PART ONE
Although the sun had set hours ago, the heat was stifling and as Paige darted through the forest, it made her skin shine with sweat. All she feel was heat; heat from the air, heat from her body and heat from the blood that rushed to her head.
Paige could hear them chasing her and the fear of being caught only pushed her to run faster. Her legs burned and while she knew that they'd be as heavy as lead when she stopped, the thought of being caught was too terrifying to entertain.
She weaved between the thick trunks with ease, fleeing beneath the cover of night. With only the moon to illuminate the forest floor, she struggled to find a proper exit. She kept thinking one horrible thought: if she missed her footing, they'd catch her for sure.
And it was with this thought in mind that Paige tripped on an overgrown root. She fell to the forest floor, side first. She tumbled on the floor and as her body began to slow, she jumped to her feet. Her balance was slightly off but her fear was too great to concentrate on anything else. All she could focus on was the dozens of eyes glowing in the dark, all watching her.
Their eyes, all yellow and luminescent, watched her with careful consideration. They were constantly swaying, as if trying to confuse Paige. It wasn't long until they had her surrounded. Paige was slowly turning around, making complete circles, lest one of them sneak up behind her.
They began to growl and snarl at her, trying to get a rise out of her. This only got louder as Paige grew more panicked. Her blood began to boil as the urge to escape grew to be overwhelming. Her face grew flushed yet paled as she realised that they were getting bolder.
One of them finally stepped out from the shadows and Paige's blood, once like fire, now ran cold. This creature looked like an abomination, the kind of monster that children would look under their beds for.
It had the body of a man but the skin and head of a wolf. It towered over Paige at six or seven feet tall, she couldn't tell. It had a mass of grey fur on its head, spine, arms and legs, and had a bushy tail. It arms were longer than its torso, reaching down to its knees. Its body was thick and muscular, yet lithe and proportionate. However, all Paige could notice were the glowing eyes, razor-like claws and fangs that dripped with venom.
She was surrounded by fifteen or so werewolves with no way out.
The grey werewolf had lunged towards her, running on its hind legs and with one of its arms raised to strike down Paige. She barely had time to dodge to the side before its claws swiped down on her. Before the beast could realise that it had only grazed the air, Paige kicked the back of its knees, sending it to floor with a snarl of surprise.
In one fluid motion, Paige leapt up from the ground and tossed another charging werewolf to the ground. More of them started to attack her, trying to get her in her blind spot or when she was busy with another. One eventually scratched her with its claws, leaving her with a gnarly flesh wound and a bloodstained pant sleeve.
Paige could feel herself beginning to slow, a sign that she wasn't going to keep up for much longer. As panic built up in her stomach, she chose to surrender.
She tossed the last charging werewolf into another but as another tried to rush her, she phased like a defence mechanism. She felt her blood boil and her bones turn to lead. Her ears grew longer and pointed while her nails grew into small daggers. Her teeth grew into what resembled a wolf's fangs and her eyes blazed golden.
With one deep breath, Paige let loose a horrible, ear-deafening roar that shook the forest. Trees trembled, birds flew away and the ground rattled below her. Anything that heard this roar made it their first priority to run from it. Terror was given a new name when faced with it.
Paige finally stopped, letting her burning vocal cords relax as the beasts shrunk away from her in fear. Their tails were tucked between their legs and they whimpered pathetically. She noticed this with a hint of pride as she panted for breath. They still knew who their Beta was and she wasn't going to let them forget it.
In a few moments, the beasts had ceased their whimpering but still kept a respectful distance from the panting girl. Paige could feel her body begin to shift back to normal, leaving her exhausted and wishing for rest. Instead of laying down, however, Paige reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small white handkerchief: A sign of surrender.
Tossing it to the nearest werewolf, she grinned and said, "You've all passed. Good job whelps."
Immediately, the wolves began to howl with joy. Paige smiled wearily at the happy beasts and sauntered passed them into the thickest part of the forest. The wolves followed her obediently and Paige could feel the buzz of energy that spread between the pack.
She led them towards an abandoned cave, she pointed and ordered, "Phase back and then change in there, ladies first. You have the rest of the week off. No training; you guys earned a break."
