ARIEL’S POV
“Wake up, Ariel.”
I woke up with a jolt and poked my index fingers through my earlobes in a bid to shut out the sound, the monstrous growl that I had been hearing every night for the past three months, the voice that threatened me to wake up from my sleep at exactly 11pm every night.
I stared at the old clock that hung loosely on the wall in my room. It was 8 a.m. and I sighed remembering that the clock had stopped working a long time ago. My phone beeped beside my bed and I turned quickly to have a look. It was a text from my best friend, Valerie, and as expected, the time on my phone screen was 11:01.
Someone was haunting me through my dreams, and I desperately needed to find out who, and why.
Telling my parents was not an option. They would never believe me. Telling my elder brother, Aaron was even worse. He would yell at me and call me a freak and probably chip in something like: “no wonder you don’t have a boyfriend yet. Who would want to date a nineteen year old weirdo?”
That was how much my family sucked. My parents and my elder brother were the most annoying people in the world and trust me, I had met a lot of annoying people.
I knew that it was not normal and it was definitely not my imagination. Something was wrong and someone was trying to reach out to me. What I so desperately needed to know was who it was and what he needed from me.
I stood up from my bed and attempted to run my hand through my long brown hair as was my usual morning routine but my reflection in the mirror reminded me that I didn’t have it anymore. My hair had been cut.
Some days ago, my dad had come from work fretting and panting, and he had brought up all sorts of crazy ideas about relocating to Hawaii or Madagascar. My mum had tried to calm him down but she couldn’t, and when he eventually remembered that he was a pauper and couldn’t afford even a bus ticket to another state, he had transferred his energy into suggesting that everyone in the family had a makeover.
A makeover was usually not a terrible idea and none of us had frowned at it until he made mention of my hair. It was too long according to him, and it would be better if it was short. I had cried and protested all day long, but all my pleas fell on deaf ears. My father pinned me down on the sofa and called in Aaron who was only too pleased to do justice to my hair with his huge scissors. That day, I concluded that I hated them all and I had resorted to living in my bedroom ever since. I had not set my eyes on any of them for days and I didn’t plan to do so for a long time.
That night however, I needed to come out of my room. I was starving and low on supplies, as I had been surviving on five stale cheeseburgers and two bottles of diet coke for four days. I needed good food, and fresh air. The whole house stunk like dead and rotting flesh, and there was no better time to come out of my room without being seen than a few minutes past 11. My parents would be snoring heavily, and Aaron would be too busy with his video games to even know that I existed.
“A perfect plan,” I smiled to myself.
The eerie silence that greeted me as I came out from my room was enough to tell me that something was wrong. On a normal day, the gunshots of assault rifles from Aaron’s videogames could be heard. He always liked to connect his phone to a speaker whenever he was playing his games, and disturb the peace of the whole house, except today.
“Strange,” I muttered to myself.
I closed the door of my room and slowly tiptoed to the kitchen and I gagged at the foul stench that greeted my nose once I got in. With one hand across my nose, I groped around in search of the light switch. I was damn hungry and I needed to get something to eat before I fainted. I finally found the switch and as soon as I pressed it down, I wished that I had not.
Lying on the kitchen floor in a pool of dried blood was what remained of my mother. I could only recognize her because of the T- shirt that she wore. I had gifted it to her on her birthday a year ago. Her arms were sprawled across the floor lazily and her neck was twisted in a weird angle. A variety of sharp kitchen utensils stuck out from her chest and the left side of her face was burnt. It was as if whoever had killed her was scared that she would not die so easily and the person had resorted to trying different methods all at once.
I closed my eyes in pain. I could feel the tears begging to break free from my eyes but I had promised myself on my sixteenth birthday that I was never going to cry again. Tears never solved any problems. They only added to it.
I walked out of the kitchen and straight to my dad’s room. I knew what to expect and when I saw him sprawled on the floor lifeless and missing a few body parts, I wasn’t really surprised. My anger was heightened. Whoever had done this was definitely going to pay.
