Page 2 of The Boy With The Sharp Teeth
Turningoff all the lights in the house, she grabbed a green apple out of the fridgebefore heading back to her new room. Tomorrow, her things would arrive, and theday after that, she would meet the mayors and city planners for all threeOregon towns, Gaulding, Tarki, and Antor Falls, and discuss her new job astheir cities' head engineer. Along the coast connecting all three cities wouldbe a line of wind turbines along with an array of solar farms for each city.From now on, it would be her job to install and maintain the three cities' newpower structure and sell any access power generated back to the state. The jobwas going to be frightfully easy for someone with her skills. Smiling, shethought of her coworkers and supervisors telling her the same thing when sheannounced her decision.Why would a woman so young and as talented as youwant to waste the rest of your life in a dead-end beach town?
Thetruth was, she really didn't have a clear answer. Ever since her grandmotherdied, there was some sort of pull within her when she thought of this place,the sleepy little beach town where she spent all of her summers. The funnything was, there wasn't even anything special about it. Visiting Tarki didn'tmake her acute social anxiety any less cringe-worthy when she interacted withpeople. There were no particular coming of age moments that highlighted aparticular portion of her childhood. If anything, there were plenty offrightening moments in Tarki. Moments brought upon by the very man who stood inthis very room with her earlier, looking at her as if he didn’t remember her atall.
Grabbingher brush from her bag, Sana snatched it a little too violently through herlong black hair as she sat on the edge of her bed. How could a man who spentmost of his free time harassing her for two summers just forget her so easilywhen all she ever did was recall his cruel, handsome face in her waking dreams?Not that she wanted him to remember her, she thought with rising heat to hercheeks. It was actually better if he forgot all about her, but her pridecouldn't seem to agree with her logic. It hurt a far lot more than she wouldhave ever imagined knowing that the handsome town rebel who tormented her each summer,making them unforgettable and painful all at once, grew up to simply forgether.
Standingup, she tossed her brush onto the built-in vanity near the four-poster bed. Thevanity's mirror was a beautiful lantern shape design that narrowed at the topbefore swelling out in the middle and narrowing again at the base. Looking ather reflection, she couldn't help but wonder what Zach saw when he looked ather now. To her, she looked no different than the skinny high-school girl withlarge brown eyes he met all those years ago. Her hair was longer now but stillthe same shade of dark brown that looked black in most light. Thankfully, byeverything that was holy and good in this world, her figure finally filled outa bit. Food finally stuck to her bones, as her grandmother had put it, insteadof melting away with her too high metabolism. She was thicker and a littlecurvier now but not enough to make her a bombshell like other women she envied.Angry at her turn of thoughts, she turned on her heel, away from the mirror.Who gave a toss what Zachariah Waatese thought of her anyway? This was heradventure, her fresh start, and she refused to think about him again.
Sincethere was no lamp by her bed yet, she had to turn off the light switch on thewall before making her way back to the bed. Moonlight from the curtainlesswindow helped guide her way back across the empty room. Pulling back the thinsheet she had brought with her in her duffel bag, she glanced out the picturewindow which faced the front of the house. Standing at the edge of the forestnear the single lane drive was a large dark figure. Its shape was unmistakableeven from this distance. Quietly sitting, staring up directly at her, was alarge black wolf with eyes she could swear were golden.
Chapter 3
EightYears Ago
Itwas the summer she turned sixteen when she first saw the wolf.
Sittingon the porch with her back against the railing's post, Sana was reading theinstructions on her new camera as her grandfather sat on the porch's swingreading a book. After forcing her to play hide and seek for nearly an hour, herseven-year-old brother, Kamal, was inside, sleeping on the couch. Lifting hercamera, she put her eye to the viewfinder and panned it around the porch. Herold camera was a film, point and shoot model, and though she always managed totake photos that her family and teachers said were great, she knew that nowwith this very expensive digital SLR model, she could really get some greatshots.
