The New Town
1212 Words
Luciana
I always felt a strange pull towards nature, a connection deeper than what most people claimed to have experienced.
Out here, it felt like every chaos ceased – the woods, landscapes, stretching endlessly, the ruffling of leaves under my feet and animals around me, all felt like one giant web, and somehow, I belonged right in the middle of it.
So when my parents decided out of the blue that we had to move from California to North Alaska, I didn’t really mind.
For most 17-year-olds, leaving behind friends and the life they’ve always known would have been difficult. Luckily, I was not fortunate enough to have any friends to leave, and life… Well, life in California sucked.
And even though we had to spend six days on the road, sleeping in our car because we couldn’t afford motels, I was just happy to get away from that crappy town that sucked the life out of me.
Deep down I wished Alaska would be different, that it’d finally be a place I could call home and find my true self, but I was wrong.
I don’t know why I thought life would be any different here, but it’d only been a day and the only comfort I found was in these long walks through the woods and its natural beauty.
My mother, Elena, once called me an animal. She never understood my desire to frolic in nature, and at some point believed I was in some religious cult.
Of course, just as you might imagine, we went through several arguments and counselling sessions trying to keep me confined in the house, but after several wasted hours and dollar bills, she decided her money was better spent elsewhere.
How could I explain it to her? How could I tell her that she was right? In a way, I was an animal. Not just the kind she taunted me about.
Humans were not supposed to know about us for the safety and peace of both worlds, and it took me growing up to understand why.
We might have been werewolves, but they were the real savages, or at least my parents were.
They were part of the reason I loved these morning walks, it helped me to get away from the chaos they created every morning, and I already knew today would not be any different.
That’s why I was here, back in the woods where I always found my escape. Except that something felt different today as I trailed through these tracks.
I suddenly stopped, my ears perked up.
Far off in the distance, I heard a wolf howling. It felt strange, almost as if it were in pain.
I tried to pick up a scent, anything that could lead me to it, but…nothing.
After walking around the woods for some time, I finally gave up searching.
I heaved a sigh and headed back to our run-down, two story house to prepare for my first day at school, bracing myself for the scolding I would receive.
In all honesty, I don’t know why Elena still bothered about my frequent disappearances. It wasn’t like they never knew where I went. I made sure to leave a note every morning on the refrigerator before heading out.
Maybe it had become a habit, but I wish she would spare me the verbal assault this morning. Having to begin at Tom Sawyer High School was enough to deal with already.
Approaching our front entrance, I sensed my stepfather’s familiar scent. I sighed heavily and tried to gather myself before walking through the door.
Immediately I stepped inside, his eyes locked with mine and instantly his brows furrowed angrily.
“Where the hell have you been?” He sneered, storming towards me.
I instinctively stepped back, darting my eyes away quickly. I knew he hated me looking into his eyes when we spoke. For some reason he considered it disrespectful.
“I went for a walk.” I answered sheepishly.
From the corner of my eye, I could see him throw up his hands in frustration.
“When will you stop this foolish rebellion, Luciana?”
“We moved to a new town for a new start. No one here knows us. Do you realize that anything could happen to you in those woods? You could get mugged, beaten or worse.” He glowered, and then took a deep breath as if trying to calm himself down.
We stood in silence for a while, then Enrique’s gaze softened and he started approaching, his eyes flashed with an unsettling kindness.
“How many times do I have to tell you, huh?” He stopped in front of me, tracing his fingers along my cheek, causing my skin to irk in disgust.
“You are far too precious to me. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
His words would have made me less uncomfortable if I didn’t already know what kind of man Enrique was.
At 16, it had become vividly clear to me. The inappropriate touches, advances and comments, they all contributed to make me despise him more than I already did, and also created a rift between mother and I. Not that we were ever so close to begin with.
But since she started noticing how he acted around me, she seemed to resent me more, feeling I was stealing all her husband’s attention from her.
However, that made me feel even more powerless and angry whenever I was around him, and as his fingers continued tracing a line down my face, I suddenly tilted my face away in irritation.
I could hear mother’s thunderous footsteps descending the stairs quickly and already knew I was in for her nagging. Enrique stepped back, the cold piercing look suddenly returning to his face.
“I’m not doing this with you again this time. Where the hell do you get off from leaving this house without telling anyone where you were going?” She snapped, her eyes red hot with anger.
I heaved a deep breath, and replied calmly, “I left a note on the fridge, mom.”
Elena looked like she was about to lose it. She flung her arms in the air, “Which one? Certainly not the one I checked!” She said, walking rapidly to the refrigerator.
Confused, I followed her, intending to show her the note, but as we reached I couldn’t find it.
“It’s one thing to leave the house without informing anyone, but I’m not going to let you stand there and lie to my face in my own house Luciana!” She sneered, narrowing her eyes at me.
“I’m not lying mom.” I replied, walking towards the fridge, trying to figure out what happened to the note I left.
I looked around, thinking it had fallen off, but could not see it anywhere, then, against my better judgment, decided to check inside the refrigerator, and so opened it.
But before I could react, Elena violently swung the refrigerator door and slammed it into my hand.
I screamed in pain, biting down my lip, but there was no remorse in her eyes as she stood there, glaring at me.
All she said was, “Liar.”
- Writer