I turned around, blinded by my rage and started out of the house and just then, I remembered him – Aaron. No wonder he hated me. How could I forget to check on my brother after seeing my parents dead? I spun around immediately and made for his room expecting the worst, or should I say the best considering the fact that I didn’t give a fuck if he was alive or dead?
With one kick, his door flung wide open and I peered inside. No blood, no kitchen knives, and no Aaron. Just a scattered room and the usual stench of rotten cheeseburgers. I scanned the room quickly, looking for anything that could help me trace his whereabouts and warn him that a murderer was on the loose in our small pack and just then, I made a shocking discovery. Aaron’s iPad. It was on the bed. Aaron never went anywhere without his iPad. I walked to his drawer and pushed it open and just as I had suspected, it was empty. There was not even a single cloth inside.
“Bastard!” I cursed through gritted teeth. He had chosen the perfect time for his abomination. He knew I was angry and was not going to come out from my room for days and he had used that opportunity to murder my parents, our parents and get away with it.
I searched his room quickly for clues. He had to be working with someone. The Aaron I knew was too dumb to have come up with a plan like that, and still dumb enough to leave enough clues behind that would help me catch him.
I turned my attention back to his bed and just then, I saw it. A brown piece of paper sticking out from the pocket of one of his trousers on the bed. I dragged it out of his pocket and held it up. It had a golden seal at the edge and I could tell that it was from someone very important.
I opened it finally and read.
“If you do a clean job, I’ll give you double of what we bargained initially.
Signed.
Alpha Joharres of the Blood Moon Pack.”
MELVIN’S POVI stared in disgust at the disturbing images on the huge screen in front of me and I resisted the urge to puke. Why had my father chosen to put me through the unnecessary torture of staring at the images of his unlucky victims?“I like this one best,” he mumbled and took a sip of wine. “The splash of blood on the floor, the texture and contrast, looks like a Michelangelo painting don’t you think son?”I turned to face the man I was forced to call my father in disgust and he smiled at me. “You don’t like this…this work of art?” he frowned.“You murdered a whole family in cold blood,” I shot back at him. “There’s absolutely nothing artistic about that.”“But you can’t deny the fact that the knives sticking out of her chest look like…like, eh…paint brushes in a jar, can you?” my father retorted.That was definitely it. I was not ready for such a conversation with him and so, I stood up from the chair and made for the door.“Melvin!” his voice resonated through the throne ro
ARIEL’S POVIt took me barely five minutes to trace the problem to it’s roots.After my disappointing findings earlier that night, I couldn’t get as much as ten minutes of sleep. Yes, my brother was the worst, and my parents were pretty much nonchalant, but selling us out to the Alpha of a neighbor pack? That was very low. I never expected that Aaron would do something like that, and once again he had shown me that I never really knew him.I watched my phone beep the next minute and when I looked at the number on the screen, it was Aaron’s. “Hello Ariel. It’s me, Aaron. I know you’re still mad about your hair and won’t come out of your room. Forgive me for that. I kinda need your help now.”For a second after reading the text, I dared to imagine he was being framed. I dared to imagine that my brother had not been in touch with the evil Alpha of a neighbor pack to kill our own parents. I dared to imagine it was all a setup and he was another pawn in Alpha Joharres’ games. I replied hi
MELVIN’S POVI stared at her, my mouth wide open in shock. Even from a distance, I could tell it was her. The same green eyes, alluring as ever. Her long hair was short however. I frowned. Was I making a mistake? She couldn’t have cut her hair overnight right? What was she doing in our pack? Was she out of her mind? If only she knew that her life was in danger!Tons of questions flooded through my mind. I needed to get her away from my father, but first, I needed to verify if she was actually the one. The pack square was brimming with people that day and I knew I could get up to her without her actually noticing me. I walked up to where she stood and brought out my phone from my pocket tactfully, pretending to be on a call. She didn’t give me much attention however, as her eyes scanned the perimeter of the pack house. With my phone to my ear, I allowed my eyes wander down her body and I marveled at how beautiful she was. Like Aaron, her hair was dark brown and curly, and even with the
