24. Anna

24

Anna

"Andrea. Are you ready?"

The soft feminine voice wrapped around me so soothingly. Closing my eyes, I inhaled the sweet aroma of roses. The whole house smelled of it. It wafted off the woman wherever she walked, marking her way. My father would wink at me whenever my mother tried to hide and surprise us. Even the humans would be able to scent her, he laughed. Sometimes, when she was gone for long periods of time, I'd take her perfume bottle and spray it throughout the house. My father would sigh, wrap me in his arms, and tell me he missed her too.

"I'm ready," I called back eagerly and rose from my bed. Everything was perfect. The lavender bedspread didn't have a single wrinkle, and my collection of teddy bears was lined up near my pillows. Dad would shake his head and say that I was supposed to grow up to hunt bears, not cuddle with them, and Mom would just find a way to smuggle another one to me.

As I swung my legs off the bed, a strange thought entered my head. Too tall. I was too tall for my bed.

Maybe I'd had a growth spurt in the middle of the night. Corinne and Kaylee were both nearly a foot taller than me, and we were the same age. They'd be so excited to see me now!

I wanted to hop to the mirror to examine myself, but my mother called me again. Instead, I ran out of my room and toward the crackling fire in the living room.

The windows were dark. How strange. I'd just woken up.

My mother sat on the couch by the fireplace. Her dark hair fell in waves over her shoulders, and she wore a pair of green linen pants and a soft yellow shirt. With her pink lips, she looked just like a flower. I was in awe of her beauty. Would I look like that one day?

Adjusting the logs in the fireplace, my father was in a pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt. He must have just come from a run because they looked like the clothes stashed in the woods. I was a little disappointed that he'd gone without me, but I was sleeping.

Why was I sleeping?

"Are you sure you're ready for the Legend of Sleepy Hollow?" mom asked as she held up the book.

"If you keep filling her head with monster stories, who knows what she'll grow up to become," my father complained gruffly, but he sat in the armchair and picked up a drink.

It was perfect. All I needed now was a glass of warm milk.

"Here you go, sweetie. Warm milk."

Delighted, I accepted the glass my mother handed me, and turned to crawl into my father's lap. Odd. Normally, there was more room. My legs could usually tuck right under me, but I could feel myself awkwardly trying to make room for them, and instead of resting my head against his chest, my head bumped up under his chin.

"There we go. Perfect," he said, not seeming at all uncomfortable.

"Do you think I'm going to grow up to be a monster?" I asked.

My mother shot my father an annoyed look. "Of course not. I love horror stories, and I'm not a monster. You are a special little girl. There isn't a single dark bone in your body. Do not listen to him."

"She's right," he said as he kissed the top of my head. "You're perfect."

Perfect. I sipped my warm milk. "Am I too big for you, Daddy? I feel like I grew overnight."

"Shot up like a beanstalk. Didn't I tell you that would happen?"

"Is my wolf going to be bigger too?"

"Absolutely. She grows as you grow. She's a part of you. You protect her and she protects you."

I tried to call her to the surface so I could share the good news. "Andrea, it's reading time. You know how I feel about you shifting in the living room."

"I'm not shifting! I just want to talk to her!"

"Your mother's right. It's time for you to listen to her story."

My mother opened her mouth to begin to read, but there was a knock at the door. I jerked upright and turned my head, but my father's arms were around me and kept me from going anywhere. A dampness spread along my chest. I looked down. "Daddy, I spilled some milk on my shirt."

"Hush, baby. Listen to your mother."

"A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place was bewitched by a high German doctor, during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson," my mother read. I tried to focus, but the knock sounded again.

"Daddy," I whispered. "Are you going to get that?"

"Get what, baby?"

"There's someone at the door."

"Why would you say that, cub?"

The knock sounded again. "That. Don't you hear that?"

"Andrea," my mother said, stopping her reading. "You are not listening."

The knock was getting louder and more insistent. I glanced down at my shirt. It was almost completely soaked with milk now. "I think I need to change my shirt."

Carefully removing my father's arm, I got up and put my milk on the table.

Knock, knock, knock.

Could they really not hear that? I turned my head. "Andrea," my mother said sharply. "Ignore that."

"You can hear that? What if it's Corinne? She said her mother was taking her out hunting tonight and maybe I could go with her."

"It's not Corinne, and you're not going out hunting. Get back in your father's lap."

I picked at my wet shirt. "I need to change my shirt."

"Your shirt is fine."

My shirt did feel fine. Drier. With a shrug, I turned to climb back into my father's lap, but there was another knock.

Anna. Anna, it's me, baby. Let me in.

Anna. Was he talking to me? Nobody called me Anna. My name was Andrea, and yet, that voice sounded so familiar.

I turned to look at my father. His face had a strange vacant stare, and he wasn't moving. "Daddy?"

"Andrea, get back in your father's lap, and he'll be fine. He'll be just fine. He'll be just like this. Warm and loving." Her voice was softer and almost pleading now. "Ignore the door."

"Who's there?" My voice shook. Why was I scared? I had no reason to be scared. We were home. I was surrounded by my wolves. We were loved and protected.

"Nightmares, Andrea. Terrible things are out there." My mother's eyes filled with tears. "But if you ignore them, I can keep reading this story, and everything will be fine."

Anna. Anna, I'm trying to reach you, but I can't find you. I can feel you. I know you're close, baby. Just let me in. Listen to your wolf.

Listen to my wolf. I closed my eyes and reached for her, but she wasn't there. How was that possible? "Daddy? Daddy, I can't feel my wolf."

My father didn't answer, but my mother stood. The book fell from her lap. "Your wolf is just sleeping. There's no reason to panic."

"Even if my wolf sleeps, I can feel her. I can always feel her. You don't know that because you're not a wolf."

The knock sounded again, and I turned and walked toward the door.

"Andrea, no! Please. Stay with me. I can't keep you here. I can't keep you safe if you don't stay."

"But you can't keep me here anyway," I said in a small voice. That didn't make sense, but I knew it. I knew it like I'd experienced it a hundred times before. "The darkness always comes."

"This time will be different. I promise. I'm getting stronger. Just stay with me."

The wetness returned, and I stared down at my shirt. It wasn't milk. It was stained red.

Blood.

"Why is it dark outside? It should be morning."

"Andrea." My mother's voice sounded further and further away. "Andrea, please. Don't do this."

Smoke billowed in from beneath the door.

Nightmares. What kind of nightmares? I didn't have any nightmares. I had the best parents although, sometimes, they didn't let me have sweets after dinner. My friends were wonderful. My alpha always gave me hugs and told me what a special child I was.

The knocking turned into a frantic pounding.

Anna! Anna, let me in!

With trembling hands, I reached out and turned the doorknob.

A shadow fell through the door and with it, an endless darkness.