Note// hello there my lovely people :D I know youre probably thinking, why am I constantly making notes? Maybe because I like to keep my readers informed > < I don't know, im weird. So if you haven't noticed on the side is where I have the current cast and a slideshow with pictures of those in the cast. Itll change throughout the story as I figure out who plasy who and add more wolves (im still trying to figure out who should play lucy's parents. If you know, do tell me !) that said - ive added alex watson (emma watson's brother) to the cast. I don't think hes an actor, I know he does modeling (I think ..lol) anyhoot, I find him completely attractive and I think everything about him radiates how marcus is in my head. I didn't expect marcus to be important in the story but then I realized that lucy is a bit lonely and not that theres anything wrong with being a loner, but I feel its necessary to the story that she have some other human companion. So, you will be seeing a lot more of marcus ! also, I don't know what happened - I hadn't expected this chapter to be that long or even do the whole incident it just happened > < And the tale about the wolves was totally based off my findings on the web, I just rearranged words and made up the tale of the Hunt. I like making histories for these types of things, it makes it seem more authentic. Dontcha think? Okay ill shut up now > < read, comment, vote, and share xx

six: tale of tails

I couldn't sleep. The whole night I spent tossing and turning in bed trying not to think about wolves. It was no wonder why I looked like the walking dead the next morning. At least my headache wasn't as bad and after looking in the mirror, I'd found the swelling gone completely and the bruising nearly gone. For sixteen I wasn't looking that hot, but strangely enough I never felt better.

I'd never felt out of place in my own body, I was comfortable with who I was. Id grown use to my athletic build and recognized I would never be the girl who looked perfect in a pair of form fitting jeans or low cut tops, but I liked myself and how I looked. But there was just something different feeling when coming to this irrational reasoning of being a werewolf. Surely I didn't have some overnight transformation, but there was just something that never showed before last night. My brows were a bit fuller and filled in, shaped perfectly and my eyes looked like they had yesterday in the nurse's office.

They sparkled and drew you in; I almost felt like I was looking into Mason's eyes. I tuned my head in the mirror, noticing that my cheekbones had lifted just a bit, giving my face a sharper and defined angle. I looked edgy.

I had to eventually stop looking in the mirror because I was positive I was becoming crazy. I wanted to believe that I was changing and becoming this beast because it was the only reasonable answer. But, surely if I talked to Mason, he would be able to give me a for sure answer.

"Promise no more trips to the Nurse's office?" Mom asked me as she pulled up in front of the school. She'd smoothed back my hair, which I actually bothered to do and pull back into a ponytail. Really it was the only way I could be sure I wouldn't suffer from any hot flashes since the feeling of my hair against my neck just felt smothering. Id even chosen lighter layers; black leggings, with a silver lace tunic and a black jacket over it.

"I promise. I'll watch my step and everything." I cracked a smile at Mom before giving her a kiss on the cheek. "See you when I get home?"

"I'm picking you up aren't I?"

"Well I was kind of thinking of going to the library afterschool."

"You don't want me to go with? We can find books like we used to and have our little club meeting." I resisted rolling my eyes at my mother. "Is it bad that I want to pretend that you're not growing up? I want my little girl back." Mom chuckled, feigning as if she were about to burst into tears. "You may not see it Lucy, but you've grown so much. It's crazy."

"I'm still the same," I said, chewing my tongue a bit before continuing. "I'm still your daughter. No matter what."

"Of course you are." Mom pinched my cheek gently. "Look at me - I shouldn't be this emotional so early in the morning huh?"

"You shouldn't!" I sighed out before kissing my mom on the cheek again. "I'll see you when I get home. I promise I won't have any new bruises or wounds."

"Alright, you have a good day."

"Love you!"

The air felt crisp against my cheek, but eventually melted away like when a snowflake touches your palm. Sighing out, I shoved my hands into my pocket and headed toward the school. That's when I caught sight of Mason and for the first time, his family. they were in the student parking lot, sitting by a black and sleek looking car. It was expensive and very foreign looking. Having no interest in automobiles I didn't know what it was but made sure to imprint it into my memory and ask my father about it.

