In Moonlight

IN MOONLIGHT BY CIERA

In Moonlight. Preface. I was just laying there on the wooden floor in the remains of my house, and being forced to watch the death of my family and pack. I couldn’t move, two of those cursed vampyres were holing me down. They were too powerful. Even in my wolf form, I couldn’t break their hold on me. I may have just been a newbie at the whole werewolf thing, but that didn’t mean that they should be able to restrain me and force me to watch as they slaughtered everyone close to me. I tried struggling, but that didn’t work, they only slammed me down. I tried biting them, but that didn’t work either. Why were they doing this to me?! Couldn’t they just kill me like the others?! At least I wouldn’t have to suffer very long that way. But they had other plans in mind for me. Just as they finished, they started cleaning up the mess. I was so pissed at how they could just do it so carelessly, like they didn’t just take seventeen lives. But then the biggest one- that I assumed was their leader- turned to face me. “So how did you enjoy the show mutt?” He asked with a smile. That did it. In less then 10 seconds, I was on my feet. I pushed the two goons off of me, and they landed on the floor a few feet from me. Now where was all of that power when I needed it ten minutes ago?! I took a second to think of what to do. I couldn’t take all 20 of them at once. So like the coward I was, I ran and jumped out of the nearest window. I ran as fast as I possibly could. I was surprised find that they weren’t following me. I didn’t stop running until I was near the public eye. As soon as I felt safe, I phased back to my human form, and got dressed. I stepped out of the bushes and looked around. It seemed like I was at an airport. Excellent! But where was I supposed to go? At that moment, and idea hit me like a rocket. So then I ran into the airport, ignoring all of the stares, and then went to the nearest pay phone. I searched my pockets until I found a quarter. Putting the quarter in the slot, I immediately started dialing. It rang several times before someone answered. “Hello.” A woman’s voice said. “Hi, um, Aunt Cathy, mind if I come for a visit?” I asked. “Well sure.” She said. “I need to get the guest room ready. And are your parents alright with this?” “Yes, they are perfectly fine with it.” I lied, wincing at the memory. “So how long until you leave?” She asked. “I’m headed for the plane right now.” I slammed the receiver shut, and headed for the front desk.

In Moonlight. Chapter 1, “New face.” I woke up to a man’s voice on the intercom. “Ladies and gentle men, please unfasten your seatbelts. We have now arrived in Texas.” The man on the intercom said. I must have been tired, because I should have been watching out for those vampyres. As soon as the door of the airplane opened, I ran out. I spotted my Aunt Cathy standing by the entrance ways with a big smile on her face. My Aunt Cathy was always the childish type. She had waist long sandy brown hair, dark blue eyes, and she wore a blue T-shirt that said in black letters, “Bite me!” She also wore a plain pair of jeans and blue sneakers. As I walked up to her, I spotted someone else who was standing next to her. This girl had shoulder-length blonde hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. She had

bangs that were hanging into her green-blue eyes. She wore a pink T-shirt with a pink skirt and pink high-heels. I repressed a groan. “Rachel!” My Aunt Cathy yelled as she ran to give me a hug. I swear that I saw that other girl roll her eyes and groan under her breath. “Heya, Aunt Cathy.” I said, trying to sound happy. As soon as she released me, I knew that the questions would start shooting out of her mouth like bullets. “So what have you been up to dear?” She asked. “Oh, nothing really.” I lied. “Just the usual.” No one in my family knew that I was a werewolf. And I planned to keep it that way. I couldn’t even imagine the reactions that everyone would have….well everyone that was still alive. I shuddered at the thought. “Oh, I’m sorry dear.” Cathy said. “Lets get you into the warm car.” Then, as she turned around, she looked at the other girl like she had forgotten that she was there. “Oh, Rachel, this is Angeline.” My Aunt explained. “She is staying with me since her parents passed. And she is also your long lost cousin from Alabama.” I then stared at Angeline, as she