Crossing Moon

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Hi there! It's been a REALLY long while and I'm sorry for that. I've been so busy with a lot of university assignments and tests that I barely had time to breathe, let alone write this series that I had wanted to finish for so long! LOL

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From Aveline Erickana Ruben's diary:

6th October 2008, 12.40 AM, my bed.

I hate it here. When's the next plane back HOME?

Not loving it,

Avvie

From Carinelle Hynes Thorn's diary:

6th October 2008, 1.30 AM, my study table.

I have a lot of assignments to do and yet very little time to complete them. Malcolm had insisted that we still phase to our wolf form and satisfy its natural cravings like hunting and roaming the perimeter for example. He believed that deprivation of such things will make the wolf inside us rebel and the probability of us being tempted to run and play with the humans will be irresistible.

"They are delicious little lambs," he joked to us.

But he had a point there.

Aveline had looked like she was about to rip that annoying human piece by piece, limb by limb and meat from bones. She'd probably break the bones and grind them to dust with her bare hands too. I just couldn't understand why she can't just ignore his provoked attacks on her. She should have a more sensible mind than this.

Isn't she an Alpha Princess? Princesses don't let their calm demeanour down no matter what.

If Malcolm finds out about this, he'd probably go and pack Aveline up back home which is probably not a bad thing since she profusely stated how she hated being here but I told her that she's the one who was so eager to come to Lexton and the fact that she had promised to Uncle James that she'd behave and oh, a lot of money had been spent for the sake of her whim.

"Gee, thanks for reminding me," she said to me testily before slamming her bedroom door to my face.

Oh well. She's already in a bad mood. I can't exactly blame her.

Anyway, she'd cool down tomorrow. I guess, anyone would be furious, when one is attacked -- um, all right, perhaps the word 'attack' sounded just too exaggerating. The human...wait, what was his name again? Anyway, that does not matter. Whoever his name is, I chose to remain not knowing. He is not imperative. He is insignificant.

And I refuse to let a puny human ruin my experience in Lexton.

With love,

Carrie.

***

The morning came fast; it was as if the sun was too eager for its turn to shine upon the world. Aveline's mood did not improve like what Carrie had predicted, despite the fact that the day was certainly lovely and warm. Aveline scowled when her brother playfully pointed out what a beautiful day it was to go to the school. He was fully aware of her irritation to the human although he didn't know the complete details yet. He was, in truth, amazed with the human's ability to provoke his sister and still lived to tell the tale.

"What exactly did the human did to annoy you, sister?" he asked, he couldn't help but smile teasingly at her.

She scowled once again, refusing to tell the whole story. Carinelle sighed. "It was silly," she said, stating quickly, "At first, she -- well, we met this human at his parents' cafe since we owed Malcolm a cup of coffee and then, don't you ask me why Alven, things just escalated to a potential world war three at that time," she paused, noticing the grim annoyed look on Aveline's face. "And then, last time, it was at the school."

"School?" Alven asked, genuinely curious.

Avvie continued heatedly, "Yeah, I bumped with the big stupid idiotic insignificant insolent moron -,"

He cut her words, "That is a lot of big I-words." He said with amusement.

She growled, "Alven, you idiot, do you want to hear the story or not?" she snapped, she didn't care how rude she sounded. She wasn't looking forward to go to school anyway. She bit her lips and then relaxed a bit when her brother let her continue her story, "Well, I bumped into him. I didn't see him. I didn't mean to bump to him -,"

"And threw your books at his head wasn't an accident?" Carrie asked, cutting her words.

Avvie stomped her foot childishly. "Stop interrupting me!" she growled, "And it was an ACCIDENT! You know how clumsy I'd get sometimes! How was I to know that I would lose hold of my books when I bumped to him?"

"So you bumped to him and hit his head with your books..." Alven prompted, wanting to know more.

"And that moron went on and on about me stalking him! The whole school probably heard what he said! They laughed! They seriously really truly laughed at me!! I've never felt so humiliated in my life! I was so tempted to break his neck and grind it to dust! I would have done it if it weren't for Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes here!"

Alven chuckled, "What did you do, Carrie?"

"I dragged her." She answered. "And she screamed, demanding me to let her go. Of course that only served more fuel in making the other humans laughed even more. Some of the teachers came out too."

Avvie groaned. "I want to go home."

"Oh no you don't!" Alven snapped. "You're the one who was so eager to come here in the first place, sister. Malcolm and Dad won't like it. They'd say that you're unfit to carry the name Ruben and you do know that -,"

Avvie sighed, cutting her brother's words, "That a Ruben does not quit no matter what." She looked out to the car window and sighed once again. The limo was fast ahead to their destination and the closer they'd get to the school, the tighter her tummy felt. "That human's destroying my supposed-to-be-wonderful experience in a human school, Alven." She complained.

