The Weeping Willow

"HARPER, TIME FOR DINNER! .... HARPER!" Harper's mother called out. It was getting dark and it was time for all pups to go home. Tonight is the full moon for the month which means there will be parties all over. Harper's mom, Olivia, sat on her wooden porch swing admiring the land that surrounds their humble little wooden cabin that she and her husband, Nicolas, built together. There was about an acre of fields around the house and beyond that was the woods full of pine trees. Olivia sat as she waited for her child to make it home and watched the sun set. The sky looked like it was on fire, full of oranges, reds, and yellows. The sunset looks very beautiful over by the lake. The reflection makes it look like the lakes on fire, which is the village came to be known as Fire Lake. Olivia sees Harper coming with her friend, Brandon, who lives on the other side of the woods. "Harper it's time for dinner. Come inside and get washed up." Harper was 8 years old. She had curly brown hair and baby blue eyes. She is a mini version of her mother besides hee nose. She has hee fathers nose. A tiny button nose. Harper is a tomboy so she's always covered in dirt and scratches from bike rides and from her adventures. "Brandon why don't you come in and I'll give your sister a call." Brandon lost his parents last year from a rouge attack. His older sister, Jamie, had to drop out of college to raise him so he wouldn't have to be raised by some other family in a new house. Maybe even in a new pack. "Yes ma'am Thank you. The woods are scary at night." Brandon was 9 who had black medium length hair and brown eyes and had some freckles. Harper and Brandon were inseparable. Olivia and his mom, Ruth, were best friends. After Ruth's death, she would help Jamie and have Brandon come over for dinner or stay the night. Olivia had the kids wash their hands while she got their plates ready. Pork roast made from scratch. Once the kids were sat doen and were eating, she went off into the living room and gave Jamie a rang letting her know that Brandon's there eating dinner. "Did your mom make this? It's really good!" Brandon asked Harper with his mouth full. "Yeah, I helped picked the veggies from the garden while dad took care of Pete!" Brandon's eyes got huge. "Im eating Pete?" Harper laughs. "Yeah, that's why we don't get attached to the animals. Dad always tell me when we get a new animal or one is born. You can still show them love and respect but at the end of the day, they are what helps us survive." Brandon thinks a little bit. "Pete does taste great!" They continue eating their dinner. Olivia comes into the kitchen and starts washing dishes when there was a knock on the front door. Olivia heads to the door and sees its the Alphas assistant, Henry. He was a very kind gentlemen. "Henry! What a lovely surprise, come in before the mosquitoes eat you alive!" She lets Henry in, who respectfully took of his hat. "Thank you liv. Im just here to remind you that tonight is the monthly moon and to make sure the pups are inside and away from danger. You know you get everyone and their brother out there hunting and accidents could happen." Olivia was agreeing with him when she realized Henry was looking at dinner. "It's fresh, wants some?" She kindly give a warm smile. Henry smiled huge and shook his eyes yes. "Thank you. This place might be a village but my gosh are there a lot of homes to go visit and i missed dinner. Thankfully I only need to go to 2 more homes and then it's off to bed with me. Hey Brandon, hey Harper hows the adventures going?" Harper looked at Henry excitedly. "It was fun. We went to the dry out creek, found some bunnies, and a ground mouth with sharp teeth." Olivia and Henry looked at each other confused. "A what sweetie?" Brandon tries to explain it better to them. "Its circle and has a lot of sharp teeth." Henry pulls out a note pad and pen from his coat pocket and asks them to draw what they saw. When the kids were done, they drew a bear trap. Henry quickly gets up and tells Olivia that he needs to talk to the Alpha. They say their goodbyes and Olivia heads to the phone. "I've gotta warn Nick." After the phone rings a couple times, Nick Answers. "Hey babe what's up?" "Nick listen, Olivia and Brandon found a bear trap in the woods.... No they're fine.... Henry was here he just left to warn the Alpha.... I rather them not show where since its late... Okay I'll see you soon... Love you too, bye babe." Henry's POV Henry makes it back to the Alphas office just before he left for the night. "Henry what are you doing here?" "Sir, we have a huge problem. Olivia's daughter and Brandon were in the woods playing by the dried up creek and found a bear trap." The Alphas face stiffened by the news. The thing is, a werewolf doesn't need trap to catch animals for food. All they need to do is turn and go. Humans are the only ones who need traps. They went pretty far away from their location. Which is a red flag for us and the surrounding packs. "We need to alarm everyone. Cancel tonight's moon run. Give me the radio, I'll send the warning." Olivia's POV "I have to call Jamie. I need to tell her to get Brandon. Brandon, you have to get ready i'm calling Jamie to get you hun." I get ready to dial her number when I hear a loud knock at the door. Jamie comes running in. "Olivia, turn on the radio." I go to the fire place and turn on the packs radio that's on the mantle. