Arianna's Tale: The Beginning (17 page)

I think it all kind of fell apart at Jack’s
birthday party in July. They used the same barn where we’d had
Jason’s birthday party, but instead of the white lights in the
trees, there were black lights everywhere that gave a strange glow
to everything. There was an apparently local rock band set up
inside the barn, and quite honestly, I probably spent more time
watching them than I should have. The lead singer was absolutely
gorgeous! He had shoulder length black hair that swept across his
face concealing his right eye, but those eyes… I had never really
found guys wearing makeup attractive, but he had on the slightest
bit of eyeliner, that just made his icy blue eyes glimmer, and his
voice! I was much more of a fan of classical music, and older music
from like the 80’s and 90’s, but never really rock music.

When they took a break and a mix CD just
started playing through the sound system, the lead singer jumped
off of the front of the stage, hands tucked into the pockets of his
gray skinny jeans. I was too busy trying to make out what his black
band shirt actually said to realize he was walking over to me.

“It says ‘Amaranth,’” his melodic voice
entered my ears as I darted my eyes up to find him standing right
in front of me before he pulled a chair over, spun it around, and
sat down in it backwards, “It’s one of my favorite bands.”

“Oh?” I replied curiously, finally able to
make out the strangely shaped letters just before he crossed his
arms over the back of the chair and rested his chin on his
arms.

“You’re Anna Gray, aren’t you?” he queried
and I barely nodded my head as a smile slipped onto his lips and I
realized he had two piercings on either side of his bottom lip,
“I’m surprised you’re sitting here all by yourself, Anna Gray.”

“So am I,” I admitted and he laughed, “You
guys are really amazing….”

He quirked a grin at me before his gaze
shifted behind me. “Hey birthday boy,” he chuckled, not bothering
to move, but I turned in my chair to catch the brief anger in
Jack’s eyes aimed toward the singer before he smiled at me.

“Hey, Anna, are you having fun?” Jack
questioned and I instantly nodded my head, “Ty isn’t bothering you,
is he?”

Ty… it doesn’t suit him…
“No, he’s
not bothering me,” I replied quickly which sent that flash of anger
through Jack’s eyes again, “I’ve never really liked rock music…
they’re good.”

Ty laughed and I spun back to face him.
“We’re goth rock,” he commented with a grin, “Little slower beat,
little more smooth vocals… Why do you hang out with these
guys?”

He asked it so suddenly I just stared at
him, dumbfounded for a long minute. “I… I don’t know… they were the
first people I met when I moved here….”

“You should come out with me and the band
after the party,” Ty offered but Jack was suddenly leaning on the
back of my chair, I felt heat radiating off of him like the heat in
Alex’s hand at that first bonfire.

“She’s not going anywhere with you, Ty,”
Jack hissed protectively but I turned in my chair and looked at him
in confusion.

“You can’t tell me what to do,” I muttered
and his face fell.

“I didn’t mean it like that… I just… Please,
Anna, don’t go anywhere with him alone,” Jack pleaded, the heat
gone from behind me as I took a deep breath and stood up.

“I’m going outside,” I decided, glancing
back at Ty, “It was nice to meet you.” He barely nodded his head
before I walked out of the barn, leaving the two to have their
little power struggle or whatever was going on.

I was thankful for the breeze that swept
through the warm July night as I stepped out into the yard and
found my way back to the bench I had sat on at Jason’s party. With
a sigh, I fell to sit on it again, spotting the white-blonde fur in
the trees only a second later because of the black lights that made
it glow.

With a deep breath, I stood up and started
for the tree line, not the least bit surprised when a hand latched
onto my wrist. I was just mildly surprised when I looked back to
find Alex holding me still, his teal gaze shifting up my aqua and
black knee-length dress and up to my eyes.

“You look very pretty tonight, Arianna,”
Alex remarked softly, balancing two glasses in his other hand until
I sighed and fell back onto the bench and he handed me one of the
glasses. “Please stay away from the band… they’re not exactly known
for their… good behavior….”

I sipped the punch from the glass and looked
at him closely. There was something about him that I couldn’t
place, that I just didn’t really trust or like… and I had no really
good reason for it. It wasn’t like I got a bad feeling from him… in
fact, I hadn’t had another bad feeling since the night Mark had
been caught.

