Tragedy

LIA’S POV

James and I lie side by side on the grass; it’s completely dark now and the sky is lit up by a  thousand stars. I stare at them dreamily. Could Papa be up there staring down at me now? 

I hear James turn again. I know he is itching to ask questions. I’m surprised he’s held it in for so long. 

I sit up facing him. “Okay, ask away.” 

He sits up immediately, his expression innocently guilty. 

“I promise it’s just a few questions this time.” 

“Ask now, before I change my mind.” I tease. 

“Who is the hybrid?” He asks, those large eyes peering up at me through the darkness. 

I wait for my body to still as it always does at the sound of him, but it doesn’t. That’s a good sign. 

“No one knows what he looks like,” I respond calmly. “But they say he is part vampire and part werewolf.” 

“And he killed you papa.” He says quietly. 

“Yes.” I hesitate. “A long time ago.” 

“Before I was born?” 

“Yes. Long before you were born.” I say lightheartedly. 

“What will you do if you meet the hybrid?” He asks. 

 I imagine it happening every night. 

I turn back to stare at the sky. “I will kill him myself.”

James huffs beside me. I can tell he is puffing his chest right now. 

“I’ll protect you.” He says with determination.  

I throw my head back in laughter, “You’re the one who’s a kid, how will you protect me?” 

“I am going to be eleven soon and I will train hard and become a pack warrior, then I can protect you and Mama from anything.” 

My heart warms, pain forgotten as I ruffle his hair. “You don’t have to protect anyone, you just need to grow up well and happy.” 

 I laugh as his nose scrunches up and he swats my hands away. 

“You watch and see.” 

“Yes, pack warrior James.” I mimic. “Your mama would be worried sick by now. You should go.” 

His eyes widen in childish horror as he jumps to his feet and runs down the path. 

“Bye, Lia!"

UNKNOWN POV 

The moonstone pack’s usual night silence is shattered by a guttural wail, followed by the sound of bones breaking. Within minutes, more screams echo, followed by carnage and chaos. Wolves fall, torn into pieces by an enemy they cannot see. The air is filled with the smell of blood, death and fear, young pups crying over the dead bodies of their mothers, warriors falling even before their heightened senses can sniff out their enemy. They don’t stand a chance. 

Little James freezes at the sight of blood in front of his house. His eyes were darting around frantically. 

“Mama?!” He calls out, voice trembling. 

He rushes towards the door. “Mama! Where are…” 

He is cut off by a piercing scream coming from inside the house. James' legs move on their own, jumping over the remaining pieces of the broken door. 

But he is too late. 

His eyes widen in horror as he takes in the sight before him. He rushes to his mother’s side, grabbing her hand desperately. 

“Mama…” his voice trembles as her eyelids flutter rapidly as she tries to keep her eyes open. Her abdomen is completely torn out. The floor was completely covered in blood. 

“You aren’t healing, mama. Why aren’t you healing?!” He yells even more panicked. But the damage has already been done, the wound worse than anything her wolf can heal. 

Her lips part as she desperately tries to speak, but nothing comes out, blood gushing out of her faster than her son can keep track of. Tears flow freely out of James’s eyes as he is forced to watch helplessly as his mother dies, right in his arms.  

James spends the next several minutes cradling his mother’s body in his arms, his eyes blank as he stares into nothingness, completely tuning out the screams coming from everywhere else in the pack. 

Suddenly, his mind clicks, his eyes widening. “Lia!” 

After gently placing his mother on the floor, he jumps to his feet and runs out of the house in the direction of the woods, with one thing on his mind. His mama is dead but Lia is still alive and he won’t lose her, either. 

Back at Lia’s secret spot, it doesn’t take long for the peace to be broken by the screams coming from the pack. Lia, at first, assumes it’s just another celebration, but that is till she notices that the screams don’t stop, carrying with it death and pain.

She jumps to her feet and runs down the path, dimly lit up by fireflies, peaceful and undisturbed, she notices, a far cry from the sounds of horror coming from her pack. 

The sight of the first corpse, turned into pieces, stops her in her tracks. 

“Ohh goddess…” She whispers. “Where is James?” 

Her feet start moving again on their own, this time with more urgency. Her heart trembles in fear as she runs past body after body, each one looking more gruesome than the last. She shivers, but not from fear for herself. 

“James!” She calls out, her voice desperate as she peers at what used to be the door of his house. 

“Oh my goddess!” She yells at the sight of his mother's torn body. Her heart breaks as she looks at every corner of the house. But James is nowhere in sight. 

“No, no, no.” Her eyes catch sight of something familiar, just beside his mother’s head. The softball James always carries around, he had it the last time she saw him. Lia’s heart hollows; her fear confirmed, James had been here.  

She grabs the softball and rushes out into the street, “James!” 

Lia has always seen James as a younger brother and a best friend, and now they only have each other left in the world, but as they search, calling out each other’s names desperately, their paths never cross. James runs towards the woods to find Lia, while Lia runs in a different direction to find him, the danger forgotten, their hearts only filled with the fear of losing the last person they hold dear. 

“James!” Lia calls out again and again. And then she hears it, a quiet whimper, coming from within the woods behind James’s house. 

“James! Is that you?” She hears it again, the whimper, weak and filled with pain. She doesn’t hesitate. Lia raises up her skirt and runs into the woods as fast as her legs can carry her.