Lone Girl (The Wolfling Saga) (13 page)

I was sitting up by the first afternoon
and able to stagger to the toilet on my own by the next. My body ached as though I’d been beaten with a baseball bat all over and my chest stung. Each beat of my heart sent fresh waves of agony through my veins. But it wasn’t the accident that had reduced me to a typical bed-ridden teenager.

It was Tom.

He was gone – where, I didn’t know. I had no way of contacting him or finding him.

He’d left me just like Anya Kelly had predicted.

Not only that but now everyone within a hundred mile radius of Halfway knew that
Rose Goldman
was the student who had run away with her thirty-two year old teacher.

Tricked
and
hoodwinked
were the words flooding social media, like I was a silly little girl who had fallen prey.

The Doctors treated me as though I’d been through a
traumatising ordeal. And I had. Just not the kind they imagined. My traumatisation was of the heart and they didn’t understand that because no one knew how I felt about Thomas Stone. 

I couldn’t
even finish the last few months of school and Prom was certainly out of the question. How could I go back to Halfway High? I couldn’t face anyone from school again. I was the talk of the town.

It was embarrassing. I felt foolish. For the first time I
felt like a victim.

Not only that, but everyone seemed to have forgotten about the hunt for Tom, now that I’d resurfaced.

Sadie came to visit me, a smug grin on her face. She spoke softly, as though I was on my death bed. She even had the nerve to ask me how I’d ‘escaped’ from Mr. Stone.

But the thing that annoyed me most was the fact that Tom and I hadn’t even lasted more than a week on our own
and I blamed myself. Frank the dead truckie was right. It
was
my fault. I’d ruined it by betraying his trust.

And I couldn’t even tell him I was sorry.

Where was he now? What was he doing? Had he reached Alaska? Was he a stowaway on a boat somewhere? Did he even regret leaving? Had he wanted to come back, but was unable to find me?

These questions and more
ran through my mind. I thought of little else. I forgot to eat, or to reply to people when they spoke to me. It felt like a part of me was missing.

I’d read countless romance novels through my teenage years
and they always spoke of a yearning, or a sense of loss when parted with a lover. I’d never been able to sympathise with the heroine when she found herself heartbroken, because I’d never experienced it for myself. But now I knew what those books were talking about. And it hurt. It was agony and I wished it would go away. I wanted to forget. 

My h
eart felt as though it had been – literally - broken.

But I wasn’t going to sit around and feel sorry for myself. No. I wasn’t the kind of girl who curled up in a corner and sobbed for weeks on end. I was going to accomplish what Tom and I had set out t
o do. I was going to Alaska with or without him and this time I’d do it the easy way.

I’d just have to broach the topic with my parents first. There was no way I’d be able to sneak past them this time. They were
around me twenty-three hours of the day, as though on red alert. I assumed they were afraid I’d take off and go looking for Tom. Of course, they had every right to be concerned. I think the Doctors were being watchful too. Every time I got out of my hospital bed a nurse was by my side in an instant, asking if I needed help.

No, the only way I was getting out of Halfway was with my parent’s permission.
And it would be a long while before they trusted me again.

Sunday
– 6 days to go

“Hey Dad,” I said, picking at my fingernails while my father read in a seat next to my hospital bed.

“Mmh?” He didn’t look up from his newspaper.

Today was the day I would be released from the hospital. We were just waiting for the all-clear from my doctor. My bags were packed and I was dressed with my shoes on, ready to go.

“Do you ever think about … other people like me?”

“Hmm?” He still didn’t look up.

“Like me, as in … werewolves.”

That caught his attention. Flinching, my father closed his newspaper and placed it on the nightstand.  “No. Not really. Why?”

I wanted to approach the subject of the Alaskan Werewolf pack, but knew it would be a touchy topic. After all, my parents had only just
got me back. They weren’t about to let go so soon.

“Well it’s just … I have to wonder whether I’d be better off around people of my own kind. You know, like a support system-”

“You’re talking about that ridiculous cult in Alaska, aren’t you? The one that your mother found.”

“Is cult the right word? I mean … they probably didn’t choose their condition.”

