Chapter 1

We spent the next few weeks moving into our two bedroom apartment, slowly rearranging things to our satisfaction. We sold most of our furniture from the old house...Dad said it was to get more money for our new life, but my thoughts were that they reminded my father too much of my mother. About two weeks after moving in, my father began work...which left me to find ways to spend the last few weeks of summer. Like I really have time for enjoying anything...I thought. I figured with my part of the money (Dad insisted on splitting the sale of the house and furniture 50-50...I have no idea why) I'd find a used car. In Denver, my father drove our Honda Pilot to work and I rode the city bus to and from school...but I had grown up there, and everyone knew me and my father. In this strange new place, who knew what could happen? I rather be safe than sorry. I talked it over with my father one night at dinner, and he agreed with my way of thinking...so I searched until I found something suitable. About three weeks before school started, I found a nice Ford Focus, black, barely two years old, great mileage, and only three grand! Dad managed to haggle it down to $1700, and made sure the paperwork was straight. So with time to spare, I drove around exploring the city...and to actually find the college I'd be attending. I had some instinct that told me to get familiar with my surroundings...and I followed my instincts. During the final week of summer, I made sure all my classes were registered correctly, got my schedule, and double checked my financial aid. Everything was in order, just as I had hoped. To be perfectly honest, I had mixed emotions about this new school. At UColo, I was known to be the loner chick...either buried in a book or lost in my iPod or both. It didn't help that I lived off campus, never joining clubs or anything to take care of my father), plus I was on the Dean's list. Hell, most of the student population either hated me or didn't know I even existed. I wondered, should I jump at this new opportunity and try to change my image? or should I just not give a f**k? Personally, this "fresh start" applied more to my father than to me, so I decided to not worry about it any longer. Little did I know, Fate had a few tricks up her sleeve in store for me.

 

The first day of school arrived, and I was up early as usual. I took a shower and made sure my hair was untangled. I dried off and returned to my room, intent on finding something to wear. I grabbed my favorite pair of dark denim jeans, and dug in my closet for a shirt. I had a nice black fitted tee that had white designs on the front, and picked that one. After that I made my bed (yes, a few of us still do that) and attempted to fix my hair. I managed to wrestle it into a ponytail, and then proceeded to add a touch of black eyeshadow to my eyelids. As I stood in the mirror, I gazed at my reflection...and wondered again. I had always been critical of my looks, and today was no exception. I had my father's dark chestnut brown hair, which hung down to about halfway my back; I was tall like he was, and even had his build. In fact, I realized I was almost the carbon copy of my father in looks and some mannerisms....but with two notable exceptions. For one, my eyes were not blue like my fathers. Instead, I had inherited my mother's strange brown-green eyes. During a normal day, my eyes were chocolate brown...but if I was under an emotional overload (i.e. really upset, or stressed, or sad, or worried, etc), then flecks of emerald green appeared out of nowhere. Also, I had been given my mother's necklace to wear. It was a thin, simple silver chain, which ended at the base of my throat with a silver pentagram pendent. My mother, according to my father, had be a devout Witch. Even though he was technically Christian, he had no problem with it...and I followed in her footsteps religiously. After a few more glances in the mirror, I padded barefoot downstairs to the kitchen to make breakfast, throwing together two quick omelets. Just as I got the toast done and the coffee poured, my father appeared. "Well, well, Mr. Montgomery...don't we look sharp?" I joked as I placed his plate on the table. He smiled as he fumbled with his tie, "Well, so do you. As always. Now you be careful at school, okay?" I joined him at the table with my own plate and smiled, "Of course Dad. Have a good day at the office. Sue somebody for me." I struggled to keep a straight face as my father began to laugh. That was an inside joke between us, dating back to the time when I really young and thought all lawyers sued people. We finished breakfast, and as my dad left for work I cleaned the dishes. I then ran back upstairs to my room to get ready for school. I grabbed a large binder and stuffed it into my knapsack, and then added a few novels from my bookcase--just for downtime between classes. Then I picked up my phone and iPod from my nightstand, grabbed my keys, and started the 20 minute drive to school. I had plenty of time before class, but I wanted a few moments to psych myself up for this. Oh dear sweet Goddess, please watch over me. Let me have a good day and not hurt any idiots... I made it to school, found a parking place, and hurried off to my first class. I got there with half an hour to spare, so I found a seat in the third row by a window, and took out The Beach House to finish it, and at the same time plugged into my iPod, starting a playlist that was sure to help me deal with whatever might be thrown my way that day. Or so I hoped.

