No More Hiding Place
Arya Madison bowed her head in prayer as she knelt on the cold concrete floor beside her cot. Her hand clutched at the small silver cross hanging from a thin silver chain around her neck, and her thumb brushed across the engraved family crest etched behind the cross. The piece of jewelry was one of the few material things she possessed and it brought her infinite comfort.
Lord God… Moon Goddess, I pray for Your protection as I begin this day. You are my hiding place, and under your wings I can always find refuge. Protect me from trouble wherever I go, and keep evil far from me.
For several poignantly long minutes, she chanted the words she’d recited since she was a child, and then she ended it as she always did – with a supplication.
Please, Heavenly father... Please, Goddess of Life and Mother of all werewolves, Continue to protect and watch over me. Hide me from those who seek to do me harm.
She wasn’t sure what good the prayer and chants did, as she called upon both her mother’s Christian god and her father’s Moon Goddess, but she figured she needed all the help she could get. She’d take help from whichever deity heard her.
Pushing herself from the floor, she winced as her knees scraped against the rough concrete. Making her way to the closet, she retrieved the articles of clothing she would be wearing that day. The simple grey and white uniform she selected indicated her place among the staff of the New Haven Boarding School. The school was funded by the throne and provided a safe place for supernatural orphans. It was a sanctuary where they could live and be taught an education as well as how to harness their respective powers.
Arya had started as a resident – the only human hiding in plain sight. Well, that wasn’t exactly accurate. Technically, she was a half breed: her father was a werewolf and her mother was human. While her other siblings had received their wolves upon their birth, Arya hadn’t. Her family had assumed that as she got older, her wolf would eventually appear. Unfortunately, to date, she has remained wolfless.
However, in spite of her wolfless status, or perhaps because of it, her father had bestowed upon her a very handsome dowry to attract potential mates. But his misguided act of love back-fired. Rather than serving as a bonus for a potential mate for Arya, her dowry was a bull’s eye on her back, making her a target for those who had ambitions of overthrowing the werewolf king and claiming his throne for themselves. By the time Arya was ten years old, over eighty-six k********g attempts had been made on her. This was why her parents made the hard decision to hide her at a school for supernatural beings. And when she’d aged out of the school, she stayed on as an assistant teacher. It was the perfect hiding place from those who sought to possess her and lay claim to her inheritance. Besides, Arya enjoyed teaching at the school. Her job entailed teaching the students how to remain calm in intense situations and how to keep their emotions in check. It was imperative they learn control. Once they were of age, they were sent into the world. One out-of-control supernatural being could wreak havoc on the world with his or her abilities. Hence, the need for them to learn to maintain control at all times.
The boarding school was run by a group of strict faes. They were the peace keepers of this realm. They only answered to the werewolf king.
Arya went to the basin in the corner and poured the pitcher of water. There were no individual private showers – only in the headmistress’s private quarters. The rest of the faculty and students had to make do with communal showers. As such, Arya would usually bathe on Sundays, when everyone else was at church. Although she spent most of her free time in prayer, ironically, she never attended mass. She valued her privacy. For the rest of the week, she would clean herself as best she could with a bowl of water and a washcloth.
She smiled as she dampened her washcloth, her mother’s words echoing in her mind. Cleanliness is next to Godliness.
It was at these moments she felt truly alone in this world. Despite being surrounded by people every day, she had no family of her own. All but one of her siblings were alive and she hadn’t seen her parents in years.
Arya wiped her face and started to remove her nightgown to wash the rest of her body when she heard a loud crash. Alarmed, she dropped the cloth and whirled around to stare at her closed door, redoing the buttons on her nightgown. Another loud crash spurred her into action, and she ran and flung the door open, racing into the hall.
Around her, her fellow colleagues also filled the hall, their dismayed murmurs rising. A garish bellow echoed down the corridor from the dorm’s front entrance. A cry of pain followed the bellow, and Arya’s heart froze. The chilling cry came from Headmistress Langston.
Arya and the rest of the teachers ran toward the sound. As if sensing the trouble ahead, some of them started lagging behind, but Arya shoved determinedly ahead. Headmistress Langston had always been kind to her and if she could render any assistance to the elderly woman, she would. When they reached the foyer, Arya drew up short, paralyzed by the sight before her. Her hand flew over her mouth in an attempt to keep in her gasp.
Wolves were everywhere. Not ordinary wolves, but blood-thirsty werewolves. There were at least forty of them; some were in human form while others were on all fours in their animal form, their razor-sharp teeth dripping blood. They all had one thing in common – they were all sweat drenched and dirty with mud, leaves and blood covering their hair, clothing and fur.
Based on their stance, they weren’t here for assistance. As their beady eyes scanned through the crowd, it was clear they were there on a mission. Arya had a sinking feeling she was the one they were there for. They had finally found her. She no longer had a hiding place.
In the middle of the group, the man who appeared to be the leader held Headmistress Langston roughly by the arm, while his other hand gripped her neck, his skin-piercing claws digging into it. Even from a distance, Arya could see Ms Langston’s face drawn in pain.
“Where is she?” the man demanded in a cold, harsh voice.
Arya took a step back. He was a fierce-looking man. Evil oozed out of his pores. Rage coiled in his eyes like a snake waiting to strike. He shook Headmistress Langston when she didn’t respond, and she warbled in his grasp like a rag doll.
Even though Langston and the other teachers at the school were faes, they were powerless right now. The school had been declared a safe zone and, as such, the king had a powerful witch put a binding spell on the building and its surrounding environs. No magic could be done there. It had been done in an effort to prevent catastrophic supernatural fights.
Unfortunately, it was now preventing the faes from defending themselves.
Arya made the sign of the cross over her torso and whispered an urgent prayer. The faes around her gathered in a close circle and also offered their prayers.
Prayers were the only weapon at their disposal.
“She is not here,” Headmistress Langston gasped out. “I’ve told you, we have no one here fitting the description of the woman you seek. She is not here.”
“You are lying!” he roared. “We had a wizard conduct a locating spell that brought us here. We know she is in this building. However, we cannot be sure exactly who she is, since there appears to be some magic block at play here.”
He looked toward the group of teachers, his gaze flickering coldly over them.
“Arya Madison. Reveal yourself at once or your colleagues will face the consequences.”
Arya went cold, fear rising to a boil in her stomach. How had he found her? After all this time – after years of hiding and finally feeling safe, he had found her. Why now? She’d thought her nightmare was finally over – that she was free to live her life. But unfortunately, it looked like it was only just beginning.