“When people tell me not to do things… I
have a tendency to do the opposite. Especially when those people
have been so clearly hiding things from me for the past two months
and I don’t really trust them,” I reasoned and Alex sighed, shaking
his head.

“What is it now?” he queried, staring into
my eyes, “I thought you were enjoying talking to Jack and everyone…
I thought you were letting go of those strange worries you were
having.”

“What’s out in the woods?” I demanded, “What
are you trying to keep from me?”

“Do you like this town enough to spend the
rest of your life here, Arianna?” Alex asked and I felt my breath
catch in my throat as I quickly shook my head, “Then you need to
quit asking so many questions.”

“Then you need to go back to leaving me
alone,” I stated coldly, turning my attention to my hands in my lap
when I felt anger spark through him.

“You still won’t be allowed into the woods,”
Alex growled as he stood up and walked back to the barn.

“Who said I wanted to go to the woods? I’ll
go back to watch the band… and Ty…” I mumbled, twisting the hem of
my dress in my fingers as I slowly stood up and started walking
back towards the barn.

“Anna,” his voice and my feet froze as I
spun back to face him, my hand falling onto the back of the
bench.

“Rayne,” I whispered in a breath, “Rayne,
where were you?” There were tears stinging my eyes as he walked
over to me, his hazel eyes flickered and scanned across me as his
fingers slid down my hair to rest on my shoulders.

“I was checking some of the lights in the
trees,” he answered without the tiniest hint of a lie as his thumbs
softly slid over my cheeks and wiped away my tears, “Don’t cry,
Anna….”

“I know what I saw,” I whispered beneath my
breath, and his smile grew distant as he shook his head.

“Let it go, Anna… Do you want to go back
inside and watch the band?” he offered but I looked at him in
confusion.

“Your other friends want me to stay away
from the band, why would you take me near it?” I wondered in
absolute confusion.

“Ty isn’t going to mess with you when I’m
here… he and I have an understanding. If you want to be friends
with him, that’s your decision, but he isn’t always sincere… and he
is a player, it isn’t a rumor, it’s a fact that he’s proud of… so
be careful with him, all right?” Rayne cautioned with a gentle
smile, “So did you want to go back inside?”

“Anna!” Jason called and I jolted away from
Rayne, totally unaware before that moment that we were practically
pressed against each other and he was close enough to kiss me.
“Jack’s opening his presents, you two should come inside.”

I realized Rayne was still there and looked
at him in shocked confusion as he grinned and took hold of my hand,
pulling me along with him back to the barn.

“I have permission to spend time with you
tonight,” he whispered with a laugh, “I’m supposed to keep you away
from Ty… but like I said, that’s your decision.”

His eyes flickered again when he smiled at
me and pulled me inside the barn with Jason on my other side.

“Jay…” I sighed, pulling Rayne to a stop to
face my brother, “Go hang out with your friends.” I saw the anger
and jealousy flash across his eyes but he inhaled a deep breath and
walked off just before I spotted Ty watching me from his seat on
the edge of the stage.

“So I’m going to reiterate my warning that
Ty is a player and proud of it, because he has clearly taken an
interest in you,” Rayne whispered beside my ear as I barely nodded
my head and pulled my attention away from the lead singer.

“I keep picking the wrong guys to like…
huh?” I laughed quietly and Rayne’s hand tightened on mine as he
led me over to the crowd around Jack’s present table.

When all the guests started leaving, Rayne
said he had to help clean up, and I darted to the door to catch
Jack before he could slip off.

“Hey, Anna, thanks for coming,” he
laughingly remarked, his eyes practically glowing in the night as
he looked at me. He seemed antsy, jumpy even, and like he was about
to just take off running in circles.

“Happy Birthday, Jack,” I stated, pulling an
envelope out of my purse and handing it to him as my heart pounded
in my chest. He looked mildly confused before he took the
envelope.