stared at me. She stared at me like I was just some trash on the street. “Hi.” I said, as I stretched out my hand to shake hers. She just continued to stare at me, and then she popped her gum that she was chewing. “Hi.” She said in a disgusted voice. I had to live with that thing?! We just met, and she was already making my hands shake with anger. But then my Aunt misinterpreted. “Lets go and get you into the warm car. You must be freezing.” Cathy said to me. I followed silently. I kept seeing Angeline glaring at me from the corner of her eye. I will try and be nice, I thought to myself. I kept thinking that over and over until I calmed down. Since I was just a newbie at being a werewolf, my anger was the hardest thing to control. I just hoped that I wouldn’t kill anyone. As we reached the parking lot, I saw my Aunts red Convertible in one of the first spaces. I put my bag into the trunk. And then I hear a howl from the distance, but no-one seemed to notice it. That was one of the good things about being a werewolf- heightened senses. As I looked in the direction of the howl, I saw something that caught my eye. But before I could look at it for more then a second, Cathy called me. “Hun, lets go, I don’t want to get caught in this storm.” She said, looking up at the rainy looking clouds. So then I got into the back seat and looked to where I heard the howl. But this time, I saw nothing. As we arrived home, I felt a sudden urge to search the house and make sure that I wasn’t followed, and that there were no vampyres this time. But when I got inside, I sniffed the air, and I smelled no trace of vampyre. I sighed in relief. “Rachel?” My Aunt called. “Yes?” I asked. Had she just seen me do that? “Do you mind starting school tomorrow, I’m sure that your parents won’t want you missing any school while you’re here.” I thought for a moment. “Sure.” I said, even thought I didn’t want to go to school- not now. My Aunt smiled. I then walked off to the guest room and put my bag on the floor. I was so tired by then, that the second that my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep. In Moonlight. Chapter 2, “Wolf Girl.” I awoke to my Aunt shaking me. “Time for school.” She said, trying to sound happy. “Okay, okay.” I grumbled. I was 17, and a senior in high school. Once she was out of the room, I jumped to the guest bedroom window and yanked it

open. It was very sunny, I doubted that the vampyres would want to be seen by anyone, so I walked to the bathroom that was in the guest room and started to brush my hair. It was a mess. As I stared at my reflection, I frowned. How was I going to fit in? Everyone around here had short hair and had attitude problems. And they were also all pretty. I had long black hair, it went down to about as far as the middle of my back. I was also tan looking, so that part wouldn’t be a problem. My eyes were a black color, I hoped that no-one would notice that. “Hurry up, Rachel!” Cathy called from downstairs. I could hear the door slamming shut, and I guessed that it was Angeline. So I hurried and threw on a random outfit. It was a plain red shirt, and plain jeans. I didn’t stop to look at myself as I left. When I got downstairs, my Aunt gave me a set of keys. “Here, you can borrow my car.” She insisted. “You know where the school is right?” “Of course.” I said as I was walking out the door. “Good luck, Hun, I’m sure that you will be fine.” “Sure, sure.” I muttered, too low for her to hear. When I walked into the garage, I didn’t know which car I was using, there were so many. So I clicked the “Unlock” button on the set of keys, and found the car that I was using. It was the red Convertible. When I arrived at the school parking lot, there weren’t many spaces left. So I had to park in the back. I knew that I wasn’t late because there were still teenagers sitting in their cars and talking to people. School this year was going to be ruff. Especially without my pack. I just hoped that I wouldn’t kill anyone. I got out of the car, and started heading towards the building that had Main Office on it. I got a few glances as I was walking. But I was especially being glared at by a group of teenagers leaning against the side of the school. They looked curious. But of course, everyone would be curious because the hadn’t seen me before. So I hadn’t looked much into it. But I couldn’t help but to stare back at the group. They kept staring