“Your word is organisms.”
Wow, tough word, not really. You see that girl standing on the stage? Yeah, that’s me. I’m a typical teenage girl; I like to do sports, hangout with friends and gossip. I get good grades and when my teacher found out that I was secretly really good at spelling, she immediately signed me up for this year’s spelling bee. And I had no say in it. Alright, snap out of it, organisms. Being a teenager, a smirk comes to my face and I swear I can hear my friends in the crowd chuckle at it too.
“Organisms. O-R-G-A-N-I-S-M-S. organisms.” The letters come out smooth and clear.
“That is correct.” A cheer breaks out in the crowd. I had just won. Wow, that was easy. I took in all the good job’s and great’s. Little did I know that this would change my life.
My school’s name is Octorara Middle School. It’s the oldest and worst school in the district. Most of the lockers don’t work and the bathrooms smell like crap. The teachers are alright, but every year you always get a weirdo. This year it’s Mr. Stewart. Okay so this guy is completely crazy! He comes to school in his pajamas and drinks like eight of those juicy juice boxes everyday. Also, he is completely bipolar. One day he will give us no homework and let us do whatever we want, but then he will make us do tests and tons of class work and pack us full of homework. You know what, I wonder why all of the teachers hate our class. Some teachers have called us “the worst class they have ever seen.” All of the girls gossip about everyone and write conversations on the bathroom walls. The principal had to shut down the bathroom because of the girls. They aren’t totally to blame thought because the boys have done some nasty things like peeing in bottles and what not.

I am proud to say that I have never done anything like that I try to stay away from the people who do. My group of friends is what some people refer to as preps or jocks. We help out in school, participate in sports, get good grades and never get into trouble. Their names are Bryn, Brooke, Kara, Anita, Ashley, and Brielle.


It started as a normal day, I walked into school, tired, and I stopped at my locker to unpack my book bag and grab the books I needed for that morning. After that, I headed to homeroom where I set my stuff down and plopped down in a seat. I talked with Bryn and Cody for a while about homework and stuff then Mrs. Daily came over to me. She handed me a small envelope and said, “This came for you this morning. I don’t know who it’s from.”

The envelope was hard. The paper was stiff and rough. The outside was blank except for a small picture of a wolf on the front. I placed my finger on the wolf and it felt as though I was just shocked. I pulled my hand back almost immediately and noticed that the tip of my finger was bright red.

Bryn asked “What happened?” I had completely forgotten that I was still at school and that more people have arrived.
“Nothing.” I replied and opened the envelope. Unlike the paper on the outside, the letter inside was smooth and soft. As I examined it more, I noticed that it was folded perfectly into a square and that wasn’t paper at all, but something similar to cloth. I unfolded it and inside was written eight words, “You have been chosen. There’s no turning back.” I quickly slipped the cloth into my pocket without showing anyone and headed to first period. While in the hallway I could feel my finger throbbing. The redness went down but it was flame hot. I also had this weird feeling that someone was watching me. It wasn’t like someone was across the room watching me, but like someone was reading my mind. I arrived in Mr. Stewart’s class.

Now Mr. Stewart is a science teacher and because of his weird ways, we learn about something different almost everyday. Today, as I walked in, he had a picture of a tribal drawing on his smart board. What was the picture of you ask? Well, it was a wolf. When I placed my eyes on the wolf, I felt a burning sensation in my pocket. The cloth. I ignored what was happening and sat down in the back of the classroom with my friends. While Mr. Stewart was teaching, I found myself staring at the majestic wolf. I studied it’s every detail from its strong and bold features to the tribal markings the artist gave it. I did this for who knows how long and when I was asked a question, I didn’t seem to hear it.
“Anna?” Mr. Stewart called my name.
I snapped out of my reverie. “What?” I said stupidly. Everyone in the room laughed so I smiled to play along.
“Could you answer the question?” he asked me.
“Ummm. No.” I replied. Again, everyone laughs. Amanda, who sits across the room is laughing her head off and almost crying. Whenever she starts laughing that hard it takes about 5 min for her to calm down. Honestly, I don’t think anything was that funny. Right then the bell ran. I scurried out of the room, avoiding Mr. Stewart, and into the hallway.

I was about to turn the corner when someone grabbed the back of my collar and pulled me the other way. I yelled at the man who was dragging me behind him. “Shut up.” He demanded. I knew I couldn’t break free from this man’s grip so I cooperated and followed him. He was a tall man with very broad shoulders and chest. His grip was firm and based on the muscles showing on his arms, I would guess he is very strong. His facial features were smooth and he reminded me of Christian Bale. As we were walking down the hall I noticed something very strange. It was like the man and I didn’t exist. No one was noticing this man pulling me down the hall and when we walked out the front doors no one in the office even glanced our way. We walked through the parking lot and he stopped me near a black pickup truck.
“Get in.” He shoved me towards the passenger side door. I followed his “orders” and climbed in. When I got in, the first thing I noticed was a small keychain hanging from the rearview mirror. It was a wolf, an arctic wolf to be exact. The man started up the pick up and drove out of the parking lot. I stayed quiet while he was driving until he got onto the highway; that is when I made my move.

