Friends and Family

It was a dark, cold winter’s night. Icy wind whipped around, chilling the bones of anyone who happened upon them. The whistling of the wind was pierced by a howl. And not just any howl, the terrifying howl of the werewolves. They were hungry, and the figure they were chasing after looked like a delicious supper.

The werewolves' cries enveloped the figure as she continued to run from the sound. The full moon shone upon her like a bright torch as she rushed through an ultraviolet wall. Seconds later the two figures following behind her and herself appeared on an island's sandy bank surrounded by crystal waters.

In the distance, they could see a beam of warm light coming from a nearby house. The more steps they took towards the beam of light, they could begin to shape out a very large building. Flags and banners decorated the sides of the building, ruffling in the winter’s night air. She turned back to see the wolves clawing at the wall. This was her only chance. She reached for the girl's hands.

As quickly as they could, she and the two others panted towards the two doors. The figure leading the two was very faint and whenever she talked, her voice was very shrill. She had been entrusted with these children and now it was her time to leave. Her short wrinkly legs stumbled up the steps. Her scarred arms reached for the door.

And she knocked.

Inside, three short, sharp raps come from the other side of the door.

'I'll get it!' screeched a voice. The first voice belonged to a little girl with ginger hair who seemed to be around the age of four. Her hair was curled and short, and freckles were spread across her face. She was the Princess of Fire. Her mother used to belong to the fire realm and from the little girl's understanding, she got kicked out. Her name meaning born from the flames, Kenna.

'Okay, you don't need to be so loud about it,' came another.

She looked much different from her sister. Her dark brown hair curled around her face revealing a flawless brown complexion. She had her father's eyes, the colour of the ocean, aqua. Her father had originated from a realm called Oceania. She felt very proud to be born here and wished for the day she would be crowned queen. She had inherited water powers from her father but none of the fire from her mother. She was very graceful and beautiful. Her name meaning dew from the heavens, Talia.

Kenna struggled down the stairs, stumbling every few steps. Tripping over one of her laces, she tumbled down the stairs, falling face flat on the ground. As she pulled herself up from the floors grasps, she reached for the doorknob, cautiously turning it.

Standing in front of her was an old wrinkly lady. Her face showing many years with every crease. Kenna had always had a fascination for fantasy books. Maybe she's a witch, Kenna had thought, whilst staring at the mysterious woman's face. She stared into her dark pools.

'May I see your father?' the lady panted.

'Dad,' shouted Kenna frantically, for she had seen death within those pools. 'Come here, there is someone here to see you!'. This mysterious stranger had appeared at her doorstep, her dark pools continued to look down on her. She had never seen her before, what did she want? Maybe she was the child-eating witch, she had read about in her books. She wasn't sure, but for one thing, she didn't want to find out.

Her father rushed over to Kenna from the next room.

'Dad,' Kenna cried.

'Not now,' came the sharp reply.

He offered a hand to the old woman leading her into the sitting room. He poured her a cup of tea, placing it beside her on a crystal table nearby.

Talia slowly walked into the room.

'What's all the commotion?' Talia smiled as she walked gracefully over to a spare seat next to Kenna.

‘Who is she?’

‘I don't know. At first, I thought she looked like a witch but now I am so hoping she is not,’ Kenna’s teeth chattered.

‘Don't be rude Kenna. I mean she doesn't look that scary. Why are they here anyway?' Talia asked.

'I don't know, I guess we'll find out.'

'So did you come here alone?' their father asked ignoring the two girls comments.

'No,' the old woman said. 'Bryn and Kacie it's safe, no need to hide anymore.'

Two girls walked in from the still wide open door to find themselves in the room of peering eyes.

'Introduce yourselves,' said the elderly woman quite harshly.

'Well I'm Bryn...' said the black haired girl. Her hair so long and as dark and mysterious as a mid-winter night. A flower lay between every plait of her ebony hair. Her beautiful emerald eyes were filled with fear. She looked around six years old. She wore a once beautiful long flowing emerald dress which was now coated in dirt, with holes torn into the dress. Beside her stood a very thin and pale young girl with long blonde hair. If anyone saw her they might have thought she was sickly. But her skin wasn’t of a pale white but of a pale blue.This wasn't normal to Talia and Kenna. They definitely had seen some strange creatures, living in Oceania. They had seen fish and creatures of greens and purples but never of a pale blue colour.

She must be like one of those beings from the sky that I read in my books. That explains the colour, Violet had thought.

'And I’m Kacie,' said the blonde haired girl.

Kacie suddenly rushed up to Kenna and hugged her ever so tightly, interrupting the entire conversation. Kenna trying to escape from the grip turned to see Talia smirking at her.