My father waved a hand dismissively. “I reckon they’re just a bunch of crack-pots who worship the moon, or something stupid like that. Really, Rose. Do you think your mother honestly found a werewolf sanctuary on Google?
Please
.” He rolled his eyes and opened his newspaper again.

“But what if they
are
real? What if it’s a genuine community of people like me?”

“Well I guess you won’t know unless you see them at the full moon, which is in-” He checked his phone’s calendar, “-six days.”

“So I can go?”

“What? No!” My father looked at me incredulously. “Didn’t I just say it’s going to be a load of shit?”

“Yeah, but what if-”

“Rose, you’re just going to get your hopes up, only to discover they’re a bunch of lunatics.”

“You don’t know that. It might be worth a look-”

My father’s eyes darted across my face
and I knew he was trying to read my expression.

“
Why do you want to be around more of those …
things
anyway?”

“Well it was Mom who searched for them, so obviously she thinks it’s a good idea-”

“Don’t put words into my mouth, Rose Elaine Goldman,” my mother said as she stormed into the room. She only ever used my middle name when she was particularly angry.

“But you gave me the location of that community for
a reason!” I flared up at once.

“That’s where she was running off to with that teacher,” my mother said to my father. “That’s why she still wants to go. She thinks
he’s
there. Perhaps we should call the police and tip them off about his potential whereabouts.”

“What?
No!” I jumped to my feet. The likelihood of Tom being in Silver Moon Forest, Alaska was slim to none. “That’s got nothing to do with it. Tom won’t be there.”

“Then
why
?
Why
would you want to go there?” My mother crossed her arms over her chest and glared at me.

“I just think they might be able to help me … understand my condition. Perhaps they have methods, or ways of dealing with the full moon. They could take care of me, because – let’s face it – you are completely incapable of doing so.”

“We’ve looked after you for eighteen years!” My mother snapped. “Honestly! You are the most ungrateful,
selfish
little girl-”

“No, Mom,” I said in a strangely calm voice. “You looked after me for
nine
years - The nine years I existed
before
the werewolf attack-”

“Don’t say
that
word!” my mother interrupted.

“- and after that you simply
put up
with me,” I continued. “I know you’re ashamed that you have a werewolf for a daughter-”

“
Don’t. Say. That
. W-” My mother hissed, exaggerating each individual word.

“What?
Werewolf
?” I said loudly. Nurses passing in the hall glanced nervously into the room. “Your little girl is a god-damn werewolf, Mom. It’s about time you accepted that because it’s not going to change. Don’t you think I’ve noticed over the years how you hold your breath when you’re close to me so you don’t have to smell the
stink
of dog on my skin? And that look of disgust you get on your face when I’m about to change. Admit it. You’d rather I’d died in that attack, rather than be burdened with a
monster
for a daughter-”

I must have pushed my mother too far, because she drew her hand back and slapped me hard across the face. She was breathing heavily, tears brimming her eyes. I held my cheek and
stared at her.

The hospital ward was si
lent for several seconds and nobody moved. Clearing her throat and straightening her skirt, my mother composed her expression into one of polite indifference.

“Perhaps you’re right – maybe it
would
be best if you moved to Alaska. You can live with your father in California until then. Do not bother coming to my house. You are not welcome there.” And with that my mother turned on her heel and swept from the room.

I stared after her before turning to my father who remained in his chair, apparently shell-shocked.

“Well,” I said, dropping my hands to my side and ignoring my stinging cheek. “Looks like I’m staying with you.”

My
father hauled my suitcase over the threshold of his two bedroom town-house in Oakland, California. I’d never visited the state before and didn’t intend on staying long.

“Welcome
to my humble abode. Sorry it’s a bit of a mess. Boxes everywhere. Haven’t finished unpacking, of course.”

It looked as though he hadn’t even
started
unpacking. My father had only been here for a couple of weeks, but it seemed as if he’d barely been here at all.
Probably spent all of his time at the hospital in Washington
, I thought.

“Humble abode?” I allowed myself a smile. “More like bachelor pad.”

“Yeah, uh, about that. I don’t have a bed for you yet – haven’t had time,” my father said, placing my suitcase in the hall.

“That’s okay. I can sleep on the couch,” I said, shrugging my backpack from my shoulder and dropping it at my feet.