Chapter 3.

Actually Happy

Happy hap·py /ˈhapē/ adjective 1. feeling or showing pleasure or contentment. 2. fortunate and convenient.

The beginning of my weekend wasn't all I hoped it was to be. It was quiet so far I had to give it that, unlike most of my weekends when the old man was home. That there was the biggest reason for the house being so soundless. If I had to be honest with myself, it was almost too good to be true. Now that I thought about it, I hadn't seen him since the fight Wednesday night. I did see this as a blessing though, who wouldn't. So considering he was gone – for god knows how long – I was pretty excited, almost happy. As long as he was gone for the whole weekend this was going to be a very relaxing couple of days, but sadly it was only if I was lucky enough for that.

Since I had the whole house to myself I could do whatever the hell I felt like doing, and I did just that. Saturday morning, at the same time as always, I went for my run. When I got back, I went to my room and opened up a book I had been reading, called Beautiful Disaster. It was kind of the story of my life but without the romance.

About a half hour into my quiet reading day I kind of got bored with it. So I decided I'd go for a hike up to the only place I felt I could be myself. I called it Wolf Pond and I hadn't been there in a while, which meant it was a good idea as any to go. After getting dressed for the hike I pack some snacks in a backpack, along with a couple blankets, a pillow, my small tent, a book, a brand new sketch pad, pencils, and colored pencils.

I liked to draw when I was at my special place, it was one of the few things I was good at – besides fighting and running of course. Sometimes I would stay there overnight just so I could sketch things in different shades of light and color. I'd draw the pond my quiet place was centered around. I also draw landscapes and houses I wish I had. I guess most of the stuff I drew were what I wish I had, which was a lot of things.

If there were animals around I would draw them too, even though they were a little bit hard to work with. Their bodies and facial features were sometimes harder to draw than a humans. It was frustrating most of the time, but it was fun to challenge myself, and animals were just the thing to do it. Also, there were times where I drew people who I saw in my dreams. I don't believe I've seen them before – besides when I dreamed about them – but like the animals it was a good challenge.

Anyway putting my backpack over my shoulders, I made sure everything was in order and the doors were locked, because I really didn't need another reason to get slapped around. As I thought about it, I really didn't understand why I needed to lock the doors at all. It's not like anyone would steal anything, right. They would take one look at this dump – which the old man called a house – and know there wasn't anything good to take, because of the shabby, decrypted looking outside. Now that I thought about it, I did have a lot of money stashed underneath my mattress. So I guess there was a good reason to lock the doors, plus it was a habit.

Once I was sure everything was good to go, I put my earbuds in my ears and pressed play on my iPod. Gone Foreverby Three Days Grace, started to play, as I started the hike to Wolf Pond. The place where I was heading too was like heaven on earth… Well at least to me it was. It was a small, little clearing in the trees and on the south side of the clearing there was a little creek that came through them. When the creek met the ending of the trees it fell over some rock which were piled up. This made a tiny waterfall that landed in a small, shallow pond. There weren't many thing living in it. Some water plants, frogs, and I think some fish, I never looked hard enough to see.

I had come across this place about two years ago. Finding it peaceful enough – to get away from my hectic life – I came here often. I spent most of my summer days up here and then when the snow would come I'd wait for it to melt away before coming back. Once the snow was gone I'd put my hiking boots on and hike up to the pond. The best think about the place was there was no cell service so I was completely alone.

I don't think many people knew about this place because I never saw anyone. It took about three hour to get too if you walked, which meant it was out of sight, out of mind. Kind of like me and that was just the way I liked it.

Half way through my hike, I notice things had changed a little since I took this trail the last time. Someone less observant than me wouldn't have been able to see it. At first I noticed some of the trees were missing, but I soon realized they were lying on their sides, from the wind, or cracked down the middle, from the snow being so heavy. It broke my heart to see the trees like this. As weird as it may sound, they were my friends. I could talk to them, and yes I knew they wouldn't talk back, but that was the good things about it. I didn't have to worry about them going off and telling people what I had just said. They kept the secrets I told them and for that I was grateful, but I guess that was just the Indian in me. I did come to the conclusion, at a very young age. The conclusion was it's just the way Mother Nature worked. Things died, and living things took their place.

