Beginnings (The Trifectus Series - Book One) (13 page)

During the memorial, I saw Cara in a back corner away from everybody else.  She was partially hidden behind a pillar, but I could see her clearly.  She was looking around and she looked scared.  She had a guilty look on her face and also looked like she was paranoid, as if someone was following her and she was hiding for her own safety.  Derek showed up and spotted her in the corner.  He went to her and she ran and jumped into his arms with her head buried in his shoulder.  Why was she being so weird?  Was somebody following her?  Were the wolves from the attacks students here, targeting Derek and Cara, people who didn’t want to join their group?

As I watched them, the bell rang for lunch to be over.  I walked away as I saw them still in the corner talking about something.  I bet whatever it was they were talking about was serious and important.  I wished I could hear them.

I had gym next and for once I was happy.  Derek and Cara were in my class.  We had badminton today, which is something I hated to do.  It was bigger than ping-pong but smaller than playing tennis.  What was even the point of it?  I could never hit the birdie over the net and at my old school I always got stuck with some old racket with wires poking out everywhere. 

In the locker room, I was able to get a locker down the row from Cara.  We didn’t have assigned lockers because there were so many kids at the school.  We had to bring locks with us and take whichever lockers we could find, which made things better when you needed to get close to someone.

A couple of Cara’s friends came up to her but she wasn’t that chatty.  She tried to act busy so they would go away, but I knew it was all an act.  While she got dressed, she kept looking over her shoulder.  You would think there was a ghost following her around and she was just waiting for the point when she turned around and it was right in front of her.  She had a look of terror in her eyes that I couldn’t help but remember.

When I went into the gym, I saw Ariel, Greg and Taylor waving at me.  I went over to them and decided to be on their team. 

“All right class, today we are going to be playing the game of kings: badminton,” Mr. Callahan said.  “You will be placed into teams of four and we will be having a tournament to see which team is the best.  We will play in brackets until the final two teams meet and whoever wins doesn’t have to run laps tomorrow!” he said to the groans of the students.

We were able to pick our own teams today, which meant I could learn more about Cara.  I decided to ask my friends more about her.

“Have you guys noticed that Cara has been acting weird lately?” I asked.

“Yeah, she has been really withdrawn,” Ariel said.

As she said that, Cara was trying to bounce a birdie on her racket.  She kept dropping and fumbling it.

“She can’t even balance the birdie,” Taylor said.  “She never has a problem with badminton.  She’s the best player in this class.”

“What do you guys know about her?” I asked casually.

“Well, she came here around three years ago.  Soon after she was here, Derek came too and they started dating almost instantly.  She has been on the cheerleading and dance teams, and is most probably the best female athlete here,” Ariel said.

“Yeah, nobody knows where she came from, though.  I tried to talk to her when she first moved here and be her friend but she was pretty reserved about everything.  It was almost like she was trying to hide something,” Greg said.

“Maybe she is ashamed of her past,” Taylor said.

“Yeah, maybe,” Greg said.

Mr. Callahan blew his whistle for the tournament to commence.  We weren’t placed against Cara’s team first, but I knew we eventually would be.  Ariel, Greg and Taylor were actually very good at badminton.  They were able to keep us above water and beat the first team we played. 

“Great job, guys!” Ariel said enthusiastically.  “I know we can beat the second team just as easily.”

The second team we faced was horrible.  They only got the birdie over the net twice, and Taylor constantly spiked it over the net for our easy win.  I barely had to do anything because that girl sure could jump. 

Our third team was definitely a huge step up from the second team.  There were two football players on the team that gave them a huge advantage.  Both of our teams played vigorously, but we ultimately won.

I looked at the chart Mr. Callahan had for the final game, and saw that Cara’s team would be the team we faced.  I knew I was ready for this.  I was finally going to be close to her and able to examine her.  Maybe I would be able to find out something about her that I could tell James and his family later.  Maybe she would mess up somehow and give something big away.

We started the game against her team.  We would get a point and they would get a point just as fast.  The game was neck-and-neck and each team only had short periods of time when they had a one-point advantage.  We were evenly matched and I knew it would be hard to win.

I kept my eyes on Cara almost the entire time.  She was tired, something which shouldn’t happen.  She had a paranoid look on her face that couldn’t even be described.  You would’ve thought that a giant hand was going to rip through the ceiling and take her away.  She acted as if she was expecting something big to happen.

As the timer started winding down, we needed to do something to win.  That moment came sooner than expected.  A girl on the opposing team hit the birdie up in the air.  Everyone watched as the birdie made its way through the air, right at me. 

“Hit it,” I heard Ariel say in slow motion.

I jumped up and spiked the birdie as hard as I could.  I spiked it right at Cara.  The birdie flew down with force and hit her in the forehead and landed on the ground.  The timer buzzed and my team went nuts.  We had won the tournament and I was the sole reason. 

While I was happy we won, I was more confused than anything.  Why didn’t Cara hit the birdie back?  She was far more athletic than I was, and I knew she could’ve easily spiked it in my face. 

People came and patted me on the back as I gave a halfhearted smile.  I was happy to win, but I knew it didn’t mean much if the other person didn’t even try. 

Mr. Callahan had us walk around the track after the tournament was over.  I walked with my friends while people congratulated me on the spike.

“I still can’t believe you did that!” exclaimed Ariel.

“Yeah, I can’t believe she didn’t get mad,” said Greg.  “Usually she is so defensive she should’ve blown up.”

“I was surprised too,” I said.  “Maybe she is just having a bad day.”

I knew she was having a really bad day.  She walked around the track alone and looked distraught.  I really wanted to talk with her and help her out, but I knew James wouldn’t want me to.  I had to bite my tongue and hold out until I saw him later.