"He is just a human," Alven said, "He's powerless."

"Yeah," Carrie agreed, as if she realized the truth in Alven's words.

Avvie was lost. "What do you mean?"

"He's just a mere human, you, I, we... all of us here are wolves... We are a pack. Don't let this human be your inferior." He paused, "And besides, we will only be here on a temporary basis, we WILL go home and that human will be left here alone."

"Are you trying to tell me that I ought to ignore this moronic human?" Avvie asked.

"Yes, that's exactly right, although I must confess sister," he paused, smiling, Aveline looked at him with confusion, "I salute him. He is by far, the only creature able to truly annoy you."

"You annoy me all the time, Alven!" Aveline pointed out with disgust.

"I'm different." He said, "We're biologically programmed to annoy one another." He laughed.

She snorted. "Biological my ass." She snapped.

"For now, I think, it's best to keep your annoyance to that particular human a secret. Malcolm cannot find out about your potential crisis." Alven said.

"It's not a crisis." Avvie stated.

"It would and it had the potential to be." He stated strongly. "Remember, we're still under father's terms. We must keep our wolf heritage a secret."

"Let's just hope the idiotic human knows the limit of a wolf's patience." Avvie said.

Carinelle sighed. "Why do I have this feeling that this isn't over yet?"

The limo halted to a gentle stop. Carinelle, Aveline and Alven looked up and noticed that they had arrived at their new school. Aveline sighed. "I promise that I'll try to keep my temper in check, Alven." She said to her brother as he pushed open the door and went out. "But I don't promise if that human will survive my outburst." She said with irritation still lingering in her tone.

Alven sighed. "Just don't permanently break the human to pieces."

***

Sure enough, the day wouldn't be complete without a confrontation, even if that argument was just a small one that could be regarded as insignificant. Aveline had survived the first three classes with ease. The subjects taught were simply a breeze and she was certain that she'll get an A for each of them.

The best thing was that she hadn't met or bumped with that moronic human, yet anyway. That annoying Max, she thought testily in her heart. It was cruel enough for her to not have the same classes with either Carinelle or Alven. She felt as if she was vulnerable to the open world. There wasn't a string for her to hold on. Her classes were of course made up entirely humans who despite their fragile nature seemed tough and unwelcome. Well, to her anyway. The humans seemed to repel wherever she go. Was she that threatening? Did she look in some way scary and monstrous?

Malcolm had a theory, once, a long time ago, when she had asked him on why they had to be home-schooled. Malcolm's answer had been short but precise, "We are wolves."

Wolves, he claimed, were powerful creatures of the moon and yet, in some point unstable. The animal inside them roared and struggled to be free.

Free, he stated, in a sense that the human side of them, the conscience that ruled their souls. The one that helped differentiate and sensed what was bad and what was right. The moral of their soul was at stake. "We would be mere animals if it weren't for our human conscience." Malcolm said intelligently. Her father, the Alpha, had also said the same thing. Being born into a world of wolves was certainly a blessing but everything comes with a price. And theirs include anonymity from the human world. The humans could not learn of their co-existing with creatures of the night.

Aveline could not really understand on why secrecy was a big thing. This was the modern world for crying out loud, everything was supposed to be taken with an open mind.

"That does not include tales of the supernatural, child." Malcolm had replied back.

Her parents had agreed with Malcolm on that one. The wolves had long lived a peaceful life just by being secretive. Human-wolf interactions were seldom, it was only done when there was an imperative need but even then, the line was still drawn and by the power of the moon, the humans seemed to be biologically implanted with the need to stay away from the wolves without even realizing it.

But Aveline had wanted more. Perhaps she was selfish. Perhaps she was just a stubborn little wolf that would only listen when she had paid an ultimate price. She had thought that humans would be a wonderful addition in her life. Not as pets, she reminded herself constantly, and not as food but as friends.

But now, she had second thoughts on having humans as mutual friends ever since she had the misfortune to meet the annoying idiotic Max.

She went to her locker -- yes, she finally found her locker and managed to remember her lock combination -- and took out two new textbooks which she had gotten from the library. She wanted to do some revision, perhaps, Carinelle's bookworm-y was rubbing off her.

She went across the hall and headed to her next class when she saw how warm the day outside was through the big glass-paned window. She paused and stared at the view, her hand touched the pane, feeling the warmth that radiated from within. Perhaps it was just her body warmth in contact with the cool glass window but the view outside was still alluring nevertheless.

She hadn't allowed herself to phase for some time, all because of her irritation to the human had occupied her mind. She had steadfastly refused and sulked in her room when Carinelle and Alven asked her if she'd wanted to roam the forest with them. Her wolf inside growled and she could feel the pull of the nature. She wanted to run.

