Amnesia - The Matlock Pack: Book One

Wednesday 30 December — Full Moon

~*Nat’s POV*~

“The list is up!”

Owen came barrelling over to us at the rock wall. Both Cody and Bells were in the middle of an ascent, but immediately bounced away from the wall to swing back down. Even though Cody was studying next year, she was just as eager as everyone else to see who had made it into the Warrior Training course.

As Owen left us to tell more people the news, Murph and I drew the ropes in and waited for Cody and Bells to unhook themselves, then we all ran for the pack house. It seemed like everyone had beaten us to the board first, though, so we had to wait a bit for the crowd to clear. Every so often, a cheer went up from a successful candidate and their friends. I held Bells’ hand with nervous anticipation of what we would find.

As the crowd began dispersing, we edged closer to the list, waiting somewhat impatiently for more people to get out of our way. Bells crept closer to me the more he was jostled by the other campers who had viewed the list and were now turning around to get back to what they had been doing, some with excitement, others with disappointment. As we finally made it to the board, he’d ended up wrapping me in a hug and resting his chin on my shoulder. He couldn’t have got any closer to me if he had tried.

I trailed my eyes down the list. “Bells! You got in!” I turned my head to give him a kiss on the temple. “That’s brilliant news!” I was ecstatic for him.

“So did you!” He nodded at the list with a grin, drawing my attention back to the pages in front of us.

“Really?” I drew my eyes down the list. Right there down near the bottom, my name jumped out at me. “Holy shit! I did!” I couldn’t stop the little squeal that left my lips in excitement.

“They’ve increased the numbers this year,” he muttered, dragging my attention back to the list. I heard him count. “There are fifteen names there. Normally there’s only twelve.”

“God damn it, fucking shitballs. Tatum and Zelda are both on the list.” I let out an angry breath and felt his arms tighten around my waist. “I wonder who voted for them. Other than Spence, I mean.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Bells said, sounding resigned. “They’re in now.”

“Kadin and Rowan made it,” I said somewhat distractedly. I was still angry at seeing Zelda’s and Tatum’s names listed. “Briar didn’t.”

“I heard she’s studying next year,” Murph offered. I hadn’t heard him or Cody come to stand next to us. “Just like me and Cody.” He looked at Cody, who gave him a distracted nod of her head as she read over the names.

“Skye, Dylan, Robin…” I started reading the other names on the list. “I don’t know half these names.”

“They’re good people,” said Bells, running his finger down the list. “They’ve mostly kept to themselves during camp, but you’ll get to know them when training starts.”

I noticed a single line addendum to the bottom of the names. “Part-time places available for specialist classes. What does that mean?” I looked at Bells in confusion.

“Oh, that’s something they trialled this year,” Murph answered. “They opened certain afternoon classes to members of the pack who were interested in helping the Warriors, but only in a reserve capacity. It must have been successful if they’re offering it again next year.”

“If they follow the same timetable as this year, they dedicate the morning sessions to combat training,” said Bells. “Only the Warriors can take part in those. But they gear the afternoon sessions more towards theory, like bushfire training, computer theory, basic medical training; that sort of thing.”

“Oh, okay,” I said, nodding. “That makes sense.” The lack of chatter made me realise we were the only ones still lingering in the pack house; everyone must have already gone back to their activities.

“There were a lot of people asking to be involved in the bushfire training after the fires tore through here last summer,” said Murph, as we all turned away from the list and started walking back to the rock wall. “That class and the medical training class were the two that they trialled the part-time students with this year. It’ll be interesting if they include other classes next year.”

I let my mind wander as Murph kept talking. It felt brilliant having a long-term plan in place for once. Until now, I’d been taking things day by day, or at most, week by week. As much as I hated to admit it, Spence was right on one thing — no-one had come looking for me in the month that I had spent in the Matlock pack, so it very much appeared I was on my own in this world. I needed to start thinking about my future, even if my memory somehow miraculously came back. The more time I spent here in Matlock, the more I felt at home and surrounded by the people who cared about me.

I was happy here and, even with all the nastiness stemming from Tatum and Zelda, and even Spence, Kadin, and Jackie, I was becoming happier every day.

