~THEODORA ~
Home… That’s the last thing you ever wanna lose.
I don’t even know who my real enemy is. I don’t know who or what to blame.
The hunters? Or the neighboring wolf packs who has been a pain in the ass to my people??
So to talk of peace, we never felt that. Not even for once.
Everything I cherished the most were taken away from me. My dad, and my mom. As if that wasn’t enough, they took my best friend who had just followed me back to the village as soon as we heard the scream.
And every single day, every single moment of my life, I keep asking myself why it all has to be me? Have I in anyway offended life?
I won’t go further, you just have to hear the whole story yourself.
TWO DAYS AGO...
Theodora was with her best friend, Camila in the farm when a very loud scream was heard. It was coming from the village, and that scream wasn’t just the kind you may think as jokes.
The two girls dropped what they were doing, with unpredictable speed, they rushed back to the village.
Theodora’s heart was racing, she has never ran a marathon race like this before. But that wasn’t the main reason why her chest was beating so fast.
“ No. No, I hope it’s not what I am thinking.” She muttered to herself, shaking her head as she kept running.
From afar, they could see black smokes flying up to the sky. “ Mom!!!” She cried. “ Dad!!”
They reached to the village, but all they could see were few dead bodies and scattered homes.
Theodora’s eyes searched for her mother and father. She froze as soon as she saw her mother laying helpless on the ground with her hand stretched out like she was reaching out for something… Or someone.
And she followed the direction of her mother’s gaze, it was her father’s body laying dead, lifeless and hopeless.
“ Mother!!” She screamed. “ No. No, no. Please wake up. Please, don’t die. You have to wake up. “ She wept bitterly, shaking her body for any response.
But then she realized that her parents were indeed dead and there was no way to bring them back to life, not even with her scream.
“ There they are!” Cried a loud voice.
Theodora didn’t want to move, she was ready to die with them. What was life for her without them? Nothing!!
As Camila rushed to pull her up to her feet and get themselves out, a bullet landed on her shoulder bone.
She yelped painfully, falling to the ground. “ Dora!” She called.
Theodora turned, her eyes flew open in terror to see as Camila dragged herself on the ground. She left her mother and father, running towards her bestfriend.
“ What happened?”
“ This is not the time to ask questions, Dora, this is the time to run. Leave this place. “
“ Without you? Not happening. We came here together, and we are leaving together. “ She holds her hand, placing it around her neck. “ I’m gonna save you. I’m not going anywhere without you.”
“ Get them!!” Camila looked back, pushing Theodora from her and they both fell to the ground. “ Forget about me, save yourself.”
Theodora forced her way to Camila, trying to jerk her up but she refuses. “ If I let you die alone, I will never forgive myself. “
“ Don’t you dare blame yourself for my death. This is not your fault. “
“ No, it’s not. But if I let you die, it becomes my fault. “
“ Maybe this was fate’s decision, we can’t change it. Maybe it’s time I see my ancestors, I have always wanted to know what they look like. “ She smiled.
Theodora wasn’t interested in any of those, all she wanted was to save her friend’s life and get themselves out of there.
“ This is nonsense, Camila. We have to leave or they get us.”
“ You are the one who deserves to live. You still have a lot to work on yourself. You don’t have to die without having your wolf dominant, and we don’t even know what kind of wolf you are.
If not for anyone, live for my sake. Now go, run away and never come back. “ She groaned. “ Don’t even look back. Never look back. I will always be with you, Dora, even in the after life.”
Holds her hand. “ Always remember this, Dora, I love you. Now go!! Run!!, She whispered in a faint voice, coughing out blood.
Theodora stood to her feet, endlessly running. She ran and ran without turning back. Even when she heard the gunshot, knowing they had finally killed her best friend, she didn’t stop.
When she tried to, Camila’s voice would echo in her head. “ Don’t even look back. Never look back.”
And she didn’t. She never did look back. But the memories, the whole dead body, her mother, her father and Camila, they were all in her head, and she knew it was a memory that will always live with her forever.
*
*
She woke up in an environment filled with white background. It was so white that Theodora had almost thought she was in the after life.
