White Wolf’s Curse

CASSANDRA

I look at myself in the mirror. I think I am not that bad, but maybe I have been trying to scare people away a bit too much. I make myself dark and uninviting.

I’m procrastinating.

I can sense all the eyes behind me. They are all watching me, waiting for answers. I sigh, turn around and lean on my vanity. “So they were fighting over telling us something.”

Calab stands up. “We better not have to move again.” I know what he means, he just found a girl that he likes. Joined the football team. He fits in here. He does not want to move again. None of them do.

I shake my head. “No, but after I tell you, you may wish we had to move.”

They are all waiting, watching me with baited breath. So, I continue. “They are werewolves. We are ones too. They were fighting over telling us. Dad didn’t want to but Uncle Jared did.” They look at me like I am insane. I see it. It’s the same look I gave Uncle Jared when he told me. “I know it sounds insane, but it’s true. I watched them shift. Dad and Uncle Jared are huge brown wolves.”

Calab starts the round of laughing. Little Demon on his lap leaps off at the startling sound. Then Bret followed by Brittney. I just shake my head. “You aren’t going to believe it until you see it, are you?”

They are still snickering and laughing. I stand. “Alright follow me.”

I leave the room and holler. “Uncle Jared. They need proof.”

He calls back. “Meet me outside.” He sounds tired. Or maybe he is just pissed about my walk in the woods.

I lead the way. They need to know what we are facing. I’m not so sure that they can handle this. They are delicate people. Even now, Brittney is holding Bret’s hand. I can see the panic on all their faces. Still they need to know. I’ll have to deal with the rest later. I open the front door and bring everyone out to the open driveway. This should be a good place. That’s where he shifted for me before. I am pretty sure that’s the term. It sounds right.

After a few minutes, Uncle Jared comes out in only a pair of shorts. “This is the last time I am doing this tonight. I am getting tired.” He looks at all of them in turn. “This is the real you. Look at it and listen to your sister. It is important.” Then he shifts. It doesn’t take as long as dad, plus he doesn’t look like he is in pain. Dad is probably laying in bed now. He did it twice.

Now, Uncle Jared stands before us as a large brown wolf. I look at the rest of them. “Believe me now?”

They all stare in shock, their jaws hanging open. Uncle Jared runs off. I am assuming he will shift somewhere else so he can get dressed. All you can hear at the moment is the padding of his paws as he runs off.

“I know this is crazy. I almost killed Uncle Jared when he did it to me. But they aren’t going to hurt us. I don’t think that any of them are. Uncle Jared has some other thoughts about that, but that’s his business. More family is going to start showing up, apparently they are supposed to teach me all that I am supposed to know about this. I am supposed to go through the change when I turn eighteen.”

Calab comes forward. “Wait, so we are all going to turn into one of those things.”

“Yeah, when we turn eighteen.”

“I don’t know if that is cool or horrifying.” Calab looks lost in thought. Bret and Brittney aren’t saying anything.

“Look, guys we are still who we are. We are just more than we thought. We have each other. I am not going anywhere. We will work through this together. It’s like having a superpower that you didn’t know you had.”

They still look really lost. “It sucks that you are the one that has to tell us, Dad should have had the guts to tell us.” Bret grumbles.

“Yeah, he thinks that we aren’t going to change. Uncle Jared says it has never happened ever in history. But I guess Dad is delusional.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

They all grumble. Brittney looks at me. “Does Mom know?”

“She knows. She is human all the way, but she knows.”

“So, neither of our parents thought that they should tell us. This is just great.” Calab yells. He starts stomping around.

“Calab, that isn’t going to help anything. Right now, we just need to accept this and learn how to deal with it. You guys have longer to come to terms with this before it truly affects you. I only have two months.” I am just coming to terms with accepting this. I am still freaking out in my mind a little bit. “Can you guys go get ready for dinner? I need to be alone for a minute.”

They grumble but do as I ask. Thankfully I know that my mom cooked. She has started cooking every night since we got here. At least it’s progress.