"Meeting ''
Chapter 1.
Maria's POV
Where are they? They should be here by now, I thought. I walked over to a tree and started climbing to get a better look. But when I reached the branch and grabbed ahold of it, it snapped. I sighed and looked back over the crowd, seeing my friends all in a group on the other side of the park waving to me. I waved back and signaled that I would stay over here for a while before trying to cross the over packed park full of people here for the Halloween festival. Since it was Halloween, everyone was dressed up in stupid and ridiculous costumes. My friends made a pact to be different Disney princesses without consulting me of course. Sam was the only one who actually talked to me in the girls group, like me, being more of a tomboy, I was considered one of the guys. Emma was snow white and her boyfriend, Neal was the prince. Lacey was Belle and her boyfriend Alex was the beast. Grace, being the prettiest of the group was of course, sleeping beauty, and she was in between guys so she had no boyfriend at the moment which she was fine with. I was more of a bad girl and didn't like any of the princesses, so I made a typical Mal outfit from the new Disney movie, Descendants. The only difference is that I changed the base colors to black, red, and silver to match my black hair that has red and silver highlights. I climbed out of the tree and sat down at one of the nearby benches to weigh my options. A: I sit here and be super bored. B: brave the crowd and go to my friends. Probably ending up bored there too. C: text Emma and see if she's bored too and wants to go home. So far, C sounded the best so I texted Emma and within minutes I saw her walking towards me. Once we were out of the thick part of the crowd, we stopped and looked around and I noticed a strange boy on the far side of the park in all black leather and a bowler hat. I turned to Emma and told her to go to her house and I would meet her there in a little while. As soon as she left, I turned straight into the crowd and weaved my way to the other side, looking over my shoulder every few seconds. Once I reached the other side, I turned and quickly spotted the mysterious boy still following me. Running down the street to the other side of the park, I quickly ducked into Emma's house and looked out the window. He was gone. I wasn't sure if I should feel safe or worried. I turned away from the window to find the worried face of Emma. I explained that we were being followed and told her that we needed to leave. I volunteered my house, if you could call it a house, for us to spend the night. It was about a mile away and we could get there before dark. Quietly, we snuck out the back door and ran into the woods. After about 25 minutes of walking, we emerged from the woods to a somewhat terrible sight. My house, which was located on an abandoned road right inside the town walls, was ablaze and collapsed in a matter of seconds. Losing my house wasn't what bothered me, it was the boy, dressed the same as the one from before, walking towards us with a large, medieval looking dagger. I knew he started the fire by the smug, taunting look on his face. He shoved past us and nearly knocked Emma over. That made my blood boil. "You stupid, incompetent boy!" I yelled. "Don't you ever come near my friends again!" He obviously didn't like me calling him names because he spun around and marched up to me and scowled at me. "Yeah, and what are you going to do to stop me." He threatened. "Whatever it takes." I said confidently, taking him by surprise. He muttered something under his breath and turned to walk away. I said, "What was that? I can't hear you?" He ignored me and kept walking. "I said I can't hear you!" I yelled. He spun around and yelled, "Fine do you really want to know what I said?" I smugly replied, "No, I couldn't care less about what you said, bye." I walked towards my house, Emma already ahead of me when he grabbed my shoulders, spun me around to face him and was about to punch me when I caught his hand mid strike. "Don't get me mad." I warned. "Or you won't live to see the morning." I released his hand and turned to walk away. As I did, I felt warm liquid run down my arm. I looked to see blood dripping onto the pavement and the handle of the dagger in my arm. I felt nothing. No pain, nothing at all. I smiled wickedly and turned to face the boy. His face was a mixture of shock and terror. I laughed and said, "It will take a lot more than a small dagger to kill me." The boy started to slowly back away and shake violently. I felt the rush of adrenalin running through my body and into my heart. My eyes dilated until they were fully black and I felt my nails grow longer and pointier. The wind was blowing and I felt it whip through my newly grown black fur. My face contorted and stretched. Once the transformation was complete, my eyes turned