I got emailed a few times asking if I was stopping my other story Vengeance, and the answer is no. I'll just be updating slowly, my goal is to update at least every Sunday so that I have a week to review my notes and write the chapter with my full ability but still be able to do homework and stuff like that. Uhm...expect an update from this story every week for sure. I've written a few chapters in advance, so all thats left is to add Authors Note to it and some last minute editing.

Anyway, I'll stop my ranting and let you get on with it.

And one last thing, to all my readers, favoriters (is that a word?, lol.),reviewers, and alerters, thank you guys so much for sticking to the story even when I went downhill in my life. It's nice to see suport from guys ;)

Alrighty then. Let's get this party started.

My family did not believe in monsters.

Neither did I.

Although I did believe in a different kind of monster. The monster of humanity. Take our village minister for example. He takes more money than he does prayer requests; he ogles young women when he believes no one is watching, and he uses his excuses of being 'God's messenger' for special treatment.

Ever since I was seven years old, I caught the minister looking at my elder sister Evelyn, or Ella as I call her. When she went to fetch water from the well, when she went to the market he would be there, watching her like a hawk. I tried to tell Ella my concern but it was pushed aside.

I paid closer attention to the minister for the next eight years. He was aging, almost to the age of 69 but he kept going with his sinful and selfish acts.

Although it was not until I turned 18, when his monster made its true appearance.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was a Sunday noon, church had finished quite early. My father and two brothers were out hunting for super while momma and Ella were cleaning the cottage. My job of the day was to fetch water from the well and take it to our horse, Star. We named her after the fact that she was as fast as a shooting star.

It was winter, so I grabbed my favorite cloak my grandmother had sewn for me. It had intricate designs of fox furs, orange to white to brown, then back to orange it went. I tied the cloak around my neck, flicked up the hood, grabbed the bucket and went to the door of the cottage.

"Be back before sun down," my mother called out to me.

"Yes mother." I said.

I opened the door and stepped over the mini hill that had built up outside the door. The well was south of the village, so I had quite a way to go. I decided to take a short cut and skip around the outskirts of town rather than go through the traffic of the streets. Besides, no one ever got remotely close the gates except my father of course.

You see, my village was full of superstitious people. There was a tall tale of a monstrous beast that watched us, waiting for the opportunity to strike. The beast was told to have teeth so sharp you cut yourself by just looking at it, eyes so red and malicious you'd think you were looking at the devil himself, and fur so black he blended in with the night.

The townsfolk had built a 40ft wall surrounding the entire village to keep the beast out. We couldn't send for help from the kingdom for two reasons. Reason number one being the fact that we were millions of miles away from New England, we were surrounded by nothing but forests. Reason number two being the fact that our fear had gotten the most of us and we refused to step foot outside of the walls.

My family thought the mere existence of such beast was incredulous, and they often questioned the sanity of the commoners. This was probably why I had gotten such weird looks from the townsfolk growing up. Now that I was 18, I understood their reasons more clearly, but it still did not suffice for the way my family was treated.

Father used to be one of the towns most respected and known men; it was never really an official title, but families looked to my father in times of crises for advice and knowledge. When he entered a room the air suddenly became lighter and easier to be in. Back then we had owned a blacksmiths business and would often sell our swords to the traders that would come and pass through the village.

It was easier to smile and laugh back then. Father was still young, handsome and strong and often played with us despite the amount of work he had. Mother had made the most wonderful and warm soup I had ever tasted, and she seemed to surprise us with a different soup each and every night. Life was good. Life was simple….but then the first victim of the beast had been found.

I was nearly ten years old. It was spring; momma had just tucked me in to bed and hurried down and outside the cottage where the town adults had gathered at the northern tip. Ella and I had snuck out and followed mother down the streets of the village where we hid our bodies behind the rum barrels.

