Wolf Sirens: Forbidden: Discover The Legend (4 page)

Later that night I received a phone call from my
‘friend’, the ringleader Sam. She invited me to watch
practice. Mum handed me the receiver. She looked
pleased and Sam’s voice chimed like crystal. She was
annoyingly polite. I flipped through the yearbook
again. Sam immediately picked up on my tone as
my mother left the room. She said she understood
if I was unsure, and asked what did I have to lose?
I had to agree. I looked at the page with the picture
of Cresida James. I had nothing better to do in this
town and despite my reservations, I was curious.
Even if they did egg me, at least I would know I was
alive, unlike the last few days.

I convinced myself Sam sounded honest. Maybe
this would lead to some sort of life, I thought, even
though I had a feeling Samantha Thompson could
have seemed genuine whilst selling ice to Eskimo’s.
I ran through scenarios in my head and wondered
if they set up new kids here? I shuddered – what if
that’s what happened to their last member? Maybe
she changed schools to escape them. I thought about
my warning from the dirty yellow-haired girl with
elfin features. It was unmistakable as I stared at the
page. The picture was her.

The white full moon shone outside my window
and I closed it, tightly. Wolves plagued Shade and
anyone brave enough to risk staying out past curfew
could disappear. Rumour had it newbies who became
complacent were often taken, as though the wolves
preferred fresh blood. But like all gossip in Shade this
rumour was taken with a grain of salt. I contemplated
if this was part of a twisted plot to set me up. Had
they somehow paid her to scare me? I couldn’t put it
past them, not this bunch. They were the girls that
made high school hell for the rest of us. They wanted
me in. Would I be stupid to refuse? I ran a finger over
the Dolphins page, a black and white photograph of
the group smiling like china dolls.

My mind was obviously running wild. Perhaps
Giny dropped me off on the corner because the yellow-haired girl would be waiting for me? Some bad
memories flashed through my mind. I squeezed my
eyes closed and started to hum. I grabbed my towel
and headed for the shower. I had been fine for quite
some time but all this interaction with these girls
shook me.

I lay my wet hair over my pillow as the moon illuminated my room through the curtains and thought of
the girl in the library with her dishevelled hair and
frightened expression, telling me to stay away, knowing I should heed her warning. If she was the face in
the photo then they had done something bad to her.
She had the same face but it was harder, paler, and
unhappy now. Was I next?

Giny surprised me in the morning, knocking on the
door early. I was halfway through breakfast. “Sorry
I’m early,” her voice sang.

“Hi,” I said surprised to see her. I noticed she had
a small gap in her front teeth which gave her more
character than she appeared to possess before as she
smiled widely at me.

