Orivelle woke up with a sharp inhale, her heart pounding violently against her ribs. The sound still echoed in her heart and it felt like her body was too familiar with the sound even before her mind could understand what it was.
The room felt alive, heavy with unspoken emotions.
She sat upright in a sheet, fingers clutching the bed sheets, her body was already alert long before her mind fully caught up.
The moon glowed calmly through the night and she felt like someone was watching her - not in a human way but as though something ancient had turned its gaze at her, even though she knew she was all alone in the room. Deep down she knew that howl was no ordinary noise because it felt more like a call.
Everwood became different at night than usual, not the kind of busy people and cars - horns of trains kind of restless, but the sounds of different kinds of animals kind of busy.
Her heart raced so hard it hurt, but she forced herself to the window and shut it with trembling hands.
Slowly she walked back to her bed - with so many thoughts racing through her mind at just 15, things like this didn't happen to normal people .
Slowly exhaustion dragged her under again, as she dozed off.
Waking up the next morning, Orivelle knew something had changed, she tried to go about her day like a normal teenager but it was just as if a new chapter of her life just opened, people stared at her in ways that made her uncomfortable, animals reacted strangely to her presence in every place, she could feel things even before they happened, a dropped book, the sound of a passing train, the sizzling of sausages and even the crow of a cock.
At home her Aunt watched her more closely - her eyes lingering than usual, as though she was studying something fragile.
Although she didn't say anything Orivelle begins to suspect that her aunt knows more than she claims to let on but she stays quiet.
After her chores, needing air Orivelle decided to take a walk down to the lake at the back of the house.
The breeze was so cool, brushing against her skin and for the first time in forever she felt almost normal. She sat by the water, letting her feet deep into the cold soothing water, breathing in the quiet.
After a while of normalcy - She felt it again, there it was - the howl, she looked across and there was a beautiful-looking wolf, its coat shimmer under the fading light, it gaze locked eyes with her far longer than any ordinary animal would, it had the aura and intensity that no animal should have, almost unnatural. It stood still watching her. Then it stepped forward, paused, then slowly and confidently it turned away and disappeared into the trees as quickly as it appeared, leaving behind silence and emptiness in her chest.
She stood up to take a closer look but it was already gone, the mixture of fear and familiarity filled her. It felt so unreal but she knew she wasn't running mad as she could hear the sound of her own growl vibrating within her, the realization terrified her.
"Oh,, what is happening to me", she slowly sighed in relief and walked back home and continued her day like nothing happened.
The week was obviously different, her Aunt hosting different kinds of meetings. Words like - timing, awakening and danger floated through the walls. The house had become like an ancient hive of secrets and each time she walked in on them she could hear them whispering, some in awe, some in pity and others in admiration. Slowly everything was changing so fast.
On the eve of her 16th birthday, the quiet night where 15 slipped away and 16 was born under a full moon that same bright, glowy moon appeared again but this time something about it pulled her to the wild under it, with admiration she walked to her window drawn by the light. But as she walked past her mirror she quickly caught a glimpse of her reflection. She froze. The person looking back at her was not Orivelle.
The mirror didn't show a stranger. It reflected both a monster and a goddess - an otherworldly celestial being, all in one. She gently walked closer to the mirror, admiring the awesomeness and glory that killed the room. As she touched it, she could feel a low growl vibrating inside her gut. Her eyes glowed with beauty and awe. And weirdly,she liked it, she felt proud and unsure if this was hope or something beyond.
It was not the sound of a 16-year-old Orivelle; it was undeniably the sound of something out of the ordinary, something ancient and supernatural.
Something that has been waiting for her.