The screaming was the first thing she heard when she woke that morning. Thinking back the screaming has become quite common in the last week
"Why is there no cell service in this god forsaken place?" even through the door I could hear Contessa screeching.
Contessa my older sister, by a minute, could never be with out her friends for more then an hour or two. I found it sad that she needed her friends so much
"Whose smart idea was it to come out to this shit hole of a place anyway? There's nothing here but dirt."
Fuck there's no getting back to sleep now I thought rubbing the sleep out of my brown eyes. I got up and stretched. Not wanting to change out of the tang top and shorts I slept in. I grabbed my iPod and slipped it out of the arm band, Arsenia gave me before she went on her trip to England, to put it on the charger and walked downstairs. Once Contessa got on a role there was just no stopping her. She once started complaining a week before our 13th birthday that it was unfair that she had to share birthday.
"We're twin's mom. We already share DNA and the same face. Cant I have my own special day?"
"But if we do that when would we celebrate Areathena's birth day?" our mother said always trying to show the other side of things.
"I already talked to her about this and we agreed that I would get the real date and she will have the half." This was a lie. Contessa never asked me anything.
"Well" are mom thought. "If Areathena is ok with it. Then that's fine."
That's how everything works. What ever Contessa wants Contessa finds a way to have it.
"Why do I have to be here? It's not like it's her real birthday." Tessa's whining broke my train of though. "My friends have a cabin near by and they asked if I could go."
"But its areathena's birthday, don't you think that you should spend some time with her?" oh Emilio, are older brother, always trying to repair the relationship between me and Tessa. What he doesn't get is that we were never close; even in the womb we fought!
"Arsenia is with her friends. It's not fair." Tessa screamed as I walked into the kitchen.
"Sweetie your little sister had that trip planed for a month." our mom was trying to calm Tessa down with no prevail.
"You know that the rest of this family had things that they wanted to do this month to Contessa. It not just you that was put out on this trip. Dad is missing his golfing trip, mom is missing her tea party, and I'm missing the pre party to my senor ball." Emilio yelled. This in turn gave Tessa the prefect time to start in with her crocodile tears.
"Look what you have done Emilio! It's ok sweetie." Mom always fell for the tears. "You know what after Areathena wakes up and opens her presents Emilio will drive you to your friends and then he can go to his party."
"Thank-you mom." Tessa squealed as she and Lio through their arms around our mom. Tears vanished in seconds to give way to her and Lio's happy dance.
This was my snapping point. "You know what? This is fucked up!" I yelled grabbing all their attentions. "I'm going for a run and when I get back I want everyone to be gone. Leave me my car and get the hell out. That's all I want. Dad can go on his golfing trip, mom can have her tea party, Tessa can go get drunk with her friends, and Lio can go suck face with his girl friend. I will see you all at the end of the month." With that Thena grabbed her keys put on her shoes and a sweatshirt and left with a slam of the door.
Running along her regular path that she took for her morning run, Thena closed her eyes, she knew this path like it was her own home. listening to the familiar sounds of the forest around her, she attempted to block out the thoughts of her family and what they must be doing right about now.
Inhaling deeply and letting out a sigh, she opened her eyes just in time to miss tripping over a log that lay in the middle of the path. Jumping over it and stumbling to a stop, she stared back at the foreign object, "what the hell, where had that thing come from." not having remembered ever passing it during her morning runs.
Turning back to continue down the path she was on at a slightly slower pace, she stopped when she suddenly heard a low growling. Looking in all directions, she attempted to locate the origin of the growling. stepping off of the path and taking a diffrent rout so as not to come into contact with whatever it was that was making that sound thena walked off into the woods. When the growling sound only grew louder, she picked up her pace, fighting tree branches and bushes to get away and find another path that would lead her home.
Little did she know that the path she had taken was the only path available within a ten mile radius of her current location. Turning back around when she realized she was getting nowhere fast, she began walking in the direction she believed to be homeward, hoping that she would come across the main path eventually. But after 45 minutes of searching and having lost her sense of direction, Thena began to panic.
This was the worst birthday of her life. Not only was she lost and covered in scratches from tree branches and thorny bushes brushing past her, but her only help was those selfish jerks in her family. they were probably already gone and knew nothing of her current situation.
Walking into a clearing a few feet in front of her and looking around one last time to see if she recognized the area, she pressed her back against a tree and slid down to sit in the dirt. She was lost. Completely and utterly lost.
Sniffling wetly, she didn't realize at first that she had begun to cry until she felt wet tears slipping down her cheeks in floods. Reaching up a hand to wipe them away the best she could. "Come on Thena! you've been in worse jams." she said to herself trying to remain strong and not break down. she let out a startled yelp when she heard the growling from earlier fill the surrounding area.