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is Alpha Issac. For the past couple of weeks, we have found signs of human activities around our village. 3 days ago, there was a letter from humans threatening our community. A few hours ago, 2 children found a bear trap in the far west woods. We are all under lockdown until further notice. All workers stay at home, children stay at home, we will have workers deliver any needs you may have. Just call the town hall and we will have one of our workers go for you. School is canceled, moon run is canceled, if you're visiting some where right now, drop what you're doing and go home and lock your doors. This is a recorded message and will continue to replay until a new message is set up. Thank you all and good luck. Ladies and gent." I turned off the radio in shock and fear. "Brandon's upstairs with Harper. He should be ready to go home." Jamie calls for Brandon who was just coming down stairs. After hugs and some tears shed from the kids, not knowing when is the next time they'll see each other, Jamie and Brandon left. Harper fell asleep on the couch and I was knitting on my rocking chair by the fire place. A few minutes later Nick comes rushing in slamming the door and locking it. I rush to see what's going on and he tells me to shush. It was quiet. Then I heard rustling outside. "Get Harper up and down the basement." Nick whispered to me while he went to the kitchen. I grabbed his arm and looked at him. My heart is starting to hurt from beating so much and so hard. "Humans." He whispered. My heart is about to pop from fear. Yes we are werewolves, but humans have up their weapons and they're almost unstoppable now. I crawl to Harper and gently wake her up. She looks up and I put my finger to my lips in the "shh" position. She did the same. I picked her up and walked to the walk in pantry. Nick moved the rug and exposed a door. He opened it up for me and we all go down the stairs. There are some canned food we did last spring, some gallons of water, 2 beds, and a ham radio. I set Harper on one of the beds and tell her to keep quiet no matter what. I had to place duct tape on her lips so she can't scream in case. I gave her a flash light and told her to keep it under the blanket. She agrees while trying to be strong. We both give her kisses and hugs. "I love you my sweet child." Nick said as he kissed her forehead. "Keep the tape on until we come to get you. Please stay here on the bed. I love you more then life itself." Harper started to shed a couple of tears. Nick went back up and I stood there for a second looking at my beautiful daughter. I blew her a kiss and then shut the door and covered it back up with the rug and put a couple of gallons of water to make it seem like there is nothing there. "On my way home, the Henderson's farm was on fire. And their bodies in the front lawn. Little Jimmy's too. Then the Richmen's were screaming and there was 4 trucks in their yard." Nick explained to me while trying to be quiet so Harper can't hear. "The Richmen's are only a house away through the other side of the woods. We have to warn Jamie!" I said in a quiet panic. I crawl to the phone and get ready to dial Jamie's number when the power cuts off. Harper's POV I'm sitting in the dark basement all alone. My body is on fire from fear. I can hear mom and dad walking slowly around the house. I look up at the ceiling and hoping that they'll be okay. They stopped moving, I stopped breathing. The quiet was intense. Then I heard the front door break open loudly and heard mom screaming. I hear dad yelling at them to leave her alone. I hear smacking, screaming, laughing, stomping, things being knocked over and breaking. Then I hear everyone head outside. There is a small window above my bed that's blacked out on the other side so no one can see in. I stand up and see mom and dad on their knees and a bunch of guys standing around with big guns. I see a truck pulling in and parked. I see a man walk out and do to the other door. He pulls out Jamie and then Brandon. I start to cry more quietly so they cant hear me. I see Jamie screaming and crying and Brandon trying to break free from one of the guys hand. He's reaching for Jamie. Jamie then gets dragged by mom and dad and is forced on her knees too. A guy walks up to them and is saying something. I cant hear though. Then they all lift up their guns. I quickly drop and lay on my bed and cover my ears. That didn't help. I heard every shot. A bullet hit the window and made a tiny hole. I can hear laughing and Brandon screaming for Jamie. I carefully get back up and peek. I see they're