About an hour and a half later I started to notice the signs I was getting close to my destination. I turned off my iPod and took the earbuds out so I could listen for the tiny water fall. A small smile played at my lips once I heard the babbling creek as it met the pond, and I started speed walking to get there faster. The place sounded closer than it really was, I knew that for a fact. I was maybe a mile away from where I wanted to be. After thinking about how far away it was I couldn't stop my mind from going into the past, to when I was just a little girl.

To be honest, I had really good hearing, and eyesight to go with my reflexes even when I was little, but it got better as I got older. I guess it had something to do with all the fighting I had done over the years. My fighting was probably the reason all my important senses were so strong. Or maybe it was the other way around, I don't know. All I knew is that I've always had these amazing senses I just couldn't stop.

After I turned four – before I left this place – was when I started to notice all of this. Even at my young age I knew there was something different about me. I remember I would hear things that weren't there. For example, I would hear the animals outside my house. I could also hear my parents' fighting in the basement and it was clear as day when it should have been muffled. At first I thought it was because I was a little girl and was afraid of the dark – like all kids were. As I got older, and wasn't afraid of the dark any more, I noticed that my hearing, eyesight, and reflexes had gotten better, even before I started my MMA training. At the age of six my shima got me into Karata classes after we moved to South Dakota.

One day, when I was about eight, my shima was late picking me up after one of my classes. At that time the place – where I took my Karata lesson – was also where the older people came to work on their MMA training. My instructor let me watch them, while I waited for my mom to come get me. As I sat there I couldn't help but stare in ah about everything which was going on and all the different things these people were doing. I remember watching this girl do the armbar on one of her sparing partners and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. That was when I decided I didn't want to do Karata anymore. I wanted to start working on some MMA fighting and the Karata did help with learning everything new I was about to learn. That's exactly what I told my shima when she showed up. It took me a few days to convince her in letting me do this – there was also a lot of whining involved when my old man wasn't around – and two weeks later I had my first lesson and I have been in love with it ever since.

After a month or two of MMA training, I overheard my instructor tell my shima I was a natural from the very beginning. I was beating girls at least a year older than I was and I was only nine at the time. At the age of twelve I was beating girls who were three to four years older than me. By this time my senses were ten times better than when I was four. This was the only thing I could think of that was helping me with my training. I was also pretty good predicting what my opponent was going to next, if I do say so myself. I now could see my opponents in slow motion, so it was easier to think about what I was going to do next. Okay fine, I will admit, did help a little I made my opponent mad by taunting them in one way or another. I mostly did it for the fun of watching the person get flustered when they couldn't touch me.

Because of all the training, my heightened senses, and making people mad, by the age of fourteen – when I started the underground fighting in La Push – I was unstoppable. Thomas, the old man, and even myself lost track of how many fights I had been in and won. If I had to guess I had won a hundred and twenty-four fight in my three years of fighting. I was close because I was called to a fight at least three times a month, so yea – I don't mean to brag – I was that good. I was smart in the Octagon and I knew what or what not to do while I was in it.

As I reached the edge of the clearing, all the thoughts and memories melted away. Nothing had really changed, but at the same time it did. The snow was gone, the leaves were starting to come back, and the pond was so clear I could almost see the bottom. The grass was green and flowers were starting to pop out from the ground and it was only the end of February.

On the North side of the clearing a little bit a ways from the pond lay a small ring of rocks. This is where I always put my fire when I staid the night. It was right by a big tree where I liked to sit up against and draw. The reason I did this was because it was a good vantage point. I could see everything very well from where I sat.

