Falling for my father's killers.

31st July, 2013. At the burial ground, I thought of going into the woods looking for clues. I was very sure my dad wasn't attacked by any random animal. The scratch, the tears on his skin, that was no animal. My dad was literally the king of the woods. He literally slept in the woods for days, but that fateful day he didn't come back himself. He was brought in by some strangers. During the burial, I saw a figure standing at a corner in the woods. It disappeared in a split second. “That's unusual!” I thought. I moved away from the scene. I noticed a reflection of someone moving fast. I moved slowly, afraid because I had no idea what I was doing or getting into. A hand grabbed me by the arms. I shivered. “Where do you think you're going?” Mara asked. “Oh my God, you startled me,” I said, readjusting my clothes. “Where are you going, Aria?” She asked again, looking at me suspiciously with a keen eye. “I, I don't want to see him put onto the ground,” I said, looking at the scene, wrapping myself in my arms. In between, I was looking at the woods. “That's okay, but don't go far,” she warned. She went back to the burial ground and I fled into the woods discreetly. The woods were very thick. I wondered what my dad always finds here. If he was a hunter, I would have understood, but he never came home with meat. I slowly looked around, trying to find what I had imagined in my head. “I saw you earlier, you had better come out,” I said, my voice laced with warning. I heard some rattling at a corner. I became frightened, but I saw myself moving towards it. I heard another sound at another corner and became very afraid, but I was so curious that I didn't know I was deep into the woods. I heard a growl, it was faint. It was getting dark, so I decided to turn back, but I was so lost. I didn't know where I was or how I arrived there. The growling became clear. I turned back to see a wolf behind, circling me. I summoned courage and hijacked a stick behind me to fight. As soon as I tried to strike it, it pounced on me. Covering my face with my hands, I screamed. In another second, I heard the wolf growl again. It hasn't jumped on me yet. I turned to see a boy about my age standing behind me. I couldn't see his face clearly because of the dark. He was fighting with the wolf. “Run!!!” he growled, his voice roaring through the woods. Without turning back, I ran like hell. I arrived on a route not too far from my house. I had another thought of going back to help the young boy. “Was he really going to fight the wolf himself?” I thought. “Who knows, maybe he's dead,” I said, walking on the road. I didn't realize I was in the middle of the road until a car almost hit me. It was my aunt. “Aria!” She called out. “Aunt Mara?” I said, trying to check if she was the one through the darkness. “Where were you? What are you doing here? We've been looking for you since the burial,” she asked, with concern looking through my body. “I'm fine, I just decided to take a walk back home to clear my head,” I said, looking back like someone was watching. Mara noticed. “What is it?” She asked, looking as if she'd seen something. “Nothing, please let's go home,” I said, walking towards the car. We went home. The next day, my sister, Lydia, and I eventually left for Silver Ridge after the burial. After a long journey, we approached a lonely road. There was a half-bent old rusty sign board across the road that read, ‘Welcome to Silver Ridge’. It was the late hours of dark, fog had shrouded across the road cutting through the woods. I noticed that same figure I saw in the burial ground. I felt it was following us, or it was just in my head. Seconds later, I saw the wolf. I became frightened but pretended everything was fine. Looking back to get a glimpse of it again, but our car was far gone. Turning back to be sure we were not being followed, my eyeballs rolled to where Lydia was seated. She had her headphones plugged directly into her ear drums, and she didn't realize what was going on at the moment. I wouldn't blame her. We just lost the last surviving parent we had. ************ It was the first day of the school session. I woke up to the steaming kettle noise and some rattling noise from the kitchen. It's been three weeks since we buried our father. Now, we're going back to school in a completely different city. Back to pretending I was fine. I stood in front of my dad's picture, gazing with tears in my eyes. I wipe them off. “Dad, I'm starting this new school today. You know where you and Mum met. I'm hoping I'll