Untitled

Chapter 1:

    A bright flash of light invaded the shallow cave once again as lightning streaked through the dark sky overhead. Wind howled in through the entrance of the cave as the deep growl of thunder sounded through the clouds. I shivered and pushed myself farther into the small crevice in which I sat.

     I tugged my light sweater tighter to myself as the wind became stronger, the howling growing louder. A silhouette appeared at the entrance, tall and lean. I shivered, wanting to ask him for help, but my throat too raw from sickness. I heard a distant voice as the person took a step into the cave. I couldn’t understand the words that it said though; my ears muffled them too much. The person took another step and called back to the mystery partner.

“Just investigating this cave. I think there is someone in here.” He called, stepping farther into the cave. He ducked to avoid the roof of the cave and stepped gingerly around a small hole. Another streak of lightning illuminated the cave, exposing me to his eyes. He waited while the thunder finished it’s growling before saying anything.

“Hey. I’m not going to hurt you,” he said quietly. “I want to help you. Is that all right?” he asked softly. I nodded slowly after a slight hesitation. He inched closer to me and urged me to come out of the small crevice. I slowly crawled from the hole and to where he crouched. He gently picked me up and brought me outside of the cave where he put me down onto a large, flat rock and took off his sweater and wrapped it around my arms.

“You look cold.” He whispered gently and picked me up again. I do not remember what happened next, for I fell asleep in his arms.

    I awoke in a warm bed in a smallish room. It was very plain, beige walls and pine floorboards. The small nightstand held only a glass of water and an alarm clock that showed that it was 12:09 PM. I slowly sat up, feeling much better than when I did in the cave. Quiet voices sounded from somewhere else in the house, sounding very serious and maybe even argumentative. I stood and walked a few steps over to the window, looking out into a large yard that was surrounded by forest. Beyond the forest stood misty mountains, regal, and proud of standing high over the treetops. I smiled and slowly walked over to the door. I did not open it. I just stood in front of it and played vaporous thoughts and memories through my mind. My eyes began to sting so I pushed them all into the back of my mind before I started crying. I turned away from the door and sat on the edge of the bed staring at my toes. I lay back down on the bed and tried hard not to think of the things I had lost and left behind when I ran away from my vanishing life. The ceiling and the comfort of the cozy room distracted me from everything, so I did not notice the sound of footsteps heading towards the room. I must have jumped at least three feet when a soft knock sounded on the door.

“Can I come in?” a voice asked quietly on the other side of the door.

“Yeah, sure.” I responded quickly. The door opened slowly and the person on the other side of the door came into the room. He was the man who took me from the cave. His arctic blue eyes avoided looking at me.

“Are you feeling better now?” he asked softly.

“ Yes. Thanks for helping me.” I told him gratefully, also avoiding looking at him. I did, however, notice from the corner of my eye that his hair was a light-ish shade of gray. I said nothing to him about it, but thought to ask him about it.

“Yeah. It really wasn’t much of a problem.” He said modestly. There was an awkward pause before I broke it by saying;

“Oh. I’m sorry that I was a problem at all.” I told him, looking at him, surprised to see that he was now looking at me. He shook his head.

“No, it was fine. What is a problem though, is that I do not know your name.” He said with a miniscule smile. I gave him a small smile before telling him that my name was Bethany Marke.

“Well. Ms. Marke,” He said with a sly smile. “Would you like to meet the others.” He gave a small bow, extending a hand out to me.

“Yes, but I would love to know your name also.” I told him, then took his hand and stood. He straightened himself and looked into my eyes.

“Feran. I have no last name.” He told me before leading me out of the room, down the hallway, past a set of stairs into what looked like a sitting room. There were five guys in the room. Each of them had their own unusual characteristics that normally are not seen on people. They all looked at me with interest.

“Hi.” I whispered, not meeting any of their intense gazes.

“Guys,” Feran snapped at them. They all jumped and turned their eyes to him. “Don’t stare at her. It’s weird.” He said in a normal voice. They all shifted in their seats and looked at their laps timidly. All accept one who had bright, emerald green eyes and almost black hair. He turned back to me and introduced himself as Chris, short for Christian. The one next to him, who had very light blond hair and very pale skin and dark blue eyes, told me that his name was Bryan. The guy next to him looked almost exactly like him, but with lighter eyes and was a bit smaller. He was Mark, Bryan’s younger brother. The one next to Mark had insanely dark eyes and darkish brown hair. He told me that his name was Zach. The one who sat in a chair had long brownish-orange hair and honey colored eyes introduced himself as Leon. They had all looked up at me as they told me their names and now they were all staring at me.