Every time I would see this place it would take my breath away, and I couldn't help but stand where I was a little bit long, just to enjoy it all. This was my place and I loved it, nothing would ever change that. Like I've said before I thought of nature as my religion and the earth was my church and this was the best church I could ever ask for.

After standing there and admiring the place for a little while longer, I slowly walked to my usual fire spot and started putting up my camp cite. First I put up the tent, after that I made my bed. When I was done with all this I put my second blanket down, in front of a tree, with my sketch pad and pencils in hand. Once I was situated I picked a pencil out of the box and looked down at the blank piece of paper in front of me.

Before I started drawing I closed my eye and took a deep breath in. When I breathed out I slowly opened my eyes and let my mind wander. I didn't know or see what I was going to draw, I never did. I usually just let my hands do what they liked to do. Taking different colored pencil out of my box, one after the other, I didn't stopped till I was done about an hour later.

When I looked down I sucked in a breath and blinked rapidly. Embry Call was staring up at me from the page, with those dark chocolate eyes. His facial expression was also dark, like the times he's seen I was in pain. From what you could see of his clothes – considering it was mostly just a head shot drawing – it was a black t-shirt. This was what he wore the day he first noticed me. In the drawing, everything was there, was right. From his hair, to his eyes, to his facial expression and structure, it was all right, right here in front of me in black and white. I didn't know I was this good.

I usually sketched what was on my mind and I had no idea this person was on it. Even though I was happy with what I had done I still didn't want to know I was thinking about this guy, but before I could rip the paper out of my sketch book and tear it up, I heard a twig snap on the right side of the clearing by the waterfall. My head snapped up in the direction of the noise and squinted my eyes to see through the trees. At first I didn't see anything, because there wasn't much light getting through them, but once my eyes adjusted my heart stopped in fear.

At the edge of the clearing was a big, giant wolf, staring right at me. From what I could see of it, it was three times bigger than the average wolf. At least it was bigger than the ones I had seen at the zoo – and I thought those ones were huge when I was little. At least, at the zoo, there was a fence or a glass wall keeping the wolf away from me. Where this one was standing now, there was nothing that could stop it from getting it to me. The scary part about it was it was the size of a horse. I couldn't out run it even if I wanted too.

I bit my tongue so I wouldn't scream. I didn't want to scare it before I could get up a tree. Slowly closing my sketch book, I put it down on the ground on my left side. I then slowly got up never taking my eyes off of the huge scary animal in front of me. It stepped into full view as it watched me watching him. The animal sat down just a few feet away from the edge of the clearing. It cocked its head to the side looking confused.

The two of us sat and watched each other for a few seconds. I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't know if the wolf was going to just sit there all day or attack. It showed no sign of wanted to attack me, but that didn't mean it wasn't going to. As we stared at one another I took the time to study it. Like I observed before, it was the size of a horse, but I couldn't help but think it was a beautiful creature. It was a gray color and it had… black spots on its back. I had to rub my eyes and blink again. This wolf looked exactly like the one from my dream. I looked at its eyes and they were just as human as I remembered.

"This can't be possible," I muttered to myself.

The wolf's ears pivoted in my direction and it stood up quickly. That's when I decided to turn around and started climbing the tree behind me. When I was sure I was out of the way I looked down at the forest floor. The wolf was right where he originally was but he was looking at me in the tree. He then looked down at the sketch book – at least that's what I think he was looking at – I had left on the ground and I watched him walk over to it.

"No!" I hissed at the animal on the ground. "Don't touch that."

The wolf didn't even look at me as he stood at the base of the tree. It bent its large head down to sniff the book at its feet. I was surprised when I saw the large beast flip over the cover of the sketch pad with its nose, and reveled the drawing of Embry which was on the first page. The animal sat down and cocked its head to the side, as it looked down at the paged. I watched as the wolf lifted its large paw to hover over the piece of paper.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Whatever you're doing stop it."

