.4.
Standing outside the small house I felt about ready to turn back and go home.
Stood at the front door with my nervous toddler in one arm and the slightly scalding heat of a freshly baked apple pie resting in it's tin in the other, I was now stuck with the dilemma of having no free hands to knock with. I felt a strong urge to just back off the little step and quietly go back down the path and make my way home, the boisterous sounds of rowdy males coming from inside the tiny house only feeding that urge.
You need to do this for Caspar, he can't stay scared like this forever and neither can you.
Steeling myself, I lift my foot to knock with, but just as I do the door swings open, leaving me frozen with my foot in the air. Seth stands in the doorway, gaping at the sight of me.
"Err. What are you doing?" He asks, a grin pulling at the corners of his mouth.
My face heats up in embarrassment. "I was trying to knock. My hands are full so.." I drift off with a shrug, planting my foot back down on the ground.
Seth starts laughing, reaching for the pie tin in my hand. "What's this?" He asks, popping the tin open before I answer "Apple pie! awesome! Did you make this?"
"Caspar helped." I nod, shuffling Caspar into a more comfortable position in my arms. He peeks his face out from against my shoulder at Seth, thumb in mouth, still too nervous to act his usual cheerful self.
"You made this Cass? That's awesome! Oh, come in! Everyone's really excited to meet you." He gestures for us to follow him into the cosy house, leading us through into an open kitchen dining room with a dining table, piled with covered dishes and plates, that took up most of the space. He brings us towards a pretty, native woman who smiles brightly at the sight of us, making her way from the pan covered stove towards us. "Emily, Moth brought pie!" Seth exclaims, excitedly handing the tin over to Emily, who peers inside, smiling wider.
"Thank you, this looks delicious." She says with a kind voice that matches her bright smile.
With her smooth, russet skin tone, long, dark hair plaited into a thick rope that rested over her shoulder, laugh lines from smiling so much creasing around her dark eyes and claw marks that raked down one side of her face, Emily exuded a warm and welcoming aura.
"I'm Emily, it's so nice to meet you Moth. Seth hasn't stopped talking about you since yesterday." She moves to give me a firm hug. I shift Caspar to my hip to return the hug without him being squished between us. "This must be Caspar." She looks down at my three year old. "Well aren't you just the sweetest thing, just look at those eyes!" She smiles at him. Caspar buries his face into my shoulder shyly, causing Emily to chuckle.
"Are you shy Caspar!?" Seth asks, taking him from my arms and twirling him, squealing and giggling, around the room.
"What's going on in here?" An intimidating man asks, walking into the room over to Emily and I. Wrapping his arm around Emily's waist, he turns his eyes towards me, assessing.
"Moth, this is my fiancé Sam, Sam this is Moth." Emily introduces us, tucking herself against his side.
"Nice to put a face to the name, Seth hasn't stopped talking about you and your son. I thought he was exaggerating but you really look exactly as he described." He extends his hand to me, the other tightening around Emily's waist, holding her so that he was standing firmly between us.
"I hope that's a good thing." I smile back lightly, placing my hand in his.
His grip is hard as his sharp, brown eyes meet my odd ones, warning. I tighten my own grip in turn, smile dropping from my face as I meet his gaze head on with my own hard look, suppressing the growl rising up in my chest.
I understood why he may be suspicious of me, a stranger turning up out of nowhere, with an unknown past and nothing on her but a tied blanket full of money and a kid, but I would not tolerate someone trying to intimidate me.
Especially with my son staring wide-eyed at us.
Seth had stopped spinning around upon sensing the tension in the room, looking between Sam and I nervously.
The house goes silent.
From the corner of my eye I see a group of strongly built men standing in the kitchen doorway, watching the stand-off that was happening between the two of us, but I don't look away from Sam.
Caspar wiggles firmly out of Seth's tightening hold. Dropping to the floor he runs towards me, tears building in his eyes. "Leave mama alone!" He grabs hold of Sam's wrist. Sam quickly jerks his large hand away, the force of the movement causing Casper to fall over, landing with a thud on the tiled floor.
