My paws hit the ground with a muted thudding sound as I break out into a run. I can see someone in the distance facing me, I can smell the fear radiating from their body as I move to attack them. As I make my way towards them I start to think about how I got here, where I would be right now if I hadn't gone against my parents' wishes and moved out on my own. Was it worth it all? Was what has happened to me worth the price of love?

A year and a half ago

It was September 5th, 1978. I was nineteen and had just landed a new job at a library that would enable me to finally move out of my mum's house and start a life of my own. My mum was less than pleased at me deciding to move out at such a young age and had made my life a living hell while I moved out. She had refused to help me move anything and hardly spoke to me in my last few weeks at home. It wasn't until my last day at home, when the final box had been moved to my new apartment did my mom finally speak up.

"Don't you go to Rachel's room and poison her mind," my mum said shrilly as I made my way to my sister's bedroom to say goodbye.

I turned and stared at the woman I had spent the last nineteen years with. In that moment I longed to have her hold me and for me to call her mother and for the given name to actually hold the pride and joy that's supposed to come with it. Instead I look at the withdrawn woman who I bore a small resemblance to stare back at me with narrowed eyes. For the last nineteen years my mum has been anything but a mother to me. She's tried to control every aspect of my life and given me hell whenever I did something against her wishes. Any opportunity she's had to speak well of me would only result her in throwing me under the bus, whether it was in front of friends for a laugh or during school when I would achieve at something. I was finally free and she knew she could no longer control me, and the last thing I wanted to do was say goodbye to my sister and even that she was trying to take away from me.

"Let's try to be civil, shall we mum?" I said in a condescending manor as I shifted into a powerful stance with my arms crossed tightly over my chest and a look on my face that I hoped had said 'don't mess with me or I'll take you down.'

My mom let out a cold laugh, "I think civility flew out the window a long time ago, Olivia."

"When was I never civil?"

"I know how you've mocked me behind my back to your friend's over the years, don't think I'm aware of your actions."

"What has any of that got to do with me saying goodbye to Rachel?" I said, annoyed with how she always reverted to previous disagreements when she had no present argument to stand on to prove her case.

"It has to do with everything," she said vaguely.

"Mum, I'm leaving there's no need for us to have such a bitter goodbye. I'm saying goodbye to Rachel and then we never have to speak of each other again. And don't worry, I won't go spreading rumors about you in London."

"You've never appreciated anything I've done for you. You've never said thank you. Instead you treat me like shit, as if I'm the lowest person on this planet and that I've been the worst mother ever. I've really tried with you Olivia, I really have. You were so difficult as a child growing up."

I rolled my eyes and tried to bite my tongue from shouting at her, not wanting Rachel to hear another disagreement between us. My mum had a tendency of making everything about her. Even when natural disasters occurred my mum would always say, 'it's a good thing I've never wanted to travel to that country, otherwise I would be dead. Could you even imagine.'

Summoning up enough strength so that I wouldn't raise my voice I tried to calmly talk to my mother. "Mum, years of therapy never helped solve my 'problems' so I think it's time to drop any discord I've caused over the years. I'm going to say goodbye to Rachel and then I'm leaving. If you want, I can leave the door open so you can hear our conversation to ensure that I don't 'poison' her mind."

My mum clucked her tongue and bit on the inner part of her cheek. Whenever I've been reasonable and backed her into a corner she had developed the habit of bitting the inside of her cheek. "Fine," she said eventually before stalking downstairs and banging the kitchen pantry doors loudly.

I sighed and entered my sisters room. Her record player was blasting music loudly and I hoped that the sound had covered the fight between my mum and I. She had seen me walk in and smiled as I closed the door behind me, standing with my back against it to ensure my mum didn't come barging in.

"Are you leaving?" She asked me sadly. I looked at her and felt a twinge of guilt for leaving her. She was only fifteen and I worried about her being alone with my mom. She was strong but I could see sadness in her eyes and it scared me, I worried about leaving her alone. My dad has left us three years ago, saying he couldn't deal with our mom anymore and aside from a few phone calls we hardly heard from him.

I nodded my head, "I've packed the last box, Brian's waiting for me outside." Brian was my boyfriend, we had been dating for a year then and my mum had never approved of him, then again she had never approved of anyone I associated with.

A small smile appeared on Rachel's face, "does mum know he's waiting outside for you?"

I shook my head, "no, if she did I'm sure she would've beaten him over the head with a frying pan." Rachel laughed and a few moments of silence passed between us. "If there's ever a problem ring me anytime, alright?" Rachel nodded and I continued. "You know you can visit me whenever you want, I'll pay for your train ticket. It's only a three hour train ride into London." Rachel nodded again and I could see tears welling in her eyes. I fought back my own tears as I pushed away from the door and hugged her. "Don't stay as long as I did," I said referring to the fact that I hadn't moved out when I was eighteen. I had stayed until now because I felt like I needed to protect Rachel but eventually realized that I couldn't stay because it was destroying me. "I love you," I said as I pulled away from her.

