Fade Away

Her mom was home. Great. What bad news would she have for her today?

The door was ripped open before Mikaela could even touch the door handle. "Where have you been?" her mother slurred, breath smelling of alcohol.

"Mom, are you drunk?" Shock radiated off of her. In all of her seventeen years of existence, Mikaela had never seen her mom drunk, or even tipsy. Hell, she'd never seen her even glance at wine.

"Yes! You want to know why, Mikaela? Your father is dead!"

"Mom, Dad died when I was seven." And the memory still haunted her.

"This is the tenth year of it. Ten years, Mikaela!"

"You have no memory of your previous life, correct?"

"How could I? I've been dead, or have you forgotten?"

"I don't like the tone you're using with me, Brett," Adam suddenly snapped, anger flashing in his eyes.

"Yeah? Well I don't like you." That earned him a punch to the stomach. Brett shot forward, teeth coming down on Adam's upper arm, drawing blood immediately. "Don't fuck with me."

Adam yelped, jumping away from Brett. "You may hate me, but I saved your life."

"No. You did not save me," Brett sneered. "You took away my memories of my family. You're lucky I don't kill you right now."

Ten years already? Sitting alone in her room, Mikaela stared at her wooden floor. The day stayed with her; she had witnessed it.

Moonlight pooled onto the floor as tears splashed onto it. She hadn't realized that he and Dan shared the same day.

"Hey, Dad. Where are we going?"

"You'll see," he laughed. "My Kaela, always so impatient. It's something wonderful, I can guarantee that."

A gasp left her lips. The need to pull the blindfold off plagued her. "Are we there yet?"

"No, silly girl."

A few minutes passed in silence, and the car suddenly stopped. The key clicked as the ignition was shut off. "Okay, babygirl, we're here."

"Oh boy!" Excitedly, she ripped off the blindfold and looked straight ahead. "Wow!"

They were high up on a cliff. Below was the ocean, waves crashing against the rocks.

"Don't get too close. We don't want you to fall."

"Okay."

The day had been amazing, full of laughter and tears. Once the sun had started to set, they went to leave. But a growling soon stopped them.

"Mikaela, get in the car and lock the doors."

"o-Okay." Running quickly, she threw open the door, got inside, shut and locked them. Fear had her paralyzed. Why wasn't her dad getting in?

Pools of honey stared from the trees as a large body manifested. The thing threw its head back and howled, its eyes locking onto her own.

The need to fear this beast lifted and instead she felt safe, protected. But before she could blink, another body ran out, purposely stumbling into her father.

Eyes wide, she disobeyed her dad and left the car, running after him, hoping to save him as he stepped over the edge.

A great roar left the wolves' mouth, his teeth snapped, grabbing ahold of her shirt. She, too, fell over the edge, but the other wolf caught her arm. Its teeth dug into her skin, tearing. Blood ran down her arm.

The one who held her shirt lifted her, jerked her away from the other. Wide eyes stared at the wound.

"Daddy!" she screamed.

Eyes opened, a gasp leaving parted lips. She hadn't realized she'd fallen asleep. Those wolves, she'd almost forgotten them. But how? They played a big part in her father's death.

Their fur had felt like silk, eyes cold and hard. The eyes of a predator. The one, though, she would never forget.

Leaning his giant head down, the wolf gently licked her wound. Before her very eyes, the wound sealed shut. This had never happened before.

"That should stop the change. Hopefully."

The words echoed in her head. Once again, fear spiked. The voice was deep and soothing, never her own.

"No, no. Please don't be afraid. Mikaela, my dear Mikaela, I will watch over you from now on. You are safe."