Sharon’s Note: I can understand how some people can get drawn into cults and the like. It’s seems easy, and it looks like it takes away some of the stress of having to decide. I understand it, but that doesn’t mean I agree with it. Nothing is easy, and chasing after ‘easy’ is just going to exchange one set of problems for another. It’s like I technically get the draw of killing all your enemies, but then there are those pesky murder charges. Warning: Murder is a bad idea.
Regular emotions like humans felt, the ones that had names and reasons, faded away. Inside, the feeling I called the Maelstrom spiraled out, filling my mind so that only chaos and whim remained. I raised the bottle above my head and started forward to make good on my threat. Alex’s hand caught my arm, and I turned to look at him. His face was almost as blank as mine probably was, but he was nervous. I could feel it through his hand like his skin was a conductor. Why was he scared? Alex was my friend, and I would never hurt him. Not on purpose, anyway. Sometimes, when I had one of my little episodes . . . oh.
Bad Roxy. No brainless murder sprees for you. All murder sprees must be completely intentional.
The wannabe chuckled. “Oh, you think you can take me? I don’t know who or what you think you are, but even if you had a chance against me, you’d have to face all of us. We’re a pack, and pack is family.”
The other wolves came forward. All guys, I noticed. They stalked into the light, looking adequately werewolfish. Unlike their leader, their clothes were properly tattered, ready to be torn apart in the transformation. One of them wore a t- shirt sporting . . .
“Cherry Scented Death! Oh my gosh, that’s my favorite band!” I pointed and bounced up and down. “Are you a fan? Have you heard their latest album? There’s that one song where the guy plays the bagpipe and-“
“Maybe not the time, Roxy,” Alex said. He was right. Everyone was staring at me again.
“Sarah, go back home while I take care of these interlopers.” The wannabe pushed her away from us with a condescending pat on her butt.
“Sis, don’t.” Brian reached out a hand, and she paused to look back. “You called me for a reason. Do you really want to bring a baby into this? To raise a little boy up to be just like this monster?”
“Monster?” The wannabe huffed, then sneered at us. “I take care of her. Before me, she was lost. She didn’t know who she was, or what she wanted to be. You abandoned her to the world, leaving her adrift among all the decisions she didn’t know how to make. You called it ‘letting her grow up’. Well, she didn’t grow up, she fell, and I was there to pick her up. I brought her into our family, and we showed her the way. The way of our ancestors. The true way of the wolf. She knows her place now. There are no more decisions to agonize over, just peace.”
Maudlin Girl Pt 1 Pt 2 Pt 3 Pt 4 Pt 5 Pt 6 Pt 7 Pt 8
Gray Matters: The Works of Sharon and James Gray 