ONE OF THEM
1683 Words
CHAPTER 002
ARIEL:
Rather too loudly, the hinges of the classroom door groaned as it drifted wider.
Someone stepped inside.
But it wasn’t the principal. It wasn’t a student either. Far from it.
It was a tall figure cloaked from head to toe. Her hair was exposed, white as a cloud and her face, lined with age, yet she radiated an ageless beauty. But the strangest thing was she wore a robe.
‘Who still wears robes in this day and age?’
Her sharp eyes locked onto mine.
“Ariel Rivers,” she said softly, but her voice was weirdly soft as it carried across the silent classroom. “It is time.”
I blinked, surprised the strange woman knew my full name. “T—time for what? Who are you? What's happening to everyone?” Panic rose. I knew no kung fu, no way to fight back. If need be, I might just unalive myself before letting her get to me.
“They’re fine; they merely paused for the time being…” She gestured casually toward my frozen classmates, their faces still twisted with half-laughter and sneers. “In a short while, everything will be as it once was.” She paused; tension, along with my fear, built.
“I am Headmistress Sanders, principal of MoonVille Academy—the most prestigious werewolf school.”
MoonVille what?
Werewolf what?
“Come,” she outstretched a hand adorned with silver rings etched in runes as she smiled brightly. “You mustn’t delay. Your mark has awakened. It’s time you were with your own kind.”
I gave her an incredulous look. ‘Maybe a knot has loosened from her brain, thinking I would follow a complete stranger causing this strange event to happen, a stranger who uttered complete rubbish, out of the class. Hell no!’
As much as I hated maths. I wasn’t stupid. I shifted my chair farther instead of taking her hand.
She retracted, nodding slightly. Footsteps sounded behind her, and two men stepped in behind her, broad-shouldered and silent.
Well, great. No chance of escape now. My only hope—the window. But I didn’t dare glance at it, afraid his sharp eyes might notice my plan.
“You must have questions. Take this.” She pulled out a white envelope, sealed with a red wax stamp.
She pressed it hard against my desk. “This will explain everything you need to know. I eagerly await your arrival at my academy.”
I stared at the envelope, mind spinning. Her next words snapped my head quickly to meet her eyes.
“You look so much like your mother!”
The plan of leaping out the window vanished at that moment.
My mother.
No one ever talked about her even when I asked billions of questions. Not Aunt Sheila. Not even uncle. No one. It was as if they erased her from their memory the moment she died.
But these women. This strange woman spoke so coolly and easily—like she knew my mother.
“You—you knew my mom?” I stammered, my voice barely above a whisper.
She expressed sadness with a small smile. “Yes, better than anyone ever did.”
I didn’t care if she was a stranger. I just wanted answers. Who was my mother? What killed her? Who was my father? “Please… tell me—”
Her eyes strained as she interrupted me. “There isn’t time for that, child.”
I was stunned by her response.
“Answers will come later.”
“No, wait!” I pushed to my feet, the chair scraping loudly against the frozen silence. “Don’t just say that and leave. What do you mean I look like her? You know about her, so tell me.”
The burn in my palm and the mark pulsed again, and I groaned in pain, clutching my hand tighter against my chest.
The woman's gaze lingered on my mark for a moment. She stepped closer. “Take a moment to listen carefully, Ariel. Your true self is not what you believe yourself to be. You’re beyond anything you can say… I desire to provide you with all the necessary information because I understand your confusion, but time runs short. The time freeze is near expiring.”
“I don’t care. Tell me what you know of my mother!”
Her hazel eyes softened as they met mine. “Be strong, child of the moon. Everything will be known in due course.”
“Wait! Don’t go!” My words were desperate, ragged. “You can’t just—”
And then she stepped out together with the two other men.
A sharp ringing filled my ears. My vision blurred.
The clock hand ticked forward.
Air whooshed back into the room, pens and markers scratched against paper and board simultaneously, and whispers resumed. My classmates laughed mid-sentence, oblivious that time itself had been stolen.
The mark on my wrist dimmed. The envelope sat on my desk.
“Do you have a reason for standing in the middle of my class, Miss Rivers?”
