In the Shadows

Sage

If anyone ever asked, Sage would say the most interesting thing about herself was that she was arguably the most popular girl in her class. Sage had worked hard to create a persona of perfection among her classmates. She participated in nearly every after school activity, fundraised for good causes, and cultivated a perky attitude in every situation she found herself in.

But this was not the most interesting thing about her.

Sage, in her five foot four stature, was possibly the most vicious and evil werewolf in her family. Of course, Sage would never say this was the most interesting thing about her. She did not know this about her yet.

Sage had little opinion about being a werewolf. She accepted it as her reality, viewing it more as a minor inconvenience than anything else. A minor inconvenience that reared its ugly head every month.

Sage had more important things to think about, anyway.

Sage had made an effort to be a part of as many clubs and activities as possible. She played volleyball, was possibly the greatest player on the team. She played basketball when that season rolled around. She was even on the softball team. Her passions went beyond sports, of course. She was a part of the Junior National Honors Society, Yearbook, and even spearheaded the school newspaper.

She aimed to cultivate a persona of perfection.

But no matter how much she worked, no matter what she did, she could not seem to grab Conner Chase’s attention. Conner was the quarterback on the football team, he was tall and had this magnificent dark brown hair. And, for some reason, he did not seem to notice that Sage existed at all.

“I wish you had come with us,” said Sage’s best friend, Jessica. They were currently standing by their lockers grabbing their books at the end of the school day. “It was so cool. I can’t believe we have to wait another year before we get to go.”

“It was fun?”

“Yep,” squealed Lucy, who was standing beside Jessica, she had an excited grin plastered to her face. “Tommy Harrison definitely knows how to throw a good party! It was so exciting! There were high school guys, Sage!”

“I have older brothers,” interjected Sage. “I can tell you right now, high school guys are overrated.”

“Oh come on, Sage,” Jessica continued, closing her locker. She ran a hand through her dark hair before tying it into a ponytail that bounced with every move she made. “It was so fun! It would have been funner had you been there.”

“Funner isn’t a word,” Sage told her. “Besides, I still hold that you should have waited until we’re actually in high school before going to a high school party. It’s less thrilling that way.” Sage hesitated a moment before continuing. “Did you actually see Tommy at the party?”

“Nope,” Lucy said with a pout.

“That’s probably why we were able to sneak into the party. Also, probably why the high schoolers destroyed the house.” Jessica gave a frustrated sigh and undid the ponytail. She ran her hands through her hair again, shaking her hair out before pulling it back into the ponytail.

“I do wish that I could have gone,” admitted Sage, “but I had family stuff going on.” She shrugged. “Even my sister, who is a senior, couldn’t go.”

“Will you promise to come with us if we try to sneak into another high school party?” questioned Jessica.

“Depends on when it is.” Sage looked down on her watch, she sighed. They walked outside, Jessica and Lucy heading over to the buses, ready to go home for the day. In contrast, Sage stood anxiously waiting for her sister and brother to come get her.

While she waited, Sage glanced around the area. The remnant of summer drifted around the air, the trees still holding onto its vibrant green leaves, refusing to let fall change them into the various colors of autumn.

The middle school itself stood on a hill, giving the students and faculty the best view of the mountains. Sage liked to believe that those who originally built the school had chosen this view meticulously. Once, she had heard one teacher tell another teacher that the only real p*****t they made at the school was in the view.

The school was built back in the 1950s. There had been a small schoolhouse built in the early 1800s on the same property that was destroyed in a fire. A fire, as Sage knew, had been started by witches as a way to destroy a company of vampires. The attempt failed and just made them angry. Following the destruction of the schoolhouse, the middle school was rebuilt on the property, the elementary and high school were built nearby.

Sage tapped her foot anxiously. The high school was only a few blocks away. Why was her sister so late? This was not the first time they had taken Meira forever coming to pick her up either. It was a constant annoyance in Sage’s life.

Finally, as if beginning to sense Sage’s frustration, Meira’s car entered the parking lot, zooming over to where Sage was waiting on the sidewalk.

“You’re late,” Sage greeted, climbing into the backseat of the car. “You know I’m going to the shelter today.”

Meira just rolled her eyes. “Be thankful I’m picking you up at all,” Meira snapped. Sage held in her annoyed sigh. While she would always love Meira as a sister, the girl was a self-righteous nuisance sometimes.

Meira pulled out of the parking lot, heading towards the local animal shelter. Twice a week, Sage volunteered at the animal shelter. She wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up and determined it would be best for her to work with animals as much as possible. She loved the animal shelter and the people who worked there. Her boss, Mr. Jeffords, the owner of the shelter, claimed that Sage had a way with the animals, especially the canines.

The animal shelter was not very large. It housed less than twenty animals at a time, not having space for any more. It was the only animal shelter in the small town.

Meira seemed to take her sweet time driving over to the shelter. Sage was nearly positive that her older sister was going slower on purpose, just to spite her.

And it worked pretty well. When they finally reached the shelter, Sage was flushed with annoyance.