 

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My alarm went off and I reach from under my blanket to punch it back quiet. I got up groaning, having not gotten much sleep from a nightmare. Ever since I was cursed, I kept having nightmares of that night and being stuck as a Lycan forever. You'd think I'd learn to live with them by now. Anyway, as I got up to get ready for yet another day of college, I let my mind wander. That night I smelled that strange scent, I began wondering constantly where it came from. When I'd go into town, I'd smell traces of it lingering in stores, and it baffled me. Where on earth was it coming from? Not that I had much time to worry about it. Between Josué getting his work schedule changed so he could start classes, Jaq being the usual smartass and bragging about becoming president of whatever club that was he was in, and Tyre' consorting with her boyfriend of the moment...I barely had time to think. The last few weeks of summer passed by unremarkable as usual, besides the scent, which I was beginning to think was just my imagination. I finished showering and blow dried my hair. I even took the time to shave, though I have no idea why. I threw on some jeans and a brown t-shirt, put on my onyx necklace (which helped with the negativity and kept my emotions somewhat controlled during the day), and brushed my teeth. While in the bathroom, I examined myself for the umpteenth time. My blonde hair cut kinda short, but not too much. My greenish/blue eyes were filled with shadows and swirling emotions...not much to look at in my opinion. I wasn't the most fit person on the planet (supporting an internal wolf the size of a full grown bear didn't leave much room for fitness), and I had hair everywhere--a sign of my Lycan nature. Sigh, what a ladykiller. Surprised you don't have girls dripping off of you like a leaky faucet... I went back to my room and grabbed my backpack, already filled with my books and stuff. As I entered the kitchen, I found Josué already making some tea. "Good morning Adam!" he said cheerfully, I mumbled something back. I think he likes to forget I'm not a morning person. "Are you ready for school today?" "Me? It's just the same old, same old. Another year, more classes to pass, and dealing with the same annoying people." "Well, Jaq heard from somebody in his club that there's a new girl in town...in fact, she's in the same major as you and a junior also. Could be a sign of something." Before I could answer, Jaq entered and smirked. "Yes, well, as you know it was my club-mate who found out about it. Apparently he was visiting his aunt and she lives in the same apartment complex. As to whether she's a sign of anything, I highly doubt that...things like that just don't fall out of the sky, you know." Sometimes I really wanted to punch Jaq in the face, so smug. He thinks that because he's on the Dean's list he's smarter than us. Plus, being a few minutes older than Josué, he had this insane notion of being the boss of all of us. I'm sure he meant well, but this was not a morning to be joking about that. Sensing my annoyance, Josué brushed the blonde strands out of his face and said we had better be getting ready. We all had class around the same times, but in different areas of the campus, so we decided to meet in the cafeteria for lunch. Tyre' would join us also, but she had class later so she got to sleep in a bit. It sounded unfair, but there were days she'd be the only one up and we'd be the ones sleeping in...so it worked out. We hurried to our separate cars and drove on to school. What would happen once there was something that would catch me completely off guard....

 

I got to my side of campus and headed to my first class. As I walked down the hall of the science building, I felt compelled to look into each classroom. I knew nearly everybody on campus, except freshmen, but this new girl intrigued me. Was she the one to help me break the spell? Just as I thought this, I smelled the scent that had been teasing me for weeks. I followed, blindly, wondering what it could be. I came to a classroom that had an open door, but it was still early and nobody was in it...save for one girl. Her back was to me, so I couldn't see her, but I got a full whiff of the scent again. So she was the cause of my wondering...how interesting... I didn't have much time to waste staring at the back of her head...I had class in the room down the hall...but I hoped I would see her again. After all, being in the same grade and the same major, we were bound to have class together eventually...right? I sent a prayer to the gods that it would be so, and hurried off to class. But, for the first time, I failed to pay attention. My mind kept wandering back to the girl....and her strangely addicting scent....Who was she? Where did she come from? Why would she come here now...was it to free me from my curse....or am I just grasping at hopes that are way to impossible to even imagine? I had to wait to find out....good thing patience is one of my virtues....