"Clayton. I would greatly appreciate it if you would take your hand off of my daughter's neck."
My head flashed up is shock. In the doorway, a broken phone in one hand and a glass in the other, was a very upset Karl. My father dropped the girl in shock, surprised that a mutt would be telling him what to do, probably. She made silent coughs into her hand. Her face was draining of its red color.
Karl dropped the broken phone and set the glass on a table as he rapidly trotted his adoptive daughter. She grabbed his neck and he closed his eyes. He sat for a bit, as if listening to something. Then, he opened his eyes and looked at my mom.
"Elena, I know you have experienced Vivi's remarkable gift. Don't worry, I can give you a new phone. I have come to an agreement with Jeremy. I will visit every weekend I can, and I will be there for Christmas. Is that all right with you, lover?" he said all this blankly, as if troubled by something else. I almost gagged as he called my mom 'lover'. I wondered absently why my dad didn't tear him to bits as Karl set Viviana down and started to whisper. She nodded and left the room.
For the first time, Karl spoke directly to me. He smiled sadly at me and said, "I am sorry for not being able to control her. She has a mind of her own, and a free-spirit to go with it. I hope you heal easily. Ah, here she is. Please, Elena, take care of her. She is my soul."
My mom nodded and took my hand, as if I was a child. My small hand was enclosed in her athletic fingers. Viviana, seeming to notice we were totally lost leaving this monstrosity, took point and led us up and out of the mansion. My father sighed as we saw the light of day. His large arms stretched and his muscles rolled. His dirty blonde hair was in every direction. Then, he led us to the Explorer and popped the trunk open.
He grabbed for that girl's luggage when she shook him off. She looked at him and placed her only suitcase in the trunk and tried to close it. Tried is the key word here. She was too short to reach the handle. I laughed at her and her face turned red with embarrassment and anger. My mom found this insulting and slapped me upside the head.
She smiled sadly as my father walked to the trunk and closed it. She waited until we were all in the car before she got in. Mom shot warning glances at me through the mirror while smiling at that disgusting thing sitting next to me.
"So, Vivi," she began, "I suppose I am going to have to explain your 'gift'." The girl nodded, so my mother continued. "Clay, this girl is remarkable. Jeremy said that all werewolves were sort of supernatural, but she is different. When she touches you, you can hear or see what she wants you to see. That's why I gasped. I wasn't expecting to be told that I was beautiful, and by a mute no less!"
My dad stopped to think for a bit before answering an unasked question, "I guess I overreacted, but I do not regret protecting you. She could've been hurting you. I didn't know if she was, but it was quite possible. Viviana, could you tell me something?"
Then, in that monstrous car that was going well above the speed limit, that was the first time I really looked at her. Her skin was almost death pale with slight scar marks on her hands. Her limbs were long and looked uncoordinated, but the way they moved showed grace. Her face was soft, showing a calmness that only comes with inner peace, which no werewolf has. Her eyes were a vivid lavender with a ring of dark green around her pupil. Her hair was very long and a curly black. Every time she shook her head, like just then to answer my dad, I was hit with a wave of dog, rose, and lilac. I didn't realize that we were missing a vital part of that combination. Every werewolf, no matter what, always has a hit of human. She had no human in her at all.
My attention was dragged from her by my mother, who sounded like she had an epiphany, "I got it! You can communicate through me. You tell me what you want to say and I'll say it out loud, got it?" Her head of silky curls bounced as she nodded in excitement. Her hand reached and touched my mother's neck and a snarl almost rose in me, but I saw that her hand had no power to tear because all the nails were bitten off.
"Okay, Clay, shoot."
"First: Where are your parents?"
My mother paused before replying, "She doesn't know. She can't remember them at all."
He soaked this in before asking another, "Is there anything you do remember that may not have been so pleasant?"
There was another pause before my mom said, "She says that there is something, but it is painful to remember. She also said that she will tell us as long as we are all able to hear it, which means stopping the car and holding hands. So, unless you want us to look like hippies, I say we keep going until we get to a motel. We can rest for a night, take showers, and rest up while we prepare to hear her story."
"Okay. Get ready, 'cause I love a good story." With that, he slammed onto the gas and we sped off the abandoned road into the cover of the forest.
Sorry, but my laptop kept breaking horribly! Even the screen screwed up and I had to get a new one- twice!
