The following is an excerpt of the next book in The Trescott Series, titled Haunted. Check here for access to the Trescott Pack stories.
*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.*
Riiiiiing. Riiiiiiing. Riiiiii–
“Hullo?” I moaned as I sat up, pressing my phone to my ear before I even opened my eyes. Without having to check, I knew who it was. Glancing at the time, I groaned again. It was only seven in the morning. Why, Cecile?
“Arie, did I wake you?” I suppressed my initial thought and took a deep breath.
“No, not at all. What’s up?” Her breathing sounded labored on the other end. Something was wrong. Otherwise, there’s no way she would have called me this early in the morning. I couldn’t hear her heartbeat on the receiver, but I knew. Something wasn’t right. “What’s wrong?”
“I just had a nightmare. It seemed so real. You’re going to think I am crazy,” she started, pausing. I rolled my eyes, sitting up and resting my head against the wall behind me. Pulling my knees to my chest, I sighed.
“You’re talking to your werewolf best friend. Nothing is going to sound crazy to me, Cece. Nothing,” I promised. Cecile managed a giggle before continuing on.
“I suppose that’s true. Okay, but promise you won’t freak out.” I squinted.
“Just tell me what it is. You’re worrying me, man,” I said a little louder. She cleared her throat and shifted in her bed on the other end of the phone.
“I had a dream that you were killed. And I was standing right there. My mom shot you with her shotgun in the forest and you were a wolf,” Cecile rushed out, pausing as it registered. Chills went up and down my spine. It’s just a dream. Only a dream. “Arie?”
“I’m still here,” I finally answered after some time, shaking the thought out of my mind, even though I was pretty sure it would be hard to remove now that she mentioned it. “It was just a dream, don’t worry.”
“I know, but it still worried me. It felt so real,” Cecile mumbled, sighing on the other end. “Sorry I woke you.”
“It’s okay. I’m glad you’re okay. I’ll see you soon, okay?” I said, climbing out of bed and stretching out. Cecile moved around on her end.
“See you in two hours!” Click. Dropping my phone to my bed, I smoothed out my crinkled pajamas and looked in the mirror. On top of the bedhead I sported today, there was a slight dazed look on my face. Just forget about the dream, Arie. Cecile has weird dreams all the time. This is nothing new.
Outside, a door opened and I heard running. Two sets of feet. Sam and Luke were going to eat all of the food if I didn’t hurry. My stomach rumbled as I registered the smell of eggs and waffles. Mom had gone all out this morning.
Pulling open my door, I hurried to the stairs. Rushing through the living room, I made eye contact with Sam and then glanced over at Luke, who piled eggs and waffles onto his plate like he was packing food for a week long trip.
“Hold it, pipsqueak,” I said in his direction as he held another spoonful of eggs above his mountain high plate of food. He glanced at me with his eyebrows raised. “Leave some for everyone else.”
“Or better yet,” Sam added as he took a big bite of bacon and chewed with his mouth open, “take some bacon so Arie can have what little remains you’ve left her.” Luke rolled his eyes and backed away from the eggs, letting the spoon drop into the small puddle of yellow crumbled pieces that was left. I frowned.
“You know I don’t eat meat anymore. Not since the wild,” Luke whispered, staring off into the distance as if he was reliving it. Shuddering, he dug his fork into his food across from Dad. He put down his newspaper and took a sip of his coffee, smiling to Sam and I.
“Good morning! How are we feeling?” Dad asked. Sam gave him a warm smile, while I thought back to five minutes ago. To the dream Cecile told me about.
“Good,” I managed to reply, trying to convince myself too. But I decided telling Dad about some silly dream my best friend had about me dying was just that: silly. It wasn’t worth mentioning. Sam sat down and shoveled food into his mouth. I slowly made my way around the island in the kitchen and sat next to Luke, who offered me some toast. Taking a few slices off the plate, I went back to my own plate.
“Hey everyone,” Mom greeted us as she came into the kitchen. She pressed a kiss to Dad’s cheek before heading towards the coffee machine. Pouring herself a cup of piping hot black coffee, she turned around and eyed us. “It’s oddly quiet today.”
“Just tired,” Sam replied with a yawn. Yeah, tired from talking to Peter until the wee hours of the morning. Every night during the summer, it was predictable: Sam would stay up until three or four in the morning, sleep what little was left of the evening, and then wake up early to go to work with Dad and I and then go to hang out with Emma, yawning the entirety of the day. Peter was nearly the same, except sometimes on our dates he’d find time to nap during the movies, unknowingly. Until I woke him up, every time it happened.