“What’s your name?” Mark asked me.

“Bethany.” I told them quietly.

“It is an attractive name,” Leon said. “It suits you.” He added, a sly smile on his face. I felt my face turn red and I turned it away from them.

“Thanks.” I said, discomfited.

“Truth.” He said.

“I feel really awkward right now.” Mark pointed out vociferously. I giggled lightly and turned back to them, my face no longer blushed. All of them were laughing at him. Feran sat with them and I followed his lead, except I sat on the ground against the wall, more or less separate from them. Downstairs, I heard door open and weighty footsteps on the floorboards. Everyone in the room froze, then Feran, Leon, and Zach ran from the room and down the stairs.

“What’s wrong?” I asked Chris.

“Bear is home and he has no idea you are here.” He told me.

“Who is Bear?” I inquired.

“He is presently the ‘Man of the house’ so to speak.” He told me. I nodded. I heard none of the words exchanged downstairs until a gruff voice snapped at the three who were downstairs with him.

“Why would you bring someone into this house? She might guess something if she stays!” the voice said. There was a short period where I heard nothing. Then the new voice spoke again.

“Very well. She can stay for a bit longer. Until we learn that we can trust her or we can’t,” he said. “Inform Chris to care for her needs for today.” He added. Three pairs of footsteps came up the stairs, and one wandered into a different part of the house. They said nothing as they walked into the room, just sat down where they were before they went downstairs. They said nothing to Chris however, for they knew that he had heard what Bear had said for him to do.

“So.” Bryan said, attempting to break the silence of the moment.

“So.” Chris responded.

“What do you guys want to do?” Zach asked, trying to make it not so awkward in the room. Everyone shrugged, but I just stared at my lap, waiting for the tension in the air to be released. However, there was to be no such thing for the moment. They were all very quiet and nervous. I felt their eyes shift to look at me every now and then. I knew that I should say something to break the silence, but I had nothing to say. No one else did either, so the silence was only broken when they shifted in their seats.

“How about that weather?” Chris joked. Everyone chuckled.

“I know right!” It’s crazy!” Bryan responded enthusiastically. We continued chuckling for a moment, then the silence continued for another moment or two.

“I hate awkward silences as much as the next guy, but I don’t think the house has ever been this quiet. It’s actually pretty nice.” Leon said. Some of the guys nodded, others shrugged.

“I guess.” Mark said. Then another moment of silence followed.

“Is anyone else hungry?” Bryan asked, getting up from where he sat between Chris and Mark.

“Yes actually.” Leon said following Bryan’s lead. Zach, Mark, Chris, and Feran followed. I, however, stayed where I was. I was hungry, I really was. It felt like my stomach was eating itself, I just didn’t want to get in their way. Not even a minute later, Chris poked his head back into the room.

“Aren’t you coming?” He asked quietly, entering the room.

“Um. I don’t know. I don’t want to get in your way. I feel like an obstacle because you all feel awkward with me here.” I told him. He laughed.

“We aren’t feeling awkward because of you personally being here, we just aren’t used to having a girl in our house! We’ve never had a girl visit here before. We hardly even have anyone visit her!” He told me, walking over to me and holding out a hand to help me up off of the floor. I shyly smiled at him before taking his hand. He pulled me up and led me down the stairs and past a couch and two chairs. The front door was past the couch and chairs, but we headed in the opposite direction, past a hallway that had only two doors in it. Then we reached two doorways. To the right was a room with a recliner and a large TV. Through that room however, I could see another doorway to a room where the other guys, except for Zach, sat at a picnic table with a chair at the end. There sat the man that I assumed was Bear. He was a very large built person, with hard-packed muscles. His hair was a lighter brown color and his eyes were a darker shade of brown. We went past that doorway however, and into the kitchen, where Zach was cooking at a stove that looked like it had been it that kitchen for a very long time.

