A Cold Heart

The hospital lights were blinding. I shut my eyes, my foot tapping with impatience. I breathed in and out, and I opened my eyes to look at Melanie, who sat across from me. She was fiddling with her fingers, her dress shredded. There was a small gash on her forehead.

A doctor walked in the waiting room, and I instantly sat up. The doctor held a clipboard in his hands, and he stood before us.

"Is he okay?" I asked. The doctor thought for a minute, and nodded his head.

"He just needs a couple of days to rest," he said, and I closed my eyes with relief. My foot went limp. I was okay now, knowing that he was safe.

"Can we see him?" Melanie asked, and the doctor nodded his head. He turned and walked down the hall we came from. Melanie and I followed him until the doctor stopped at a door. I twisted the knob and went inside.

Cooper was lying in bed, flicking channels on the overhead TV. There were lines connected to him, and he turned his head slightly to look at us.

"Melanie...Mia," He said. Melanie sat in the chair next to him, and I stood by him on the other side.

"Are you okay?" Melanie asked. "Volmer got you bad!"

"Who's Volmer?" I asked, and they both turned to look at me. Melanie managed to let out a little giggle.

"I have to explain her everything?" She asked Cooper. He smiled, and it somehow lit up the entire room.

"Of course," he responded, and Melanie looked at me.

"If you haven't realized now......we're werewolves. Our parents and our grandparents were. Our werewolf ancestors created a clan: Suganagi. We just call it Suge. There was only one clan during the time of our ancestors, but some wolves demanded their own power and split off into seperate clans. The leader of Suge was Tod. His second in command, Ryan, was the one who wanted his own clan, and he got it. Jutsot was the name. Now, in the present, Jutsot is an evil clan, wanting to take over all the clans of werewolves and make one big army. That guy from the party? Volmer? He's in Jutsot." Melanie finished her speech with a sigh.

"So, your saying Suge is a good clan, but Jutsot isn't?" I asked, and Melanie nodded her head.

"Volmer and I got into an argument last week, and it led to threats. I guess he wanted to kill me," Cooper said. I looked at the tile floor.

"Should I take her to the Pack house?" Melanie asked, and I looked up. Cooper nodded his head.

"The Pack house?" I asked, and Melanie stood up.

"Mia, don't worry about it. It'll be fine," She reassured me, and she pecked Cooper on the cheek.

"I'm sure it will, but what is the Pack house?" I asked, standing up and following Melanie to the door. She smiled a grim smile.

"You'll see," She said, before opening the door and leaving. I followed, waving goodbye to Cooper.

***

The house was a wreck.

The window were broken, glass littering the driveway. There was no front door, and one of the pillars that held the porch up was gone, causing the structure to lean to the side.

"What happened?" I asked, and Melanie looked at the house like it was the Mona Lisa.

"Years of battles. That's what happened. Come on. I got some people for you to meet," Melanie said, gripping my wrists and pulling me to the front door. We stepped right through, and it was even worse on the inside. The couch was in shred, the TV lay on the floor. In the kitchen, dirty dishes were piled in the sink and on the table.

"CAL! MARCO! BEN! WILSON! I GOT A NEWBIE!" Melanie shouted up the stairs. There was suddenly loud footsteps, and four boys came running down the stairs. One had blonde hair, and he saw me ans stopped. The other boys stopped behind him.

"Who's that?" The blonde boy asked.

He had a British accent!

"Fellas, this is Mia, Cooper's friend. She'll be staying with us for a while," Melanie said, gesturing to me. I forgot I was still in my dress, so no wonder their mouths were dropped.

The blonde one rushed to me, and held out his hand.

"I'm Wilson," he said, his sweet British accent making me smile.

"Nice to meet you, Wilson!" I said. The next boy came down, and his hair was like Cooper's. The color of coffee.

"I'm Cal," he said, and I repeated my greeting.

The other boys came down, and I remembered Marco the most. He had rich, hazel eyes, and his hair was an off-white.

"Well, get comfortable, Mia. We're going to be here for a while," Melanie said, walking up the stairs.

"Do you have any clothes you can give me?" I asked her. She pointed a finger in the air as if she had an idea.

"Remind me. We have some serious shopping to do. Follow me," I smiled, and followed Melanie upstairs.