Chapter 3
She was eight years old when she ran away from the orphanage. She couldn’t take it anymore. Every single child there hated her, each of the caretakers hated her. They tried to keep her locked up in her room, especially after the other children had refused to share a room with her. They accused her of smelling like blood, smelling like death. The other children accused her of making them feel like they would die in their sleep - and if Melantha stayed there any longer, they might have.
So she left. She left and she never fucking looked back. She moved in her human form through the streets, drawing the gaze of concerned adults, drawing the eye of other children that thought her to be strange. She could hear every whispered comment about her ragged appearance, her tired eyes, and her dreadfully frightening glares when somebody tried to stop her.
When night fell or she traveled through the forest, she shifted into her wolf. She hunted and cleaned herself off in the rivers or lakes. She carried herself on her own two feet away from this town, and eventually she found herself in a much bigger city. A city where it was harder to hide herself away as a wolf, and even harder to explain the presence of a wolf in general. She found herself in London.
She wandered the city, making her way through the streets and alleys, her ragged appearance even concerning the homeless adults that she passed by.
One morning, she had awakened to the feeling inside herself telling her that something was wrong, and when she peeked her eyes open, she saw a girl the same age as her. Melantha’s fight or flight response kicked in, and before she realized it, she had rushed forward, pushing the girl against the wall opposite her.
The little girl had white hair, and while she looked rather shocked, she didn’t show any signs of fear. Instead, she slowly lifted her hands to the sides, letting Melantha’s sharp glare inspect them.
While her hearts calmed down, each fighting for dominance, she felt like she was at war with herself. Her normal heart, the heart of a human, was screaming to let the girl go. But the heart of her inner wolf was furious, it was demanding punishment for the one who had disrupted its sleep. But with some effort and blindly ignoring the adult behind her watching the scene, Melantha was able to calm herself down.
She slowly let go of the white haired girl, backing away from her. With that, the unknown girl finally smiled and offered a soft, sweet voice in response. “My name is Meira Rose. My father and I saw you around here yesterday, but..” She trailed off, glancing a short distance away. When Melantha followed her gaze, she finally registered the man standing nearby.
“Do you have a family?” Meira Rose continued, her gaze having returned to Melantha. In a wary response, Melantha simply shook her head, her hands reaching behind her own back to clasp together.
“In that case,” The father of Meira began, “Would you like to come back with us? We have a spare room. You can stay until you figure out what to do. There’s food and warm water.”
Melantha was wary and anxious at first, at living with other people once again. She had spent months by herself; hunting, stealing, and foraging for her food. She had bathed in rivers and public places that would allow her.
When she went to the Rose family’s home, she was surprised. They lived in a muggle area, she knew that she wouldn’t meet any magical folk. But when she entered the home, brooms and pans were floating around the home, doing their duties by themselves. Magic was all around this place, and Melantha’s instincts told her that perhaps this family hadn’t found her by chance.
She must have visually tensed because Meira’s father kneeled beside her, smiling. “Our family is magic. It’s all safe though, don’t worry!”
“He must not be very good at comforting people..” Melantha thought to herself, but she appeased his apparent concern with a simple nod. She stepped forward, looking around at the moving photographs decorating the entranceway of the home, when an older, feminine voice echoed through the house from the kitchen. “Are you home, dear?”
Then, all of a sudden, the owner of the voice popped out from around the corner in front of Melantha. She reacted on instinct again, backstepping with a jump away from the woman who suddenly appeared, just like she would when somebody on the street would try to confront her. She growled at the woman, a loud, distinctive habit she picked up on from her time as a wolf.
The woman looked at her in shock, but her gaze lifted slowly from Melantha to the equally stunned man behind her. But Meira slowly stepped in front of Melantha, successfully taken the black haired girl’s attention off of the older woman, and in turn successfully made the growling slow until it came to a stop. Meira gently took Melantha’s hand in her own with a smile, before pulling her up the stairs beside them.
“Come on, I’ll show you my room first!” Meira’s voice was soft, which Melantha appreciated more than she thought Meira would ever realize. After only a few seconds, Melantha was pulled into the other girl’s room, one where there were a mix of colors decorating the room; black, purple, pink, and red. There was a comfortable bed, a multitude of stuffed animals, and books. There were almost as many stuffed animals as there were books, and it rather surprised Melantha.
Meira’s voice then spoke once again, pulling Melantha from her examination of the room. “That’s my mother. She won’t hurt you, even if she does like to give people hugs!” Melantha’s gaze slowly made its way to the girl, her icy eyes settling on the other’s.
Melantha was soon guided to the bathroom, where she was introduced to hair and skin products that she should use while showering to help take care of herself, before she was given the privacy to shower by herself, which she took full advantage of as she took the first real shower she’s had in ages. She started by using the skin products that she’d been showed, which had a bit of a flowery scent to it. At first, it was strong and slightly unpleasant. But she relented and used it, because she guessed that she must’ve smelled awful. Then she used the hair products, which there were several of. Something for scalp care, something for hair health, and then something that helped hair stay silky and smooth. These also had gentle scents to them.
When Melantha finally came out of the shower, she pulled on the clothes that Meira had given her, which seemed to be little more than a nightgown. She looked at herself in the mirror, and while she looked freshened up for once, she could tell that her eyes looked tired and dead, and her body itself was skinny, more underweight than the average child her age.
Melantha made her way downstairs, where the family of three awaited her. This time, the mother of the family kept in clear sight from the moment that Melantha entered the main room, “Hello again, dear. I’m sorry for scaring you earlier.”
Mel eyed her for a short time, but soon nodded. She turned to glance at the rest of the family as well, silently acknowledging them, before she finally spoke herself. Her voice was slightly deeper than Meira’s, but just as soft. “Thank you for the shower.”