by Karen Ruth
“Thank you.” He said before we made our way back to Catherine and Reed.
It felt very awkward having Catherine look at us like we were some sort of new fascinating toy, especially since she isn’t a child. As I walked up to her she brushed mine and Lucas’s coat saying, “I always wanted a dog, did you know that Nina?”
I, for a fact, never knew that. She always looked so happy taking care of my mother I never knew she wanted anything more in life. I sat down right in front of her, my white furry tail covering my front paws. The other two followed pursuit. We sat there waiting for Catherine to tell us what to do. Finally, her voice broke out as she said, “Honestly, I don’t know what to have you guys do. I just wanted to see it one last time. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that werewolves actually exist.”
I grunted and went to lay my head on my paws. My sister gave me a sharp look and pointed her fingers “no need to be so sarcastic lady.”
I swear sometimes she thinks she is my second mother. To give her a good show that I thought would entertain her, I rolled on my back giving her a submissive position. She came over to scratch my stomach, but instead of letting her, I jumped onto my front paws. I howled at her and charged her knocking her over as she tried to run away. As she fell over I licked her cheeks causing her to laugh and say “Nina! That’s gross. It’s so slimy.” I got off of her and walked over to the others, a proud stance in my walk.
After an hour of just messing around with Catherine, we all decided it was time to change back into our human forms. As I was trotting back to where my clothes were, Lucas followed me. I gave him a puzzling look as he followed me.
“Don’t you want to go get changed?” I asked him. “Your clothes are over there.” I nodded in the direction of where his clothes were located.
“Oh, I know.” He simply replied.
I stopped walking and gave him an even more puzzling look. He stopped next to me and said, “Nina, you promised me that you would let me stay beside you at all times.”
“But I have to change back,” I told him starting to get a little worried.
“Shh Nina calm. I will not watch you change back if you don’t want me to. I will just stand close to you making sure that you are not in any danger.”
“Thank you, Lucas,” I said to him grateful that he could always be such a gentleman.
Just like Lucas said, he stayed in his wolf form and watched the woods alert to make sure nobody showed up. After I was done changing into my human form and putting my clothes back on, I walked over and patted him on his head as he trotted alongside me back to where his own clothes were located. I took Catherine inside with me letting Lucas and Reed be alone for a little bit to change.
“Are you hungry?” She asked me.
“Yeah, sort of. You?” I asked her.
She nodded acknowledging the fact that she was indeed hungry.
“What should we eat? Is there anything in the house?” I asked her.
“I have no idea.” She answered me.
We then began to open all the drawers and cupboards in the kitchen. It began to look like we weren’t going to eat anything until Catherine was able to find only one thing. “I found some Ramen noodles.” She said. “It’s obviously not much but the only thing I can find.”
Just then I noticed Lucas was behind me as he wrapped his arms around my waist again. “Ramen noodles are perfect Catherine. Thank you.” I smiled looking back at him.
“You’re welcome!” She said in a very cheerful mood.
“Ahh man Ramen noodles,” Reed whimpered. Lucas and I shot him a dirty look making him change his mind and say “I meant yes! Ramen noodles!” I just rolled my eyes at him.
“I swear, what are we going to do with that little werewolf?” I looked Lucas in the eyes.
“Don’t worry, I will send him to the dog pound.” He punched Reed in his arm who whimpered and said “Oh no not the dog pound.”
He threw his hands up in the air and wiggled them in a mocking manner. We all just laughed at him as Catherine placed the water on the stove to boil.
After supper, we sat at the table trying to get our minds on what was about to come. I really didn’t want either events to happen, but if I had to choose one I would definitely go with my sister becoming a werewolf. I knew that she was not ready for the world I lived in, too fragile for her own good. Being a werewolf tends to change you in ways you don’t expect. It tends to make you upset about different things much faster than if you were a normal human. I was worried about her, I really was. I don’t know if she will be able to control her emotions and if she can’t, it can lead to all of our downfalls. She has to be able to control her change, not allowing the public to know about werewolves.
“Nina?” I heard a voice say in my head.
I shook my head not realizing that I was daydreaming. My eyes began to focus when I realized Lucas was looking at me with a worried expression on his face.
“Yes?” I asked him.
“Are you ok?” His eyes searching mine making sure that everything was alright.
I exhaled and said, “I’m ok.”
“If you say so,” he said to me. “Be careful around your sister ok? She is watching your every move, try not to make her more upset. We want to keep her happy for her transition.”
I looked over at my sister and noticed that she really was watching me as she was talking to Reed. “Your right,” I said back to him.
I just stared at her, losing focus of the world. I tried to memorize every feature on her face. How her eyes glimmered when she spoke, how her smile seemed to light up the room, and how her eyebrows furrowed when something unsettled her. No matter how hard I tried to memorize her features, I was not ready for what was about to come.