dragging Brandon in one of the trucks. I see mom, dad, and Jamie laying on the ground. One of the guys yell out "burn it." I need to get out! I hear walking and then glass breaking. A strong smell of gas instantly hit my nose. Besides the smell nothing is happening so far. I then hear all the trucks drive away and whistling and cheering. Once they're gone I see light coming through the cracks of the roof. I rip the duct tape off and I go upstairs. I open the door and see that the fire has already spread to the kitchen. I hear a snap and then something lands on the door slamming it shut making me fall down the stairs. I land on a broken jar that fell from the shelf. I looked at the glass. Then remembered that the window has a hole in it. I get up and look around to see if there is anything i can use to break the window more. The door is starting to crackle and the door knob is getting read. Embers are falling through the cracks and landing all over the place. I turn to the radio and figured I have to try. I grab it and then threw it at the window. It didn't break it but it made a crack. The the door busts open letting in smoke and some fire. I try the radio one more time. It worked! Its starting to get heard to breath and see. I grab some crates from the side of my bed and stack them up. I climb on them and try my best to crawl through the window. My feet are bleeding from the window glass. I try keeping my balance but between the smoke making me dizzy and the crates balancing in the bed its hard. I let out a huge scream before almost passing out. Then, a hand grabs my arm. I slide through the window and felt the heat from the fire fading away. I start kicking and screaming. They finally got me. The humans got me! Then the hand turns into a hug. I then feel a wet cloth going over my eyes. Once I can see, I see its Alpha. His Luna is wrapping gauze on my feet. I see a bunch of pack members running around letting the animals free from the farm, a fire truck trying to put out the fire, and a few people covering up my mom and das and Jamie. I start getting dizzy and see the doctor giving me a shot. "It's okay Harper, you'll be okay." The luna starts wiping away my blood covered hair from my face then I fall asleep. I mentally wake up and hear beeping. When I open my eyes, the light hurt them. Everything is fuzzy. I gently call out to my mom. I feel a warm hand be placed on mine. "She's awake!" I hear a woman call out. Its sounds like the Luna. I still can't see well. I feel something up my nose and try to take it off. "No no sweetie you need to keep it on." My feet hurt, my head hurts, my heart hurts. "Okay." I start to sob. I hear walking coming into the room. I keep my eyes closed since they also hurt. "Harper, it's doctor Milo. I'm gonna open your eyes and put more drops in them. The smoke hurt your eyes and this will help." I open my eyes for him. He then gently puts in 2 drops in each eye. "Hey you." I hear Henry. I reach out for him. I want to keep my eyes closed since that kind of helps with the pain. "Harper, I need you to tell us what happened. Who did this." Henry said nicely. I tell them everything that I saw and heard. I hear the Alpha and Luna get up and walk out of the room. Henry said he wanted to stay with me so I wouldn't be scared. Alpha's POV The anger in my heart is so over powering, I punch the wall as soon as I left Harper's hospital room. My wife comes and checks my hand. "This is all my fault. I should of warned everyone weeks ago." The guilt I have is making it hard not to cry. "Dear, you've done what you thought was right. No matter what the humans would of attacked. If you warned everyone after the first sign, there would of been a battle because you know that the village would of taken matters into their own hands. They would of killed every human within a 50 mile radius and what good would that have done?" My Luna tries to explain to me. It does make sense to a point. "But 5 families are dead with one survivor here and one possible survivor. We don't even know what has happened to Brandon. For all we know he could be getting hurt right now, or sold as a slave, or dead in a ditch somewhere." That poor boy. He has been through so much. First his parents, his sister, and now whatever this poor kids going through right now. My wife was about to speak when the doctor comes out of Harper's room. "What's the update on her?" I ask. "We'll the drops should help give her sight back in a few days to a couple of weeks, the glass has been removed from her feet and head. Her lungs are not as damaged as we thought since the window was open. I gave her another shot to help her sleep more. The only real concern is her mental state. 