CHAPTER TEN
1450 Words
Zelda's Pov
I couldn’t sleep.
Not after what I heard.
I sat at the edge of my bed, phone in hand, still shaking. I didn’t even know why I went there. I mean, I did. I just hadn’t expected that.
Earlier that day, after how Maya had shut me down publicly, I remembered she and Louis were having a fallout. So, I thought, why don't I mess around a little, paying her back in a way that's going to hurt.
I approached one of Louis’s friends in the hallway. Luke. He's one of the dudes Louis hangs around with at school. He's been into me for a while now… I mean, who wouldn't be? I smiled my best fake smile and asked casually, "Hey, do you know where Louis lives?"
He hesitated. Probably knew I was up to something.
"Why?"
"Just want to return something," I lied.
He still wouldn’t give it up. So I pulled a twenty out of my wallet and dangled it in front of him. Bribery always worked with boys like him.
He gave me the street and house number.
But before I walked away, he added, "You probably shouldn’t go today. Maya said she was going to see him."
That stopped me cold.
Just hearing her name set me off. She was always one step ahead, always the center of attention. She had him, and I knew it.
Seeing her with him, again? No way. I couldn’t let her get the last word.
So I went home. I didn't feel like going but I had to. I needed to know what they were going to be doing.
I waited outside Louis’s house, behind the tree line. Watching. Waiting.
I had planned to record their little hookup, maybe get some audio, some moaning, something good enough to embarrass her for weeks. I had already opened the recorder app and aimed the camera when I heard it.
"You’re not human. You’re a werewolf."
I nearly dropped the phone.
It had to be a joke. A prank.
But the way he said it. The way she reacted.
She didn’t laugh. She didn’t even deny it. She froze.
And I realized I wasn’t supposed to be there.
I backed away slowly, heart pounding in my chest, and made my way straight home.
No detours, just straight home.
Straight to my room.
I was about to sleep, or try to, when I changed my mind.
I walked down the hall to my dad’s office.
He was on the couch, still in his shirt sleeves, typing something on his tablet.
"Dad," I said.
He didn’t look up. "Shouldn’t you be in bed?"
"I need to tell you something. Something big."
He raised an eyebrow. "Zelda, it’s late. Can we do this tomorrow?"
"No. You need to hear this."
He gave me the go-ahead sigh, leaned back. "Alright. What is it?"
"Maya Hawke. She’s a werewolf."
He actually laughed. "What? Zelda, come on. This again? Don’t waste your time with the club drama. Go to sleep."
I pulled out my phone.
Opened the recording.
Played the part where Louis said it. Clear.
"You’re a werewolf."
My father sat up straight, face falling into something sharp. Alarmed. Pale.
I stopped the recording.
He looked at me like I had just dropped a bomb on the living room rug.
I held my phone close to my chest. "Told you."
He didn’t say a word. Just stared for a moment, then slowly leaned back again.
I turned and walked back to my room.
The next morning, just as I was about to leave for school, he called me back.
"Zelda."
I turned, my backpack slung over one shoulder. "Yeah?"
"Don’t say anything to anyone at all. Keep this between us for now."
I frowned. "Why? I thought you'd want everyone to know."
"We need to be smart about this. What exactly did you hear again?"
I sighed and went over the conversation in detail. Everything I remembered. Every word.
He nodded slowly, rubbing his chin.
"So? What are you going to do?"
He smiled. The kind of smile I hated. The cold mischievous type.
"Don’t worry, darling. Leave it to me. I have everything under control."
Louis’s Pov
I barely got any sleep.
School felt like a blur. Nothing felt right. I kept thinking about Maya. About what I told her. About the way she looked when she left.
I hadn’t meant for it to go like that.
I just wanted her to know the truth about who she is.
But the way she looked at me, like I broke something in her, I couldn’t shake it.
I walked the halls like I was in a daze. I was getting tired of it all. The noise, the people, none of it mattered.
Just as I turned, my eyes caught Zelda.
Laughing with her friends near the lockers. Bright, too bright. Like nothing had happened.
But I knew she was there.
She heard.
If she told anyone, Maya would be exposed. And she wasn’t ready.
Zelda caught my eye. She waved at me energetically and I waved back at her smiling and watched her lean into one of her friends.
I knew that look. It wasn’t good.
***
I hadn’t seen Maya since that day.
She hadn’t replied to any of my texts. No calls. Not even a glimpse at school. It was like she vanished. She's good at doing that.
I had just woken up from a dream. Maya had been in it. I was holding her, trying to calm her down. She was shaking, afraid, whispering things I couldn’t hear.
Then I woke up to silence.
I rolled over, grabbed my phone. Still nothing. No messages. Just a dead screen and that feeling in my chest that something was off.
I heard raised voices. Movement. Commotion outside.
I pulled the blinds down, still half-asleep, and stopped cold.
There was a crowd gathering in front of the Hawkes’ house.
People I recognized. Neighbors. Angry ones. Then my eyes locked on two figures standing near the center of it all.
Zelda.
And her dad.
Mayor Monroe.
My chest tightened. This couldn’t be good.
I jumped out of bed, pulled on jeans and a jacket, ran a quick rinse of water over my face, and grabbed my keys.
Minutes later, I was parked across the street, angled just enough to see but not be seen.
No one noticed me. All eyes were on the Hawkes’ porch.
Maya had just stepped outside. Her parents stood beside her. She looked confused. Scared.
The Mayor’s voice carried, clear and commanding. “We have reason to believe that your daughter may be a threat to this community.”
Mrs. Hawke looked stunned. “Excuse me?”
Mr. Hawke stepped forward. “What are you talking about? Why would you say something like that?”
Zelda stood beside her father, spoilt and composed. I could tell she was enjoying this far too much.
Mayor Monroe didn’t hesitate. “Zelda overheard a conversation. A very serious one. About your daughter not being human.”
The silence that followed was unhealthy.
I could see Mr. Hawke’s expression shift from confusion to shock.
“She’s a child,” he said slowly. “She’s our daughter. What are you even accusing her of?”
“I’m asking for a simple test,” the Mayor said. “Wolfsbane. If she’s human, she survives it. If she’s not, well, we’ll know.”
Mrs. Hawke gasped. “You want to poison our daughter?”
“It’s not poison to a human,” Zelda chimed in. “It’s just a plant. She’ll be fine.”
Maya looked frozen. Her lips moved, but no sound came out.
Mr. Hawke turned to her. “Maya, what is he talking about?”
She didn’t answer.
I could feel her fear from across the street. Her pulse. Her heartbeat. Even Tyler was restless.
Maya, I thought. Hold on.
She looked up finally, eyes scanning the crowd. They landed on her mother first, then her dad.
“I don’t understand,” she whispered. “Why are you doing this?”
Zelda folded her arms. “Because we deserve to know who we’re living next to.”
Mr. Hawke raised his hand. “Enough.” He turned to Mayor Monroe. “You’re not laying a finger on my daughter unless you have actual proof.”
“She is the proof,” the Mayo
r said. “Let her take the test. Or everyone here will assume the worst.”
People in the crowd murmured. The tension was growing by the second.
I needed to do something. But I couldn’t move yet. Not without exposing myself too.
- Writer