ARIEL’S POVThis was it —the beginning of my revenge or the end of it.I stood side by side with the son of the man I hated more than anything. We were waiting in front of a large wooden door that supposedly led to the throne room. The door was a large two-piece with a split down the centre. It had a moon carved into one side and a howling wolf carved into the other.My heart was ricocheting inside of me. I could hear my ragged breathing deep within me.This wasn’t the plan at all.This entire trip to the Blood Moon Pack went south and it was all his fault. If I hadn’t met him, I wouldn't be on the verge of being found out right now.“Is this how you plan to keep me safe, my prince?” I hissed through my teeth with sarcasm, “You’re doing a pretty good job at it.”He turned to look at me with a sharp glare as if I had insulted him. “This is all your fault. If you hadn’t been so stubborn and just listened to me, we could have avoided this mess. I am trying to help you here!”“So your go-
MELVIN'S POVI came up with this plan at the last minute and I couldn’t let her know of it either. I was certain she hated my guts more than ever now but I could deal with that later.Right now, my worry and focus were on getting her out of there.I turned around to my despicable Father and his Elders. “Father, she has passed out. I need to get her to the healer.”My father and his men burst into loud echoing laughter like they had finished watching the best comedy show in all the lands."Father?" I called trying to get his attention but they just wouldn't stop laughing.Crazy lots. All of them.The sight of blood and violence was an art to them. It turned them on and increased their life spans!"Father!"“Fine, fine, get her out of here,” he finally replied as he turned to Elder Jon who was seated at his right hand.“I thought she would put up more of a fight. She carried herself like she had a chance,” he said to Elder Jon as they burst out into laughter again.I rolled my eyes and
ARIEL’S POVMy head felt heavy.I slowly opened my eyes and it took a few seconds for my vision to clear up. I stared cluelessly at the wooden ceiling that appeared before me.What happened? Where was I?“Welcome back to the land of the living.”I turned to see who had just spoken. At first, I was confused and didn’t recognize who he was. But as soon as I started to recollect what had transpired before I blacked out, anger slowly spread across my body.“You!” I hopped off the couch and launched at him. He backed away immediately.“Ariel, you need to calm down and listen to me!" He yelled with hands out to protect his face in case I made another sudden move. He looked back to make sure he didn't misstep as he continued to withdraw from me and I kept advancing toward him in a slow menacing way.He was the prey and I, the hunter.“What do I need to listen to?!” I yelled out uncontrollably at him, ”you nearly killed me!”He stopped moving and made the mistake of dropping his hands —that
MELVIN POVI had her attention now.I knew I had to play a wild card to snap her out of her impulsive behaviour. She was one stubborn beauty!She looked me dead in the eyes. I could tell I struck a chord in her with what I just announced.“Where?”“Where what?” I raised my brows playing dumb.She took quick steps forward, “where is he?!” Her voice pitched a little higher than before.I stood my ground this time around, “Stay.”She stopped moving but maintained eye contact with me. I could tell she was mulling over her decision but I already knew I had her in a tight spot. This was for her own good.“You want to know where your brother is? Then stay," I said calmly and then nodded rapidly, “my friend Jada already agreed to you crashing for a few days. We can save your brother.”I could hear her teeth grinding against each other. Oh, she hated that I had her.“Fine,” she replied, whizzing past me and back into the cabin.I sighed and threw my head backward. Ariel was such a handful.Af
ARIEL POVIt was dark. I was back in my bedroom. My face pinched into a frown as confusion clouded my thoughts.I was supposed to be in that cabin back at the Blood Moon Pack. How did I get back here?I could see light sipping into the room from under the door. I walked briskly towards the door and opened it. The hallway was brightly lit —exactly how it used to be. I could hear the loud sounds of the video game coming from Aaron’s room. It made no sense. I looked from left to right wondering how I got here.I heard the water come on in the kitchen and I made my way there. My mother stood over the sink wearing the T-shirt I got for her.“Mum!" I hurried over to her and wrapped my arms around her tightly. My heart melted immediately.“Ariel,” she shrugged me off and stared into my face, “what has come over you?”She scanned me closely trying to figure out if I had finally lost it. “You see me doing the dishes, right? The same dishes I asked you to clean a few hours ago.”I stepped ba