"Love you two," she said in a strained voice as a few tears slid down her cheeks.

"Be good," I said as I picked up my last box and backpack and walked out of her room. I closed the door behind me and rested my forehead against the cool wood for a moment trying to calm myself. After a few steadying breathes I pushed away from the door and tried to quietly walk downstairs. My mum was in the kitchen and her eyes caught mine as I passed the door. She looked at me coldly for a moment before opening the refrigerator door and turning away from me. I stopped in front of the door that led outside and looked at my house one last time before opening it and meeting Brian in front of my car in the driveway.

"I was worried about you," Brian said as I walked to my car and threw my box into the trunk. "You were in there for a long time, thought I would have to go in and break up the fight."

I smiled appreciatively at him as I got into the passenger seat. "Mum decided to argue with me, nothing I couldn't handle of course." I flipped down the visor and looked in the mirror as Brian pulled out of my driveway. I wiped the mascara that had run down my cheeks. My blue eyes were blood shot and my dark brown hair was a mess. I looked like a crazy person.

"How did Rachel handle everything?" I choked a little, trying to hold back the tears as I looked out the window to distract myself. Out of my peripheral I could see Brian looking at me worriedly. He picked up my hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "She'll be okay," he said reassuringly. "She's strong she'll make it."

"I hope so," I said in a struggled voice.

"Stop worrying Olivia, you should be happy." He turned towards me and I met his eyes and was greeted by a large smile. "You're free."

I couldn't help but let a large smile cross my face as a weight was lifted from me and the words 'you're free' rang in my head like the beautiful sound of church bells.

It took almost six hours for Brian and I to unpack all my boxes and move my furniture into my new apartment. The space was small and dimly lit with dark walls and dark floorboards. There were no walls separating the space, the apartment itself was just one room, aside from the bathroom which was the only blocked off area. I hung red curtains around my bed for a bit of privacy. I had a television set in a corner with a couch and recliner chair surrounding it. I had paintings sitting on the floor waiting to decorate the walls, not going to be hung until I painted the walls a bright color to add some light to the space. Candles decorated the room, the different scents intertwining and creating a powerful smell. Brian always complained about my candle obsession. It seemed I could never walk into any store containing candles without purchasing one.

Brian and I collapsed on my couch, exhausted from the full day. I laid my head on his shoulder as he played with my hair in silence. I looked around my apartment and could hardly believe it was mine. I had finally moved out of my mum's house and was on my own. The realization was happy but daunting at the same time. I had never lived on my own before and I had hardly begun to fathom the responsibility that would come with living on my own.

"Shall we go to bed?" Brian asked with a suggestive wink.

I smiled and lifted up my head and gave him a lingering kiss. I stood up from the couch and grabbed his hands pulling him behind me to my bed where we both collapsed onto it, our limbs crashing on top of one another and while kissing passionately.

The next morning I woke up to my alarm clock ringing. I groaned and hit the off button, rubbing my eyes with the palm of my hand. I looked to my right and found Brian wasn't there. I sat up in bed and searched around for my shirt, slipping it on and standing up. I looked to the kitchen where Brian was standing, drinking coffee in only his boxers and reading the newspaper. I smiled as I neared him and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissing his shoulder.

"Morning," he said as he set down his coffee and patted his lap, inviting me to sit there. I happily obliged and kissed him on the lips once I had situated myself on his lap. "What time does work start?"

"Nine," I groaned realizing that this is how my life is going to be like everyday from now.

"My working girl," he said wrapping his arms around me. He rested his head in my hair and breathed in. "Do we have time for a shower?"

I looked at the clock and smiled, "I think we can make time for that."

"Shit, I'm going to be late." I said as I tore through my boxes trying to find clothes to wear for the day. "First day of work and I'm not going to be on time. They're going to fire me and I'm going to prove my mother right."

"You'll be fine, you have twenty minutes," Brian said unhurriedly as he threw me a dress to wear.

I glared at him as I pulled on the dress over my head. "You're not the one whose going to work for the first time today. I told you we showered for too long."

"I do believe you were the one saying 'don't stop, don't stop' while we were in the shower," Brian replied with a mischievous smile.

I tried to not indulge him by smiling as I pulled on my boots. I looked in my mirror and ran a brush through my hair. I turned to Brian for approval and he gave me the thumbs up. I grabbed my purse and Brian grabbed his bag as we left my apartment. I closed the door behind me and locked it, throwing my keys into my purse. Once we left my apartment building I turned towards Brian and kissed him, "when will you be back next?" I asked sadly. Brian still lived in my hometown and he could only stay for the night. He was at uni back home and we could now only see each other on weekends.

