Chapter 2: Wolfy

Sitting up, I wiped my mouth off, and then stood up. I didn't know how I had gotten sick, but I felt a lot better after that. I smoothed my dress out and wiped off any unwanted mud and grass. Soon after I walked to a nearby bench, sat down and crossed my legs. I let a cool breeze run through my hair and over my face. It was refreshing and made me feel a whole lot better. I was also very thankful that it had stopped raining –it would have been very bad to have come out here, thrown up everywhere, and also be doused in icy cold water. I would definitely catch a cold then.

Suddenly, without warning, a little reddish black fox ran out from the darkness. It was a red fox, very rare here, to be specific. And to my bliss, it was my little fox. My little wolfy! I smiled brightly, my mood improving drastically.

I patted the empty seat beside me, and it panted for a moment, looking at me, before it jumped up beside me and curled into a tiny ball. Its dark shiny eyes were focused on only me as, in my head, I jumped for joy.

"Hello, my little wolfy," I exclaimed loudly. It made a little whiny noise and raised its head up for a mere second to lick me on the hand. It tickled, and I giggled like a schoolgirl.

This fox had visited me ever since I could remember. When I was little, I remembering it being such an adorable pup. It hadn't grown much bigger at all since then, but it was still just as adorable. It was my friend that came to visit me from time to time, and it usually cheered me right up when I was feeling down. Today was no exception.

I stroked the soft fur of its ears, and smiled.

"I've been feeling sick lately bud and I don't know why. Do you?"

I had always thought that this little creature had the most intelligent eyes, and I almost believed it knew what I was saying. It looked sorry for me, and this made me smile wider.

"I haven't seen you in a long time! You should visit more often, 'cause I miss you."

To any passer-by it would look like I was talking to air. Wolfy was tucked right into my side, and almost looked like a fur purse.

"I've learned to do so many things since the last time we met! But I've also been struggling with my mother's want to get me a husband. That's my biggest issue right now… and what about you? Do you only find me when you need food," I muttered teasingly, and it sniffed loudly, almost in protest. I laughed.

Honestly, sometimes I wished this fox was human so it could be my husband. He certainly listened better than any other man out there would have.

"Well sorry squirt, I have nothing on me right now. If you actually stayed with me sometimes, I might be able to get you food."

"Amelia?" Someone called from the darkness. My heart froze for a second, and then skipped a beat when I saw Will emerge from the shadows.

"Whom are you talking to, dear?"

I looked to my side, and to my sadness, little Wolfy was gone. He had literally disappeared into thin air –I hadn't felt him move when he left.

I looked back to Will, who was now standing in front of me… and a little too close if I may say so myself…

"Umm …no one. Why are you here?"

He shrugged.

"I came out to see if you were all right. With all that talking to yourself, I'd say you're not better yet."

I rolled my eyes, and began to stand up, feigning a good mood.

"Oh ha-ha, very funny…" But I was cut off as he knelt down on one knee, and looked up into my eyes. My mind began racing. What was he doing?

"Amelia Weathers, will you give me the honour of having your hand in marriage?"

My eyes widened and I gasped.

"Amy? Amy, are you okay?"

My heart quickened as I heard Drew's voice close by. I tried to yank my hand away, quite forcefully at that, but he wouldn't let go. He kept looking up into my eyes, waiting for an answer as I desperately tried to get away.

All too soon, Drew emerged from the darkness. And I felt horrible and disgusting as her face twisted in pain and betrayal. I had panicked because I knew if she saw this, that it would crush her tiny heart. And I was right. Tears rolled down her face as she ran back into the black, and back into the ball.

I looked back at him with angry eyes. I slapped him with my free hand, and he recoiled slightly, not expecting that reaction.

"How dare you do that to my sister! Do you realize what you've just done? You've broken her heart you idiotic, moron of a man!"

Oh, but I forgot. All men were like this. It was very hard to meet a man, and not have your heart broken one way or the other.

His expression was stoic as he spoke.

"And you are breaking my heart Amelia. Have you had any idea how long I've been in love with you?"

I stared at him blatantly.

"A couple of hours?"

He shook his head, his expression shocked almost.

"I've loved you since the first time I met you –last summer. You are so beautiful, elegant, and friendly! You are an amazing, sweet person, and-"

I cut him off quickly.

