I. Dreams

He saw her again. Like in so many of his dreams. Crying by the lake side, lonely, waiting. Waiting for him. Thick black hair, long, wavy, perfumed with strawberries. Skin, soft, natural tanned brown, not pale like the rest of the humans. She had freckles, cute tiny freckles. And she cried. Longed for him. Worried to death about where he was. By the lake side. The lake side.
He stayed away from her. He could see the girl, but she could not see him. He knew she waited for him there. Every night, she cried. Btu he could never come out from the shadows. Too afraid. Too scared.
Of  her? No. Not of  her. For her.
A monster, a vicious, life taking monster. Only he could see that in himself. But she? She was too dense, too oblivious. She only wanted to be with him, no matter what he was. No matter what kind of monster he was. She loved him. And he loved her.
Again and again, just like in so many of his dreams, he reached out to run his fingers through her soft hair, only to be deterred from red glowing eyes, a snarling howl, a mouth filled with sharp drooling teeth.
A scream.
Julius woke with a start. Drenched in sweat. His heart racing more and more each time he had the dream. The same damned dream.
At first, the dreams came twice a month. After a year, it eventually came every night, waking up in an intense frenzy. It became worse and worse within the month. More intense, more vivid, more foreboding. He calmed himself down. The cold night air came in through the open window. He didn’t realize until then, his fist clenched tightly to the bed sheets. He let them go, pulled his knees up to his chest and sighed.
The moon would be full in about a week, he estimated.
Hunting would be in order.
Julius laid back down onto the bed, curling up with the sheets, then kicking them off, then curling up again. He just couldn’t find a spot to lull him back into sleep. A lot was on his mind.
Archer said the dreams would get more intense, the more the girl in his dreams got closer to him. It was unbelievable that such a girl existed besides in his dreams, but he was right. The dreams became more intense. She must be very close now. Very, very close now.
Julius would only tell Archer the same thing he tells him every morning. The dream exceeded the one before. And Archer will laugh saying she’s near, and that he will need to pick her up and carrier her away.
She is his partner, for life. Only Their Kind get these dreams, once in their whole entire life. And when they do, it’s time.
For what? Julius once asked Archer while hunting in the density of the forest. Archer only laughed. You’ll know, was his only response.
A life partner, Julius mused as he laid on the bed, trying to get to sleep.
He will not. He will not go after her. He is a monster and how anyone could condemn a poor human to this way of life was beyond Julius’ reckoning.
No, he profusely refused. No, I will not make this human mine. This human can live without me. A normal life. A life without all the monsters, and killings. This is not a life for anyone I love or could ever love. She will survive.
Then, he thought about her cries, worry, loneliness.
The feeling of guilt turned in his stomach.

II. Summer Vacation

“Rebecca!” a voice called out to me. I spun around to see who had called out my name. The baggage claim was crowded- everyone scuttled around to make their flights, or find people, or rushed to get to an appointment somewhere else.
“Rebecca!” it called again. I recognized it now. Loud and clear.
“Derek?” I called back. “Derek where are you? I can’t see you!”
Lugging my last suitcase off of the conveyer belt, I spun around again. A hand clasped my shoulder.
“Rebecca? Finally.” I turned around to face my brother.
Derek was red in the face, panting. I hugged him tightly.
“What happened? You look had it,” I said, patting him on his back.
He shook his head in response, trying hard to catch his breath. “I tried to get here on time, but I lost the print out of the email you sent me, so I didn’t know which terminal to come get you in. Then, I scrambled for parking and I ran and…”
He plopped down on one of my bigger suitcases.
“And you couldn’t find me in this mess of people?” I smiled at him.
“Not… not really,” he huffed out. We both laughed.
Derek, my older brother by about ten years, was just as absent minded and clumsy as I was. Of course, we were all proud of him when he graduated from a Midwestern college to become a veterinarian. As soon as he got out, he moved out here to Hyatt, Oregon. It’s small town near the forest area, crisp clean air, nice small town folk. It suited Derek very well- friendly, outdoorsy, and evidentially, lots of animals to take care of. It made him happy, which in turn made me elated. I had never been brave, never liked to take chances. I was boring, played it safe, too cautious, like our mom. I was just happy being the way I was, always satisfied with the little things.