Standing at the entrance of the school I didn't hide the fact that I was watching them. The female, Alexandria was beautiful with chocolate locks that waved down her back. She wore a black leather jacket, skinny denim jeans and a white top that exposed just a hint of the navel. She seemed unaffected by the cold. I could pick out what appeared to be a tattoo near her waist.

The other male, Chandler had black locks. He was bigger than Mason, and built more. He wore a simple denim jeans and a thin grey pullover with the sleeves pushed up to show very muscular arms. His tattoo was exposed against his wrist. Then of course there was Mason, wearing a dark green sweater and dark jeans, his sleeves pushed up mid arm, covering his tattoo however.

They were clustered together, talking in hushed tones without a care in the world, unaffected by the fact class would start in just a few minutes. I wanted to march over and talk to Mason. I wanted to demand he give me some kind of information - maybe tell me that he was just being weird yesterday and taking advantage of the fact id bumped my head.

The trio looked intense in conversation however. My ear began to burn and itch some, reminding me of that saying. Were they really talking about me? Closing my eyes I inhaled and then exhaled. If I really were a werewolf, there were wolf instincts that would naturally inhabit my body.: strength, speed, enhanced senses. I couldn't hear anything though, anything but the chatter of students and finally the bell.

Sighing out I opened my eyes, surprised to find three pairs staring at me from the other side of the parking lot. With my ears still burning and my cheeks too, I tuned sharp on my heel and headed into the building.

With the events of yesterday already spread through the whole school, I wasn't surprised or the least bit bothered by the howls that greeted me when I entered my first period class of Biology. I was bothered by the fact that Marcus Lanter was sitting at my desk. Before yesterday we'd only made small chat. He'd always been my desk partner, we just never paid much attention to each other save for the labs. I always took the job of the recorder while he dirtied his hands with whatever we were experimenting with.

"Hey wolf girl," he said.

I didn't need anyone catching on to that nickname. That I didn't think I could handle. Marcus wasn't exactly popular, the idea of the whole Mean Girls social system didn't apply to the students of Crescent Falls. But Marcus was energetic, charismatic, and cute. He had a personality and some kind of charm that made it easy for him to identify and connect with other people. I'd seen him blend into different groups countless of times; always sticking out from the others with his dirty blonde hair and warm brown eyes.

He had an uplifting smile that made it impossible to be in a bad mood. I was fighting hard not to like him.

"Hi." I sat down in my chair with a huff and began shuffling through my bag to locate my glasses.

"Looking for these?" Marcus asked as he presented the black framed spectacles.

"How'd you get these?"

"They fell yesterday after the whole . . " Marcus hit his head with the heel of his palm, sticking his tongue out to imitate a blackout. "I meant to give them back but you were gone."

"I had a headache," I said as I took the glasses. The minute I put them on I had to take them off. They were blurry and made the board, which I'd always been unable to see, unfocused. I could see much better without them. Perfect in fact. "Thank you."

"No problem." Shoving my glasses into the case, I sat with my hands on my lap. I like many of the other students wondered where Mr. Mesimer was. It wasn't like him to be late. In fact, he'd been writing my name on a pink slip of paper the minute I walked in after the bell - despite it being my first offense. Tardiness was something he didn't accept.

Mindlessly, I looked down at my wrist and began to play with my scar. It'd grown fuller and almost a black color.

"How's it feel?" Marcus asked and quickly I pulled down my sleeve.

"What?"

"Your noggin? Anymore howling incidents?"

"What does it matter to you?"

"It's funny." He said with a grin and I couldn't seem to control the fit of anger inside me. I wanted to rip his head off. This was an emotion that was completely new to me and I had to try everything I could to bite back my frustration. What made it easier were the following words that slipped out of Marcus' mouth. "Kind of cute really."

Id started to ask what he meant by that when Mr. Mesimer finally came into class. He looked a mess: his tie was undone, there was a coffee stain on the undocked edge of his shirt and he looked as though he could barely walk without bumping into something.

