Lycanthrope

“It’s not so bad, huh?” my mother asks from the side of me while repositioning the box she’s holding under her left arm.

I peel my eyes away from the small two story house and look at my mother. Her dirty blonde hair blowing in the slight breeze and her hazel eyes shining with pure happiness and excitement. I smile softly at my mother’s expression since it is the first time she’s seemed happy in weeks and then turn my attention back to the house.

“Yeah, it’s pretty nice,” I answer while my mind quickly wanders to the recent events that have caused this move. I take a deep breath as I think of a way to ask my next question without upsetting her. After standing in silence for a moment, I finally manage to say, “Mom, can we talk about Dad and what happened?”

She takes her eyes off the house to look over at me and replies, “There’s nothing to talk about.”

Feeling bewildered, my head immediately snaps in my mother’s direction and I exclaim, “What do you mean there’s nothing to talk about!? Dad jus-”

“Sydney, I said there’s nothing to talk about so drop it this instant!” she says in a stern voice that causes me to shut my mouth and nod my head. She starts to walk up the walkway when she calls out over her shoulder for me to help her bring in the boxes.

Sighing, I turn around and grab two boxes then follow my mom’s steps towards the house. We continue to unload the truck and place each box in the room where the items inside of it belong. Once the truck is completely unloaded, I go into the kitchen and help my mother put away all the dishes and silverware.

The tension in the room between my mother and I is so thick that you could probably cut it with a knife. Trying to break the tension, I decide to make small talk, “So, what made you want to move us here to Mystic Falls?”

“This is where I grew up,” a smile tugs at the corner of her lips as she begins to explain, “I lived here until I went away for college and I always planned on moving back but then I met your father.”

“Well, how come you and Dad didn’t move down here?” I ask while taking a seat at the kitchen table feeling curious about what my mother had to say.

After placing a plate in the cupboard, she turns around and leans back against the counter as she thinks back to her college days, “It was towards the end of our senior year at Yale and we were just hanging out in my dorm, cuddling and watching movies on the couch. We were talking about our plans for after college and he just kept going on and on about how much he loved it in New Haven. How he wanted to rent an apartment there and that’s when he asked me if I wanted to stay and live with him.”

“And you said yes,” I say as more of a statement than a question.

“Without a second thought,” she smiles at me before returning back to what she was doing.

I watch her as I debate whether or not I want to continue talking about my father. Taking a deep breath, I decide to continue with a topic that would lead to more talk of him and hopefully get her to open up by saying, “So, I did a little research on this town because I was curious about what I could find here and I read some pretty interesting things.”

“Oh, really? Like what?” she asks while placing her “good” silver in a different draw than the silverware we normally use.

“Like how people used to actually believe that vampires lived here. Apparently, there were all these reports on animals attacks but since the bodies were all drained of blood, there were people who thought it was vampires.”

She stops what she’s doing to look at me and places a hand on her hip while raising her eyebrows slightly, “Vampires? Do you honestly believe that nonsense?”

“Well, no, not really. It seems a little silly but it was kind of cool to read about,” I begin while glancing down at the table then return my gaze to meet my mother’s, “Dad would’ve believed it, though. Did you know he was really into folklore?”

“Oh, I know. He developed an interest in it when one of his college professors mentioned it during a lecture. Ever since then, he would do research on folklore as a little hobby. His main focus, however, was werewolves,” she explains while shaking her head as she recalls the days he would spend with his nose in the books.

Leaning forward on the table, I rest my chin on the palm of my hand and ask, “Why werewolves?”

“I have no idea. All I know was that he was really intrigued by them.” I drop my gaze to the table and take a deep breath. I’m about to ask another question when she cuts me off, “Syd, don’t even think about it. I already told you that there’s nothing to talk about.”

My eyes begin to burn with tears and I whisper softly, “I just want to know why he left. I mean, one day everything is great and then the next day he’s walking out on us. Don’t you think I deserve to know what happened?”

“Of course you do, sweetie. I just don’t have an explanation that will make any sense. I’m sorry.”

Rising to my feet, I mumble a ‘whatever’ and leave the kitchen to go upstairs to my room. Once inside, I slam the door shut behind me then take a look at my surroundings. I begin to think about what I could put on the cream colored walls so they don’t look so bare when I notice a bay window from the corner of my left eye.

A smile creeps across my lips as I walk over to one of the many boxes with my things and pull out a notebook. I walk over to the bay window and take a seat, propping the pillow up against the wall and then lean back against it. Removing the pen that I had attached to the notebook, I open to a clean page and start to write anything and everything that comes to mind.

Ah, Mystic Falls, the town that I now call home. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be that bad of a place and surely, it’s going to take a little bit of time to adjust but I’ll manage. However, I can’t help but to feel empty inside. There’s a part of me missing, a huge part of my life is gone and things just won’t be the same without him around. I wonder if he’ll ever come back. I wonder why he even left in the first place. Mom, of course, was vague like she has been since he left, saying that she doesn’t have any explanation that makes sense. What possible reason for leaving could not make any sense? Unless, he’s been living some kind of crazy double life...