gold and I looked to the rising moon and howled. There is only one way to describe that feeling, you feel alive. Not a care in the world, like you could run free all your life and never look back. That was what it meant to be a wolf and I treasured it with all my being. No one hurt my pack and Emma was my pack. I was a lone wolf before then and roamed the world, looking for others like me. Never finding another, I met Emma, someone who accepted me for who I was and didn't fear me like most others. She was the only one I had dared to tell my secret to. Now I was looking into her eyes, human to wolf and saw my reason for living. Protecting my pack. No matter how big or small it is. I turned towards the boy who was now in tears and shaking so much he fell again and again as he tried to crawl away. I hated to do it but I couldn't let him live. So I dragged him into the woods and finished him off. I couldn't let the word get around that Moonbloods were real. Then Emma and I would be hunted, if they ever discovered me, I would be forced to flee to Moonacre valley. There, I would be protected from the cursed human race. No one mortal can cross the boundary and live. Sadly, that meant losing my pack and best friend, scratch that, only friend, and I was not about to let that happen if it meant running for the rest of my life. We needed to leave soon though, or the people who sent that boy would be out looking for him. I ran out of the woods and towards Emma and shifted back into my human form. Then we walked over to inspect my house, or should I say 'pile of ashes.' I shrugged and turned to the woods. Don't tell me, you actually thought I would keep anything valuable in a shack of a house on an abandoned road. No way, I figured someone would hunt me down at some point so I had a backup house. An old, hollow tree in the woods was my real home. It held all my valuables and belongings, stolen or not. After about five minutes of walking through the woods, we came to my house. It was a tall, hollow oak tree with a small door covered by vines and flowers. Once inside I walked over to a table carved from birch and set the dagger down to inspect. When I shifted to a wolf, the dagger fell out of my arm and the wound healed. Perks of being a Moonblood. Emma sat across from me and picked up the dagger. She shrugged and handed it to me. Looking more closely, I noticed an emblem carved into the wood. It looked like the head of a lion above a heart with snakes swirling up the sides of the picture to support a crescent moon at the top. It meant nothing to any average person but my breath hitched in my throat. The De Noir's were after me! Why, what did they want? Did they know what I was? How did they find me? Why did they send a mortal to find me? I had a billion more questions running through my mind, but I heard Emma clear her throat and looked up. She was looking at something behind me and the expression on her face told me we were in trouble. I slowly turned and saw three police officers standing in the doorway with guns. We stood up and raised our hands in surrender walking out the door and into the forest. As soon as we climbed out the door, I slammed a stick down the entrance and waited long enough to hear the satisfying yell from the police officer. Then we took off running into the woods, only looking back to make sure Emma was following me. Once far enough away, I turned to Emma and said, "This is it, I have to go to moonacre. I can't risk you getting hurt because of me. It's the only safe place I can go." I started to get choked up but she stopped me and said, "I'm not leaving you so whatever this moonacre brings, we will go through it together." "I wish you could come, but your life is at stake. I can't let you." I hugged her and turned to leave but she grabbed my arm and looked me in the eye and said, "I will find a way." Then she turned and ran in the other direction. I turned and started running the other direction tears streaked down my face, the wind whipping in my hair. As I ran, I transformed into the wolf and picked up speed, making triple the time I was before. Soon I made it to a large rise and turned to look back. I had just done the unthinkable and was leaving my pack. I kept telling myself it was for her safety and turned to the sight in front of me. Down in the valley was a small town darkened by lack of sunlight due to the clouds. In the distance, I could hear an ominous bell chiming in the church tower located in the heart of a small town. To the north, a large castle lay, with four towers in the corners. To the south lay a mansion with multiple towers and large spacious gardens with many meadows surrounding it. Down below me, I saw a large, Iron Gate looming over the road. I made my way down the steep slope and to the gate. Beyond these walls lay safety, or was moonacre really as safe as it was thought.