So, I admired my older brother for being brave, leaving home for about six years to pursue something he really wanted to do. A little part of me was jealous, I will admit. But I learned to get passed that when he started to call home about all the great things happening to him in Hyatt. Sooner than later, he invited me up for a whole summer.
I took him up on the offer without any thought.
We had much to talk about, not seeing one another for a long time. He helped me with my bags, three large suitcases and my carry bag. We chatted along the way to the car, huffing and puffing, trying to lug the bags at our sides. Derek and I complained about the way our mother was too paranoid and that she insisted on packing the whole house when we went on family trips. I laughed with him. I laughed how I had never laughed in a very long while. I never felt so relaxed.
Derek led me into the car after stuffing the suitcases into his SUV. It was very big, silver in color, with a magnet sign on each side advertising his veterinarian office downtown. I got into the car, clumsily like everything else, and settled in. According to Derek, it would be another two-hour drive from the busy airport to the tiny town. I couldn’t wait. He rolled down the window, the cool mountain air blowing through his thick black hair. It amazed me that we looked exactly a like- the dark brown eyes, the thick black wavy hair, the freckles on our faces, even the natural sun tanned skin- the only exception was that Derek was a guy and about two feet taller. We both looked exactly like dad.
It was another twenty minutes on the road before Derek spoke.
“So…How is mom handling the divorce?” he asked, in a very quiet voice.
I shrugged, “She’s signed the papers, though dad still wants her to come back.”
“So, he regrets it after all…”
“Supposedly.”
We both sat in silence. The divorce was still a new thing, though our parents were separated for a year already. My dad was caught with another woman. That sort of divorce. To say the least, it made me terrified. The divorce made me feel a lot of mixed feelings actually, but nothing stood out more than that: terrified. So, of course I took up my brother’s offer. I wanted desperately to run away. Being the person that I was, I was too afraid to. So, instead, I found another option in Derek. Though I was happy to see him, I couldn’t help feeling my stomach turn from guilt. I was such a coward that I couldn’t tell my own family what I felt about all this. I was against it, whole-heartedly. What could I do though? Nothing. Just twirl up into myself, and wait for it to be over.
As I stared out the window, gazing at the dark green of the forest lining the tiny highway, I felt my mouth pout. Uncontrollable. I frowned even more at the inability to control my feelings.
“I’m sorry, Rebecca,” Derek said, patting my thigh in apology. “I didn’t mean to bring up a touchy subject.”
“It’s okay, really,” I lied. My mouth still in a pout. “No biggie.”
“Well, that’s fine, I guess.”
Silence took over most of the ride. I like silence. It leaves me to my thoughts. Nowadays, it leaves me to brood, to think morbidly of my situation. Even though I’ve tried hard to think of “how can it be worse,” I’ve turned to, “how can it not be worse.”
I’ve grown disgusted at my depressed self lately. It was unlike me. I haven’t smiled until I saw Derek, now, it has disappeared. Saddened, I took to pouting, almost permanently.
Derek tried talking again, “Tell me about you now, what’s been happening with Rebecca-Anne Morgan, huh?”
I forced a smile, to show Derek that I was cheery again.
“Well?” he urged on. “Boyfriend? School? College plans? What’s up?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t think I like any guys from my school right now. They’re all into rap and whatever. Not my scene.”
Derek nodded in response, “Still into that whole rebellious rock phase?”
“Eh, not so much. Getting ready to graduate next year, I kind of grew up from that. But, yes, I still like rock.”
“Fall Out Boy?”
“Very much.”
“So, I see,” Derek smiled. “What else you got?”
“Um, school going fine. I mean, you know me, Miss B Average. Although I got C+ in math and science. Hate those subjects.”
I made a little grimaced face. Derek laughed.
“Never been your strong point anyhow.”
“Never been never will, big bro. Uh, let’s see what else? College, I haven’t really picked anything out. Probably something near Ridgeview so I can stay close to mom. USC maybe? I don’t know, that’s a popular school. Might not be the thing for me yet. But it’s a good prospect.”
“Whatever you choose, be happy with your choice. I mean look at me,” he flashed his award-winning smile. “I’m a successful veterinarian! With a house even!”
