Chapter 15

"Now I guess you've met all of us, Berenice," Jim says loudly.

"This is our pack. We used to call it the 'pack of players', but now that Caleb is settled, we can't exactly say that anymore."

"No girls?" I question, only to see four faces shaking their heads no.

"We like to be free of all women," James grinned, "Love 'em and leave 'em, I always say."

"You people are terrible," I laugh, instantly feeling at home with these handsome men.

After a second, I nearly jump in alarm at the realization that I can barely recognize myself. The old Berenice would have run away by now.

The old Berenice would have never fallen for these wily werewolves' tricks. It must be those strange feelings James was talking about.

George just stares at me, a forbidding expression on his face.

"She needs to leave for a minute while we have our meeting," he says, his voice rough and completely unlike Caleb's.

"Come on," Jim protests, "She's not doing any harm! Let her stay-"

"No," his voice is firm, insisting, "She isn't part of the pack."

His words are forbidding and fierce, striking me cold. I turn, walking out of the door. Caleb sticks his head out after me, issuing a warning.

"Don't go outside of the grounds," he says, "it isn't safe."

Then, Lee comes up and brushes past me into the room. Right before they shut the door, I see their faces, turned serious by something George said.

He's not exactly a ray of sunshine.

How could he be a player? Maybe he's the strong and silent type all the girls like to go for. He certainly is handsome enough… I mean, they all are.

Especially Caleb, having an authority hanging over his head like a crown. Everyone in the pack seems to respect him.

Looking up, I wonder how they all live in such a big place. It is so old-fashioned, obviously not built by these handsome teens... oh, of course.

They are probably fifty to a hundred years old. However, most of them don't even look nineteen, though James might pass for being in his twenties.

After gazing at the beautiful artifacts for about ten minutes, I decide to head outdoors. Caleb said I couldn't leave the grounds, but he never said I couldn't take a walk in the grounds.

After searching for a while, I find an exit, going through it to find that I am now located in the mansion's garden. It is beautiful, alerting my senses with sweetness and beautiful colors.

I circle it, but soon dismiss it to be too uninteresting. Just like the mansion; old fashioned and dreary.

The stars wink at me as I survey the area once more. A small path to the side, strewn with pine needles and leaves, catches my attention. Slowly I begin to walk it, not knowing quite where I am going.

The moat is nowhere to be found, leading me to believe that I am not outside of the mansion's boundaries.

However, when I spy the dark, forbidding trees that remind me of the forest Caleb and I traveled through, I am not so sure.

Quickly I dismiss my doubt. Of course I am still in the borders, for I haven't passed the moat yet. Surely...

Everything is quiet now, the only whispers being the ones of the rushing wind. My hair brushes behind me, blown by its frightful gales.

I squint, wondering how a wind this fierce could have just started up out of the blue. It is strong, but I hold my stance against the invisible monster.

However, my troubles only increase as a white apparition appears before me, coming out from behind the trees. The fear, the pain... it begins to pound again as I gaze in surprise upon the curious creature.

It has no shape, a white ghost with the same red eyes as the men on the mural I had seen earlier. Suddenly, memories start flooding back to me, ones I can't stand to remember.

My scream rips into the night as the creature starts flying my way, the familiar eyes delving into my soul. I definitely know those eyes. But where? When? Who?

The haunting eyes that are causing me to have a serious migraine pause, the white blob still.

Then, they squint slightly, and the ghost-like form charges towards me. Escape is impossible. I am frozen, still with shock and remembrance.

My parent's murderers...

The ghostly figure zooms towards me, its deathly intent clearly evident. However, I don't notice its speed at all, my mind suspended in a hazy fog of memories that are coming together, returning at an alarming speed.

The screams I had heard earlier starts again, reverberating throughout my thoughts, distracting me from the present. I clearly hear two voices, one high pitched and the other a little lower but still womanly.

The one that clearly belonged to an older woman strikes pain in my chest, recognition forcing itself to the surface. That beautiful voice, contorted with pain and surprise...

Mom. My eyes widen as everything comes back; the pain, the sorrow, the hurt.

The tears start to flow as the ghost hastens to meet his destination. I can remember every detail now; the way those creatures had delved into him... when his eyes turned a frightening red...

It finally reaches me, barely more than a whisper of air, charging towards my chest. However, the ghost bounces off, my body suddenly surrounded with an eerie glow.

What is this? It is green and bright, like the emerald in my ring, almost like one of those auras I have read about in fantasy books.

I back up against a huge oak tree, fear mounting in my heart. Am I going to live against this deathly thing? How can I fight against something I don't even understand?

I watch the deathly creature, at its cloudy form and its bright red eyes. They are like lasers, ripping into me, seizing my terror and amplifying it.

My heart beats faster as the horrifying eyes squint, determination in its depths. Foreboding races through my blood, symbolizing what is to come.

I wrap my arms around my knees, burying my face into my legs as the ghost once again zooms my way. This, I suppose, is my punishment for disobeying Caleb's orders.

But how was I supposed to know there is a way out of the boundaries without crossing the moat?!

Peeking once more at the apparition, I almost shriek as I survey its closeness. It seems to be observing the things around me, as if it is looking for something.

I shudder as it crosses its murderous gaze across my body, hunched up into a tiny ball. It looks at the tree behind me, a huge one that might even be four foot in diameter, and smirks with its beady eyes.

With a screech that cuts through the air and makes my blood run cold, the white blur of energy delves into the oak tree, making me wonder exactly what is going on.

I stand up, turning to face the tree as it suddenly whirs with energy. Bright, fire-like sparks explode from the trunk, blood seeming to run down it.

It rapidly grows in size, from four feet in diameter to around five feet, and who knows how much taller. Before, it seemed to be rather lifeless, an old tree that had reached its peak, but somehow, it now looks youthful. Scarier.