Chapter 6:

The next morning, I got up bright and early... just like any other morning, at 6 o'clock. Unfortunately, I forgot that I was in a different place. So, when I got dressed, I left the door open, and John saw me. I screamed for four minutes straight and all he did was stand there looking at me. Finally, Sly came upstairs and closed the door aggressively. Through the door, I could hear Sly yelling at John. "What are you doing here?"

"I fell asleep with Eve," John said proudly.

"Dude, not cool. It is too early in the morning for this, and she is new here. At least give her a day to get used to us. Now come on and let us leave her alone," Sly said. They must have left because I heard the door shut.

Sitting on the toilet lid, I let out a great long sigh. Getting up and looking in the mirror, I said, "Well, it looks like it was not a dream." Sitting back on the toilet, I took out my phone and noticed a few unread messages from Kyle, Theresa, Wade, and even Major. I could not bring myself to talk to them, because I could not lie to them, and I was unsure as to what was going on in my world. I put my phone on the sink counter and rubbed my hands over my face as I felt the stress of what was happening with me. "Why did this have to happen?" I exclaimed as I held my head up high and got dressed for the day.

Once I was dressed in my casual clothes for the day, I finally made my way downstairs to the kitchen where everyone else was ready to eat. "So, how did you sleep last night, Eve?" Brian asked.

"I slept okay, but I had a pretty rude awakening this morning," I answered.

"I think we all did," said Kenny, looking at John and me.

Clearing his throat, everyone looked at Marcus as he started to talk, "Anyway, that is a good thing that you had a good night's sleep because we have training today. You need to understand your abilities and you need to know what you are capable of."

Letting out a long sigh and an eyeroll, I said, "So, then what is the game plan for the day then, Boss?"

Getting a death stare from Marcus, Brian quickly interjected, "You have a busy day. After we eat and get cleaned up, the adults are going to start your training right away. Then at noon after we eat, you will have some time to do whatever you want. But you must always have one of the boys with you. And finally, around 5 o'clock, we will eat, and then we begin your nighttime training. At 10, it is bedtime; then we start the day all over again. It is just like if you were going to school, but more fun."

Looking at Brian, I held back my true thoughts and said, "So, do I get any free time to myself? And at school, I would be much more enjoyable. And besides, it is summer. I would at least like to have the summer for myself. My mom just died, and I am in a new place."

"There is no break time when you are us. We have bigger fish to fry here rather than your time," Marcus exclaimed with an evil eye to me like I was defying him.

"You have from 12 to 5," Brian said, breaking up the looks getting exchanged between Marcus and me.

"No, I have to be with one of the boys. I mean by myself and getting to process things," I said, head extenuating that I was not happy.

"Well, that is just for now. After you understand your powers, then you can be free to yourself," Marcus said with a hint of anger.

"Fine. Then we better start eating and get to the training because I am going to get my freedom and my peace of life. I am not going to be like you guys. I want to have friends and enjoy life," I exclaimed, staring at Marcus. Marcus scoffed at that idea.

"Well, good luck with that. It took us over two months to understand the beast in us and we knew what we were. You, on the other hand, look like it might take over four months, and by then we will have to go to school. So good luck," Kenny said with so much attitude. I lunged across the table but was caught by Brian who threw me back down in my seat.

"I hate this place," I exclaimed, staring Kenny down.

"And it hates you," he said with a devilish smirk.

I stared him down and was about to act again, but before I could. Marcus cleared his throat and exclaimed, "Enough! Eat!"

With that we all sat down to eat, I continued to stare Kenny and Marcus down. Marcus looked at me under his brow and let out a low growl. I am guessing he was expecting me to bow down to him like everyone else, but that was not in my character portfolio. Continuing my glares, I slowly ate my food but kept my guard up and ready to attack.

After we ate our food and cleaned the table and kitchen, Donny, Brian, Marcus, and I began my training, while the boys and George went to town for some business.

First in my training was stamina; they made me run for as long as I could. I really did not mind since I could see how far out of their reach, I could get away from them. Unfortunately, they ran with me, so I could not leave. Every time I thought I lost them with my increase and decrease in rate, but they were there every time. They kept me in an eye shot and not letting me out of the house borders. I was trapped.

