ODELIA

Chapter 13

Flashback

It was a sunny day in Patton Hills. The O'dells thought it was a nice day out for a picnic.

Gramma and I were making cold lemonades in one picnic table. She took out the ice from the icebox, while I helped squeeze the juice out of the sour fruits. I felt my mouth water as the tangy smell of the citrus spray in the air. I got caught by Gramma when she saw me attempting to lick the pulps.

While I was stirring the juice and sugar in the glass pitcher, I watched my parents and Grampa as they sat on another picnic table. They were having a conversation. Mother laughed; she looked so pretty when she smiled. My father also smiled along with Grampa.

I wished we never did anymore road trips. My parents never looked this happy when we were on the road. I focused back on what I was doing and continued to thoroughly mix the ingredients in the pitcher.

"Careful, Odelia, don't stir too fast. The table is not thirsty anymore." Gramma teased me by pointing out on all the spills I'd cause. I giggled and felt my cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

"Come on, dear. I think we've made enough lemonade for everyone." She smiled and carried the almost-full pitcher of lemonade. I trailed behind her, hopping.

This was the third time we visited my grandparents, mom said. I thought she was joking. But, she explained to me that it was impossible for me to remember the first two visits since I was still a baby at that time.

We were enjoying our last few days in my grandparents' place. If only we could stay here forever. I didn't want to move to different cities and houses anymore. I wanted to have permanent friends. I wanted to bake more oatmeal cookies with Gramma. I wanted to see Grampa finish building the birdbath. I wanted to see my parents smile and laugh like there was nothing wrong in this world. But, I couldn't. We just had to continue with the road trips.

"Odelia, you alright, dear?" Mother placed her gentle hand on my shoulder. I looked over to her and smiled as if nothing was wrong. I nodded my head and pretended that I was not thinking of anything at all. I didn't want her to worry. I didn't want that smile on her face to leave. Even though I was young, I already was concerned about what people felt.

I walked around the park, leaving the adults to have their chat. I wandered around, even though I had no plan in mind. It was just those moments when my feet took control over me rather than my brain.

I looked back to my family to make sure I wasn't far away from them. I sighed in relief since I could still see them.

"Odelia, don't go too far." Father told me. I nodded and obeyed him. I made sure that I could see them and they could see me. I found a big bush of pretty, colorful flowers and picked a few flowers. I wanted to give it to my mother and Gramma. I giggled at the thought that I was doing something good.

Grrrr!

I was disturbed from my flower picking when I heard a dog growling behind me. I immediately spun around and saw that the big, brown dog was standing with its teeth showing. It was sharp and bigger than mine. It looked very angry. The big dog slowly walked towards me. Have I made it angry? Maybe, it was because I was plucking out the flowers.

Frightened at the situation, I did what a normal kid would do. I screamed at the top of my lungs, hoping that my father could save me from the animal.

The angry dog barked loudly at me when I tried to sneak away from it. It walked forward while I did the opposite. I felt my back against the bush. I was stuck; I had nowhere else to go. My eyes tight shut since I didn't want to see anymore of the dog's angry face. I regretted plucking out the flowers. I didn't know it was wrong.

"Odelia!" That was the voice of my father. He heard me crying out for help. He's coming to save me from this monster. "Get away from her!"

The dog growled even louder at my father and ran towards him. He pounced on him and bared his sharp teeth at him. Its claws were out and it was slowly tearing my dad's sleeves. I yelled at the animal and begged for it to stop hurting my dad.

I didn't know what I supposed to do. My grandparents didn't know what to do either. My mother stood beside them. We were all scared.

My father struggled on the ground. The dog was too big and heavy for him to move. I was so scared; I didn't want my dad to get hurt, or worse, die.

"Shoo! Doggie! Bad doggie!" I scolded the dog. It was the three times as big as me. What I was doing, was hopeless. It's like an ant scolding the human for putting away the crumbs. I didn't care anyway. I needed to rescue my father.

Just before the dog could take a bite, a shadowy figure attacked him--- setting my father free from the dog's paws. The black dog was bigger than the brown dog. They both scratched and fought each other.

I ran as fast as I could to my father and hugged him. He quickly carried me away from the two wild animals. He didn't look as frightened as he was suppose to be. He looked relieved, yet sad. I wrapped my small arms around his neck like an embrace. He told me everything was going to be okay.

How could he say that after being attacked and almost bitten by a big dog?

The brown dog was finally on the ground. It sounded like it was crying. The dog looked afraid. The big, black dog's bark boomed with so much power. I was terrified at the sound of it--- so was the dog. The scared animal scurried away from the paws of the black dog into the forest.

I saw my father smile in relief and he walked us closer to the black dog. I leaned away in fear. I thought that my father was crazy for wanting to come nearer to the animal.

"Thank you." My father whispered to the dog. And, I copied him. The dog responded by bowing its head. I was shocked to see it reply. I had never seen such a disciplined and well-trained animal before. I giggled.

Flashback ends

"We-werewolves?" I stutter.

"Please don't tell anyone about us." Isabelle begs on her knees, her hands cupping mine. I blink my eyes repeatedly. I can't believe that I'm actually hearing this. Am I just going to believe them? I don't want to.

But, that explains all the weird stuff that's been happening lately.

"Wait, so if werewolves exist, then that must mean that those dogs, that were going to eat me, weren't just dogs?"

"Werewolves don't eat people, usually. And, they weren't going to eat you. They were going to kidnap you." Isabelle explains, like it's as simple as two plus two. How does she manage to just say that casually? Tell that to a normal person and she'll have them freaking out.

Oh, right. I am normal. Therefore, I shall freak out. "Why would they kidnap me!"

"Isabelle, your dad should be the one telling her this." Wesley stops Isabelle from speaking. I glare at him for interrupting her. She was going to answer.

"Are you a werewolf, too?" I ask Wesley. His eyes widen with surprise. I must have guessed it correctly. He smiles and nods, "No."

Then, why was he surprised when i asked him? Probably, because I mistook him for one.

"Why didn't they also kidnap you? You're human." My mind is swarming with questions. I don't know how react properly to this. Even Bella Swan can't react properly to this.

"They only want you, Odelia."

Why do the werewolves want me? Do they need me for tutoring? If not, then what else can I do so great that mythical creatures need me?

I've only gotten one answer so far. But, that doesn't mean everything's been explained.

This is just the beginning.

~*~

I finally changed the book cover. I had forgotten how time consuming it was to do graphics.