Date: Sun, 20 May 2012 20:44:18 +1000
From: jack daley <mmjasd@hotmail.com>
Subject: Running with the pack Chapter 2.

CHAPTER 2:

I had blown it! We hadn't even been living in Timber Falls a week and I had
already blown our cover. I fingered the curtain open a crack and watched
Carter reverse out of the driveway and disappear down the street.

"How was your first day?" Lucia whispered in my right ear.

"Whaaa!" I spun around alarmed; my heart was beating out of my chest. "You
scared the pants off me!"

Lucia cackled to herself as she sat back down at the small round table
covered with coloured shawls and scarves. Cards with funny pictures were
scattered all around the table, tarot cards I guessed; Sometimes Lucia used
them to focus when reaching out with her mind.

"See anything in the cards today?" Expecting her foreseeing my blunder just
before.

"Nothing of consequence. Things change as usual, but they remain much the
same." She replied as she begun to re-shuffle her cards.

I Picked up my bad and went up stairs, leaving Lucia to her scrying. She
usually required peace and quiet to get a good read. From what she had told
me, when she was younger she was a famous medium and psychic, attracting
people from all over the globe. But when we went on the run she abandoned
all that, and limited the use of her power. She didn't want to attract the
wrong attention by attracting a crowd once again.

I plopped down on my bed and let my heart settle. I played some music out
of my stereo, one of the few possessions I took every time we moved. Hey I
needed something to drown out Lucia's chanting.

It wasn't long before the soft music sent me to sleep.

			   *********************

Lucia shuffled through her cards, and no matter how hard she tried focusing
the same reading kept appearing. The same signs had been appearing again
and again for almost a month now. Just over a week ago Lucia had been
absent minded, scrying over the signs expecting something new when it hit
with a ton of bricks. Just a series of flashes, nothing clear, but the
meaning was clear. RUN! Change is coming. Be prepared. Lucia was getting
too old for this. She was quickly approaching 80 years of age and she was
starting to feel all those years of running catching up. But Dallas was
still her ward, and she had to make sure he was going to be alright if
anything was going to happen. She had to protect him.

Dallas found her that night busily packing their bags, and within a few
hours they were on the road. She had told him that Mikhail, her son, had
advised them to leave, but it was a lie. She couldn't get Mikhail involved;
he was in the underground too deep. It could put his life in danger. She
wasn't sure where she was travelling; she was listening to the trees, to
her spirit guides to tell her where to go. As they climbed north the
weather grew cold and miserable and she knew they were approaching their
destination. Dallas wasn't to know either. Lucia knew everything was about
to change and she had little time to prepare Dallas for what was to
come. She was scared but this small town held magic that could protect
them. Old magic. She wasn't sure what it was or how to use it, but this is
where she was drawn to, and the spirit world had never let her down before,
and she wasn't going to give up on them now.

			    ******************

The large amber coloured wolf looked up at the house. He was intrigued by
their smell. The boy and the old woman weren't human, well not fully as far
as he could tell. He could hear the boy's rhythmic breathing from the top
floor. He had smelt him earlier today, which sent alarm bells ringing. He
had smelt all kinds of beings but never one like this and never one in his
territory, especially his school. He had yet to tell his pack yet; he
wanted more information, were they dangerous? Could they put his and his
pack's lives in jeopardy? Usually he would have told the alpha right away,
but something stopped him.

Earlier today when he first arrived at school the strangest smell invaded
his nostrils. Along with the small of other humans, body odour, perfume,
mud and the like he picked up the scent of something foreign, an attractive
fresh smell that sent his nose twitching for more. His pack mates didn't
seem to notice it like he did.

He followed the sent around the school, firstly reaching a locker and then
progressing to various class rooms. It had the wolf on edge. He paced
outside one of the class rooms where he could smell the being inside. Just
as the bell went he panicked and ran. He couldn't be seen wandering an
empty corridor with his nose in the air by half the student body.

Whispers had been spreading around the school about this new kid that
dickhead Dave had attacked that morning. On the one hand the wolf was angry
Dave hadn't learnt his lesson, but on the other he was anxious about this
new kid and what he could be. He spoke with his pack mates about the new
kid over lunch, questioning if any of them had seen him and what he was
like. According to them he was small guy with black hair but nothing out of
the ordinary. This didn't set his mind at ease.

He followed the scent some more, which made him late to Gym class. Coach
Miller was definitely going to have words with him now. He was already in
the shit for missing track practise last Friday.

Phwunk!