I laughed.
We talked some more, the conversations straying from talk of the divorce or anything related to it, to my relief. I smiled a little bit more, my mind finally off of the bad things and thinking of the good. That’s one of the reasons why I adore my big brother. He always knew what to do when he had to cheer me up.
Before I knew it, we entered Hyatt. It was everything Derek described to me. The mountain was in view, covered with dark green trees. The forest was everywhere. The smell of everything was fresh, crisp, not like California. Here, it was serene. The wind blew through the leaves, making a Zen-like rustling sound. I could’ve stared out the window for hours if it wasn’t for the other things in town.
Derek drove slowly through the town, the tires crunching along the old highway. He pointed out where he worked, which was an office with big white letters on it: DR. MORGAN, VETERIANARIAN, that stood along with other shops and businesses in a stretch mall of sorts. There was the local grocery, Grennedaline Grocery, and the local library, along with the schools- among them was Hyatt High School which was an open campus, unlike my school which was just a very large building with the one entrance. The hangouts where the town kids would meet were parks, hiking trails and fishing spots, as Derek pointed out. The hiking trails led into the forest from the highway, and the parks were just fantastic, well-kept, with big play sets- slides, monkey bars, the works! But the one thing about Hyatt really took my breath away- the lake. It sat at the edge of town, not too far from the hiking trails or the highway. The town lake was huge. Still, I could see the other side of the lake, which was no surprise to me that it was all forest. You could see tiny fishing boats, canoes, kayaks, all with kids or families in them. I could see a boat full of teenagers, boys and girls, all laughing and fishing.
“These are where the kids would hang out?” I exclaimed. I was so exited that such places existed. I made note of the things that interested me. There was this one spot I was sure to remember where the lake hit the rocky shore, sloshing against it, making pretty sounds. It looked kind of steep, the way down to the water, but I wasn’t going to go in it, so it didn’t matter to me.
Derek drove me around town a little longer. Small, but beautiful. Homey. Those are the things that came to my mind. Everyone seemed friendly enough, watching us drive around, waving hello when they recognized the good doctor’s mode of transportation. I couldn’t help but wave back after a while.
By the afternoon, we arrived at his house. It was a decent sized house for some one that lived alone. Eggshell white for color, it was a two-story house, with large windows, a cute little porch with one of those swing chairs hanging from the ceiling, hanging plants with cute purple flowers, and foliage that lined the front of the house. The driveway was gravel, that lead to the brick walkway which cut through the soft grassy yard, up to the porch.
It reminded me of one of those houses in the country side you see in those home and garden magazines.
“Wow,” I gasped out.
“You like it?” Derek said, jerking my suitcases out from the over-sized vehicle. “I bought it off of these two old folks who wanted to move down to Florida. It was a steal for me, so I took it.”
“You certainly did,” I muttered, with a raised eyebrow. Still, I smiled with delight. The house was inviting. Definitely reminding me of home.
“Well, c’mon now, come inside and I’ll show you your new room, okay?”
Derek practically shoved me in the house out of anticipation. And I was right. Straight out of Home and Garden.
The house was furnished, the wood flooring had a dark mahogany color to it. The cream colored sofas with the matching décor pillows, the soft brown rugs that off set it so naturally. The fireplace looked used, yet, it was clean. On the mantle were pictures of our family, his college buddies, and the new friends he made in Hyatt. On one of the walls hung his degree and veterinarian license. The copy must be hanging in his office in town. In the corner of the fairly large living room, were blankets and kennels with pillows in them. I pointed it out.
“Sometimes, I’ve got to  bring my work home,” he replied, lugging my bags in through the door.
The kitchen was fairly big, white and clean like a typical kitchen. The dinning room was adjacent. Derek’s den was just around the corner, down the hall way from the living room. He showed me upstairs, doing his best trying to carry my heavy bags to my room. Both of our bedrooms were upstairs, down the hall from each other. The bathroom was across from mine- thank god.
In my opinion, my room was the best thing in the house. The room had a high ceiling, giving off that feeling of openness, white walls and a fairly large closet. It had a large window that opened out to a terrific view of the mountain in the background. The forest sat right at the back of the house, though it was fenced off. I danced over the mahogany carpet, plopping down on my twin-sized bed.
