Crescendo

Chapter 1: Outbreak

The news had erupted through the schools today; there wasn’t one person that didn’t know what events had taken place last night. That was the setback for living in a small town, talk traveled fast.

An entire family had been slaughtered in cold blood. The victims had been found just a few miles from their home, completely shredded, bodies could barely be identified.

It was announced an animal attack, and for this town’s sake, it would be better if they believed that to be true. But this accident screamed vampire attack. No sooner this news came out; our pack had been called for an emergency meeting. 

As soon as school had ended my friend Beverly and I began heading into the forest to get to the meeting grounds.

“So, how is Danny taking it?” Beverly asked as we made it to the very entrance of the towering forest.

I paused, always feeling a slight discomfort when entering the woods. It was forbidden to enter, that’s what this town insisted on. From so many years of horrible accidents that had taken place in this forest, no one is allowed to go in. But right in the heart of the forest sat our meeting house.

I forced myself to turn my attention back to Beverly’s comment. “His whole family got murdered last night,” I got a little lump in my throat as I said this. “I can’t imagine how anyone would be taking something like that.”

Beverly sighed deeply, a frown coming to her face, before she took a big step into the woods. She moved fluidly, with a little jump in her step; that made her long blonde curls bounce with her.

I followed after her, gazing around at the wooden splendor. Everything seemed so bright, and lively. The rich fragrance of wild flowers, and soil permeated the air. It had an almost enchanting effect when walking through this place. It brought me a brief escape from reality.

“This is going to completely ruin our relationship,” Beverly blurted out, turning to me with a sad look. “I’ve waited so long to finally get with Danny,”

I raised a brow at her. “Bev, he is already going through a lot, try to show some compassion.” I suggested lightly.

“I know, I sound completely selfish...” She bit her lip, looking away from me for a moment. “But... I really like him.”

“Things will work out,” I offered, and gave her a small smile, hoping she would change the subject soon.

I didn’t like talking about Danny, not only because of his family... but the fact that he used to be my favorite person in the world, I missed him.

To my relief we continued forward in silence, following a soft mossy path, careful not to trip over the scattered branches, or large stones. The further we went, the darker it seemed to get as more trees blocked the sunlight.

After finally reaching the center of the woods I sucked in a breath as we reached the large wooden cabin that stood before us. It was greatly outdated on the outside; probably around the 17th Century. It was discolored, and lacked any cleaning whatsoever, but it was very sturdy.