The following is an excerpt from the fourth installment in The Trescott Series, titled Haunted, set to release Spring of 2020. For more Trescott Pack action, click here.
*This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.*
Coming up the front steps after my parents, Sam and Luke were both tugging away at a black Guns N Roses t-shirt. Both of their eyes shone gold, brighter than the lights above them. They both turned to us, dropping the t-shirt to the ground. Mom glared at them and crossed their arms.
“Samuel and Luke, what on earth is going on in this house?” Luke sheepishly picked up the t-shirt, to which Sam snarled at him and bared teeth. Dad growled right back, sending shudders down my spine. My skin tingled. Every time Dad growled, my body responded.
“This little brat stole my t-shirt,” Sam pointed his finger, suddenly sounding five years younger than he actually was. Then he pouted, as if he was Luke’s age. Luke rolled his eyes, tucking the t-shirt into his chest. Mom snatched it out of his arms, heading into the kitchen. Both Sam and Luke frowned, opening their mouth to speak but Dad beat them to it.
“You both are nearly adults, not kids. Stop fighting like children,” he reminded them, pointing upstairs. One of the only times Dad would actually tell them to go play video games.
Mom and I went into the kitchen while Dad headed towards his office. Searching through the drawers, Mom pulled out a tattered old box, one she had bought years and years ago. I smiled.
Every year, we did the same thing. I had never told Henry or Cece about it because up until a year ago, they wouldn’t have been allowed to come.
“Luke! Samuel! Did you want to light–”
“Duh! I can’t believe you were going to hog them all to yourself, Arabella,” Luke snorted, rolling his eyes as he snatched a pair of unlit sparklers out of the box on the counter. Curse our super hearing, at times. They had seen it coming before Mom even took them out.
“Here, let me get the lighter,” Sam offered, grabbing the long red lighter Dad used for the grill out of her hands. Mom gave him a look, but I knew she trusted him. More than she trusted Luke or I.
Last time Luke had the lighter, he managed to light his pants on fire and ran around until Dad sprayed him down with the hose outside. That was probably one of the more memorable fourth of Julys we have ever had.
Following after my brothers, I snatched my own pair of sparklers. Dad returned from the office with his DSLR, joining hands with Mom before he slipped outside into the night air.
Fireflies floated in the air around us, flickering every couple of seconds in front of us. For a moment, I was captivated. Then I heard the lighter turn on, then the familiar sizzle of a sparkler. Luke cackled, then he cheered, swiping it around.
“Let’s see whose lasts the longest,” Sam said to Luke and I, lighting my first sparkler. Then he lit his. Holding it up so we could see it, there was not a single plain face around us. We all wore smiles as wide as the skies above us. The snapping of the shutter on the camera filled the air aside from the sizzling sparklers.
“Turn this way! I want to get some photos for the scrapbook,” Dad said, holding the camera up to his face. Mom held her arms around her body, grinning to us as my brothers moved to stand next to me. Holding the sparklers in front of us, we gave Dad our best smiles.
Click! He glanced at the photo. Then Luke twisted around, creating smoke circles in the air. Giggling like a giddy little girl, he glanced back to Sam and I.
“This is hands down the best part of summer,” he announced, chuckling some more. Twisting around and around, Luke’s smile turned upside down as the light in front of him dwindled to nothing but a burnt stick.
“You lose,” I teased. Luke scoffed, snatching the lighter out of Sam’s hand and lighting his last one.
“Good thing we get two,” Luke muttered before the sizzling began and he went back to his giggling and twirling around like a ballerina. Sam’s light faded and he sat down on the steps of the patio, looking out to the forest in front of us. Something was up. I knew that weird look on his face.
“What’s up?” I asked him, seeing him turn to face me. Sam’s eyes were distant when he did make eye contact with me.
“Nothing. That’s what’s weird. Everything seems…normal,” Sam whispered, looking out of the corner of his eyes at the patio behind us. Dad was having a blast catching photos of Luke in his natural habitat, wild and carefree. Mom had gone inside and returned with a cup of iced tea for her and Dad. Twisting the last unlit sparkler in my hand, I elbowed my brother.
“You’re saying that like there should be something wrong,” I accused. He shook his head.
“I mean, I don’t want anything to be inherently wrong, but it just feels too good. You know?” I nodded. I knew what he meant.
Over the last year, there’d been more drama in our world than in all the years past combined. First, it was the hunter nearly annihilating the packs in Lake Geneva, then it was Dan nearly turning all Sam’s friends into werewolves, and then it was Luke running away with his now girlfriend a few weeks ago. For the first time in a long while, everything was relatively normal. Almost too normal.
“Let’s just focus on how good things are and ignore what could go wrong. The last thing we need is another hunter or stowaway situation,” I reminded him. Sam raised an eyebrow before nodding. Standing up, he offered me a hand.
“Agreed. Let’s just enjoy it.” We joined our parents and Luke again. Luke’s second sparkler had burnt out already and he lunged for mine. I didn’t even protest. It was late and I could feel more yawning coming on. Plus, Luke clearly enjoyed these traditions more than we did now.
