Chapter 2: Shattered

"Christi!" I heard a voice call behind me, "Christi, get up!"

But I couldn't move.

Deafening howling and cries of terror filled my ears. More tears streamed down my face as the recurring sounds of moaning in my head mixed with the sound of death around me. It was torture. Still, I was unable to lift myself up to make a run for it. Suddenly, I felt a pair of hands around me, struggling to lift me up.

"Mother!" I whispered, laying eyes on her petrified face.

"Christi, you need to get up, darling."

"Mother, Ethan cheated on me." I tried to say.

She didn't seem to have heard what I said but continued in panic, "We need to go hide, sweetie. Get up."

Finally mustering up a little bit of strength, I lifted myself off the floor and mother dragged me by the hand and we ran through the hallway, "This way!" She said, making a turn at the library.

We ran into the library and she pushed me behind a shelf at a corner with barely enough space to hide, "stay here, Christi."

"Mother, where are you going?" I asked in terror.

Mother looked desperate to get away from me, "Your father. I need to find him."

"Don't leave this place no matter what, Christi."

"Mother…"

"I love you." She said and planted a kiss on my forehead. Before I could utter another word, she flung the door open and banged it shut. A click from the door told me I was locked in and her fading footsteps followed. She was gone.

I squatted to the floor and gathered my wedding dress in my hands. Endless howling filled my ear. I whimpered. I could smell blood.

~

"Please, don't do this!" Mother's voice brought me to my feet. I took a step. My heels tapped against the floor and I froze in the fear of being discovered.

A demonic laughter filled my ears. Why did it sound so familiar?

"Don't you dare touch her...Ethan!"

I gasped. Ethan?

His laughter filled my ears, confirming my fears, "And you think an old fool like you can stand a chance?"

I heard my mother groan in pain and the only sense I had ever been able to use all my life intensified as the smell of her blood filled my nose.

"Stop, I say!" Father yelled at the top of his voice. His voice was desperate and commanding as he struggled, probably being held back by the members of the rogue pack that had invaded.

Ethan chuckled, "Telling me what to do in this situation?" "You have some guts!" He yelled and I heard the sound of claws slicing through flesh. Another smell of blood hit my nose. Father groaned in pain and what followed was the sound of something heavy dropping to the floor.

Mother's screams filled my ears, "Gaston, no!"

I paled. Fresh tears melted my face.

For the first time in my life, I heard my father's wolf whimpering, "Gaston!" Mother cried in despair.

"Gaston, open your eyes. Please stay with me, Gaston." Almost immediately, a shriek followed.

Ethan grumbled in annoyance. He must have pulled her away, "Now tell me. Where is your daughter, Christi?"

No answer.

"Tell me!" Ethan yelled, angrily and I heard mother groaning in pain.

"You think you're so smart, huh?" Ethan asked, "I'm going to count until 10 and if you don't tell me, I assure you that you'll join your husband in the afterlife."

My heart shattered into a trillion more pieces. Father was no more.

"One. Two. Three…"

Mother refused to budge.

"...Six. Seven. Eight. Nine..."

He was going to kill her! A loud gasp escaped my lips. Ethan immediately stopped counting. An uneasy silence fell into the atmosphere. Then suddenly, the door burst open, shattering into pieces as it scattered on the floor of the library.

"Found you!"

"Christi!" Mother cried from outside. Ethan walked in and I slowly backed away.

"Well, isn't it the wolfless luna betrayed by her groom on her wedding day?!" He asked, mockingly.

"You…"

"That's right!" He cut in, "Me. I. I'm responsible for this."

"Everyone in your pack has been killed, Christi. But don't worry. You'll join them soon."

"You and this dumb old mother of yours!" He said.

"Why are you doing this?"

I looked into his eyes. The Ethan that I had grown to love was gone. This was a demon standing before, "Because...it gives me much pleasure to see other packs suffer just as I did."

In a flash, Ethan went flinging across the room with his body bashing against the wall, "Mother?" I gasped in shock.

Her wolf towered over me as she growled at Ethan who laid on the floor. She was large and scary, the complete opposite of her fragile human side. She gestured for me to get on top of her as the other members of the rogue pack ran into the library.

Ethan staggered to his feet. Without seeing what would happen next, Mother burst through the pack infront of us and ran through the hallway. Angry howling behind us told me that Ethan wasn't going to let us out of his grip.

The moonlight bled against the dark night as we ran into the forest. Throbbing footsteps echoed through the night, accompanied by endless growls behind us. I knew they were catching up to us and I was slowing down my mother with my weight.

"Mother, you need to drop me right now." I said. Mother growled in protest.

"Mother, please…you're sick." I begged but my words seemed to be falling on deaf ears.

A large wolf jumped on top of us, and I crashed onto the floor, hearing mother whimpering in pain a good distance from me.

"Mother…" The words escaped as a whisper through my lips. My head hurt terribly and the smell of my own blood hit my nose. Through blurry sight, I saw Ethan's wolf, menacing and satisfied as he took the life out of the injured wolf laying helplessly on the dirt. Slowly, darkness creeped in until I could see nothing.