FROM ROGUE TO LUNA

ESCAPE

NATALIE

I run and run and as I approach the barriers, I see them parting and without giving it much thought, I run through them and pass by the guards on duty who pursue me for a while. However, I am so fast for them and they give up and go back.

All this while, my wolf has been silent and since I'm still young, I can't shift so as to run faster. Either way, I keep on running till it's dark and the sun has already set. I need to keep away from the Two Hills pack, away from the events that took place earlier today. I have entered a thick forest with tall trees and dense undergrowth. I easily forget that it's the same sprawling forest that teems with rogues and many dangerous beasts. I have either dismissed the thought or I'm so preoccupied with getting away that I don't care.

I've exhausted all the food that I ate at the party and I'm suddenly feeling hungry. I walk around and identity a tree with many succulent berries and start eating. I also hear the cooling sounds of a river flowing, and my sense of smell tells me that the water is good for quenching the thirst that is troubling me.

I walk to the river and drink my fill, then I remove my clothes and dip myself inside and in the semi darkness I enjoy as the water cools down my body, such a refreshing moment that I forget all that I'm running away from.

Moments later I put my clothes back on and walk towards a tree and due to exhaustion, I lie under it and I'm immediately carried away by heavy sleep.

***

I wake up with a start!

I open my eyes and I realise that it's still dark, very dark and I'm not lying on my comfortable bed. I'm in the forest, under a tree. It's very cold and I realize that in my haste to escape I had forgotten to take with me some form of warm clothing. The temperatures have gone down and I am actually shivering, but that's the least of my problems. In my haste to escape, I have ended up in this dreaded forest and right now I'm too afraid of what the forest may hold. Right now I can hear many sounds, insects, birds and other unknown sounds. I decide to climb up a tree. But as I take on the stem, I hear some movement, then I detect some strange smell, something is growing, making scary noises and I look around to trace it.

Filled with immense fear, I decide to concentrate on climbing onto the tree but my oily hands won't let me. I fall back on the bushes and when I try to get up again, a heavy paw grabs my leg, bringing me back to the ground. I scream as I try to free myself from its hold but it lunges at me in full force, sending me sprawling on the ground. I try to get up again but the beast is all over me. It bears it's fangs as it growls, it's paws outstretched. Then it reaches down on me as I scream in horror.

When I come back to my senses, I find myself on a bed and when I try sitting up, my head hurts....in fact, my whole body aches. My eyes can't open fully because a sharp pain runs through them when I try.

The events of that night come flooding back and whatever led to me running away, making me to sigh in desperation. Instinctively, I place my palm on my hurting face and I scream loudly when I feel something like a bandage around my head. My head is so heavy such that I can't even lift it up. I suddenly remember the beast that attacked me and wonder what happened next.

Immediately I hear some voices outside, as if some people are discussing about something and before I know it, three people enter into the room, looking worried and surprised at the same time.

"Thank goodness you're awake!" the young girl who's around my age says.

"Who are you and where am I?" I ask the trio.

"I am Anne and this is my father Joseph and my brother Peter." the girl replies. "We rescued you two days ago just as a beast was about to devour you. You are so lucky to be alive. My father here is the one who shot at it just in time.

Welcome to our humble abode but there's something you need to know, we are rogues.

I digest that piece of information as I look at the three family members surrounding the bed. How is rogue life? I ask myself, but then I see that it's them who I should be asking. Their father looks like a man in his forties, with streaks of grey in his hair and a gray stubble. I wonder where their mother is, and my mind suddenly wanders to my parents and brother back at the Two Hills pack. Are they wondering about my whereabouts?

“You need to eat." Joseph breaks the silence and wakes me from my reverie. “You haven't eaten anything for all the time you have been here."

“Give me some water please." Is the only thing I can say. Peter moves out and moments later he walks in with a jug and a cup. He pours some water into the cup and hands it to his sister who helps me to drink it. As it goes down my throat I feel some pain. My throat was bruised.

Later the trio sit beside my bed as I narrate to them what happened and why I was in the forest when they found me.

“That forest is very dangerous. You are the first person we have found alive. Mostly we find dead bodies and others who have been eaten to the skeleton." They explain to me.

“Thanks. I'm forever grateful." I say.

“Don't mention it." Joseph says. “You will stay with us until you are fully healed, after which you can decide on your next course of action. Maybe you will think of going back home."

Going home? That's something I'm not going to do, but I keep it to myself.