“Was your mum angry you got home late
yesterday?”
I was amused by the inquiry. “No, she didn’t ask.”
Actually she had, but only to enquire if I had had a
nice time and I thought for more than the first moment how unnatural my mother’s parenting style
was. “It wasn’t that late, she didn’t notice,” I shrugged.
I knew Giny was testing to see the strength of my
parental confines. Thing was, Sophie didn’t have to
ground me. Shade was punishment enough.
“Oh, good,we have practice this morning, you
can watch,” she instructed happily. I tried to ignore
her enthusiasm.
“No thanks,” I chimed, pretending I didn’t notice
as I casually threw the rest of my cereal down. “I’ll
just go to the library.” I waited for the reaction out
of the corner of my eye. “I have to get some books,
for class,” I added, hoping she didn’t ask which one.
I wondered if she knew that I knew about the girl,
the yellow-haired one in the blue jumper with the
gnarled fingernails. I thought that it was funny that
they seemed to prize their nails so much in comparison. “Um, Sam said I could practice-” I corrected
myself -“
Watch
practice later - this evening -” Giny
looked happier now-“last night when she called,” I
added.
“Oh, okay, if you’re sure.” She tried to sound nonchalant, but I noticed her face had dropped.
I pressed my lips together and explained.
“- Yeah, you know how it is transferring. I have a
lot of catching up to do.” This excuse was complete
bull - I hoped she’d never changed schools before -
but from what I had gathered yesterday she had been
here in Shade forever - probably as Sam’s third in
command since first grade. She had surely registered
my hesitance.
I had been thinking. “You guys aren’t setting me
up for anything, are you?” I didn’t hide the accusation
in my tone.
“What?” she replied, batting her tinted lashes.
“I feel like I am being goaded towards something.”
“Yeah,” she said flatly, surprise on her face.
“Calisthenics.”
I accepted the lift to school. We rode in a more
modest red hatchback with dust in the windows. I
recognized it as the car that we had left in the school
lot yesterday afternoon. “I left the G6 at home today,”
she joked.
The inside was grey, and it smelt a bit of something bad covered with aerosol, maybe baby spew. She
drove with two hands on the steering wheel. I was
sure this was her car and I noted Giny seemed too
cautious as she drove it with her shoulders hunched,
despite the vehicle’s dilapidated condition. The CV
joints crackled as we turned towards school.
“I was scared you’d stolen Mr Marshal’s car
yesterday?”
“Sorry, no.The G6 Sedan is Sam’s,” she admitted.
“What was wrong with your car?”
She didn’t answer, as though it was sadly obvious.
“Sam thought you’d be more comfortable. Do
you like Shade so far?”
“Yeah, it’s different. So this is your car?” I asked.
“Don’t worry you’ll get used to it.”The car or the
town I wondered?
I wished it were true.
“What do you guys do around here for fun?”
She smiled. “We hit the river or hang at Sam’s,
tip cows?”
I smiled “What?”
“That part was a joke.” She giggled softly.
I took the opportunity to ask about my suspicions
“Do you ever haze kids?”
“Haze?” Giny enquired.
“Like your last member?” I looked at her.
“What, Cresida? Why would you think that?” she
asked.
So the girl had been with them. I knew it.
“Why doesn’t she hang with you anymore?” I recalled her expressionless skin and piercing blue eyes,
not unlike Sam’s but clearer and bluer.
Giny replied quietly,“She’s pretty damaged, why?”
“What from?”
“Her parents aren’t around and she’s pretty mixed
up, I’d rather we didn’t gossip. The person who gossips with you today, gossips about you tomorrow,” she
recited.
I smirked, but hid it when she didn’t seem to
share my humour.
“I didn’t know, I’m sorry, forget I asked,” I said
embarrassed, looking out of the window.
“We wouldn’t do anything like that anyway…”
Giny muttered referring to hazing.“Why?”she asked.
I gritted my teeth. “This girl told me not to hang
with you.”
“Who?” she asked, defence coating her tone.
I worried she could easily guess.I shrugged. “I’m
not sure, I don’t know her name. Someone from
math’s class,” I lied, scratching my hair and looking
out the window at the flashing scenery.
“Well, that’s news to me,” she chimed.
I changed the subject. “Giny, do you think I’ll be
any good at Calisthenics? Really?” I was sceptical.
“Yes, you don’t see it but we do.” Her confident
glance made me shift inside.
“What do you see…that no other girl at school
has?” I wasn’t athletic or coordinated.
“We have been waiting for you.”
“Someone, like me?” I almost laughed. “Why?”
