I woke up and for a second I didn’t know where I was. But then I remembered the long hours in the car and the dream.

I groaned and worked up the energy to push myself up.

I glanced around the room. It was bare, plain white walls, a large window with light pouring through it and a closet. The only other things in my room were all the boxes that contained my possessions and the bed I was sitting on.

I swung my legs over the side and then stood up. I sniffed the air. It smelled… uninhabited. And then there was a little hint of… bacon?

I walked down the stairs and there was my mother in the kitchen singing along to a sixties station while flipping pieces of bacon in a pan. On the other counter was another pan that held pancakes.

She finally noticed me as I stood in the doorway.

“Bella, my darling, you’re up!” she trilled. She waited for my response but none came. “I just thought that since it was our first day here that we could have something special for breakfast.” She continued. “Wasn’t that a great idea?”

I nodded and grabbed a piece of bacon and two pancakes from the pan. I drowned the pancakes in maple syrup before stabbing my fork into one of them and wolfing it down.

“Bella! Where are your manners?”

“It’s not like there’s anyone here besides you and me.” I pointed out. She huffed and turned away.

I flipped my long brown hair over my shoulder and then gobbled down the other pancake before getting another one, which I ate in a similar fashion.

My brother soon came stumbling down the stair sleepily.

“What’s for breakfast? He asked groggily.

“Pancakes and bacon.” Chirped my mother, proceeding to pile on four pancakes and two pieces of bacon onto a plate and handing it to my brother. I smiled. I remembered when I ate like that. It was maybe when I was 13, when the growth spurt kicked in. it was around then that we became fully in control of our special… gift. Or curse.

“Where’s dad?” I asked.

“Oh, he got up early this morning to look for a job. You should look for a job too, you know.” She added, staring pointedly at my pajamas.

“Sure, sure.” I grumbled. Since I was old enough to work, my parents expected me to get a job. They could afford to pay for education, but I had to pay for my clothes. William would get his own job in a few years. For now, he was blissfully unaware of the horror that was commercial marketing.

I dumped my dishes in the sink and then went to investigate the rest of the house.

The dining room was right beside the kitchen and like the rest of the house, it had plain white walls. That would be changed soon. My mother depended on me to paint all the houses we moved in to. I didn’t mind. I liked to paint. I wasn’t an artist or anything but it was relaxing.

The living room came next which I decided right off the bat that I would paint it a nice blue, nothing too bright but a relaxing one.

I wandered through the rest of the house, deciding on colors and then went to my room where I arranged the furniture and unpacked my belongings. Then, when there was nothing else to do, I got dressed and went out to explore the town.

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My bright green Converse shoes crunched the gravel as I walked down the driveway, hands in my pockets. They had holes all over them but I couldn’t give them up quite yet. They held sentimental value.

We were now living in Montpelier, Vermont. Interesting name, I know.

The town itself was like any other I had ever lived in. Schools, stores; all completely normal. I noticed a few places that were hiring and decided to hand in my resume.

As I was leaving the last store, after having a lengthy conversation with the woman who owned it, I felt as if someone was following me.

I glanced around quickly, but could see no one. I quickened my pace. I wasn’t that far from home.

Footsteps sounded behind me but when I turned around, no one was there. Bushes rustled to the side of me and I jumped. There came a laugh from somewhere above me. My head snapped up and I saw someone hanging upside down from a tree branch. It swung a few times, but then flipped and landed lightly in a crouch in front of me.

By now I could tell that they weren’t human. They must be loup-garou but I have never met one outside of my family.

More footsteps sounded behind me and I turned to see four other boys, standing in a loose half-circle behind me. I tensed.

“Well hello there.” The first one said. I turned around to see that he had gotten up from his crouch. His long black hair partially covered his copper eyes.

Even though they were my own kind, I still felt as if they were dangerous so I swiftly looked around at my surroundings but saw that even though they all stood in casual positions, escape would be futile.

“Hello yourself.”

I was glad that my voice came out steady. I had never, ever been in this situation before. But I wasn’t afraid of them… yet.

He grinned and stuck out his hand. “I’m Axel and these are the Five: Rafe, Ulf, Gregor, Finn and Willem.” He said pointing each out in turn. I nodded to each of them and then tried to stand somewhere where I could see all of them at once. They weren’t having any of that and casually tightened the circle that they had made around me. So I was still stuck in the centre.

“So a loup-garou eh?”

I nodded.

“A quiet one too apparently.”

The Five laughed.

“So,” Axel continued, crossing his arms across his chest, “Where you from?”

I finally answered. “I’m from Canada and it’s been nice meeting you and all but I have to get home.”

“Fine then.” Axel stepped back, breaking the circle. “But we’ll be seeing you around… Bella.”

I was halfway down the street when I realized I had never told them my name but when I turned back, they had disappeared.

Okay, took along time to update but here it is. There will be more of Rafe in the next chapter.

Salut!