“Brother, I love you,” I said exasperated.
He could only laugh. “I’m glad for that.”
“Are you sure it’s only for the summer?”
“Funny, funny.”
Derek soon left me alone, figuring out what he could serve for dinner. I decided not to delay unpacking, or else it’d never get done.
My mother packed everything, from winter wear, to my swimsuit and everything in between. The Ziploc bags were all labeled, with a description to boot. I shook my head, stuffing everything into the dourer respectively. I put my toiletries in the bathroom neatly, admiring the roominess of it too. The mirror was large, and so was the counter. The tub was pretty deep, bubble baths came to mind. I smiled. Taking note of how it felt to smile naturally again, for I knew it wouldn’t last too long. Only for the summer.

Getting ready for dinner, we both heard the doorbell chime.
“I got it Derek! Keep cooking,” I called, running down the stairs in my Mickey Mouse pajamas. It was a bad habit from when I was little. Call me a creature of habit to always take a bath before eating. So typical, like my mother. I sighed.
“Who is it?” I asked through the door.
A young man’s voice came through the door, “Is Dr. Morgan in right now?”
I opened the door.
He was just as tall as Derek-I only came up to his chest- he had dirty blond hair, hazel eyes, a nice slim body and a lovely smile. He was handsome.
“Is…is Dr. Morgan around?” he repeated again. His voice sounded so smooth, mature, yet he looked just as old as I did.
“And you…are?” I managed to choke out. Damn it, I was never good at this talking to cute guys thing.
“Reese Benjamins. I came over to talk to Dr. Morgan. Am I interrupting anything?”
I shook my head furiously. “No! No, come on in. Nothing’s happening just, cooking dinner. You know, yum!”
Such a loser! Yum? I scolded myself.
“Well, what’s up with those pajamas?”
The blood rushed immediately to my cheeks. I panicked.
“I’m so sorry! I didn’t think anything of it! I just have this habit of getting into my pjs at dinner time and I really didn’t think of company, you might think I’m really weird for doing this, I really like your town! It’s beautiful, the first time I’ve been here! Oh I’m new here, I’m his sister. Derek I mean, I mean, not his sister, I’m the sister, but--”
Reese patted me on my head, “Relax, Derek’s sister. I’m glad to meet you. What’s your name?”
My whole face flooded red, “R-r-Rebecca. Nice…to meet you.”
“Well, hello, Rebecca. I like your pajamas, so you can keep them on.”
“Okay. Um, my brother’s in the kitchen if you want him.”
“Is that chili I smell? May I please join you for dinner?” He beamed at me. A thousand watt smile that almost burned my eyes. It was gorgeous. It suited him.
I never felt so flustered like that in my whole entire life. Cursing myself, I sat quietly at the dinning room table, a chair away from Reese Benjamins with the gorgeous smile. My skin crawled the whole time he talked with my brother. About what, I couldn’t remember. Endless thoughts clouded my mind, unable to stay attentive to the things around me. I sighed in silence, only talking to myself, hearing rumbles of laughter occasionally coming from their conversation.
“ ‘Becca? Rebecca are you alright over there? You’re awfully quiet,” my brother asked.
I snapped to attention, taking note of the way Reese stared at my blank expression. I expected him to have a weird disturbed look on his face, instead it was a look of concern. I let my hair flow over my shoulders, hiding my blushing face, “I’m fine.” I muttered between my lips.
Oh, so stupid! Now he thinks you’re ditzy. Great! Well, I am but still.
“Don’t be so introverted. C’mon, join us,” I heard Reese’s smooth voice coon to me. I almost melted.
“Okay…” I replied.
“Oh, that’s right. You don’t really know who Reese is, huh?” Derek interjected. “This is my intern for the summer. He attends Hyatt High. Reese, you’re going to be a senior this upcoming semester, right?”
Reese beamed, “Well, planning too, yes.”
“That’s right. He also lives not to far from here. I paid him to take care of the lawn and such. But now, that he’s older, he wants to be a veterinarian.”
I nodded in response, “That’s cool.”
