Descendants of The Moon

Chapter 2: An Abandoned Cottage in the Woods

"What the heck were you thinking?!" A muffled voice sounded from behind a closed door, leading into the kitchen. The sound of a kettle pot boiling filled the air. "Ugh, Briar!" Another voice said. "Sorry, sorry, it's for the tea." A girl's voice apologized. An exasperated sigh from the second voice. "Ok, Erik, it was a last minute decision! What did you want me to do--leave the girl to die in the middle of the woods during a thunderstorm or something?!" The girl said, anger raising her voice. "You know that's not what I meant! You could've just taken her to that ranger station, they would've taken it from there and you know it!" He said, clenching his teeth. "That's not how we do it, Erik. We can't trust the humans, especially not now." The girl said. "Well you trusted the girl to save Briar's life--" He muttered. No response, just the deep exhaling of the girl. "Anything but mark a harmless human," he muttered, raking a hand through his hair. 

Ariel mumbled something incoherent in her sleep, turning around restlessly. Her face was beaded with sweat, and images flashed before her eyes in her dreams. She thought she heard voices, but she couldn't be sure. Thunder shook the cabin windows, and she woke up gasping for air. "Wolves!" She gasped, eyes flying open. "Whoa...what the heck?" She muttered, blinking to try to clear her eyes. She must've hit her head or something, 'cause the room looked tinted slightly yellow.  Wait, wasn't she in the forest? Or was it all a dream? Huh, that was weird, the lights weren't even on. She sat up, massaging her eyes and the bridge of her nose, a migraine booming behind her eyes. "Ugh, what a way to wake up," she groaned. "Shhh! She's awake!" A voice whispered in the kitchen. The talking behind the door stopped. Ariel stiffened. A loose floorboard creaked to her right, and she looked up to see a tall girl leaning on the stair railing. "Good morning," she smirked. Ariel glanced outside the window. "It's nighttime. Where am I? And who are you?" She said, rolling her stiff shoulders. The girl narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms and raising her chin. "What's your name?" She asked. Ariel furrowed her brows. "Why should I tell you? Just tell me where I am and if I can call a cab to take me home, please," she said, wincing as the migraine returned. "Fine. My name is Vidia Aragon. This is my family's winter cabin." She shrugged. Ariel didn't even notice it was a cabin. She looked around the room, the walls made out of wooden logs, the smell of dust in the air. Her eyes even caught the shadow of some spiderwebs. "This cabin hasn't been used in a while, has it?" She asked, raking a hand through her hair, frowning at the twigs and leaves that fell out. The girl shook her head, her brunette braid falling over her shoulder. Ariel sighed. "My name is Ariel Conan, um, what am I doing here again?" She asked, her eyes questioning. Vidia hesitated, her eyes quickly flitting to the closed kitchen door for a second. "We found you in the middle of the woods during the storm." She said simply. Ariel stared at the dusty woolen blanket. "What was I doing in the woods again...?" She mumbled to herself, grunting as the intense pain behind her eyes increased. The girl was staring at her curiously now, a question forming in her mind. "You don't remember anything that happened last night?" She asked, getting off the railing and walking over to where the couches and fireplace were at. Ariel thought for a second, but shook her head. "Now that is interesting. I've never marked a human before, I don't know if that's a common symptom. Huh," She said, sort of surprised. Ariel was trying to make sense of what the girl was saying. "Wait, what? Hold up--you said, we--are there other people here? And what the heck do you mean 'I never marked a human before'? What does that even mean??" Ariel said, starting to get up from the bed. The room spun, and she braced a hand against the wall. The girl was lighting the fireplace, as the door to the kitchen swung open on silent hinges, two wolves walking out on steady paws. Ariel's heart crawled up into her throat. "Oh, wait a second," Vidia said, like she was forgetting something. She snapped her fingers, and the wolves seemed to grin as they changed form. Ariel thought she was seeing things again, that they'd maybe drugged her or something, which would explain why her vision was all strange and messed up. "What the heck are you?" She said, heart hammering against her chest. The wolf on the girl's left turned into a tall boy with light hair and green eyes. The wolf on her right, the red one--wait a second--turned into a girl with auburn hair and striking amber eyes. Ariel's gaze landed on the girl's wounded ankle, an image of a wolf with an arrow through her ankle flashing through her mind. "No, no no no no no." She collapsed back on the bed. The girl made her way forward, but Vidia put a hand on her shoulder to keep her back. "We'll answer all your questions, Ariel, just do something first--" Vidia started, but Ariel interrupted her. "Did you guys drug me or something? Why-why am I seeing wolves turn into people? Werewolves don't--werewolves can't exist!" She said, running a hand through her hair in frustration.  "Kinda hard to explain what you just saw, huh?" The boy grinned, his hands in his jean pockets. Ariel glowered at him. "Look, you can leave, but only when your mark heals, ok?" Vidia said. Ariel looked at her, a puzzled look on her face. "What mark?" The girl nodded towards her side. Ariel lifted up a bit of her shirt, noticing the white bandages. "What is this? Alright, seriously, what is going on?" The three of them hesitated, well, except for Erik, he just looked excited. "Come on, I think you humans have heard of at least one werewolf story, I mean, haven't you?" She asked, slightly losing her patience. Ariel frowned. "Look, this isn't some cliché wolf story, and this isn't a world of make believe--just, just let me get out of here and get back home," She braced a hand against the wall, grunting as she stood up from her small little air mattress. "Please." The three older kids stared at her with a strange look in their eyes, kind