The Silent Snow

--Prologue will be added shortly.  To make it simple, the main character had a nightmare about a pack of wolves.  I didn't get a chance to do a lot of editing, so please bear with me.  I'm only fourteen x)


Chapter 1

The annoying click of my ceiling fan might as well be labeled as a life saver.  Truth be told, it’s still an annoying
sun of a gun that poses as an alarm clock every morning.  My eyes flickered open, wincing against the steaks of sunlight spilling through my open window.  My heart was racing and both my hands were trembling violently; this time I knew it wasn’t the freezing temperature.  Talk about a bad dream.  I hadn’t had nightmares since I was six, when I’d crawl into my parent’s bed and snuggle under the covers, safe from the monsters that hid in my closet.  As for wolves; well, we had our differences…but I wasn’t afraid of them.   As of a couple of years ago, wolves no longer roamed the woods in Sterling Park.  They weren’t a threat to us.  Yet.
I rolled over onto my side, cradling my smooth, slender body under the sheets.  While trying to catch my breath, my eyes slowly strayed from the ceiling and settled on a family portrait hanging from the cream walls; me, my mom, dad and younger sister McKenna, looking careless and happy, perfect hair to match our perfect eyes, our cheekbones raised with dimples and gorgeous smiles.  Behind us, the Rocky Mountains explained our cozy cashmere sweaters and Burberry winter hats.  My hand was slung over McKenna’s shoulder, my mitten brushing up against her red scarf.  Mom and Dad were side by side, their hips touching and heads together as they glimpsed into the camera, teeth as white as the snow around them.  Everything was there-the happy couple, two loving daughters and a perfect view of Colorado’s famous mountain range.  But the photo I was starring at was taken two years ago, before all the complications kicked in…Before we moved to Sterling Park.
After I had caught my breath, I slowly tore the covers off my shivering thighs and sat upright, ignoring my bird’s nest of a hair.  The fan clicked gleefully above me, but I was to groggy to care.
I let my gaze travel around my room; it was pretty simple, like any other teen girl pig sty.  The walls were cream with white floral designs, covered with photos and portraits.  Black lace drapes hung from the windows like robes and matched the checkered bedspread.  A turquoise bra was strung over my laptop and clothes were scattered over the shag carpet, screaming ‘clean me’.  Or maybe that was my mom screaming from downstairs.  I’m not really sure anymore.
As if on cue, my mother’s impatient voice came crying up the stairs, “Mercedes!  Get your butt down here or you’ll be late for school.”
I groaned and crawled out from bed, fighting back temptation to fall back asleep.  I threw on some fashionable clothes for the day and tromped down the stairs.
“Do you plan on combing that?” I heard a snicker behind me.  I whirled around and sent a death glare in my sister’s direction, hands on my hips.  McKenna gave me an innocent smile and went back to eating her organic yogurt, her chestnut colored hair draped over her shoulder in glamorous curls.
“Ha, ha, that’s hilarious,” I growled, rummaging through my purse for a comb.  Or anything that could take my bushy mane of hair.
“Yes, it is,” McKenna agreed, swallowing.  “Hey, did you hear about the math test today?”
I stopped.  “Test?  Today?”
She nodded.  I frowned at her and began to rake my fingers through my hair, tears pricking at my eyes as a gnarl ripped free.
Guess who’s skipping school today?  Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner.
“Good to know, I guess.  Bye, mom, I’m leaving.”  I called, slinging my bagpack over my shoulder and plucking a piece of toast from the toaster.  I paused to see if McKenna was following, but she just said back and shoveled a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth.
I shrugged at her and headed out the front door, throwing on a scarf for good measures.  A cold gust of air welcomed me as I hopped down the steps and I shivered violently, feeling chills work their way up my naked arms.  Mom wished me a good day and McKenna just stood up and disappeared into the living room. 
Love you too.  I smirked and ventured further into the winter morning, unaware of the pair of amber eyes following my every step.

Chapter 2

I took off down the street with the buttery toast sticking out of my mouth, half-chewing and half-salivating on it.  I stuck my arms through the flaps of my bag and began to slow my pace, watching my breath create opaque shapes in the frigid air.  I don’t know why, but I just loved the cold.  If there was anything I loved more than the cold, it was the local café.  During the holidays they would sell gingerbread and peppermint hot chocolate, which happened to be my two favorite sweets.  I mean, their freaking amazing.
I wolfed down the toast and whiped crumbs from my face, feeling satisfied.
“Hiya, Sades!”
A cheerful voice stopped me in my tracks. Olivia.  The tall, quirky blonde strolled beside me and gave my shoulder a playful bump.  I had a lot of friends in Sterling High, but most of them were wash-out fakes.  Sure, my family was wealthy, and sure, I attract some nasty snots, but I didn't plan for it to turn out this way.  Olive was one of the only girls I could really trust and be myself around.
“You know, this isn’t the way to school,” Olivia pointed out, cocking her head at me with a smile.
I shoved both hands into my coat pocket and shrugged.  “I know.”
“You’re ditching, aren’t you?”
“Aren’t you?”
She frowned at me and kicked away a pebble with the heel of her sneaker.  I watched it clatter into the curb, biting my lower lip. 
We walked in silence, both of our eyes resting on the frosty ground.  Olivia adjusted her mittens and coughed under her breath as if she expected me to say something.  When I didn’t, she said very quietly, “I saw a wolf outside my house last night.”
My eyes widened and I cocked my head up at her, jaw practically dropping to the floor.  “What?”
Sterling Park was known for its wildlife, but not wolves.  Four years ago, two children were ‘ripped to shreds’ by an apparent pack of wolves that roamed the forest boundary.  Because of the unfortunate happenings, orders were given to shoot and kill every single one of them.  Every single one.  I remember sitting on the porch on a crisp October morning and listening to the bullets crack through the air, tears spilling down my cheeks in furious rivers.  What can I say?  I’ve always been fond of animals.      
Olivia shrugged helplessly.  Her voice was brittle.  “I just saw it walking past the lawn.  Maybe it came from the Reservation?”
A Reservation thirty miles away, I thought bitterly.  “Maybe.”
It was obvious the whole town was afraid of wolves; it wasn’t just the killings, though.  There was something I was missing, something that was being kept hidden.  I felt a burning sensation in the back of my throat and swallowed, balling my hands into shivering fists of impatience.  If anyone was going to crack the secret, it would be me.
“Let’s hit the café,” I murmured, my boots crunching over a fragile layer of snow.  “I could use a peppermint hot chocolate right now.”
She laughed.  It was a graceful, smooth laugh that always made me smile when I heard it. “You and me both.”