As she walked off towards the trail, she wondered if Mona would be waiting for her where she left her bike. Knowing Mona, she'd probably just come for a status report and leave for another sleepover at Hanna's.
Mona was something of an enigma, even to her own pack. They feared her, respect her, but no one really knew Mona outside of the pack. They knew she wasn't someone you'd want to cross, especially as the Alpha of fifteen or so werewolves. Even Paige, her Beta and second-in-command, didn't know the real Mona Vanderwaal. That honour went to Hanna Marin.
Hanna seemed to be the exact opposite of Mona; she was friendly, kind and had a witty sense of humour. She had been the perfect girl-next-door, the All-American beauty in plus size. Yet, after Hanna left Alison's circle of friends back in sophomore year, she and Mona had become inseparable. The two were polar opposites but they somehow fit like a crooked puzzle.
Then again, anyone Mona takes a liking to must be something special.
Paige had limped the whole way back because the lovely flesh wound that made her leg throb. The blood had stained her sweatpants but she was too exhausted to car. Training the whelps was both draining and exhilarating.
She focused on the sound of gravel crunching under her boots instead of the pain. She felt every uneven step and hissed whenever she stepped on larger rocks, which left her with a stinging pain in her thigh. Swim practice tomorrow would be a bitch.
It didn't take long for Paige to come to the clearing; she had walked on that path almost everyday for the past two years. And when she looked for her bike, she felt immensely smug when she found Mona's Rolls Royce parked next to it.
Did she know Mona, or did she know Mona?
Paige hobbled to the pretentiously well-kept car, knowing that Mona was probably sniggering inside because of her limp. She swung the door to the backseat open and slid in, back first. She pushed herself up using her upper body but froze when she saw who was sitting up front.
In the driver's seat sat Mona who, as usual, was filling her nails like it was an immensely important task. Next to her, however, sat Hanna Marin who wore an anxious expression and held a tray of medicinal items in her lap.
Paige, swallowing the scream that built up in her throat, breathed out, "What the hell."
"It's nice to see you too, Paige." Hanna murmured to herself as she gripped the tray until her knuckles turned white. Mona, upon seeing this, laid her own hand over Hanna's in encouragement.
With one last look at the blonde, Mona turned to face Paige and said, "She's here to help."
The way that Mona stared at her, the way that the city lights reflected in her eyes like stars in a honey-brown sky, made Paige's paranoia pause. Mona wasn't an idiot; she wouldn't risk revealing the pack's identity if she couldn't trust Hanna. And if Mona can trust her, Paige could as well.
Paige nodded and immediately winced when she realised that her wounded leg was beginning to throb and swell.
Hanna, having regained her speech, said, "I can help, if you want."
Obviously Paige wanted the help; her thigh was beginning to look like a deformed eggplant. So she swallowed her pride, nodded, and leaned back into the car door with closed eyes. She could hear Hanna rearranging herself and moving the medicine tray with her. When she opened her eyes, Hanna squeezed herself between the front seats and grabbed the tray out of Mona's helpful hands.
Paige hadn't expected Hanna to simply rip her stained pant sleeve open to inspect the wound. She gave the blonde an angry look and received a sarcastic smile, all the previous anxiety disappeared into the air.
"Don't give me that look, McCullers. They were ugly anyway." Hanna didn't look at her; instead she busied herself by inspecting wound and taking out antiseptic cream.
Paige rolled her eyes and as Hanna cleaned out the wound with a wet towel, she retorted, "I don't wear designer jeans when training giant wolves. Shocking, I know."
Instead of answering, Hanna smeared a generous blob of cream onto the flesh wound. Paige hissed in surprise and, once the cream settled in, in pain. It took only a moment for the cream to dissolve into the wound, leaving it dry and cleaner.
"You werewolves just eat this stuff up, don't you?" Hanna mumbled, not quite maliciously but still with sarcasm. Paige was too busy focusing on her breathing instead of the pain to respond. However, even with closed eyes, she just knew that Hanna was smirking at her small victory.
Hanna began to root through the medicine piled up on the tray. She quickly took out a small container of ointment, a surgical mask and a few Johnson's Buds from the tray. She slipped on the mask over her mouth and when she opened the container, the sweet tangerine smell made Mona and Paige freeze in fear.