After gym, everybody got to go home.  Principal Trudy said she didn’t want the full day because of what happened to Brittany.  It didn’t seem right to her to just go on like nothing happened so she wanted us to go home and reflect on the day.  I had no problems with this.  I wanted to come up with a plan of my own for later tonight.

“Oh hi, honey, I got a call you would be coming home early,” my mother said as I walked in the front door.

“Yeah, everyone went home early because of what happened to Brittany,” I said.

“How are you feeling about that, sweetie?” my mom asked as she hugged me.

“I’m okay,” I said with my face squished against her chest.

“I made some chocolate chip cookies to cheer you up.”

“Thank you,” I said as I sat down with a plate of fresh cookies.

My mother had been very warm with me lately.  She used to push me away, though not as much as my father.  They both came from broken homes and didn’t really know how to deal with me.  It was like dropping a baby monkey in someone’s house and expecting them to know how to care for it. 

I had always wished I had a better relationship with my parents.  They were good people, even if they weren’t always there for me.  My father was a decorated hero,  depending what you think a hero is.  I guess if you think someone who slaughters and imprisons innocent people is a hero then he is your guy. 

My mother was a housewife who surprisingly wasn’t at home a ton in the earlier years.  She had her friends she would go out and play card games with.  I have memories of her bringing me with and giving me some toys as I sat on the ground playing with my imaginary friend Molly.  Sometimes I wished I could go back to those simpler days. 

“I’m going to Emma’s house tonight again.  We are going to study for a big history test,” I said.

“Okay, dear, that is no problem.  Do you need a ride over there?” my mother asked.

“She is going to pick me up at five,” I said.

“Have fun and don’t study too hard!” she said, laughing.

I smiled as I went up to my room.  I wasn’t planning on studying hard at all.  I didn’t even have any classes with Emma.  I took a shower and got ready for James and Emma to pick me up.  I counted down the minutes until five o’clock.  I just wanted to get this over with already.  I knew that I would be able to get something done about this entire problem.

I went downstairs at five to the doorbell ringing.  I opened the door and Emma was standing there with a huge smile on her face.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

“Bye, mom, I’m leaving,” I yelled.

“Bye, honey, be back by ten!” she yelled back.

I closed the door and Emma and I walked out to the car.  James was behind the wheel and he smiled as I got in.

“How are you?” he asked while smiling at me.

“I’m great now,” I replied, smiling back.

We started the drive to the Sullivans’ house.  It was a long drive, but gave me the chance to talk with James and Emma and get to be with them more.

“Did anything good happen today at school?” James asked me.

“Well, we had a badminton tournament in gym. I hit the winning spike for the tournament right at Cara and it hit her in the head,” I replied.

“Are you serious?  Didn’t she attack you?” Emma asked.

“Not at all.  She just didn’t do anything.  Not even an evil stare.  Just took it and moved on.  She has been really weird lately.  Very jumpy,” I said.

“I noticed that,” said James.  “I’m not sure what has her spooked.”

“I think she knows one or all of the people that took part in the attack on Brittany.  She has been looking over her shoulder a lot, as if she is waiting for them to get her,” I said.

“We will talk to Troy when we get home.  He knows a lot about werewolves and what might be happening,” James said.

We pulled up to their house a few minutes later.  I could see his family shuffling about through the large windows and couldn’t help but smile.  I was finally back with them: my second family.

We walked up to the front door and Rosa opened the door and pulled me in for one of the biggest hugs I have ever received.

“I’m so happy you’re back, dear,” she said to me, smiling.

“I’m very happy to be back here,” I replied.

As I walked in everybody greeted me with open arms.  They gave me more love and affection both of the times I met them than my own parents have given me in the past ten years. 

“Come sit down,” Rosa said.

We sat down and immediately started talking about everything that had happened.

“We are very worried about the state of things in the area,” Remey said.  “We are not sure what action to take.  We don’t want to stress the relationship with the pack in the area.”

“Remey’s right,” said Troy.  “We are already on shaky ground with them.  We have to be completely certain that what is transpiring is the full fault of them and nobody else.  If the people committing these acts aren’t from their tribe, we will face bad times.”

“I saw the body of that Brittany girl come in today,” Lucas said.  “It was most definitely werewolves like they said.  They left her face intact, but everything else was gnawed away.”

“I have hunted stray wolves before,” said Troy, “but never a pack of them.  I am not sure how powerful or dangerous they are.  We don’t get power in numbers like them.  We could be no match for them at this point.”

“I think Cara knows something about them,” I said.

“What do you mean?” asked Maria.

“She has been very jumpy lately.  Almost like she is waiting for someone to get her from behind and attack her.  She hasn’t been aggressive towards anyone and is always looking frantic.  I think she and Derek know something they aren’t telling anyone,” I said.

“This may be true,” Remey said.  “We will have to keep an eye on them and see if they make any contact with the pack.  They might be giving them information or supplies so they don’t get killed.  If the new pack is fearless or too strong, they know they wouldn’t win so it would be easier for them to give them what they wanted.”

“Can’t we just go and confront them?” I asked.

“No,” Troy said.  “Doing that is too dangerous.  We have been on shaky terms with the werewolves for a few years.  Ever since this government got more controlling and unstable, we have been hiding.  If we had any kind of attacks or confrontations with each other, it would be devastating to us.  The wolves get to shift, meaning they are safe as long as they aren’t in human forms.  They can go out into daylight the next day and nobody would know who they were.  We don’t have that luxury.  If we make ourselves known, we are stuck unless we have some elaborate ways to conceal our identities.  We will still be the same height, weight, and will look the same.  All it takes is some cameras to capture our images and we will be hunted.  It’s too dangerous.”