She set her bowl down on the tv stand and pulled a couple of books down for a closer look. The covers and pages were in pristine condition. She picked one up, read a couple lines, and then put it back. Eliza thumbed through a couple of the books. She had sampled several before she found one that suited her mood. She carried both the bowl and the selected book back into the kitchen.
Eliza was munching on the bowl of cereal and reading her book when she heard a siren go off. She ran outside with her spoon in her hand to see a red light flashing over the northern wall.
Mr. Vasta was also outside, clutching the towel to himself. Emily suppressed a laugh until her cellphone ran. She answered it and the spoon fell from her hand.
Eliza snapped her phone shut and ran inside. She quickly shed her work skirt and blouse and paused with her hand on the clasp of her bra. Emily took a deep breath and unhooked it. She glanced in the mirror taking in her wild hair before she shifted. The pain rippled down her like an icy bath. She felt the hair on her arms and legs thicken as her face elongated into a snout.
As soon as her shift was over, Eliza dashed through the doors she had left open and ran to the wall that protected all of her people. She barely got within a mile of the wall before she could see the humans who breached the wall.
They were trashing the yards and smashing into homes with crude homemade weapons. The humans raged through the section of the street and the kids not hiding inside their homes ran as fast as their legs could carry them.
Eliza could see the young children inside staring out in horror as she dashed to help. She howled and as if they had one mind, the humans all looked at her at the same time. An evil look came into their eyes and they began to shuffle toward her. With her heightened senses, the human hunters seemed to be moving in slow motion with exaggerated face expressions.
Eliza took off running in the opposite direction of the homes. She weaved between trees and paused every now and then to circle and make sure they were following her. The last thing she wanted was the hunters giving up and going back to torment the families. Most of the adults from that section were all at work and the children would be undefended until the shifts changed. Eliza made a mental note to talk to Mr. Vasta, Drake she corrected herself, about making sure the hours were better distributed.
Eliza led the hunters to an open clearing and then turned to face them. As the hunters ran into the clearing, she twitched her tail in a subtle circle. The wolves prowling in the words summoned by her howl surrounded the hunters. They paled as they turned around realizing the poor choices that had led them become the prey of the very creatures they had tried to hunt.
She started forward and the wolves at the back moved, too. Eliza led the group as they herded the hunters out of their territory. She nipped at anyone who got a little too close to the hunters not wanting a lawsuit or any bad press.
Once everyone was back on the right side of the wall, Eliza made sure that the repairs for the hole were underway. She visited the homes that had been wrecked and once she saw the damage she invited them to stay with her without another thought. Both the werewolf and vampire families were delighted by her offer, but it was only after they were packed for a night that Eliza realized she had accidentally evicted herself for the night. There was not enough room for her to stay home even with the many bedrooms. The many families plus her sister and council members meant she would not be able to get a good night's sleep. She definitely couldn't join one of the families that had just had to leave their home and there was no way she could sleep with Dorothy already snoring louder than a freight train.
Eliza sat on her porch stairs and pondered her predicament. She rested her head on her hand and looked up at the moon. Despite the eventful start to the night, it was a gorgeous night. There was a gentle breeze blowing and the tiny creature moving in the gra.s.s created a melody that started to lull her to sleep.
Eliza woke up as she was being tucked into a bed. She blinked her eyes open and saw Drake leaning over her. She shut her eyes and rolled over nestling into a pillow. When she opened her eyes again, he was gone. Eliza drifted off to sleep again.
When she woke up, Eliza shot straight up. She was not in her room. There were unfamiliar pictures on the walls and the paint colors were wrong. Eliza looked down at herself and was relieved to see that she was still wearing everything she fell asleep in. She looked up at the ceiling and couldn't remember falling asleep.
Eliza slumped back onto the pillow and rolled over. She promptly screamed and scrambled backwards. She fell off of the bed as she shoved back away from the man sitting in the chair.
Drake opened his eyes at her scream and reached a hand up to ma.s.sage the back of his neck. "Why are you so loud so early in the morning?"
