He laughed nervously, quickly turning the door knob.
That's not creepy at all, nope, not creepy at all.
Just as the door began to open, Julien heard a shrill scraping noise on the floor behind him and his path to escape was slammed shut.
He froze.
"Away from the door."
Julien looked up at the man behind him, then glanced at the floor.
He could only hope he wouldn't meet the same fate.
His eyes are different.
The color, the intensity of his stare, the predatory feeling like he would be eaten alive for making the wrong move.
Everything was different.
Julien slipped under Andrew's arm, keeping his gaze on the other man.
Andrew stared at him as well, and Julien briefly wondered if this was how rabbits felt before they died.
Luckily, Julien wasn't an appealing enough rabbit.
Andrew seemed satisfied enough having trapped his prey within the house and he kneeled in front of the door—a sentinel in Julien's own home.
Then the scratching resumed.
*scratch scratch scratch*
Julien watched as Andrew made his welcome mat a scratching post, slowly pulling out his phone.
That led to the current predicament.
Now what do I do?
Julien glanced at his friend's projection.
He didn't want to hang up on who could've been his only witness should he die, but he also didn't want her to have to witness it at all.
Julien gulped, taking a step away from the imposing man.
If I start saying 'easy does it' I'll just die right?
He looked at Nevaeah's projection again, closed his eyes, and cut the call.
"I'll talk to you later."
"Call time: 3 minutes and 58 seconds"
If that was the last thing he did before he died, at least he could be remembered for his bravery.
He laughed nervously.
Andrew slowly crept towards him—his footsteps quiet against the wooden surface—and Julien backed towards the stairs, keeping his eyes on the were-whatever in front of him.
Think think.
What do I know about werewolves? What are they weak to?
Silver!
…
I don't have any silver in this damned house!
Julien took another step back.
Andrew was slowly getting faster.
Uh wolfsbane! Mistletoe! Any other poisonous plant even!
Julien's foot reached the top of the stairs.
*Creee*
Andrew charged at him.
Julien ran into his room and slammed the door, locking it behind him just as Andrew started banging on the door.
*BANG BANG BANG*
The banging was getting louder and louder and he could've sworn he heard the door start to crack. Julien quickly went into the greenhouse and started looking around.
Wolfsbane or mistletoe, wolfsbane or mistletoe, fuck give me wolfsbane AND mistletoe for fucks sake!
He looked at each plant one by one, but the only nightshade he had was in a bloody seed packet.
Julien was starting to feel dizzy.
Then when a loud crack sounded in the adjacent room…
The banging stopped.
Julien looked in the direction of the greenhouse door.
Thump thump.
Thump thump.
Thump thump.
His heart pounded in his ears.
The footsteps were coming closer.
One step.
Two step.
Three step.
Julien locked eyes with Andrew staring at him from behind the glass.
He's gonna kill me.
Andrew put his clawed hands on the glass door and started scratching again, creating a jarring noise that hurt even Julien's ears.
*SCREEEEEEE*
Julien stopped breathing as the screeching came to a halt.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
He didn't believe that for a second.
Julien darted for the stairs, not even bothering to look behind him as he rapidly climbed the ladder on the far side of the greenhouse platform and made a mad dash towards the elevators.
He hurriedly clicked the button.
Come on come on—
"Scan keycard, or in the case of emergencies—"
DAMNIT!
Julien jumped over the second level's ledge, landing awkwardly as he redirected his course towards the emergency stairwell. He skipped one stair after the other as he descended—not caring how high up in the sky he was.
But Andrew was already waiting for him. He crept out of his apartment's window and onto the landing Julien was aiming for.
Shit.
Unable to stop his momentum, the rabbit ran right into the wolf's open claws.
He'd never been able to outrun him for long.
—
Julien let out an 'oomph' as he was unceremoniously thrown onto the couch.
But before he could attempt to run again, Andrew leaned over him, inspecting his face one microbe to the next and effectively preventing him from escaping his grasp.
Julien went rigid as pale lilac met scorched amber.
I'm dead.
Andrew rested his forehead on Julien's shoulder and Julien felt his warm breath tickle his neck.
"Stop trying to leave."
Julien hardly had enough time to process the words before Andrew's arms grew slack and his heavy form collapsed over his.
He stared at the ceiling as his heart rate slowed to a steady rhythm.
Then he furrowed his brows.
What the hell?
Using the arm that wasn't trapped beneath Andrew's body, Julien attempted to move the not-so-gentle giant to no avail. Andrew was hot to the touch.
He's running a fever again.
Julien shifted his gaze to look at Andrew's claws, then to his missing ear canals—no, hair…fur covered ear canals, then to the weird formations at the top of Andrew's head.
He frowned, letting out an unamused chuckle as his hand fell tiredly over Andrew's back—a hug, no matter how unintentional.
