Curse of the Gemini Wolves

Sloane 

I could hear the cries of my baby brother even over the thundering storm that raged on behind the windows. Storms I liked, the crashes of thunder always seemed to be in sync with the pain that constantly throbbed in my head recently and somehow that made it better. 

The high pitched wail that was coming from downstairs though? That lanced through my brain like a needle. 

Groaning, I rolled to my side and watched the lightning light up the sky outside the cracked window for a second. In the distance I could see the tree curving up with its dead branches and closed my eyes

I hated that tree. 

Ever since I was a child I had hated it. Ever since the night my parents had left me with a babysitter and instead of going to bed like I had been told, I had looked out of our window and saw-

I sighed. I couldn't even be sure what I had seen. A wolf. A giant shaggy beast standing under that tree and staring straight up at me with its head cocked to the side and its yellow gold eyes gleaming. 

I'd been scared and ducked back down under the window sill with my heart pounding so loud that I had thought I was going to pass out. 

And I must have done exactly that because when I had woken up I had been in my bed and my mother was stroking my hair and trying to wake me up.

She said it was nothing but a nightmare. And after a while I had started to believe her.

But that wolf had  haunted my nightmares ever since. Sometimes in my dreams he spoke to me. In a voice I shouldn't be able to understand. 

Other times he just approached slowly with his eyes glinting and his fangs dripping as he growled. 

Those were the nights I had woken up drenched in sweat.

"Sloane?" My fathers voice called from downstairs of our tiny home. He sounded tired , exhausted even but that was just the way of it these days. 

Ever since my mother had lost her life giving birth to my baby brother, things had been- tough. He did what he could but I found myself in charge of most of the household chores , as well as looking after my baby brother and the job -

"Sloane." He called again. This time his voice was angrier and much much louder. The kind of voice that was meant to wake me up. "Will you come and help me. I am-" 

His words were slurred and that just made me groan even more. He was drunk. Something that was happening more and more. It made me so mad. We didn't have the money for good food or milk for the baby but he always seemed to have money for booze.

It didn't make sense to me but then nothing about my life now did. 

"I'm coming." I called back and stifled a yawn with the back of my hand. Tonight was meant to be his night. So I could sleep. Only that wasn't going to happen now.

Pulling my mothers old shawl around my shoulders I paused to look out of the window again. Shivering as the wind whistled through the holes. 

The storm outside was really showing its teeth. Rain pelting the house, the wind howling, thunder boomed and the lightning lit up the world around me like-

My breath caught in my throat and I choked on it. It lit up the tree. Making it stand out in stark contrast to the dark world around it. And under it-

Under it was a shadow that was so much darker than anything else. Like a pit in the shape of - in the shape of a giant wolf.

A wolf with glowing yellow eyes that were looking straight at me unblinking. 

Now I knew I was sleep deprived, I had been for months but I also knew that I wasn't imagining it. The wolf was really there. In our territory. On our lands. In one place we were meant to be safe from their tyranny.