“You’re late,” called Sarah Jeffords as Sage entered the building.

“My sister was late picking me up,” Sage explained.

“You say that every time you’re late,” Sarah pointed out.

“It’s true every time,” mumbled Sage.

Sarah was a tall woman. She seemed to tower over everyone around her, including her husband. While Sarah easily cleared six foot five, her husband barely reached five foot eight. They were an odd pair, but they loved each other in a way that was rare to most humans.

Sarah always claimed that she never spent too much time worrying about her appearance, but Sage knew that was a lie. As always, Sarah’s dark black hair was done in lovely, long curls. Likewise, her face was glittered with makeup. The older woman had chosen to wear purple eyeshadow, wanting her brown eyes to stand out against her equally dark skin.

“Can you still give me a ride to practice later?” questioned Sage, as she set her backpack down in the work/lounge room.

“Of course,” replied Sarah. Along with owning the shelter, Sarah also coached the middle school girls’ volleyball team. Sarah adored volleyball. When she played during her high school years, she was the team captain and took the team to state, winning the MVP award after their victory. Following high school, Sarah had chosen to continue to play volleyball in college. Having finished college, she returned to her home in Silver Hill with her new husband, taking over the shelter when her mother died. While she loved working at the shelter, she wished that she could still play what was to her the greatest game in the world. Coaching the team was the best way she could achieve this.

Sage set to work. Most of the time at the shelter, she had the task of removing each animal from its cage and playing with it. The animals in the shelter needed to feel undying love. So, Sarah, and her husband Allan, chose to let the volunteers do this. It was really the best way for them to continue to have volunteers.

Sage had only been there for an hour when the bell on the door rang, explicating to everyone that a customer had just arrived. At the time, Sage was playing with a corgi, watching the puppy dance around the play area with excitement. Sage continued to watch the puppy, absentmindedly playing with it when the necessity arose, but she could not stop herself from straining to hear the conversation between Sarah and the customer.

This had always been a good side effect from being a werewolf. She could hear almost everything around her.

The customer was a man with a husky voice. When he spoke, the image of the stereotypical mountain man filled Sage’s mind. Her imagination painted him as wearing red flannel, wearing some kind of hat he had made from his huntining. He would certainly be wearing old, faded blue jeans. And his shoes? Well, he was probably wearing boots.

He started talking about needing a good hunting dog. Sarah gave him a tour of the small animal shelter (and when he passed by Sage, she was glad to see that her image of the man was not far off), pointing out the best hunting dogs for him. He picked out a dog by the name of Chester, claiming he would make the best companion for the mountain man.

“Have you ever owned a dog before?” asked Sarah as she organized the paperwork for him to sign.

“I have,” the man replied, his husky voice echoing across the shelter. “My dog was killed over the weekend actually by a wolf. Didn’t know there were any around here.” Sage froze in her spot, ignoring the adorable puppy before her as she focused on what the man was saying.

“I’m so to hear that!” exclaimed Sarah. “I’m not sure what a wolf was doing up here. They’re not native to this region.” Sage’s heart pounded in her chest. “Where was this?”

“About forty miles west of here,” the man answered. Sage felt like she could not breathe. This could not be happening. It was not possible.

“Well, I will let the sheriff know to be on the lookout,” commented Sarah as the man began to etch his signature onto the documents. While the pen scratched the man’s name, Sage tried to rationalize it to herself. She was probably overreacting. There were numerous werewolves in the area, they could have been idiotic like Zane and Noah and just forgot to chain themselves up during the full moon.

Then again, she knew the werewolves in this town. None of them were as stupid as Zane and Noah. They would have put the protection of the town before anything else.

But this was an alternative that Sage did not particularly care to think about.

“You ready to go?” called Sarah. “Oh, yeah, let me grab my stuff.” Sage placed the puppy back in its cage, grabbed her things, and raced out of the shelter to where Sarah was waiting by her car. “Are you alright?” Sarah inquired. “You look a little pale.”

“F-fine.” Sage cleared her throat. “I’m fine.”

The minute Sage returned from her volleyball practice, Sarah having dropped her off at her home, she raced to her father’s study, knocking loudly on the door. “Come in, Sage,” called her father. She opened the door.

“Will you ever tell me how you always know it’s me?” she returned, forgetting for a moment why she had come to talk to her father. Ernest gestured for her to take the seat beside his desk, a seat that she had occupied multiple times over the years. She used to love sitting here beside her dad while he did his work. Back then, she had assumed her father was a hero, a belief she still clung to even as a fourteen-year-old.

“Probably not,” Ernest Hayes answered with a small smile. “What do you need?”

“Okay,” she began, recalling the knowledge that had been plaguing her during her volleyball practice. “I realize that I’m probably overreacting. It’s probably nothing. I-I think it’s nothing.”

“It’s obviously something. Otherwise, you would not be this worried.” Sage nodded and began relaying what happened at the shelter with the mountain man. As she spoke, she could see understanding fall on her father like a knife, his face growing stern and serious.

“Dad, I-I think the Volbraghts are back.”