Call Out My Name

EPISODE TWO

"Your mother tells me that your sleepwalking has gotten worse," Dr Patricia said, staring expectantly at me. I avoided eye contact with her, choosing to stare at the beautiful tapestry above the armchair she sat on.

My mother was a snitch, I should have known better. Three months ago, I started sleepwalking. According to Dr Patricia, my sleepwalking disorder had probably been triggered by my night terrors. The night terrors started around the same time as the sleepwalking.

"Can you tell me about these dreams you've been having? You've never told me about them before" she smiled politely.

I looked at her, tilting my head and smiling with fake sweetness.

"I'm not going to tell you today either," I said.

"What about school? Has there been anything stressful going on at school?" she asked, tapping her pen against her notepad.

I was sick of this. How long would it be before our session was over?

Mum had forced me to go to therapy with Dr Patricia because they were friends and she Patricia could help me. I didn't exactly feel helped and I wanted to go home. I had a headache.

"Alphea, this isn't going to work if you don't talk to me. It's been five weeks since we started these sessions" she sighed.

My phone beeped and I grinned victoriously at her. Our session was over. I rushed to the door but Dr Patricia's voice stopped me.

"If you won't talk to me, talk to your mother or someone you can trust. You shouldn't have to go through it alone" she said.

She was right but if anyone found out I was dreaming about dragons and witches, I'd be in a lot of trouble. The king would have me tested for witchcraft and everyone who had gone through that test had never come back alive.

I received a text message from mum. According to her, our neighbours had reported to animal control that they saw wolves in the woods. Not werewolves, actual wolves.

I got her message loud and clear, I couldn't take my weekly afternoon stroll in the woods, today. A string of colourful words escaped my mouth as I shoved my hands into my pocket and headed home.

What a great day!

The house was quiet and cold when I got back from my therapy session. I was bored but I was also tired and didn't have the strength to look for an interesting activity to keep me engaged. I made myself a peanut butter sandwich and headed to bed. I chewed on the sandwich as I lay in bed. If I fell asleep tonight, would I sleepwalk again?

With a loud yawn, I let my eyes flutter shut.

The fire was raging. It was coming for me.

I run before it could get to me. There was a woman leading me. She looked beautiful in her white robes that did not get stained from the blood at our feet.

We run through a dark tunnel as the fire approached faster. The woman was speaking but I couldn't hear her. The tunnel opened up into a waterfall. I stood at the edge of the waterfall as the fire drew closer.

I closed my eyes and jumped.

My eyes flew open and I gasped for breath as I woke up to find myself slipping and falling over a cliff. A grey wolf came out of nowhere and grabbed me by the collar of my shirt.

How did I get here? I was supposed to be at home, in my bed.

What the hell was going on? Did I sleepwalk again?

The wolf pulled me from over the cliff. I glanced around, desperate to figure out where I was as the cold night breeze whipped my hair. I was in the woods behind my house.

What was I doing in the woods?

The last thing I could remember was making myself a sandwich and slipping into bed. I sighed, exhausted, as realization dawned on me. I had been sleepwalking again and this time, I made it all the way to the woods.

I looked at the wolf. It shook out its grey fur and snapped at me.

Was it a werewolf or one of the wolves mum had told me about?

This wolf that saved my eyes had dark purple eyes. It jogged behind the tree.

Cracking sounds echoed through the woods and soon, a boy emerged from behind the trees.

He was a werewolf. But I hadn't seen a werewolf with such a small wolf before.

"Thank you," I said, "Thank you so much"

I tried to hold back my tears as I told myself that I could have died. I could have fallen into the river and drowned.

"What were you even thinking?" he snapped angrily.

"I wasn't" I sniffed "I'm a sleepwalker"

I couldn't hold it back. I sobbed loudly, digging my fingers into the dirt. I could have died. I should be dead by now but he saved me.

The boy sat on the ground and gathered me in his arms, I held on tightly to him, sobbing.

"You're fine," he said, stroking my hair and tightening his arms around me.

"I'm Aysa," he whispered.

"I'm Alphea" I murmured.

When he released me from his hold, I was embarrassedsed. Dr Patricia was right, I needed help.