I could see mother in the back of the crowd with the rest of the women, gasping and dabbing their foreheads elegantly with the handkerchiefs they brought. Father, and my two brothers Garland and Isaiah, (who I call Gazzy and Iggy) were at the very front of the crowd, talking to a hasty old man.

The man was shriveled and he had to rely all his weight on a wooden cane. His bottom row of teeth were missing. His hair (what little he had.) was a bright shade of white, but his scalp was cracked open with blood pouring down the sides of his head.

I shivered in disgust and Ella shushed me. We turned our attention back to the man.

"Help! Ye mus' help me grandson!" he said in a thick Scottish accent.

I judged from his clothes and skin color that he was an immigrant here, or maybe a stowaway on one of the trader's ships. Father took up his role and stepped forward, my two brothers flanking his left and right sides.

"What is wrong with your grandson sir?" father asked calmly.

"Da beast 'as got 'em. Ye must hurry, de poor lad don stand a wee chance!" the old man cried.

"A beast?" one of the men scoffed walking behind my father. " Jebidiah the old man is a loon! Are ye drunk mate?"

I recognized the man. His name was Atticus Maine, he was the father of the nastiest girl in my class. Elizabeth or Lissa as her friends called her.

"Atticus, let the man speak." My father turned back to the old man who was looking back at the forest with unease and fear. "What is your name good sir?"

"Lachlan. Lachlan Macleod. Please sir ye 'ave te save 'me grandson!" he cried.

My father nodded solemnly. "Lead the way Sir Lachlan."

Lachlan hurried as fast as he could to lead the mob into the forest. The men went with father while the women waited in the streets that were lit with rows and rows of torches. Iggy and Gazzy stayed behind as guards. I looked to Ella.

"Should we follow father?" I said getting exited.

"Maximum. If you think for one second we could get out of here without being noticed you are seriously bonkers!" she hissed lowly.

"Ella come on! This is exiting! When was the last time you had some fun in your life?" I asked her.

"Uhm, just today actually, I helped mother clean the pig den." She said firmly.

I raised my eyebrows at her. "Seriously? That's your definition of fun? Come on! If we could just get a distraction, we could sneak into the forest-"

"You will do no such thing." A deep voice said.

Ella and I bother snapped our heads up, and there in all their tall glory were my two brothers.

"Isaiah! Garland!" Ella gasped.

"What are you two doing here?" Iggy asked.

"You both should be in bed." Gazzy added.

"I just wanted to see what the entire ruckus was about brother…may I please go find father?" I asked sweetly.

"Absolutely not. Father is in the forests now, who knows what, could happen." Iggy said taking off his cloak. He wrapped it around Ella and I and made us stand on our feet.

"I'm not a child Iggy! I can fend for myself!" I said stubbornly.

Gazzy chuckled and ruffled my hair. "We know you could champ. As a matter of fact, we don't want the beast to get too hurt, that's why we're sending you home."

I frowned. "You can't fool me like that anymore Gazzy."

Gazzy looked at Iggy in amusement. "Honestly Isaiah, the nicknames she comes up with."

Iggy chuckled. "Indeed its quite humorous."

Ella crossed her arms. "I however am no child. I am the same age as you Garland."

"Yes but you are also my sister. Which means that I protect you and you listen to me, understood?" Garland said with my father's authority voice.

Ella was not a feminist, actually no one was. It was just the way things worked here. Men provided and protected while women cleaned and nursed. With a final sigh, Ella and I trotted home.

I fell asleep as soon as I fell on my hay stack. I was abruptly awoken almost three hours later when the rest of the family came home.

"That poor man." I head mama's faint whisper.

"Indeed. We will go to church tomorrow to pray for him." Father said. There was something about his voice that was a little off. I'd never heard him like this before. He sounded exhausted, like he'd aged a few millennia.

"Damn that ol Atticus." I head Iggy curse.

Something crashed down and clattered and I shrinked into a tighter ball. What was wrong with everyone? What had happened back there?

"Isaiah." Father said in a warning voice.