'That's not how you treat a princess Kacie,' the old lady scolded. Kacie slowly released Kenna, allowing her to sit back down in her seat.

'Princess?' Bryn stood in shock. 'So he's a King,' she said pointing to Kenna and Talia's father, her finger shaking.

Bryn gracefully takes hold of the sides of her dress, curtseying. Dylan strode over to Bryn.

'Please, you are our guests.'

His aqua eyes looked down at the young child as he lifted up her head to look her in the eyes. Bryn turned her eyes to face him. A wide smile appeared across her face.

'So why are we here anyway,' Kacie asked turning to face the old lady.

'Well I was going to ask, but you interrupted me, child,' the old lady replied raising her voice. 'I'm Edna, their caregiver. I am deeply sorry for their behaviour,' she apologised, exchanging a quick glance at Kacie. 'You see I came to ask you a favour."

'What might that be?' Dylan questioned.

'You see we have been running away from werewolves for months now and I can no longer go on.' 'I heard from friends of ours, you and your wife are ever so kind and love children.'

'Indeed,' came Dylan's reply.

'So I ask of you and your family, that you look after and care for these children,' she said her voice cracking with emotion, tears rolling down her cheeks.

There was a long pause.

Kacie walked over to Kenna leaving Bryn standing alone.

'Hi I'm Kenna,' introduced Kenna.

'And I'm Kacie.'

'So what happened to your parents?' The words just spilt out of Kenna’s mouth without a single thought.

'I don't know,' came the reply. 'I don't think I ever had any. I mean I have never met my real parents but I have since tried to get adopted but they say I am too noisy and energetic. Whatever that means.’

Through the eyes of Kenna, this girl she had never met seemed to long for a friendship. Kenna believed that she was not much of a friendly person. She stared into the stranger’s eyes. Under all her energy, this young girl wasn't as big as she made herself to seem. She had seen dark things beyond belief and had witnessed horrible events.

'So what do you like?'Changing the subject Kenna asked Kacie about her hobbies. ' I love adventures and fantasy books.”

'Same,' Kacie exclaimed, a smile stretching from ear to ear caused her pout to disappear and her eyes looked up from the floor to stare into Kenna’s.

The silence between Edna and their father finally broke.

'I don't think we will be able to, you see I am so busy at the moment,' He apologised.

'Pleeease! ' shrieked Kenna interrupting the two adults conversation.

'Kenna you are never like this. What happened to the quiet Kenna, the reading Kenna, the good Kenna?’

‘You don't understand dad. Here we have a lovely warm house full of love and peace and that's what they need. They need a family, a home, a safe community.’

Kacie stood stunned.

This girl. She’s trying to save my life. Will this mean no more running, at last, the young blonde girl had thought.

‘I would have to talk to your mother,' he replied firmly.

‘Dad. Please.’’

He strode towards the kitchen door.

When inside he began to go deep into conversation with his wife, Isabella. Kenna's mother had a pale complexion, her red wavy hair flowing down to her waist. Around her neck hung a beautiful red necklace, which shone red with flames. Kenna could imagine the conversation they would be having. Her beautiful mother sitting down in her armchair listening to her father go on about the situation and his thought of the adoption. There was no doubt about it. Kenna wasn’t exactly a people person but there was something about these girls. She somewhat felt a strong connection like they were destined to be together.

After a few minutes which had felt like hours to Kacie, she saw the hope and freedom flying out of her heart as Dylan opened the door with a smile stretched across his face. They had been running for as long as she could remember.

She had never had a proper house as they tended to move a lot. She was always curious about why they were always running. Maybe they want to have us over for dinner or something or maybe Edna was a spy escaping danger, she had thought when she was much younger.

But after what she had been through she was starting to think otherwise.

The dark night, the moon shining and the beast growling at her as it crawled across the soil slowly reaching for her cheek. She remembered the blood and it's dark eyes, she remembered everything from that night and it continued to haunt her in her sleep. This family was her last hope, for freedom and to finally live a normal life with no more running.

The handle turned. A figure of uttermost beauty walked out. She was very beautiful, Kacie had thought. Her eyes warm and welcoming. She looked very nice but deep down Kacie could see that she had been through so much pain and suffering, just as she had.

'I have an answer,' Dylan announced, interrupting the thoughts and memories that were stirring in Kacie’s head. Troy turned his head to see Kenna's big puppy dog eyes staring back at him pleading. What was he to do?

'Girls welcome to the family!' he shouted at the top of his lungs as the two girls rushed up to embrace him. A very warming hug it was indeed.

'So that means no more running,' Bryn asked pulling away from her new father. 'Yes no more running,' Kacie concluded.

'We are gonna be the best of friends!' Kacie squealed as she left the conversation with Bryn and ran up to her new sisters, Talia and Kenna.