But it was still daylight and school time. She pressed her palm to the window longingly. How she wished that she had followed her brother and Carinelle last night. She took a deep breath, her eyes closed for a moment, telling herself to keep it all together. She had to endure just a few more hours of school and then... perhaps, she could phase.

She swallowed an empty invisible lump and walked forward to her class. Nature seemed to call her name, pulling her with invisible threads that refused to let her be.

Her wolf roared, feeling trapped and deep bloody rage was forming within its core. The lure of feeling the warm green grass under her paws felt seductive enough to break her will but she continued to walk and refused to acknowledge her repressed wolf some liberty. Her eyes then caught glance of the seductive view outside from another huge glass-paned window and she froze. Absent-mindedly, she went to the window, her books dropped to the floor. Both of her palms pressed to the glass pane. There was only the window and the cement gate blocking her. She could easily go pass the silly obstacle.

Her eyes glazed. Her wolf broke free. She turned and ran. She had barely enough sense to not jump through the window itself.

She sprinted. Her wolf roared within her with exultation. Finally, the wolf felt free. Her human half was slipping but it was still there, reigning and still holding the control over her. She was out of the main door and ran toward the gate when somebody jumped over her.

She screamed in shock. They rolled on the cemented ground. Her human side returned full blast, waking her from her trance.

"Don't you know better than to escape on your first week of school, midget?" Max said with amusement.

He was on top of her so it was easy for her to punch him on his face. "Get off me, you moron!" she snapped as he rolled off her, cursing in pain. "What the hell did you jump at me?"

"Are you really a girl, midget?" he asked her, the pain had receded to a numb feeling. "You punched like a guy."

She rolled her eyes at him, "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"No," he said, "And I did not jump at you. You almost ran at me. Were you blind?"

She looked at him with confusion. "I did not almost run at you!"

"Oh yes, you did, midget," he said, a hint of amusement in his voice, "That's why I had to tackle you. I'm a guy, I should be able to stop you."

"You're simply a hypocrite, are you aware of that? And stop calling me MIDGET!" she demanded at him, brushing dirt from her clothes. She realized that it was her fault but she won't admit it to his face! Her wolf had blinded her. She couldn't see or even think what was going to happen. She was so focused on her wolf instincts that she forgot about potential witnesses namely this egoistic dim-witted human.

"Why were you running?" he asked her. Strange, she thought, he didn't try to provoke her, yet.

"I -- um," for once, Aveline was speechless. Her tongue felt tied. How could she explain her erratic behaviour?

"Like I said, you shouldn't try to escape, especially by running straight to the main gate. Did you forget the security guards?" he asked her.

Her wolf roared, wanting to roam free but she had been able to immerse that desire far beneath her at the moment. She had no choice but to remain strong.

"I wasn't trying to escape." She said.

"Then?" his left eyebrow rose.

She bit her lips, uncertain on what to say. She could hear the bell rung, indicating that class would start in five minutes.

"The bell." She reminded him, "Won't you be late for class?"

"I have a free session now," he told her, "Are you having yours now?"

In truth, she did not know what he meant by 'free session'. She hadn't exactly look through her class schedule but for the sake of wanting to escape from this human, she nodded rather too quickly that Max could sense that she was lying. There was something that Aveline was hiding and he was curious about it.

She took a step back to the school, she'd figured that she just had to find another entrance to make her escape. Screw her other classes, she didn't care anymore. Her wolf was almost bursting through her defence. "I think I'll just go to the library." She told him, not realizing on why she had to make up such excuse. He took a step forward to her. "Look, I really have to go." She said feeling desperate. Her wolf was struggling for liberation.

Max felt amused. "I think I'll go to the library too since I don't have anyone to burn my one hour free period."

"No," she shook her head. "Go somewhere else, all right? Why are you bothering me?"

"Am I bothering you?" he asked her, almost teasingly.

She growled instinctively without thinking. His eyes went wide for a moment. She gasped. She bit her lips. "Look, I'm having a bad day." She said, she could feel fresh sweat rolling on her forehead. She didn't know how long she could hold the pretense anymore before she'd bolted to the main gate and ripped her clothes off and just phased to her wolf form.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you at the cafe," he said, taking another step forward. "It was rude and inappropriate and definitely silly."

She felt like snapping the human's head half, "Are you trying to apologize?" she asked him in a demanding desperate tone.

"Isn't that what an apology sounded like?" he asked her, really amused with her.

She breathed out, she felt dizzy. Her wolf was rebellious and was at the brink of breaking free once again. "Apology accepted." She said before turning and sprinting as fast as she could back to the school. She never even bothered to look back and if she had, she would have seen the look on his face.

***

Her wolf reaches out,

The warmth of the light,

Her soul alight,

Liberated...

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To be continued...

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