Surprise

Chapter 1 - Edited

It was a warm night when everything went wrong.  It usually is.  People like to pretend that bad things happen in the cold, but I believe that bad things happen on the rarest nights, like warm nights in Maine.  Nights like my seventeenth birthday.

The worst things always happen after people yell something, too.  "Duck," people yell before you get hit in the head.  "Careful," is what people yell when you're doing something stupid. "Help," is what people yell before they die.

“Surprise!”

That was what my friends all yelled at me before my whole life was ruined.

I closed the front door to my best friend, Hannah's house as she exited a crowd of our classmates to come over and give me a huge hug.  “Happy birthday, Maya!” she said to me.

I groaned.  “Han, I told you I didn’t want a party this year!”

My friend rolled her green eyes at me and grabbed my arm, dragging me away from where we stood.  “Too bad!  Now socialize and have fun,” she commanded.  After a liftetime of friendship, I knew that there was simply no arguing with her, so I huffed and followed her.

“Oh, and one more thing, Maya!”  She grabbed my arm and pulled me back.  “Up in my room is a cuter outfit.  It’s your birthday present.  Go change!”  I looked down at what I was wearing, a pink cardigan with light blue faded jeans, defensively.  It wasn’t bad, but everyone else made me feel underdressed when I looked around at their Abercrombie and Fitch, compared to my Good Will.

I went up the stairs as music blasted popular music down below.  I opened the door to Hannah’s room and walk in, shutting the door behind me.  I was a little mad, but not furious.  Hannah knew I didn’t want a party after last year’s craziness.  My sixteenth birthday party was indeed a sweet sixteen.  It had also been stressful and expensive.

Plus, sixteenth birthdays for werewolves are really painful, seeing as how those are the first times we shift.

But Hannah never could pass up an opportunity to party.  That was why I was't melodramatically livid.  I knew she would have had to tie herself up in a cave somewhere to stop herself from giving into the temptation of throwing me a party.

I took a deep breath,  and left the wall I was leaning against.  I looked at Hannah’s bed where I saw a cute outfit, a dark pink skirt with a black elastic waistband  paired with a cute black tank top with a layered design.  On the floor there was a pair of black and gold high heels.

I wasn’t surprised to find that they all fit me close to perfectly.  Hannah is, as I always call her, the clothing fairy, with magic powers involving being able to guess a person's exact measurements if she tries.  Plus, she knows everything about me, even my underwear size.  I was relieved to find she didn’t buy me any of that again this year.

I got dressed, my anger subsiding.  “You’re here, might as well enjoy it,” I muttered, giving myself the pep-talk of the year.  This wasn’t the first time Hannah had done something like this.  She didn’t understand that some people don’t think like her.  Not everyone looks at a person's intentions before getting mad about how you went against their wishes.

I brushed my long brown hair and stole a little bit of Hannah’s makeup, applying a little bit of grey eye shadow, some black eyeliner, and pink lip gloss.

Then, not having any excuse to stay up there, I opened the door and went out into the chaos of the party.

“Happy birthday, Maya,” people said as I walked by.  I smiled, nodded, said thank yous, and after a while, I even start to dance and enjoy myself.  I got some punch, and immediately tasted the disgusting tang of the alcohol and set it down on the table.

I found some of my other friends from school, Avery and Harper and a few others, and we talked and danced, since I couldn’t find Hannah again.

Some people gave me presents, though most just came for a good party, and I knew it.  They were mostly humans.  After all, the werewolf-human ration is around one to thirteen.  Hannah was one of the only others in this house.  But I didn't mind.  Humans weren't inferior at all, they were just different, although not all werewolves felt the same way.

Around ten o’clock, they brought out a cake, a large white rectangular one with the words “Happy birthday Maya” written in hot pink.

Hannah lit the seventeen pink candles and everyone started to sing, but I never liked that song, so I just leaned over and blew out all the candles in one blow, not bothering to think of a wish beforehand.

The rest of the night was unexpectedly relaxing, not worrying about the upcoming week of school which would be full of tests and hours of homework.  The thought of such a week made me wince.  But tonight we danced and joked and laughed until it hurt.

And we did not leave the night with regrets or sorrows.

I caught Hannah's eye, and silently forgave her for the party.

That night at around midnight, I walked the three blocks home when I was surprised to see a couple of police cars coming towards my driveway, sirens and lights off.  They pulled into the driveway at about the same time I found my house key in my purse.  I paused, not sure whether to stay outside and see what the wanted, or assume they weren't looking for my house and g inside.

One looked up and locked eyes with me and nodded at something the other said, and unbuckled his seatbelt, so I decided that they were coming to talk to me.

They got out slowly and walked to where I stood on the front porch.  “Hello, officers.  Can I help you,” I asked politely.

“Ma’am, is this the Taylor residence?” one asked.  His voice sounded solemn and bothered.

“Yes.  I’m Maya Taylor.”  I fidgeted with the keys and key-chains on my key ring until they asked if they could come inside.

“Of course.”  I opened the door and let them inside, calling out for my Aunt Linda, who had moved in with us a year ago when she'd gotten divorced.  She came down the stairs quickly when she heard the word “police,” wearing blue pajamas and a white robe.  Her dark hair was a mess, and her glasses were crooked.

“Hello, Officers.”

“Hello, Ma’am.  We have something to tell you, and you might want to sit down.”

She led us to the kitchen without another word, turning on lights as we walked.  We sat around the table and one of the officers, Officer Blake, leaned forward toward us.

“You know Mary and Robert Taylor, correct?”  He sounded official and unemotional and disconnected, all business, unlike the other one, Officer White, who sounded pitiful earlier.  There was a knot in my stomach as I nodded.

“They’re my parents.”  I was confused, but the dark mood in the room had me nervous.  I didn't know what was happening, but I knew that cops didn't show up at people's doorsteps when good things happen.  Bad things follow yelling and cops.

“Robert is my brother,” Linda said slowly, cautiously.

“Well, we are looking into it, but we are here to inform you that their bodies were discovered, both bleeding from the chest areas, about an hour ago downtown.”

It took a minute for their words to sink in.  but when they did, the only thing I heard was Aunt Linda screaming.