Chapter Six

Family truths

"Howard if you don't get off of me I am going to replace you with a cat!" I threaten the dog. He jumps off of me and sits patiently at my side while I drag myself off of the floor and wipe the dog drool off of my face. "Good boy, now where are mum and dad?" I ask him. I gets up and walks towards the kitchen. Because I have werewolf blood within me I can communicate with Howard, mum and dad can have an entire conversation with him whilst Luscious finds it hard since he became a vampire and lost him werewolf blood. I follow the Labrador and entire the kitchen finding my mum cooking and my dad at the kitchen reading the paper.

"Dad how come you're not helping mum out with the cooking?" I ask disturbing his reading. I scratch behind Howard's ear thanking him, I go and put on an apron and go help mum with the cooking.

"Because your father burnt the food I asked him to make" says mum throwing dad a typical I-can't-trust-you-with-anything look.

"What?! You asked, I helped, it just didn't meet your standards dear." says my dad retuning to his paper.

My mum is so beautiful she could be a Goddess. Her name is Luwiza, spelt an ancient werewolf way. Her hair is cut short and is a shade of mystic red that touches the top of her back. Her eyes are an unusual moss green and her cheeks are so cute shaded with a hint of the colour of new tomatoes. She isn't that short, she reaches my roughly my chin and she goes to the gym about twice a week so she's really fit. My mum is wearing her cream summer dress and dolly shoes. Her ocean blue apron is way too big for her going down to her ankles.

I know it may sound wrong but my dad is stupidly hot for a dad! His name is Carlos, surprisingly a famous werewolf name. His hair is faded blonde and he spikes it up in the middle, for an old dude he can totally pull it off! His eyes are emerald green, he has a dark blonde goatee which drives the hell out of me! He also goes to the gym twice a week with my mum so he's also fit! Unfortunately they won't let me go to the gym until I turn. Dad is much taller than me, him and Luscious are nearly the same height, dad is just three inches taller than Luscious. He is wearing his cowboy shirt undone with a white top underneath showing off his six-pack chest and a pair of old jeans with his brown working boots.

"Mmm smells lush mum. Bolognaise?" I ask inhaling the fumes of the cooking.

"Of course dear." she giggles smiling. Cooking always sooths mum no matter what mood she's in.

Luscious walks into the kitchen and plonks himself down next to dad and takes the sports section of the paper from him and begins to read.

"Thanks for helping me with the stuff Catalie." he says sarcastically.

"Your welcome dear brother." I answer him smugly. He shakes his head and continues to read the paper.

Once we've all sat down at the table dad dishes out the Bolognaise and Howard digs into his doggy food by my side. His munching is so noisy I can't even heard myself think.

You've got to tell them! the voice inside my head screams at me. It's been screaming the same thing at me for two years since my thirteenth birthday party every time the whole family is sitting at the table. You've got to tell them about maturing faster! They need to know!

"Piss off!" I hiss quietly at myself.

"I beg your pardon Catalie?! What did you just say?!" I look up and see my mum glaring down at me with eagle's eyes.

You can either tell them the truth or lie and get into trouble, TELL THEM THE TRUTH!

"I was talking to myself mum" I squeak.

"What kind of person swears at themselves?" she questions still eyeing me suspiciously.

"Really Catalie? Wow! Didn't know maturing early also affected that." laughs Luscious. I shoot him a disgusting look and he just shrugs his shoulders "Shouldn't have been thinking about it if you didn't want me to know it Catalie, you know that." he smiles.

"I hope you sleep on a stake tonight you bloodsucker!" I yell at him throwing a meatball at his head.

"Enough from both of you! Now Catalie tell me what Luscious is talking about this instant!" he bellows.

Time to revile all the voice commands.

"Fine" I sigh "on my thirteenth birthday Edward and Bella were talking to me about my nightmares"

"You shouldn't have started experiencing nightmares until you turned fifteen" dad interrupts.

"But I am maturing faster than you did dad, faster than Luscious did! Grampa Edward believes I will face the decision when I turn sixteen and that I will then freeze in time nearing my seventeenth birthday. If grampa Edward is correct then I have roughly three months left until my decision and then I turn." I end, an uncomfortable silence fills the kitchen. "Happy now?!" I bark at myself.

Very! Luckily they all ignore my outburst barking.

"Sixteen? But…but…you're too young! You're supposed to turn at the age of seventeen when you could afford to take time off school because you will have done enough extra work to gain your grades. Carol what should we do?" mum asks dad. Worry starts to spread across her face and for once in my life I wish I wasn't born.

"We carry on. Just like we always have. Now we have a better idea of when Catalie will turn so we can now better prepare the basement and -"

"Basement?! You're gonna lock me away like some animal?!" I scream at dad.

"Basement, yes. Lock away, no. The basement is that best place because it is where the less amount of damage will happen. But all three of us will be there to help you though it. You will never be alone, not in the nightmare, not in the process, not in the end. Both me and your mother will be in the nightmare helping you and keeping you safe. Luscious will be on the outside trying to control you while you're unconscious making your decision. I promise." dad gives me the I-will-keep-this-promise gaze.

I sigh and let my head hang. Mum rests her hand on my shoulder and smiles at me assumingly. Luscious just throws back the meatball I originally threw at him. I laugh and they join in. The meal carries on like nothing every happened. Man I love this family!

