There was a wolf. Its coat was grey, and one of its ears flopped over, which would have made it cute had it not been for the size of the wolf. It was huge. Bigger than her father, and that was saying something.
Ramona watched from the distance as the wolf ran alongside several other figures, each of them fainter than the figure in the middle of the pack. Ramona sat down to watch as two of the ghost-wolves jostled the other one for the position in the front. The wolf would not relent, pushing forward and driving the pack faster.
All of a sudden, the grey wolf fell back, letting the other two wolves take its place. Ramona watched as the rest of the pack ran off, disappearing from sight. The grey wolf stopped. It sniffed the air, catching a scent. Ramona watched as the wolf turned around and looked directly at her.
Its eyes were golden.
The night was quiet save for the sounds of a few crickets chirping and the occasional hoot of an owl. Ramona walked silently through the forest, trying to make as little noise as possible. These were the nights that she enjoyed best. The nights of the new moon, when the forest seemed to sleep.
Ramona reached a small clearing and sat down next to a tall oak tree. She took a knife out of the bag she'd brought with her and studied it for a moment. The knife was a gift from her mother after her first successfully controlled transformation. It was a symbol of freedom, and not having to be locked up on nights when the moon was at it's strongest.
Ramona took a block of wood out of her bag and set to work. She had never had an easy time being a werewolf, not like her sister had. Cerise was a natural. The moon called to her, but it hadn't picked her. She hadn't been the one chosen for a destiny that she didn't even want.
Being a werewolf wasn't easy for anyone, but for Ramona it was even harder. For the first twelve years of her life, Ramona hadn't been able to control her transformations. Every moon cycle when the moon was at it's most powerful, she would be locked in a room. Ramona hadn't minded being locked in the room. It had kept the beast at bay. Cerise had thought that it was unreasonable, but then again her older sister didn't know of the many times that the beast wanted to kill Cerise. It was better for Ramona to be locked up.
It was her mother who came up with the idea of channeling Ramona's energy elsewhere. They had tried many things, but woodcarving was the one thing that truly put Ramona at peace.
Ramona leaned back against the tree, taking her eyes off of the wood and letting her hands work from memory. The stars twinkled in the sky. Ramona's eyes wandered, finally resting on the castle of Ever After High in the distance. The stone walls that confined Ramona seemed less threatening in the darkness of the full moon. Ramona sighed and returned her attention to the block that was slowly shaping into a castle.
She did not leave the clearing until dawn.
"Where were you last night?"
Ramona ignored her roommate's comment and pulled a set of fresh clothing out of her wardrobe. On her side of the room, Justine Dancer huffed. Ramona felt the corner of her mouth quirk up.
When Justine had first met Ramona, she had been terrified of her, and with reasonable cause. Most of the school was terrified of her, just not for the right reasons. They were scared of the future Big Bad Wolf, not the wolf that was already within. Unlike the rest of the idiots in their class, Justine had gotten over her fear, but she didn't trust Ramona, and she questioned everything that she did. Which was why they weren't friends.
"Are you excited?" Justine asked.
Ramona turned around to face her roommate. "About what?"
"The new fairy tale exchange program," Justine sighed dreamily and sat down on her bed, "I know that I am. All of the new princesses, and princes, and fairies."
Ramona grunted and pulled on her boots. She could live without a fairy tale exchange program. Who cared about people from other school going to Ever After High for a few weeks? Definitely not Ramona.
She pulled her bag off of a peg on the wall, and left the room before Justine could say another word. She was ambushed before she made it ten steps out of her dormitory room.
"This fairy tale exchange program is an absolutely brilliant idea," Peter said, falling into step beside Ramona. "Are you excited?"
"No." Ramona eyed Peter Huntsman suspiciously. Peter was the closest thing that she had to a best friend. He was a strange kid, with flaming red hair and freckles that covered his entire face. He looked nothing like his cousin.
"Of course you aren't," Peter said, "You're Ramona Badwolf. You're too cool to be excited about anything."
"You're not usually excited about these kinds of things either."
"True," Peter confessed, "but it's a whole new crop for the best woodcarver ever after to sell his work to. Speaking of which, so you have anything new for me?"
Ramona pulled a brown paper bag out of her pack and handed it to Peter. This was how their friendship had started, their seventh grade year in woodshop. Peter was horrible at woodworking, but he was the only son of a world famous woodcutter, so he was supposed to be good at it. Ramona, on the other hand, was not supposed to be. The teacher had assumed that Peter was being nice to Ramona and passing his work off as hers, so every grade that she was supposed to get went to him instead.
Peter had been perfectly content with it until people started asking him if they could buy his work. He had begged for her help, and for some odd reason, Ramona had given it. Thus their friendship was born, with Ramona as the artist and Peter as the seller. Though no one knew that Ramona was the one actually making the pieces.
"A castle, a princess, and three knights." Peter took each figurine out of the bag. "I have no idea how you do it, Ramona. These are the most detailed woodcarvings that I've ever seen."
"I don't sleep."
"Right," Peter said sarcastically, "These will be gone before lunch. Oh, and Briar Beauty wanted to know if I-well, you-take any orders. Apparently, she's throwing a party to welcome the new fairy tale exchange students and would like to give them each a woodcarving related to their story."
"I'll think about it," Ramona said, "How many fairy tale exchange students are there?"
"About thirty. And the party's on this upcoming Friday, the same day that the kids arrive."
"I can do thirty carvings in six days," Ramona said. After all, she hadn't been sleeping recently. Not since the dreams started.
