Grace's P.O.V
Grace sat on a sofa in the living room and sipped hot cocoa with marshmallows in it. Her granddaughter will be coming here today.....
Vroom, vroooomm!!! Her ears picked up the distinct, faraway sound of a car, admist all the other noises. It seemed to be heading towards the outskirts of West Deson. She could hear the breathing and heartbeat of the two people in the car.
"It must be Scarlett." She mumbled to herself. She wondered how Scarlett will react if she knew the truth about herself.
She'll probably never even believe I'm her grandmother. Grace thought. If she was correct, tomorrow will mark Scarlett's 16th birthday. After almost 16 years, she'll finally know who she really is. I believe she might be the one who the prophecy fortold about.
A blood moon will appear tonight. She will go and meet the pack before the moon is full. Perhaps, there will finally be a chance of breaking this curse. Grace remembered years ago, how enemity had brewed between the Shapeshifters and the Direwolves. On a blood moon, the shapeshifters with their powerful, ancient magic had cursed the Direwolves to become Werewolves, every full moon; attacking and killing humans.
Honk! Honk! Grace looked out the window as a taxi came to a stop infront of her cottage. A girl stepped out of the taxi. She had long, curly, stubborn red hair. She looked tall for her age and had an expression of awe etched on her face, as she took in the surroundings.
Grace came out of the cottage and greeted the girl. The girl gave her a bewildered look. She probably expected her 'grandmother' to look old, use a walking a stick for support, and have gray hair. Grace mused.
Then she gave Scarlett a really big smile and looked straight into her eyes. She could see questions in the girl's eyes, and then wariness. Well, humans tended to react that way around her. She could also see that the girl would rather be anywhere but here, in this strange home, far, far away from her old one. Grace then helped Scarlett to take her belongings inside.
Grace stood by the stove in the kitchen, just dishing out hot, steaming
bowls of chicken fricot. Her ears pricked up, as she heard the creaking sound of the stairs. She turned around and put the bowls on the kitchen table.
"You're just in time. I just dished out the food." she spoke out.
Scarlett raised her eyebrows in answer, and then sat at the table. Grace also sat at the table and passed a bowl to her. She regarded Scarlett with inquisitive eyes. Scarlett's expression looked guarded and inscrutable.
"The food tastes delicious." Scarlett complimented.
"Thanks. It's one of my secret recipes." Grace replied.
"Hmmm." Scarlett said with a nod.
She doesn't seem like the talkative type, Grace said in her head. The silence dragged on and on, only to be disrupted occassionally by the clanking of the spoons against the bowls, as they scooped some morsels into their mouths.
"Sorry, I've been meaning to ask, but when will my grandmother be here?" Scarlett asked suddenly, unexpectedly breaking the occasional silence.
"Umm....well.....she'll be back I'm sure, very soon. Before nightfall." Grace stuttered, cut off guard by her sudden question.
"She went out alone?" she asked with concern on her face.
"Well, she likes to take long, evening walks. Alone. But nothing to worry about, she'll be fine." Grace compounded the lie. She made effort to keep her face impasssive as she told the lies. She could see Scarlett's eye begin to squint in suspicion. Grace felt guilty that she was unable to tell her the truth. But in time, she'll learn the truth. Not now. When the time is ripe, and that will probably be tomorrow. She feared how she'll react to the truth. She wasn't prepared to go through all that trouble now.
After dinner, Grace packed up their plates, and cleaned up the kitchen. She checked the time and it read 8:00 pm. She decided to wait a little bit, till Scarlett was asleep, before she set out.
Grace slept until she woke up by 11.30 pm. She stood up in alarm, as she had overslept. Without any time to waste, she quickly slipped downstairs, into the cold night air. The moon had not come out yet. It was still obscured behind the clouds. At twelve midnight, the moon should be full. A full red moon. She had to get away, far from town before she transforms and harms anyone. Her aim of meeting the pack cannot happen tonight.
She went towards the back of the cottage, and into the grove of trees. She ran through the woods, tall and high pine trees on every spot on the sloped terrain. It was dark and very hard to see. Grace hurried on to put as much distance from the town as possible, before it becomes too late.
If it's not already too late, She thought, gravelled with herself. Tonight's full moon will mark the 500th year since the curse.
I must hurry, she thought again. Without preamble, Grace ears picked up the sound of soft feet on grass. She could hear the laboured breathing of the person.
The scent smells familiar...of lavender...It's Scarlett! She thought wildly in alarm. What does she think she's doing here, in the dead of the night?!
Grace reached a clearing of trees, where the clouds were gradually parting for the scarlet-coloured moon, to give its reddish glow. She immediately turned her back and spied Scarlett as she quickly slipped behind a tree.
"Scarlett!" she bellowed, her voice piercing the night like a knife.
"Come out! I know you're there. What do you think you're doing, following me out here?!" Grace spat out angrily.
Scarlett slowly revealed herself from the shadows, where she was hiding. She walked towards Grace and stopped, about 5ft apart, before her voice rang out clear in the dark,
"Actually, the burning question here is what you are doing here, slinking off into the night like a thief?"