All alone in the cold art room the silence was not only deafening, but unnerving as well. My imagination conjured shapes in the corner of my eye, and the sensation of eyes watching me raised the short hairs on my neck. It reminded me of running down the trail in those dreams I’d had. Finally, my nerve broke and I cleaned up and got ready to go home.
“Damnit Fen, why’d you have to start talking about ghosts?” I grumbled to myself to break the silence, and hopefully remind my ears what real sounds were so they’d stop creating things that weren’t there. Whispers writhed in the periphery of my hearing. I looked around the room before I caught myself, and ground my teeth in frustration as I repacked my bag
Today was just not my day…
I turned the light off and stepped into the empty hallway, while my eyes adjusted to the eerie orange light that filled the halls with slanting beams through the glowing classroom windows. Cartoon cutouts of vampire bats and witches decorated the halls, with some fake spider web taped to the ceiling.
As I walked past the auditorium doors, Corwin popped into my head and a thought teased the edge of my mind just beyond reach. I stepped up to my locker and dialed the combination as the darkness grew outside and the already cool air grew colder.
I shoved the ancient brass lever on the door with my foot and it crashed open with an echoing clang. Strips of brilliant orange clouds faded into the dark blue of night as I walked outside into the shadowy twilight and a thought finally slipped past the noise in my head.
Corwin said he used to be friends with Fen and Loki…
Was he one of us?
I shook the thought away; there was no way Fen or Loki would ever abandon a member of the Pack. Still, I couldn’t shake the uneasiness I’d felt when he’d met my eyes. My distraction drowned out everything else, so I’d walked a couple blocks before I realized I wasn’t alone.
I glanced behind me and saw nothing but an empty street with gold and orange leaves trickling in the breeze. Still, the feeling would not relent. I imagined Jack watching me from the shadows, waiting to exact his revenge. My shoulders bunched and my phantom coat prickled. The streetlights along the block flickered and went off. I felt something out there, watching me…
A fluttering sound drew my gaze up. I couldn’t see anything at first but gaunt tree limbs silhouetted against the deep navy sky, but then a shadow moved. The iridescent feathers made the immense bird look even more powerful as it tilted its head to the side and looked at me. A little relieved that there had actually been something real watching me, I nodded at it and turned back toward home. It cawed and then fluttered down to the ground ahead of me. My wolf stirred as the sight of the bird triggered some instinctual memory, but something didn’t feel quite right…
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