Anya woke up the next morning, her senses tingling with a mix of determination and unease. The piercing sound of her alarm pulled her from her slumber, and she groggily rubbed her eyes, aware that her apartment was in dire need of tidying up. As she got out of bed, she made a mental note to clean later. With that she headed to the rest room to relief herself, but her growling stomach demanded attention first. She quickly did her business and exited the rest room.
Being a werewolf, Anya needed to consume fresh meat at least once every three days to maintain her strength and prevent herself from preying on unsuspecting humans. She shuffled into the kitchen, eyes fixed on the contents of her freezer. There, amidst the frozen goods, she found a supply of meat waiting for her. She had bought some of those meat from the meat market nearby and the rest was an offering from Vincent, the alpha of her pack, who often made grand gestures towards her. The first time he brought her meat , Anya had asked him why he was doing it. He simply said it was to care for his pack members.
Anya chuckled to herself, grateful for Vincent's thoughtfulness, and carried the meat to the counter. The mouth-watering aroma filled her lungs as she devoured the fresh cold meat, nourishing her body for the days ahead. Satisfied, she decided it was time for a run to clear her mind.
Dressed in comfortable athletic attire, Anya stepped out into the world, jamming the door to her own world behind her, the cool morning air brushing against her face. With a burst of energy, she launched herself into a sprint, her werewolf speed propelling her forward.
Apart from when she is being a teacher, directing her students and watching them become better daily, this is the next thing that keeps her happy and full of energy. She smiled to herself as she ran.
As her feet pounded against the tarred road of her street, she made mental notes of her activities for the day: 6 classes for four hours, science fair preparation, and home sweet home. She smiled to herself.
As she sprinted, she could feel her muscles stretching themselves. Her wrist watch told her that she had hit her target for the day, then she been to slow down her speed until she finally stopped. Glancing around she was in front of a Mall: City Mall. It was the first mall she visited when she moved to Longroove some years ago. Memories surged through her mind, bringing her back to a time long gone. Her wrist watched chimed to tell her that it was 5: 50 a.m., a well welcomed distraction. Deciding that she had caught enough breath, the she wolf sped off again, heading home this time.
It was as if this morning was a day for sad memories. Her brain took her on a tour of how she used to do this with Emma early morning before they would depart for their jobs.
She tried shaking it off, but her mind persisted like a child demanding for chocolate at the dead of the night. It went the extra mile of giving her a vivid scene.
It was one of those mornings when she and Emma were preparing for the usual run. Normally Emma would run a little bit on the treadmill before Anya wakes up. According to her, it was her style of warm ups. She would later tease Anya that she sleeps very heavy for a werewolf. Anya would tell her that she had a heavy dinner the previous night. That was usually her excuse. Emma would further tease her about how over-used the line was. She would immediately follow that up with "catch me if you can," and she would zoom off on a speed triple of Anya's who would still beat her to it.
Anya sighed, holding her tears at bay while trying to shake off the memory. But that didn't happen. Her mind continued to torment her.
Emma, her lover from five years ago, emerged vividly in her thoughts. The memory of their fierce competition, pushing each other to finish the final lap, warmed her heart. But it also stirred a well of guilt within her. Emma had tragically lost her life during a hunting venture they embarked on together, and Anya blamed herself for the devastating outcome.
She blames herself because it was a Sunday morning and hunters were not supposed to be out in the forest. Most of them are Catholics. They were supposed to be at the church listening to their priest who would urge them to rid the society of the evil called werewolves and vampires. She overheard that one morning when she and Emma had gone for their usual run. She remembered taking the St. Augustine's Catholic Church route. Getting closer, she heard the priest over the microphone urging the Christians to do all it takes to stay safe and rid the world of demons like werewolves. She remembered shaking her heard in disgust and zooming past the church in anger. That day, Emma had beat her to the race because of the extra time she wasted pausing at the church.
On the day Emma died, She remembered how she and Emma had strolled into the Mongroove forest in their human forms, with their fingers entwined. Emma was a body contact kind of person. She had always been from their pre school days. She also liked talking. That particular morning, she was talking about a novel she had read and how she felt it could have ended better.
