Silverpine Secrets: A Mate For The Beta

🌙NEW TOWN, OLD SHADOWS🌙

This seemed like the perfect spot to bury a body.

I stumbled upon the muddy trail. There were trees here and there offering shade from the warm late afternoon sun, but all I had was Dad’s old hoodie covering me from the biting wind.

Something about this place had called to me. I should probably have stayed in my room like my Dad said. It was going to rain after all, he’d felt it. And Dad was hardly ever wrong about the weather. He had these shivers like shaky knees for old women, it’s hard to explain.

We’d just moved into this weird town after Dad got a call for a job too good to turn down and so we were going to stay for as long it took. Apparently, some kind of accidents occurred here, which meant they needed a construction company that would get the job done quickly no questions asked.

The town of Havenridge looked like it had been built from secrets. The kind that whispered through scaffolds and hid behind boarded-up windows.

Unlike my dad, I was very wary of this. From the online meetings I overheard from Dad’s calls with his new boss, the number of houses and buildings that either need construction from the ground up or renovation from some kind of wreckage was alarming the moment he drove us past its border gates in his truck. That’s another thing. This place had border gates and giant walls like some sort of fence keeping the world out. We’ve seen a lot of creepy places, but this one takes the cake.

When we were unpacking boxes in our small cottage gifted to us by my dad’s boss, I caught sight of the forest mountains and knew I just had to check it out.

My sneakers skidded on the dirt path and I jumped over a rock right before I would have collapsed onto the ground. I let out a victory laugh, but a strange sound deep in the woods startled me.

I scanned the space around me. The leaves on the trees’ canopies shook due to the wind but other than that, nothing moved. Ignoring my conscience to run back home, I crept closer to where the sound had come from as I pulled my beanie closer around my ears.

It came like a grunt or something rolling? As I got to a clearing, I hid behind a tree and my eyes widened when I caught sight of hills and dirt paths laid out like ramps and fallen logs like bridges. I noticed they all had marks, the marks of wheels.

Just then, a motorbike flew into the air before going down behind a hill that obscured my view of it. Then the rider shot up again into the air. Only this time, whoever it was flipped at least twice before landing and riding over some logs whilst doing a really cool handstand trick on the handles.

I was stunned into silence. The biker rode over a few more ramps before shouting “Whoo-hoo!” into the evening air and spinning around a large rock.

He suddenly stopped (I knew he was male from the deep voice) and removed his helmet. I couldn’t see his face because he was turned away from him and the sun had already sunk too low for me to make out much. Then as quickly as he’d stopped, he revered his motorbike and rode in the direction he’d been looking at.

As the sound of his motorbike diminished, I stepped out from my hiding spot and surveyed the area. I was glad I took a chance on exploring the woods tonight. However, as the first crackle of lightning lit the sky, I knew that my adventure had to be cut short. I needed to head back home now and before Dad realizes I’m gone.

I ran the way I came back from. Thanks to my really good memory, I didn’t get lost, but the smoke coming out of our new cottage also helped as I got nearer. I snuck into my bedroom window just as the first raindrops fell. Just when I released a breath of relief, the light switched on and I whipped my head around.

“Found anything exciting on your little stroll?” Dad stood leaning against the door with a knowing look.

“If I say no, will you believe me?” I asked nervously.

“I told you not to go out there alone,” he pinched the bridge of his nose with a sort exhale. “It’s literally the only thing I told you not to do the whole day. It’s like you’re allergic to the most important rules I tell you.”

“I’m sorry, Dad,” I began to apologize. “But there were these mountains, and then these trees... oh, and there were also these hills I saw. The way they were shaped though, it was like the ground was carved into a curve, it was really cool, actually. And then this motorbike dude raced acro—”

“Wait, wait, wait... You mean to tell me that the only exciting things you saw were some hills and someone riding a motorbike?” He started chuckling, shaking his head. I knew he wouldn’t stay mad for that long, however, he didn’t seem to believe me. “Riana, if you wanted to go sightseeing, you should have just told me so and we would go together... when it’s not pouring cats and dogs.”

“Woof, woof,” I smirked.

He smiled as he approached me and ruffled my beanie, causing my curly hair underneath to go haywire. “I’m serious, though. It’s dangerous out there, especially since we’re new here. Besides, one of my new co-workers invited us for a tour tomorrow then we can go see the school you’ll be going to.”

“Are they even going to accept me? It’s primarily a boarding school last time I checked,” I said as I tried to fix my untameable hair.

“Mr Daggerpaw and Havenridge allowed it. You’re an exception because I’m building this place back up,” he smiled proudly.

“I love that you found something to pay off the debts after your partner left you, but don’t you think it’s a little weird here?” I asked. I jumped onto my bed and he sat down with me with a confused expression. “I mean, the gates for starters. And the amount of damage dozens of buildings have, it’s like a war went on here. And the secrecy? It’s way too strange to just look the other way. Besides, who names their kid ‘Daggerpaw’?”

“Look... I know you have questions, but... it’s best if we just keep our heads down and do as much as we can without disturbing the peace here... Or at least, whatever it is that goes on here,” he sighed as he glanced out the window. The rain was getting heavier now and lightning flashed in the sky. “Besides... it’s not like we’re staying here forever. My new buddies and I will get the jobs done and we’ll find somewhere else to live faster than you can say ’I’m as hungry as a werewolf with diarrhoea!”

I laughed at my father’s joke. He has always had a weird sense of humor.

“Okay, okay, but this doesn’t mean I have to like this new school,” I said pointedly.

“You don’t have to like it, sugarpie,” he stood up with a grin. “You’ve just gotta go there and show off the brains my sperm gave you.”

“Ew!” I threw a pillow at him. “No, please get out.”

“Okay...” he laughed as he opened the door and easily dodged the pillow. “Dinner’s ready in ten.”

I nodded with a smile and he left.

I looked at the bare room that was going to be my bedroom from now on. For the meantime, at least. I was taking my dad’s word for it and expecting us to leave when his job is done. Then this room would be no longer mine and I would move to a new school.

In the meantime, I had to make this place feel like mine. I had to admit, it was a lot bigger than my room in the apartment we rented as our last home. The landlord was a mean old cat lady who seriously hated my guts just because I bleached her cats. Maybe it was accidental or not, it’s not my fault it was creeping after me like some sort of spy for her.

I began unpacking my suitcase and boxes, removing the things I wouldn’t need at school. The bedroom already had some furniture that Dad said were also gifts from his boss. A bedside table, a bookshelf, a furnished closet, the bed a loveseat in the corner and a picture frame. Other than those items, the room was a dull grey coloured space before I tried decorating it with some of my stuff. We didn’t own many belongings, and I’ve never wanted for more, but I found myself itching to get more in order to hide the dullness of this room.

Just then, my dad called me for dinner so I gave up. It wasn’t like I was actually living here for long anyways.

At least I hoped so.