Gilded Heart

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Ameerah chose to go to sleep instead of hearing anything else from Maynord. Just hearing the truth about her parents was enough for her for one evening. She hated the part of her which made her believe her parents died because of her, that because they had her they were destined, bound to be murdered. And to find that her mother died from her, because of her. She had gone to the bathroom and soaked in hot water in their wooden tub, the water burning and reddening her skin. 

It was already bad enough she felt like an outcast even here. She knew she was not the same as her grandfather. She knew she wasn't a werewolf, not a full-blood. She was a half-blood. Half werewolf, half human. Was that why she had different abilities? Was that why she was faster? Stronger? Could smell father, hear further? Was that why she saw her target appear golden so she could lock on to it? Was that why she could see the source of a creatures pain as it glowed golden? 

She washed her white hair thoroughly, rinsing the soap out and stepping out of the tub, drying herself off fully before putting on her sleep shirt and trousers. She muttered a quick goodnight to Maynord and went to her room, shutting the door behind her. She climbed into her bed, facing her window to stare out at the moon, the sight of his distorted as water poured down her window from the never-ending rain. 

She shut her eyes, falling asleep after staring at the rain for what seemed like forever. 

Since she was young, since she could remember, she always had the same reoccurring dream. It was always the same. She was running. Running deep within the forest, past tree after tree, at lightning speed. It was night, always night, the silver moonlight lighting her way through the forest as she ran. It always took her a moment to realize that she wasn't simply running, she was running from something. Something big and fast chased her and came after her, intent on catching her. She could hear it growl, hear its paws hit the ground, hear the panting and snarling, the snapping of his jaw so clearly, as if it were truly happening. However, no matter how far or how much she ran, it always managed to catch up to her. 

It was always the same beast. Massive. Far larger than the wolf-form of Maynord. Nearly three time the size of him, it's fur so black that it nearly blended in with the shadows underneath the moonlight. It's eyes were blood-red, deep and flowing and glowing. A wolf skull over its face, dark and grey and aged. It's fangs were the size of her fist and almost glowing white in the darkness. 

Every night the dream ended the same way. The beast would run up close to her left and she would manage to dodge its snapping jaws and get away. She would have a brief moment in which she believed she got away until it tackled her from the right, pinning her down into the earth with its two, large paws, claws digging into her upper-arms. The beast growled loudly, menacingly, snarling until its jaws opened and came down on her.

She awoke in the night once again, the dream ending the same way it did every single night. She never knew and never understood why it was the same beast, why it was the same forest, the same ending. Was that how she would die? By the jaws of a feral beast?

She was going to try and go to back to sleep, in hopes the dream--the nightmare--wouldn't plague her a second time in one night but she heard something, deep in the forest, beneath the heavy rain. She sat up quickly, focusing on the sound, shutting her eyes to listen intently. She listened, the sound of the rain drowning out, fading, she heard a tree fall, the running of a rabbit to safety, and then she found it.

Running. Something big was running. Four of them. Wolves. Werewolves. Toward the house, they were coming towards the house. Her eyes shot open and she darted up, grabbing her dagger just when she heard a loud crashing from the living room of the front door being smashed open. She swung her door open, Maynord already rushing past her in his wolf form down the hallway, the house erupting with growls and snarls and even more crashing.