Paige shrunk away from Hanna, pressing herself into the door and moaning, "Oh God, that's wolfsbane isn't it?"
The smell was intoxicating and she did everything in her power to hold her breath to stop from inhaling it. The memory of pain caused by the poisonous herb was enough to set her off. Even Mona was blocking her nose and looking anywhere but behind her.
Hanna huffed, pulled the mask away from face and set the ointment and buds on Paige's lap. The close proximity to the ointment and the way Hanna was glaring at her was enough to make her blood run cold.
"If you can't handle it, I'll just stitch this up without anaesthetic. Is that what you want? I thought you were supposed to be a werewolf?" Her words were taunting, mocking, challenging Paige to wimp out and suffer even more pain. She knew how competitive Paige was and was using that against her.
She was now beginning to see why Mona liked her so much. She was a wolf in a beauty queen's skin.
Paige swallowed thickly but complied, leaning back into the car seat and turning away from the sight in front of her. When she heard Hanna resume her work, she focused her attention on the swaying trees she could see from the rear window.
As she waited for the paste to applied, she wondered what the whelps were doing. She knew some of the rowdy ones would go out and celebrate. She also knew that the rowdy ones would somehow get the others to join in and there'd be a bunch of hyper teenagers roaming the forest tonight.
And it was as a faint smile drifted onto her face, Hanna swabbed a paste-covered bud over the wound. Her body suddenly felt like it was on fire and Paige bit her lip to keep from screaming. When she was about to break skin, she let go and began panting.
This went on for only a short while but to Paige it was a moment too long. As the wolfsbane ointment finally numbed her leg, she paled when she saw Hanna set the medicine aside and pulled out a suturing kit.
Mona, having seen Paige's eyes watching the suturing needle from her rear view mirror, asked, "How was training the whelps?"
Paige's gaze shifted to Mona's immediately and, judging by the hazy look in her eyes, had apparently forgotten she was still in the car.
"Do you see this?" Paige gestured to her dirty, glistening with sweat body with a small grin, adding, "You definitely trained them to fight like monsters."
Mona's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed as she asked, "So you passed them?"
Paige shrugged and ignored the surreal feeling of her numb, bleeding skin being cleaned and pulled. As a warm, proud smile grew on her face, she answered, "They have Toby's approval and now they have mine."
Toby Cavanaugh had actually been the first to be turned by Mona. Despite the fact that he was the oldest of the pack, Mona assumed the Alpha position unopposed with Paige as her Beta. Toby, being the mellow boy he was, accepted being the Delta, the third-in-command. He was the largest in the pack and rivalled pack on strength.
Mona, who tensed at his name, hummed with displeasure before saying, "It's a good thing the whelps don't graduate based on your soft resolve. I bet you and Toby didn't even try to defend yourselves."
Paige guffawed at this and disbelief was evident in her eyes, "Are you being serious? Mona, my bruises have bruises."
"Still, I'll have to see them for myself. You and Toby will come by next weekend and test them again, together. I judge them from there." This was not a request or a question; this was an order that Paige had to follow. Mona held Paige's gaze using the mirror and like usual, it wasn't too long before Paige gave in to her Alpha.
A particularly sharp tug on her skin snapped her out of her gaze. She yelped with surprise and hissed out, "Jesus, Hanna! Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
The blonde huffed at the accusation and while she cleaned up the blood dripping from the wound, she answered, "Of course I'm sure. I've been stitching up Mona for years now and you don't see a scar on her, do you?"
Judging by the way Hanna's hand stilled and her eyes grew wide with shock, Paige assumed she hadn't meant to say that. Mona grew rigid in her seat and refused to look at either girl, only adding more tension to the silence.
"Well that explains a lot." Paige mumbled with a mischievous grin as she remembered every odd look Hanna would give Mona when they talked about old scars. Apparently she wasn't just a concerned friend; she was a concerned nurse too.
"Shut up, Paige." Both girls hissed out, visibly flustered, which only made Paige's grin grow wider. Paige was going to say that maybe Hanna had seen some scared places that she hadn't, but stilled her tongue when Hanna flashed a murderous look in her eyes.