“What do you want to be?” Reese asked. It was like I was in kindergarten all over again.
“Teaching sounds nice. I think I can manage that.”
“Wow, that’s pretty cool too. I wanted to go into teaching, but I freeze up talking to large groups of people. So that was out.”
“You?” I chortled without thinking. “You’re so gorgeous. You can’t freeze up in front of people, they’d probably do it first.”
I scooped a  large spoonful of chili, before realizing what I said. Everyone went quiet. I couldn’t possibly pass it off as a joke now. I said it with such conviction in my voice. Swallowing hard, I met Reese’s gaze.
He laughed. He laughed pretty loudly. My brother joined with him.
“Wow, Rebecca, I knew I said for you to join the conversation, but jeez!” Reese laughed again.
“Rebecca, where in the world did you learn to get enough gall to talk like that?” Derek teased.
I flew a piece of cornbread at his face, “Shut up! I didn’t mean to say it out loud! I didn’t meant to!”
Reese smiled at me, “Rebecca, it’s okay. I’m taking it as a compliment. Thank you.”
Embarrassed, I took to eating quietly again. They didn’t give up though. The two teased me and got me to talk to them eventually. It was fairly easy to open up to Reese. He was such a nice guy. After a while, Derek and Reese took the conversation to work, approving essays to college, getting recommendations, things of the sort. I stayed out of that kind of thing. I didn’t really want to do anything with my life. I just wanted be here. Relaxing. No stress. But I knew that wasn’t life at all.
Dinner was finished, cleaned, by the time Reese had to head home. We saw him out the door.
“Hey, Rebecca?” he called out walking towards the driveway. “Want to hang out tomorrow? I’m free. We can hang by the lake?”
I didn’t expect that. I nodded, the blood flowing to my cheeks again.
“Great!” He beamed. “Pick you up around nine, then?”
I nodded in response. Derek patted me on my back, congratulating me for being brave and taking up on his offer. He really was a great kid, he told me. We said our good nights, he kissed me on my head and shoved me off to bed. But I was too exited for bed. Too exited for sleep. My whole body was electrified with the possibility of Reese and I.
I opened the window. The night breeze came swooping in, rustling through my hair and back out into the night. For some reason, the night air was just as electrified as my body. I heard a howl in the distance. I wanted to howl back. The smile came back to my face.
Maybe my life was turning around in this town after all.


III. The Moment

Oh god, Julius thought. I’m picking up her scent.
He put his nose to the air, and took a deep whiff. No doubting it. If she existed outside of his dream world, then that would definitely be her scent. Without thinking he strayed from his pack, following the scent. He knew where it was going. Back to one of the neighborhoods. Carefully, taking in each deep breath of her, Julius took his time tracking her down, enjoying her sweetness in the air. He could taste her on his tongue. The animal in him took over. Julius needed to see this girl. The closer he got to the edge of the neighborhood, other familiar scents came into play. Like Dr. Morgan’s scent. It stood out more than the rest of the smells.
Then, he saw the lights of the houses, the fenced off yards. Yes, this is where she was. Through the darkness and the thicket, he could clearly see her. He froze in a panic.
She existed. His dream girl. Though she wasn’t crying. She was smiling. It was so serene to her. He watched the girl for what it seemed to be forever. Every little move she made, a fidget, a breath, Julius shifted nervously. The girl was ordinary by any standard, but it was something about her smile that made her glow. It drove him mad. He wanted to step out from the bushes, confess every feeling she ever made him feel in the last few moments. But not like this.
Not in his current form.
But he watched her, ever so vigilantly. Julius admired the roundness of her face, the curves of her full lips, her tiny freckles. He counted every one he could see: two hundred and sixty seven. Even from so far away, even in the darkness of the night, he could see everything about her.
Julius heard Archer call out. He didn’t want to leave, but he would be in trouble if he didn’t. Reluctantly, he slowly turned away, taking in her radiance. He’d meet her tomorrow. Now that he knew about her, he couldn’t stay away. He didn’t want her to be like her dream self. No, he wanted to make her smile, just as she had done right now.
He quickly etched her scent into his mind and sped off.
Archer’s words to a young pup finally became clear.
It’s time.