"Great," Peter said, "By the way, you're going to Briar's party, and if that means that I have to render you unconscious, I will."
Ramona laughed. "I'd like to see you try."
"I will," Peter said, "If it means that you'll go to the party."
"Fine," Ramona sighed, "I'll go to the party with you."
"Have I ever mentioned that you're the bestest friend ever?" Peter was practically bouncing.
Ramona's eyes narrowed. "Don't hug me."
Peter stopped bouncing. "Okay. I won't."
"Oh, good. You're here."
Ramona looked up from the dragon that she was carving as her sister entered the room. Cerise slid off her hood and locked the door behind her. Ramona returned to her carving as Cerise took a seat besides her on her bed.
"What's that?" Cerise asked, kicking off her boots and crossing her feet under her.
"It's a dragon," Ramona said, "It's for one of the new fairy tale exchange students."
"Cool," Cerise said. Ramona glanced at her sister as the two of them fell into a tense silence. Obviously, there was something that Cerise wanted to talk about.
"So, is there something that you wanted to discuss, or is this a social call?" Ramona asked. Despite the two sisters being close, they didn't often visit one another for the sake of just talking.
"Um," Cerise paused, "I actually came to talk to you about the fairy tale exchange program. I was hanging out with Raven, who's on the welcoming crownmittee, and, well, she said that there are a few wolves coming."
Ramona shrugged. She knew this. It was on the sheet from Briar. "A few other wolves in our school won't kill us."
"Actually," Cerise's voice raised a decibel, "One of those wolves is Marric Badwolf."
Ramona winced. Marric was her older cousin, and, while he didn't know about Cerise, he knew about Ramona, and he hated her. Throughout their childhood, he did everything in his power to make Ramona feel unwelcome. It was a miracle that Ramona's wolf had never snapped at him.
"We can deal with Marric," Ramona said. She wasn't that scared little girl anymore.
"There's also Lucia Badwolf and Sabel Lupus," Cerise said. Ramona nodded. Sabel wasn't that bad on her own, but with Lucia(who was also their cousin) she could be deadly. Still, neither of the girls were dumb enough to go after Ramona. "And, then there's the Howler twins."
The carving fell out of Ramona's hands. Without saying anything, Ramona bent over to pick up the small dragon figurine. "The Howler twins?" she asked after several minutes, "As in Romulus and Remus Howler?"
"Are there any other Howler twins?" the lighthearted note in Cerise's voice sounded forced.
"We can dream," Ramona muttered, "So, what are we going to do about them?"
Cerise shrugged. "What can we do about them?"
"We could always kill them."
"Please tell me that you're joking," Cerise said, "We just have to make sure that they stay quiet."
"About us? At our own school?" Ramona almost laughed at that. "They know our secret. There is no way that they are going to not use the information against us."
"They haven't used it against us so far," Cerise offered.
"That's because they were on the other side of the world," Ramona said, "Now they're going to be at our school."
"We just have to make sure that Remus keeps Romulus quiet," Cerise said.
"And how do you suggest that we do that?" Cerise stared at Ramona, and she felt her stomach drop. "No way. There is no way that I am doing anything close to that." She hadn't enjoyed it much the first time anyway, and they had been only eleven then. She hadn't changed much from her eleven year old self in terms of Remus Howler. The thought of kissing him was still disgusting.
"Okay," Cerise muttered, "So, we find a different way to make sure that they stay quiet."
Ramona sat there for a moment, staring at Cerise. "Does Daring know?" she asked.
Cerise nodded. "Of course he does. We're dating. Why does it matter?"
"I was just thinking," Ramona said, "If Daring knows, and Raven knows, do Darling and Dexter know?"
"I think that Darling suspects something," Cerise said, "I really don't see how this is going to solve our problem."
"How do you think Darling would react if you told her the news?" Ramona asked, "She wouldn't freak out and tell headmaster Grimm, would she?"
Cerise shook her head. "No. That's not her style. What are you trying to get at?"
"What if we keep a Charming with us at all times?" Ramona asked, knowing that her plan was a weak one. But it was a better plan than the one that Cerise had. "They are royalty. Even an idiot knows that their parents have a say in how the school is run. The Howler twins wouldn't threaten either of us with them around. Daring can be pretty intimidating when he wants to be, and Romulus would be too busy staring at Darling to even threaten us."
"What if that doesn't work?"
Ramona shrugged. "Then we have Raven send them to another realm."
Cerise nodded. "It's the best idea we have. I'll tell Darling tomorrow."
"I want to be there when you do," Ramona said, "How about we meet tomorrow in the enchanted forest…" She trailed off as she heard the lock turn. Standing in the doorway was Justine, looking back and forth between the two girls.
"Well," Cerise said, eying Ramona's roommate, "I've got to go."
"Right," Ramona said as Cerise tied her shoes and left the room.
"So," Justine said, closing the door behind herself, "What was that all about?"
"It's none of your business."
"Right," Justine sat down on her bed, "Did you buy one of Peter's figurines?"
Ramona looked down at the unfinished dragon that she was holding in her hand. "Something like that," she muttered, and placed the figurine in her bag. She ignored Justine, even as she started to play her music.
Right now, she had bigger things to worry about.
Hey guys,
You voted and the answer was an all around "YES!". So here it is. For those of you who are wondering, this takes place about a month or so after 'Who's Afraid?'. I'm actually really excited about this fic, so thanks to all of you guys for helping me get this off the ground.
See ya soon,
Meg