“Arie, are you coming in today?” Dad asked. I shook my head, taking some orange juice and filling up a cup.
“Going tubing with Cece and Henry,” I told Dad, taking a sip of juice. Putting it down, Dad still stared at me. “Remember? I think I told you a couple of weeks ago.” The light bulb went off in his mind and he nodded, scanning his paper again.
“Oh right,” he said, turning to Sam. Sam stopped mid bite and peered over at him. “Are you coming in?” Sam nodded and Dad chuckled. “Just as long as you don’t fall asleep on the job.” Luke snorted and smirked. Sam rolled his eyes.
“Oh shut it,” Sam sneered, glaring across the table at our younger brother. “It’s not like you haven’t fallen asleep in class.”
“That was after a full moon! You know how exhausted we get,” Luke complained. Mom held up a hand and all of us whipped over to her.
“Alright, alright,” Mom halted the argument, shaking her head as she set down her coffee cup and took her own plate of waffles and eggs. “I think we all just need to chill.” Chill. These days, our lives were nothing but chill.
Cecile and Henry agreed with me too, that everything had chilled out quite a bit. No murderers, hunters, insane werewolf biting human scenarios, or runaway adolescents. Everything was good. Life was easy. Almost too easy. Sometimes, I wondered when the ball would drop.
“Arie, your phone is ringing,” Sam raised his voice and stared at me, pointing upstairs. I could hear it too. Mom squinted and did her best to hear it too, but only us werewolves could hear it. Super hearing. My eyes darted over the clock on the microwave. It was already eight. Crap.
“Cecile is going to be here any moment now! I have to get ready,” I spat, shoving one last spoonful of eggs and waffle into my mouth, snatching my last piece of toast, and racing for the stairs.
“Don’t forget your bathing suit is in the hamper in the hall!” Mom shouted up the stairs. Once I made it to the landing, I dug a hand into the neatly folded clothes in the basket, coming up with my black one piece swimsuit. Then, without another glance back, I took my last bite of toast and shut my bedroom door. My phone kept on ringing and vibrating against my bed frame, making the vibration reach my ears and send goosebumps across my skin.
“Yeah, I’m almost ready,” i said immediately into the phone, hearing Henry and Cecile’s laughter.
“Good,” Henry said into the receiver, turning on the engine. “Get ready to be blown out of the water.” I scoffed, smirking as I slipped into my bathing suit and tossed a loose purple dress over my body. Tying my hair into a ponytail, I picked up my phone and pressed it to my ear.
“We’ll see about that,” I said before ending the call. Grabbing my purse and towel, I took one last look into my room. I shut the door behind me and headed downstairs. Sam and Luke were heading towards the stairs when I reached the living room. They looked me up and down.
“See you later, loser,” Luke chirped before sprinting up the stairs for the bathroom. Sam stopped just before the last step, turning to me.
“What time are you getting back later?” Sam asked. I let out a long breath, shaking my head.
“Dinner time, probably. Why?” Sam grinned, taking a step backwards up the steps.
“We’re going on a moonlight run tonight. Wanna join?” I shrugged and put my hand on my hip, returning the same gleeful look in his direction.
“Duh,” I said, waving as I headed for the door. The bathroom door opened up on the landing.
“Count me in!” Luke shouted out to the both of us before shutting the door and turning on the shower. Giggling, I turned to the front door. I could smell my friends waiting for me outside. We didn’t have much time before the heat would get to be too much and we’d have to call it a day. Or worse, if it rained. Morning was our prime tubing time.
Kicking on my flip flops, I twisted towards the kitchen one last time.
“See you later!” I yelled, loud enough for my parents to hear. They shouted back reminders to be safe. Then, I shut the front door and descended towards an old black SUV with Henry in the front seat. He’d been lucky enough to get his own car. Cecile sat in the front seat with her hand on his thigh, both of them giggling about something they found on the internet this morning.
“Hey,” I said as I hopped into the car. They both turned to me and smiled. Cecile had French braided her hair and put on her best bikini. Henry, having gone to the gym more recently, was wearing a cutoff and his tie dye swim trunks. And a heavy aftershave that Cecile picked out for him especially.
“Ready?” Henry said as he clutched the steering wheel. Nodding, I buckled in and sat back against the beat up leather seat.
“Let’s do this.”
