“Shhhhh! Did you hear that grandmother? Grandmother, where are you?” The little girl had held tightly to the dagger her grandmother had given her. Suddenly, the hairs on her neck stood high. She turned around and she saw the great beast of Winston, who was staring at her like she was dinner. The longer the girl stared at the beast, the more she had realized that the beast had eyes of a human. Next, the beast charged for the girl, showing his great big teeth. His pungent odor had ran down her face, burning the little hairs in her nose. Before the wolf could take even a nibble, she heard the beast whisper, “Get up.”
Her eyes shot open, only to find her grandmother shaking her back and forth, yelling at her to get up. “Ruby, you need to go and feed the horses before you head off to school.” As her grandmother left her room, Ruby-the little girl- put on some trousers, grabbed the red cloak her mother had made for her, and headed for the stables. After walking for five minutes, Ruby had finally reached the stables; but, something was different. When she finished feeding her grandmother’s horse, Buttercup, she headed for her horse, Peppermint. As the girl got closer to her horse, she noticed that he was not moving or breathing. She walked closer and closer to him, only to find him lying dead in his own blood. The blood was dripping from a wound located at his throat, while maggots and other insects were swimming all around him. Ruby screamed her lungs out and ran to her cottage. She opened the door and closed it right behind her. The girl was to flabbergasted to even speak. Her grandmother ran to her side and asked, “Darling, what happened, are you hurt?” Ruby told her grandmother what she saw as flaming tears began to roll down her cheeks. Her grandmother said, “Grab your supplies and go to school. I will take care of Peppermint.” Ruby grabbed her bag and headed out the door, wiping the tears from her sweet little face.
The path to the village was not hard, in fact, everyone knew it. Go through the woods and over the crystal blue river. Today, the only difference was that the woods felt ill. But, it always felt like that when a blood moon was upon them. As she walked into town, she noticed that everyone was looking at her every move, then whispered about her. Ruby quickened her pace, but she could still hear the whispers. Suddenly, Peter-the boy she has been friends with ever since her parents died- jumped out at her, almost giving her a heart attack. “What is wrong with you Peter,” the girl asked as she punched the boy in his scrawny arm. “Why are you so cranky this morning,” the boy replied, “it’s not like I am the big bad wolf coming to eat you.” Ruby let out a little giggle and continued walking. Both kids headed to the school-a big building with a gigantic bell on top. When they walked in, everyone was staring. Ruby’s true nightmare had really just begun.
No one in Ruby’s school liked her, she was the outcast. Every kid was scared of her, only because of silly rumor about her parents. It goes like this, ‘In the early years of town, the Winston beast terrorized the village. Every blood moon, it would go around the village and eat all of the livestock. One day, some angry villagers had followed a blood trail left by the beast; and, it led all the way to Ruby’s great-grandfather’s home that lied outside the village, near a cave. Now, everyone believes that she is a descendant from a clan of witches and werewolves, how crazy is that?’ Ruby went to her eat in the back of the room beside Peter, and all day, she stared out the window, watching the woods become sicker and sicker.
When it was time for lunch, everyone ran to the sitting area beside the gardens. It was a bright and sunny day. Suddenly, the wind had quickened and clouds had formed over the woods, casting a dark shadow over them. Next, a figure had appeared out of the shadows. Peter’s heart had skipped a beat. Ruby watched her best friend stand in fear, but his eyes burned with anger. Ruby’s eyes widened, as the guy began to approach closer to the school, the more she had realized that the man was Peter’s uncle- Jack, a guy who disappeared after the last blood moon. In a blink of an eye, he stood right in front of Peter and Ruby. “You need to come with me Peter,” his brawny voice said. Peter looked at Ruby as if he was saying goodbye. Then, he walked with Jack and never turned back around. That was the day that changed Ruby’s life forever.
Now, 10 years have passed and Ruby was all alone. Her grandmother was attacked by the beast the night Peter left. Over the years, Ruby had been taking care of the animals by herself and dropped out of school so she would keep the farm that her family had built from sweat and tears. When she goes into town, she does not hear the whispers of her fellow villagers. No one gives her weird stares anymore, but she does hear them talk about Peter, like he was a monster. She wanted to say something, but she hasn’t seen him 10 years, she does not know what happened to him.