"But my sister is in love with you! I am not. I barely know you, and I don't know or understand how you think you know me. Therefore, the answer is no, I will not marry you and never will. I could never hurt my sister like that, so now please excuse me while I fix the damage you've done-"

Suddenly it was his turn to cut me off. He grabbed me roughly around the waist and pulled me into him as he kissed me forcefully. I tried pulling away, with all my strength, screaming as I did so. But nothing worked –his fishy lips muffled my screams, and soon he violently shoved me against the cold damp bench behind me. I felt him try to pull down his pants, but before he could, he all of a sudden disappeared off of me.

I saw a flash of colour and screaming. It was Will –my eyes widened in shock. What had happened?

I was frozen in place for a few moments while my mind tried to process what just happened. Then I shivered, frightened, and stood up slowly. My eyes, miraculously, focused in on something in the dark. I had always been able to see things really clearly in the dark, but not as clearly as I was seeing things right now. I saw shapes, almost pinpoint details perfectly. Maybe it was the adrenaline.

Will was under someone, someone who was beating him repeatedly in the face. The person on top of him was raining blows onto his face, and I would be surprised if Will wasn't dead already.

As I slowly crept closer, the person stopped, and looked up at me. It was a man, and he was a few feet away from me. All I could see in the blackness was dark auburn hair. Pale white skin glistened in the minimal light provided. I began walking towards them again, and the man just stared at me, his features concealed by darkness.

The click clack of my shoes stopped as I knelt down beside the man and Will on the murky cobble street. The mysterious man continued to watch me.

A blush crept onto my face suddenly. This man had just saved me a great deal of suffering. He maybe even saved my life, and I didn't even know who he was. I placed my hand on his shoulder lightly. I felt him flinch slightly under my touch. His shoulder was bare, and dripping wet. This concerned me, but I looked as best I could into the direction of his face. I could only tell where that was because of his eyes.

"Thank you… thank you so much. You just saved me a great deal of pain. If there is anything I can do for-"

Suddenly he stood up, bringing me with him. His muscular, strong arms wrapped around me, and he hugged me tightly into him, his whole torso unclothed and wet. I froze up, feeling his sinewy muscles as he embraced me closely. But for some reason, I felt safe.

I felt a light, cool touch on my forehead before he disappeared. And I looked down on Will's horribly battered body. From what I could tell, he was unconscious, and barely breathing.

I sighed, not wanting to be in this position after what he tried to do to me. I knelt down and poked him.

"Will?"

No response. I poked him once more, got no response, so I stood up again, and slowly began walking towards the ball. I needed to get him help… I guessed. Many things were racing through my mind at the moment, so this seemed like the most appropriate action.

How was Drew, for one thing? I felt horrible that she had seen that, and I knew it would take hard time and effort to regain her trust. What would she think when she saw Will, all bloody, beaten up and sprawled out on the ground?

And on that note, who was the man who had saved me, and why had he given me a hug? He hadn't spoken one word to me.

Well I would never find out now. He was gone, and I certainly knew he was nobody that I knew. I had never seen such deep green eyes in my life… it was unreal. I think I would've remembered someone like that.

I sighed as I pushed open the doors of the grand hall. Everyone's eyes locked on me, and this was not such a great thing for once. Great. The drama was all mine tonight.

The carriage bounced up and down across the gravel, rocks and mud on our way home. Drew had peacefully fallen asleep in my lap, and I knew the poor girl deserved it. She had her head nuzzled into the crook of my neck, and I held her steady in my arms as the carriage jostled us all the way home.

I had successfully coaxed her out of private quarters at the grand hall after almost an hour of hard work. I had to explain the situation to her a couple times, so basically everyone that attended knew everything by the time the night was up.

She had really wanted to know who saved me, and I wanted to know even more than her, but I didn't see the point in sleuthing around to try and find out. I wouldn't find anything.

Will had immediate medical attention after I had found a doctor in the room and bustled him outside. After that I went back in to make Drew feel better, so I guess I would talk to Sarah about it later.

I sighed. The night hadn't gone nearly as well as I thought it would.

When I told that to Drew, she had laughed and said the same thing. She said the only upside was when she was trying to make Will jealous, she had met two very nice men that had been eyeing her that night. She got both their addresses, so she would be writing to them shortly, and possibly setting up more visits if it was okay with mother and father.

Laughing lightly, I took a lock of her soft curly hair and twirled it in my fingers. Drew had been trying so vainly to stay awake during the ride home it was almost agonizing to watch. She wanted to talk more about our night, wanted to talk more about the mystery man, and she felt especially sorry because she distrusted me for and hour and a half. She had her times when she was sweet, and this was one of them.

