Natalia’s P. O. V

I woke up to a sunless sky with a fading moon. The ever present heartbeat of the city couldn’t seem to reach my home.

I sat up and stretched. ‘Good morning, Nat.’

‘Morning, Candy.’ I grinned. ‘That was the best night’s sleep I’ve ever had in my life.’

‘That’s good to hear.’

I got out of bed and stretched. Humming the melody of a song I’d heard from a passing car yesterday, I walked to my duffel and changed out of my pyjamas and into my workout clothes.

After my morning workout routine, I took a nearly scalding hot shower and got into some of my sweats in my duffel. I walked into my closet and got to work with sorting my clothes.

For two hours, I got busy with arranging everything according to category then by colour. The time whizzed by as I worked and before I realised it, I was done. Everything looked great even though they didn’t fill up to half of the closet space.

I changed into a new pair of blue jeans and a white shirt. The sun had graced the sky with its presence when I walked out. I grabbed my duffel and everything that had been in it on my way to the living room.

I spilled all its contents on the floor in front of the fireplace and took my hair dye, spare coloured contacts, gloves and boots that I’d gotten from my mother, my important papers and wallet then put them on one of the blue couches.

Using a match I’d discovered in the kitchen, I got a fire started in the fireplace. Kneeling in front of it, I stared at the hypnotic dance of the flames that seemed to have me transfixed.

I grabbed the first piece of clothing my hand landed on and tossed it into the fire’s waiting jaws. I smiled as the material became one with its destroyer.

This time, I actually looked at the next thing my hand grasped. It was a baggy yellow shirt, splattered with now dry blood and holes. I loathed it and the memories it brought.

I cowered in terror as the man that was my biological father stalked towards me with intentions that no real dad should ever come close to having.

“P-please,” I whimpered as I shrank back, “I d-didn’t know! I-I swear I h-had no i-i-idea, A-Alpha.”

“Shut up, you stupid waste of space! Do not speak! You are a mistake! A mistake, you hear! You knew! You knew not to talk to anyone who wasn’t in the pack about anything! And yet you did! When I’m done with you, you will never disobey me, you useless excuse for a werewolf!”

“No… no, please! I-I’m s-sorry!” I pleaded as he raised me up by my hair. My rather small thirteen year old frame dangled from his grasp as I clutched his arm to take some of the strain off my screaming scalp.

“STOP SCRATCHING ME, YOU BITCH!” He raged as he shook me violently. He pulled his arm back and flung me across the space to the other side of the school corridor we were in. My head crashed against the wall, followed by the rest of my body, before I fell limply to the floor.

My head throbbed as my vision threatened to darken. My whole body felt like it’d been run over by a mac truck before the vehicle reversed then ran me over again, just for good measure. Surely, all my bones were broken.

I couldn’t move a muscle as I heard him leisurely walk towards me, as if taking a stroll. I forced myself to remain conscious out of fear of what he would to me while I wasn’t mentally present.

“You’ve been a bad girl.” He tsked in a contemptuous tone. “Your mother was a bad girl, too.”

My eyes narrowed as his mention of my mother.

“She was a filthy whore, just like you.”

The fear and pain that had consumed me were shoved aside by a deep, furious rage at his words. I would not listen to him degrade and insult my mother in a fetal state. I slowly forced my body to stand despite the pulsing pain.

I was almost upright when I felt meaty fists collide sharply with my back. I collapsed face first back to the floor.

“You’re a very bad girl indeed. I’m going to have to teach you a lesson, just like I taught your mother.”

A rip sounded through the air, followed by a zip. I felt the air against the bare skin of my bottom half and realized what he intended to do.

With every ounce of energy I had left, I did my best to get away to no avail. I screamed as he pulled me closed to him by my feet, desperately clawing at the floor to find purchase.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

A door opened.

“Natalia?! Let go of her!” Came the voice of my beloved physics teacher, Ms Gina Charles.

Clark let go of me and turned to her. I instantly knew what he was thinking.

“RUN!” I warned, but was too late. Time seemed to slow down. In three short seconds, he was in front of her. I saw her eyes widen as she realised what he meant to do.

“NO!” I cried as he snapped her neck in one swift motion. Her body dropped to the polished floor with a resounding thud. Clark simply kicked her and walked out of the school without another word. With him, he’d seemed to take the colour from the world.

I’d cried next to her body for hours, my baggy yellow shirt soaking up my tears.

If only I hadn’t opened up to her about the pack.

If only I hadn’t confessed to her about how horribly they treated me.

If only I hadn’t screamed.