I had no words to reply. I could only stand there as I gaped like a fish out of water. Without a word, I grabbed the envelop, picked my bag up and bolted for the exit, ignoring the teacher’s protest.
I searched everywhere; the hallway, the streets, but the strange woman was nowhere to be found. She was gone.
I reached home gasping and sweating. The first face I was treated with was that of Aunt Sheila as she barked at my early arrival but this time, I ignored her and locked myself in my room.
I sat cross-legged on my bed, the envelope still in my hands. I didn’t know how long I stayed staring at it, but before I looked up, it was already late evening, the sky turning dark.
Finally, trembling, I broke the crimson wax seal. I held my breath. Maybe… just maybe this was from my mom. A message she’d hidden away all these years.
I slid the sheet out.
Blank.
Nothing but white.
My chest hollowed. “What the hell—”
I crumpled the useless thing, ready to hurl it across the room when a fine trail of brown dust spilt from the page, shimmering as it landed on the circular mark on my wrist.
The mark on my wrist flared again.
“Ah!” I gasped in shock as my vision shattered.
Suddenly, I wasn’t in my room anymore. Shadows and light twisted before my eyes, forming images. Wolves—dozens of them—howling under a moonlit sky. Their bones snapping, size reducing and fur dissolving into flesh. They stood as men and women, eyes glowing gold, brown, and crimson. Werewolves.
My heart slammed against my ribs as the vision showed a place that wasn’t here. Filled with greenery and… life.
The woman’s words thundered back into my skull: You are not what you think you are.
I jerked upright, the vision gone, my chest heaving. The page lay harmless on the bed, empty again. Realisation dawned on me.
I sat there, whispering to the silence of my room, “How can I be one of them?”
****
“I can’t be. That’s not possible. I’m as human as a human could get.” I muttered to myself, pacing the smallness of my room. That woman must be crazy. A prank. Werewolves don’t exist.
But my seared palm… the crimson moon… the silver wolf diving into me…
Could it be true?
“ARIEL!” Aunt Sheila’s shrink broke through my thoughts.
Ugh, that witch again. What does she want now? My soul?
I went downstairs—and stopped dead. A stranger sat with my uncle and aunt.
“—the cheque for two million dollars,” the stranger said, handing Aunt Sheila a white slip. “And we want no troubles.”
“Troubles? Never.” Aunt Sheila’s voice oozed with joy. She turned, finally smiling at me for the first time. “At least you’re useful for one thing.”
My stomach twisted, an uncomfortable feeling filling me.
The strange man stood. His extremely hulking frame filled the room, head nearly brushing the ceiling. The beard was so thick that it seemed unshaven for years, eyes sharp, voice deep as thunder. “Ariel. It’s nice to finally meet you. This is yours.” He handed me a blue sheet.
I collected it, confusion gripping me.
My eyes scanned the paper, the words blurring until one line burnt through clear as fire:
“Congratulations, Ariel Rivers. You have been admitted to MoonVille Academy of the werewolves.”
I froze. My fingers trembled. This wasn't real, right?
“What—what is this?” I demanded, shoving the sheet toward him. “Some kind of joke?!”
“Believe me, girl, it’s no joke. And we leave tonight.”
“Tonight?” My chest squeezed. “No. I’m not going anywhere with you!”
“You don’t have a choice,” Aunt Sheila chimed smugly, clutching the cheque like it was gold. “Leave my house. You’re their problem now. Freak. Just like your mother.”
The ground tilted under me. First the dreams. Then the mark. And then the vision. Now this. My life was unravelling faster than I could catch it.
The man’s shadow loomed. “Leave your things. You don't need them. The academy will explain everything once we get there. But if you stay here…” His eyes flicked toward the window, scanning the dark street. “They’ll find you before morning.”
“They?” My voice cracked.
A howl split the night. Low. Close. Too close.
My stomach dropped. What the hell?
“Leave my house already. Both of you.” Aunt Stella snapped, panicked.
The man’s eyes hardened. “We’re out of time. Come, let’s go.”
I didn’t get a say. His hand closed around my arm. I was dragged out, shoved into a car, and we sped into the night.
- Writer