Mona sure knew how to pick 'em, didn't she?
The drive back from the woods had been filled with laughter, snide remarks and sarcastic banter. Mona and Hanna were surprisingly fond of each other, at least from what Paige saw. Mona was like a completely different person around Hanna: she had no walls, didn't talk in riddles and genuinely seemed invested in their conversations.
Paige could see why Hanna latched on to this side of Mona, the fun, genuine side.
She'd left her bike in Mona's garage and would come back for it tomorrow. She and Mona decided to sit on the porch of the Vanderwaal house and just talk for a while. As they listened to the sound of the warm wind howling, a large, toothy grin grew on Paige's face.
"So… you and Hanna-Banana?" She quipped, stealing a glance at Mona from the corner of her eye. Mona gave her an angry, confused look as she turned to face her.
"Hanna-Banana?" Mona asked, the disbelief clear in her eyes. Paige chuckled, smiling wider than before. Mona was obviously flustered and to Paige, this was rare sight.
"I heard Sean Ackard talking to her on the phone. They're just adorable, those two, don't you think so?" Paige continued to probe for answers, looking for something in Mona's eyes to tell her the truth.
Mona scoffed and flipped her hair over shoulder, haughtily saying, "Sean is a drooling puppy that Hanna only likes because he's available. The right guy will come along and sweep her off her feet, and Sean will just be a distant memory."
"Ouch." Paige said, still grinning, while rubbing her chest over her heart in mock sympathy. After a moment, she probed again, "Is it the right guy or the right girl?"
Mona shot her an unimpressed look and hissed out, "I don't like Hanna that way, Paige."
"Are you sure? I know you're bi and Hanna's easy on the eyes." Paige leaned back onto the railing, hands limp by her sides. She was leaning against the railing with her hurt leg supported on the porch floor, leaving her foot only inches away from Mona.
Mona had come out as bisexual during the mid-year break in her sophomore year. There was no middle ground in the reactions: either they had no idea or they called it from the beginning of freshman year. Either way, with Mona's popularity and a bunch of angry teenagers at her disposal, coming out was as easy as it could be for her. And she had settled into her sexuality nicely, unlike Paige had.
Mona scoffed, saying, "That doesn't mean I'll hit on anything that moves. You're gay, I don't see you hitting on me… And I'm gorgeous."
Paige's coming out, back in her freshman year, was not the best of memories. For one, she didn't come out willingly: she was outed by her bully to her father. Secondly, her father was a Catholic deacon and openly homophobic. And finally, her bully threatened to give her crush the love letters she wrote for her. The whole fiasco was emotionally damaging and she still has confidence issues because of it.
However, now in her Junior year, Paige was openly gay and her father was supportive of her. Her school was surprisingly accepting of her sexuality which came as a shock to Paige. Apparently people still had common sense.
"OK, fair point. I won't bring it up anymore but…" Paige had trailed, pretending to tap her chin in deep thought.
"But what?" Mona asked, growing increasingly tired of the conversation.
Paige grinned once more and continued, "If you two start going out, I get full bragging rights."
"Ugh. That will never happen so go ahead. Hanna and I are just friends."
Paige gave a lazy fist-bump in victory and the two shared a laugh, a genuine moment. If Hanna was able to leave such a positive, lasting affect on Mona by just talking to her, Paige was glad the two had become friends.
But the laughing slowly died down and the two were left with an uncomfortable silence. Both wanted to state the elephant in the room but only one wished the other wouldn't bring it up. Their stomachs churned with anticipation.
Finally, Mona breathed out, "She's coming back tomorrow."
Paige grew rigid and her jaw immediately clenched with anxiety. Just the thought of her made Paige shrink away in fear and say, "Mona, don't."
"Are you going to be ready to face her?" Mona asked, feeling the absolute terror radiate from the tall girl. Mona found it ironic that Paige, the strongest member of the pack, was terrified of some girl. She didn't mention this, of course, because she knew why.
Paige, swallowing down the bile that rose in her throat, whispered, "I don't know."
Mona turned to face her, to glare at her as she ordered, "You have to be ready; don't think that Alison is just going to roll over and let you take her."
"Emily isn't a sack of potatoes I can just take, Mona."
