(Two years ago)

Kiyomi

Kiyomi smiles softly to herself, her forest green eyes locked onto the full moon illuminating the night sky. She swings back and forth, her right heel digging into the wooden floorboards. She lets out an exhausted sigh while leaning her back against the metal swing's frame and burying her face into a pillow. A gentle breeze blows her whitish-blonde bangs away from her bright pupils, her pale skin glowing. A spaghetti strap off the shoulder ruffle sleeved pink tank top, ripped denim shorts with fishnets, and combat boots make up her outfit.
She snuggles the pillow closer as the events from earlier replay in her mind. She instinctively straightens up, her slender fingers finding their way to the necklace wrapped around her neck. She tilts her to the side while the back door opens. She lifts up her chin, her gaze locking onto her adoptive brother's tall frame. He looks up at the full moon and sits down next to her.
"How are you holding up?" Grayson asks, leaning his back against the swing and throwing his legs on top of the porch railing ahead. He's rather tall with an average build. His white skin is a bit darker than Kiyomi's, his jet black hair a curly mess. His unnatural yellow eyes glow in the darkness giving him a mysterious aura. She shrugs her shoulders in response and lays the pillow next to her hip. She turns slightly to the side to face her sibling.
"I'm watching the stars and the moon. Everything's so beautiful tonight. I couldn't resist coming out here to admire the view," She explains, leaning her head against his left shoulder.
"So, how was your date with Tyler?" Her facial expression automatically softens, her pale face flushing a red shade.
"It was great. He showed me his favourite spot in the woods nearby and we watched a shooting star,"--- Suddenly, she sits up right while showing him the sliver, plated paw print pendant on her necklace.
"He also bought this for me. Isn't it adorable?" She asks, excitement lacing each of her words. Grayson smiles softly and places a hand on top of her head.
"I'm going to get some sleep. You should try to be asleep before the sun rises," he states, ruffling up her whitish, blonde bangs while standing up. He yawns and disappears into the house.
Kiyomi takes in a breath while grabbing the pillow and pressing her legs up to her stomach. She props the pillow on the swing's arm, laying on her side. She closes her eyes as peacefulness settles over her body. Her thoughts run wild for a moment or two, before drowsiness pumps into her heart.

Suddenly, Kiyomi's eyes flutter open as her eyesight flickers from black and white. She pushes herself up, swinging her legs over the edge. She wipes the sleep out of her eyes while standing up. She stumbles toward the back door, her fingers finding way to the metal door handle. She yawns loudly and pushes the sliding contraption to the side. She steps into the darkened living room while her left hand searches for the light switch. A loud crash breaks the silence making her quickly flip on the light and press her back into a nearby wall. Her pupils grow wide in shock, her heart rate picking up pace. Her back slides down the wall, her lower half colliding with the carpet. Tears cloud her eyes as the smell of a thick metallic scent fills her lungs.
The room itself is a mess. Furniture, glass fragments, and broken pictures are scattered about. The windows are completely destroyed, the walls and carpet are smeared with blood. The dead bodies of her adoptive parents lay motionless near a broken coffee table. Their skin is covered in cuts, bruises, slashes, and even some of their limbs are missing. Some of their bones are snapped in an unnatural way and poking out of their skin painfully. A pool of blood is dried right where they died at.

