“Do you dream?”
Ah. Ah, god.
He nodded slowly. “You do, don’t you? Dreams of wolves. Of forests. Do you know why?”
I took a step away. He scared me. I didn’t want to hear any more. I put my hands over my ears. I hunched over, trying to block it all.
It didn’t help.
He said, “That was us. We didn’t know if it would work. Even with the combined power of the pack and all those witches who came to help us, we didn’t know if you’d hear us. But you did, didn’t you?”
“No,” I muttered. “No, no, no.”
“It started a few months ago. You dreamed of Alphas. Of wolves in the trees. You saw them. You saw me.”
No.
No.
No.
“A pure white wolf,” he said. “My brother Joe. A black wolf. My brother Ox. You saw us. You saw us.”
And I said, “The wolf wasn’t always pure white.”
Silence.
Then a whisper. “What?”
I gritted my teeth. My head was
(you don’t belong to me you aren’t mine you aren’t MINE but you could be you could be because of who you are)
breaking apart, I was breaking apart, little pieces of me falling away
(i know i know child but you will i promise you will you are important you are special you are)
and I could do nothing to stop it. I didn’t even know if I wanted to stop it.
I heard myself speak.
I said, “There was a white wolf. But he had black. On his chest. And back. And—”
Somewhere above, a woman choked on a sob. It sounded like Elizabeth. Quick and light, a sharp inhalation of breath followed by a stuttering exhale.
I looked up at Kelly as I dropped my hands.
A tear slipped from his right eye onto his cheek.
And he said, “That… that was my father.”
He left a short time later, never having said another word.
high school girls/see you again
He came back the next morning.
I ignored him.