After going to the local vegetable garden, Ruby headed for her home. As she approached her door, she noticed that the door was broken and wide open. She grabbed the dagger her grandmother had given her when she was younger and slowly approached the door. When she looked in, she saw someone rustling in her food. She ran behind the figure and held the dagger against its neck. Then, the figure said something that seemed so familiar, “Why are you so cranky, it’s not like I am the big bad wolf coming to eat you.” She pulled the dagger away slowly and whispered, “Peter?”
He turned around and smiled at Ruby, then he laughed. Ruby put the dagger down and punched him in the face. He fell down and grabbed his jaw. “Wow,” he said, “you punch a lot harder than you used too.” Anger raged through her as she watched him stand up. Then, she yelled, “Where have you been for the past ten years? I can’t believe that you left without even turning around. I was worried sick.” Peter placed his hand over her mouth and told her, “If you would shut up, I will explain everything.”
She led him to a seat and sat right next to him as he sat down. “Look,” he started, “when my uncle took me away, we met my parents in the woods and left the village for a while. We went to Florin, it is near the Great Lake of Vladimir. There, I met new relatives and then we sailed across the lake to some mountains. Then, we approached a cave. I saw the most weirdest things that you wouldn’t even believe.
Next, my father took me with him and some other guys to another cave, but it was totally different. There were all of these paintings on the wall and different symbols. Suddenly, my third, no fourth, no……..” “Get on with it,” Ruby said. “Well either way, my cousin turned into……a wolf.” Ruby laughed so hard and then turned to him. She stopped laughing and stared at him like he was joking. He clearly wasn’t. That is when she noticed the look in her friends eye, that he needed help.
“So, your telling me that your cousin is the beast,” asked Ruby. “Well,” Peter began to explain, “not exactly. Technically, so is my father, brother, and other cousins……….and me.” Ruby only gawked at Peter. “I need your help,” said Peter. “I need you to help me stop my family. They have been ‘breeding’ ever since they took me and are planning to take over all the villages around here.” “How am I supposed to help you Peter, I mean I am not a wolf.” “That can be changed, only if you want to,” said Peter.
“There is one problem to that Peter. In the past 10 years, I have been going through an emotional wreck. I found my grandmother on the floor the day you left, there was an attack in our home. Before she died, she told me something that I never really expected. She told me that my mother had cheated on my father with a man who descended from creatures that could do mysteries things, she called them demons. My mother never wanted me when I was born, when she found out what my father was and found out what I am. She died in my arms and no one was there for me. And when I turned 16, a powerful surge flowed through my body and weird things were beginning to happen at school, until one day when I barely touched a tree and it died. I ran as far and as fast as I could. I was so scared to touch anything for weeks. Then, I took control and practiced, watch.” Then, she took control of his mind and made him pick up the candle in front then throw it across the room. When she was done, she gave him back his mind. This time, he was gawking.
“Whoa,” Peter said, “that is wickedly cool. How did you do that?” Ruby smiled and replied, “It is my power. Like transforming is your power, but mine is hereditary.” Peter gave a little smile, but this one was different, he seemed cuter to Ruby. Her cheeks turned a little red. “Okay, I will help you, what do I need to do?” He jumped up with joy and said, “I bite you.” Ruby only stared.
They walked outside and Peter explained, “You are going to need to know how to fight first before I turn you. Now, let’s get started.” “Punch me,” he said. She did not want to hurt him, so she hit him mildly. Then, he said, “Harder!” So, she swung as hard as she could, knocking him on his butt. He looked at her and said “Good, but not hard enough. My family is going to tear us to shreds.” “Oh, like you could do any better,” snared Ruby. Peter laughed as hard as he could than got up and walked over to a tree. He took a deep breath and punched the tree like it did not even hurt. The tree fell, broken in half. Ruby was seriously impressed, also by the muscles on him were huge. He looked at her and smiled. Peter gestured to her to come to him. She trudged in her steps and made it to him without blushing. He grabbed her by the waist and angled her towards a different tree. Then, he whispered in her ear, “All you have to do is think about the angriest thing in your life and picture it in front of you, then strike.” Ruby closed her eyes and thought of the day everything went wrong, from Peppermint’s death all the way to her Grandmother’s death. Suddenly, she felt her fist against the tree and when she opened her eyes, the tree was on the ground. She was smiling ear from ear and then she turned around, facing Peter who was so close to her. He leaned in to her, getting closer and closer. Ruby turned her head. He pulled away and said, “Good, um, now let’s work on your mind reading.” “Okay.”