Once again I was ignored as the beast put its paw on a blank part of the paper. As he – I'm going to guess it was a he, because I didn't know if it was or wasn't, and I wasn't about to ask – pulled it away there was a dirty paw print stuck on the drawing of Embry. He examined his handy work, and he seemed happy about it. His tongue hung out to the side and it looked like he was smiling. With the look still on his face, he looked up at me, where I was still sitting in the tree. Now it was my turn to cock my head to the side in confusion. This could not be happening.

"What?" I snapped.

The animal sneezed and shook his head at the same time. He stood up and backed away from the tree. When it thought it was far enough away from me, he sat down. I looked at him not knowing what was going on through his head. After a few seconds I finally understood what he wanted. I let out an airy, sarcastic laugh.

"Yea no," I told him. "I am not getting down from this tree and I can stay up here all day. I've got more than enough time."

I waited for him to do something but he just stared up at me with those human like eyes. This was the weirdest thing going on right now. The more I thought about it I was sure the wolf had more than enough time to sit around and wait for me to come down from the tree, considering it was a wolf and it really didn't have anything important to do. On the other hand wouldn't it be smarter to go hide somewhere, and make me think it was gone? That's what I would have done but I wasn't about to give this animal any ideas.

"I don't know what you're going to do," I continued. "So I hate to burst your bubble sweet-cheeks, but I feel safer up here. Thank you very–"

I didn't finish my sentence because I realized how stupid I sounded. This was just crazy… I was crazy. I was talking to a wild animal for crying out loud. An animal couldn't even understand what I was saying, let alone talk back or answer me anyway. At least that's what I thought, until I watched the wolf on the ground lie down on its belly and put its ears flat on its head, as it started to whine softly. I blinked and shook my head at it, before staring at the animal, looking up at me.

"You really want me to come down?" I asked.

The wolf shot back up into the sitting position and got that "smiling" look on his face. This just could not be possible. The animal was acting like he understood me but that couldn't be right… couldn't it. I shook my head to stop from thinking too much. I wasn't going to give into this wolf. I really didn't trust it and there was no way I was going to risk getting eaten. For all I knew this wolf was smarter than the others and he was trying to get me to come down so he could kill me. No I was not going to risk my safety just because this wolf seemed friendly.

"Well that's not happening," I stated. "I'm still not getting down from here."

With that said, I watched as the wolf 'shrugged' and lie back down on the ground. It put its head on its paws, while looking up at me. Once again, this was just crazy. I didn't understand how this was happening. I came to my peaceful place because that's what it was supposed to be… Peaceful. This was supposed to be where I came to get away from the tragedy that was my life but no. Here I was playing chicken with a wild animal. I guess all I was going to have to do was wait this thing out.

-E&E-

And four hours later I hadn't won the battle. I was still in the tree and the wolf was still on the ground watching me. Nothing had changed in the last four stupid hours. He was still watching me and I was still watching him. The only thing that really change was the positions we would both would switch too. He'd lie on one side and then the other, or he'd roll onto his back and lie there for a few minutes, and then he would roll so he was lying on his stomach, starting all over again.

On the other hand, I had few less positions to use. There was either sitting up right in the tree, with both of my feet hanging off the edge – the wolf didn't seem to like this idea, he'd growl every time I tried doing it – which after a while got super uncomfortable. I also had the pleasure of sitting with my back up against the tree truck and that was about it. All of this was just nuts.

No matter how hard I tried, I still couldn't wrap my mind around this whole thing. I was sitting up in the tree trying to out wait a giant horse sized wolf. A wolf, mind you, that seemed like he could never get bored, while I, on the other hand, wished I would have grabbed my book from my backpack so I could read while I was up in the damn tree. This was just weird and it couldn't be happening… but sadly it was.

