Page 292 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

Salvation

by Cassie Laelyn

Prologue

Mia

Age Fourteen

Day One in Woodland Falls.

I tossed my jacket on the bed. The one with a paisley pink bedspread to match an equally pale pink room that made me want to hurl. A room fit for a girly-girl, who surprise, surprise, wasn’t me.

A summer’s worth of belongings sat in an unopened suitcase at the foot of said vomit bed. I stared at it for longer than I should, but I couldn’t bring myself to unpack. Unpacking meant accepting that my mother dumped me here.

Why?A question I asked myself a million times during the drive. Every time, the answer was the same. Mom had better things to do for the summer. Even now, she and the grandmother I had only just met, argued about something downstairs. Probably her ditching me or how I was such a disappointment to her.

Apparently, my grandmother’s name was Joan. Also apparently, it slipped my mom’s mind to introduce us earlier. Like, anytime during the last fourteen years.

Life sucked. Correction,mylife sucked.

A door slammed downstairs, startling me. Shortly after, a car engine started then drove away.

I guess Mom left.

I just stood there. Empty. So many thoughts collided together that the hurricane of emotion opened a gaping hole inside my heart.

Outside the room, the floorboards creaked as someone ascended the stairs. Part of me hoped the footsteps belonged to Mom, even though I knew better. This wasn’t the first time she’d dumped me.

When Joan appeared in the doorway, my throat went all scratchy, but I refused to cry. I wouldn’t give Mom any satisfaction, even if she wasn’t here to see it. Instead, I jutted out my chin.

I always asked Mom if I looked like my dad, who I’d also never met because my mother forgot to introduce us as well. Mom and I had the same dark brown hair, but the resemblance ended there. Now I knew why. All my looks came from Joan. We had the same hazel eyes, same round face, same fat bottom lip, though I didn’t have a set of wrinkles at the corner of my eyes like her. I guess I would someday. If Joan’s hair wasn’t salt and pepper and cut in a short bob, I bet it’d look the same as mine.

“It’ll be okay, Mia,” Joan said from the doorway.

I wasn’t convinced. What kind of mother left their kid with someone they only just met? Instead of saying that, I opted for silence.

“Why don’t you get settled? I’ll go make us some supper.”

Without waiting for a reply, Joan returned downstairs. She seemed nice. But then, when I was younger, so did my mother.

For the next ten weeks, I’d officially live in the middle of nowhere. A town so tiny the population didn’t even match the number of people living in a single suburb in Seattle.

With a dramatic sigh, I trudged to the suitcase. If I left it closed, I’d never change my clothes. Forever living in sweats and a T-shirt I could handle, but never sketching again? That was a big fat no.

I clicked the combination and unzipped the case, grabbing my sketch pad.

Movement outside the window caught my eye. Abandoning the sketch pad, I moved to the bay window to peer outside. Late afternoon shadows drifted over the brown-green lawn. Procrastination was by far my best superpower. Luckily, I didn’t need to focus too much for good grades. Maybe I got that from Joan as well? If so, I was glad for it because summer school would suck worse than being here. Marginally.

Out the window, a tire swing hung from a branch on the nearest pine tree. I imagined sitting there all day sketching. Even Joan’s freshly baked chocolate-chip cookies wouldn’t entice me to socialize. I knew she’d make them. Didn’t all grandmothers?

Nothing seemed any different from when I peered out the window half an hour ago. As I turned away, a flicker between two trees stopped me. I leaned closer to the glass, squinting.

Wispy fog rolled between the branches, spilling onto the lawn. Did this place even get summer?

I scanned the yard, past the dead, overgrown vegetable patch, to the shed. As soon as I walked into the house, Joan told me her one and only rule: stay out of the garden shed. Weird, but whatever. I wasn’t into gardening anyway. Clearly, she wasn’t concerned about me exploring the forest though, given her unfenced property extended right to the tree line.

I followed the tree line back to the spot right outside my window. My breath caught. A large animal stalked between the trees, heading toward the house.

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