"Sorry for my tardiness, I know I said there's never an excuse to be late so I won't give any excuses."

"Why were you late though?" Marcus asked. He was that guy; he was the one that always asked teachers questions and sometimes called them by their first names and was able to get away with it.

"Not that it's really of any concern to you, but I nearly hit something today. A dog or a wolf, it was too fast to tell really." I groaned internally. The atmosphere in the classroom was set high and abuzz. There hadn't been a wolf sighting since my attack. There were countless of emotions running at the moment. Excitement was a big one. Mine was more of concern. There were lots of questions: did he hit it, where did he see it, how close was it to the school? But everyone seemed to be ignoring the obvious question and I was shocked that id been the one to ask it.

"What did it look like?"

It was strange how silent it'd been and as soon as the words came out I wished for them back to not have to endure the stares of my fellow classmates. How nice, wolf girl was asking about a wolf as if she could do anything about it.

"Pardon?" Mr. Mesimer asked as he adjusted his tie.

"How did the wolf look? Color? Any distinctions?" Mr. Mesimer pondered the question for a moment, it'd been the longest the class had ever been silent I was sure.

"It was black," he finally said in surprise as if he hadn't expected to be able to remember. "Sort of grey too; it was black with grey streaks." I nodded slowly, swallowing thickly at his answer. It wasn't impossible, but it was completely farfetched. First there was Mason and his inquiries, the dreams I had and the changes I experienced, and now a wolf that was described nearly the same as the wolf that attacked me had been spotted. It was all too perfectly synchronized to be a mere coincidence.

I couldn't concentrate on the lesson and I was sure mostly everyone else couldn't either, not even Mr. Mesimer as much as he tried. As the lesson played on, I ran through my wandering thoughts. I couldn't wait until third period when I could speak to Mason.

The wait was agonizing. The minute I walked into English I wanted to run to my desk and bombard Mason with questions. I was surprised to find him not there. I knew that he'd come to school because I had in fact saw him in the parking lot with his brother and sister. Slowly I made my way to my seat. I'd thought that maybe he was just running late. It was his second day and maybe he hadn't figured out how to navigate the halls. Crescent wasn't that large though and someone like Mason would stick out and there were plenty of girls who I knew would love to take his hand and guide him to class like a cute little puppy. So why wasn't he here?

I worried after the bell rang and fifteen minutes into class the worry tuned more into annoyance and frustration. I needed him here. It wasn't until I heard Marcus bring up the wolf incident with Mr. Mesimer up did it all snap into place for me. I had this nagging suspicious that the sight of that wolf, my wolf, had been the reason why Mason hadn't shown up.

I was defeated by the end of the school day with the fact that Mason had ditched. Upset that I wouldn't be able to get anything directly from the source, I made my way down the sidewalk from the school and toward the direction of the library.

While I wasn't scared about possibly seeing the wolf, I was somewhat nervous. What would I do? Would I shift into some kind of beast? I snorted at that, telling myself that I needed to sop jumping to conclusions. As far as I knew the wolf that attacked me was just a normal wolf. Maybe there wasn't any such thing as werewolves and all this talk was because I'd only made things seem worse than they were. Using the internet as proof was worse enough. Werewolves and full moons were for fictional books and movies. Not real life. Not my life.

Crescent Falls' library was one of the biggest buildings in town. It looked like two log cabins put together. Half of the library was dedicated to books based on the town; it had maps, old newspapers, and documents that all dealt with the history. In a sense it was like a museum. I was interested in the religion section o more so the subculture aspect of it. the whole paranormal bit. My eyes scanned over books dealing with ghosts, mediums, vampires and demons until it landed on werewolves. There wasn't much, maybe only three books that solely discussed the topic.

One specifically called my attention. It was a hundred pages total, thick pages that were weathered and crisp at the ends, burnt almost. The binding was held together by a blood red ribbon that kept the rich brown leather faces together and the book from falling apart. On the cover in yellow scripted writing was the word Loup Garou.

