Identity Crisis

Chapter Four

 The next Saturday, Bane and Gedeon had promised to pick me up. The whole last week had been a little off. Everyone was acting weird, and no one wanted to talk about it. That morning I was excited to get out of the house, to get away from the awkward silences and the worrisome stares. I rushed around my room to get dressed, trying to decide what exactly I wanted to wear. It was quite the task, let me tell you. Especially since my mom had taken me shopping and I had all of these new outfits to wear. Since it was the end of October and the air was becoming cooler, I decided on stylish jeans, a tank top, and a sweater jacket. I did look pretty cute.

When I got downstairs, Bane and Gedeon were already waiting. My family was also waiting for me. They had been sitting at the kitchen table talking when I walked in. Suspiciously all conversation stopped when I walked in. Bane and Gedeon excused themselves and asked if I was ready. They then headed for the door. My family then did the strangest thing. They hugged and kissed me multiple times, even Zif. I had no idea what had gotten into them.

"Hey, take it easy, I'll be back tonight." I told them. My mother choked back tears, dad shook his head and sighed, and Zif huffed and ran up the stairs, slamming the door to his room. Mom and dad walked me to the door where the boys were waiting.

To Gedeon and Bane my dad said, "You boys take care of her. I'll see you around." They nodded faces serious, and none of them seemed to mind that I was completely lost. Gedeon took my hand and began to lead me through the door when my brother grabbed my arm and stopped us.

"We haven't ever been really close, but it's only because I've been afraid. I want you to have this." He said and put a wrought iron dragon holding a crystal ball in its claw on a chain over my head. "Love you, sis." He kissed my cheek, tears leaking from his large dark blue eyes, and Gedeon pulled me along through the door. I had no idea what was going on and the boys didn't seem as if they would let me in on their secret. I got in the car with them and settled in.

We stopped at the cafe where we'd had our first official friendly meeting. Then we just kind of meandered around time, finally stopping at the park, and sat under a tree. Gedeon wrapped his arm around me, scooting in as close as he could. The day was particularly chilly, and I liked the way he smelled. Thanks to the constant flow of conversation, I'd almost forgotten what had happened back at my house. Bane then jumped up from his sitting position, a big grin on his face.

"I forgot to tell you guys. I found this totally cool abandoned house in the woods about three miles out of town. We still have plenty of daylight, so we won't need flashlights to do any exploring. We should totally go." He bounced on his feet acting pretty excited.

Gedeon and I looked at each other and nodded, "Yeah, let's go." I said already walking to the car. I didn't miss the look they passed to each other, but I pretended that I did. Everyone was acting so weird. I was starting to feel a little creeped out, but then that could have just been because we were going to go investigate an abandoned house in the middle of the woods.

Okay, really quick, I'm going to hit the pause button. Let me just say that this should have been a big duh. This is exactly the point in a scary movie where you smack your head and call everyone a bunch of idiots for even getting excited about checking out some creepy abandoned building. Not to mention that it was in the middle of the woods. Does anyone else hear the alarm bells ringing? I didn't apparently.

 We drove three miles out of town and turned on a dirt road canopied by the tall trees. They must have been at least fifty to sixty years old, if not older. It seemed like those trees loomed before us and the road went on forever, never ending. Finally, we stopped in an ancient driveway, overgrown with trees and underbrush. The house was plantation style and looked old. The paint was chipping, the roof sagged in spots, and there were shingles missing. A couple of windows were even boarded up. It definitely looked like one of those haunted houses that everyone had a different story about.

"Come on!" Bane said, sounding more excited than I would have thought anyone would have been over a house, but we followed suit. I took Gedeon's hand, and they led me towards the house. The porch looked rather unstable, and the pillars looked as if they were going to collapse at a moment’s notice. I wasn't confident about walking across it to the door. We made it okay though.

"Crap, I forgot something in the car, I'll be right back. You guys go ahead in and I will meet up with you." Bane said, sounding almost rehearsed, but I shrugged it off as my wild imagination overreacting. I was suddenly very aware that I was the only girl and both boys were bigger and stronger than I was. Stupidly, I shrugged that off too. I didn't think there was anything to worry about.