“Look at this one,” Dad awed, flipping through the photos with his finger. I smiled when he came to the photo of the three of us, all holding our sparklers up in front of our faces. It was a rare sight, and one that was originally only for our eyes only. The light from the sparklers, when reflected back into our eyes, brought out the bright gold that only came out under the full moon or when we changed. Dad had always managed to get the best photos of us. And these, for the first time since ever, I’d be able to show my best friends, since they were in on the secret at long last.
“I think I like this one almost as much as that picture we got in the sweaters,” Mom cooed, giving the three of us a look of adoration. “You’ve all grown up so fast.” Sam sighed, putting an arm around my mom and giving her a kiss on the cheek. He’d been extremely sensitive lately. With the idea of him leaving for university in the back of his mind, no wonder he was so sentimental these days.
“Don’t worry, we may leave but we always find our way back home,” Sam told her, shooting a look over to Luke. He groaned and tossed his used up sparklers into the trash can outside.
“I knew that was a reference to me. Thanks, Sam,” Luke mumbled, doing his best to suppress a smirk but it shone through anyway.
“Home is where the heart is, after all,” Dad added, putting his arms around Sam and Mom. Luke and I moved in for what would be a new tradition: group hugs.
It was something about Luke running away and the idea of nearly losing him–among all the other things that happened in the last year–that made family much more important now. More important than boys, love, drama, or even the latest 1975 CD that Cecile was ranting and raving about. Nothing, absolutely nothing, was as important as family was. Especially to us, because it was one of the few places we were free to be who we were. No boundaries, no secrets, nothing. My family was my safety, my home, and my rock.
“Oh crap! Oliver is waiting for me,” Luke spat out as he checked his phone. Slithering out of the group hug, he ran inside and towards the stairs. Sam bent down to help pick up some of the trash, putting it into the can. Then he glanced around at Mom, Dad, and I.
“I better go call Emma, then talk to Trent. Good night, guys,” Sam said, stepping inside. Then it was just my parents and I. Abort mission. Abort!
“Do you guys want any help?” I offered, knowing if I didn’t, I would get a judgy look for just rushing inside like my brothers. Mom and Dad grinned, shaking their heads and gathering their cups and the DSLR camera.
“It’s alright, you can go call Peter,” Dad told me, pressing a kiss to my temple.
“Good night. I love you,” I told them, hurrying inside. Mom and Dad stayed outside for a moment, sitting down on the patio. I, on the other hand, pulled out my phone to finally see a text from the two people I’d been waiting to hear from all night.
Henry: are we still meeting at 10 tomorrow?
Cecile: I am if you guys are. Arie, what about you?
Me: 10 sounds good to me.
Summer time meant coffee and adventures on the lake. Now that Henry and Cecile knew the truth, everything was more fun. Mostly because I wasn’t as protective of doing something that might bring out the other side of me. The wolfy side of me, that is.
Pressing my phone to my ear, I prayed that I had caught Peter before he joined the game with Sam and Trent. That was their summer thing. Now they played video games until early in the morning and then slept in until lunch time.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Peter’s voice answered on the other end. As I ascended the stairs, I heard a controller drop to the floor and Sam grumbled.
“Arie, really?” He complained, opening up the door as I came to the top of the stairs.
“Hey, Peter,” I replied, completely ignoring my brother and entering my bedroom. Leaving a very irritated Sam outside, I turned on the light to my room.
Since I didn’t have mountains of homework to attend to, it was neat and organized. I spent much of the first week of summer cleaning and getting rid of things, since I finally had the time. And my textbooks had found their new place in my closet, discreetly shoved out of the way and out of sight so I wouldn’t be reminded that I only had eight weeks before all of that started again.
“How were the sparklers?” Peter asked, knowing from Sam about our little tradition. Falling onto my bed, I curled into one of my pillows and sighed.
“Amazing. What are you doing?” I asked him.
“Pissing off your brother, actually,” he said with a chuckle. I smirked. I could hear Sam ranting to Trent about how his little sister always tore his best friend away from their conquests. Chill, Sam. It’s just a game.
“Sounds like you’re trying to take over my job,” I teased. “I just wanted to call and say goodnight.” Peter cleared his throat on the other end, adjusting himself his bed and sighing.
“I hope you sleep well. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay,” I whispered, twirling a piece of hair in my fingers. Peter chuckled.
“Sweet dreams, darling.”
“Goodnight, Peter. Go kick some butt on your video game,” I told him, to which he sighed and clicked a few buttons on the controller. I heard Sam let out a sigh of relief across the hall. Ending the phone call, I looked up at my ceiling.
In the last year, I had added some more to my walls. More pictures of my friends, the pack, and then there was the addition of glow in the dark stars and constellations all over my ceiling. Mom didn’t like it, but Dad thought it was a nice touch. Smiling to myself, I turned onto my side and felt my phone buzz.
Henry: get ready to be blown out of the water by my awesome moves
Rolling my eyes, my fingers typed away, sending a quick message before another yawn and exhaustion filled me.
Me: Oh, you ain’t seen nothing yet until I get on that tube!
Slipping under the covers and reaching up to the light switch, I let out a nice long sigh before nestling into my pillow, shutting my eyes, and letting sleep take over.