I was now in the position with my back up against the tree. The wolf was on his stomach with his head placed on his paws, and it was still looking at me. I let out a long sigh of boredom and the animal lifted his head to get a better look at me. He cocked his head to one side and then the other. If I had to guess he probably curious why I was sighing. To be honest, I really didn't understand why I was doing it either. There wasn't anything I could do about being bored considering the damn wolf wouldn't leave me alone. So even though I knew he couldn't understand me, I decided I was going to talk to him anyway. At least he couldn't go around telling people what I had said and maybe I wouldn't be so bored.

"I'm just bored," I stated to him. "We've been at a standstill for four hours and it's all your fault."

The wolf flattened his ears against his head as he put his head down, so he was looking at me through his eyelashes. He really did look sorry but that didn't make me any less angry… or bored. There has to be something someway around this. I sighed again.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" I asked him. "Like, I don't know, running with your pack or maybe hunting for food."

I watched as the animal sat up, into a sitting position. He cocked his head from one side to the other again. The expression on his face was telling me he thought I was crazy. That's when something clicked in my brain and I face planted my face into my right hand.

"That's right," I said, taking my hand away from my face. "I'm the food."

The wolf let out a soft whine again before letting out a small growl. I really didn't understand what his problem was, I was the one stuck in a tree, but there was nothing I could really do about it. Also if the wolf thought I was crazy, maybe I was.

"I'm sorry okay," I muttered. "I just haven't been myself the last couple of days. First I break a girls arm in one of my fights. Next this boy I have been going to school with for years finally notices me. Then I start hearing a voice in my head out of nowhere, and now I'm talking to a wild animal in the middle of the forest. You know the more I say it the more I'm sure I'm losing it."

I didn't take my eyes off the animal under me. His expression on his face changed at that moment. It became thoughtful, like he was thinking really hard about something. The more I watched him the more I had to admit he was a pretty good listener. A few moments later, the voice I was just talking about, started ringing in my head.

"She can hear my voice," it asked itself, "in her head?"

Groaning, I put my hands over my ears as I started shaking my head back and forth, trying to make the voice go away. I didn't understand why this was happening to me. This voice, like always, sounded very familiar but I still couldn't put a finger on it. I think that was what was really driving me up the walls lately.

'Please make it go away,' I thought to myself, as I closed my eyes tightly, 'Just make it go away.'

I heard the wolf whine again, from below me. Opening my eyes, I saw he was now at the base of the tree and he looked almost concerned, well as concerned as a wild animal could look. His human looking eyes were soft and his ears where flat against his head again. Now that I looked at him, he looked friendly enough, but this still didn't mean I should trust him… did it?

"You know," I said aloud, "I'm tired of sitting up in this tree and you seem friendly enough. If you promise not to hurt me or kill me I guess I could come down."

'Did I just say that?' I asked myself. 'Why in god's name would I get down from the safety of a tree to the waiting teeth from a wild animal? It's like shooting yourself in the foot.'

I knew the answer to that. I was tired of sitting in a tree for so long. It was really starting to get uncomfortable. If I had to be honest I would rather be eaten then sit in this tree for another hour.

Once the wolf heard my words it started jumping up and down while it let out a happy bark. His ears were perked back up as he wagged his tail. Typical, I tell a wolf I'm coming down from a tree so it can eat me and it's happy about it. I let out a sigh and rolled my eyes at the happy animal.

'It's like ringing the dinner bell,' I joked to myself.

"Whow there wolfie," I warned.

The large wolf stopped his happy dance and looked back up at me. He tilted his head to the side and let his tongue hand out from the left side. I swear the animal was smiling at me but that was impossible… wasn't it? I shook my head again ant took a look back at the wolf as I pointed a finger at him.

"You have to promise not to hurt me," I stated, "or eat me."

It may have been my eyes tricking me but I could have sworn the animal nodded its head at my words. Just after he did I heard the voice in my head again, but it was very faint, like the owner was whispering.

"I would never hurt you," it rang. "I would rather die."

The more I said it the more I was starting to be believe it. I was losing it. Well I guess if I couldn't stop losing it then I might as well put myself out of my misery. Plus, maybe if I was running for my life I could probably stop trying to figure out who the voice belong too.

