Blood Moon Howlers

Part 2| Goodbye Ava

"Did you pack your toothbrush?" Skyler said as she walked into her older sister's room.

"s**t, you're right! I almost forgot!" Ava ran into the bathroom. She was flying off to England for a year on an exchange training program her company had offered.

It would the first time that she would be without her sister and although the thought made her nervous, she knew how much Ava was looking forward to going.

How could she tell her that she didn't want her to go?

Skyler just didn't have the heart to do that.

Ava came back to the room with her toothbrush and placed it in her suitcase before zipping it up.

"Well, I think that's everything," she said as she places her last suitcase with the others.

"A whole year, huh?"

Ava collapsed on the bed beside her and stared up at the ceiling with a smile on her face, "Yeah. It doesn't feel long enough to see all of England."

Skyler tried to fight the wince off her face "I'm going to miss you."

Ava shot up and stared at her. The definition of 'polar opposites' in the dictionary should have a picture of the Riley sisters right beside it.

There weren't two people more different but there also weren't two people that got along as well as the two of them.

Ava had short sleek black hair that fell just past her chin. But her chic hair was often offset by her bright wardrobe. She'd have blazers in every color but black and shirts and pants in every color of the rainbow.

Skyler had long honey blonde hair that went down her shoulders. It was a mix of brown, ash blonde and honey blonde. Most of her wardrobe was black, white, grey or leather. Any color dark enough was in her wardrobe.

Ava had pale, porcelain skin while Skyler had a natural, year-round sun-kissed tan.

In short, we looked and acted like Ying and Yang.

Skyler was the quieter, cold, intimidating and indifferent one while Ava was the innocent, bubbly and bright one. Ava was a few years older, but a lot of people thought it was the opposite.

It was no secret that Skyler was struggling in school as well. Even at university, where everyone was with their friends, she was still singled out a lot.

Ava was an alumnus at her school, a much-loved one at that.

So when people found out that her younger sister was going to attend the school, everyone was expecting another cute, sweet, polite Riley sister.

Instead, they were met with her, a girl who wore leather jackets, biker boots, had a few tattoos, never smiled, had eyes that looked like they wanted to murder someone and was rarely seen speaking more than 3 words to her peers.

People refused to believe that they were related.

Skyler never complained about her school life or acted like anything was wrong so Ava went about a year before she saw it with her own eyes.

She had gone to pick up her up from university once. Ava got a scholarship so that Skyler could live on campus but she declined the offer.

She'd rather commute.

When Ava spotted her striding out of class she was about to wave, to get her attention, when something happened.

When Skyler started walking, a path just split down the students. Everyone stepped to the side to give her a path to walk through.

What surprised Ava more was Skyler's reaction.

She didn't flinch nor did her step falter, she just walked down the path, her head held up and her eyes set somewhere straight ahead, ignoring everyone's stare and whispers.

But Ava heard them clearly.

"I heard she got kicked out of her old university for sleeping with a teacher."

"A friend of mine apparently knows her and said she got expelled for punching a guy so hard in the face that he needed plastic surgery."

"I heard that she was so scary that even the most popular girl at her old school was scared of her."

"I heard she was a member of a gang and Ava took her in and looked after her like a sister."

"Oh, that's why they're so different. Ava is so sweet."

Ava knew that Skyler had a silent but deadly aura about her and if you poked the dragon, she could spit scalding words faster than anyone. But she wasn't anything like they made her out to be.

In fact, Ava found that Skyler was kinder and more compassionate than anyone she knew, including herself.

Skyler was the kind of person that once she accepted you into her life, you would automatically become the most important person to her.

You just had to get past that initial gate.

When she had asked Skyler about it, she shrugged and said it wasn't a big deal, that kids were just like that to the new kid.

That it would blow over.

She was pretty sure that over a year later, it still hadn't.

Which would explain why it seemed that Skyler's heart looked frozen.

But Skyler wasn't the type to talk about her feelings unless she brought it up herself, so Ava had no choice but to drop it.

Ava frowned and put her arm around Skyler, "Are you sure you want me to go? I still have time to call and drop out."

Skyler lightly patted Ava on the back before standing up "You're leaving in 1 hour and I'm going with you to the airport, that's final."

Skyler walked out of her sister's room and into her room without another word. She sighed quietly and sat on her bed.

She wasn't exactly sure what she would do without her sister by her side. It was the two of them against the world ever since she was a baby.

She had no idea who or where their parents were.

So even if everyone in the world turned on her, she knew she always had her sister. That was why she was able to ignore everyone's harsh words and actions.

Even though Ava was gone most of the day for work, she'd always be home by the time she came back from school. The hours the two of them spent pigging out in front of the TV was one of the only things that made school bearable for her.

Now she was going to be on her own and that scared her more than anything.

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"I'm going to miss you baby sis, but you're going to be okay on your own, you're a tough girl." Ava pulled away from their hug to look at her face.

"You have a have a good head on your shoulders, but you're stubborn too. Try to give people a chance when I'm gone, they can't all be assholes."

Skyler snorted "You'd be surprised."

Ava hit her over the head "I'm serious, I want to come back in a year and see at least one new friend. Got it?"

"You're joking"

"No, I'm not. Okay, I'm going to miss my flight, be safe, don't spend all your time online, drive safely, don't stay up too late and don't live off of ramen. I think I got it all."

"What about, 'no boys over'?"

Ava gave her a smirk "A boy might actually do you some good."

Skyler's face flushed as she started to cough "Don't you have a flight to catch or something."

Ava clapped her hands, almost as if she forgot that she was about to fly off to live in a new country for a year.

"I'll FaceTime with you and we'll talk on the phone. I'll send you money so don't worry about getting a job and just focus on school," Ava said.

Skyler looked down at her feet, she already got a job, but she could always break it to her sister later.

"Remember what I said about making friends and kissing boys."

"You said nothing about kissing boys."

"Oh, I didn't? Okay, well make sure you do it a lot."

"What?!" I balked incredulously.

"Flight 546 for London departing in 15 minutes."

"That's my flight number so I'll see you later little sis, stay safe," Ava said before wrapping Skyler in a tight hug before grabbing her stuff and heading off to her plane. She turned around and waved with a bright smile before her figure got smaller and smaller.

Stay safe big sis, I'll be okay

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At home, it felt so empty, cold and dark without Ava.

Skyler realized that her sister was the source of 90% of the liveliness that was in the household. Now that it was just her, the house was reflecting her personality.

She walked into her room and sat by the window to look up at the stars.

Her eyes widened...

...What the

Was it just her or were the stars appearing quicker than usual in the sky?

Usually, she wouldn't even notice when the stars came out because they were so gradual. If anything they would already be out this time of night.

She lived in a wooden cabin away from the city, so she always got a clear view of the stars on clear nights like tonight.

But tonight they were appearing rapidly right in front of her eyes as if they came from nowhere.

It was almost as if someone was pulling them out from beneath the sky.