The Last Female *Complete*

Coming Of Age

After being yelled at in the car the whole time home. My aunt is finally past the danger aspect and she's excited I shifted. 

I ate some breakfast, shifting made me hungrier than I expected.

     "I need to talk to you. I know you are having a great time with your friends but after your party we have new plans," she mentions

    "What do you mean by new plans? Are we moving again?" I ask

    "Well sort of.. out of state. To Oregon, but it's because I'm in contact with our old pack, and now that you are 18 they've invited us back. Well technically we've always been part of this pack, but they want us to come back now," she is telling me this and all I can picture is everything I've built up crashing around me, my friends, my college applications, everything I worked for doesn't matter anymore.

     "Fawn? Did you hear me?" She touches my shoulder

     I nudge myself away and stand up from the kitchen table, "We are leaving again? Why did I even bother making friends? Why didn't you take me back months ago then?" I keep shouting louder and louder until I need to take a step back.

     "Do you want to go now?" The words escape her lips

     "Why not? I don't see a point in staying," I grumble angrily and storm out of the kitchen/dining room to my bedroom and start packing. Tears are rolling down my face and it doesn't help when I find a group picture of my friends. I hold it close, squeezing my eyes shut as tight as I can to fight back my tears. 

The next morning my aunt and I pack up the truck to move. 

     "Hey. I got you something..." my aunt gives me a box and we hope in the van to Oregon. I unwrap the brown paper and open it to an iPhone. Not the newest model, but I finally got my own phone! Without having to think about minutes.

First thing I do is text my friends and let them know I moved away. They all respond with 'We'll miss you's" and stuff like that.

After hours of driving we pull up to a house in the middle of a wooded area. There are pine trees and old trucks out front. A few houses sat behind the main shack on the property, but they were difficult to see.

One guy, I recognize, comes out. He was the guy who went missing at Zach's party. 

     "Hi Lillian, it's nice to see you again," he says while giving my aunt a hug.

     "And you're Fawn right?" He asks

I want my aunt to know this man may not be able to be trusted. I feel uncomfortable after seeing him at the party. Where I shifted to be exact. And now here all of a sudden, no way. 

     "Yes, aren't you that guy that was at Zachs house the other night?" I reply

    "Well yes, but we weren't aware of your presence at the time, we were focusing on the siblings," 

The siblings. Zach and delilah. What was he going to do with them? I can feel myself go pale. 

     "They are extreme trouble," is all he mutters then changes the subject.

     "Anyways, my name is Walter. This is the main hall we are standing out front of. This is where we gather for large meals, meetings, and we place our less fortunate members here when we need a place for them to stay. It's not permanent, but at least they can say they have a home," he leads us inside.

The shack ends up looking much bigger on the inside, there's a large table where everyone can gather an eat to my left, and to my right under the loft is the kitchen, going up the stairs looks like it would lead up to bedrooms and more. I wonder if they'd let me up there, or if it's a 'group' thing.

     "This is where I work If you ever need anything, If someone says I'm in my office then I'm probably here at the main lodge," he says with a smile. Then he leads us out the back and through a small garden area out back to the main property. It is much bitter then it looks from the front since almost everything was covered by trees and the lodge. There has to be at least ten or so houses here. 

     "Fawn, that's where your parents lived when you were young," Aunt Lillian says while pointing out a little two story yellow house amongst the trees. 

     "Yup, and that's where you two will be placed. We've kept the place nice for you, Fawn. Since you were to inherit their home when you were 18 we left everything the way it was left. The only thing we did was have someone come through and clean twice a month so dust didn't collect," Walter tells me and holds out a house key.

     "I'm not 18 yet... isn't this your property?" I ask

   "You're a month away from owning it. Just take it anyways," he says

I grab the keys. I get my own house too. I never expected a house for my birthday.

     "Thank you," I shyly replied. It's a huge gift so I feel awkward.

     "Do you want to go in?" Aunt Lillian asks

I didn't realise we had walked up to the small porch of the home. I unlock it and we all step inside. It smells like honey and oranges. Not stale or old like I thought. In the entryway is a white staircase that leads most likely to bedrooms. I look over to the right and on the wall between two arching doorways into the living room there's a family photo hanging. There's my mom and dad and myself all together outside, I'm assuming in the back yard of this house. I look alot like my dad surprisingly. It had been so long I almost forgot how it felt to look at them... I could hear the faintest whispers of their voices reminding me of what they used to sound like. It was overwhelming almost.

     "Well I'll leave you two to get settled. I'll drop off the title to the house in an hour or two when I get everything all taken care of. We are having a.. party... to celebrate your moving in. You don't have to come, but most of the people and members would be there so you could meet them," he says then leaves quickly closing the door behind him.