“I feel like the writer was just lazy not to explore further. Do you know that she even killed one of the major characters that would have propelled the plot further before she ever got the chance to put the character into good use?”
“Really?” Anya asked, her thumb caressing her lovers middle finger.
“Yes,” responded Emma who only paused some seconds to catch her breath and continued. She has a penchant for gesticulations. Talking, she stopped walking, facing Anya, she gently extracted her right hand from her lover's hand and began using her fingers to drive home her point.
Anya stood there watching her talk. It was all she could do. Emma was a book person and had majored in Literature in College, literary analysis came easily to her.
Taking a break from listening to Emma, Anya looked around, taking in her environment and the weather. The day was like a regular Sunday morning. No sign of rain, no clouds. The forest was its usual greeny self. Sound of birds going about their singing business was not found wanting.
Deciding that she had had enough of her girlfriend’s talk about books, she held her by the hand and pulled her to her, covering the little distance between them. That didn’t stop Emma's yapping. Anya cupped her face in her palm and engulfed her lips in a soul snatching kiss. That did it. Emma began kissing her back, taking Anya's lower lips in between her lips and biting it. Anya whimpered a little and retaliated.
After some minutes, the kiss ended, Anya was beaming with smiles, starring deep into Emma's eyes. The brightness of her face was competing with the clearness of the sky.
But how they went from kissing to one of them dying was what she was not prepared to revisit. And so she practically pulled her mind away from the memory.
Shaking off the haunting memory, Anya increased her speed, propelled by a sudden surge of energy. She ran so fast that one may think it was perhaps an attempt to outrun the memories. Her surroundings blurred as she raced through the awakening city. It was six o'clock in the morning, and people had already begun their daily routines. She weaved through the crowd, a blur of motion, like a wounded lion running for its life.
Returning home, she sprinted up the stairs and quickly showered and changed into more formal attire for school. As a teacher for 5th graders, Anya had a passion for educating young minds and a soft spot for children from foster homes. Among her students was Kelvin, a bright and handsome boy who possessed both intelligence and a quiet demeanour.
Anya liked that he was bright, but she was worried about his anti-social activities. Most times, he was usually by himself, reading or mopping into an empty space like a middle aged man going through mid life crisis. She had to come up with a way to get him to be happy and associate more with his mates. One day Anya finally came up with an idea. She found a way to engage Kelvin in class, encouraging him to participate and fostering connections with his peers.
It was one of those rainy school afternoons and as usually, Anya was on her desk trying to work. Her class was calm, but not silent. The students were in pairs playing with toys. And there was Kelvin as usual, reading his novels.
Anya stood up and walked over to him. He was so engrossed that he didn’t notice her in front of him.
“Hey Kelvin,” Anya said in a hush tone, bending down to his level.
Kelvin slowly raised his head up looking at the lady that was his teacher. “Yes Ms Watson,” surprised to see her there.
“What are you reading?”
“It’s a story about a boy that went to the bookstore and came back with a magic book.” He finished, smiling at his teacher.
“That sounds interesting, would you mind sharing the story with the class, Kelvin?”
“Not at all,” the boy responded jumping happily from his little seat and began making his way to the front.
Anya smiled seeing Kelvin eager to share. She strolled to the front of the class in few strides.
“Hello everyone,” she called out to her pupils.
“Hello Ms. Watson!”
“Listen up. So, uhhh, Kelvin has decided to share the story he has been reading with us.”
“Yaaay!” Came the shout.
“It means you will be taking a break from the toys and listen to him as he talk. Do not make noise. Also...”
“Excuse me Ms. Watson?” Came Liya's tiny voice, cutting Anya short.
“Yes Liya?” Anya faced the little blonde girl's direction.
“What if I have a question, who do I ask?”
“I will be on my desk also listening. You will be allowed to ask your questions and either Kelvin or I will respond.”
“Alright. Thank you Ms. Watson.” Liya replied happily, settling down on her seat.