"I'll try and make it back in two weeks," he said sweeping me up into his arms as I laid against his chest. "Don't worry, you'll be so busy the time will fly by. Now," he said kissing the top of my head. "You better hurry up or you're going to be late for work."

"I'm sorry I can't walk you to the train station."

"Don't worry about, now go," he said kissing me once more. I watched him walk away before hurrying my speed and walking to the bus stop.

I luckily made it to work just in time with an extra minute to spare. I was directed to an elderly woman named Harriet who I was told would be training me. Harriet was probably in her late sixties, early seventies with completely gray hair. She had on bright pink lipstick that was more on her teeth than on her thin bird-like lips. She didn't smile at me as I approached but looked at me disapprovingly.

"So you're the new girl," she said in a hoarse voice.

I nodded my head and stuck out my hand, "Olivia Dye."

Harriet looked at my hand before using her forefinger and thumb to shake my hand. The shake lasted less than a second before she pulled away, as if afraid she would catch a disease. "Follow me, I'll show you around. There are three floors. The first floor is devoted to children's books and music. The second level," she said as we walked up a small flight of stairs. "Is for fiction books, science fiction, and poetry. The third level," she started wheezing as we walked up another flight of stairs, "is for reference books. People who are doing research and things like that. We also have newspaper and magazine articles but that is a restricted area and a person needs permission to access this area as we only have one copy and we can't have someone walking off with it. They are not allowed to leave with the newspaper or magazines and have to make copies. If you need to make a copy go to the front desk and someone will do it for you. Now, what I'm going to show you what you will be doing today. I will only explain it once so you better listen, I do not like repeating myself."

I nodded my head attentively as I followed behind her as we made our way to the second level. We came to a stop in front of a large pile of books and Harriet picked one up, showing me the spine of the book. "Each book has a letter and then a number following it. This one is C322 and it is a fiction book. Each aisle will be marked on the outside. The first aisle is A-D. So you find the C section and then 321 and 323. Do you think you've got it?"

I nodded my head as I grabbed the book from her hands, "I think I can handle it."

"Good, I'm going to have a cigarette if you have any questions find someone who can help you, like I said it wont be me." She looked me up and down one last time before turning away and walking down the stairs.

"Cow," I muttered under my breath as I began sorting through the books.

I worked for two straight hours sorting the books. My eyes were growing tired from reading the small printed numbers. Harriet had checked on me once, I think she was making sure I was working and not sitting around doing nothing. Every once in a while I stumbled across an interesting sounding book and made a mental note to check it out later during my free time.

"Excuse me," I heard a voice gently sound from behind me.

I turned around and saw a girl around my height looking at me expectantly. The girl had bright red hair and the brightest green eyes I had ever seen. I wondered if they were fake because I had never seen anyone with eyes like those before. "Can I help you?" I asked vaguely noticing there were two other people behind her who appeared to be in some sort of discussion as they were gesturing wildly with their arms.

"I was looking for a book," she looked nervously behind her and I looked and saw she was looking at the two boys. I couldn't help but notice in my brief view of them that they were both incredibly attractive and found it hard to tear my eyes away from them. "Moby Dick," she said quietly. The boys behind her broke out into laughter and the girl rolled her eyes.

"Did you hear her Sirius, she wants to read Moby Dick, Merlin can only imagine what that book is about." A boy with glasses and unruly hair said.

I couldn't help but notice how oddly the boy talked. First he said serious out of context but the other boy across from him seemed to know what he was talking about. Then he said Merlin as if referring to someone, I wonder who Merlin is.

"James," the red haired girl cried, exasperated by his behavior. "You're nineteen I had hoped by now you would grow up."

"Oh Lily," the boy who I now knew to be named James said in a calm voice as he stood next to Lily and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I'm mature when it matters, but you said the word dick, what was I supposed to do?"

The girl, Lily, rolled her eyes but a small smile threatened to form on her lips. "You're so difficult sometimes James Potter," she said pushing the boy away from her. James shrugged and laughed, kissing Lily on the cheek before turning his attention back to the other boy. "I'm sorry about that," she apologized.

"It's no problem," I said. "Anyway, I just saw the book you were asking for. It's in the next section," I said leading her over the next aisle and pulling the book from the shelf. "Here you go," I said handing her the book.

"Thank you," she said smiling politely. She then turned away from me and looked at the boys. "James, Sirius, it's time to go."

I watched them walk away and said to myself, "they really need to learn how to properly use the word serious."

A/N: Alright this is my new story! Don't worry I'm not abandoning Duck and Cover. Also, this isn't a vampire story it's a werewolf story. So please read and review :)