Moonless

Chapter 14

AN; Sorry for the long wait. The anxiety of the US elections the fact that half the people at my work got Covid, and I was exposed too,
had me on edge. I hope I didn't lose the few readers I had. But I reached my goal of 567 reads and 116 votes! The new goal is 1000 reads and 200 votes. I doubt I will reach those goals, but always aim high!
Thanks for reading. Sam<3
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Trees flew past me as my paws glided silently over the snow. Mist poured from my mouth with every exhale of breath I took. I inhale the bitter cold air deeply and sorted through the smells that it held.

Pine needles.

A fox.

A dear carcass.

A wolf.

I stopped in my tracks and turned my head to the left and then the right while I tried to pinpoint the scent trial. And then I found it, with a soft winter breeze rolling in from the south.

I grabbed the scent and ran towards it. When I was almost upon its source I slowed down and crept forward, and then I stopped.

A boy with unruly brown hair sat criss-cross in the snow with his back turned away from me. A soft rhythmic hum escaped his lips. He didn't seem to be aware of my presence, at least not yet.

I took one step out into the clearing and abruptly the humming stopped. Not ready to lose the element of surprise, I turned and retreated back to thick pine branches. I waited to see what the boy would do next but he did nothing. He sat, unmoving, while the steady, slow rhythmic thumping continued in my ears.

"Hello," the boy said, breaking the silence of the snow-covered woods. He turned to look in my direction. His green eyes seemed to glow ever so slightly in the dimly lit forest. "I know you're there. The spirits told me you were coming, although I don't think I was expecting you so soon. Come out, we have much to talk about."
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I was jerked awake by the sound of raised voices. I sat up in bed and rubbed my face to brush away the lingering traces of sleep from my eyes. Gray morning light was slipping through the window into our room and made the room look like it was made of light and shadow.

Morning? Was it morning already? I felt a twinge of disappointment. Grayson hadn't visited in my dreams last night...

"You don't want him to visit you." my inner voice reminded me.

Downstairs, I could hear Burt and Theodore talking to each other loudly. I couldn't make out what they were saying but I was in no rush to find out what they were fighting about. I wanted to enjoy a little section of peace I had in the morning, before the weight of all the anxiety from day-to-day life came crashing down on me.

I got out of bed and bent over and gathered the dirty clothes that had begun gathering on the floor, before tossing them into the basket we kept beside our door. I had a feeling all the chores would be house chores since I was positive that Bert would try to keep everyone inside as much as possible.  Not that I would be here to help with the chores anyway. I had a long shift at the dinner ahead of me.

My eyes began to search the room for Beatrice's duffle bag from the night of the party. My uniform was most likely still scrunched up inside it. And if that was the case, I would have to iron it out in the basement.

Beatrice let out a loud yawn from her bed and opened her round blue eyes. We locked eyes and a sleepy smile spread across her face. "Oh, I was having the best dream ever! I dreamed that I was in a Shakespeare play at a high school. I got to play Juliet, and when I finally drank the poison at the end, there wasn't a dry eye in the whole theater!"