"Four miles is a good start," Brian said, after I finally gave up on losing them.

"Well, if you let me be. I can run longer. I don't do well under pressure," I said glaring at them.

"Well too bad. You are too unpredictable, and this world is not safe for a she beast," Marcus spat.

"But don't worry. Maybe one day," Brian exclaimed getting us back on track.

"Anyway, as beasts, we can run up to ten miles without even breaking a sweat. So, if you want to get that up you might want to eat more so your body has more energy to run off," Donny explained.

Second, we had strength. They forced me into moving huge logs and enormous tires from one side of the house to the other. I moved 15 logs and 16 tires before I was too bored to move anymore.

"Not bad, but the boys can move up to 40 logs and 50 tires. So, why do not you try to do some pull-ups on your own and time to grow those muscles," Donny suggested.

I wanted to tell them I was bored with this, but I kept my mouth shut. I, instead, just shock my head yes and let them think all they want. I just want to leave and be free. I do not care if I am a risk. I want to be free. But every time I was about ready to turn away and leave, or back tell them, there would be a golden light around Brian. A sign as if to tell me to be quiet and patient.

Continuing with training, next was endurance. They put me on a pull-up bar, and I had to hold it for as long as I could. I held it for 45 minutes. The only reason why I stopped was because I was bored of not moving at this point. They had me doing so much that now my body wanted to keep moving. This is also why classes and me never get along. When I am stagnant, I get irritated and frustrated. Just let me move around.

"Not a bad start, but we can hold that for two hours. Once you get everything else accomplished, this will snap," Donny said.

I wanted to speak up again, saying that I am bored and want to go for a run again. But I figured they would take that as a good thing and make me start all over again. So, I held my tongue and nodded my head.

The final test was flexibility and balance. They made an obstacle course in which sticks were laying everywhere. If I were to move a single object or lost my balance, I had to start over again. I made it through in an hour and I had to start over three times.

"Oh, that was bad, maybe you should try to lose some weight and stretch more. We can do it in ten minutes with no restarts," Marcus said with a chuckle.

I almost lost myself, but I saw a golden light around Brian, who was shaking his head. "I need some time to relax!" I exclaimed. I went for a walk around the property line for what seemed to be forever, and they never even followed me. It had me a little concerned, but I was glad to have freedom.

"Time to eat!" yelled someone in the distance.

Racing off to the front of the house… I must have been hungry. I busted through the doors to find everyone at the table waiting for me. In the middle of the table was a giant mound of meat and potatoes. I took the remaining seat in-between Evan and John. Diving in, we began to devour the food before us. It had been less than a day and I started to feel more comfortable with these people. What is wrong with me?

"Okay. Eve, after you get done eating, you and Sly will be going to do whatever you want to do until supper time. The only rule is that Sly must be always with you. Then tomorrow John will be with you, then Kenny, then Evan, and then to Sly again and repeat. This way you can get to know your new family," explained Brian.

"Okay, but do I have to spend time with Kenny? He did try to kill me," I said in the middle of a mouth full. Where are my manners?

"First of all, I only was going to kill you because you were an outsider. And two, I will not hurt you until Marcus tells me to. And I promise no one is going to hurt you...except Me at the right time, of course," Kenny said with a stupid smug grin.

"That is enough, you two," John said in his annoyed voice.

Exchanging a look, Kenny and I just stared at each other and began to eat our meal in silence.

About thirty minutes later, Sly and I took the four-wheeler out to town. We were about ten miles out of town, but we did not take the roads. In town, I did not realize how big it really was. Nevah Flow had about 30,000 people and one big school. It is going to be so easy to lose Sly here in this town. Sly parked the four-wheeler next to the big maple tree at the end of the park. As we began to walk to the diner across the park, I turned around and saw that Sly was staring at a path to the east. I bolted towards the nearest alleyway and vanished into the darkness. I ran behind a dumpster and started to find a way to get away, to go back home to my friends in Baldsville.

"Eve! Eve! Eve! Oh gosh, Marcus and Dad are going to kill me," he yelled, sounding a little panic.