“Who are you?” My words came to his surprise.
“Name is Jack.” He replied.
“I have a question. Why couldn’t anyone see us when we were leaving the school?” I asked
“Humans are stupid. They don’t see anything.” He said with hatred. It was like he had something against the human race and like he wasn’t part of it. I stared at him.
“Well I see you, and I‘m human.” I told him.
“Are you?” This time he looked at me, smiling wildly.

I broke away from his glance. Those words were like arrows striking my stomach. They knocked the wind out of me. Of course I was human, how couldn’t I be? It was undeniable, so why was I still thinking about this? But I was still questioning myself and looking back on the odd things that happened in my life. What about that one time when I fell off of the roof and didn’t break any bones? Or when I was at the animal shelter and I thought that I could hear the dog’s thoughts. Most recently I got burned by touching a picture of a wolf. A wolf. I glanced up at the small wolf hanging from the rearview mirror. It was finally clear.

“Wait. You’re the person who sent me the-“I was thrown to one side of the car. Jack had suddenly took a sharp turn and pulled into an old rundown factory.

“Where are we?” I asked

“Headquarters” Jack replied


What? What kind of headquarters operates at a place like this? Every wall was covered in holes and mold. The west wing look like there was a tree growing out of the roof. There was only one door, but it was just a plastic sheet covering a gapping hole where the door would have been. I got out of Jack’s car and noticed that there were about 15 more trucks there, all black. Jack was already half way to the building so I had to run to catch up with him. We arrived to the door and Jack held the plastic open for me. He motioned for me to in; I hesitated at first, but then walked in.

The inside took my breath away, it wasn’t anything like its outside. It looked like I had just walked into one of those fancy hotels that are featured in James Bond movies. The inside was all white and there was a big chandelier hanging from the ceiling. There weren’t a lot of people in the “headquarters” though. There was a teenager, around 15, sitting on a couch in the front room. He hopped up from where he was sitting and same over to us.

“Hey Jack! Who is this?” the teenager said.

“Hello Frado. This is Anna, our latest recruit. Where is everybody?”

“They’re in the meeting house, the meeting just started.”

“Thanks, Can I ask you to keep an eye on Anna here?”

“Sure thing.” Frado said.

What? This guy is going to babysit me? I don’t need babysitting; I’m 14 years old! The guy is just staring at me now, so I stare back at him. He is very tall and fit for his age. I would say he is about 5’ 11” and he has long blonde hair. Okay this is getting really creepy, so I try to break his stare.

“So…” I have nothing else to say

“So. Has Jack told you? He questioned me.

“Told me what?”

“What this place is. Who we are…” he paused for a couple seconds. “What we are.”

I didn’t answer him, but I noticed something I didn’t at first. On this guy’s perfectly tanned neck was a small tattoo of a... “Wolf” I said the word out loud. Frado smiled then grabbed me by the arm. He pulled me down a corridor and into a small room with tons of computers.

“This is how we found you.” He pointed to a small computer in the corner. On the screen YouTube was pulled up and the title of the video that was playing was called “Octorara Spelling Bee.” Oh geez, I thought to myself. Frado pressed play and there I was, spelling the word organisms. I could see my friends in the crowd and it struck me just then. I had seen Jack at the spelling bee. He was back stage just leaning against the wall. I thought something was funny about him but I seemed to forget once I stepped onto the stage. I turned and faced Frado directly.

“What do you want from me?” I demanded.

“Me? I want nothing. It was Jack who chose you.” He said.

“Why?”

“Everyone here gets to chose one person to continue on their breed.”

“Breed?” What is he talking about?

“A wolf breed.” Frado explained. “Everyone her has one. Like I am a gray wolf,” He pointed to his tattoo on his neck. “And Jack, he’s and arctic wolf and you will be one too.”

I sat down in the chair in the room. This was too much to take in. I’m going to be a breed of wolf soon? I must be dreaming, but I wasn’t. I wished I was.

“Come on.” Frado said. “I want to show you something.” He led me out of the room farther down the hall towards the west wing where the tree was. The door at the end of the hall was very old and worn, with large scratches running down the length of it. I was starting to get second thoughts about this. He paused before opening the door.

“Are you ready? Most people faint when they see what’s inside here for the first time.” He told me.

Great! He just had to say that! Like I wasn’t nervous enough because of the looks of the door. I nodded to Frado that I was ready. He turned back to the door and slowly pushed it open to something I will never forget.