Why would I want to go anywhere else?

~~~

“I don’t know what’s wrong. You should be talking normally by now.”

Auden was studying Cody’s throat with a worried expression. Cody looked over at me and rolled her eyes in exasperation, which made me stifle a giggle. It had just gone two o’clock and even though Auden should have been preparing Cody for her first shift that was due to happen in less than half an hour when the full moon was at its closest point to the Earth, Auden was anxious about Cody’s voice, which still hadn’t returned from Tatum choking her the prior Friday.

We were outside in one of the many private courtyards around the pack house. Takeshi had told me when I handed him my paperwork that this particular courtyard was dedicated to first shifting use. Every month, whoever had turned eighteen since the last full moon would gather here and shift for the first time with their parents and Takeshi in attendance to bear witness on behalf of the pack.

It was a celebratory occasion, one that almost every Matlock pack member went through. The pack gifted each new shifter a robe that had been stitched with the Matlock pack crest, which was cherished for the rest of their lives, much like a wedding dress. They wore their robes loosely when they went through their first shift, and nothing else. Cody had hers on already and was sitting on the bench at the side of the courtyard with her Mum fretting over her. Jackie had walked away from them and was now talking quietly to Takeshi about something.

There was one other camper who was in attendance, a slight, wispy, brown-haired girl that I didn’t know but had overheard her parents call Skye. Much like Cody, she was being fussed over, but where Cody looked relatively calm, Skye looked utterly terrified. She kept looking up at the sky, muttering under her breath about something, but she was too far away from me to hear the words.

I was standing with my back to the wall of the courtyard next to a tree; close enough to Cody, but far enough away to not get in the way of her and Auden. Hearing a kookaburra sing very close by, I looked up into the tree that I was standing under and noticed the same young kookaburra I had seen two days previously in the lower branches right above where Cody was sitting now. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cody glance up and grin at the bird, then return her attention to her Mum.

As the kookaburra laughed, I heard a second bird join in. A magpie had been hiding in the shadows of the canopy of the same tree, and its warbling was the only way I could locate it. It paused, then hopped from branch to branch until it came to rest next to the kookaburra, neither snapping at the other in any way.

Curious. Most birds would try to establish dominance against the other species, but not these two. They were quite content to sit alongside each other and watch the world go by.

Auden followed my gaze, then narrowed her eyes as she caught sight of the birds. She looked at Cody for a brief second before turning to look around the courtyard, searching for something.

I kept my eyes on her to see whatever it was she was anxiously looking for, her agitation becoming clearer with every passing second, then anger erupted out of her when she locked onto something across the courtyard near Takeshi.

“What is she doing here?” Auden snarled, striding over to a naked woman with strawberry blonde dreadlocks that was standing deep in the shadows.

I heard a commotion next to me, as Cody leaped to her feet and followed her mother across the courtyard, her robe billowing out behind her as she ran to catch up. Cody put a hand on Auden’s shoulder and pulled her to a standstill. When Auden looked at her, Cody shook her head, pointed to the naked woman, and gave her Mum an emphatic thumbs up sign.

Takeshi and Jackie hurried over to Auden, who was now yelling at Cody, but my attention remained on the woman in the shadows. She had stayed where she was and was watching Cody, but as the quartet between us started talking, trying to calm Auden, her focus shifted to me. She tilted her head and studied me, almost like she was working hard to solve a puzzle.

With no conscious effort, I took a step towards her, then another. It was like I knew her, but I had no recollection of ever seeing this woman; at least not since I had been in Matlock. I walked past Takeshi, Cody, and her family and headed straight for this strange woman.

“I know you,” I stated, looking down at the diminutive naked figure now in front of me with a mystified frown on my face. “How do I know you?”

I reached out to her, but stopped short of touching her, somehow knowing that she wouldn’t appreciate it. The magpie that had been in the tree swooped past me and landed on the woman’s head, eyeing me with curiosity.

“Hi Nat,” the woman said. “It’s nice to see you again.”

A tear ran down my cheek. “You know me?” I whispered. After all this time, had I finally found someone who knew me?

She reached forward and wiped the tear from my face with her thumb, her palm cupping my cheek. Her body lit up with white markings as she made contact, and I stared in wonder as the markings glowed. Several gasps sounded behind me.

“Hello, sister.” Alex sounded relieved.

What? My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Alex? What’s going on?”

“Hello, Alex.” The woman in front of me smiled sadly. “You haven’t told her, have you?” She kept her eyes trained on mine as her thumb kept stroking my cheek softly, her markings thrumming with every pass.

“Told me what?” I felt myself lean into her palm, but all I felt was confusion. Alex wasn’t responding to me, and I felt like an irrelevant third party in a conversation between two old friends.

“How can I? After everything that’s happened…” An overwhelming feeling of sadness overtook me as Alex spoke. More tears fell down my cheeks as the woman in front of me nodded in understanding.

A sharp cry came from behind me, followed by the sounds of grinding. The mystery woman let me go and focused on the people behind me. I turned around to find Cody kneeling, her mouth in an ‘O’ shape as she writhed on the ground in pain, but not making a sound. Further behind her was Skye, who was going through the same amount of agony, but unlike Cody, was making her feelings very well known to those in the courtyard.

Auden was kneeling next to Cody, coaching her through the pain. Jackie and Takeshi stepped back, as did both of Skye’s parents, alarmingly leaving Skye to battle through her discomfort alone.

The strange, naked woman and I both took a step closer to the girls. Snapping noises filled the air, along with the grinding. I knew what was next: squelching, then shimmering before the shift was complete.

There was still time to help them, so why was everyone but Auden stepping away?

And why was I heading for Skye and the naked woman for Cody?