Everything was set up as we walked into the hallway. To the left was an opening in to the living room, where my mother and father stood leaning against the fireplace, nervously awaiting whatever we were about to tell them. To the right, were the stairs, where, as I looked up to the top, Rebekah was sitting at the top, hugging on to s stuffed animal I'd won her at carnival last year. Her look was a mixture of excitement and worry as her eyes laid on me. She was obviously afraid after all that had happened tonight, but I think that the worst part was the fear that I'll leave again.
Walking towards the bottom of the staircase I placed a hand on the banister, "Hey, I'll be up to tuck you in in ten minutes, so get to bed." As I spoke she grinned widely, her excitement clear, and she hopped to her feet in an instant running straight for her room. I looked back to Malia, who was simply admiring me, so I scoffed, walking back to the living room.
My parents stared intently at us for a few moments, before my father ushered for us to sit down. "Actually, you guys might want to be the ones to sit down," I warned them. They each shared a look, and merely took a swig from their glasses. My father had a glass of red wine, and my mother a cup of tea. Still the same as when I'd left.
Sharing our own awkward glance, we both sat down and prepared what we were supposed to say next. What do I say next? We're were-creatures, we live in a town called Beacon Hill's where the population is mostly supernatural. We have the abilities to grow claws and fangs, our eyes glow different colours. Those people hunting us were werewolf hunters, most likely trying to kill me for entering the city.
Somehow that didn't seem to cut it.
"I know that you both have questions, after everything you've seen tonight, I don't blame you. But you need to understand, that before I tell you anymore, this stays between us. No one," I looked specifically at my father, "and I mean, no one, can know. Not family. Not friends. Not the police. Not the doctors. Anyone. Are we clear?"
For once in his life, my dad kept his mouth shut, he didn't move, that would be too much dedication, but he didn't argue back. My mother nodded her head sheepishly, very shaken from all that had happened in the past hours. She wasn't the strongest of women, that's why she's still with him. If she was strong enough, she'd have gotten as far away from him as possible, and maybe she'd have taken me and Rebekah with her. That's another reason I liked Malia, if she ever needed to, she would put my ass back in its place and give me hell!
"Okay, well I suppose I'd better start with the people in the car park. We call them hunters. They hunt down-" I stopped myself suddenly aware of what I was about to say, "People like us…" I concluded quickly, too nervous to say the real word.
"People like you!?" My mother suddenly shouted, shocking everyone. "Are you in a gang or something!?" She asked, waving her mug around precariously.
"No, no, no! It's nothing like that, well, it's kind of not like that. I suppose. I don't know." I mumbled, resting my head in my hands, too confused to speak. That's when I felt a hand on my back, and turned to see a soothing, sincere smile facing me.
"What Tyler's trying to say, is that we're different." Malia said, tearing one of the hands that I'd buried my head in away so that she could hold it. Before I knew it I had that small surge of adrenaline that gave me enough confidence to blurt it out.
"We're werewolves!" I shouted, instantly clasping a hand over my mouth as if I had no control over what I'd said.
My mother's expression dropped wide in shock, whereas my father's remained somewhat unchanged, surprisingly. I avoided the two pairs of eyes on me, awkwardly staring at the floorboards, taking short deep breaths as if I were struggling to take in oxygen.
"You-You-re joking…" My mother muttered, clearly unsure of herself as the remark sounded like more of a question than a statement. She looked to my father for support who merely shrugged his shoulders, his eyes representing that familiar look of anger that I'd come to know very well. His reaction was somewhat… Unsurprised…
Suddenly I noticed Malia closing in on my shoulder, reaching out to hold me steady before saying in a snarky tone, "You are a werewolf. I am a coyote, there's a difference!" I could see my mother let out another inaudible gasp as I gave Malia a 'not the right time or place' look.
"I think maybe one were-creature at a time, Mal," I whispered, patting her gently on the arm. "But in all seriousness, we…" I looked my mother in the eye, as my father held her steady, as if her knees were about to buckle. "We're not joking, and I can prove it."
We spent about the next hour telling them about all that had happened to the pack from the night Scott was bit; about what a werewolf can do; and most importantly, about the full moon. We'd tried convincing them to let me take Rebekah, but he wouldn't have any of it, so instead we reached a new conclusion. Me and Malia would fly back tomorrow morning, and they would come down the next day. Like they would move to Beacon Hills. Well, until Rebekah had learnt to control her powers, that is.
When the room finally fell back in to that awkward silence, I decided that it was time to let them talk on their own. So I quickly excused us and headed straight upstairs to my room, quickly halting at Rebekah's door. I remembered that I'd promised to read her a bed time story, but by her sleeping form, I was clearly too late. So I pulled the door shut with a soft click, and followed Malia into my old bedroom.
I couldn't explain the mix of emotions that hit me when I walked through the door, everything was untouched, and just the way I left it: my desk was cluttered with old books and folders; TV unit crowded by random video game cases; and even the duvet on the bed was all piled into a heap. It was as if I'd been missing a part of myself for so long and I've finally got it back.
"Wow…" Malia said, astounded, as she scanned the room, "it smells like you." She finally concluded with a satisfied look. Her snarky comments like that, always in the wrong moment, always make me laugh. I walked over to the chest of drawers, laying a pair of bags on top of it before finally spotting the one possession I'd truly missed from this home. "What is it?" Malia asked curiously, hovering at my side as I held it in my hands.
"My great grandfathers army tags, it's a family heirloom." I merely whispered, relishing in the fact that I'd simply left it here, and not lost it altogether. With a small grin on my face I turned to face her, and instantly caught on to her confusion. "My grandfather fought in the war, he gave it to his son, who gave it to my dad, who gave it to me." She mouthed the word 'oh' slowly, finally catching on, and smiled in return, before walking away to look at something else.
"Wait…" She caught my attention as she waited curiously at the door to my bathroom, "where does this go?" I laughed as I walked over to her, standing at the door.
"Well, if you turn the nob like this," I spoke excitedly as I reached for the handle, mocking her slightly, "You'll find that it's…" I pulled the door open slowly, and watched as her face turned to something disappointed. "…Not a pathway to Narnia!"
"Wait, what?" She asked again, confused by the term.
"You're kidding right? Narnia? You never saw Narnia? Oh my god I need to have a film day with you…" She stormed past me as I spoke, annoyed by all my confusing jabber. She looked around for a moment, as if she were inspecting the room, before stopping altogether and shrugging her jacket off, dropping it to the floor. Then went the jumper. And just as I opened my mouth to ask what she was doing, the vest top followed, and I had to bite back a noise somewhere between approval and surprise.
Immediately looking up at the ceiling, trying desperately to avoid any eye contact, with anything, I stammered out words. "Wh-Wh-What're you… What're you doing?" She looked back at me, firstly as if I was an idiot, but then deciding to tease me further, she walked over to the frame of the door in a predator-like fashion, stalking her prey who was currently growing weak-kneed.
"I'm going to have a shower, want to join me?" She asked the question as if I genuinely had a choice in the matter, but the way she grabbed me by the scruff of the jacket and pulled me in after her, I doubt that was the case. It's going to be a long night, that's for sure.
A/N: So you know that point in life where everything is suddenly extremely hard? Well I started sixth form recently, (college for Americans, you probably knew that but just in case), and I'm telling no lie when I say I've had work to do every day. And between that, trying to run a Youtube channel, and doing normal human things such as socialising, eating and sleeping, I have had no time to write. Which is annoying as hell, but hey, we FINALLY have a new chapter. It ain't very long, and it may suck, but there is a new one, and now you know I'm not dead at the very least, so I suppose that's a win. Thanks to the people who read it!