Sealed Fate
It was a dark and foggy night. I appeared to be in the woods, my sense of direction and strength weakened, and I didn’t know what to do. Scanning my perimeter cautiously, I spotted a silhouette of a big man, whose muscles seemed to have muscles. The next minute, he vanished, and a wolf form appeared. It must have been his wolf...he must have shifted...
“Diamond! Please wake up...I need a hug.” My little sister, Sapphire spoke as she viciously shook me awake. When I opened my eyes, I saw that her eyes were red and swollen. I jumped up and hugged her as the teardrops flowed. We’d both been having the same nightmares...but the other night was something we didn’t want to rethink.
“It’s okay, Sapph..” I reassured her as my heart began to race, preparing for the question she would ask next. “
I just don’t understand...where is Topaz?” she asked me.
“Sapph I—I can’t remember.” I spoke while brushing my hair back behind my ear.
“Di...I need to know. I can’t sleep tonight unless I know.” My sister spoke, as I looked into her caramel brown eyes and wondered how a 15 year old could be so concerned about someone other than herself. “You can’t just sit here missing him. We have to pack and get ready.” I told her as I pulled some clothes out of our closet, folded them, and placed them into two separate backpacks. “I said stop sulking.”
“No, you said stop sitting here, missing him...and I didn’t. I got up.” Sapphire said.
“Whatever, just help me pack.” I said in a dismissive tone.
(3 am, the next morning)
There was a huge shatter, and I jumped up from my sleep.
“Wake up, Sapph...they’re here.” I told her as we quickly got ready, grabbed our survival backpacks that we filled the night before, and snuck down into the basement. I locked the door, and we made our way down the stairs.
“We know you’re in here.” A deep voice called out with a growl that rumbled through the entire house. “Sapph, go, now!” I whisper-yelled as we climbed through the cellar doors, hopped in the black van, and made our getaway. As I sped down the vacant trail, I took the secret shortcut that Topaz had told me about a while ago.
“If you’re in trouble, here’s the escape plan. You should always have a bag packed with essentials, and weapons. Dress warm, get down in the basement and escape through the cellar doors.” I listened as Topaz demonstrated our emergency escape plan.
Little did I know that we’d actually need to use it someday...
“Diamond!” Sapphire screamed as I swerved the car back on the trail and readjusted myself. The flashback must have been really powerful if it almost caused me to crash! Goddamn, I really have to get these under control.
“Diamond...what do we do now?” Sapphire asked me, as both of us tried to suppress our fear.
It was gonna be one hell of a ride to the safe house, and we probably wouldn’t be able to stay there long. The thing with wolves is, their sense of smell is amazing. I couldn’t smell them on our trail, but they were bound to find us in a week or so. This was new ground for me and Sapph. Topaz was our guardian, our leader, but with his sudden disappearance and the enemy pack coming after us...it was scary. I was definitely going to need some help. I let out a huge sigh while pulling into the driveway. Staying alive was going to be a long and hard process that we needed to prepare for.
After unpacking, I put the system on full lockdown (meaning all of the doors and windows locked) as I gave Sapph her new identity. She was to be known as Cassidy, and I was Jasmine...at least for the next few weeks. After getting some things out of the way, we made our way to the dojo downstairs. Sapphire never had to fight in her life and now she was gonna have to start. I taught her basics for a few days and switched to combos and sparring with our simulation machine for the rest of the week. She ended up being way better than I thought.
(A week later)
Sapphire walked through the front door with her hood on as I was sitting in the living room.
“You’re home late.” I spoke in a stern voice.
“Oh shit, you scared me!” she yelled.
“Watch your mouth!” I couldn’t believe she just said that. “What the hell were you doing out past 11? You know that’s very risky!”
“Fuck off, Diamond.” she snapped as she ran up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door.
“Great Diamond. You can’t even raise your sister right” I thought while trying to calm myself down. One thing I knew was that I shouldn’t let my rage cloud my judgment. So, I decided that it was best to deal with it tomorrow and I went to bed as well.
(The next morning)
I walked down the stairs to see Sapphire eating cereal. “Frosted Flakes again, I see” I teased. I watched as she ignored my remark and put her earbuds in. That’s when the rage consumed me.
“OKAY, I HAVE HAD IT!” I screamed as I shifted to my wolf form. My wolf wanted to be let out for at least the past two days, so I finally let her. She was a caramel brown wolf with scattered white spots. At the tip of her tail, there was a pinch of gold and her eyes were the prettiest hazel color ever. She stood on her 4 legs with a purpose and stared Sapphire down in anger.
“Calm down, girl” I thought to my wolf. “Bring her to me.” I demanded as I watched Sapphire shift into her own wolf.
Her wolf was golden brown, with the same scattered white spots as I had. At the tip of her tail was a pinch of rose gold and her eyes were violet. “Dojo.” I said and Sapph’s wolf followed me down. I was extremely pressed, so I figured that this was my chance to assert my dominance….in wolf form.
“I’m so ready for this.” She spoke as a growl escaped from her chest. With that, I pounced and pinned her down. “Get off!” she yelled as she bit at me. “Apologize!” I snarled back. “Never!” she responded as I landed hard on the ground. I growled as I charged at her, full force. Caught off guard, she flew backwards into the wall. With that, we both shifted back to human form.
“Listen to me.” I spoke through clenched teeth. “Under my protection and my house, you shall live by my rules.” In one swift move, I held her up against the wall. “You chose to do this the hard way, and that won’t end well for you.” I assured.
“You s-sound just like T-t-topaz.” Sapph tried to speak in a confident voice, but I could see the slight fear in her eyes. “I’ve learned a lot from our brother, so stop testing me, Sapphire.” I released my hold on her and pushed her to the ground. “Don’t you ever disrespect me again.” I said while I stormed away and slammed the dojo door behind me.
I made my way upstairs to my bedroom, locked the door and walked to my desk. I opened the middle drawer and searched until my hand come across the secret compartment. I pulled out a picture of the 5 of us...me, my siblings, and mom and dad. Oh, how I missed them...they’d know what to do in this situation. They’d have some sort of plan and they could keep Sapphire in check way easier. I knew one thing for sure: I needed to find Topaz. For Sapphire’s sake, as well as mine. I put the picture back in the compartment and pulled out my black journal. I flipped back to about 4 months prior. I began to read the entry I made the day I got into a huge fight with Topaz.
“Act fresh with me again and I will beat your ass.” Topaz threatened. I just laughed because there was no way that my sweet big brother would discipline me. “Oh please, you couldn’t harm a fly.” I teased as I slapped him in his face. Yeah...I later learned that was a mistake. He approached me, gripped my arm and flipped me on the ground. The impact very much affected my breathing, and as I tried to recover, he picked me up and pinned me to the wall. Before I knew it, his grip tightened and there was no escaping. “Yeah it’s not so funny now, is it?” He asked me. “You will listen to me, little sis. Under my protection and my house, you shall live by my rules.” He demanded.
Never did I think I’d have to do the same thing to Sapphire. “Wow...I guess being the older sibling really puts you in difficult situations.” I thought as I wrote my entry for the day, returned the journal to the compartment, and closed the drawer. We’d have to leave the safe house in about 4 more days. That means we’d need an ally wolf pack to blend into. I began to call all the contacts I knew to try and find a place for us to settle in at.