Kiyomi's silent tears quickly fade into sobs. She cries out, burying her head in her knees. She hugs herself tightly as sweat drips down her skin. The atmosphere immediately feels heavy, her body shaking violently. Her heart pounds painfully against her ribcage, her hips rocking back and forth. She mumbles a bunch of nonsense while carefully taking in the scene. Her forest green eyes lock onto some claw marks engraved in the crimson wallpaper. The sound of something eating on something else breaks the prolonged silence. She pushes herself up with shaky hands while carefully following the direction of the noise. She quickly steps through an archway next to some stairs leading to the second floor. She makes her way into the small kitchen, moonlight shining through a broken window. She cautiously steps up to the rows of countertops, leaning slightly over to get a view of what's behind the countertops. Dread immediately circulates through her veins, her body shaking even more.
A jet, black wolf is eating one of her parent's arms. It's red eyes flicker with madness, blood dripping from it's muzzle. It's razor teeth are blood stained with pieces of flesh sticking between the gaps. It's muzzle is covered in cuts, slashes, and scars. Kiyomi covers her mouth while quietly stepping back. Nausea settles in her stomach, her lunch threatening to come back up. The sound of claws cutting against tile echoes throughout the house as the rogue wolf freezes in place and jumps onto the countertop. It growls at her, before pouncing and landing on top of her. She clenches her jaw while holding back its muzzle with her hands. She turns her head to the side as razor teeth come at her face.
A flash of brown flickers in the corner of her vision, something knocking into the mad wolf's side. The weight holding her down disappears while blood is splattered across the wall. Kiyomi pushes herself up, scrambling away and backing up until she hits something. She pulls her knees against her stomach, her heart going into overdrive. A pure brown wolf has the rogue wolf held down by the throat. She watches in horror as the two animals go at each other. She quickly pushes herself up, grabbing a piece of shattered glass.
"Hey, you like blood, right?" She shouts at them and pushes her palm against the glass. Blood leaks down the shard, making both wolves stop in their tracks. The rogue wolf sniffs the air, it's eyes flashing. It hits the other in the side and charges at her. Using this as an advantage, the brown wolf quickly sinks its teeth into its opponent's neck. Blood splatters across the kitchen as it rips out a chunk of flesh from the other's neck.

Kiyomi drops the piece of glass, pressing her other hand against the small cut across her palm. She sinks to the floor with exhaustion and leans her head against the wall. Her savior carefully approaches her, sitting on its hind legs in front of her. She softly smiles while looking into its eyes. For some reason, it's forest green pupils glow in the darkness and it reminds her of someone she knows. She tilts her head to the side in curiosity.
"Tyler?" She whispers his name, making the wolf move back its ears and gently headbutts her leg. It's black nose traces her body until it's head reaches her hands. It carefully moves her free hand away from the cut, sniffing her injury.

Suddenly, the front door opens, making the wolf press his side against her legs. He growls at the archway, his ears moved all the way back.
"Is anyone alive here?" A man's voice shouts as a light beam dances across the rooms. She places her free hand on top of his skull while a police officer searches the living room.
"Go on and get out of here. If anyone sees you, you're going to be captured by the pound or worse. I'll be fine. The authorities and my step-brother will take care of me until you come back, okay," she says, wrapping her arm around his neck and hugging him. She lets go of him while the officer steps toward the room. The wolf races toward a shattered window pausing to look at her, before disappearing into the night.

"Are you okay, miss?" The cop asks and kneels in front of her. His eyes lock onto the cut engraved in hand while glancing at the dead wolf nearby.
"I'm okay," she mumbles. He softly smiles at her, grabbing her right hand.
"Let's get you to an ambulance," he tries to pull her to her feet at the exact moment Grayson steps into the room. She yanks her wrist free, pushing herself up and running up to her brother. She wraps her arms around his waist, burying her head into his chest. He gently hugs her back, placing a hand on the back of her head.
"Grayson, I'm so scared. I just witnessed things someone my age shouldn't have seen," she whispers as the gate of tears she was holding back floods over. He pats her head in an attempt to comfort her, before carefully taking her shoulders and distancing herself from him.
"It's okay. Let's take care of that cut, okay," he says while turning her around to face a gap where a window was. She simply nods her head in response, wiping away some tears with the back of her hand. He guides her out of the window, onto the crowded lawn, and toward an ambulance in the distance.

