A White Lie

Katarina

Chapter one:

The little white wolf

Katarina lifted her head as a show of pride. ‘I will admit nothing,’ she growled, her teeth showing. The men around her gasped and lifted their hands to their mouths in astonishment: Katarina had two large canine teeth. She smiled grimly. ‘I am not like you, nor is the others. I will never be like you. Never.’ She lied slightly. There were no others: she was alone in this world forever.

‘She is a sign of change! Kill her, we need no change!’ someone from the crowd yelled, and there was shuffling around the men. A tall pale skinned young boy walked foreword, and Katarina growled: it was her best friend, Aeolus Johanne. Katarina trusted him with her secret, but he betrayed her in the worst way possible.

He betrayed her to the others. Shared her secret to the other men and families, leaving her defenseless. She tried to kill him, but did not succeed. That was one of the reasons she was here: one being her trying to kill Aeolus and the other being different. Inhuman. Weird. An abomination. Even her parents were embarrassed by her.

‘Aeolus,’ Katarina snarled. ‘How could you show your face here; I’m here for attempting to kill you. What more do you want from me? My family? My soul? My very essence of life?’ she snarled.

He lifted his head, clear eyes meeting dark ones. ‘No. I am here to ask of your death,’ he replied darkly. ‘And to ask of your body to be dropped in the deepest of the waters.’ He snarled.

The other men cheered in agreement, and Katarina stared, thinking of her choice of what to do. Show them, or let them kill her? If they killed her, then there would be no more of her kind. They suspected what she was; they just hadn’t pinpointed it down yet.

She decided.

Katarina dropped her body forward, getting closer to the dark eyed boy. ‘I hope you die,’ she snarled, and closed her eyes and smiled.

Her body started shaking violently – her smile still on her face, her eyes still closed – her small body dropped on the ground, limp, and a small white animal jumped out of her pale body, leaving her white dress behind.

The white wolf snarled at Aeolus Johanne and the other men, and leaped over them, leaving them shocked, scared, surprised and confused. Katarina left the room and out to the woods, to freedom.

Katarina

Chapter two:

Meeting Aaron and Arabella

Katarina huffed in defeat. She was tired, 6 hours after leaving the town, she had gotten miles away from them, traveling by night fall and the smell of ice in the air. Her tiny frail body couldn’t work anymore. She had to rest and eat, or she would die in the cold.

She looked up and saw nothing but the forest and the dark sky covered with fog.

She shivered, and forced her head up again – she took in the surroundings more this time, she was in a dark forest, with snow on the ground and fog in the air, surrounded by trees and rocks and dirt. She scanned the area with her eyes and ears, and heard some shuffling about 20 meters away.

She forced her limbs to work and walked to where the sound was escaping, and found herself in front of a white log cabin, obviously trying to blend in with the surroundings.

She shifted back to her human form, and limped to the front door, and knocked on it. ‘Hello?’ she cried out, ‘help me, I’m dying.’ She moaned. All she heard next was the door opening, and her eyes seeing a man or woman in the house.

Then she blacked out.

‘Hello?’ a voice murmured to Katarina, ‘are you okay? Hello? Little girl?’ Katarina opened her eyes, and felt warm blankets on her body, and was breathing in warm air. ‘Well, hello there.’ The voice said. ‘You seem to look better.’

She looked at the person, and almost blacked out again: it was a man, with shaggy black hair, cat golden yellow eyes, and pale skin. He had large eyes and a kind smile upon his face.

‘W-where am I-I?’ Katarina stuttered, pulling her hands toward herself in defense. She was too weak to fight or defend herself at the moment: she was still too hungry and tired.

He lifted his hands up. ‘Hey now, don’t worry – I won’t hurt you. I found you outside my house 17 hours ago. You were almost dead – from coldness, hunger and dehydration. How long have you been out there?’ he asked her, was that concern flitting across his face?

‘6-6 hours,’ she managed. She knew that she almost died. It was obvious to her. But she didn’t want to – she was the last and only of her kind. She wanted to try and make more of her kind. She wasn’t sure how, though.

He nodded. ‘Why were you out there for so long? Didn’t you see the snow?’ he asked her. Katarina nodded. ‘So why were you out there for so long?’

She looked at him. ‘Why do you care?’ she snapped.

‘Because – I just saved you’re sorry ass, don’t you think I deserve an exclamation?’ he asked her, staring into her eyes.

Those eyes reminded her of an animal …

‘What are you?’ she interjected – if he wanted answers out of her, then she’d need some in return.

He licked his lips. ‘I’m not like you, if that’s what you’re asking.’

She gazed upon him in wonder – could he be like her? A shifter, a wolf like her? Was it possible? Could he really be like her, a shifter, a wolf? A white wolf. The two were more like each other than they knew.

She continued to stare at him. Then, without realizing what she was doing, she pulled herself up and kissed him full on the lips.

