Cathie Sanders by Alecia Hunter (bill gates books to read txt) 📕

My name is Cathie Sanders. And this is my story.

It all started on a bright Friday shortly after noon. There was no school- Thursday was the last day, making this the first day of summer vacation- so I was off to spend most of my day at the herb shop, Willows Herbs, with Blithe Willows, the owner. She was also one of my closest friends and and a fellow witch. In a small town like Berkeley most everything is in walking distance which is why at 17- almost 18- I still hadn’t found a reason to get a car, although I had a license. I was completely content to stay in the town forever. Blithe’s shop was right around the corner from my house so I saw the side first. It was faded brick a very light red as are most of the buildings in this town. The front was mostly a window with potted plants both hanging on a rack and sitting on a bench. I knew the inside by heart. The front room was fairly small with cluttered shelves filled with pots and racks with drying plants hung on them. It was hardly ever busy. Most of the time there were just women looking for fresh herbs for cooking. I pulled open the glass door and the little bells hanging from it chimed. Blithe came rushing in, her graying hair coming out of the tie and falling in her face, as usual but she smiled when she saw me. For a woman in her late fifties she looked good. Not too many wrinkles and very lively. She had pale skin and blue-black eyes.
“Oh, honey, it’s good to see you! It’s been a very busy morning and I could use some help.”
“Sure. I’d love to. Whatcha need?” I asked with a tilt of my head. I heard movement in the back room then three teens, one girl and two boys, appeared. The guys looked like brothers and all three looked about my age. One guy was kind of tanned and tall with a lot of muscles, while the other was average height, slim, pale, and had a cute smile. They both had brown hair- the taller one’s slightly darker- and dark blue eyes like Blithe’s. Their faces looked almost identical. The girl was about average height, maybe a little taller than me, and had fiery red hair with black eyes. I don’t know why, but to me she looked like a witch, or at least seemed a bit off, like most witches tended to.
“Cathie, these are my grandsons, James,” she motioned to the shorter one- James- and then the taller boy “and Derrik. And this is their friend, Layla.” James took a step forward and shook my hand.
“You can call me Jamie.” He smiled.
“Cat.” I said automatically. I guessed he wasn’t from a small town because he didn’t seem surprised like most people are when they hear my nickname is Cat. They think it’s too out of the ordinary for little old Berkeley. I must admit, the abnormality is one reason why I choose to be called Cat. Although I absolutely love my little town, I hate that all the names are so plain and ordinary like Jane and John. There must have been hundreds of people with both of those names living here.
“Hello, Cat, nice to meet you.” Derrik murmured his voice was low and gruff. I felt a spark when he spoke like a sudden adrenaline rush that I couldn’t explain. He was staring at the floor and I got the impression he kept to himself most of the time. Layla glared at me.
“Hello, Cathie.” She spoke my name like it was a curse, her voice almost a snarl. Derrik looked at her oddly and I glanced at him. He was really handsome, with sharp features. Layla saw me looking at him and growled then pulled him close and kissed him hard. He seemed shocked and took a step back.
“Layla, what’s your problem?” I snickered and in an instant, so quick I didn’t even see her move, she was in front of me. My breathe quickened as she got in my face and snarled,
“You better watch it, little girl. You have no clue who you’re messing with. You don’t want to piss me off. I could kill you with the flick of my wrist. I saw you looking at him and I know what you’re thinking. It’s written all over your face.” I blushed as she continued, “Derrik is mine. So back off.” James grabbed her and pulled her back. Derrik looked at her then at me.
“Sorry about her, Cat. She’s a little on edge and too used to being the only female in the pack.” James said. I looked at him questioningly. Pack? Who calls themselves a pack? I thought to myself and was about to ask when Derrik spoke. I shivered at the sound.
“Layla, I’m not yours. I said I would give it a shot but not anymore. Oh, and don’t ever try to kiss me like that again unless you want a fight.” Even when mad, which I could tell he was, Derrik’s voice was quiet.
“Wh-what’s going on?” I stuttered. My voice was shakier than I wanted it to be and I tried to calm down so I wouldn’t seem frightened by the situation. James looked at me funny then glanced to his grandmother.
“Grandma, does she know any of this?”
“Afraid not, Jamie, I thought I told you that? Ah, well, you know now.” Blithe had always been absent minded and forgetful and this time, I internally cursed her for it.
“Someone answer me please?” my voice was steady now, making me sound a lot calmer than I actually was.