As we arrived at the house, and the cab driver opened the door for us, I picked up Drew and walked out into the faint, cool sunlight. Mother, always up at the crack of dawn, came out to greet us. She had a big smile on her face until she saw Drew, limp in my arms.

"Drucilla Holly Weathers! What happened to her?"

She was hideously furious and concerned at the same time. I didn't snicker at Drew's full name as I normally would have, and shook my head.

"She's just really tired from dancing with boys all afternoon."

Mother continued running down the walkway until she collided with us, giving us both an enormous bear hug. Drew woke up at this, blinking rapidly, her eyes confused. She looked around her once, and seeing her surroundings was enough to relax her. We were home. She rested her head once more, and looked up at me, smiling sleepily.

She brought one hand to my face, brushing my cheek softly.

"Thank you Amy. I couldn't have asked for a better sister,"

Tears almost brimmed at my eyes as she said this, and I restrained a huge grin. Our mother took my elbow, and began leading me toward the door.

"We better get you two into bed as soon as possible. I expect you to be up at least by two this afternoon for tea. We need to have another little family meeting."

I nodded, knowing it was important. It was important even if we were talking about improving tiny things, so I never minded them. I hoped that it wasn't a particularly serious subject we would be talking about though.

Mother bustled us up to our bedrooms, and promptly after I had undressed, put on a nightgown, and washed my face I fell asleep in bed, especially comfortable. It didn't take as much effort to fall asleep today –I'd been up all night, and had not gotten one wink of sleep. I deserved this sleep as much as Drew did. My eyes closed, and soon as they had, I was drifting.

I woke up, pushing myself up from the gritty ground. I looked around, brushing dirt off my cheek, wondering where I was. It appeared I was in some crawl space. It appeared to be more like a little shed that had collapsed in, and I realized I was way too big to be sitting in here. I had to lower my head and back to avoid pieces of wood that had splintered and fallen in. I saw a little exit, possibly big enough for me to squeeze out of, and poked my head out.

It was a fog covered cobbled street, and across from me were a bank, and a few other buildings. It looked much like Fairhaven, but I knew it wasn't. It had a more ominous feel to it… I began to crawl out, ready to take an adventure, until I saw him. There was the man that had saved me. I was sure it was him as I stared at him, across the street facing a crowd of people. The people didn't appear to be too happy, and were yelling and talking in angry voices to the man. He had a shock of hair almost the same colour of auburn as mine, but his was darker. His hair, not too long, not too short, framed his face that was blocked out with shadows. He had a ripped, torn shirt on, and his slacks were not in that great shape either. I could tell by muscle tone that it was he, even.

"You have to understand –we're not here to hurt anyone! Please let us be on our way, we will never come back, I swear it."

"Who, on God's holy earth, would take a monster's oath? We need to destroy you, to keep everyone else safe, everywhere if not only here. You are an abomination."

Even though his features were shrouded, I saw his eyes widen. He turned to look at me, and I froze in place. Then he bolted. He ran to me at a deathly sprint, and grabbed my wrist. He pulled me along beside him, and without any resistance I tried to keep pace as I looked behind us, a mob wielding pitchforks running after us. I couldn't scream –I was too out of breath. I was running faster than I ever had, and I could barely keep up. How was he that fast?

As he saw this, he tried to pick me up. But I tripped over something, probably a rock, or even my own two feet, and went rolling. I landed on my hands and knees in front of a puddle of water.

"Charlotte!" Someone screamed. The mob approached, faster and faster. But I could only look in the puddle, and the reflection that horrified me.

I looked back at a little girl, with pale white skin, sallow from malnutrition. She was thin and looked like walking death. She had the same hair as me, except more tangled and bedraggled than mine. And I couldn't look away from her horror struck eyes, one eye as blue as mine, one emerald green. The mob arrived at me now. I screamed.

I woke up with a start, screaming at the top of my lungs, my arms reached out desperately above me for someone. My room was mostly dark, and the shades were not pulled over the window. The full moon glowed brightly through the window, moonlight spilling through the large window that reached the roof of my room.

My mother burst into my room a moment later, her eyes worried for the worst, and ran up to my bed. She threw her arms around me, now that I was sitting up, and hugged me tightly.

"Amelia, are you okay honey? What happened?"

Family members began to file into my room, all concerned looks on their faces. As soon as Benji appeared in the doorway, he ran up to my bed and got in, curling into me. He looked up with a smile on his small face, comforting me. I sighed, smiling, and closed my eyes. I wrapped my arms around him, warmth coming back to me. When I had woken up, I had been ice cold despite my warm blankets.