as well. Then the bell rang instantly. I jumped at the sudden sound. The group looked at me once more, and then walked away to class. But one of them stayed back and continued to look at me. He had short black hair, and very dark brown eyes that looked black. He wore a simple long, black shirt, with black shorts, and boots. Then he smiled at me, and walked off. What was all of that about? When I arrived at the main office, everyone there glared at me. Was there something on my face? I continued walking until I got to the secretary desk. “Hello.” The secretary behind the counter said. Then when she turned to me, she started stuttering. “C-can I help you?” “Hi, um, I’m new here, and I needed a class schedule. I think that my Aunt called yesterday…” I said. She then typed something on her computer. “Ah, yes.” She said. “You are Rachel McCoy, right?” “Yes.” Then she nodded and handed me a piece of paper. “Here’s your schedule.” She said. Then she handed me another piece of paper. “And here is a map of the school. There are four floors, and two other buildings.” I nodded. “You will have extra time to get to your class since it is your first week. Good luck.” She said, duly. I nodded and took off for my first class. I had Chemistry with Mr. Collins. Ugh. As soon as I walked in the door, everyone stared at me. They were all sitting in a bunch, and talking, so I knew that class hadn’t started yet. I walked to the teachers desk. “You must be Rachel McCoy.” The teacher said. I nodded once, “Yes, sir.” I said. Then he smiled. “Well welcome to Chemistry class! I hope that you enjoy your stay with us.” He said. Then he pointed out where I was supposed to sit. I was supposed to sit at Angeline’s table! She glared at me, disgusted, as I went to sit by her. “Great.” I heard her murmur under her breath that only I could have heard. That made me mad, but I tried to control it.

I sat down. “What’s your problem?” I said in a way that only she could have heard, by accident. My anger was taking control again. She just glared at me, like she couldn’t believe that I said that. Dang! I wasn’t supposed to be able to hear what she said. That was a mistake. But she said nothing to my response. I heard someone whisper my name. So I looked out of the corner of my eye, and saw one of the guys that were glaring at me earlier. He had his back to me, but he was talking about me to someone else. Then they both looked in my direction. They caught me staring at them and stared back. Then I saw the boy that had smiled at me earlier. He smiled again, as the other boy turned back to him. He continued to smile at me. So I smiled back. But then Mr. Collins clapped his hands. The sudden sound made me jump a little. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Angeline laugh. “Okay, class.” Mr. Collins said, clapping his hands again. “Before we start class today, I would like to introduce you all to a new student.” Then he pointed at me, and everyone stared. “This is Rachel McCoy. She won’t be joining us for very long, but you should all still make her feel welcome.” A couple of kids from the group that I had seen earlier, studied me. And I swear that I saw one of them sniff the air, but it was probably just my imagination. After class, I was walking to my locker when I caught the scent of vampyre. It smelled disgusting and foul. Like something very, very spicy. It burned my nose. I kept glancing from side to side, trying to find the source. But I just came up empty handed. As I was putting in my combination, I noticed that there was no-one in the long hallway but me. I quickly gathered my books and slammed my locker shut with a little more force then necessary. The sudden loud noise made me jump. As I turned around, I spotted them. The vampyres. I expected to have fear running through my body, but instead it was anger. Just then, the final bell rang and the vampyres vanished. If I would have blinked, I would have missed it. Students started to fill into the hall. And with that, I took my leave, and started walking to my borrowed car. I wasn’t going to take the chance of going to my locker again. All of a sudden, the group that have been watching me all day were leaning against their car. It was a Sky blue truck, that had a loud engine. It also looked pretty new, and it was in good condition except for the scratches on the paint. Then the group caught my eye, and one of the guys- the