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{22} Hush, Howl
I woke up the next morning feeling cold. My alarm clock beeped with impatience, waking me from my dreams. Well, maybe they aren’t exactly dreams. More of the reality side. Because I’m pretty sure they were memories, but other than my mother exceptionally younger while playing the flute, the rest of the story goes on with blurred images. The only part crystal clear was the part where we were conversing about instruments through which people occasionally express their feelings.
I sat upright on my bed, despising the pounding headache between my eyes. I rubbed my forehead and swung my feet off the bed, standing on the carpeted floor. I padded my way to the bathroom groggily and flipped open the light.
Facing the sink, I gripped its sides and stared at my reflection on the mirror placed on the wall. My hair was tousled, messy and pointing at all directions, my eyes had the slight puffiness from the sign of just waking up from a deep long slumber, and my expression was bored and lazy looking.
I sighed and shook my head, pushing down the taps that caused the water to flow down the sink. I cupped my hands together, allowing the water to fill up the empty space in and splash it on my face. I instantly felt more refreshed, but the water was freezing. I grabbed a towel hanging beside the mirror and wiped my hands and face off.
A cold metal dangled on my neck, hanging between my cleavages. I took out a golden glint from its tuck and stared remorsefully at wolf-shaped amethyst through its reflection from the mirror.
The day which I despise has finally come.
I slipped into some comfortable clothes and trudged out of my room, following the nagging sensation inside my chest to grab some ice-cream from the fridge and have a little morning snack for myself to make me feel better despite of the freezing weather.
As I reached the doors leading to the kitchen, I saw Rosy by the counter, bawling her eyes out. She had seated herself on one of the wooden stools set up in front of the counter for occasional purposes. As soon as I saw her, I stopped at my tracks.
Seeming to felt my presence, she looked up with her puffy, red eyes and choked a single sob before speaking. “Hey, Saf.” She croaked, sniffing and wiping away her tears.
“Why are you crying?” I asked, using my sign language as I walked over to her and patted her back as a sign of comfort.
“It’s—it’s . . . you shouldn’t know. You wouldn’t believe me anyway.” She stared at my hands, waiting for me to say something as she continued to weep.
“Trust me, I’ll understand.”
Honestly, after what happened yesterday with Darren in the woods, I finally was able to accept that this world is filled with mysteries that lay unsolved and that it contains knowledge and unacceptable facts that are way out of humans’ reach.
“Daniel told me something from the woods this morning. He . . . transformed into a big wolf and . . .”
So Daniel was one, too.
“I know,” I told her, flashing a wry smile.
“What? You know? When . . . ? How?” She lost her sense of words as I took the seat in front of her.
“Darren is also one. But trust me. They didn’t entirely hide the truth from us with a reason, I know it. They are supposed to confess to us some other time but Darren told me something about us being placed in danger, and that they need to protect us. I really don’t know what he meant, but I got a feeling it’s something deadly.” After my explanation, my hands tired so I put them on my lap. Howeever, Rosy seemed lost in her own thoughts.
“That’s the exact thing Daniel told me.” She murmured, sniffing. I noticed that her tears had stopped flowing. “I felt really bad.” She grumbled, smacking her forehead. “I yelled at him and lashed out. I didn’t even give him any chance to explain, I ran off and headed straight to our house. I . . .” She trailed off and hung her head low. She sighed. “How do you do it?” Her gaze diverted to my face and I gave her a questioning look, briefly asking ‘What?’ without any symbolic gestures.
“You handle things like this like pro,” She told me. “How come . . . how come I always have to be a weakling when it comes to dealing with emotional challenges? I cried when Caitlin said those things about me after Daniel and I . . . well, you know. And all you did was punch then go after me to offer comfort. Then . . .” I held up my forefinger between her lips, silencing her.
She looked at me with her puffy eyes. “Want to slurp around with Baskin Robbins?” I suggested. “It’ll make us both feel better.”
“Sure . . .” She mumbled her response while I got off my seat and headed to the fridge to take out the ice cream. “Give me the flavor with the butterscotch one.” She requested.
I fished two spoons and cups from the rack and placed them all into the counter table. Taking out two different gallons of Baskin Robbins Ice cream, I got myself a double chocolate. Scooping a lot of the contents from the gallon, I piled Rosy’s ice cream in her cup, filling it completely and I did the same to mine. We could really use something to entertain ourselves with.
Besides, this is what I usually do . . . my parents and I usually do in the morning when it’s my birthday. Until now, this had been a tradition to me.
After we finished slurping our early-morning desserts, I washed them in the sink as the phone from the living room rang. Rosy refused to stand up from her seat and answer it, so it was switched into the voicemail. The voicemail automatically projected itself.
“Rosy, I’m sorry of what happened from the woods earlier. I didn’t mean to scare you, that wasn’t my main intention. I wanted to protect you because . . . I—you’re someone important to me. And danger is being unleashed currently. Listen, I know you don’t want to hear this right now but I’m really sorry. But we can meet and talk you know. I’ll explain everything to you. If you happen to receive this message, I’ll be waiting at Joe’s Café downtown to see you. It’s your choice if you want to come.” The mail switched off and I glanced at Rosy with a questioning brow.
She glanced over her shoulder and exchanged the same look with me as I rinsed off the cups and spoons. “Should I?” She quipped, breaking the silence.
I nodded at her in response and shook off the excess water from my hands. “I’m gonna come with you if you like,” I offered.
“Sure, at least I have someone to be with.” She hopped out of her seat. “Come on, let’s get dressed.” She told me and trudged out of the kitchen. I followed her out and flicked off the light before heading to my own bedroom to get dressed.
I put on a white tee with denim jeans and a cute pair of boots to go with. I briefly brushed my hair to smooth out the knots, smearing a clear gloss over my lips to look presentable along with face powder. I needn’t any makeup. The cold weather needs to be blocked out, so I slipped on a thick coat to keep myself warm.
There was a knock that came to my door just when I finished applying the powder over my whole place. I ran and got the door, only to find Rosy in front of me. Her car keys dangling between her fingers, a sign of anxiety plated across her face.
“You ready?”
Then, feigning confident, I answered. “I am, are you?” I teased her with a coy smile.
“Sure,” She answered as we began walking out of the house to enter her Volkswagen beetle.
Don’t forget to check out my new story, The Outcast! It has another idea guys, so please do give it a chance. I can guarantee you that it’ll be as good—or even better—as Hush, Howl!
I know it's short, but this is just part one. I need to update my other stories and I'll try my best to upload as often as I could. Anyways, I'm glad the exams are over and I can freely sit in front of the computer!