Getting back to her feet quickly, she reached for a branch to a tree and broke it off, holding it up in front of herself defensively. That's when a black wolf crept into the clearing, causing Thena to let out a shrill cry in fear. Stepping as far back away from the wolf as she could, she used the stick to put some distance between it and her. This was NOT how she wanted to die: maimed or eaten by a wolf. Swinging the branch in front of her, convinced that she might be able to scare it away, she took a few more steps back, ready to run if need be. But the wolf merely stared at her, not in a threatening sort of way but with a truly calm expression.
Taking a few steps towards her, she tried to back up even more, but just as she was about ready to bolt, she caught her foot on a vine on the ground. Letting out a short lived scream as she toppled to the ground, she was quick to sit up and try to scramble away. But the wolf was already for the most part on top of her. Squeezing her eye shut tightly, expecting her flesh to be torn and body tossed about like a rag doll, she peaked her eyes open when the wolf merely let out a small whine and laid down next to her, turning over on his back to offer her his belly. Waiting for her to pet it with his tail wagging in a friendly manner, Thena hesitantly reached forward a hand to run through the soft fur on his stomach, smiling and scratching along his entire front side from his chest to his stomach. "You certainly are friendly. Have you been the one following me this entire time?" she asked, not truly expecting to receive an answer from him.
Rolling back over and placing his head in her lap as though to tell her he understood everything she had just said, he watched her closely with eyes that said everything he couldn't. Staring down at him in awe, she reached forward to pet him gently on the head, running her fingers through the strands of black fur that clung to his body. "It really was you, wasn't it?" she said, the only response she got back in return this time being the growling of his stomach.
Reaching back into her pocket, she brought forth a small package with a poppy seed muffin in it and opened it to offer him. "Here you go. It's all I have, but you can have it." she said, holding her hand for him to take it from her. Opening his mouth and taking the small token between his teeth, he gulped it down within a matter of seconds, wagging his tail in a satisfied way. Smiling down at him, she pressed her back to the tree behind her and let her eyelids slip closed, for some reason feeling safe enough to fall asleep in the middle of the woods with a wolf laying in her lap.
The room was completely empty except for two chairs. One was occupied by a young man. There was nothing special about him. He was your average man, but somehow he seemed different. Whether it was the way he held himself or the way his eyes seemed to know more than his years should; I don't know why, but I was entranced. I stood there for what seemed like hours, just watching this person in front of me, waiting for him to say something. With a refined movement, he beckoned me to join him.
I took the seat across from him and continued to scrutinize this man, wondering how we got here. When I could take it no longer, I spoke.
"Tell me."
"Tell you what?" his voice came back to me in a smooth and even timber, unsurprised by my sudden outburst.
"How it started."
"They say that your history was written from the horses back or by some men in coon skin caps, but I know better. I saw the whole thing. There were things you could never have imagined. Things that would have never been without us. I could tell you things that your books will never say because the truth is hard to understand." He answered as if he had told this story before.
"So was it the big bang or divinity?" I joked, not believing any of this.
"This world has never been just a place; a dead zone or a star like your books say. This world has always had something." His voice showed no change.
"What do you mean 'something'? Like aliens?"
"First there was a light."
"A light?" I laughed. "Like a star? But you just said that …"
"This light is not what you are thinking." he said, trying to get me to understand. "This light was neither a star nor like the ones above your head which are nothing more then a parlor trick. This light is alive."
"Now wait a minute. How can a light be alive? It's only heat."
"See. That's where you're wrong. This light is so much more than that." he was starting to raise his voice.
"How do you know that it wasn't just a light?"
"Because we were that light."
"We who?" I demanded, now fed up with the cryptic answers.
"There is more in this world than meets the eye. Have you ever been fascinated as you watched something burn or just stood in the wind and the rain, feeling content." he was looking at me, waiting for a reaction that I assume he found because he soon continued. "We are part of the oldest magic there is."
"Magic?! Now you have got to be kidding. You want me to believe that you have some kind of magic powers and have been around since the turn of the world!" the disbelief was evident in my voice.
"My magic is real and has been passed down from generation to generation." As he states this he hands me a book that look as if it would fall apart at any moment. "I, like you, Areathena, am just one in a long line of gifted individuals."
Thena jolted awake several hours later to the sound of an owl hooting off in the distance. Looking about her in shock. No longer was she pressed up against the tree she had fallen asleep against but rather the log she had nearly tripped over earlier that morning. She got to her feet quickly, taking another look around. She was back on the trail she had wondered away from. Looking around in search of the wolf that had fallen asleep in her lap, her face fell for he was nowhere to be found. Had she dreamed the entire thing up?
Reaching into her pocket, she found the empty wrapper that she had had a muffin in earlier. Perhaps it wasn't a dream. But if that was the case, how had she gotten back here? Deciding that she would ask herself that later and try to come up with a reasonable explanation of what happened to her, she turned and headed back in the direction of home, just relieved that she was no longer lost in the middle of the woods.