tallest one that looked like the oldest- waved a hand to signal me to walk over to them. What should I do? I thought to myself. Well I don’t want to seem rude, I guess. So with that, I walked over to them. I then caught a better glance at the five of them. There were four boys, and only one girl. They all stared at me with warm smiles. But then, the oldest one of the group said something that caught my attention, and sent me into a swirling panic. “You’re a werewolf aren’t you?” He asked. In Moonlight. Chapter 3, “New pack.” I could only stare at them with wide eyes. How did they know?! What do I say?! So I decided to play dumb. “Werewolf?” I asked, trying to sound like it was all just a joke. “You shouldn’t be so obvious.” One of the other boys said, smiling. Then the oldest looking one threw a quick glance at the boy who spoke. But then he turned back to me and held out his hand. “I’m Gram Roy.” He said. I shook his hand. “Rachel McCoy.” I said. He smiled. “I know.” He said. Gram was pretty tall, and he was also really muscular looking. He had Dark black hair that was cut short, just like the other boys in the group. Then another boy, who looked like he was only fifteen and the youngest, spoke. “I’m Nathan Walter. Nice to meet ya, and welcome to the pack!” He said. Nathan

wasn’t as tall as the others, and he kept bouncing around like he had fifty cups of coffee this morning. I raised my eyebrow. Nathan had said “Welcome to the pack.” Does that mean that they want me to join? I thought to myself. But we just met, there is usually a test that you have to complete to be able to join someone else’s pack, unless you are their family, or a friend of one of the pack members. Gram caught my eye. “Well.” He said slowly. “You don’t have to join if you do not want to, but it’s your choice.” I smiled. “I’ll think about it.” I said. “RACHEL!” Yelled a distant voice. I turned around. Angeline was waving me over. I sighed. What does she want now? I thought. I turned back to the group. They were all already in the car, except for Gram. “Please don’t hesitate to speak with one of us once you make up your mind.” He said. I smiled and nodded. Then as Gram got into the car, I turned around and walked over to Angeline. “What?” I asked. “Cathy’s got some bad news for you. She wants you to head home.” She said, like she could care less. Then she climbed into her car with her friends and drove off. What news could Cathy have? I thought. So with that, I jumped into my borrowed car and started the engine. Just as I was backing out, I caught glimpse of one of the vampyres in the rearview mirror. I jerked my head around just in time to see it disappear. I had to get home before they got Cathy! So I wheeled my car around and stomped on the gas pedal. I was the last one there, so luckily no one could have seen that. As I pulled into the garage, I half jumped out of the car and then I ran into the house. When I got in, Cathy was sitting on the couch and crying her eyes out. I sighed in relief, she was safe. She saw me and signaled me to sit next to her. I walked over, still confused. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “Rachel..” She sobbed. “It’s your family….they’ve been murdered.” She said, almost as quiet as a whisper, This wasn’t news to me, but it still hurt. I had to bite my lip to keep from crying. I nodded. “I’m going to my room.” I said. And before she could respond, I trudged up the stairs to the guest room, and slammed the door. I layed on the bed and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was nightfall. All of a sudden, there was a knock on my bedroom door. “Hun, are you awake?” Cathy said. I didn’t answer, and I hid under the sheets. Cathy cracked the door open and tip-toed to my bedside. “Poor girl.” She cooed, quietly as if she thought that she would wake me. All of a sudden, there was a noise coming from downstairs. It sounded like a door slamming shut. There were footsteps, and it sounded like there were two people. Cathy sighed. “That would be Angeline and her boyfriend.” She whispered to herself. Then she got up and walked downstairs. “Hey, Ca-Aunt Cathy.” I heard Angeline say. “Ben and I are just going to go to my room and study.” She said. “Alright.” Cathy said carefully. Then I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and then a door shut. Time to play a trick on the witch. I thought. This should be good. And with that, I jumped out of my window and jumped on Angeline’s balcony. Then I took the heat from the center of my body and concentrated until I shimmered down to all fours. I took one of my claws and scratched it on Angeline’s glass door. I kept doing that until she came to see what the noise was. When she saw me, she screamed as loud as she could. “Wolf! Wolf! Wolf!” She shrieked. “There’s a huge white wolf on my balcony!” Then she turned around and ran for it, leaving her boyfriend in the room with wide eyes. I was enjoying this. Just then, a knife whizzed past me and hit the glass