Kiyomi leans her back against a metal bed in the back of the opened ambulance. Several cars, reporter vans, and police cars crowd the lawn. Grayson carefully wraps some bandages around her hand, tightening it on her palm. She clenches her jaw as a jolt of pain goes through her veins.
"Sorry, sis. Does that help any?" He asks, finishing up the bandage.
"Yeah, thanks," she replies while moving her wrist back and forth. She gazes at the vehicles suddenly feeling lonely.
"I hope Tyler's okay. I really hope that rogue animal didn't hurt him or anything like that," she thought to herself just as a black truck pulled up in the yard away from the crowd. The driver side door opens, a tall young man stepping out of the vehicle. He pushes past the herd of people while making his way to the ambulance. He instantly races up to her, relief pumping into his heart.

"Kiyomi, I'm sorry I couldn't come any sooner," he says, gently taking her right hand.
"It's okay, Tyler," she replies while lacing their fingers together and smiling lightly. He's at least a feet taller than her with a muscular frame. His skin is tan like he's been in the sun a lot, his brown hair a complete mess. His forest green eyes glow in the dark, reminding her of the wolf that saved her earlier. A white tank top with a red flannel jacket, blue skinny jeans, and black vans make up his outfit.
Tyler sits next to her while gently taking her injured hand. He wraps his fingers around her wrist, his eyes locked onto the bandages. She blushes lightly, her face fading to a light pink shade.
"Did that rogue wolf hurt you at all? I hope not. That was my fault, I was being so stupid. I should have just left the house after I saw adoptive parents," she whispers and shivers at the memory of them.
"Don't say that. None of this was your fault," he lets go of her right hand, placing a hand on the right side of her face. He squeezes her fingers in an attempt to comfort her. She presses her face into his hand, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"It's okay. I'm here for you," he whispers, leaning forward and kissing her forehead tenderly. He carefully wipes away her tears with his thumb while Grayson makes his way toward them. He shoves his hands into his jean pockets, glancing at the yard.
"Can you take Kiyomi over to your house for awhile while I take care of the cops and everything here?" He asks. Tyler sits up straight, glancing at the other boy out of the corner of his eyes.
"Of course," he mumbles as he stands up and takes her hand.

Kiyomi quickly stands to her feet, sadness settling over her body. She watches her stepbrother head toward a police car in the distance while Tyler leads her through the crowd and to his truck. He goes around to the passenger side door, opening it. He steps back as she gazes inside the vehicle. He wraps his arms around her lower back, helping her into the metal contraption. She sits in the leather seat while quickly shutting the door. She leans back, Tyler getting in the driver side and shutting his door.
"This is all my fault. If I had just listened to the head of the pack and murdered that rogue while I had the choice, this would never have happened," he mumbles to himself, crossing his arms and burying his head into the steering wheel.
"No, it's not," she states, her voice laced with determination. She carefully moves his right arm away from his face, sweetly taking a hold of his chin and making him look at her.
"It's not. You couldn't have known that a wolf was going to attack people or hurt anybody," she repeats herself, her voice gentle yet hoarse from all the crying she did earlier.
"My pack was tracking that lone wolf. We shouldn't have let a bloody thirsty monster roam throughout the woods. If you had died or been attacked even worse than you ....I couldn't have lived with myself," he mumbles, a mixture of emotions flickering in his hypnotic eyes.
"You had no idea that disgusting creature was going to murder anyone, alright," she argues her point regardless. Tyler sighs giving up and presses his forehead against hers.
"I just don't want to lose you," he mumbles, hot air blowing against her face. Kiyomi's face flushes a darker shade as her heart pounds against her ribcage. He leans forward, kissing her nose gently. He quickly pulls away while she turns to the side and pulls her legs against her stomach. He starts the truck's engine, her head resting on his right shoulder. He puts the vehicle in reverse while backing up the truck and taking a left turn to get on the highway. He wraps an arm around her shoulders still keeping one hand on the steering wheel.

© StarsofClarity