8 years old and has already went through more then us here together. We need to find Brandon asap." We all agree. For the next 4 months we had the funerals for Olivia and Nicolas, Jamie, and the rest who lost their lives. We had search parties all over for any sign of Brandon, more human traps, or any clue where these humans came from. The only thing we all got was over 500 bear traps, 120 trail cameras facing the village, and an old hunting cabin hidden that stunk of humans. At month 6th, we had to stop the search. The cases will remain open but cold. Harper stays with Henry and his husband Jack. She's taking it a lot better then we thought. She does get her normal nightmares from it. It hurts me knowing that she won't get justice right now.. If ever. {14 years later} Harper's POV It's been a while since I went to my mom and dad's grave. Between graduating school, my new job at the bakery, getting my own small apartment I haven't been here in a couple of months. It's their death anniversary, June 23rd. Not a day goes by that I miss them. Some say the pain gets easier to handle. Yeah on what planet? Don't get me wrong im beyond thankful for Henry and Jack adopting me and giving me a good life, but its not the same as my life with my parents on the farm. I sit there for a couple of hours just chatting away like they can understand me. After my visit with them, I go to Brandons head stone. They never found him but they have an idea that he's no longer alive after all these years. They have his birth year but no death date. They'll add that once we find him. After spending half of my day at the cemetery, I head over to Henry's and grab the rest of my stuff. I get in my old beater car and turn on the radio. The Alphas having a dedication to my parents and the rest who lost their lives 14 years ago. He will have the families of the ones who died come on the air and talk about memories they share and how much they're missed. I used to go and talk about my parents and jamie and Brandon. I stopped going 3 years ago. What was the point? It wasn't getting us any closer to answers or to Brandon. We need to spend this time looking more. I never stopped looking. Even though the case is cold, I'll never ever stop. I had one tip last year but it was a dead end. A lot are just pranksters. I find it ridicules that people think its all fun and games. Brandon doesn't have any family. Jamie was all that he had. I turned off the radio and continued to drive back to Henry's and Jack's. I made it through their front door and see Jack cooking lunch. He's making his famous homemade baked mac n cheese. He must to have not heard me come in because when he turned around I swear he crapped himself. "Harper, baby girl. You need a bell on you. I'm to old for surprise attacks!" We both giggle while he holds his chest. Henry comes from the the bathroom and sees me. "Harper!" He walks over and gives me a huge hug. "What have you been up to this past week?" Jack asks while stirring the melted cheese on the stove. Henry lets go and opens the fridge and pours me a glass of homemade lemonade. "I went to the apartment and found out it needed more then a good sweeping. It was kind of gross so I had to clean it up. There was old food the fridge, I needed to paint the walls and don't even get me started on the bathroom." Jack got grossed out. "Don't even get me started on what i just did to our bathroom!" Henry said while waving his hand in a fanning motion. "His doctor gave him meds to help clear him out since his other meds back him up. It's hell getting old." Jack explains to me. Henry is 67 this year and has not been in the best of health in 10 years after his heart attack. Jack's 62 and they have been married for over 20 years. I look at them and can't help but wish I will find someone who loves me as much as they love each other. Smelly bathroom breaks, adopting a damaged child and raising her like their own flesh and blood and making sure she had the best opportunities in life. I don't know how I will ever be able to make it up to them. "Oh by the way, you got a package in the mail. It came in, i wanna say Thursday." Jack hands me a box. "Thank you, I'll open it when i get home." Henry and Jack looked a little sad when I said home. "Not that this isn't my home, I didn't mean it like that guys im sorry." Jack hugs me while Henry said "Dear every parent or guardian always gets emotional when the young leaves the nest. We may have had you for only 14 years, but to us it's a wonderful life time." Henry joins in the hug. We start to smell something burning. "MY CHEESE!" Jack screams. While he takes care of that Henry showed me the boxes and baskets he picked up for me to pack the rest of my stuff up. I pick up a stack of flat boxes and head to my bedroom. It's kind of sad seeing it like this. Nearly empty. I remember when I got out of the color blue phase and went to green, Jack and I went shopping with Henry's credit card and spent over $1000 on curtains, wall paint, area rug, new bedding, new clothes. Want to know the weird part is? When Henry found out, he asked if we got any plants to go with the green themed. Then we all went to the local green house shop and got me 10 plants. We went to dinner after words. Pizza and wings at Bank and son pizza palace. I still have the cup they got me and the cheap medal I won