Aysa helped me to my feet and smiled sadly at me.

"Let me take you home," he offered.

No. I couldn't possibly bother him with that. He probably came to the woods to do something far more important before I came along. I shook my head.

He looked at me with concern before nodding his head and letting me go.

"If you ever need me, call out my name," he said

I frowned at his statement but thanked him again before leaving.

The sounds of crickets and the wind had grown louder. I flinched when a bird flew too close to me. I should have let Aysa take me home.

What was I thinking? It was dark and I was scared.

A loud growl sent chills down my spine. I turned around slowly towards the source of the growl.

"Aysa?" I squeaked. My eyes went wide when I saw a brown wolf lurking amongst the trees.

That wolf wasn't Aysa. Another brown wolf appeared beside it and then three more. Soon, I was surrounded.

My chest rose and fell heavily as I contemplated on my next wolf. What was I going to do? I should have let Aysa take me home. I shouldn't have been so damn stubborn and proud. After all, a little embarrassment was better than death.

One of the wolves nipped at my feet and I yelped, kicking it in the face.

The brown wolf in front of me looked ready to pounce as it crouched lower.

When it lunged at me, I closed my eyes.

"Aysa!" I screamed.

There was whimpering and snarling. When I opened my eyes, Aysa's grey wolf was snarling at the brown wolves. He went around me, snarling at each of them before stopping at my feet.

One of the brown wolves lunged at me but Aysa's grey wolf was fast. He sunk his teeth into its neck and bit down.

A sickening c***k echoed through the woods and Aysa dropped the dead wolf from his mouth.

His purple eyes glowed brighter as he growled at the wolves who had surrounded me. The wolves dashed away, howling into the night.

"Once again, thank you," I said, crouching down to run my hand through his fur. He purred, leaning into my touch.

"You've saved my life twice tonight, I won't ever forget it" I promised.

This time, I let the grey wolf escort me home. My mum was still at the hospital when I got back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The school was buzzing with laughter and conversation in the morning. Brady Leah and I headed for class. I hadn't told anyone about what happened or about Aysa. I didn't know how to tell anyone, especially my mother. I managed to go through the day with a smile on my face but deep down, I was scared.

The mention of my name had me glancing back to glare at Carl.

I didn't watch where I was going. I should have.

Someone knocked into me and sent me flying into the lockers before Brady or Leah could pull me out of the way.

Air whooshed out of my lungs.

My back cracked against a locker as I fell into a heap on the ground.

Blood rushed into my head and my vision swayed. Red liquid dripped onto the tiles. I got on my hands and knees, dry heaving.

Brady and Leah helped me up quickly. I shrugged them off gently, staggering towards the perpetrator. A boy with golden hair and a streak of red hair that fell into his eye. I could hardly see through the blood seeping from the cut on my head but I could see the asshole just fine.

"Alphea" there was a warning in Leah's voice as she and Brady tried to stop me. I held up my index finger and they backed off.

Good. Because I was pissed. A tingling sensation crawled up my spine and I felt the air around me crackle. For a very brief moment, when I stared down at my hands, I saw white sparks of what seemed to be electricity. It was gone just as quickly as it came.

Asshole looked shocked like he didn't just sprain my wrist on the first day of school too. I didn't notice the crowd that had gathered around, their breaths held in anticipation.

"I may not have been paying attention to where I was walking but the very least you can f*****g do, you f*****g dickhead" I drew in a shuddering breath "is to apologize". My breathing was ragged from all the pain.

I shoved him with both hands, ignoring the searing pain in my wrist. My knee made contact with soft flesh, I enjoyed it very much when his face crumpled in pain and he slid to the floor.

I tried to make my way to the nurse's office but half-shifted werewolves blocked my path. Leah and Brady hurried to my side and we stared the creatures down.

They growled at our defiance.

I chuckled, looking back at blondie who was still on his knees in barely concealed pain. We made eye contact and he licked his lips.

"Don't touch them" he gritted.

I faced the werewolves and shrugged, smiling smugly at them. They reluctantly stepped away and I slung my arms around my two best friends, unable to carry my weight anymore.