September 17, 2005

She raised her arms and basked in the light of the glorious moon. She loved the night. It intensified everything, sights, smells, sounds, tastes; and bathed them in its beautiful silvery rays of light.

Across the woods, she could hear the rest of the pack celebrating the coming of the harvest moon. It was always the greatest time of the year, this year especially. Her grin deepened as she thought about what the coming of the full moon would mean this year.

Of course full moons were always sacred to the loups-garous; no one could resist the change in its presence. As a result, the most sacred traditions, and important trials, always took place during full moons. As they approached, the pack's energy would escalate and rapidly become out of control. If her father hadn't threatened them with humiliation and death, they probably would've torn apart the entire town. Unchecked incidents like this were what had led to all the prejudice against werewolves.

Of all the moons, the harvest moons had always been the most anticipated. It was the time when the moon seemed to swell to thrice its size and radiated enough of its sweet beams to light the entire forest like a carnival. Loups-garous are at their peak during the harvest moon and, by tradition, hunt its most dangerous prey by the moon's brightest light (excluding humans).

But the hunt wasn't what excited her, her birthday was. This year, Gabriella Montez would turn fifteen, the age of the change. Soon she'd be able to run with the pack instead of sitting at home with the silly pups. Then no one would be able to laugh at her ideas and call her "puppy." She hated being the youngest. But it wouldn't matter anymore.

She was sitting back thinking about how to wipe the smirk off their faces when she felt a change in the air. The sweet, carefree flow had been replaced with an intensity that warned her to run for her life. Something was terribly wrong.

The screams and the smell of smoke only confirmed these suspicions as she sprinted back to the village. She burst through the clearing and staggered backwards at the sight in front of her. She felt numb as she watched the fires devour the only home she'd ever known.

She was pulled out of her trance by the sorrowful wail emitting from a few feet away from her. "They did it on purpose," the woman cried hugging her baby. "They're trying to burn us out!"

"Get her into the truck. Now!" a male voice shouted back.

Everything turned into a swirling blur of confusion as everyone shouted out directions and piled into vehicles before speeding away. But in the midst of the chaos one thing was for certain, it wasn't safe here anymore.

"Well find her!" a voice said. The voice sounded desperate and overwhelmed but the authority in his voice was unmistakable. Gabriella ran towards the voice and threw her arms around its source.

"Daddy," she sobbed.

Javier sighed in relief and gave her a bone crushing squeeze. Then he quickly whisked her away and put her into a waiting van.

"I love you Ella, never doubt that. And don't worry, everything will be okay." Then he slammed the door and the van sped away.

Gabriella screamed as she watched her father's silhouette become fainted and fainter, until it was no longer visible. She fought against the strong arms that were preventing her from unlocking the door and jumping out of the van. She screamed and cried, hit, bit, punched, kicked, and flailed for two hours straight, but the arms never let up. Finally the nightmare gave way to darkness and Gabriella passed into a dreamless sleep and the arms finally loosened.

The driver chuckled and said to his passenger, "She's a fighter isn't she? Just like her father." The first part was in good humor, the second was solemn.

"Yes:" was the passenger's only reply. He stared down at the girl on his lap. Her perfect skin was stained by tears and her usually bright eyes were swollen and puffy. He'd make sure that nothing like this would ever happen to her again. "I promise." he whispered in her ear. Then Troy redirected his attention to his companion and said, "So, how long until we get to Albuquerque?"

A/N- Thank you SO MUCH for reading. Please press the pretty blue button and tell me what you think! :-)