After working on manipulating small animals to dance, Ruby decided to try something harder. She looked at Peter, then he began to dance. It was hilarious, Ruby broke the connection when she began to laugh. Peter asked angrily, “You think it’s funny, messing with me? If you cannot focus, than you are going to die when you face my family. They will tear you to shreds.”“Then, why are you counting on me? Why don’t you ask anyone else for help,” asked Ruby. Peter shook his head and replied, “Because you are the only one I can trust and I can’t lose you.” “You want to know why I even agreed on helping you,” asked Ruby, “because you had my back when no one else did. I trusted you, but then you left. I thought if I helped you, we could rekindle the past. But, that is never going to happen, not after this. So, when we defeat your family, you are allowed to leave again. I won’t stop you or even try to look for you.” Anger fired through Peter and he lost his cool. He suddenly transformed into a great beast. He trampled over Ruby, like in the dream she had when she was younger. His pungent breath was hitting her like hard wind. He bit her hard in the shoulder, then jumped off of her as fast as a rabbit. Peter turned back human and watched her as she moved back in forth in pain. Ruby was screaming in pain.He knelt down beside her holding her hand. Then, the pain stopped and Ruby was staring into Peter’s eyes. Suddenly, her eyes began to turn red and then, she turned into one of the most beautiful creatures that roamed the Earth. Peter gazed at her fur. Now, Ruby was calm enough and turned back human. “I am so sorry, I was just angry, I couldn’t control the wolf.” She looked at him and said, “I am ready.”
Three days later, Ruby was able to control the wolf that lied deep into her. She could feel the mountains rumble beneath the earth. Suddenly, she saw wolves running, sprinting down the mountain ready to attack. Peter turned to her and said, “I love you Ruby.” Then, he turned to her and kissed her. Ruby had a blank look on her face, then she turned back to the action, the wolves were closer than ever. If they did not make it through, she would definitely kill Peter. She began to focus, she used her mind control to tell the wolves to turn away. Most did, but the strongest kept moving on. Peter identified them as his father and uncle, but they weren’t them. When they decided that they would take the villages, that is when they stopped being family. They ran at lightning speed. Suddenly, the battle began.
Ruby only felt pain when Peter’s uncle knocked her over. She went into wolf form and began to fight. Next, she only saw a blur while blood dripped down her chin from ripping out Peter’s uncles throat. She looked at Peter and noticed that he was losing. Ruby rushed over and tackled Peter’s father. She faced Peter one more time and he was lying still, but human. Suddenly, Peter’s father was on top of her, reaching for her throat. But, she remembered what Peter had taught her and transferred all of her anger in front of her and killed him. Ruby ran over to Peter and noticed the wound on his shoulder. She put pressure on it, but it was not helping. “Peter,” she said, “I am sorry for what I said. I do not want you to leave me. Please.” She began to weep. Peter’s eyes closed. Tears were flowing like a river down Ruby’s cheeks onto Peter’s wound. Suddenly, the wound closed and Peter’s eyes opened wide. Ruby smiled from cheek to cheek and then bent down and kissed him, and he kissed back.
After a couple days, everyone in the village was scared of Ruby again, but also felt safe because they knew what she was. Also, Peter started making low growls whenever someone made a comment. Ruby still wore the red cloak her grandmother had made and also the dagger, but she did not need them as much because her fur kept her warm and her powers were now her greatest weapons. She protects everyone along with her boyfriend, but she feels as if a greater threat was coming her way. She is ready.