The first thing he saw was a small guy hit the deck and Dave Tully laughing
his head off. The wolf's rage took over and grabbed the first ball he could
find. With all his strength he hurled the ball straight at Dave's nose and
sent him to the ground. The wolf's rage was seething through him as he
looked upon the small charcoal headed mass lying at his feet. How dare he
encroach on his territory without warning.

"Are you ok?" the wolf said through gritted teeth?  The small boy's eyes
flitted open. They were the palest sparkling blue eyes that he had ever
seen. Carter was at a loss for words. The wolf receded back into the dark
corners of his mind.  After an hour with the boy, no not boy, Dallas,
Carter was utterly intrigued. This boy was beautifully honest and
innocent. He was torn; on the one side the wolf was crying out in warning,
but on the other he wanted to get to know this boy more.

By the end of the trip the wolf had had enough, it forced Carter to blurt
out the question. He could see Dallas' eyes dilate and a look of confusion
swept across his face.

"What? My mother was Romanian and my Father was Dutch if that's what you
mean, but hey I've gotta go" he blurted out all the syllables at once so
the sentence sounded like one big word. Dallas couldn't get out of the car
quick enough. Something was up with that boy.

So here the wolf sat, listening to the small boy's breathing in the floor
above, torn up inside what to do. The woman on the bottom floor, who was
quietly humming to herself, definitely smelt human. But this boy was
different, and the wolf needed to figure out how.

			  **********************

The next two weeks went by in a blur. I had spent the week doing my best to
blend in; everything I had been taught and had utilized to blend into the
background had been put into practise. Looking back on it I had felt rather
stupid, of course it was a legitimate question to ask someone, especially
someone with my pale complexion against my dark hair, not to mention my
ice-blue eyes. I hadn't always had the eyes, they were originally a hazel
brown colour, but when my powers started to manifest so did my pupil
colour. That set into motion another move from Kansas to California, how
could you possibly expect someone to believe you wear pale-blue contacts
24/7? I had often gotten comments about my eyes in the past, they were very
original. Lucia had said my mother had had them when she was younger too,
but as her powers progressed they developed into a glistening silver
colour. I hoped to God that I wasn't going down that pathway; these were
bad enough to explain.  Tara was about the only one who wasn't fooled by my
cold attitude.

"Gee Dallas, do you think you wear something nicer on Saturday. You look
like you're wearing some kind of grey potato sack."

"I'm not coming to this party Tara. I barely know anyone and I've got a ton
of work to catch up on if I don't want to fail this semester."

"Pfft. I saw how quickly you worked through those trigonometry questions
earlier. You'll be fine. Plus it's a great opportunity to meet new people,
maybe even a special someone he he." Tara giggled.  Tara had been bugging
me to come to this party since Monday, and since it was now Friday she was
bringing in the big guns.

"Please, Please, Please come with me? If you don't come I'll have no one to
go with and I heard Amanda Stevens is bringing a truck load of booze!"

Everyone in the town had been looking forward to this party since the start
of the year. Some rich wig always has to throw the best party to improve
their popularity. It happens at every town. Apparently this party gets
thrown every year to celebrate the founding of the town, and is held on a
big estate on the edge of town.

To be honest the party did sound tantalising. Lucia had increased their
training sessions to almost every night. It was utterly exhausting. On the
plus side I was easily converting bowels of water into razor sharp shards
of ice. Something Lucia had wanted me to learn for quite a while. They were
quite useless I thought, but my mother's books said they had offensive
capabilities, whatever that meant.

"Fine! I'll go to this bloody party."

"Eeeeiii!" Tara squealed whilst hugging me around the waist. A mousy
looking girl sitting across from us in the library jumped almost a foot.

"We are going to have such a great time! But we really do need to do
something about your clothes."  "What's wrong with my clothes?" I
questioned.  "Well half the time you look like a hobo. No offence."

I rolled my eyes. It was true, living on the run I didn't bother buying a
lot of clothes since you tend to just pick up and leave at the drop of a
hat. And to be honest I had been wearing the worst of the worst lately,
drab plain coloured stuff that blended well with the stained school walls.

"Let's go shopping after school and get something for tomorrow night. I
need a new pair of shoes anyway so it's settled. I'll meet you at my car
after the bell goes."

I really doubted I would have had much of a say in that conversation. Tara
tended to make decisions for people.

			   *********************

We spent most of that afternoon shoe shopping for Tara. I didn't mind too
badly as it wasn't often I got to do the things regular kids got to
do. Tara had been walking backward and forwards in front of a large gilded
mirror for the past 30 minutes. The shop assistant was quickly starting to
look impatient as she brought out the 7th pair of heels for her to try on.