She grasped his shaggy hair, and knotted her fingers in it. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up –

Katarina pushed him away, and whipped her mouth with the red blanket that was wrapped around her body, and grabbed his wrist, almost breaking it. ‘What are you?’ she repeated.

He grimaced in pain. ‘Why do you care?’ he retorted.

‘Because,’ she leaned in. ‘we have more in common than you know.’ She breathed. She was regaining her strength faster than she thought she was, and was glad: now she could fight the man that was with her.

‘What do you mean?’ he snapped. Katarina smiled at him, showing him all of her teeth, and he gasped. She let go of his wrist and he leaned into her face, and examined her teeth.

‘Wow … are you … really like me?’ he whispered, still looking at her teeth. When she nodded he continued. ‘What are you? I mean – what type? I’ve only met only one other, and it was my sister, Arabella.’ He whispered. ‘I’m a white tiger, not a golden one. My sister’s a black panther.’

‘White tiger. Where is your sister?’ Katarina asked swiftly.

‘She’s here, but asleep.’ He replied, looking out the door of the room. ‘She’s 14, and tiny like you. I’m Aaron, what’s your name?’ he asked her, and she looked at him pointedly.

Well, he is like me, Katarina thought. And we have a lot in common, and his little sister is like us, soo … ‘Katarina.’ She replied, nodding at him. ‘I’m only 16, and was run out of my own home because people suspected what I was. Only three people knew – my mom and dad. And then my best friend knew, and sold me to the town for being different.’

Aaron nodded. ‘Okay. I believe you. You’re story is like ours: we got run out of our town by our father. He threatened to kill us; he said we were too different to be his children. Not normal enough. Our mother liked us how we are. Different – she was glad that her only two children would live a different life and explore more of the world.’

Katarina nodded; she knew what it was like to be chased off. ‘Thank you for saving me.’ She whispered and looked down.

‘No problem. I’m just glad I met another … do you want to meet Arabella?’ he asked Katarina and she nodded happily. ‘She’s tiny, like you, and is smart with most things. Just don’t get on her wrong side – she’ll chew you to pieces.’ He warned her, and Katarina nodded.

The two stood up and Katarina stretched. ‘C’mon,’ Aaron said, and she followed him out the door to a hallway, and then into another room. But this one had purple walls, a giant bed with a lump under it, a desk, and purple blankets and pillows.

Aaron walked up to the lump in the bed, and poked it. All that ushered from under the blanket was a low whine. He continued to poke it, and finally a voice said: ‘okay, okay! I’m up. Now what do you want -?’ a girl emerged from under the blankets, and when she saw Katarina, she gasped and jumped on her brother.

‘Aaron! Who the hell is that? You let a girl in here – without my permission? You imbecile idiot!’ she growled, and shot a look at Katarina. Arabella threw a glare at Katarina, and bared her teeth at her.

Katarina bared her teeth at her too, and Arabella stood up, and cocked her head to one side. She walked feebly over to Katarina, and forced her jaw to open. She looked at Katarina’s teeth, and then stared into her snowy grey eyes, and gasped.

‘You’re … you’re one of … us?’ she whispered. Katarina nodded, and stared into the dark purple eyes of the little girl, and smiled hesitantly. ‘Aaron, she’s-she’s one of us,’ Arabella pointed to Katarina while looking at her brother.

He rolled his eyes. ‘I know. That’s what I wanted to tell you.’ He laughed shakily, and Arabella continued to stare at Katarina.

Arabella looked like her brother – full lips and big eyes, but she had waist long black hair, and dark purple eyes, the blackness from being a panther. She was short, like Aaron said, and had pale skin that was flawless and smooth, no scars of marks showing.

Arabella looked like a little girl, but the fierceness in her dark eyes showed that she was more than a child: that she was a hunter.

‘Aaron! You suck – girly, what’s your name?’ Arabella asked Katarina.

‘Katarina,’ Aaron supplied, grinning. ‘She, like us, got run out of her home from parents.’ He said soberly.

Arabella nodded. ‘Okay, Aaron, you out; I seriously need to give this girl some clothing that she could actually wear around a house, not looking like a hobo. Katarina, you come here.’ She said, pushed Aaron out, and dragged Katarina over to her dresser.

‘What’s your favorite color, Katarina?’ Arabella asked her, and smiled.

‘White.’ She replied.

‘White?’ Arabella echoed.

She nodded. ‘Yeah – my color is white. I only dress in it, not red or blue. It doesn’t suit me or my looks. I’m more of a white girl,’ she grinned at Arabella’s shocked expression.

‘Huh,’ she said, recovering, ‘okay. Well, that was interesting. Let’s see if I have any white clothing …,’ she searched through her dresser, and only black was found.

She went over to a closet and found a pair of grey sweats, and a turquoise tank top. ‘Sorry, but it’s the closest thing to white I have – plus, blue will go great with your ice-blonde hair.’ She smiled at Katarina, and left her to change.

‘We’re going to have to come up with a plan,’ Katarina realized while getting dressed. ‘We can’t stay here forever; something’s gotta happen.’