25. A History Lesson

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Tuesday, September 1st
Waning Gibbous Moon (Twenty-Three Nights to Full Moon)

I slept fitfully that night, my dreams filled with blood and violence. When my alarm went off, I was exhausted and couldn’t remember much of my nightmares, but I had an uneasy feeling all day.

When I saw Randall that afternoon, my unease dissolved. I had forgotten how much better I always felt just from seeing his face. Randall was safe, strong, and caring.

He picked me up and we drove out of town in the same direction that Lilith had taken me. We drove on and on, past the exit that Lilith had taken. He finally exited from the highway onto a farm road that cut through countless cornfields as far as the eye could see.

“Where are we going?” I asked him. The vast fields of corn were starting to creep me out.

He just looked at me and grinned. I sat back in my seat, trying not to pout. I was tired of surprises. The heat from the sun shining through my window, combined with the steady beat of the music on the radio made me fall asleep without realizing it, and the next thing I knew, I was being awakened by Randall at our destination.

Sitting up and rubbing my eyes, I got out of his truck and looked around. During my snooze, we had left the cornfields and arrived in a small town, population of probably twelve.

“Why are we in the middle of nowhere again?” I yawned.

“Because I want to show you my favorite place in the world,” He smiled.

I looked around again. There wasn’t much, aside from an old church, cemetery, and some worse-for-the-wear houses. I didn’t even know if anyone actually lived here. “Why is this your favorite place in the world?”

“This place is so isolated. There’s nothing for miles, yet it exists. But why?” He grabbed my hand and we walked together over to the church and cemetery. The church had to be over a hundred years old, and some of the cemetery’s weathered gravestones dated back to the 1800’s. I couldn’t even read some of them; the stone was so worn away. The entire place smelled old and untainted.

“I know why you like it here,” I told him. I was still taking in the sights; the sun was glinting off the cracked stained glass windows in the church and the wind was rustling through the tall grass.

“Why is that?” He never stopped smiling as he stood there and held my hand. He was happier than I had ever seen him, even though I hadn’t known him for very long.

“This place is calming, yet…stimulating at the same time.”

“You’re partially right. I can come here whenever I want to. No one is ever here. You can really think here. In the city, with our heightened senses, it’s so hard to completely block out everything that’s going on. My brain is always buzzing. Here, it’s just me and nature.” He breathed deeply and sat on the ground, leaning up against one of the headstones. I meandered through the rather small cemetery, pushing away grass and weeds to read the various inscriptions. I continued to listen to him as I walked.

“This town used to be larger. Not much larger, but there were people living here, a long time ago. An entire Pack lived here. The Pack was the town. They built it. They built this church. They were all farmers. We’re well suited for it, since we’re so strong.” As he told me the story, I began to notice for the first time small carvings in the weathered marble, carvings of moon phases and howling wolves. “This whole cemetery is full of my ancestors. My great, great, great relatives are buried here.”

“Why doesn’t the Pack still live here? Why is it abandoned?” Even the remnants of the stained glass windows in the church had wolf and moon imagery.

“A while ago, long before we were born, people in neighboring towns, though far and few between, began to suspect something. The Pack had accidentally drawn attention to itself. No one in those towns could figure out how such a small group of people could have such a large crop year after year. They began to watch the Pack more closely. One full moon, there was a tragedy. With all the sneaking around the humans were doing, it was only a matter of time before one of them was killed, or worse, bitten.”

I’d made a full circle and was standing next to him again. I sat in the grass and leaned against him, soaking in the setting sun’s rays as I listened to the rest of the story. He wrapped his arms around me and I could hear his voice rumbling in his chest as he spoke.

“That full moon, someone was bitten. He went back to his family telling them a horrible story about people becoming wolves and how he was attacked by one of those giant wolves on this very land. He got sick after that, and the next full moon, he began to change. Frightened, his own family killed him. They came to a realization of what the farmers here were. They may not have had the word werewolf for it, but demon or monster fit pretty well too. A whole group of humans came, they burned down all of the houses except for the few that the Pack managed to save, and the church. People don’t really like to burn those. After that, the Pack moved. They realized that they’d drawn unwanted attention to themselves and left the area to find different jobs in town, jobs that didn’t draw so much attention. They sold most of the land, except what had buildings on it, and bought the land that my family lives on now.”

“It’s amazing how things can change so fast,” I commented.

“You must always watch your actions. You never know who might be watching, what they might think of your actions,” He said seriously. He got up and brushed the grass off his jeans. I followed suit, not wanting to track anything into his truck.

“Thanks for the advice, and for bringing me here. This is such a cool place.”

“You’re welcome to come back here any time if you just need a peaceful place to clear your mind.”

“I don’t remember how to get here,” I laughed. I probably should have stayed awake.

“I’ll show you on the way out,” He regained his smile.

On the ride back, I didn’t sit in the passenger seat. Instead, I sat in the middle, so I could be closer to Randall. We didn’t really speak much. We didn’t have to, there was no awkwardness. I just leaned against him, breathing in his warmth. He smelled like the grass we’d just been sitting in. Since I’d been bitten, my life had been chaotic. Between my parents and the confusion about my life and what I was supposed to do with it, it felt like I’d nearly lost my mind. The only reason I was allowed to go to college was with the stipulation that I would join a local pack to get some education on how to control myself, even though my mom had hoped for a cure. Being with Randall, he was so solid. I felt sane knowing that I wasn’t the only one that had a secret to hide from the human world.

Was I falling in love with him? I didn’t know what it was supposed to feel like. But when I was with him, riding alongside him, feeling his breathing and heartbeat like no human could, I knew that I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.

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A/N: Another chapter is coming on Thursday. Sorry this wasn't posted until late, my mom came up to Houston to shop so I had to go. Next chapter will be a continuation of this day, so that's why I'm posting it sooner than Monday. The chapters may eventually be combined, but I thought this was a decent stopping point.