"Ohhhh!" she said with glee. "I think these are the ones."

"Finally." I heard the shop assistant whisper under her breath.

"They are, well, very green?" I questioned tentatively. The shoes were a
violent shade of emerald green that clashed violently with Tara's hair.

"Oh these will be perfect with my dress!"

I was starting to get worried about Tara's outfit. If it was anything like
these pair of shoes, it was going to be difficult to blend into a crowd
standing next to her.

15 minutes later, with Tara's bags in tow, we decided to get some
sustenance, as Tara put it, before starting to look for clothes for me. We
had decided to go to the diner on the main strip, the exact one I had been
to on my first few days of arriving in Timber falls. The diner was
buzzing. Tara said it was always busy on a Friday afternoon; apparently all
the high school students like to come here to relax after their week of
school work. Tara weaved through the crowd holding my hand with an iron
grip as not to lose me.

"Hey Dallas!" A husky voice broke through the crowd. Carter was sitting in
a large booth with two other guys, spread out with plates of food and
drinks.

"Oh hey Carter, how are you!" Tara beamed.

"Good thanks, here why don't you two sit here with us, we have plenty of
room." They really didn't have all that much room as they were all build
like bricks, but Carter got his friends to bunch up. Tara took a seat next
to Carter, and I sat across from him.

"These are my friends, Seth and Badger." The two boys nodded their heads
and went back to eating their meal. "I haven't seen much of you around
lately Dallas, settling in fine?" His shiny white teeth hidden behind that
lopsided smile were breathtaking.

"Yeah, it's been good, but I've felt like I've barely left the
library. I've had so much work to catch up on." I could feel my cheeks
going red. I had made a conscious effort to avoid Carter, partly because of
the way I acted the other day and also because I couldn't help but let my
defences down around him. His big amber eyes made my heart melt. I would
never let anyone know this though; it was for me, myself and I, and those
cold lonely nights.

"So are you coming to the founders' party on the weekend?" Carter enquired.

"Yeah Tara is forcing me to come along."

"I'm not forcing anybody! Plus you'll have an amazing time and you'll have
me to thank for it." Tara replied. "You'll have to talk your dad for
putting the party on at your place this year Carter. I heard the committee
were worried they wouldn't be able to throw it this year due to the
renovations on town hall."

"I will let him know. The committee has been out at our house nearly every
day this week setting up tents and marking out things. It's going to be one
hell of a cleanup."

"Oh Tara didn't tell me that the party was yours?"

"Oh it's not really; my father has just let the committee use our property
for it. Plus my dad will use any opportunity to show off the wealth."

The remainder of the afternoon was pleasant. After eating with Carter and
his friends while sharing in small talk we went shopping for me. Apparently
this event was a black tie number so we didn't have very many shops to
choose from. Eventually we came out with a plain black suit with a
vest. Tara also made me buy a silvery blue tie which she said made my eyes
pop. I thought they drew enough attention as it was, but there really was
no saying no to Tara when she set her mind to it. Maybe if I got up early
on the morning I could hurry into town and exchange it for something
plainer.

Tara drove me home, which was a help since I didn't want to cart all those
bags around with me.  "Hey is that your auntie?" Tara pointed out as we
reached the end of my long driveway.

Sure enough Lucia was busying herself with some kind of project in the old
orchard at the side of the house.

"Yeah that's my Aunt Lucy. I wonder what she is doing out in the orchard
though."

"Looks like she is making some kind of scarecrow?" Tara pointed out. Sure
enough Lucia was nailing a human figure made out of what appeared to be old
potato sacks into a branch of an old apple tree.  "Well thanks for the
shopping Tara but I better be going. I've got to catch up on a ton of
Spanish homework if I'm going to be going out with you tomorrow."

"Ok, so I'll come here around 7 tomorrow night to pick you up. We are going
to have such a great night! I'm so excited." She practically squealed.  I
waved to Tara as she drove down the driveway, disappearing into some
trees. I wandered over to where Lucia was in the orchard. The leaves in the
small copse were all deep orange and yellow colours. Piles of brown leaves
crinkled under my feet, Lucia must have spent the morning raking up the
yard.

"Hello Dallas, how was school today." I had a hard time understanding what
she had said since she had 2 nails held between her lips.

`BANG, BANG, BANG!' she struck the hammer onto the nail, burying it into
the branch.

"Don't you think it's dead yet?" I asked comically.

