wolf's Creek Trilogy)

Chapter 1: Tuesday mornings

Chapter 1:

Tuesday mornings

            Long white tresses floated in the wind behind her as the unknown woman stood upon the cliff overlooking the river and forest below. The full moon shined brightly over head illuminating her features making her look like a goddess among the trees with no company except for the lone wolf at her side, its head coming up to her hip where her quiver of arrows was attached securely. Her silver eyes locked on the moon above, sadness twinkling brightly within them like the stars above as she opened her mouth and began to sing. It was a lullaby, one long forgotten, and in a language she barely knew but it gave her comfort, gave her strength, as she sang softly and sorrowfully with no one to hear her but the wolf at her side. Suddenly there was a noise, the snap of a twig as pressure was applied to it, bringing her song came to an abrupt end as she drew an arrow and turned to face the intruder…

~*~

            Artemis’s eyes snapped open and gazed up at the ceiling above her head. Her brows knitted together at the memory of the dream and the strangeness of it all, her mind finding the young woman and haunting melody familiar somehow but not knowing where’d she heard, or seen, the two before. With a sigh and a shrug, putting the dream far from her mind, she sat up and walked to the window of her room and opened it. The early morning September air came in droves from the opening and made her smile as it carried with it the scent of the coming autumn.

            “Gonna be a good day,” she told herself with a smile as she made her way over to her dresser and pulled out her clothing for the day. Socks, holy jeans with motor oil and grass stains, a white tank top and a black t-shirt were quickly pulled onto her person before looking to her vanity mirror in order to fix her hair. She never messed with her chestnut brown hair much. The extent of her hair style was pulling a brush through the thick mess and tying it back into a loose braid that barely reached the middle of her shoulder blades and today was no different. Once her hair was dealt with she picked up her glasses from the vanity top and restored the sense of sight back to her hazel eyes that quickly fell upon a fresh white head that had sprouted upon her face during the night. She frowned at the unwelcome intruder on her olive face and quickly squeezed it into oblivion before looking over the rest of her slender form and flat chest which added to her boyish demeanor.

            “Well…,” she began pulling her phone from her pocket to check the time. It was seven o’clock, she had half an hour to spare before leaving for school. “I’ve got half an hour to kill. Wonder if those two are up and ready or waitin’ till last minute again.” With that she closed her window before grabbing her bag from the floor and headed down the stairs of her family’s cabin like home. “Mornin’ everyone!” she cheered as she entered the door way of the kitchen where her mother and two brothers were gathered around the kitchen table, her mother clasping tightly onto a mug of fresh brewed coffee while her brothers ate their bowels of cereal clad in nothing but their boxer shorts they had slept in the night before a dazed look on their faces as sleep attempted to retain its hold on them. Artemis rolled her eyes at the two young men as she placed her bag on the back of a chair and yelled another “good morning” into her oldest brother‘s ear. He turned to glare at her through heavy lids, his hair construed into tight knots and curls from a nights worth of tossing and turning.

            “Why’re you so cheerful this morning?” Paul asked in irritation as his sister walked over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of orange juice, pouring herself a glass before taking a seat next to her mother at the table.

            “Jeeze Paul, perk up a little bit,” Artemis stated as she took a swig from her glass and gave her brother a smug look. “I mean, come on, it’s Tuesday.”