After (Wolves of Mercy Falls Fan Fic)

Chapter 2

Finding Lila's family didn't really occur to me until a week before school started. Mom and Dad started acting weird around Lila when the subject of school came up. They started leaving for no reason to talk and coming back just as weird as before. I started getting attached to our new life and my ADD seemed to be under control around Lila, so I didn't want to think about her leaving. Finally, Mom and Dad pulled me aside after breakfast and talked to me about it.

"Her parents are probably worried about her. It's been a little over a month now," Mom said gently.

"Plus, school's about to start and we can't just enroll a girl we know nothing about," Dad continued. I didn't really understand what they meant.

"We can home school her. Lila's really smart already. I tried to teach her guitar last week and she got the hang of it right away!"

"Koby, we don't even know her real name or where she came from. 'Lila'1 is just a name you made up for her. She can't stay here forever," Mom persisted.

"But she likes it here. She doesn't want to leave. Sh-she can't leave. What if she's an orphan with no family? We can be her family," I was practically begging at this point. Just thinking about losing Lila made my chest hurt and my eyes brim with tears.

Before they could respond, there was a CRASH in the kitchen. We all ran in to find a small, frail looking, white wolf lying on the floor, Lila's dress still hanging on its shoulders. It shook and looked up at me with its evergreen eyes. By the time Dad got to the door to let it out, it had began to change again. I could here her bones breaking and reshaping into a girl. It was nothing like my shifts. I was graceful, quick, painless. This was messy, slow and so, so painful. But even with her body remaking itself, she was in silent agony.

It took almost a full 10 minutes for Lila to be herself again. That's when I finally noticed the blanket on her shoulders. Someone must have put it there while I stood there like an idiot and did nothing. Mom was helping her sit up and Dad was handing her a hot drink. It took another 5 minutes for me to step forward and sit in front of Lila.

"How long ago were you bitten?" I asked. She shook her head. "I don't understand. Do you remember?" She sighed and laid a hand on my mom's stomach. Then she pointed at me.

"You we're born this way," Dad said quietly. She nodded. She looked at me before trying to stand up. I stood with her so when she stumbled, she could lean against me. I attempted to wrap the blanket around her shoulders better with some success.

"Want me to help you back upstairs?" I offered. She nodded and we walked together. I helped her get back in bed. Her room was different than the last time I had been in it. New clothes were hung up in the closet and little trinkets and drawings sat on any surface other than the floor, which had nothing on it.

When Lila saw me looking at the drawings, she picked up something from the nightstand and took my hand. I watched and she pressed a folded piece of paper in my hand. She turned over and fell asleep before I could ask what it was. I opened it and read:

Please, don't make me go. I don't have any family and I don't have a home to go to.

She knew. Before I did. Smart girl. I touched her shoulder gently, "Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to you."

I put the paper in my pocket and met my parents downstairs. "Is she okay?" Mom asked. I nodded and handed her the piece of paper.

"I don't think we have much of a choice about if she stays or goes," I pointed out. Mom showed Dad the paper and he nodded.

"Alright. We'll homeschool her then," he said.

From then on, Lila became our "family friend's daughter that was staying with us for a while". Lila studied hard with me after school and by the time summer came around again she was completely caught up with me. In fact, if she was in my class, she would be ahead of me. Honestly, I think she enjoyed it. She read most of the books in the library downstairs before we had to take her to the bookstore for more. It seemed like we could never pull her from those books, but atleast her door stayed open and she interacted with us more. She never talked, though. Not even another letter, just actions. And she was always beautiful. Always.