Wolf Eyes

Chapter 1

Dedicated to utterlycolourful for the cover-made-into-banner on the side! Thank you so much, it's so beautiful!

*****

"You worthless little piece of crap! Just stay down this time!" Her voice rang loud in my ears as I started to wordlessly get up, keeping my eyes towards the ground. Before I could even reach my elbows, I felt a kick on my back and collapsed again. "I said stay down!"

"Alright, alright! Break it up everyone!" A teacher yelled, seeing the commotion.

The group around me disappeared as if someone had set off a bomb while the teacher knelt down next to me. "Taryn? Are you alright?"

I didn't answer, didn't move, for a few more seconds before pushing up once more to my knees. "I'm fine." I answered unconvincingly. I probably wouldn't look so fine on my face within an hour or two because it was more than likely bruised. Not to mention my back was already hurting from the kick.

But I wouldn't let the teachers know that. I wouldn't let the other classmates know that. I wouldn't even let my parents know that.

The teacher looked at me, uncertainty written across their face. Since I said that I was fine, they couldn't send me to the nurse or home. "Well, if you're positive."

"I'm fine." I repeated, eyes cast to the ground as I stood up completely, willing my aching legs to keep me up without shaking. "I need to get to my next class."

Leaving the teacher behind, I walked down the hallway, picking up my backpack and the books that had been scattered along the carpeted flooring. It wasn't too far to my next class - I would be able to fake that everything was alright. I wouldn't give those bastards the pleasure of breaking me down.

Well, at least not in public.

##########

My shoes clicked softly on the pavement of the sidewalk, slightly wet from the rain this morning. I lived in Southern California, where our town motto was practically "if you don't like the weather, wait an hour!" As a result, the sun was blazing in the sky, puddles sat in the deep grooves of the road and I was shivering from the icy wind blowing.

My house wasn't far from school, about a mile or a mile and a half, and since I didn't have a car and my parents worked too much to drive me to and from school, I had to walk. I didn't mind it, but it was a real big inconvenience when it was raining or cloudy with a chill or snowing. Or all three at once.

"Hey Taryn!" I turned just in time to see the car speeding past me, filled with some of my laughing classmates, and to a huge wave of water arcing through the air towards me. My eyes widened and I started bolting but I didn't even make it one step before the water hit me, drenching me to the bone and making me crash to the sidewalk. As I landed, my backpack's seam tore open, spilling all of my books and papers into the wet puddle.

I gasped and yanked myself towards a small rectangle that had slipped from between the cover of two books. My short, chewed-to-the-flesh nails scrabbled across the concrete for a second before catching one of the corners and lifting it up to my face, ignoring the fact that my elbows and palms were bleeding from the fall as well as my knees.

I had to bite back a scream when I saw the picture. It was ruined. The colors were barely distinguishable from each other and only a few scratches of clear photo were here and there.

With a ragged sob that escaped my clenched throat, I let the picture fall back down to the ground and forced myself to pick up my other books. My backpack was ruined; I would have to get a new one and hand carry everything back home to my house.

When I turned to gather up any other books that had scattered across the sidewalk, I was startled to see them stacked in a neat pile only a few feet where I was now standing. Almost hesitantly, I added them to the ones in my arms. I had to take a deep breath to prepare myself when I turned back to pick up the photo, vowing to myself that I wouldn't look at it in its ruined state, but I needed to honor it by bringing it home. However, preparing myself was useless.

Along with any evidence, aside from my memories, that my little brother had existed at all, the photo had vanished.

##########

When I got home, I conversed with my parents, who had gotten off of work a little early and arrived home just a little bit before me, for a few minutes before going up to my room. They had been thoroughly scared for me when they had noticed the blood staining my dripping clothes and raw cheek that was accompanied with a bruise, but I told them that a car had accidentally splashed me and I tripped. Not necessarily a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth either.

I knew they could tell something was wrong - after all, I never said that they were noncommittal or caring, just busy - but they didn't know how to bring it up. They already knew I would deny if anything happened at school, and my tripping excuse was perfectly logical due to my wet clothes and hair. Without anything left to say, I lugged my wet person upstairs.

The first thing I did was lay all of my books in a line out on the small balcony attached to my bedroom before closing and locking all the doors, drawing the curtains as well. Certain that I was alone, I let the events from the day catch up with me as I collapsed on my bed, not caring that I was getting the covers all wet, tears beginning to trickle out of my eyes.

This is officially the worst day of my life, I thought, not even nothing to wipe my face. My whole body was hurting like hell, stinging in most places and aching in others.

The worst part was that I had lost it. I had lost the picture. It was the one thing I still had to remember Joey, everything else was gone. Now it was probably floating around in some storm drain, having fallen in thanks to my careless action of dropping it because I couldn't bear to look at it.

Why why why did I have to care about that stupid party? Those kinds of things happened all the time. If I just hadn't have called them...if I hadn't heard about it...everyone wouldn't hate me. I would still just be the girl in the hallways, the one no one noticed. I wouldn't be the one that everyone now singled out. The one that was pushed around everyday, even beaten. I wouldn't have lost the picture. I would still have the last piece of Joey.

Clenching the blankets in my fists, I buried my head into the pillows, wishing for a knight to come and take me away from this. Away from the pain. Away from the torture. Away from the sorrow.

But a shining knight wouldn't come for a dragon except to kill it. To get rid of it.

The truth didn't keep me from dreaming though. Even a dragon had to have dreams of someone who would accept them.