I wanted to know how they were so sure someone
would turn up with talent and why Sam thought I
somehow showed that potential when she hardly
knew me.
“Sam sees potential-” She looked at me - “in you.”
Her face was soft and childlike - it didn’t match her
words. I wondered why they didn’t seem to want to
get to know me before inviting me into their circle.
I wasn’t sure what she meant. “Are there any tests
I have to pass?” I was sure I would soon fail them.
“Tests?” She thought. “Oh, like auditions?”
“Yeah.” I imagined trying to do the splits and
cringed.
“Practice is your test. If you’re bad, you’re off the
team.” The car crackled as she turned the wheel and
we entered the school lot.
“Just like that?” I raised a brow.
“Well no, you’d no longer be on the team, but we
would still be friends.”
Somehow I doubted that.
She smiled as if to soften the sting of the last
thing she had said.
Giny parked in the student designated parking
area, unlike Sam’s vehicle. I noted a black sedan in
the teacher’s lot with cream seats, complete with scar.
I guess that meant Sam was here bright and early.
“Why doesn’t Sam get that fixed?” I pondered,
but when I looked at Giny she was walking towards
the building. As I caught up she surprised me with
the answer. “She will,” she sang sweetly.
I tried to glide away from Giny as we entered
the school. I wasn’t going to give her the opportunity to steer me towards the practice any sooner than
was planned, even though we were early for classes.
It wasn’t suspicious to believe that the most popular group in school would just invite me in without
a reason, no questions asked, while the rest of the
school ignored me - and one student plain warned
me to stay away. Even if they were desperate for a
member to fill the team I wasn’t buying, not without
further investigation. I had suffered bullies before. I
was familiar with the sting of rejection.
I stopped. “Well, I’ll see you later.”
“Oh.” Giny paused also.
“Books,” I reminded her. I made a last ditch effort
for more information, frowning. “Giny, why do you
hang out with them?”
“Sam? And B?” she questioned.
“Yeah, is it because they’re so popular?”
She smiled. “No, they’re special, sure they offer a
certain status.” She shrugged, holding her books. “I
want to be just like Sam one day,” she mused melodramatically, squeezing up her shoulders.
“How do you mean?”
“You’ll see.” She smiled, waving. “If you finish
early drop by practice.” Giny was obviously really
into this calisthenics business.
I guessed any girl in school would have been far
more interested in the spot on the team. I wasn’t the
co-operative type – and anyway, apart from stares,
they had completely ignored me for the first few days
as much as the rest of the student body.
I headed straight for the library.
Despite my thoughts I missed the security of
Giny’s companionship. I didn’t feel the same relief
entering the library that I had felt yesterday. Maybe
I would turn after all to the clique life. If they genuinely liked me, why not?
I recalled my great plan, the one where I was supposed to go through the motions, finish school, get a
car and leave home. Bec and I had plans, but since the
time we had made them I knew without asking they
had changed. Boys tended to do that. If I could have
fun with the popular kids in the meantime maybe it
would go all the quicker? I wanted to believe that,
but something was up. Cresida James had gone out
of her way to warn me away from them. Her warning
disenchanted me.
The library was the same as yesterday - warm and
dry, empty except for the bustle behind the counter
of the fat and thin librarians. The primary green carpet, which was barely noticeable yesterday, now hurt
my eyes again.
I had to turn quickly through the door during a
temporary lapse in memory to put my bag obediently
in the rack outside. There was one other bag there.
I walked through the doors for the second time.
Where was the frightening yellow-haired Cresida?
She was tucked behind the first two rows of
shelves on a beanbag just as before, her back to the
door. Her nose was in a book.
I crept up. “Hi,” I interrupted, “I just wanted
to know what the hell the other day was about?” It
had come out in a more defensive tone than I had
intended.
She looked at me, blinking. I hadn’t imagined it?
I couldn’t just brush it off nor could I just heed her
warning.“I thought I’d seen you here before.”I pointed to the green floor of the library. I took a softer tact.
“You kind of… startled me yesterday.” Following her
lack of reaction I continued, “I’ve seen your picture in
the year book.” My voice sounded a bit too casually
