She shook her head no, "those council meetings are rather particular. I think if the mayor wanted me there, he would've asked." Of course she wanted to go, but she felt uncomfortable to attend those. Plus her father would be there, and she wasn't exactly ready for the introduction. She paused and then swam back out towards the deep end towards Lucio, "I don't have any plans either...." she smiled coyly and looked around them "but for now this is fine".
Later that evening
Anna and Lucio had spent the day in the lake, and she had unsuccessfully picked his brain. He always seemed vague on his answers, but answered them honestly. She was smitten with him, especially after their day together. The sun was beginning to set, gold and pink swirled together as it cast a warm golden hue over the town and land. The temperature was dropping, and Anna was weaving her way through the people that were out enjoying the last rays of sunlight. "Anna!"
She stopped and looked at an older gentleman standing in his porch. He was a frail man, his age clearly showed in his face. Balding, and a white beard, he had a mug in his hand, and waved at the girl to come closer. It was Alphonse's father. She felt her stomach drop, and her hands became clamy.
"Have you seen my boy? It's been a few days, last I know he was at that ball," she laced her fingers behind her back and shook her head.
"I saw him there," she began "Im not certain where he went unfortunately"
He stared at her and then shrugged, "well if you see him - tell him come home." She nodded and walked away quickly.
Her heart was beating out of its chest as she replayed that night again in her head. Anna began to breathe harshly. Lying wasn't her strong point. Thankfully her house was in sight. She darted to it, and up the steps only to run into a harsh force. Anna almost fell, catching herself on the railing - and she looked up frantically. It was Bertol.
"Why are hanging out with that stranger, sister?" He asked, his face wiped of any emotion. Anna gripped the railing, and knitted her brows together in anger and confusion.
"Excuse me?" She barked angrily.
"I know you were with him all day, and I don't think you should be spending your time with him," he walked forward to her getting closely yanking her arm up so he was face to face with her, "Itd be best to trust me on this one, sister". Anna's mouth hung open as she stared him in the eyes, unsure of what to say. She yanked herself back from him, "Were you following us?" She questioned. He just stared at her, his fists cleanching tightly.
"You're nobody to judge him, he's a gentleman and-"
"He's not who you think he is..." he cut her off, they were both distracted by a door opening.
"Bertol, you said you were going to play with me," it was Cassandra. Anna looked to her and instantly smiled, then back to Bertol angrily. He nodded at Cassandra and turned his gaze back to Annas. "I mean it" he uttered under his breath and stepped inside the house.
Anna was furious at this point, her emotions sending anxiety through her body crazily. She quickly left the porch, and ran behind the house. Passing the shed, and walking into the brush. The sun was still illuminating the earth enough for her to walk through the forest. She knew of a small clearing her and Cassandra would come to. After a few moments she made it, falling to the ground dramatically and she began crying. Crippled by anger, and self loathing for lying about the death of someone. She sat there for a few moments, and collected herself.
"What's a young lady doing allll alone out here?" A voice called out. She looked behind her to see a man standing rather close, she must have been too in her mind to notice him. She began to stand up, when he kicked her back down with his foot on her shoulder. He smiled meniaclly waving a knife up at her, his foot pressing more into her shoulder.
"I'm not a fan of when they're moving..." he mumbled. He was an older man, dirt, and sweat covered him, in older molded clothes that seemed to almost fall off his body due to their terrible condition. He sat down on her stomach, and held the knife up in the air before bringing it down to her cheek. Burping and wiping the spit from his lips, he smiled again this time she realized about every tooth had rotted out. Tears streaming from her face, as she fought to push him off of her. He then shoved her hands to the ground, pinning her further. He made a small mistake though and lifted himself up off her stomach, which gave a small moment to raise her knee and hit him successfully in the groin.
He toppled over to the side, cursing at her Anna and slowly trying to recover. Anna frantically sat up, sporadically breathing - gasping for the air. She saw the knife on the ground and quickly snagged it. She held it up to the guy, as he rolled over and stared at her angrily. He all of a sudden lurched forward, Anna held the knife out and screamed. Feeling the weight of him collapse into her. She cried, and kicked at the man, the knife seemed jammed almost. Anna slowly began to realize the man wasn't moving, and more weight had been set into her body. After a moment, she released the knife and pushed
The man over. Again gasping for air, she felt something warm on her hand that held the knife and looked down to see blood coating her.
"No, no, no, no..." she kept repeating, trying to wipe temblors off her dress only smearing it. She looked at her hands, and then to the crazy bastard that wanted to kill and rape her. Her life had drastically changed again. She ran over to the man, and tried to shake him. "Wake up, this can't be happening..." she cried, coming to terms with what was happening.
She sat back and stared at his bloodied body, and brought her hands to her face. Her breathing become erratic again. She stood up slowly, and stepped back a few steps. Suddenly, her arm cracked. She screamed out in pain and fell again, "no, this can't be happening" Anna cried out. She looked up towards the sky, seeing the flow of blues fade in and reclaim the day as night. Anna felt her other bones began to crack and continued screaming in pain.
This pain continued for the next 5 hours, as her first transformation began. Upon her full first turn, she disappeared into the woods. Her wolf instincts fully taking over, and leading her towards her first kill.