When we entered the house through a rather weather worn and creaky front door, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Everything was in pristine condition. There was comfortable antique furniture arranged in an appealing way. Light from a chandelier cast a friendly glow. It was quite warm inside and had a cozy atmosphere. On the mantel over the fireplace were photographs. Upon closer inspection, the pictures were of both Gedeon, Bane, and older boy and a girl who must have been the other siblings Gedeon had mentioned the day he asked me out. There were pictures of an older couple. All the pictures looked rather new. Now, finally, I was starting to feel a little bit scared.

Then the door slammed behind us.

I turned swiftly only to find myself staring into the eyes of an animal. The eyes that I had once thought beautiful were now angry, hungry eyes that were staring at me as if I were on the menu.

“Do you know how long I have waited for you, Gryffyn? How long we all have been waiting.” I shook my head, my mouth unable to work. Gedeon was slowly changing. Black course hair was sprouting all over him, bones popped and cracked as his face and body morphed into the shape of a wolf. His ears shifted to the top of his head and grew long and pointed. A ferocious growl gurgled up from his chest. “An exceedingly long time. Of course, not all of this was planned out.” He paused and licked his lips, “Do you know what I am going to do?”

Frightened and moored in place, I finally found my voice. “You’re going to eat me, aren’t you?” I amazingly had the time to reflect on the fact that my voice hadn't trembled. I sounded strong and calm.

His laugh was harsh before he said, “No…. no, my dear love. You are too precious and unique to be eaten. No…. that is not what I am going to do.” He lunged at me and I threw myself to the side. A fierce growl sounded behind me. With strength and speed, I hadn't known I possessed, I ran to the front door, only to find it locked. There was no time to get it unlocked. I was being stalked. He was the predator, and I was the prey. So okay, I know, I know that I shouldn't have run upstairs, okay. I get it. To be honest, there really wasn't anywhere else to go. I hoped that I could get out of a window.

“Gryffyn, don’t worry! It won’t hurt………. much.” His laugh was sadistic, and I couldn’t believe that I had gotten myself into this situation. Well, okay maybe I could. Still, I had thought I had more sense than this. I ran up the stairs and down a long hallway, trying all of the doors that I came across. My heart pounded in my chest so hard, I thought it might jump out.

The last door at the end of the hallway was the only unlocked door. I ran into the room and shut the door, locking it. I looked around me to find a normal bedroom, a girl’s bedroom at that, but to my dismay, there was no window to be found. I heard Gedeon outside, sniffing around and frantically looked for a place to hide. Under the bed was no good. That was too easy. So, I ran to the closet. I hid myself amidst the hanging clothes. I suddenly wondered how long Gedeon had been planning this and whether Bane was in on it or not. That was stupid though, of course he was in on it. He was probably the one that slammed the door and locked it. He was probably right behind Gedeon, probably just as hairy and scary.

“Come out; come out wherever you are!” His speech was somewhat slurred by the new shape of his mouth and with every word spoken a growl came with it. I waited and listened hard to his movements. I could hear snuffling at the bedroom door. “You’re in here, aren’t you? But of course, there really wasn't anywhere else for you to go, was there? Grrrrryyyyyffffffyyyynnnn?!” He was trying to open the door. “Oh, so you locked it did you? Well, I’ll have to fix that. There will be no locking of the doors, not in my house.”

Crack!

Thunk!

By the noises I could guess easily that the door was busted off its hinges and knocked to the floor. “Now see what you made me do. I’ll have to fix that now. Tsck Tsck Gryffyn. Now dearling where are you?” His snuffling was a wet scraping noise making my skin crawl. “You’re not under the bed. That would be too obvious. You are a little smarter than that. So that leaves………. the closet.”

His padded footsteps became louder and louder. “GO AWAY!” I screamed at him, knowing it wasn’t going to help. I covered my ears with my hands and sank into the back of the small space as I could, curling my legs up to my chest. The closet door was flung open. Tears were streaming down my face as I looked into the eyes of the beast who was hunting me. He stared down at me.

“Now, why would I do that? You are much too important to leave all alone. Besides, if I didn’t get you then well……. someone else would have. You belong here with us.” And he lunged at me. Hot breath reached my skin before I felt teeth graze across my neck. “Hold still.” The piercing teeth shredded my flesh and blood flowed heavily. I screamed, beating my fists against his furry head, shoulders, and back, but to no avail. I did the only thing I could do and focused on the ceiling, trying to stay conscious and failed. My body went numb, and the world went black.