"I'm going to trust you," I told the wolf. "Why I'm going to trust you I have no idea but I guess it's worth a shot."

The huge wolf took a few steps back away from the tree as I started making my way down it. When I was standing on the ground again I slowly turned to face the wild animal I had been staring at for the past four and a half hours. For once, in a very long time, I was kind of scared. As the wolf and I stared at each other my knees began to shake. A few seconds later I couldn't stand anymore. I fell backwards and my back it the tree. Surprisingly it didn't hurt but that was probably because of the adrenaline running through my veins.

The "smile" on the wolf's face fell as he put his ears back down against his head. He looked almost sad, like he didn't want to scare me. The large animal laid down on the ground and slowly inched his way over to where I sat. I couldn't move as I looked at him and my whole body started to shake, like a leaf. When he wasn't more than two feet away from me he stopped and put his head on his paws.

We stared at each other a little while long and I didn't know what to do. I was a loss. Soon without thinking, I slowly stretched out my hand to touch the animal in front of me. When he saw what I was doing he lifted his head. I flinched and my hand froze just inches away from the wolf's snout. After realizing he wasn't going to hurt me I stretched my arm all the way out and waited for him to make his move. He looked from my hand to my face to look into my eyes. It was like he was trying to tell me he wasn't going to hurt me just with his eyes. Without looking away from mine he slowly moved his head so his snout was in the palm of my hand.

As soon as my skin made connect with his fur I felt a shock of electricity. It almost threw me back further than I already was. Then electricity started at the palm of my hand and moved up my arm leaving nothing but warmth as it disappeared. The electric shock spread throughout my body. Once it was gone I felt a warm feeling all over my body. That wasn't the only thing that was weird about our simple touch. My heart started beating fast and it wasn't from fear. I couldn't really say what it was about, it just felt normal for some reason. Like my heart had always beat this fast.

All of this had happened within seconds. As soon as I felt the shock I pulled my hand away and held it to my chest. It didn't hurt it was just a little scary. The wolf put his head down on his paws and let out a small whine. Seeing him like this, when it wasn't his fault, broke my heart and I couldn't help but want to make him understand I wasn't all that scared of him anymore.

"Oh no," I told him. "It's not your fault. The shock just scared me."

The wolf lifted his head and started smiling. I couldn't help but let out a small laugh. Everything was quiet for a few seconds before I stretched my hand out again. This time he and I didn't hesitate. My hand met his snout again but there wasn't a shock this time and I couldn't help but smile at this. His fur was very soft and I liked the feeling of it in between my fingers.

After a while the wolf got up and slowly moved closer to me, without our contact being severed. He was standing now and I had to look up at him to see his face. Somehow I knew what he wanted. I slowly stood up and moved away from the tree. As I watched the wolf lay down where I used to be sitting, I couldn't help but close my eyes and shake my head. I had no idea what I was doing. If I didn't know any better I would say I was suicidal. Maybe I was, but I could have cared less.

When I opened my eyes he was just staring at me. I didn't know what he wanted so I tilted my head to the side like I had seen him do. He looked down at his midsection and then back up at me. After he did this, what he wanted me to do, click in my head.

"You want me to sit down," I thought aloud, "and lean up against you."

I watched the wolf nodded his head again. Again this was nuts but I had decided to just go with the flow. Once again, my movements were slow as I sat down again the big wolf. The rest of his fur was just as soft as his head and he was very warm. Before I knew it, I fell asleep close to a big giant wolf.

-E&E-

When I woke up you could see the sun, through the clouds, was just starting to go down. This meant it was about seven o'clock. I had been a sleep for at least four hours. As I started to become more awake my surroundings started to come into focus. The first thing I realized was I leaning against something warm and soft. My heart started beat faster than it already was and I jumped up faster than humanly possible. Once I was standing I turned around to see what I had been sleeping on.