Told you to tell them didn't I?

I nod my head and just smile to myself. Then I realize that Luscious can't read my mind.

"Hay! Luscious how did you know what I was thinking about? You can't read my mind!" I give him a puzzled look, he just smiles.

"Simple. You were mumbling something whilst you slept last night about maturing fast and hard choices to be made. I assumed the hard choices were because of the decision and the maturing is because you're a girl. Simple like Catalie." he raises his chin showing how proud he is from putting a mind puzzle together without his abilities for once.

I shake my head and continue eating my food. The conversation turns to the school day and how dad thinks our principal is stuck up his own arse.

I help mum clear up the table afterwards. She stops and eyes me suspiciously.

"Catalie, why did you swear at yourself earlier?" she asks still eyeing me.

Shit! Okay, I can either tell her the truth and be sent to a nut house or I can lie to her and still get sent to a nut house. I think my voice has gone. Right, guess I am gonna have to tell the truth, just hope my voice isn't too much of a squeak she doesn't mistake me for a mouse.

"Umm…I know this will sound crazy but…there's this voice in my mind and it was telling me to tell you guys about what grampa Edward told me." I croaked. Great so instead of sounding like a mouse I sound like a frog. I wait for my mum to grab the phone and ring the local nut house. I stare at her reaction. She puts the plates back down onto the table, smiles and shakes her head. I lead my head to the left. What is wrong with my mum? Her daughter is hearing voices in her head!

"Dear you can relax. Hearing voices in your head is nothing to this family! Dear in about three months you are going to turn into something that, to many people, should not exist! Hearing voices is nothing to worry about, in fact I think that voice is your intuition kicking in." she hugs me reassuringly.

"Really?"

"Really, really Catalie. Anything else you wish to get off your mind now whilst we are here baby?" she asks letting go of me.

"Well, there is one thing but…I am scared of your answer" I confess.

"Catalie baby, I am your mother, I will never scare you so long as I can help it. Now what is your problem?" she nudges me at my sides and I giggle playfully. I pull myself together and ask her a question I have always wanted answered.

"How does it feel that both you and dad are werewolves but you raise a vampire?" I ask, refusing to make eye contact with her. There is a long horrible silence in which I wish someone would run in and stab me through my still beating heart. My mum sighs and my head shoots up to hear her answer.

"In some ways it is magical because this has brought to tribes together in peace finally. But in other ways it is the most difficult thing to do as a mother. To raise your son to be opposite of everything you ever wanted him to be. Both me and your father love your brother immensely, but there are many things your father wishes he could teach your brother but cannot because he is not a werewolf. And plus sometimes your brother stinks up the house! Luckily for you, you cannot smell it but me and your father will try not to spend too much time around Luscious because of his scent. But I guess in the end…*sigh*…I wouldn't change him for the world. As long as he is happy with his decision then I am happy for him." she looks at me and smiles the typical mummy smile. "There is another thing on your mind isn't there Catalie?"

"How do you know that?!"

"Mother's intuition"

"Well its a very good intuition mum because you're right. So what you're saying is you still love Luscious even though he's a vampire?" I ask

"Of course"

"What would you like my decision to be?" I ask, this time keeping eye contact with her to make sure she doesn't lie.

"Why is it I believe this is not going to be answered by "As long as you are happy so am I"?" she asks. I nod my head and she sighs once more. "Very well Catalie. I would prefer your decision to be to become a werewolf obviously, but if you wish to become a vampire then become a vampire. Do not let my wanting cloud your choice Catalie." she says sternly. "Speaking of which have you experienced life as a vampire yet?"

"Yea I have actually, being accurate it was last night and I have never been so scared in my entire life! I have also experienced life as a werewolf but that was on the night I learnt of my second ability and for some reason I didn't fully change into a werewolf. That was also the night Luscious experienced life as a vampire" I shudder at the memory.

"Hmm, yes I remember the morning after that nightmare. You would not let yourself stay around Luscious by yourself for too long, also in the morning I found every candle lit and water from the taps running up the taps instead of falling out from them." she says raising her eyebrows.

"That wasn't my fault! I hadn't gotten used to my new ability yet you know that!" I tell her louder than I should.

"Of course I know that Catalie. Mother's intuition remember?" she taps her temple and raises both her eyebrows. I shake my head and a yawn escapes my throat. I suddenly feel very tired.

"Hay mum what time is it?"

"Nearing 8:30."

Another yawn escapes my now sore throat "Okay. I am gonna have an early night tonight. See you in the morning mum." I hug her and kiss her good night and then drag myself to my room. The stairs seem to take forever even though I took them in twos.

Once I manage to open my door I drag myself over to my wardrobe and change out of my clothes into my pyjama shorts and top. I throw myself onto my bed and draw my blanket over my now freezing body. I cuddle up to Howard who has followed me up to my room and is now laying on my bed. His blonde fur feels snug under my head, he sighs a long doggy sigh and begins to snore quietly. My body begins to shake and change in temperature from insanely freezing to insanely boiling. I can feel myself going unconscious and what this nightmare will in tale. Before I fall under the spell of my nightmares I whisper a single word into Howard's ear that causes him to shake.

"Werewolf."