“What’re you cooking?” Chris asked.

“You’ll find out when you eat it.” Zach said, his voice packed with loads of attitude, but his dark eyes were joking. Chris smirked back at him.

“Fuck you.” He said as he walked into the room where the other guys sat, joking around at the picnic table. I had been mildly surprised to hear him swear, but then I realized that I was in a house full of teenage guys. I should have expected swearing. I laughed internally at my oblivion to that fact. I stood in the doorway as Chris took a seat in between Bryan and Leon.

“So you are our guest.” Bear’s voice made me jump. I quickly nodded, but not enthusiastically. He looked me over with his eyes, and I felt very awkward, standing there, with everyone’s eyes on me once again, but this time another pair had been added. He slowly nodded, then told me that I could sit between Feran and Mark if I wanted to. I quickly sat and stared at the table, glancing up every few seconds until the guys went back to their playful joking around and insults. I giggled every once in a while when I heard something funny, but otherwise stayed silent and ignored. I noticed however, that every once in a while, Feran would cast small glances at me. Chris also did, but not nearly as frequently as Feran. After a few minutes, Zach appeared with the food and they all wolfed it down. I however, ate slowly. When they had finished eating, I felt Feran full on staring at me.

“Feran and Leon. I want you to go hunting today.” Bear said, snapping Feran’s attention away from me. They both nodded and stood up from the table. Feran cast one more look at me, then disappeared from the room behind Leon. One by one, everyone left until it was only Bear and I left in the room.

“Would you like to take a shower?” He asked me quietly. I looked up at him and nodded. He led me to the bathroom that was back through the house to the hallway with the two doors. He opened the door on the right. It had an old time-y kind of feel, due to the older décor and accents in the small room. Bear put out a fresh towel and disappeared into the room across the hallway, which I assumed was his bedroom. I stripped my dirty clothing, after closing the door, and stepped into the shower; grateful for the clean feeling I had after I stepped out. I dried myself quickly and wrapped the towel around myself. I opened the door a crack and peeped out. A chair had been pushed against the wall next to the door and some clothes had been put on it with a little note that told me that they were for me. I grabbed them and got dressed. They were a bit big, but they were clean and comfortable. I piled my filthy clothing into a basket that had other dirty clothes in it and wandered to the front door. There was a window to the left and right of it, so I went over to the one on the right and parted the curtain just enough to see outside. The yard was large, and surrounded by forest. The grass was a bit overgrown, but very green. I smiled slightly, but nearly jumped out of my skin when a snow leopard leapt from the brush at the edge of the yard and turned back to playfully bat at a black panther that was right behind him. In my surprise, I released the curtain, making it close again. I opened it again and looked back out at the two cats playing in the yard. How strange. I thought. Black panthers and snow leopards don’t live around here, but here are two of them playing in the yard. I turned away from the window and jumped. Bear had been right behind me so now I was eye-level with his broad chest. I took a step backwards so that I wasn’t so close to him.

“You startled me,” I breathed. “I didn’t realize you were right behind me.” I looked up at his face, which seemed to have a discontent expression on it, but it disappeared as he smiled at me.

“I tend to startle people who do not know me very well.” He told me, stepping back. I offered a tiny smile.

“Yeah.” was the only thing that I could think of to say at the moment. Suddenly, the door opened and Chris and Bryan came in. Bear frowned at them. Chris glanced at me before leaning close to Bear and whispering something to him.

“Damn it!” He cursed in a whisper before going outside. I was about to look out the window to see what was happening, but Chris pulled me away.

“Maybe you should go upstairs.” He suggested quietly, looking at me with his sparkling eyes. I didn’t know what else to do other than accept his suggestion, so I went upstairs and returned to the room that I had been in when I woke up. Chris and Bryan followed me, but Bryan entered the first room that we encountered and closed the door behind him. Chris paused at the doorway to the room that I was in.

“Rest and regain the rest of your strength.” He told me, before closing the door. I knew that I would not be allowed to stay forever, and I didn’t wish to be a burden on them, but I was still not strong enough to wander back into the forest, even if I rested for another day or two. I had been close to deliria when they had found me in the cave, and it would be several more days until I was fully recovered. I pondered this as I lay down and pulled the covers over myself and drifted into sleep.