She hadn't said that name in more than a year. She knew that fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself, but Emily was so terrifying to her that she didn't think it was possible. Paige still woke up in a cold sweat at night because she saw her eyes in her nightmares.
"And do you really think that Alison will suddenly have a change of heart and start treating people with respect? That she'll start concerning herself with people's feelings?" Mona was on a roll now and all Paige could do was listen as she continued, "She's already on thin ice because Hanna left her circle, now Emily. She won't touch a hair on Hanna's head but Emily… you screwed it up and now she's free game."
The nonchalance in Mona's tone was beginning to grate on Paige's nerves. The subject was uncomfortable enough; she didn't need Mona to make crappy jokes as well.
It was Paige's turn to glare as she bit back, saying, "I made a mistake, Mona. I didn't know she was a Hunter. How was I supposed to know that my crush was trained from birth to kill me?"
A Hunter. That's the reason why Emily left, why she couldn't even look Paige in the eye. She was born and raised to hunt people like Paige. To Emily, Paige died the moment the venom entered her bloodstream. To Emily, there was a monster going around wearing Paige's skin. To Emily, a monster was in love with her.
"Oh, stop with the sob story. If you really love Emily you'd prove to her that you're not a monster. That's what she thinks of you, you know. That's why she moved to Texas with her dad." Mona was harsh but that was the only kind of treatment Paige responded to.
In frustration, Paige snapped at Mona, "So what do you want me to tell her? 'Sorry for embracing my lycanthropy because I wanted to hurt Alison, your first love and my bully. I promise I won't turn you into a monster like me. Let's kiss and make up, honey-babe.'"
Mona couldn't help the laugh that slipped passed her lips, laughing even harder when she saw Paige's flustered face.
"Honey-babe?"
Paige shrugged and with a defeated expression, said, "It's the first thing that popped into my head."
Mona pretended to wipe a tear, mocking Paige once more, "I really hope you didn't put that in your love letters."
Paige groaned and let her head fall back onto the railing, saying, "I swear to God, I should never have told you about that."
These love letters were a three-inch stack of letters that Paige had sent to 'Emily' when she thought she had shown some sign of interest in Paige. It turned out that Emily had actually been Alison, and she had gathered enough embarrassing and blatantly homosexual evidence against Paige.
When Paige had found out about this, she became mad with the need to get the back. But Alison had other plans. She made a deal with Paige: either she gave the letters to Emily, Mr McCullers or it would be handed out to everyone at Rosewood High.
Paige chose her father and… well, you know the rest.
"I wonder if Alison still has them. Maybe she'll show them to Emily when she comes back." Mona said, half-serious. This was enough to silence Paige's laughter.
"Don't even joke about that." Paige warned her, wondering if maybe Mona had jinxed it now.
Mona stopped laughing as well, apparently not aware that Paige hadn't thought of this possibility, stating, "It's no joke; Alison will use whatever she can to make Emily avoid you."
"Shit…" Paige breathed out and suddenly she felt like she couldn't breathe. The air was too warm, her body was to stiff, her lungs were too small. She would have thought that it was ironic that a swimmer couldn't control her breathing if she wasn't beginning to have a panic-attack.
Mona realised she had pushed this too far, upon seeing Paige hyperventilate and heard the warning bells go off. She quickly reassured her, "Then again, Alison probably won't get close enough to Emily to do that. The look on Emily's face when she outed you was down-right murderous."
Paige began to collect herself, finding an anchor in Mona's reassurance. Finally, she tried to joke once more, saying, "It couldn't have been worse than my Dad's reaction."
"He was just raised bigoted, Paige. Look how far he's come now." Mona had a soft for redeemed souls. She though she saw a bit of herself in them, or at least what she wanted to be.
Nick McCullers had not taken well to his daughter's sexuality. He couldn't believe that his daughter was gay; he couldn't wrap his head around the concept of it. He was hostile at first, which led to memories that Paige has long since buried in the darkest parts of her mind.
Paige forgave him, however, because beyond the homophobia, he was scared for her. He could see the hate and bigotry in the world and to have his daughter face that… He was an absolute mess, just like Paige had been. But, with time, Nick became the one of the supportive people in Paige's life. And for this, she thanks whatever bit of luck she has.