Then maybe the only person who’d ever cared about me other than my mother would be alive.

I’d sworn to make him rue the day he’d been born as I’d shed my last tear that day. It’d been the first time I’d cried since I was six, when my mother had disappeared. As I’d used the soaked shirt to wipe my eyes, I’d also vowed never to shed another emotion induced tear again.

I continued to stare at the shirt that held the one of my most torturous memories as I remembered the third promise I’d made to myself that day – that I’d get strong enough to protect those who I cared about from every one of my demons.

I forced myself not to feed the shirt to the fire and instead decided to keep it as a reminder of the promises I’d made.

I kept it aside then continued to toss more reminders of that damned pack into the crackling flames. I hadn’t owned many clothes there so the burning session didn’t take as long as I’d have liked it to.

I knelt there for some time, watching the fire dance over the ashes of what used to be my old clothes before I stood up and dusted my jeans off. I checked my watch – ten minutes past nine.

I gathered the rest of my things back into my duffel – no, I hadn’t burnt it, my mother had given it to me after all – and took them back to my room.

‘Can we go get some food now?’ Candy asked as I descended the stairs.

‘Sure.’ I grabbed my wallet and exited the house, locking it behind me and pocketing the keys. I sped out of my property, navigating my way to a grocery store I’d seen on the way to one of the houses Mrs Margret had shown me by memory.

I stopped in an alleyway next to the store and walked towards the entrance and through the automatic doors. Snagging a trolley, I made my way through the area of the store, grabbing promising looking ingredients for the tasty dishes I’d prepare for myself instead of a pack of hungry, ungrateful werewolves. I selected a few treats to sate my long deprived sweet tooth and some fruits to balance it out.

After checking my purchases out, I carried them all out. Desperately hoping that the grocery bags didn’t tear, I ran home at a slightly slower pace to prevent them from being torn by the air resistance.

I was trying to wrestle my keys out of my pocket without dropping any bags, lest I crack the eggs, when I heard the sound of a car pulling up behind me. I peered over my shoulder to see Trevor and Greg rushing out of their car to help me with my bags.

“You guys are early, it’s not noon yet.”

“We came cause we wanted to make sure you’d get ready early enough. We tried calling you but it went to voicemail. You did some serious shopping, didn’t you?” Greg asked rhetorically as he and his brother took most of the bags from me.

“Thanks” I said as I fished my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the door.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to your house, Ari.” Trevor said as I led them to the kitchen. I simply shrugged and got to work with putting the food away with the boys’ help. We talked and laughed as we worked till we were done.

“I can picture Keily doing that. I actually feel sorry for the poor guy, being forced to experience something so traumatizing.” I laughed as we made our way out of the kitchen.

“You should’ve seen his face. He looked ready to cry, puke and pass out at the same time.” Greg added and I burst out laughing all over again from picturing the guy’s terrified green face as he scrambled to get away from a drunk Keily.

“Where was Hailey?” I asked through my mirth.

“She was too busy trying to comfort the last guy Keily had danced with while drunk.” Trevor replied.

“Hey guys, we’d better get going. It’s three minutes to noon.” Greg reminded us as he checked a clock in the living room.

Trevor stopped in front of the fading embers in the fireplace, “Why did you light a fire?”

“Just wanted to test it.” I shrugged, feigning nonchalance. I went upstairs to get my bag of school reports before joining the boys outside.

I made sure to lock up and take the key as we left the house. Trevor, driving this time, got to choose the radio station. A song that resembled screeching ravens blasted through the speakers. I reached forward and turned the volume down, enticing a groan from Trevor and a snicker from Greg.

“What’s the school like?” I asked Greg.

“It’s pretty cool and super ancient. It was built in the sixteen hundreds, around the time there was a major belief in vampires up in Britain. The building itself looks like a gothic castle with its dark lighting even in the summer and its huge arches and doors. It’s even got towers like the one Rapunzel was locked up in.”

“It sounds interesting.” I mused.

Two hours later, the college came into view.

It was just like what Greg said, only five times more. The whole thing looked like a dark castle straight from the Medieval Ages. The structure was huge and looming. Towers poked out of it at seemingly random areas. There were very few windows visible. For some reason, dark clouds hung only over the premises of the college and I caught sight of what looked like bats circling the towers. Needless to say, the whole place sent a shiver of unease down my spine.

As we drove past the gates and into the courtyard, the sun seemed to wink out of existence as we were shrouded in the thick atmosphere of the air just before it’s about to rain.

Bats screeched as we stepped out of the car.

“Welcome to Killdrain Puncturial College, or better known as, the Haunted Fortress.”