I took the book off the shelf and headed toward the reading tables, choosing one in the corner. The book smelled old and my hands were chalked with what I expected to be dust, but that was all irrelevant as I turned to chapter one and began to read.

Half Man - Half b e a s t.

The myth of werewolves originated centuries ago. This was during a time when the people were less educated about the ways of the body and medicine and more fearful of the supernatural: curses, hexes, witches, and spells were thought to be just as scientific as science itself. The idea of the werewolf beforehand was anyone cursed by the moon demon Loupius Garou. It was said that a man with all the features of a wolf, standing on hind legs would sneak into the night when the moon was full and stray into the village and taking the lives of the townspeople. Those who survived were cursed, marked to live the fate of Loupius; constantly fighting the beats within them.

People believed that you would be transformed into this beast, a werewolf if you were bitten by one. The behavior of such creature and transformation depended upon the different phase of the moon. It is believed that those transformed on the night of a full moon are full blooded wolves. All human instincts are removed and they are nothing but savage beasts with the same desire to kill and feed as their master. They are sources of terror.

The first reported case of the werewolf infection was a man named Demetrius Hunt. After tying to attack his wife, he was killed by a silver bullet at the hands of his own sun Lyus Hunt. Lyus testified to watching his father shift into a wolf and feed off of the sheep that they owned. Fearful of their life, he killed his father. Demetrius' body was tested and experimented. Doctors noted the abnormalities in his body: the abnormal size of his muscles, the change in bone structure, and the bite mark that'd remained hidden beneath his clothes.

Shortly after the death of his father, Lyus disappeared, leaving his mother and all possessions behind. Doctors were suspicious about the possibility of the infectious disease being hereditary . . .

The tale was fascinating and the more I read on, the clearer things became if not more stranger. Id wrapped me up in the tall tale of werewolves so tight that I hadn't realized that the library was beginning to close. It was nearing six and sun light was minimal at that point. After checking the book out, I'd stated out of the library, already pulling out my phone to call my Mom. I left a message saying I'd be home soon. Waiting around only freaked me out.

I was only three blocks away from the library when I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. there was something watching me from afar. My ears twitched some at the feint sound of a growl; there was no mistaking the sound.

Swallowing thickly I looked over my shoulder, quickening my pace. Seeing nothing only worried me more. Once I made it toward the houses I knew I would feel safer. I held on to the idea that I was just imagining everything until I was safe under the street lamps. But being closer to the woods wasn't easy and I couldn't get I'd of the itching feeling of fear beneath my skin.

Then I heard it.

The howl.

It was the same howl from my dream; the throaty one that only lodged terror into my body. I heard it, the unmistakable sound of paws hitting the ground and the grunts of harsh and fast paced running. Instinct kicked in and I found myself running too. Then I saw it.

It was a flying streak of shadow black and silver running from the woods and coming for me. Not paying attention, I found myself taking a wrong turn and no longer on the paved sidewalk but on the snowy trail that cut through the woods. My heat crushed against my chest as it beat quicker. My hands perspired with sweat.

I'd noticed the wolf again, moving quicker, zig zagging around the tall trees. No longer beside me, I could hear the wolf behind me and there was no doubt there were more, I could hear them in the distance, snapping their teeth and snarling. I was the prey. If there was any inkling of a wolf inside me, it lay dormant now - practically comatose. My legs burned and the cold made everything worse. I could feel myself slowing down and while I didn't want to give up, I knew that I was in fact dead.

Looking over my shoulder I found my eyes zoning in on two silver marbles that came closer and closer until a stream of moonlight pushed through the trees and shone down on the beast. There, clear as day was the very wolf that attacked me. The black wolf with the silver eyes and torn ear. It was in the perfect pace and vicinity to pounce at me and take me down just as it did six years ago.

And that's precisely what it did.

The wolf pushed from the earth, its legs elongating and mouth parted to attack me. The scream that erupted from my frame was loud and piercing, sharp through the silent air like a knife.

I waited to feel myself be tackled to the ground.

But I wasn't.

I was surprised to find coming from thin air a gray wolf with blue eyes.