After he ran by me, I emerged from the darkness and went west toward the airport and my past. Turning the corner, I ran smack into a tall boy with dark brown hair and light tan skin. I looked up at him and was about to say something when he beat me to it. "Well, I am so sorry for you running into me... You look very familiar. Have we met before? Of course, we have not. I would have remembered such a beautiful young lady," he said as he took in a deep breath and then smiling a creepy smile.

"Uhm, sorry and thanks... I guess," I said very quietly and shy.

"There you are," Sly said, out of breath and finally catching up to me. Helping me to my feet, I was finally able to look at the person who I ran into. Instead of one person, there was a couple. The boy was tall and handsome. And the girl was small with red hair as uncontrollable as her expressions. After a few weird moments, Sly said angrily, "Eve, we need to leave."

"Oh, so my hunch was correct. She is the girl my dad keeps talking about. The twin girl of Brian and Ellen, niece of the great Marcus, and sister of the sly, Sylvester. The only girl wolf around here. But he never told me that she would have been such a cute girl," said the boy that looked to be about my age.

"Liam, that is enough. We are not supposed to talk about this in front of any human," Sly exclaimed.

"She is not a human; she is my entertainment."

"Come on, let us leave. Now." Sly said in a commanding voice.

As Sly pulled me back towards the park, we were stopped by Liam's arm holding me back, "Now that is no fun, Sylvester. You should be nicer if you want your sister to stay and listen to you." Liam said to us. Then turning to the girl, he stared at her in the eyes saying, "Now, go home and forget we ever met."

Then the girl turned around and walked away with no fight and in a trance as if she were taken over. "What did you do to her… How did you do that?" I asked with little thought about what was going on between Sly and Liam.

Body thrusting me into the wall and arms holding me against it, Liam said, "Well, look who wants to talk now." His eyes locked onto mine as if he were trying to do the same thing he had done with the girl.

Thrusting Liam off me, "Get your hands off her!" Sly yelled, defending me and shaking.

"What is the night sky going to change?" Liam antagonized the already distressed Sly and grabbing hold my hand and leading me away.

Running behind Sly, I rested my hand on his back, hoping that he would not hit me. Turning around with white eyes, Sly saw me, instantly calmed down, and returned to normal. "Okay, we need to leave. Liam do not even think about following us. You don't belong to us."

"Now, that is no fun, Sylvester. And you know you do not want to take care of her. So let me take her off your hands. I have always wondered what it would be like with a she beast," he said, grabbing my arm.

Making me be trapped between Sly and Liam, then out of nowhere, a tall, strong man with jet black hair and a leather jacket came out from the shadows. "LIAM, get away from her! If Marcus and Brian found out that you did anything to them, they would kill us all!" yelled the strange man. Once Liam backed away from me with his head low, the strange man continued talking, "I am sorry, Sly, for Liam's stupidity. Also, Belle, it is great to finally see you in person. Now, why don't you all go home and not tell your dad and uncle about what just happened, okay? This will never happen again; isn't that true, Liam?" Shaking his yes with his eyes glued to the floor; the man continued with a pleasant smile, "Come on, Liam; time to go home. We shall see you again, Miss Belle."

As they left, Sly started to drag me away. "Who was that Sly? And how did he know my name is Belle?" I inquired in a frightened tone.

"That doesn't matter now. We need to tell Marcus and Dad about what just happened."

"But he told us not to."

"I am not going to tell him what Liam did to you or that girl. But they need to know that they know about you and Mom and everything." He seemed flustered at what happened, so I dropped the topic. I did not want to know what Liam meant by the night sky.

Making our way to the four-wheeler, I felt like people were watching us…well, really me. I just wanted to melt into the background and be forgotten.

Arriving at the four-wheeler, we jumped on and started to drive home. We stayed on the roads more than off-road driving... probably afraid that we would be followed in the forest. Driving at least 65 miles per hour, we could hear behind us the sound of a wolf howling in pain.

"Sly?! What is going on?" I asked a little more scared than I thought I would be. This is the point that I knew that I was not going to be able to get out of this world. Nevah Flow and this life is now mine forever.

ARRROOOO!!

The sound of the wolf howling… or I guess the beast howling was all I could hear as we raced home.