All this took seconds for me to do and once I was standing it took me while to comprehend what was going on but when I did I couldn't help sigh of relief that escaped my lips. The wolf was still here and he was looking at me like I was crazy but he also looked sad.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I just forgot what happened."

The wolf nodded his head for the third time today and I still couldn't get used to this. I decided to figure out how far his understanding could go. Questions seemed to be the best way to go for this.

"Do you," I muttered, "understand everything I say?"

He nodded to again to prove his point. This should have been scary but to me, it wasn't. It was weird but cool at the same time, though I did still think I was losing it. I kept asking him questions.

"I need to know," I told him. "This may be a weird question but I still need to know. Are you a boy?"

He rolled his eyes and nodded his head. I let out a small laugh. Now here was the thing that was going to make things easier. I was tired of calling him an it, or wolf, or an animal.

"Do you mind if I gave you a name?" I asked him.

He left out a small bark whine with that smile still on his face. This animal was very beautiful and sweet. I didn't understand why he wasn't chomping at the bit to kill me. Don't get me wrong I was happy he wasn't. I've just learn wolves were predators and they would kill you if you messed with them… but this one was different.

"I'm going to take that as a yes," I laughed.

I thought for a few seconds as I sat down against him again. This was going to be difficult. I had never had a pet before so I really didn't know what to do as far as names went. Maybe if I just throw out names I might something we both like.

"Hector," I tried out.

The wolf let out a small growl.

"I agree," I told him. "That one's out. Ummm, Robert?"

A growl vibrated throughout his chest. This wolf was picky. I wasn't doing a very good job of picking out names though.

"Thomas?"

Another growl.

"Jace?"

This went on for about ten minutes. I decided about two minutes into going through the alphabet and by the time we got to the D's I was at a loss. I just got to Eli when we started getting somewhere, even though I could tell he didn't like the name itself. The wolf's big ears started to perk up and I could tell he was starting to like the names I was giving out.

I thought for a while long and then one name jumped out at me. I didn't know if the wolf would like it or not but I guess it was worth a shot.

"How about Em?" I asked.

The wolf barked happily and turned his head to lick my face. I let out a laugh and halfheartedly tried to push the large animal away. When he stopped licking my face I stopped laughing so loud.

"So Em it is," I muttered.

I looked over at Em's big face staring right at me. Letting out a small sigh I put my hand behind his ear to scratch it. He closed his eyes and his tongue hung out to the side again as he enjoyed what I was doing. This was the happiest I had been in a long time.

"You know," I began, "I have never had a real friend before. At least not one that I can remember."

Em opened his eyes to look at me, as I stopped scratching behind his ear. He was a good listener I had to give him that and even though four hours ago I thought he was going to eat me I considered him a friend… My friend. I wondered if he felt the same way.

"We are friends?" I asked him. "Aren't we?"

The big wolf nodded and I smiled at him. He laid his head on his paws and let out a big sigh. As it became darker I got up and started looking for fire wood. After the fire was made I went back and sat down against Em. I looked at him and he was a sleep. After I watching him for a few more seconds before I picked up my sketchbook. It was still opened to Embry's sketch. Em's paw print was still there and I shook my head. This wolf was something else.

I looked out at the pond not far off from where we sat. Even in the night it clear to see with the help of the moon because of the clear night. I let out a sigh of happiness and got out my reading book. As I read I could help but think this was the best trip I had had up here and I couldn't have changed it for the world.

-E&E-

I woke up the next morning and Em was gone. We had went to bed in the tent around ten and I fell asleep around ten thirty, in the warmth of my best and only friend. I was sad when I woke up and he was gone but I had to guess he had better things to do. He was going to be soon back I could feel it.

Around one in the afternoon I headed back to my prison. It was nice to get out but I knew it was time to get back. Who knew what was waiting for me back home. The hike back was pleasant but short. As I got closer, the more my mood started to sink. Soon my guards were up once again and I was back to my bitchy self. The smile I had own the day before had turned into a scowl and my eyes had hardened. I don't know if me being this way was a good thing or not but I had to do what I had to do to protect myself.