But him growing to accept her didn't change how crushed she was after Emily cut her off.
"Did you see the way she looked at me? If Alison was a cruel tyrant then I was the monster under her bed." Paige was on the verge of tears; every horrible thought she had about Emily's return was rushing to surface without restraint. "She hated me Mona… and she probably still does."
The porch light flickered on and off, a signal that meant that Mrs Vanderwaal wanted Mona in the house and for Paige to go home. Paige quickly dried her tears, feeling angry that she let herself cry about this: she though she was stronger than that.
"I guess you'll just have to wait till tomorrow then." Mona said as she pushed herself off the stairs and on her feet. "I'd tell you to get some sleep but I know you'll just stay up all night thinking about this."
Paige let out a weak laugh before grabbing the cane that Mrs Vanderwaal gave her. She felt a warm rush of gratitude for her as she used the cane to push herself up.
"Bye Mona." Paige called as she began walking back home. As she limped away, she listened to the click of Mona's heels on the porch floor abruptly.
"Goodbye Paige." She paused for a moment to listen to this because Mona whispered it so softly that if Paige wasn't a werewolf, she wouldn't have heard it. She sighed and with the weight of her world on her shoulders, she limped her way back home.
The McCullers house was quiet as Paige waddled in, making her the footsteps of her boot-clad feet sound louder than it was. The smell of burning firewood and warm milk flooded her senses. As she hurried into the house, throwing the keys onto the kitchen counter, she came across her father.
Nick McCullers, a surly man of almost 50, sat in the living by the fireplace in a well-loved armchair. He was reading an old book while toying with a generous glass of wine. He must have heard the keys hit the counter because his blue eyes focused on his daughter.
He went to say something but when he saw Paige's shredded pant sleeve and bandaged leg, his mouth was left hanging open. Paige quickly took a seat in one of the couches, set the cane on the table and propped her leg up.
After she took one long swig from the glass of milk she snagged from the counter, she said, "Don't worry Dad: Hanna already cleaned and stitched this up."
Nick set his book aside and turned to face Paige, asking with raised eyebrows, "Hanna? As in Hanna Marin? Ashley's girl?"
Melting into the warmth from the milk and the fire, Paige mumbled, "Yeah, that's the one. Why?"
"Nothing, it's just for as far back as I can remember, the Marin's were Hunter allies. Why the sudden change?" He asked, leaning back into his armchair.
Paige shrugged and answered as best she could, "Hanna left Alison's group last year and was basically neutral for the whole year. Mrs Marin was pretty adamant about her not being caught up in whatever mock-war Mona and Alison had going on."
Nick was well aware of the ongoing feud between Mona and Alison. While he preferred not to get hung up of the details, he knew that his daughter was a part of it. In his old age, he preferred to let the younger wolves deal with pack business.
But, with his curiosity peaked, he probed, "Well what changed?"
Paige scoffed and answered, "She became friends Mona."
He gave a throaty chuckle of his own, allowing his deep voice to boom through the room. It was a sound that always reminded Paige of home.
The two downed their beverages, all the while trying to out-do the other without letting them know. Of course it ended in a tie and left the two embarrassed for getting caught. The two laughed at their own competitiveness and as their laughter died down, Nick began clearing out the room.
He let Paige relax as he cleaned out the cups, set away the books and readied an ice pack. He dawdled back to the couch, lifted Paige's legs and sat on the now open seat. Laying them back down, he propped her legs onto his lap and set the ice pack on her wound.
To ease her mind off the cold, he asked, "So how was the test?"
"How do you think it went?" Paige gestured towards her thigh with an unimpressed expression.
Nick warned, "Watch the sass young lady."
Paige snickered but leaned back into the couch, recalling the memory with stars in her eyes, "It went… amazing, Dad. They ran faster than the wind and you should have seen how terrifying they were. I was actually scared of them — me, their Beta. They looked like a real pack."
"And if you wanted," he pried, "they could be your pack."
Paige, having heard this conversation multiple times since she first phased, knew it was best to just shut it down before it began, "I never wanted to be an Alpha. I'd never want to be responsible for so many lives."