chirpy, an after-effect from being with Giny. I came
closer and sharpened my tone and lowered my voice.
“Listen. Did Sam and Bianca and Lily do anything
to you?” I needed to know.
She dropped her book deliberately and looked at
me. She sprang with far too much agility to her feet
and stared at me, wide-eyed. Her cerulean blue eyes
suddenly fearful, they assessed me, questioningly.
Following my lack of response, she eased her posture
and her narrowed eyes relaxed.
“Are you going to practice?” she finally replied.
“No,” I spat out, to appease her. “Not if you give
me a good explanation.”
“Good,” she replied her eyes hard. “Then I’m doing you a service.”
A thought occurred to me. “Did they kick you
out or something? Did they…set you up? I have to
know, is that what they’re doing to me?” I urged.
She laughed a little, huffing.“They’re bitches
that’s all, don’t hang out with them, you’ll regret it.”
Her brows rose upwards in an expression of genuineness. She stuck her chin out, like a defensive gangster.
“What’s wrong with them apart from that?” She
seemed to think they were pure evil. “Giny said they
want me to join because they’re short a member for
trials.” I made my voice sound sceptical.
A scorned laugh escaped her lips.“Yeah, I know,
hey it doesn’t bother me they’ll chew you up and spit
you out.” She attempted to turn away then.
I went to say something, but she turned back and
grabbed my arm and pulled me down to squat, like
she was attempting to hide us. She looked into my
eyes. Hers were the deepest brightest blue that I had
ever seen and we weren’t in the sun, but they sparkled.
I looked down listening to the voice, which sounded
like any young chirpy girl. I couldn’t make out what she
was saying. Was she after me or this strange terrified
looking girl who held my arm too tightly? Seconds
ticked by, and she loosened her grip. Cresida seemed
embarrassed for a moment that she had squeezed it so
hard. I couldn’t be sure. I rubbed my arm and peeked
through the books. It looked like the girl from science,
Angie, leaving through the door.
“What the hell is all this about, are you on crack
or something?” I whispered. Honestly, I was beginning to think so. “Who was that? Is she after you
too?” I frowned, continuing to rub my arm. It appeared Angie had simply returned a book.
“That was…nothing.” She pursed her lips, still
intensely watching through the crack between some
books.When the library door bumped close she
spoke as though she were waiting for it to thud before it was safe to speak.
“-That was for your benefit.” She dusted some
lint off her pants for a moment. Then her posture
straightened with ease. “I’ll show you something. If I
do, will you promise to stay away from them? - And
me,” she added scowling.
I straightened up.
“Yeah, sure,” I said, eyebrows raised. I began to
realize why the clique didn’t hang with her anymore.
She had to know I was placating her, otherwise she
truly had lost it. Was it induced behaviour from weed
or bad ice, I wondered? She was too wired for that -
it must have been narcotics - or something. I’d seen
it before. Despite suspicions I’d never done serious
drugs, just raided my parent’s liquor cabinet, which
they hadn’t noticed. I didn’t set the rumour mill
straight; at the time I had a reputation.
“What’s your name?” Cresida asked.
“Lila Crain.”
“Do you know about the Wolves, Lila?”
“The Wolves? Doesn’t everyone?” I said curtly.
She smirked.“This way.” She led me towards the
open part of the library. She stopped at the bottom of
the stairs and tugged my arm. “Wait here.”
I glanced at the librarians. They were busying
themselves sorting, paying no attention to us. She
was off out the door swiftly and came back with a
black object in her hand concealed in her palm. She
jogged past me up the stairs and I followed her. At
the top she led me to the second seat in the computer
study room for year eleven, as the sign clearly stated. She leant over the computer, got it up and going
with a few adept switches and clicks as it hummed to
life. She stared at the screen. I scrutinized her from
side on. I noticed her lashes were jet black and her
eyebrows too, her skin was mat white, pitted with
blackheads along her soft squareish nose. She must
have felt my gaze but didn’t look at me once as the
screen flicked to life. She clicked the portal open and
selected a file.
Who is this strange girl?
I thought. The
files all had code names. I couldn’t decipher them.
Was this a conspiracy theory? The white screen
opened a square, which displayed a frozen picture.
She looked at me. “Just watch,” she said clicking play
and glaring at it.