“You’re a shape-shifter; a monster. And there are people out to get us, as in elimination, killed, dead. You get it now?” Layla seemed pleased with herself. My head reeled. I had heard of shape-shifters and how they were hunted and killed because they were supposedly really bad and here were three in front of me- only one that might be what everyone was talking about. I was barely aware of Blithe walking up to me.
“Honey, I meant to tell you before they got here but Victor’s men came to get them sooner than they expected so they had to leave early.” After that things seemed to move quickly. James took Layla outside so she could calm down and Blithe bustled around her shop, collecting herbs and explaining all she could about shape-shifting wolves which are what the four of us were. I soon found out she was one as well, except she changed into a bird. She never specified the type and I didn’t ask, fearing it would be rude. I didn’t know etiquette when it came to shape-shifters. It turned out that shape-shifters are rare creatures- wolves being the rarest because they were what people hunted- but most of them were very nice. People only wanted them dead because they were afraid of the unknown. Blithe also told me that I would most likely start to change soon since I hadn’t yet. It would be uncontrollable at first but soon it would be under control, for the most part. She said it was a little painful at first but it got easier.
When she fell silent I looked at Derrik who was leaning in the back corner. He had been silent through the whole thing. He wasn’t looking at me but I still saw his eyes. They were a really gorgeous, deep blue that I could stare at for hours. He caught me staring and I glanced away, blushing.
“So what happens now?” I asked not really directing the question at either of them. I was afraid of the answer.
“You have the rest of today and tomorrow to pack your clothes, spell books and whatever else you think is absolutely necessary. We leave Sunday.” James said entering the room.
“Where are we going?”
“The hell away from here.” Layla answered walking towards me. Her walk reminded me of a cat stalking its’ prey. Apparently Derrik thought the same thing because he followed close behind, ready to grab her. “Look, I’m sorry about earlier. I’m just… jealous that you get to take over as leader of the pack. I’m better now though and I will show you all the respect you deserve.” She bowed her head and stepped back.
“Leader? How can I be?” I asked shocked.
“You have the blood of the first shifter in your veins. Therefore you lead the pack. The pack doesn’t care if the leader is male or female they just have to be the closest descendent to the first of our kind.” Derrik said quietly.
“But I can’t lead. I can’t even change into a wolf.”
“It will take time. Until then James will take the place of group leader. Since he’s the farthest descendent and it will be easy to demote him once you’re ready.” Derrik’s voice was barely above a whisper.
The rest of the day went like this: Blithe made us leave the shop because it was too crowded by her standards. Layla and James went to check in to the small Berkeley Inn, leaving me and Derrik alone. We were going to meet at Flo’s Diner at 6. Derrik and I walked to the park, then into the woods not talking much because whenever I tried to talk he gave the shortest possible reply. It was about 5:30 when I started to get really bad stomach cramps. I didn’t tell Derrik but about 5 minutes later when we were almost to the edge of the trees, the pain was too much and I dropped to the ground. He immediately got down beside me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked worried.
“My stomach… it feels like it’s turning itself inside out.” I moaned in pain. I started sweating and panting.
“Uh-oh. You’re changing. I better call-” his sentence was interrupted as I shrieked knowing death would be better than this. “Cat, please be quiet. I know you’re hurt but it will go away I promise. Now hush.” He spoke gently, calmly, and he leaned down to brush my sweaty hair out of my face. I felt my face changing; getting longer, it wasn’t as painful as I thought but it still hurt. Then I felt it go back to normal and it was over. I lay on my side panting. Derrik came closer and gently lifted my head to his lap, trying to make me comfortable he explained quietly as he started to brush my long strawberry blonde hair out of my face again. He pulled his phone out and sent a quick text. A few seconds later the phone buzzed. He looked at it then at me. “Jamie and Layla will be here soon.” I looked up at him and he stared back. It was like sparks were flying between us. I didn’t know what it was or what was happening. At the moment I didn’t care either. My whole being was focused on Derrik- his eyes, his face, his mouth, so close to mine. I sat up a bit and he leaned down, our lips just inches apart. His arms went around me as he came closer.
“Are we interrupting something?” Layla asked.
“No,” we said at the same time. Layla gave us a skeptical look then shrugged but I noticed there was something like pain in her eyes. James crouched down then said,
“You ok, Cat?” I nodded and he looked to Derrik to confirm what I said.
“Her face changed then it went back. She’s fine, for now but we’ll have to