"Youknow, Sana," her grandfather began as he looked up from his book andsmiled at her. "If you take the trail into the forest, it will lead you toan old quarry this town used to mine years ago,” he informed her. “Since itclosed years ago, the quarry now is little more than a deep pond, being filledin by rain and streams over the years."
Sana'seyes widened as she tried to imagine the filled-in quarry he described. Hergrandmother had told her and her mom a couple of years ago that when she andgrandpa moved in, he had spent a lot of his free time exploring the town andthe huge forest, Druthers Forest, that bordered their town and the two otherneighboring towns. Her grandmother said he would spend all day roaming aroundthose woods before eventually coming home to report his findings. Old,long-forgotten cabins, a few native markings, and other small abandoned cluesall pointing to the past and hidden within the towering pine trees.
"Howfar is it?" She asked, excited but apprehensive. Her father always lightlyteased her of her cautious nature while her mother scolded him for doing so.Her mother, Fatima Bhatt, nurtured her daughter's cautious outlook on life,believing it was far better to be dubious than sorry.
Hergrandfather cocked his head in thought and looked to the small, almostindiscernible break in the forest's tree-line. "It's not too far, maybeabout a fifteen-minute walk to and back. Just stay on the trail and don’t veeroff. You will know if you have."
Followinghis line of sight, she stared at the entrance of the small walking trail into thethick forest. Her first thought was, no, as it always was. Lately, as sheobserved her friends' growing social life back in Seattle, Sana was starting torealize that perhaps she was a killjoy. When invited out to hang on a Saturdaynight, Sana felt compelled to know the full itinerary of the evening beforeagreeing to go. What transportation were they using? Who was going along?Exactly where were they going? With each question, she could see theregret in her friends' eyes for even asking her to join. Sana couldn't evenpinpoint when she became like this, when she allowed worry to supersede theprospect of a good time. She wanted to change that about herself.
Standingup from the porch, she brushed off her burgundy cotton shorts and straightenedher mustard-colored shirt. "Ok, I will try and see if I can find it."
Theapproving smile on her grandfather's face made her heart soar. She had afeeling he had wanted her to take this tiny journey almost for the same reasonsshe did. "Try to be back before one," he called out as she descendedthe porch stairs.
Shesmiled back at him, giving him a nod, knowing he really meant for her to getback before her mother came back from town. With her camera strap around herneck, Sana walked into the break in the tree-line.
Thetrail was just as easy to follow as her grandfather indicated. The earthbeneath her sneakers was packed and a little moist from the morning's rain,scattered with dead leaves here and there. Wild ferns sprouted along the sideof the worn path, making her wonder how many times a week did her grandfathertake this path to keep it from being overgrown. Stopping occasionally, shefocused her camera's sights on shafts of sunlight spearing through the branchesor a bird standing idly by. Looking down the path ahead, Sana picked up herpace at the sight of a tall rock structure ahead.
Partlycovered in moss, the large slab of rock was piled high on top of similarheavier ones with naturally organized geometry that drew the human eye. Holdingher camera up, she adjusted the lens with her right hand, pulling the lens backto zoom out as she panned upwards. A large black shape at the top of the rockscaused her to go still. Dropping her camera from her face, Sana looked againwith both eyes this time—but the rock-ledge was empty. Releasing a deep breath,she let herself smile at her paranoia. The forest was quiet. Only the chimingsounds of birds fluttering high above her broke the stillness in the air.Glancing back at the still empty rock-ledge, she picked her way around thelarge structure using the coarse wall of the rock as leverage as she steppedover smaller boulders. Coming around, her eyes finally settled on theglimmering objective of her journey. Sana let out a soft laugh of excitement asshe hurriedly followed the natural sloping path around the pond.
Itwas beautiful and so magnificently clear. When her grandfather mentioned thepond, she imagined a small murky green pond filled with mosquitoes and otherunpleasant lifeforms. This was nothing like that at all. For starters, it washuge. At last, she made it down the incline where the walls of the quarry pondwere at their lowest. Looking around, she smiled when she spotted a stacking ofbedrock that would allow anyone to climb in and out of the pond with ease.