at a game there that felt like the gold one from the Olympics. I still have all my awards for softball. I got 1st place once the rest are 2nd and 3rd. Every time after a game. They took me to go get ice cream, and maybe a doctor depending how bad i twisted my ankle or something. I go through the photos that hung on my wall. A couple are that Henry and Jack saved for me after the fire. One was me my mom and dad. The other one is the farm that my parents took after they finished building it. I tripled wrapped them. After an hour of packing up my memories Henry comes in. What kind of pizza do you want?" I looked at him confused. I thought mac n cheese was being made. Then we both hear jack swear in the kitchen as quietly as be could. "Don't ask." Henry said with a smirk on his face. "Buffalo if that's okay." He smiles and shuts the door. Then not even 3 seconds later the fire alarms go off. "NO NEED TO REMIND ME!" Jack yelled. I obviously snickered quietly. I don't want to add injury to his ego. He takes pride into cooking. This is the 3rd time he messed up dinner since i been here and each time his pride dies a little bit. Once I was finished packing I take everything to my car. Pizza is finally here. We sat at the table for our last meal together for a while. I have more hours coming in at work now that I have more bills to pay and it's gonna take me a while to get use to being on my feet for 10-12 hours a day for 6 days. "Hey Henry don't forget about the you know what." Jack winked at him. It took him a second then it hit him. "Be right back." Henry gets up and heads to the hutch. I look at jack. "Hows the grease infested gassy low budget pizza?" He asks. I cover my mouth and try to say "very greasy". Even though buffalo pizza is on my top 5 favorite foods. Henry places an envelope with my name on it in front of me. I wipe my hands and open it. There was a check for $25,000 written to me. I chocked. Jack says "see what did i tell you! Cheap pizza kills people." Henry pats me on the back. After I finally got it down, I look at them wide eyed. Henry sat down and grabbed my hand and Jack grabbed the other. "The pack has been raising money for you for the past 14 years and once you were on your own everyone wanted to make sure that you'll be okay and set for a while. The Alpha dropped it off a couple days ago." I sat there in silence shocked that everyone cared. After I helped cleaned up from dinner, it was getting dark. I had to leave. After many hugs and tears I was off. It's about a 30 minute drive. When I make it to the back road its a straight shot from there. I had my window down a bit letting in some summer night time air in and thinking about the check. What would i spend it on? All the sudden, something runs across the road making me slam on my breaks and drifted. The car nearly tipped over i managed to stop and stayed on the road. After collecting myself I step out to see what the hell I almost hit. It was 10 at night so it was hard to see anything. I walk to the side of the road away from the blinding head lights. I stand there for a minute then I hear something moving. It was big. I feel my nails getting longer. I was ready to change in order to protect myself. I let me voice change and let out a growl. I stood there for a couple of minutes. Whatever it was there is gone. I head back to the car when something behind me knocked me over. I changed into my werewolf and was ready to fight. I don't see anything! Then again something behind me pounces on me stretching my shoulder. I let out a roar. Then something bit my leg and tried to drag me into the field. I cant see anything because the head lights were blinding me. I sat up and stretched it on the face and it let go. After it yelped it ran off. I quickly changed back and limped to my car. Naked I got in and drove off. It must to have been a rogue. I was covered in blood from my shoulder wound. I reached over my seat and grabbed a blanket and covered myself. When i made it to the apartment I got out and wrapped myself in the blanket grabbed my bag and ran to my front door. I opened it and slammed the door shut and locked it. I drop my bag in pain and head to my bathroom. I opened the medicine cabinet mirror and got out gauze and tape. When I cleaned it off, it was a bite mark. A huge one. I covered it up and checked my ankle. Same thing. Once I cleaned myself up and covered everything I called Doctor Milo and asked for a blood test to see if I caught anything from whatever or who ever bit me twice. Obviously i had to leave a voicemail since it was late. I head to the bedroom and stare out my window to see if I can see anything. Nothing but a street light across the street and a field. I head to the kitchen and grab a stiff drink to help me settle my nerves. Then another for the pain. Then another just because I can. After my fifth just because i can drink, I started to feel really good. I just sat there at my couch replaying what happened and wondering who the hell that was and why they had attacked me.