“You didn’t have to get me anything, Anna,”
he reasoned while he opened the envelope and pulled out two tickets
to some really big deal percussion group that passed through the
city once every few years. His eyes widened and darted back up to
me in absolute shock. “I have been wanting to see these guys for
like ten years and never have enough money to go,” he commented and
I smiled softly, “How did you know?” I shrugged my shoulders and
laughed, refusing to give away my source. “These are really good
seats, Anna…” he was still in awe, but suddenly hugged me, “This is
amazing! Thank you so much!” I barely hugged him back before he
stepped backwards, “You’re going with me, right?”

“If you want me to,” I answered and he
grinned as he hugged me again and twirled me around in a
circle.

“Oh, I do, I really, really do!” he blurted,
setting my feet back on the ground, “Can I call you tomorrow?
Figure out the details? Since this is for the weekend and
all….”

“Of course,” I conceded, the antsy was back
as he almost bounced on his feet.

“Thank you, Anna, really,” he finalized,
softly kissing my cheek before he ran off towards the cars.

“You just have the whole lot of them wrapped
around your little finger, don’t you?” Ty’s melodic voice commented
from just behind me and I spun around to face him, “Be careful with
them, Anna Gray. We wouldn’t want you getting your pretty little
self into anything you can’t get out of, now would we?” I just
stared at him as he walked off to load the band equipment into a
van outside.

I talked Jason into riding home with Austin,
because I was still thinking about things when I went to leave. I
sat in my car at the barn until I was practically the last guest
there, then finally started towards home.

It happened,
again
. I saw the animal
running in the tree line again. I pulled off of the road, and sat
in silence with the car turned off and the doors locked.

After a few long, deep breaths, I looked out
into the woods and caught a flash of blonde fur and emerald eyes. I
sucked in a breath through my teeth and rolled down the passenger
window to get a better view.

“Jack!” I called, my voice practically
echoing in the quiet night, “I know that’s you, Jack.”

I sighed and rested my head on the steering
wheel. “I’m going crazy… this place is driving me crazy…” I
murmured to myself, “Of course humans can’t turn into animals,
that’s crazy… absolutely crazy… I should check myself into an
asylum.”

“Anna,” Jack beckoned and I jumped, banging
my knees on the steering wheel. I didn’t even realize I’d left the
window down, and he was standing outside of it, staring inside at
me. “Alex wants to talk to you… He’s already called Austin to say
you’ll be home later… May I get in?”

“Won’t you travel faster on foot?” I blurted
before biting my lip as my face flushed red and he quirked a
half-hearted smile.

“I wish you would’ve left it alone, Anna…
May I ride with you and show you the way?” he asked again and I
only nodded, shoving my few things into the back seat. He climbed,
barefoot, into the car and directed me over to Romulus Trail.

“Why now? I knew earlier when I saw Rayne…
why not then?” I whispered as I was directed into a gigantic
house’s driveway.

Jack didn’t answer, but his emerald eyes
grew darker and more distant. He was opening my door for me before
I’d gotten the car completely shut off.

“Welcome to my house, Arianna,” Alex greeted
as I was getting out of the car, “Please come inside; I need to
speak with you.”

“I’m good out here,” I rebutted. In spite of
all my curiosity, my nerves were screaming and I had the urge to
jump in the car and drive away. Something was definitely wrong
here.

“I want you to tell me what you think is
going on,” Alex recited calmly.

“Shapeshifters… or… something like that…” I
murmured, it sounded even crazier when I said it to someone else,
“You guys are the animals I keep seeing in the woods.” I gasped as
something suddenly occurred to me, “You’re the reason Mark’s in the
hospital! That’s how you found out what had happened to me…. You
communicate telepathically or something….”

He just stared at me for a long moment,
silent, his aqua eyes swirling with silver again, but this time I
was certain I was seeing them do it.

“Jack,” he beckoned and my gray eyes darted
worriedly to Jack who was taking off his shirt as he stared back at
me. “We’re not shapeshifters…” Alex continued and as I watched in
the faint shimmer that surrounded Jack accompanied by a strange
crunching noise, Jack disappeared and a beautifully dangerous
looking blonde-furred emerald-eyed wolf stared up at me, his pants
in shreds on the ground. “We’re werewolves.” I sank to the cement,
the wolf’s eyes now on level with my own.