Shecouldn't help but wonder how many of the people of Tarki knew about this place.Right now, most of the kids in town were still in school, and they wouldn’t bereleased for summer vacation until the end of the week. Did any of them comehere? Did they use that giant rock-ledge at the top of the incline as a jumpingpoint to plunge into the deepest part of the clear water?
Pullingher camera back to her eye, she knelt down and snapped a few shots of thewater. She hoped the natural lines of the once working quarry would show up inher photos. Even now, through the clear water, she could still see the neathorizontal lines that the people of Tarki dug into the wall years ago as theymined for minerals. Snapping a few more shots, she paused as she looked back upto the rock ledge at the top of the hill where she came from. Letting her gazeslowly follow the tree line around the secret watering hole, she let her minddrift to a more audacious thought. Glancing back at the clear water, she bentdown and gave a hesitant touch to the water's surface. It was cool butsurprisingly not freezing as she initially suspected.
Lookingaround once more, she abandoned the internal debate she was having. Setting hercamera carefully down against the mossy rocks, she grabbed the hem of her shirtand quickly pulled it over her head. Unbuttoning her burgundy shorts, sheslipped them off next. Wearing only her pink bra and yellow underwear, she usedthe natural stairs along the edge and stepped into the deep pond. Submerginginto the water, the cool temperature nearly took her breath away.
Laughing,she plunged forward and swam towards the middle of the pond, and dived indeeper. Underneath the water was a world of soft and dark greens, all fallinginto a natural formation. The stunning geological pattern of reds, grays, andbrowns where the earth had been dug into along the rock walls looked so perfectit almost seemed intentional. Swimming back up to the surface, Sana took a deepbreath. Pushing back her hair, she waded in the water, turning slowly.Gradually, her eyes settled back on the rock ledge above, and the pair ofgolden eyes staring back at her.
Sananearly screamed.
Layingcalmly on the flat top of the rock ledge was a skinny black wolf, watching her.Every instinct wanted her to scramble out of the water and make a mad dash backto her grandparents' house, but logic kept her still. Wolves were far fasterthan humans, and running would only make it want to chase her. She needed to becalm. Without taking her eyes from it, Sana swam backward toward the rock ledgewhere her clothes and camera were. The wolf's golden eyes stared at her withwhat she swore was amused curiosity. Feeling the ledge hit her back, Sanagripped the sides with both hands, hoisting herself up backward and up thenatural steps in the rocks. The black wolf sat up a little straighter at hernew position. Sana froze. His eyes were focused on her as she stood there,drenched only in her underwear. His fuzzy black tail began to slowly wag in bigflaps against the rock. He seemed almost pleased, she thought with a frown.Bending down, she carefully grabbed her clothes and shoes, slipping them onbefore grabbing her camera. Her fear and her cool, wet skin made her start toshake as she tried to calmly figure out how to circle around the wolf and stillget home. Looking to her left, she tried to quickly access the trees and theterrain back up the hill before turning her head back to keep an eye on thewolf. But when she looked back, there was no wolf.
Fearseized her muscles, freezing her to the spot. Where was it? Looking around withheld breath, she combed the trees with her eyes for what felt like minutes, butshe could hear or see nothing. Taking a deep breath, she decided this was heronly chance. With deep lunging steps, she made it back up the rocky incline inrecord time and even faster time back down the trail. She nearly collapsed inrelief as she broke through the tree line surrounding her grandparents' houseand out of the clutches of the forest. Running up the porch stairs, she nearlyran into Adam Waatese, who was standing next to her grandfather. Still sittingpeacefully in his porch swing, her grandfather stopped mid-sentence and watchedher with open curiosity as she sagged heavily against the porch railing, out ofbreath.
"Itake it you found the pond," her grandfather nodded at her, referring toher still wet hair and clothes.
"Yes,"she said with a great breath. Standing up straighter, she braced both handsagainst the railing and gave Mr. Waatese a polite smile before looking back toher grandfather. "And a wolf."
Mr.Waatese, who had been staring at her disheveled appearance with a friendlysmirk, frowned suddenly. "You were at the old quarry?"