“You are welcome, Liya.” Turning to face the rest of the class, she said, “So before Kelvin begins, let's clear out the toys. Stand up everyone, get the toys on your desk and form a single line.”
The pupils got up, some pushing their litter desks aside to walk out of their chair freely. Some other chose to jump from one desk to another to get to the store and be attended to first.
“No jumping on chairs and desks, Victor. Please, get down from there and join others on the line.” Anya called out to the oldest student in his class.
“Yes ma'am. Responded Victor who did a double back flip before landing on the ground and joining the line.
“No noise please, other student are having the classes.” Anya said as she walked ahead of them to a little door in a corner of her classroom. Opening the door, she summoned them one after the other to begin to submit their toys.
After they had put away the toys, Anya made them settle down on their seat.
“Kelvin, the floor is yours.” She said to Kelvin who stood next to her.
Turning to her class of 25 pupils, she asked, “what was our agreement?”
“No making of noise,” chorused the eager to listen kids.
“Excellent!” Anya commended. “Kelvin, we are all ears.” She said as she made her way back to her desk to continue with her tasks.
“Hello class!” Kelvin began, adjusting his glasses with his right hand.
“Hello Kelvin,” responded the happy pupils.
“The book I am ready is titled Las, My Lad. It's a boy who wanted a book badly and he went to the bookstore and came back with a magic book.”
He went on to narrate the story in the book. The student took turn to ask him questions which he answered.
After that afternoon, Kelvin became more friendly and social. The routine continued in sub sequent day. Also, other pupils began reading books and sharing in the class.
Anya gave herself a pat on the back for that progress.
This afternoon, the book club session (that is the name Anya gave the 40 minutes period), was ongoing when Anya had a tap on the door.
Glancing up from her desk, Anya saw Caleb standing by the door. He walked to her desk quietly trying not to distract the pupils from their activities.
“Hello Ms Watson Caleb said, quietly mimicking a kid.”
“Anya smiled. Hey school boy, how may I help you?” Anya gave in the game.
Caleb laughed quietly and continued. “A mother of one my pupils said that her daughter is in this class. She's here to take them home. She quiet early, though, don’t you think?”
“Oh. That must be Liya's mum. Yeah, she works at the clinic, she comes in to pick them 30 minutes before closing because the leave almost 3 miles away. The stress of going and coming back isn’t an easy one. So, I understand her. The school allows her to do that on most Mondays.” Anya explained.
“Oh, that fair enough. Where's she?”
“Let me get her for you.”
“Thank you,” Caleb responded thrusting hos hands into his pockets as Anya stood up to address the class.
“Hi Kelvin, let me cut short for a minute. Liya, your mother is here to take you home. Please, get your bag and meet her in front of the 7th grade class.”
“Alright, Ms Watson,” Liya responded, grinning at her classmates. She extracted her school bag behind her seat, packed the home works she would take home, flung the bag behind her and waved goodbye to the class.
“Bye Liya,” the class chorused
“Bye,” she responded. Getting close to the doors, she turned and greeted Anya, “bye Ms Watson.”
“By dear.” Don’t forget to do your home works and read something when you get home. It's your turn tomorrow to share at the book club.”
“Okay Ms Watson.”
She exited the class. The class was a bit noisy and Anya had to take over. “What was our agreement again?”
“No making of noise.”
“Good! Now keep quiet let Kelvin round up his story.”
Kelvin continued his story.
All the while, Caleb stood there amazed at how matured the pupils behaved.
“Boy, do I envy you!” He exclaimed, extracting his left hand from his pocket and grabbing a spare seat and sitting in front of Anya's desk.
“Why?” Anya smiled knowing the answer to her question.
“First, you have a mini book club going on for you. Then you are able to get these urchins to sit still and listen enough to comprehend and ask questions.”
Anya chuckled, starring at the intrigued fellow.
“There must a secret, what is it?” Caleb asked almost pleading for an answer. The expression on his face made Anya laugh but not loud enough to distract her students.
