Wolf’s Bane

The children’s parents had to be transferred to their uncle’s home while they were sick so that they could be taken care of.

Well, Diwa was the only one who took care of them since her husband never seemed to go to the sick room out of fear of the fatal illness that was taking so many lives in their village. Also, she didn’t want the children exposing themselves to their parents’ sickness.

However, the kids were so intent on helping out their benefactors that they were helping out with cleaning the house and even preparing the meals. Di also felt that this was their way of letting their parents feel they love them still, despite being sick. After all, the three couldn’t exactly hug and snuggle with their mom and dad during this time.

Because of this, Diwa also spent a lot of time with the children, trying her best to comfort and encourage them during these dark times. Unknown to her, her husband was now starting to resent the attention she was giving to his brother’s family.

He seemed to forget that his brother’s children were practically taking care of the whole house and his baby, while he kept himself busy as the village’s official mechanic and maintenance technician. Unfortunately, fear, resentment, and the ongoing epidemic were causing the man to be quite unreasonable.

Then his most terrifying thought finally happened – his brother- and sister-in-law died only days apart. And while the rest of the people in the house mourned the loss of the couple, he was now panic-stricken at the thought of raising children that were not his. Especially now that he already had a baby boy of his own? Oh no, he just wouldn’t agree to that…

It all came to a head a couple of days after they had already buried their dead…

“Diwana, we can’t keep them. I told you why already, and it doesn’t matter how many times you ask for it. I’m not taking them and that’s final, understand?” Mason Wolf, Diwana’s husband, stated to her, leaving no room for argument.

And yet, she still did insist, despite whatever risk that her actions might bring her.

“They are only children. We can’t just leave them on their own! Mason, please! We’re not talking about puppies or kittens here, they’re people! What will become of them if we don’t take them? You’re the only family they have left! How can you just refuse to let them stay with us?”

“I. Said. No! Why is it so difficult for you to understand such a simple word?”

“Well, it’s not the word that I can’t understand… You’ll inherit their house! The least we could do is to let them live with us if you plan to sell THEIR OWN HOUSE!”

“Don’t you DARE USE THAT TONE on me, DIWANA! We can’t afford three more mouths to feed, you understand? And they need to go to school too! Clothes, education, school supplies, food… We don’t have that much money, Diwa… For how long do you think the money will last if we bring them up?!”

“And the Insurance money? Will you take that from them, too?”

“Diwana, ENOUGH!”

“I can work, Mason, if money is all you’re worried about! I can get some extra money from cooking and selling my food, even offering catering services. And I can homeschool them too! The house is so big that I’m sure you won’t even notice they’re with us, I’ll make sure, ok? You said before that you wanted a family and now, you’re opposing having YOUR OWN NIECES AND NEPHEW WITH US?!” she said, getting angry, but then regretting the tone, since the kids might have probably heard them. “You’re not making any sense…”

No, there was no sense in Mason’s fears, but he was too far gone in the argument to give it up. Not that her husband was trying to avoid the conflict.

Oh no, he wasn’t.

As a matter of fact, he seemed to be purposefully yelling as much as he could, and he was saying just the right words so his ‘listeners’ got to know his thoughts without him saying them to their faces…

“I SAID NO, OK? WE ARE NOT KEEPING MY BROTHER’S CHILDREN! AND THAT IS FINAL!”

The three sets of ears on the other side of the wall heard him perfectly, even without any extra effort on their part. The pain of hearing these words fell heavily on them since they had just lost their mother and father and their grief was still very deep and fresh.

And now, their initial thoughts about their uncle have now been proven to be true…

Despite their young ages, they now felt the world was caving in on them.

“I didn’t expect anything different from him, to be honest,” Macky said, trying to be strong for his older and younger sisters, who were a lot more sensitive due to the recent events.

Usually, it would be Erica who would take care of the two younger siblings, but now she was missing their parents so much, and feeling so rejected, that she could hardly hold herself together.

Even if Mason Wolf was not a sweet or very expressive man with his feelings, and he had never been part of his brother’s children’s lives, they would have thought that the circumstances might make his more human side show a little bit more.

But that didn’t happen.

Mason was keeping the house, and the insurance money, and letting them handle life on their own, and they were going to be sent away with nothing.

Karma would have a say about that not long after, but Mason didn’t believe in that right now, and carelessly was making sure that his thoughts and decisions were well heard by anyone and everyone inside Oro Villa.

“What do we do now?” the young Katya asked, looking up at her siblings, all troubled and scared.

“You don’t have to worry, little sister, Erica and I will make sure that everything is fine, ok? We’ll take care of you, as always,” Macky said, looking down at her watery eyes, and her pouting mouth.

The small lass then glanced at her older sister, who, still crying, forced a smile and nodded to the little girl who needed them calm.

“Why don’t we go back to our old house? Maybe, to start, we can just leave here,” Macky suggested. “If he doesn’t want us here, then we shouldn’t stay.”

“But… Diwana said…” Katya whined, her tears starting to drip despite her effort to stop them.

“She wants us to stay, but if we do stay, Mason will keep fighting her because of us. It’s not fair to keep causing her problems since she has been so nice to us and to our parents,” Erica replied, agreeing with Macky while trying to swallow her tears and anger so she could be strong for her two younger siblings. “He is dad’s brother, but you know he hasn’t really been family… Poor dad, he thought that by leaving the house to him, he would take care of us.”

Katya looked down while the shouting of the man of the house could still be heard through the walls as he fought an almost-crying Diwana, who continued to beg him to be a bit more human.

Well, it didn’t seem to be happening and probably never will…

“Let’s leave then, before they finish fighting,” Macky ordered, taking Katya’s hand. “Come on, you two.”

They crept about the room quietly, making an effort to pack a few of the belongings they brought with them when they moved to their uncle’s house. Despite their young age, they also managed to blank out their feelings for a moment and do what needed to be done.

Within just a few minutes, they had already managed to sneak out and ran as fast as they could while making an effort not to be seen. On foot, they finally got to their childhood home – which was a smaller version of Oro Villa, hence the name Oro Villa Luna while the former is Alpha – as nightfall crept into the horizon.

“Nobody will look for us here, especially if we go to the attic,” Macky said, opening one of the windows so they could get into the house that no longer had electricity or water connected.

“Nobody will look for us, period,” Erica mumbled and then sniffed; her nose red, and still with watery eyes.

“I don’t like the dark…” Katya said, once more pouting and tightening the grip on the hands of her siblings.

“We know, but we’ll be together. Don’t worry Katya, we’ll be fine,” Erica said, reassuring her.

Deep inside, the eldest of the Wolf children didn’t feel very reassured, herself… but she knew that there was nothing else they could do but run away…

From everything…