"It was just a bad dream I guess. Sorry for worrying you."

Everyone nodded, and breathed a sigh of relief. Drew blew me a kiss before walking back out into the hallway, and father nodded, smiling at the fact that I was safe. Mother and Benji were the only ones that stayed.

Mother stroked my hair, full of sweat. My entire face was flush.

"Well let's hope you have no more of theses dreams. You gave us all a fright,"

I nodded, smiling apologetically. Benji was already snuggled into me and falling asleep. Mother chuckled and smoothed his wild mess of hair. He had the exact same shade of hair as her –a lighter red auburn than my colour. I was pretty sure I was a variation between my mother's hair colour, red, and my father's hair colour, black. Mixed together, you got my colour, though my hair wasn't as dark as… that man's.

At that thought, I wondered what time it was, and if my mother knew everything that had happened.

"Mother, what time is it?"

She looked back at me, her eyes rueful.

"I'm sorry Amelia. We didn't wake you up because I knew you needed the sleep –Drew told me everything that happened last night. We're delaying the meeting till later this month. Your father and I were just going to tell you that we were leaving for a couple weeks soon."

I nodded, interested. I wouldn't pry into why though, that was for her to tell me if she wanted.

She kissed my forehead, and tucked Benji and me in. He was tranquilly asleep snuggled into me, and I sighed at the returning warmth to my body.

"Goodnight, my loves."

Soon thereafter, I floated into a deep sleep.

I felt a little hand shaking me, waking me from my deep slumber. It was nearly impossible to wake me after such a deep sleep, but somehow, Benji managed to do it.

He smiled at me brilliantly as I blinked, opening my eyes to blinding sunlight.

I covered my eyes.

"Ahh, Benji can you please close the drapes? My gosh," He laughed at me, and ran to close out the light. I sighed as the light dimmed, then diminished.

He jumped back on my bed, clearly full of energy.

"Mother and Father are gone Melly! They said they had to leave early, and were sorry, but they said we didn't have to be schooled as long as they were gone! They are giving us a break as well!" He shouted excitedly. I laughed, smiling as I sat up.

Benji was the type of kid who could not sit still for very long. He hated schooling because he was forced to sit there for hour after hour, doing deskwork or reading. We were way beyond the level we should be if we were at a public school, but mother and father wanted the best education for us. One day we might go on to higher education. Drew honestly did not see the point of being schooled because she said mother and father were rich, and we would not run out of money long after our parents died, and we died as well… which was true. But what else useful could I do with my time?

"Well, Benjamin, what would you like to do today?" He smiled giddily, and I anticipated the onslaught of what a thirteen-year-old boy wanted to do today. It most likely wouldn't be what I wanted to do: read and relax.

"I want to go hiking in the woods! Mother said I can only go if I go with either you or Drew," He looked up from under his thick, dark eyelashes, and I melted even though the appeal of hiking through the forest with one of my dresses wasn't all that strong. I pulled his body closer to me, and I hugged him. He squirmed a bit before he hugged me back.

"All right, we will go. Go get ready –put on clothes you know mother doesn't like anymore or that are already dirty!"

He nodded, a large smiling eclipsing his face, and leaned in to kiss me on the cheek before he bounced out of the room. I threw the covers off me, and peeled off my nightgown. It was literally plastered to me with sweat.

After a quick wash, and after I dried my hair off to an acceptable level, I put on the rattiest, shortest dress I could find because I knew I would be tangled up in a branch or something else by the end of the day. I wasn't allowed to have boys' slacks or anything like that, so this would have to do for this trip. It was an off white dress that came up to my knees: it was from when I was shorter, and I barely fit into it anymore. I put a coat over my busting chest; glad no one would be seeing me but my family. This would surely be a shameful dress to wear out in public.

Dashing down the stairs, I landed in the kitchen to see the maid had already packed us a basket for our trip. She was always thinking for us, and I smiled at how sweet she was. Benji must have been raving about it this morning, so she decided to pack us a lunch. I made a mental note to thank her for it later.

Benji barrelled into the kitchen at that moment, a little bag in his hands. He was wearing red baggy, torn slacks from a few years ago and a dress shirt that was either not acceptable anymore or had been previously stained.

He grabbed my hand, and pulled me through the house and out the back doors. There was a large, extensive forest behind us. Farther north and east there was marsh land, so we had to be careful we didn't wander too far. The trees were so large it was mesmerizing, and I loved to look out my window just to see the forest. I was sure if Father, Mother, Drew, Benji and I all linked our arms and wrapped ourselves around one of these tree trunks, we'd barely make it all the way around.