“Simple, you have to treat them with respect and be reasonably at the same time. By the way, the club thing was born as a way to get Kelvin here,” she said pointing the to boy standing and talking, “to mix up and socialise with others. She finished.
“Oh. Nice.” Caleb commented, nodding.
“Yeah.” Anya responded.
“So, is he anti-social or is he going through something?” Caleb further queried.
“Well, he is in the system and you know that foster care most times don’t favour kids. I noticed that he likes reading instead of playing. So, I decided that getting him to share his knowledge with the class will be a good way to get him to be more open to his classmates, helping him become social. It seems to be working. He talks more in class, hangs out with others during the break periods.”
“That's really nice. You seem to have this teaching thing figured out properly.”
“Nahh, I just take it a step at a time. Besides I like kids a whole lot.” Anya announced proudly.
“Okay. You will need to get married to a lucky guy, so that you can have some bunch of little wolfies running around.” Caleb commented, dropping his voice when he mentioned "wolfies"
Anya giggled. “Get out* she said to him, pointing to the door.
“Oh, I am about to do that.” Caleb responded, standing up and raising both hands in kick surrender.
“Anya smiled broadened as she stood up too to walk him to the door. Stopping she stole a glance at her students and noticed how attentive they all were. Satisfied she followed Caleb outside. This kid has got a first class storytelling skill. She smiled to herself.
“This boy may end up a writer when he's grown. He's quite good at storytelling,” Anya chimed.
“He is excellent. Perhaps all the hours he spends reading are paying off,” commented Caleb. He paused for a second when they step out of the class and looked at Anya. Smile disappearing from his face and replaced, with the look of someone puzzled up in his head.
“What's going in your smart head?” Anya asked him as she joined him outside of the class.
“I was hoping if you would love to.... you know grab a coffee with me later in the day when we are done here?” Caleb asked
Anya smiled.
“We could go to somewhere else where we can hang out freely without the code 3s and 4s,” gesturing inverted commas with his fingers in the air, and quickly ticking them back neatly into his pockets, taking some step backwards while holding Anya's gaze.
Anya chuckled softly. Making a face, she took a step backward, allowing herself to be distracted for a minute as she began checking him out. She went from his feet, taking note of the shinny sweet black of his shoes to match his well black pants, perfectly held at the waist with a classy matching the black belt and a blue-flowered vintage shirt. A sharp contrast of his light skinned colour and a perfect blend with his dark hair. His cologne filling the air between them, Anya finally glanced at his face and noticed that he was also doing same to her. She smiled.
Okay, is too early for that? It’s a friendly date, nothing else. Just say something.” Caleb said, worriedly breaking the silence
Intrigued, Anya agreed, curious to learn more about Caleb beyond their pack dynamics.
“Thank you!” Caleb jumped up a little, barely holding his excitement as he began walking away from the damsel in front of him.
“But you get to choose the venue this time,” Anya threw at him as she turned to return to her class
“Not a problem,” he threw back at her. His voice fading away as he went farther away.
Back inside the class, Anya had barely settled down when the closing bell went off.
“Alright everyone. Pack your things. Don’t forget to do your home works. If you are going with the school bus, go straight to the lobby and wait for it to arrive. If your parents are picking you, go wait for them at the meeting spot. If you are going with your older siblings, go to front of their class and wait for them. Do not follow anyone else home.” Finished, she paused for a second and asked “What did I say?”
“Do not follow anyone else home,” came her pupils' response.
“Alright, enjoy the rest of your day.” She finished.
“Thank you Ms. Watson,” the students responded in scattered manner, some packing their books, some already have their bags. Noise erupting from every corner.
Outside the corridors became rowdy, courtesy of the closing time.
Chorus of “Bye Ms Watson” dropped around left right and centre. Legs tapped away to and fro the corridor. Boys and girls running around, yelling, laughing and giggling.
Amidst this whole chaos, Anya sitting on her seat, felt a cold chill run down her spine. Shiver spread through her body like wild fire. She practically robbed her arms a little bit harder to rid herself of the cold. It wasn’t a cold day.