door just inches above my head. The glass door shattered to a million pieces. I twirled around to see five vampyres, swords drawn and rushing at me. I jumped off of the balcony and ran into the woods. I couldn’t take five of them at once! So I ran full speed as the forest was whirling past me. I could hear footsteps approaching. I turned around and saw one of the vampyres excelling towards me. So I crouched down and when they got close enough, I sprung on them. They were strong and they threw me off of them after I got a few swipes landed on his face. He stood up, his whole face bleeding and he rushed at me again. But this time he used his sword. Just as he swung it at my face, I bit the sword between my teeth and flung it away and into the river that was close by. All of a sudden, the other four were joining him. I backed up until I hit a tree. I had to think of a plan and fast. I started growling and I crouched down and got ready to pounce. But just then, five wolves jumped out of the bushes and pounced on the remaining vampyres. I stared in surprise. It only took them thirty seconds to take them all down. When they finished, they each trotted over to me. With their eyes widened in surprise and excitement. Then a huge silver colored wolf with black ear tips walked up to me and sat on his haunches. I guessed that he was Gram. The others were glaring at me with surprise. But just then, I heard someone calling my name. So I cocked my head to the side instinctively and listened just as the others did. “Rachel!” I heard Angeline calling. She sounded mad. But what was she doing out here?! I think she knows what you are, Rachel. I heard Gram’s voice say in my head. How did he do that?! Was I imagining it? No, it really was me. His voice said again. This is one of my special skills. He said. I then turned to him, and he nodded his huge head. “Rachel!” Angeline said, and she sounded closer. Go now, you need to get out of here before she finds you or she will discover what you are. And we all know what will happen then. He said. Of course I knew what would happen, but it didn’t seem like such a bad idea to me. Gram rolled his eyes. Your Aunt won’t be so forgiving. Now go! He said urgently. So I obeyed and ran. But I really wished that Angeline would have found out what I was, because then I would have an excuse to kill her. Because no humans were allowed to know what we were. It was Law. And if they found out, we were to kill them. And if we didn’t obey, we were to be killed along with the human. Humans were too ignorant, and they didn’t believe what they didn’t know about. So we weren’t allowed to tell them, and they weren’t allowed to know. When I got close to my window, I jumped through it and phased back. I quickly got dressed as I heard the front door slam shut and someone stomping up the stairs. I quickly jumped into my bed and pretended to sleep. Then just at that moment, Angeline burst through my door, throwing it against the wall. “I don’t know who or what you are.” She said. “But I will find out!” That sent panic through me, because if she found out, then so would Cathy and good-bye to my ‘Safe’ hiding place. When she slammed the door shut, I stayed alert and awake all night without shutting my eyes once. In Moonlight. Chapter 4, “Old Tales.” I was still laying in my bed, awake, when my alarm clock went off. I sighed as I rolled over to turn it off. I was dead tired from staying up all night. I couldn’t risk having anything sneaking up on me, especially Angeline. I got dressed slowly and trudged down the stairs. I saw Cathy sitting at the table with a cup of coffee. She looked like she hadn’t slept in years. “Oh, your awake.” She said, with a croaking in her voice. “You don’t have to go to school today if you don’t want to.” Just then I remembered what she was talking about.