All of them weren't that huge though. Just most of them.

Benji held my hand tightly as we ventured into the vast expanse of the forest. I wondered what we would see here today.

After walking for what I estimated was at least two hours, we sat down in a tiny clearing, in between large roots of trees and where a little patch of sunlight shone through the dark foliage.

I sat in between two roots, leaned up against the tree trunk, eating a sandwich. After Benji had finally tired of looking at bugs, fungi, and looking in through the little crevices of trees and rocks for animals, he sat down in between my legs and leaned against me. I handed him a sandwich, which he took gladly and wolfed down.

I tousled his already messy hair.

"I have no idea where you get so much energy! Wait until you're an old fart like me, and see how you feel." He laughed almost hysterically.

"Eighteen is not that old Melly!" I rolled my eyes.

"Well just see how fast your energy runs out when you're my age."

He shook his head, still laughing.

"No, Mel, you're just lazy. I'm sure if you got out more that you would be as energetic as I am."

I laughed as well.

"Really, are you sure about that?"

I tickled him, and he laughed manically, jumping up from my lap. He started to run, and I ran after him, forgetting the basket in my haste. I hoped I remembered where it was later.

He quickly disappeared, but I could hear his laughter somewhere in behind these trees. I crept forward, trying not to make a noise; I was trying to catch Benji without the hassle of running after him and possibly tripping and twisting an ankle on one of these roots.

In my peripheral vision I saw a flash of red. Thinking it had been Benji, with his faded red pants, I turned quickly. I still made no sound, and crept a little bit closer, but instead my eyes landed on Wolfy. My face brightened, momentarily forgetting about Benji. Wolfy had come back so soon!

"Wolfy, help me find me brother," I whispered. It flinched and whimpered. There was hurt in its eyes –I could see it. I looked confusedly at him. What was wrong? Was he okay?

Suddenly Benji ran out from behind a tree, laughing loudly and giving away his position. I couldn't give it a second thought as I ran after Benji, but the fox ran behind me silently anyway. It kept perfect pace with me for what a small creature it was.

I ran as fast as I could, looking around vigilantly for Benji. But Benji's laughter had stopped. And moments later, screaming started.

My eyes widened, and I ran faster if that were possible. Benji came into sight all of a sudden, in a grass clearing. And in front of him, was a man wielding an axe. Benji had obviously bumped into him.

"Shh," I murmured to him, trying to calm him. He looked back at me, tears streaming down his face, and ran back to me. I was at the edge of the trees where the clearing started, and the axe man stood right in the middle, his head down. It was probably only a lumberjack that lived around here.

"Umm, my brother and I are sorry for disturbing you. We'll be on our way now,"

The man looked up all of a sudden, a menacing, and evil look in his eyes. His face was possessed.

He raised a bony, scraggly finger at us, his eyes furious.

"Abomination! The Devil's spawn! You must all die!"

My mouth hung wide as he came at us with an axe, and Benji screamed, his voice breaking. We had no place to escape. We were trapped.

Suddenly the fox jumped up, out of nowhere, and clamped its jaws down on the man's crotch. He screamed, and tried to punch the fox, flailing it left and right. I instinctively knew to run at this moment, and I picked Benji up in my arms, not looking back.

I ran as fast as I could, dodging roots as if I were in the army. I ducked under branches and jumped over fallen logs and branches. There was nothing that would get between me getting my brother to safety now.

After a few minutes of running, I heard real, torturous screams sound from where we had left the man and the fox. This confused me. Was the fox mauling that man to the point of death? I truly did not want to know the answer to this question.

When we finally reached the perimeter of the forest, and my house was in sight I sped up, laughing in relief. Benji had his head tucked into my chest. I felt his hot tears soak through the material of my dress.

We ran through the yard, and opened the door quickly. I had made an hour walk a fifteen minute run.

After we were inside, I ran up the stairs into my room with Benji, and slammed the door shut and locked it, almost sobbing. I heard concerned footsteps hurry to my door. There was knocking and knocking, and more knocking. I would not open the door.

"Mel, Benji, are you two alright? What happened out there, please tell me," Drew begged from the other side of the door. The maid also begged to know what was going on, and offered her help. I refused.

Benji curled into me, crying, until he fell asleep.

I laid my head on the pillow. And one question resonated on my mind. What the hell had just happened?