She quickly stood up and walked towards the window to see if it had began to rain. Outside the sun had no mercy on any one. It didn’t know the difference between a child and an adult. It was as if it was competing for the hottest in town.
“So, what's with the chill?” Anya worried.
She has barely completed that statement and turned in time to see the principal walked into her now empty class with another man. The chill subsided. She began walking towards them scrutinising the strange looking man.
The man looked in every way suspicious.
He had hairs so long that they were lying carelessly on his shoulders. His moustache was not trimmed, his bear looked unkempt, but his dressing two piece German suit spoke of wealth and class. “Strange combination.” Anya said under her breath. His eyes were sky-blue clear.
“Good afternoon, Ms Watson,” greeted the principal who was looking at his teacher with a little worry on his face.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Surajo.”
“Are you alright? You look cold,” commented the principal.
“Oh. I am good. Who is your friend?” Anya diverted his attention, suddenly beaming up in smiles.
“Oh. Meet Mr. Rodriguez. He is the chairman of the Science fair. He just came around to take a look at the programme for the day.”
The principal finished. Something caught his attention at the other end of the class and he went to check it out.
“Oh. Welcome sir.” Anya greeted, her gaze unwavering.
“Hello,” The man said, his hand extended and Anya took it. Finally, she knew the source of the chill. The coldness of his hands reminded her of the freezer she had extracted meat from at the early hour of the day. She had a mixture of worry and suspicion playing in her mind until she noticed the grin on his face as the chill ran through her again. Then and it happened. Suddenly, a degree of heat emanated from her causing her to sudden break sweat and causing the man to suddenly extract his hand.
The principal was on his way back from checking out the nature corner, and asked. “Ms. Watson, I like your nature corner. Was it you that did it or the students?”
“It was the students, sir. I guided them while they designed it,” Anya responded, taking a step aside to create room for the principal.
“That’s awesome,” replied the principal who had gotten to where he left the two initially, but don’t seem to have noticed anything.
He simply continued his talk about the science fair and the preparations.
“By the way, Mr. Rodriguez, Ms. Watson here is the chair of the planning committee, I believed both of you can work hand in hand to give us a spectacular event. “
“Sure.” He simply responded, clearing his voice, and throwing Anya knowing look .
Anya's gaze on him was sprinkled with worry, fear and scepticism as she responded, “that would be excellent.”
“I will be around next week Monday for the meeting. Before that, you are done here for today I guess.” He commented, looking around at the empty classroom. He continued. “Would you like to go for launch date, let's get to know each other.”
“Oh!” Chuckled Anya. Her gaze moving from the chairman to the principal and returning to the chairman. “I would have loved to, sir. But I already made plans for the rest of the day. May be some other time.” Anya responded trying to comprehend what game he was up to. Trying to connect with him. She willed her mind and it happened but she couldn’t hear anything in his mind. It was empty. Anya tried again, bending her head slightly to the left and starring him deep in the eye, her face retaining the fake smile.
The man smiled, understanding what was happening.
“No problems, Ms. Watson. Some other time, then.” He responded.
“Let me leave you to round up for the day,” the principal chimed in as he began to walk towards the door of the class, followed by his guest who turned around and gave Anya one last cold look before leaving the class.
“Alright, sir,” Anya responded, returning the stare to the giver.
Immediately she was alone, Anya sprinted to her seat and dropped into it, perspiring heavily both out of nervousness and something else, her power perhaps. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that the man knew who she was. Also, she couldn’t shake of the cold stare that he gave gave her before he left. The problem with the situation was that she didn’t know the man, but the man knew her. The thought of that sent a bolt of energy into her system, forcing her to stand up abruptly and began clearing the desk. While she cleared out her desk, her mind went back to the fact the she had willed her mind to connect to him.
“ So, we are now beginning to connect to people at will. Nice!" She said to herself. “But why was his mind like an empty space? No energy, no sign of life. Why didn’t I hear or feel anything?”
Puzzled, she glanced towards the window on time to see the man driving away from the school premises and she made a vow to keep her distance from him. Only if it were that simple