"No not yet but it sure will be."

Lucia climbed down off the small ladder and dropped the hammer and nails
into a small pile on the ground.

"Ready for your lessons child?"

"Can't we skip tonight? I'm exhausted."

"No, definitely not, especially since I spent all afternoon making our
friend here."

"What's the scarecrow got to do with training?"

"This isn't a scarecrow little one, it's a target."

"A target? A target for what?"

"I want you to spend the next few hours practicing making those ice shards,
and then I want you to send them flying into our friend. Like your mother's
books said, offensive capabilities." Lucia had a big grin on her face, as
if she was very proud of her little project.

"I've barely just figured out how to make them, plus water is hard enough
to move on its own, let alone ice!"

"I'll have none of that. Now here are some buckets of water and by the end
of the session I want to see one shard right between the eyes."

I really didn't know what had gotten into Lucia recently; she had really
been pushing for me to use my powers as a weapon. According to my mother's
books the ability to control water was used more for its defensive and
healing use.

I really did surprise myself. I never did get a single ice shard into that
dummy but I did manage to get them flying all around the orchard. Many of
the trees were now supporting large holes and dents in their limbs from
where they got hit. I really didn't see where this new skill would come in
handy, unless I needed to teach that bully Dave a lesson. I laughed
thinking to myself the look on his face as I sent a shard of ice into his
ass.

"Something funny?" Lucia enquired.

"No, just a little surprised in myself to be honest."

			   ********************

I had spent the past hour scrubbing, buffing and combing myself into
perfection. I figured I rarely ever got an opportunity to go out that I may
as well make the most of it. I was afraid Lucia wouldn't want me to go; she
often put her foot down in the past when I asked to go to a party. She said
it drew too much attention to us and that I was better off not making ties
and planting roots. This time however she was all for it, even encouraging
me some.

I was rather impressed with the whole outfit, even the tie suited the look,
bringing out my eyes. The pants definitely made my ass look great, and
there was even a decent looking bulge in the front. Not that anyone would
be looking of course.

 Tara arrived exactly at 7pm dressed to the nine's so to speak. Her dress
was a mix of black and shades of gold, which I thought would look atrocious
with her shoes and hair, but it surprisingly worked.

"Hey hot stuff, ready for our big date." She greeted.

"Ha Ha very funny." I replied sarcastically.

"Seriously though, we better hurry, the party is on the other side of town
and Tina Montgomery has already text me 3 times telling me how good the set
up is."

"Ok, ok, I'm ready, let me just grab my jacket."

The drive over took about half an hour. Cars were lined up almost 2 blocks
back from the main gate.

"Oh damn, and I'm in new shoes and everything." Tara complained.

The walk wasn't bad. Someone had strung fairy lights around the trees the
bordered the driveway. It was very pretty I thought. The house was
gigantic, more like a mansion than a house. Soft lighting had been placed
all through the gardens giving the whole property a very fantasy ethereal
feel.

"Whoa, this place looks fantastic!" Tara squealed with excitement.

"You've never been here?"

"No, barely anyone comes to the Van Drouin estate."

"Carter said his father was wealthy but I certainly didn't expect this." I
said with amazement. The extravagance of this place was amazing. The main
house looked old, maybe turn of the century, with wings and extra building
built around it in the meat time. I could see a large conservatory jutting
out of one of the far wings, the mood glittering off the polished glass.

"Their family practically owns the town. They were one of the original
founding families I believe. I know the father owns most of the timber
mills around the area."

`That's not what Carter told me.' I thought to myself.

As we approached the building we followed the crowd around to the side
lawn. A huge marquee had been set up and the rhythmic thrumming of music
was emanating from the opening. Some people were gathered around the lawn
in small groups, sipping champagne and talking animatedly. Tara weaved
between the crowd, dragged me by the hand, into the big white silk
tent. There much have been at least a thousand people at this party, all
dressed in smart black suites and shimmering gowns. Colourful lights and
music were playing all across the room and people were dancing on the
biggest dance floor I had ever seen. We made our way to the bar where Tara
ordered us some soda. Tara tried talking to me but the music was just far
too loud to hear anything. We spent the next hour dancing and meeting up
with some of Tara's friends. They had all made a night of it, swiping
alcohol and getting tipsy. Tara took a swig out of a suspect looking hip
flask her friend Kim took from her purse. She shuddered as she swallowed a
large mouthful of the poison and offered me the flask.  `No thanks." I
mouthed.

She just shrugged and took another drink.