My parents. But I had to go to school so that the vampyres wouldn’t catch my scent and trace me back to here. “No, no. It’s okay.” I mumbled. “It will help get my mind off of things if I go.” “If your sure. But you can come home at anytime that you want to.” She added. I nodded. When I got to school, Gram and the others were leaning against their car and talking to each other like yesterday. I cut the engine and walked over to them. When they spotted me, they all greeted me with friendly smiles. “Yeesh. You looked like you haven’t slept for days.” Nathan commented. “Yeah I know.” I yawned. Just then, Angeline walked by, and she glared at us as she walked into the first building. “She knows?’’ The girl of the pack spoke for the first time in my presence. She had short, brown hair, and bright red-brown eyes. She was also tall, like the rest of us. She looked concerned. I remembered that I had her in one of my classes, her name was Genevieve. I shook my head. “Not quite, and I doubt that she will. She’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.” I said. “But what happened last night….” She said. I shook my head again. “About what happened last night..” Gram spoke slowly, as if teaching a two-year old to read for the first time. “Why were there vampyres this close to humans? Especially with werewolves around.” Then five pairs of eyes were on my face. “Don’t worry, they were just after me.” I assured them. All of their eyes had surprise and concern in them. “Why’s that?” One of the other boys asked, he looked just like Nathan, except his eyes had a more red-ish tint in them. “Now’s not the time, Warren.” Gram said. “We will post-pone this conversation until the pack meeting tonight.” Then he looked at me. “If you would like to come, of course.” “Of course.” I said. He nodded, still having a serious face. Then the bell rang. “Meet back here after classes.” Gram said, and then he walked off with Nathan and the other boy. Leaving me with Genevieve and Nathan’s twin, Warren. After school, we all met back at the car. I was the last one there, except for Gram. “He’s taking a long time.” Warren sighed. “Yeah I know.” Genevieve agreed. I let out a sigh. “Here he comes.” Nathan said, still bouncing around from gym last period. Just then Gram walked up to us. He looked deep in thought. We all looked at him, and waited for him to speak. He paused for a moment and then saw that we were waiting for him. He met each of our eyes before speaking. “I have some important information to tell everyone.” He said. “But we will have to speak in private. Meet in the forest in an hour at the usual spot. Since you don’t know the way, Rachel, just follow our scents. Be wolf. And don’t let anyone else see or follow you.” Then he glanced back at Angeline who was watching, and then he got in his car, and everyone separated and went their own ways. By the time that I got to the meeting, everyone was already in a circle. I trotted over to an empty spot near another wolf. It was pure black except for it’s brown paws and brown muzzle. When I looked around at the others, I noticed something different. There were six other wolves instead of five. Was I just imagining it? The black and brown wolf that I was sitting next to looked over at me and smiled. Was that who I thought it was? Attention everyone. Gram said, as he was pacing around in the middle of the circle. I have some important news to tell everyone. But first we should all

welcome our new pack member. Then he stopped pacing and he looked at me. Everyone, I present to you, Rachel McCoy. Our new sister. At that moment, everyone started howling in harmony. When they stopped, they were all wagging their tails in greeting. Then the black and brown wolf that was sitting next to me winked at me! I couldn’t look away as his eyes bore into mine. There was something different about him. But what? Now on to the important news. Gram said as he started pacing again. It seems that some of us are in question of the prophecy. Some of the wolfs stirred. But Gram continued. But my brothers and sisters, there is nothing to worry about. For the time of the prophecy is here. Then gram looked at me and smiled at my confused face, and then looked at the wolf sitting next to me and nodded. Zack. Would you please explain the prophecy to Nathan and Rachel? They don’t seem to know of it. Then Zack nodded his big head and walked to the center of the circle to take Grams place. He looked around and met all of our eyes before speaking. But he left his eyes on me. It was told long ago to our ancestors were to be lead in a victorious battle against the Vampyre clan. They were to be lead by a mysterious Great White Wolf that was told to have magical powers. Without that wolf, we would have never been victorious. It was also told that the Great White Wolf was born from another realm. But the Great White Wolf was killed before he could lead the Wolf clan to be victorious. And that lead to our downfall and our scattering all across the world. The Wolf clan has been trying to get revenge for years. But all that has become of that was the death of our comrades. But it seems that we are not to worry any longer, for our Great White Wolf has returned to us! And then the most surprise happened. All the wolfs in the circle bowed down to me! I stared looking around confused when I saw myself in the reflection of a pond nearby. I was the Great White Wolf. ÓBy Ciera Bailey