I heard Iggy's intake of breath before he stormed into the next room. I heard Gazzy sigh before retreating into his own room. Ella shifted next to me on the hay stack, but didn't indicate that she was awake. I heard mother rustle near the porridge pot and I assumed she had given father a bowl of tonight's left over's.

"Jebidiah." Mother said.

Father sighed and I heard him sip a spoon full of soup. "This was no ordinary wolf attack Valencia. The entire lad's head was cut off, only half of his body remained."

It felt like there was a worm inside near my stomach, and it crawled around my intestines, nipping and making my stomach lurch.

That was the time the village of Enclin changed. Father tried his best to calm down the town, but even my father was incapable of some things. Traders couldn't get in or out, so we lost the use of goods that were usually brought here from the kingdom. We don't know if the royal palace has ever tried to contact us, we were one of the major trading ports in New England, but of course we wouldn't know since we've been engaged in this wretched wall for over 5 years.

Due to my lack of concentration, I ran straight into one of the best examples of humanity monsters; Minister Joseph.

My bucket fell to the floor and I watched him sharply as he quickly bent down to pick it up. His crinkled and cold hands gripped mine longer than he should have when he placed the bucket in my hand.

"My apologies Minister Joseph. I should have paid closer attention to where I was walking." I said tightly.

"Oh rubbish my sweet. I am partially to blame," he said looking at me.

I felt as if my guts had suddenly turned inside out as his gaze became almost predatory towards me. I swallowed my desire to throw up in disgust, and smiled subconsciously.

"Well, forgive my rudeness but I must carry on, my mother wishes my return before sundown." I said moving around him. "It was a great service today minister. Have a blessed day." I bowed my head low, then quickly turned around and walked away.

"Wait a minute young lady!" Minister Joseph called.

I inwardly groaned and tightened the bucket to my side. It could be a possible weapon if the time called for desperate measures. I turned in place and looked back at him expectantly.

"What is your name?" he asked.

He knew my name. He knew my entire family. What game was he playing at?

I curtsied. "My name is Maximum Ride." I stated my name with pride.

Minister Joseph's old face twisted into a smirk as he took a step closer to me, making me inwardly flinch.

"Such a beautiful name for a beautiful lady…" he said trailing off.

I bowed my head in thanks. I searched my surroundings desperately for surrounding villagers, hoping that if he were to do anything to me, it would at least be witnessed.

Curse my luck, I thought to myself. No one was around because I had decided to take the short cut to the well.

"May I ask you young lady, what is a petite and beautiful young girl like you doing out here? Away from the watchful eye of the village protection?" he asked in an almost mocking voice.

I coughed awkwardly. "Sir, it's the fastest way to the well."

Minister Joseph chuckled. "Beautiful and smart. A fellow would be quite lucky to call themselves yours." He said.

"You flatter me sir." I said using the polite tone my mother had taught me.

I wanted to run. Hike up my gown and just sprint back over the mini hills of snow back to the warmth and safety of the cottage. Minister Joseph made me so uncomfortable, I felt I could barf at times when we talked.

After a few moments of silence he adjusted the strings to his silk purple robe with the cross sewn into his back, and bowed.

"Well, I shall let you carry on. Good day, miss." He said.

I nodded and whirled around, quickly making my escape. When I was a fair distance away, I leaned against a tree and placed a hand over my racing heart.

"Creepy old geezer…" I said almost breathlessly.

I shook my head in disgust. Mother always said I should be polite to those around me, despite the nasty things they said. But Minister Joseph was different. Way different. He made my skin crawl, even Ella's ghost stories did not scare me as much as Joseph did.

I cannot tell you how many nightmares I've had of Minister Joseph in beast form…although honestly his beast form was not that far from his human form.

Of course my dreams were always ignored.

After all, my family did not believe in ghosts and monsters.

OKAY. Question of the day: Would you rather: Have chocolate as an everyday all day meal and nothing else, or no chocolate in your life at all?

R&R Please ;)

-Shift