"Dad's gone," my cousin's voice was barely above a whisper. "You must come home for the Evaluations," she uttered and the phone line went dead.
*****
After Keri's Uncle - the Alpha of the Silver Bullets pack - loses his battle with cancer, the young...
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My tiny feet moved faster as one of the boys pushed Miriam, her back slamming against the barn.
"Stop!" I screamed as I ran between him and my sister.
"Oh, look who is here: the freak's baby brother," the same boy who'd pushed her sneered.
"My sister is not a freak!" I kept shouting. "She's just sick."
I felt Miriam place her hand on my shoulder.
"Cal, let's just go," she pleaded from behind me.
"You'll go when I let you, freak," the same boy - obviously the leader in their group of three - took a step towards us.
I pushed him back with all the strength that the six year old me could muster. The teenager didn't budge, he just slapped my hand away as if chasing an annoying insect.
"Calvin, please." Miriam pulled on my sleeve as she moved aside. "It's not worth it," she added, the wind blowing strands of her dark brown hair in her tear-stained face.
"You made my sister cry," I uttered slowly, reaching out to rub away the wetness on her cheeks.
"You made my sister cry!" I then bellowed, turning around and swinging at the boy's face.
He pushed my arm away before it made contact with its target while his own fist collided with my jaw. Pain shot through me mouth, accompanied by the taste of blood.
"Hold him," he ordered and the two other boys grabbed my shoulders as he moved towards Miriam. With each step the boy took forward, she moved a step back until, once again, her back hit the outside of the barn. I thrashed and thrashed, but the two henchmen held me in place.
"Let's here you moo, you spotted cow," the leader demanded. "Come on!" He struck her shoulder.
"No!" I screamed.
"Let's hear you go moo." This time he slapped Miriam on the side of her head. Her knees buckled and she slid on the damp ground.
"Leave her alone! Leave my sister alone!" I kept screaming while trying to wriggle myself out of the hold of the two older, bigger boys. They dug their fingers into my shoulders, but I ignored the ache their actions caused and continued to struggle.
"Come on!" The leader kicked Miriam's outer thigh. "Come on, come on, come on..."
"No!" I kept screaming and thrashing about.
And then the flames rose.
My eyes opened and I stared at the darkness in my room.
There were no flames, but I could still feel the heat. It was over three decades later and I still felt the heat rushing through my veins as if the fire had come out of me and not from inside my grandparents' barn.
