“Are you ready to go, Maya?” That was Diana. I knew her voice as much as I knew Adam’s. But why wouldn’t I? The girl called my name more than a thousand times daily.
I swerved, placing automatically, a short smile on my lips, as my eyes connected to her shiny blue ones. I was not ready for another bout of inquiry from her. Besides, she looked too happy to be going to a pack party.
Laura thought it was because the little girl had been hearing of werewolves all her life, the bigness of their sizes, and the softness of their thick furs. It was safe to say that the little one was curious.
Diana wanted to see them change to their wolf forms too. No matter how hard I tried to talk Diana out of it, the little girl seemed intent on asking a werewolf to shift for her.
I didn’t know which werewolf would do that, to shift for show, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she finally achieved her purpose. The girl was so cute to be turned down, especially now. I thought, taking note of her made up face which hung on her long exquisite neck.
Her head was popped into my room, whilst the rest of her body was in her room, except for her right hand which was holding the door post, the hand which held a black cat-like mask.
When she had found out that I was wearing a mask, she had decided that she would too. Talk about a copycat.
“What again? You have that look on your face.” She asked, stepping into the room fully, blushing when I intentionally let my mouth open and gush over her cuteness, which was rolling all over her in waves.
“You like what you see?” She asked, and I nodded, blushing myself as I watched her rake me from up to down.
“Do I look okay?” I asked, and she nodded frantically, her steps hurried as she came to feel the texture of my gown.
“You are beautiful, Maya. Too bad, or rather too good that you will be wearing a mask. I doubt anyone would be aware that you are the one. The wig is a killer too. You really look different, different but drop dead gorgeous all the same.” Diana stated.
I wouldn’t have believed her but for the note of awe and surprise in her voice.
“Well, mother sent me to call you. The selected community members are about to go.” She said, and I nodded, grabbing my sling bag, shutting and reopening my eyes out of whim, as the bag reminded me of the last party I had gone to and how it had ended.
I took a deep breath in and out, to prevent the panic attacks, aware that Diana was staring at me, aware that she might have an inkling why I was like this.
“The pack must have done you dirty for you to always be like this when you see or hear anything in relation to them.” She murmured, but I heard it of course, and again I marveled at her maturity, but as much as I was marveled, I was also disturbed.
She shouldn’t be this way, this smart. she should be enjoying her young age, not learning some queenly stuff. I still hadn’t confided in Laura or Peter about the development.
But was the queen thinking that Diana might have the white hair in the near future? I wondered, my eyes widening as if I had just hit the g-spot of thinking. That was it, right? That was all these could mean.
The queen must have thought that Diana, since she has beautiful powers at this age of hers, might have the tendency of being a queen. So, she was currying the young lad’s favor. Could that be the reason why Zande had gotten her attention?
I would have to ask Laura questions later even though it might trigger her. I needed to know, to be sure, so that I would know if keeping my memories a secret was worth the risk of Diana being used and sabotaged by the queen. I didn’t want Diana to go the same way as Zande. It was good that the queen didn’t have a son her age. That, thereby, was canceled.
Then I jerked as a thought encroached my mind. The boy I had seen in the market a week ago. If he was really my age, then he would be eleven years older than Diana; not too much of an age gap when they grow older. But … no. That was not possible. The queen could not be that desperate.
“You are doing it again..” Diana huffed, retrieving a small bottle from her bag and handing it over to me.
“What is that?” I asked, before taking the bottle from her hand.
“Help. Mum believes it will help you with the panic attacks. She had said that I give it to you when you show signs of panic attacks, since I will be stuck to your side like glue during the party. Remember, that’s the only way she was able to let me go with you after all. But I am handing it over to you now. I think it’s better this way. So, if you just feel the trigger of a panic attack, or see them, just pop one pill. Mom says the panic attacks will stop for the moment. Don’t worry, she is working on a more permanent solution.” She answered, and I nodded my thanks to her, grateful for Laura’s thoughtfulness.
The woman was a gem. I needed to thank her in person.
“Well, then let’s go. We can’t keep them waiting. Can we?” I asked rhetorically, already walking toward my own entrance door, knowing that Diana’s was already shut. Mine was closer to the picket fence.
I stopped by the table to pick up the overnight bag. Diana wasn’t with any but I was sure that her mother or Peter would be with it.
“Where is the bus?” I asked Diana as we stepped into the cold night air. I breathed in deeply again, calming my already raging heart.
“Bus? What do you mean? Mother didn’t tell you of our medium of transport to parties like this?” She asked me in response, shaking her head when she got no reply, when she already perceived my answer.
“Why does mom always leave all the hard work to me?” She bemoaned dramatically, clasping my hand in hers as we began to walk toward the picket fence.
I was seeing the people now, including the queen. Why had they decided to gather at Laura’s place?
“Well, that is because there is a portal here, or you can say that the magic is more resident here, than even at the palace. So it will be easy to teleport.” Diana said.
She was looking at the crowd too, but was aware of my mannerisms yet, of my questions-I still didn’t know how she’s able to see this, to know this, since I was way taller than her.
I paused in my steps, not because of her foresight now, but because of the word she had used in her last phrase.
Teleport? We were really going to appear and disappear like the queen had done?
Woow! Finally, I would know what it felt like.