I looked to my left, my eyes finding the window to outside. It was dark out and the moon was in the night sky. It was a beautiful night, I wished I could go outside and enjoy it. Sorrow was deep inside me. It was only a matter of time before Catherine would either go through her first change or she would be killed. I didn’t even notice I was shaking until Lucas grabbed my hand trying to calm me down. I snapped my attention away from the window and stared at our hands entwined together. Lucas reached over with his other hand to gently grab my chin. He ever so slowly turned my head to face his as he smiled at me.
I flashed him a quick smile back before asking him, “What time is it?” I asked Lucas, my voice shaking as I spoke.
“It’s 11:30,” Lucas told me as he checked his phone.
My heart dropped to the bottom pit of my stomach. Catherine looked over towards me as she heard my voice fail me. “Nina, it will be alright. Please calm down.”
“I’m sorry Cath,” I replied back to her upset with myself that I could fail her by not keeping myself in check.
Minutes passed with a blink of an eye. Slowly Reed and Lucas stood up and said “we should probably go out in the woods just in case.”
Catherine and I both nodded in agreement not saying anything. I could tell that she was nervous, but she was trying to stay strong. She doesn’t like looking weak in front of others. We all slowly made the trek into the wood together, Lucas holding my hand still trying to silently calm me down. Reed and Catherine walked in front of us talking about something to which I did not know. Every once in a while Lucas would search the woods for danger, evident that he was nervous that Seth and the others would attack. Whenever I noticed him searching the woods, I would squeeze his hand trying to comfort him. He would look down at me and I would look up at him and smile. He would return the favor before he looked straight-forward to the others.
Finally, we arrived at our destination. Far enough in the woods in which nobody would see anything happen to Catherine. It was five minutes to midnight as I let go of Lucas’s hand and went over to her and gave her the biggest hug as if my life depended on it, not hers. I closed my eyes not wanting to let go of her.
“I love you, Catherine, you know that right?” I asked her
.
“Of course. I love you too.” She said to me returning my hug.
“I’m so sorry. All of this is my fault.”
“Shhh, my sweet little sister. If I would have been in your shoes I would have done the same thing as you.”
“But you always make the right decisions. You’re the perfect child in the family.”
I told her tears falling from my eyes and becoming embedded into her clothes. She began to brush my hair from my eyes before saying “Nina, that is not true. I’m only human just like you. Well sort of, but that’s beside the point. I admire your strength, something that I will never have. No matter how hard I try to be strong, I could never be like you.”
“Yeah because I am being so strong right now,” I said as I brushed the tears from my eyes.
Cath was just about to say something but was interrupted by a bone-cracking inside her body as she let out a deafening scream. Lucas grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him as I yelled “No! Let me go! Let me comfort her!”
He pulled me into his arms as I ferociously tried to get his arms off of me.
“Nina you can’t! You don’t know how she will react. You know how you can’t control yourself when you first change.”
“But she is my sister!” I yelled at him desperately trying to break free.
“Please calm down Nina.”
He gently grabbed the side of my head and pushed it against his chest. I pressed my face into his chest and said “I can’t watch this.”
Screams after screams echoed in the woods making me cringe. More bones cracked as I heard her fall to the ground. I turned around to watch her to check to make sure she was ok. She was on her hands and knees, half changed.
“Does that mean she will live?” I asked Lucas hope in my words.
He didn’t say anything as we watched her some more. Her breathing becoming labored. After a few minutes, I noticed she wasn’t changing anymore. She was still in her half-werewolf form.
“That’s normal right?” I asked Lucas, again he said nothing. “Right?”
I turned to look at Reed who said nothing, only lowering his gaze away from me. My heart felt like it broke into millions of pieces knowing for a fact this wasn’t normal.
“Catherine!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. “You have to keep going, you have to!” I yelled at her as she turned to look me directly in the eyes.
As she was staring into my eyes the world seemed to go quiet around us. It appeared that the world only contained my sister and myself. Time seemed to slow as my heart pounded in my broken chest. I watched a tremor pass through her body as a new scream sounded from her body. It was then that I noticed that her body was beginning to transform once more. I looked over at Lucas who was able to read the expression on my face.
“Yes, that is good news.” I clapped my hand in excitement, happy that my sister was going to be ok.
“Nina, calm. This does not guarantee that she will survive."
Dread filled me once more as these words were spoken from his voice. I just stood there watching every move my sister made until she was fully transformed into a wolf. As soon as she transformed, she fell over not making a single noise. I escaped Lucas’s arms as I ran over to her as fast as I could. I did not care about whatever danger that could happen being this close to her. My only concern was for my sister, nothing else. I put my ear on her chest realizing that she wasn’t breathing.
“Lucas! She isn’t breathing!” I yelled panicking. “Help me!” I yelled at him when he didn’t move. “Please!” I begged him as I began crying once more.
“Nina. I’m so sorry. There isn’t anything we can do.”
“CPR?” I asked him.
He simply just shook his head. “I’m so sorry.” I grasped her grey fur in my hand trying to shake her body as she made no move. Faster and faster I shook her body trying to wake her up.
“Catherine! Wake up! Wake up!” I bawled into her fur. “You must wake up! I can’t take care of mother without you. I need you in my life. I can’t survive without you!”