When I saw my house in the distance I could sense something bad was going to happen and I wasn't going to like it. I made my way to the front of the house and saw my instincts were right again. The old man's car was in the drive way and that meant he was in the house. I sighed and thought it was the best idea to just get this over with.

I opened the door and slowly made it inside. Slowly making my way to the stair case I thought I was home free, but not as free as I wanted to be. I made it half way there when…

"Hello E," a voice rang out. "Welcome home."

It came from my right side, which was the side the living room was on. I turned my head to face my old man. Before I could do anything I saw a fist came flying towards my face. Taking a step back, trying to move out of away, I let out a gasp. I realized too late I didn't get out of the way fast enough and there was nothing I could do to stop the fist flying towards my face. Soon after I grasped this thought the fist made contact with my jaw.

I don't even remember falling after he hit me. The next thing I remember was lying on my side, looking up at the old man's face. He was trying really hard to keep his eyes focused on me. I couldn't believe I didn't hear him in the room, he was breathing so hard.

"Have fun?" the old man sneered. "Wherever you were."

I rolled over so I was on my back, but held myself up so I could move out of the way if I needed too. The man who stood over me looked happy but angry at the same time. I knew he was happy I was hurt by his hand. I didn't know why he was so angry though.

"I hope you weren't out whoring around," old man growled. "I couldn't take it if my cash cow got pregnant and couldn't bring home the money anymore."

'I'm smarter than that,' I thought to myself.

I let out a ragged breath as I stared at the man in front of me. He had been drinking that was obvious. What was I thinking? He was always drinking. I was pretty surprised he didn't die from his liver failing.

The old man grabbed my face roughly in his left hand. He squeezed my face so hard I was giving him fish lips. I watched as his face came close to mine. He was only inches away from me and it took all the self-control I had to not spit in his face. He gave me a smile and I saw his ugly gagged teeth. I was always glad I didn't get my teeth from him.

"To tell you the truth," he said thoughtfully, "I don't really care what you do. All you have to do right now is listen to me. I have been called back to South Dakota. The cops have more questions for me about your shima's disappearance."

'She didn't disappear,' I cried in my head, 'we both know that. You don't have to play these games with me.'

If he knew what I was thinking he didn't show it. He just kept talking to me, telling me he was going to be gone and he didn't know how long he would be. He told me I was going to continue fighting and bring in the money for the house payments. He said Thomas was going to give me a little extra for these payments along with my share of the profit, and I wasn't supposed to spend it on anything else. I was to pay the bills and I was to be good. If he heard I had missed a fight or I wasn't behaving there would be hell to pay when he got back. He also said one of his buds sons' was going to come check on me every now and then. While he was here I was going to be nice and do what he said.

I don't know if he was just trying to scare me or if he really think I did all these thing. All I knew was I was going to have this place to myself even if it was for a little while. He was doing me a favor and he didn't even know it. If he knew about this favor he would have taken me with me.

When he was done telling everything I was supposed to do while he was gone he let go of my face and gave me one last slap. I waited for him to walk away from me before I looked over at him. I didn't dare move unless he told me too. He was walking to the front door where there was a suitcase waiting for him. I didn't even notice it when I walked into the house. The old man picked up his suitcase and opened the door before turning to look at me. I watched as he lifted his hand and pointed a finger at me.

"Like I told you before E," he growled. "Behave or you're going to wish you had never been born. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir," I said without hesitation.

I watched him close the door and I waited a few seconds before getting up off the floor. Grabbing my bag as I walked passed it I slowly made my way up the stairs to my bedroom. Flopping down on my bed I couldn't help thinking about my old man leaving and about Em the wolf yesterday. Yesterday was a good day and I was Actually Happy for once in a very long time. Who knew when it was going to happen again.

-E&E-

Edited:

7/5/16

9/23/16

10/31/16