She stared at herself, she was also putting on a white garment, and had woken up on a white bed
“ Where am I?” She asked no one in particular.
She made her way to the the door. She opened it, there were two ends in the hallway, each at different direction.
She didn’t know which to follow as the environment was new and totally different from her own home. “ Hello” she muttered but all she could get in return was her echo reflecting back to her.
So, she decided to take a direction that was after so many contemplation.
She successfully got out of the building to an open field. Then across it was another big building. The exterior view wasn’t as good looking as the other one.
Out of every human in the area, it was only Theodora who was putting on a different attire.
“ She is awake.” A small boy informed.
As if they were remoted, they darted their gaze to her. “ She is awake.” Said another.
Theodora stood fixed, unmoved, glaring back at them with questioning glare. “ What the heck is this place? How did I get here? Who are these people? How do they know me??
A young lady on a white suit and scarf tied around her neck approached her. She had the cutest smile on her face.
“ Hello, it gladdens me to see you up to your feet, safe and healthy. How do you feel now? “ She asked, still with the unfaded smile.
“ How did I get here?” She asked rather. “ And who are you? What am I doing here??” She looks around.
“ My name is Victoria Greene, I own this community. I created this group because of people like you who has no home or has left home for one reason or the other. We saw you in the woods, so we decided to bring you here.”
Theodora looked away from her gaze. “ I don’t have any home. They took them away from me, and my best friend too.”
“ I do understand how you feel, I also lost my father when my home was attacked. I figured out that moving from packs to packs wasn’t the best for me, I knew there were people just like me and I can render to the them a helping hand. “
“ I am a wolf. I don’t know if you can accommodate me. “
“ We all are wolves. But since we aren’t in our various packs, we call ourselves The Rogues… “ Holds her hands. “ You don’t have to worry about anything or anyone, you are safe here with us now.”
She knew she was safe with them, but nevertheless, the memory was never gonna leave her.
“ Follow me.” Victoria ordered.
Theodora followed behind until they got into the building. The inside was much more comfortable at sight than the outside.
They went further into a room. It was wide and spacious and it had few leather chairs in it. It looked much of a modern office.
Theodora stared at the four men and the single woman who were in the room. They were discussing something earlier but stopped as soon as they walked in.
“ Guys, she is awake. “ Looks at Theodora, “ Introduce yourself.”
She hesitated.
“ Go on.
“ My name is Theodora Van Amstel. I am the only survival in my village. “ She buried her gaze to the ground. “ I think that’s all I can say.”
“ What happened to your village?” The other lady asked.
“ It was hunted, and burned.” She replied, her face still staring at the floor.
“ Did you see who did it?” Another asked.
She shook her head. “ I was in the farm when we heard someone scream.”
“ We?” The third asked.
She rose her gaze to them. “ I and Camila,
“ Who is Camila?” The lady asked.
“ She was my best friend".
“ What happened to her? “ She asked again.
“ She got shot. “ once again, she buried her gaze to the ground. “Everyone is dead, they are all gone.” She wept, silently.
“ You don’t have to worry, we will take good care of you.” She assured her. “ But can I ask you a question? “
Theodora slowly nodded her head
“ What type of wolf are you?” She asked.
“ I don’t know. I haven’t discovered it yet. “
“ Does your parents know you are a wolf?” She asked again.
“ Yes, but since I haven’t discovered it yet, we don’t know what kind of wolf I am.”
The lady nods her head and was quiet for the rest of the conversation.
After what took like thirty minutes or so, Theodora was escorted out of the room to a different one.
“ I was wondering why you had asked her that question.” Victoria said as she made herself comfortable on her seat
The young lady shrugged her shoulders. “ Just felt like asking, though.”
“ That doesn’t sound convincing to me.” She said, giving her a long glare.
“ I sensed something in her, something weird and strange. Her scent, it doesn’t smell like that of a wolf. “
“ So?"
“ I think she should be investigated properly because that girl, she isn’t what we think she is. “
“ What then do you think she is? “ Asked one of the men sitting beside her.
“ That’s an answer we’ll find out soon.”