of like remorse. Ariel glared at them, lifting up the hem of her shirt and ripping off the bandage. "See? No bitemark, no curse, no werewolves. Now give me my stuff and let me go call a cab." She said, holding her hand out expectantly. There was a small tremor in her voice, and the group noticed this. The older girl stepped forward, grasped her hand in a bone-crunching hold, and her eyes glowed gold. A thousand images flashed before Ariel's eyes and she gasped, a sense of fear mixed with wonder seeping into her. When she looked up, Vidia caught her breath. "Well, well, well. Never seen that before," she said, looking over to her friends. The girl with the auburn hair frowned, furrowing her brows. "What is it Briar?" Vidia asked, her smile melting off her face. Briar shook her head. "Nothing, I just...thought I saw it somewhere before." She shrugged, but she looked on edge. Vidia let the subject drop, and returned her gaze to Ariel. "Why are you all looking at me like that?" Ariel asked, when her eyes landed on a far mirror. Her eyes glowed purple in the reflection. "Why...I don't know...how are they doing that?" She asked breathlessly. Her head felt heavy, and she got a weird buzzing sensation in her mind. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to make it all go away. When she had opened them again, they were back to their normal brown hue. "That should do it," Erik whispered. Ariel slowly sat down on the mattress. Briar slowly walked over, giving her a cup of tea. Ariel took it with trembling hands, "I'm sorry about your ankle," she said quietly, taking a sip of the tea. Briar laughed. "It's almost completely healed by now, don't worry about it." Ariel mustered a smile, but it faded almost as quickly. "So I can't go back home? Or geez what am I going to tell my mom? I should've been at a friend's house by now." She said, her voice hitching. Vidia and Erik shared a look, quietly going outside. "Where are they going?" Ariel frowned. "They're going to get some more firewood, and also check the perimeter, just in case." She said, her eyes flitting towards the window. "What do you mean? Why would they need to check the perimeter?" Ariel asked worriedly, taking another sip of the tea. Briar hesitated. "We'll tell you all about that later, deal?" Ariel started to say something but Briar stopped her with a look. "We're safe here, at least for a couple of days. And that should answer your question, well sort of. You can't go back to school--who knows how many of them you have there, camouflaging as humans?" Ariel raised an eyebrow. "You mean that in the most boring, uneventful school in all of New York, there might be werewolves just, going by??" Briar shrugged. "So, what am I supposed to do now? Like with this whole mess that just became my life?" She laughed nervously. Briar pondered the question. "It's all just till you get the hang of everything. Get your emotions in check, your new strength and all of that. Might get overwhelming but you'll get used to it, I promise." She grinned. Ariel shifted, another last question forming in her head. "You guys aren't from this world are you?" She said quietly, her gaze unwavering. "Yeah, in a way. Think of it as a different dimension in this world, like if a portal appeared or if you had a special stone you could go back, to and from. Oh, the place is called Liberion, and well we come from this small kingdom called Crescent Valley, the home of the Moonclaws." She said, a sad look coming over her face. "It sounds like 'Moonclaws' is the mascot of the place," Ariel chuckled. An uncomfortable silence filled the cabin, and she cleared her throat nervously. "What happened that it's just you three here?" She asked. Briar scoffed. "That's a long story and better to tell it with the other two here. They should get back any minute now." Ariel stayed quiet, listening to the noises coming from the woods outside. There was a quick sound of footsteps on the dirt, then on the wood of the porch, and the door swung open, Vidia breathing heavily and Erik toting a back of wood on his back. "Something happened when you were out?" Briar murmured, walking over to help Erik with the wood. He shook his head. "We just ran in a different direction, leaving a trail if they were to somehow appear tonight," he said, dropping one of the bags by the fireplace. As you said Rosewood, we should be safe for the next week or so, Vidia told her in her mind. Briar nodded, still slightly uneasy. She felt like something was going to go wrong, but had no idea what or when. If they'd somehow found a way after us...She muttered. Vidia and Erik gave her a look, and she quieted her wandering mind. "Alright, I think you should get some rest, all of you. It's been a really, and I mean really long night. Whoever wakes up first makes the coffee, and whoever wakes up last needs to...something. I'll figure it out tomorrow," Vidia said, stifling a yawn. "You're not going to sleep?" Erik asked, his eyebrows furrowing. She hesitated. "Not yet, but I'll be fine, you guys go," she said, mustering a smile and motioning towards the stairs. Erik and Briar weren't comforted by that answer, but they headed up the stairs into individual rooms for the remainder of the night. "You're not tired?" Ariel asked her. Vidia had eyebags under her eyes, but she shook her head. "We're still looking for a way back to our home, I do this every night," she chuckled. "What? Look for a portal in the middle of the night?" Ariel asked, fighting the urge to yawn. Vidia looked back before she headed out the door, giving her a tired smile. "That doesn't stop us werewolves from the possibility to see in the dark. Go to sleep, Ariel. We'll try to explain this, all of this, in the morning." And then she was gone. Ariel kept looking at the closed door, fear creeping back into her. She should hate Vidia for marking her, but in that moment all she felt was worry for her maybe friend. Briar had mentioned a they from their realm, who might've followed them into this world, but she was way too tired to think too much about that, so with heavy eyes she fell back into a deep sleep, right until morning. What she didn't know in that moment, was that something outside was stirring, a shadow with eyes and ears...