Reed came over towards me and tried to help me up. I pushed him away from me and went back to my sister who was still not breathing. I couldn’t believe it. My loving older sister was dead, and it was all my fault.
Chapter 13
I collapsed onto my sister, my face buried into her fur. I wept as Lucas came over to me. He grasped my hand, pulling me up. He brought me into an embrace.
“I’m so sorry Nina.” Was all he said to me.
What can someone say to another in a time like this? There really isn’t any kind of words that can express the pain someone feels. No words that can perfectly comfort one who is grieving from such a terrible loss.
Something stirred beside me as I was encased in Lucas’s arms. I ignored it, not caring about anything at the moment.
Reed's voice yelled, “Uh you guys?”
Lucas replied as he shot Reed a dirty look, “not now Reed.”
“Seriously look!” Reed said not letting Lucas tell him to shut up.
“What’s so important?” He asked annoyed at Reed.
He looked around me and gasped. He took my arm and started bringing me farther away from where my sister’s body laid.
“What’s wrong?” I asked him as I looked to the ground. Shock filled my entire body as what I saw was a true miracle come true. “Cath!” I screamed trying to run towards her but was blocked by Lucas.
She was alive and trying to stand on her four grey paws. She looked exhausted, the change taking the best out of her. Lucas spoke in an authoritative voice, “Nina, wait. We don’t know what she will do. She is extremely dangerous right now.” I looked over towards Reed who was taking a defensive stance.
“If she is so dangerous, why didn’t we transform ourselves?” I questioned him.
“We know how to defend ourselves against a new wolf.” Was all he said as he watched Catherine’s every move.
A low growl erupted from deep inside Catherine. She was slowly walking towards us hunched down as if she believed we were a threat, or worse, a snack.
“Nina, get behind me,” Lucas said as he tried to push me behind him.
I slapped his arms away and said “no, I can defend myself. Plus, she won’t attack me. I know she won’t.”
“She doesn’t know any better right now. She isn’t in control.”
“She will be, trust me.”
“Nina.” He tried to reason with me but I ignored him and focused on my sister.
“Catherine, it’s me. Nina, your sister remember.”
As I took a step toward her another growl erupted from her. I stopped moving and slowly brought my hand out for her to smell.
Reed said “Nina, you don’t know what you’re doing. This is very dangerous.”
He was right next to Lucas ready to jump at me if anything went wrong.
“Cath, please come back to me. I need you,” I said to her.
Slowly she walked over to me, her teeth exposed. Her fur was risen along her back telling us she was ready to attack. My heart pounded as nervousness struck me. I had no idea if she would attack me or not.
“Please Cath,” I said begging her, trying my best for her to understand me.
I closed my eyes and stood frozen right there, with my arm extended. I felt a gentle touch of a soft wet nose that caused my eyes to flutter open. There Cath was pressing her nose into my palm, her fur settled back down. I petted her head as she came over to brush her body against mine, no sign of threat left in her glimmering eyes.
“Hello Cath. I missed you so much, I thought you were dead. I had no idea what I was going to do without you. I love you so much, I hope you know that.”
In response to that, she pounced on me and knocked me over. I heard Lucas gasp and yell “Nina!” As he attempted to run over to me.
“No, wait!” I yelled back at him.
It was then that she began to lick my face as I laughed. Lucas stopped his attempt at saving me and
relaxed once more.
“Nina, you really are going to give me a heart attack.” He said to me as he began to slowly walk over to me.
Once he made it over to me, he crouched beside me and slowly extended his hand to Cath. He slowly petted her as she allowed him to.
“What now?” I asked him.
“Now we get her to transform back before it gets too late. We have to get back to the castle before people begin to worry where we are.” He told me.
“Alright, and how do we do that?” I asked him.
“We really can’t unless we force her to. Don’t worry we won’t do that.” He said to me once he saw the expression on my face.
“How about we all transform into our wolves and have her follow us back to the castle? I could bring her into the house if she doesn’t transform by then. I could take care of her.” I said trying to reason with Lucas.
“Having her follow us is a good idea, but I don’t want you alone with her. She is unpredictable at this time.”
“Then stay with me tonight,” I told him.
“Are you sure?” He asked me.
“Yes, plus I know you. You won’t sleep at all tonight if you’re stuck worrying about me.”
“Hmm alright.” He responded. “Let’s all transform.”
“Yes! I was hoping you would say that!” Reed exclaimed throwing off his shirt.
“Reed, I swear you are a unique one, aren’t you,” I said to him laughing.
Once we were all in our werewolf forms, we met back to where Catherine was located. I was so relieved that she turned out to be ok, with no other complications than what happened earlier. I bounded up towards her and brushed my face against hers showing her how much I cared.
I called out to her in my head, “Cath are you ok?” I asked her.
The only answer was an owl who cooed beside us. “Cath?” I asked again tilting my head in confusion, once again there was no answer.
“Why can’t I hear Catherine?” I asked Lucas and Reed.
They exchanged a glance before Reed took a step towards me.
“Nina, what do you know about being bitten?” He asked me.