Everyone freezes, all eyes on the fallen toddler.
I'm shocked. How did it get to this?
Caspar's face scrunches up, turning bright red as he releases a loud wail, shattering the heavy silence in the room. Sam and the other people in the room move towards Caspar and I snarl at them, warning them to stay back, jolting them to a wide-eyed stop.
I crouch down and pick up my hurting child, bringing him into my arms, carefully feeling the back of his head for any bumps. He cries loudly as I stand, murmuring soothing words and running a hand up and down his back, trying to calm him.
Emily glares at the shocked group and her intended as she steps towards me. "Moth I'm so sorry. He didn't hit his head did he?" I take a step back, easing my way towards the door, wincing at the hurt in her eyes.
"I don't think so, but I'm going to take him home. I think he's had enough for tonight." I say, not missing the disappointment on her face.
I'm more tense than I thought, acting like that with Sam, he's only looking out for the people he cares about.
"Oh please don't go, don't worry about Sam, he's just protective." She urges me.
"No, I really think I should go. Err- thank you for having me." I turn and rush out of the house, ignoring the calls behind me as I run into the night, Caspar clinging tightly to me.
I've messed up. Billy wanted me to make friends and this happens. What if we have to leave ? Billy said it was a tight knit community, they won't want me causing trouble.
Wanting to get home faster I fish the keys out of the pocket of my dark-blue jeans and hold them in the hand I was using to hold Casper to me. Then, feeling a quick flicker of remorse for the new, soft, red sweater I was wearing, I let the shift roll over me. As my clothes give way to thick, white fur, I feel Caspar relax, soothed by the softness under his body and the firm feel of my muscles propelling us faster.
I speed up.
Slightly inhibited by using one arm to hold Caspar to me, I eat up the distance, enjoying the feel of the forest racing past me, using the run to work out the tension I had been feeling most of the evening.
Entering the clearing to our house, I shift back and make my way across the space and up our front porch. Walking naked to the door I jolt to a stop.
The front door's open.
Silently walking back down the ramp, I crouch down against the side of the porch. Spotting a small hole where an animal had dug under the porch, I put Casper down, holding a finger to my lips, signalling for him to stay quiet. "Casper I need you to do something very important for mama." I whisper. He nods and sticks his thumb in his mouth nervously. "I need you to wait in there while I go and look for something. I promise I'll be right back and I'll cook you anything you want for dinner. Just wait right here. I need you to stay quiet and if I tell you to run, you run and find somewhere to hide, away from the house. Okay?" I look sternly at him, showing him that I'm serious. He swallows anxiously before nodding slowly.
"Good boy." I kiss him quickly on the forehead and hug him tightly before getting up and moving back up the porch, carefully pushing open the doors and peering into the sparse room.
It was empty.
I step into the house, crouched slightly, eyes and ears straining to pick up any sign of intruders. I hear a rustling sound coming from my bedroom and I cautiously creep towards it. Coming to the open doorway I move to see the source of the noise. A hunched form rummaging through our new dresser draws comes into view. The figure grunts, throwing clothes everywhere, seemingly not finding whatever it was looking for. Not recognising the person from what I could see of their back I shift my senses, taking a deep breath, testing their scent.
An uncontrollable gag heaves is way out of my throat.
The person in front of me spins around hissing threateningly. Blood red eyes meeting mine and my blood freezes in my veins.
They sent vampires after us.
"Run!" I shout, hearing the startled scuffle followed by the clumsy footfalls of my frightened, retreating toddler.
The vampire smirks, flashing it's fangs. "I love it when they run. Makes it so much more fun." It hisses then moves to flash past me, thinking it could move faster than I would react.
It was wrong.
Snarling, my hand darts out, snatching the foul smelling creature by the hair dragging it back to my face, slamming the bedroom door closed. My own fangs slide down my jaw, my skin rippling with my imminent shift. "You want fun?" My voice rumbles with the beast so close to the surface, the danger of the situation drawing on the vampire as it starts clawing at my iron grip. "Then let's play bitch."
My shift explodes out of me, revealing the monster that lurks beneath my skin.