meet my sweetheart here too. Not like that's what I'm interested in, but I, I…” I wobbled my mouth, knowing my words were not making sense. “I'm going to school, and I'll be like a normal high school teenager,” I said with a broad smile. At Silver Ridge High, my childhood friend Emma fills me in for Silver Ridge high school. It sounded a lot more fun than my former school. Maybe this might help me take my mind away from my dad's death. Or so I thought! “Hi Aria,” Pete greeted, as he walked into us. Pete and I go way back. Not to brag, he used to have a crush on me when we were little. But now, he's grown into a handsome guy. “In case you decide to attend the party, I'll be your date. Okay?” he chipped in, trying to join the conversation. “I’m not going but okay”, I said, giving a big smile. We went over to where Brenda, Emma's best friend, was planning school events. Emma is usually the one planning school events, but she helped me out with school stuff. A little bit muscular, cute, but an average-height guy passed us. The scent was familiar. I wondered who it was, so I followed the scent and saw him standing by the classroom door, talking with another guy. “Who are they?” I asked, with keen interest. “The two brothers? They are the Ashbourne brothers. The emerald eyes, jet-dark hair, charming smile, average-height one is Lynn and the unexpectedly handsome, blue eyes, long dark hair, hot body a—hole is Cole.” Emma replied, her eyebrows reaching for the hair on her frontline. It felt like she was disgusted by him. “I assume the a—hole is the tall one,” I said, folding my arms and giving a discreet suspicious look. Lynn turned. It felt as if he was hearing what we were talking about. Our eyes met. Lynn smiled softly. I noticed Pete at the corner, watching us. Giving a light smile, I left. That night, Lynn stood in front of a picture. With a broad smile, he said. “I think I've found her, the daughter of the man you killed.” ************ At home, I kept on thinking about the Ashbourne brothers when I heard the doorbell. Opening the door to my greatest surprise was Lynn. I flinched. “Hi… new girl, I'm sorry. "I didn't mean to startle you. "I wanted to give this back. "I think you dropped it, he said, handing me a student card I had been looking for since I left school. “Tell me you didn't knock on every door to know where I actually live, just to give me this. “Did you?” I asked, my eyes sparkling with interest. “Ohh, I did,” he answered with a straight face. After a few seconds, he smiled. “I'm kidding. I checked the address on your card.” “Ohh. "Thank you and my name's Aria,” I said, collecting the card from him. “Saw that too…the card. My name's Lynn.” “Hmm... I heard.” “You talked about me?” he asked with interest. “No, Nah… never,” I replied, pretending to be looking around. He smiled, bowing his head down like he knew I was lying. There became an awkward silence. “Would you like to go to the first day of the school party with me?” he asked. “I'll make sure you're safe, I promise.” I hesitated but later gave in. At the party, everyone was drinking, dancing and talking. Pete and his best friend Michael noticed Lynn and I were walking in together. “I thought you asked her to the party earlier?” Michael asked. “I don't know man,” Pete said, pissed and walking into the woods. We left the party to talk when we heard someone scream. It was Pete. He was carrying Emma's body out of the woods. “I saw her lying in blood in the woods. "I think an animal bit her,” he said, panicking. An ambulance came in and Emma was rushed to the hospital. Lynn looked at the strange marks and bite on her body like he knew what it was and ran into the woods. I followed him into the woods, trying to stop him when I saw Lynn and a wolf fighting. Lynn was half a wolf. He had claws, fangs and even his eyes were glowing unnaturally red. I stood there contemplating what was going on exactly, then I remembered the guy who saved me on the day of my dad's burial. Its scent was the same as Lynn's. Trying to put all the puzzles together, the wolf transformed into a human being. To my utmost surprise, it was Cole. Fixated on that spot with my mouth wide open, my eyes spiking with fear, Cole and Lynn saw me. Lynn transformed back into a human. They approached me. I stepped back at every step they took, not sure of what to do or say. “Aria?” Lynn called out. “You're not supposed to be here.” He said, putting his hands over my shoulder. “It was you… it was both of you in the woods the other day,” I said, pulling my arms away. “You're a… Werewolf.”