Chapter 10 Ten
Early morning light slanted in through half-opened blinds, illuminating the all-too-familiar room around Danica. Its warm glow didn't bring her any warmth this particular morning.
After being unable to sleep, she sat in bed with a pillow hugged against her chest as her thoughts replayed the night's events.
She was cursed, and she had absolutely no idea how or why it even happened. Not to mention, she now had two options to lift it, and neither sounded promising.
Despite both Nigel and Mason expecting her to decide on their next move, she was unable to do so on the spot. The thought of having her soul ripped to shreds had terrified her, but so had the thought of never being able to fully change and having to suffer greatly every full moon for the rest of her life.
In the end, she allowed Mason to bring her home after promising Nigel that they would return in a week's time. In return, Nigel had promised to have the one called Ash there to talk with Danica.
The distant sound of a door opening and closing down the hall drifted towards Danica's room. It seemed that Martha was awake for the day; her soft footsteps began making their way down the stairs to start the coffee. The normalcy of this should have soothed Danica, but she just couldn't seem to relax.
Soon, the smell of fresh coffee brewing drifted up the stairs and under her door, beckoning her to venture out and partake in its caffeinated goodness. Unable to resist its siren call, Danica headed downstairs to make herself a cup.
"You're up early," Martha noted while beginning to make herself a bowl of oatmeal.
"Couldn't sleep well," Danica shrugged.
Martha eyed her but didn't question her further. That was one of the unspoken rules among them: they respected each other's privacy. If it wasn't openly spoken, then it wasn't questioned.
"One of those nights, I see," Martha murmured knowingly.
"You could say that," Danica quipped, beginning to pour herself some coffee. "I'm going to go drink this outside."
Fresh cup of rejuvenation juice in hand Danica headed outside to enjoy the spring morning only to find a hunched-over figure sleeping just outside her gate.
"Mason?" she called, walking forward. She could recognize those golden locks anywhere. "Hey!"
Jumping to attention Mason looked around wildly before turning his attention to Danica and smiling.
"Good morning!" he called, waving.
"What the hell are you doing sleeping outside of my gate?" Danica demanded. Was he crazy or something?
A slight flush formed on the tips of Mason's ears.
"I wanted to bring you somewhere today," he admitted.
Bring her somewhere? Why would that even constitute him sleeping out in the open?
"Why would that require you to sleep outside my house?" she pushed, narrowing her eyes. "You could have just called me when you woke up."
A sheepish smile formed on Mason's face.
"I was so excited about taking you there that I didn't even think about that."
Rolling her eyes, Danica motioned for Mason to follow her. She could feel eyes burning into the back of her head. It seemed Martha had spotted them and was watching now.
"Is that your adoptive mother?" Mason asked, looking towards the motionless Martha standing in the doorway.
Feeling her cheeks heating up, Danica nodded.
"Come on already."
Too embarrassed to look towards her adoptive mother, she grabbed Mason's arm and began dragging him towards a pond that was close to her house. It was one of her favorite spots to be when she was stressed or needed some peace away from her everyday life.
The pond was clear, and you could see to the bottom. Multicolored fish resided in it, swimming in schools along the glass-like surface. A large willow grew close to the water's edge and made for great cover from the sun's harsh rays. Troves of white flowers littered the ground around it. It was her little slice of heaven on earth. Thinking about it, she had never brought anyone to it; Mason would be the first.
Stopping in her tracks, she whirled around to face Mason and said, "Now tell me what's going on."
"I heard from the elders," he beamed. "They're willing to meet with us today."
"Wait.... You mean all the elders or just the werewolf elders?"
Given how the night of her supposed first change went, she had honestly forgotten all about meeting with the elders.
"All of them, of course," Mason confirmed. "This concerns all creatures, especially if the rogues are on the rise."
Rogue attacks and curses aside, Danica couldn't stop her head from spinning as she tried to keep up with all the information she was becoming privy to.
"Is this really okay?" she asked, worriedly biting her lip. "I'm a wolf that is cursed and can't change, not to mention I just found out about my identity only four days ago."
Mason didn't speak as he moved forward, placing a comforting hand on Danica's shoulder.
"I've told them about you already, they're curious to meet my future Luna. They can also possibly help us in the right direction to solving your curse problem."
Sucking in a breath, Danica nodded.
"Okay, if you say this is for the best, I will trust you. Now, let's sit and discuss what creatures these elders consist of while I drink my coffee."
She wanted to know what to expect so she wouldn't be caught off guard. It wasn't asking too much, right?
As she had made the journey to her favorite spot to avoid the watchful eyes and ears of Martha, her coffee had begun to turn cold. Taking a sip of it, she winced as the lukewarm liquid slid down her throat. A sigh escaped her lips as she bade farewell to the hope for piping hot gogo juice.
"Now," she said, turning her gaze to Mason, who had sat down in front of her. They had decided on sitting underneath the willow tree, right at the water's edge. "Go on."
Mason seemed hesitant as Danica eyed him expectantly.
"There are six different creatures that reside in the world and the darklands. The ones residing here are werewolves, cyclops, and harpies. We all come across as normal people thanks to adaptation. The other three trolls, elves, and gorgons reside in the darklands."
"What are the darklands?"
Danica had seen the term mentioned on the paper Nigel had given her to read the previous night, but it never went into detail about what it actually was.
"Exactly what they sound like: dark, barren lands where dark creatures reside. To keep the peace, it was agreed that they live separately from us." Mason explained slowly. "You think that werewolves are scary, but there are much darker and scarier things that exist."
Danica felt a chill run through her at Mason's ominous words.
"So if they reside separately, why do they require elders?"
"We can't just exclude them completely just because they live on a different plain."
"Are they evil, then?"
Danica was having a hard time understanding why those three creatures had to live somewhere else while the other three resided in the world around her. Especially elves—weren't they supposed to be beautiful and humanlike? Why were they required to reside with the dark creatures?
Mason couldn't stop the smile that formed at Danica's question.
"Of course they aren't evil, but that isn't to say that they are good either."
"So they could go either way?"
Danica could feel a headache coming on from the information overload she was receiving.
"Basically," Mason confirmed before continuing on. "Long ago, they were evil, and they wreaked havoc on our world. That was when the Elders Council came into existence. It was an effective attempt at a peace treaty. They allowed for all creatures to have a say in matters, so no one was excluded."
Taking another sip of her lukewarm beverage, Danica gave a small nod.
"So, what you're saying is that if the Elders didn't exist, they would be evil."
Sighing, Mason ruffled Danica's hair like she was a small child.
"None of that truly matters. What matters most right now is getting ready to head out. The elders wanted us to arrive around noon.
Glaring at Mason, Danica stood up and wiped the grass that had stuck to her pants off.
"Guess we should get going then," she muttered.
Ready or not, it was time to meet the elders.