"Paige, you were born to be an Alpha. You're a natural born leader; that alone should make you Alpha."
She groaned and countered, "I'm confident, yes, but I'm much better at bringing people together than ordering them around. Swim team captain will be good enough for me."
Nick knew a lost cause when he saw one so he let the subject drop, earning him a sigh of relief from his daughter. The two settled back into the couch as they watched the flames flicker. Paige, not quite feeling content, was wondering what was missing from this scene.
Realising what it was, Paige sat upright and asked, "Where's Eli?"
Nick scoffed and gestured to the grandfather clock, "In case you didn't notice, it's almost midnight, Paige. Some of us have a bedtime."
Eli was the youngest McCullers in Rosewood and according to him, the handsomest too. At the mighty age of twelve, Eli was at the peak of his childhood life and Paige envied his innocence. If there was anyone Paige loved more in the world than her father, it was Eli.
"Shit-," Paige breathed out and when Nick pulled her ear as a warning, she hissed out, "Ow, sorry."
"I tucked him into bed so don't just stomp by his room like usual." Nick mocked her with a slick grin.
Paige groaned and said, "I don't stomp, Dad."
The man laughed, saying, "Paige, even though you're a swimmer, you have all the grace of a headless chicken."
"My swimming style isn't about grace: the stronger the muscles, the more water I pull and the further my flips boost me." She waved a finger at her father, humour laced in her words, "If you want a graceful and fast swimmer than you should ask for Emily-"
Paige tried to pretend like she nothing just happened but her father wouldn't let it go. He could feel her freeze at the very mention of her name. He wasn't sure what to say; he never was good at heartfelt conversation.
"Paige…" He tried but Paige waved him off mirthlessly.
"I'm fine. I just have to wait for tomorrow and pray that she doesn't still hate me half as much as she did." Paige's voice was hollow yet full of hope, a paradox that Nick had grown accustomed to whenever the topic of the Fields girl came up.
Nick spoke more confidently this time, saying, "A year and a half is a long time, Paige. She's probably ready to bury the hatchet by now."
Paige scoffed and muttered, "Yeah: in my skull."
"You're such a pessimist, kid." He ruffled her hair and all he got was a few quiet chuckles, he sighed and said, "Just… get some rest, OK?"
"Yes, sir." She gave him a mock salute before grabbing the cane and trudging up the stairs. As she did, she watched her father's head fall into his hands and his back slump forward. She knew exactly why he was so exhausted and it left a bitter taste in mouth and a sharp pain in her chest. She couldn't watch him without wanting to scream so she left.
She snuck passed Eli's room and into hers, only to stumble onto an adorable sight.
On her double bed, her brother Eli laid curled up in the middle, hogging the blanket with one foot out. Eli was holding Neo, his Neo Mastiff puppy, in his arms and over the covers. Draped over him was Bunny, Paige's three-year-old English Mastiff, who was snoring louder than a lawnmower.
Upon hearing her, Bunny's head snapped towards the door before relaxing and wagging his tail. He didn't remove himself but Paige could tell he was happy to see her. Paige felt her heart swell when she realised that not only did Eli stay in her room to surprise her, but her dog had chose to watch over him as well.
She scratched Bunny's hip as she slipped off her boots and whispered, "Good boy."
She settled into bed next to Eli, not even bothering change out her clothes. Eli, having felt the bed dip, fluttered his eyes open.
"Paige?" He whispered and looked for her with half-open eyes, making his sister struggle not to laugh. His eyes, amber is colour, were full of sleep and there was drool on the sheets and across his cheek. His brown hair stuck out in every direction. The freckles on his dark skin only made him look wilder.
She placed the sleeping puppy on her stomach and pulled Eli to her side, almost on instinct, all the while whispering, "Right here, kid."
He snuggled into her side and just before sleep consumed him, asked, "Did you win?"
She chuckled softly and said, "Yeah, kid, we won."
As his head lolled against her chest, Paige thought about tomorrow. Underneath the puppy on her stomach, laid thousands of butterflies threatening to break free. She kept thinking the worse possible scenarios, talked herself out of that and then repeated the process.
And as sleep finally consumed her, her last thought was of Emily Fields; that girl would be the death of her whether she was there or not.