As the night wore on Tara and her friends got more and more drunk as they
continued to drink out of hip flasks they had all smuggled in. At around 11
o'clock the music died and lights lit up a stage at the far end of the
marquee. 3 people climbed the steps to the stage, a woman whose jewellery
was glittering in the stage light, a small pudgy looking man who seemed to
waddle more than walk and a gigantic man who seemed to be completely
compiled of muscle and expensive clothing.

The shimmery woman approached a microphone and coughed.

"Excuse me everyone. If we could just get everyone's attention for just a
moment we'll let you get back to the party." Her voice was high and
tinny. "My name is Trish Partridge as many of you would know, and I head
the City of Timber Falls' annual founders' party committee. I would just
like to say a big thank you to all the time and effort out volunteers have
put into this event. I would also like to say a special thank you to
Mr. Spencer Van Drouin who allowed us to host this even on his estate."

The crowd erupted in a round of applause as the large man relieved Trish of
the microphone.

"Thank you everyone for coming tonight." His voiced echoed warmth and
humility. "Tonight my family opens their arms to the people of Timber
Falls. As many of you know the Van Drouin family were one of the first to
establish this great town and tonight we are giving something back to the
people. So on behalf of everyone have a fantastic night." With that the
music started booming once again from the speakers and people returned to
their dancing.

The air in the tent was starting to get thick so I decided to stretch my
legs outside. Tara seemed busy with some of her friends and I needed some
alone time anyways. The lawn was perfectly manicured and the trees and
gardens seemed well looked after. I slowly made my way to the tree line
bordering the south side of the property. There were few people down here
as far as I could tell and the fairy lights twinkling in the trees cast
enough light for me to see. I let the cool night air clear my head as I
looked up at the night sky. Taking a big breath I heard a twig snap behind
me.

"Who's there?" I asked into the darkness.

"Well what do we have here?" A gruff voice replied. "Looks to me like a
little queer has lost his way."

A lumbering mass came into the light brushing off leaves from his jacket
pocket. Dave appeared to be quite drunk, a near empty glass in his hand and
the strong smell of liquor emanated from his pores.

"Bet a faggot like you would love a piece of this?" he said while grabbing
his crotch and shaking it at me.

"Dave you're drunk and I think you need to go home." I said while taking a
few tentative steps backwards.

"No little fucking cunt like you will tell me what to do!" He yelled
throwing his glass against a tree. The sound of it shattering sent a bird
sitting in an above branch cawing into the trees.

Dave stormed forward and slammed his fist into my gut. I doubled over in
pain screaming. Dave shoved me onto the ground and persisted to kick me. I
rolled up into a ball praying for it to stop.

"You fucking queer! I hope you fucking die!" his rage consumed me. I had
never felt so alone and hopeless and in pain. I tried seeking out a source
of water to manipulate into coming to my rescue but I could barely focus
through all the pain.

`Whooshhh Phwump!'

Something flew through the air colliding with my assailant and sending him
flying into the base of a large oak tree.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Carter boomed at the mass quivering on the ground. "You
come into my territory and attack someone? Attack my friend? I never want
to see you in my area again! Next time I'll fucking kill you!"

Carter scooped down and picked up Dave by the scruff of the neck, lifting
him up off the ground. It should have been physically impossible; Dave must
have weighed half a ton.

"Go." Carter's voice had an edge of commanding menace that I hadn't heard
before.

Carter dropped Dave to the ground and watched him scamper off into the
night, swearing under his breath.

I brushed leaves and dirt off my new clothing whilst subconsciously
checking myself for any permanent damage. Apart from a heap of developing
bruises I thought I was ok.

"I'm sorry." Carter had come over and was looking me over with worry in his
eyes.

"What are you sorry for? You saved my life."

"I should have got here faster; I saw that monster following you into the
woods. I came as fast as I could."

 Carter bridged the gap between us and lightly brushed his fingers across a
bruise that was quickly forming on the side of my face. "I'll never let
that monster touch you again." His amber eyes were glittering in the
moonlight. Carter slowly leaned in and let his lips gently brush along
mine, causing shivers to run from my lips and travel down my spine. His
arms gently embraced me, careful not to hurt me any more than I already
was.

"I promise no one will ever hurt you again." He whispered gently in my ear
before kissing me again.

			   *********************

The hunter watched silently from the trees. It had been following the
monster for over a month now, carefully sticking to the shadows, waiting
for the right moment. Watching the two boys embracing in the moonlight gave
the hunter the opportunity it had been waiting for. It smiled in the
darkness. Soon its mission would be complete.