Being a human sized throw pillow wasn't exactly on his bucket list, but it was better than being a chew toy.
Julien slowly relaxed, absentmindedly drumming his fingers against Andrew's back.
He was trapped until the sun rose on a new day.
—
Andrew felt warm. But unlike the first time, he wasn't in pain—not anymore at least.
He nuzzled his face into the comforting scent underneath him and opened his mouth to take a bite.
Then he paused.
This is Julien's scent.
Andrew's eyes shot open.
I almost bit him.
Andrew sharply turned his head to the door as the sound of footsteps hesitantly approaching sounded in his ears. He let out a low growl, then he stopped himself.
That reaction itself was wrong.
He looked at Julien's sleeping form, then at the door.
He heard muttering coming from behind it, a woman.
Andrew huffed, reluctantly separating himself from the red-head beneath him—careful not to wake him or knock him off the couch.
He paused. Grabbing a blanket off the recliner, he wrapped Julien in a blanket cocoon.
He wouldn't be able to leave even if he woke up now.
*Knock knock kno—*
Before the final knock could finish, he pried the door open and looked down at the intruder, a soft scent of green tea hitting his nose now that they were… not quite face to face.
Nevaeah.
The young woman gasped at the sight of him—looking as though she'd faint on the spot—but she was braver than he gave her credit for. She looked into the apartment and the first thing she did wasn't ask him a question.
She tried to run inside.
Andrew stopped her before she could even take one step past the threshold and stared at her for a long while, trying to dull the feelings of undue aggression boiling under the surface from her attempt.
How did she even get up here?
She shouldn't have had a keycard to the elevators, and she wasn't accompanied by an officer or security guard either. He pushed her away from the door, causing her to stumble over her own feet.
He'd need to check the security office later—but he couldn't leave.
"Later."
He shut the door on her.
She leaned her head against it, and he heard a soft thud.
Her calls hadn't connected even once since Julien hung up on her, and after seeing the mess inside… Her eyes grew hot.
She only wanted to know one thing.
"...Is he alive?"
Andrew frowned.
Why did they both assume he was going to kill Julien? He may've been… out of control for a moment, but—he looked at the scratch marks on the floor and sighed.
He decided to answer her question first.
"…Yes."
He heard her breathe a sigh of relief before the sound of her collapsing reached his ears.
He closed his eyes.
He paced in front of the door.
He opened it and dragged her inside, leaving her beside the shoe rack.
Julien would never let him live it down if he'd left her there, but he was this close to ripping her face off for being inside.
He paused.
That's not normal either.
He wasn't sure what was wrong with him, but he needed…
Andrew moved back to the couch, picking up the Julien cocoon and taking it to his room—the room was a mess, with several pieces of furniture and especially the door having been torn to shreds. He placed Julien on the bed and curled up beside him—wrapping his arms around the blanket prison.
He took a deep breath, letting the scent of cedarwood rid him of the urge to kick out the blue-haired intruder.
All he needed was to regain control.
A sharp feeling of pain shot through him and he glanced at the window.
The sun was beginning to rise.
Andrew stared at his claws as they slowly turned back into human hands.
He sighed, letting his eyes slide shut.
—
Julien woke up sweating.
It's hot.
And dark.
Julien's brain took a second to catch up before he looked at the bundle of soft black hair underneath his chin.
Andrew was still smothering him, but this was not the same place they'd dozed off at all.
He looked around, but he found it difficult to move.
This place is a mess.
It took a moment for him to register it as Andrew's room because the neat and tidy room now looked like a set piece in a B-rate horror film. He squirmed.
"Andrew."
Andrew stirred, burying his face further into Julien's blanket prison.
When'd this guy get so clingy?
"Andrew."
The man's shoulder twitched and he quickly sat up, looking around as though he was confused. But how could he be the one confused when it was Julien that was whisked away to Andrew's were-den.
"Let me out of here, it's hot."
—
When Julien left the room he had no choice but to laugh.
Andrew's door and the floor leading to the front door were all scratched up, his bedroom door was completely obliterated, leaving splinters all over the floor, his green house door was thankfully made of a tougher material, but unfortunately scratched to the nines as well.
Then there was Nevaeah, collapsed in the foyer.
He stared at Andrew who trailed behind him during his inspection.
"I'm not going to help you clean this up."
Andrew nodded.
Julien sighed and picked up his friend, only to hear a low rumble from the man behind him.
He pursed his lips, throwing Andrew an unimpressed look.
Andrew looked away.
Julien continued to stare at him.
"That wasn't on purpose."
Julien shook his head and brought Nevaeah to the living room, gently setting her on the recliner to avoid another low rumble from Andrew. It didn't seem like something he could really control, but Julien couldn't help but grumble about it anyway.
I wonder which one of us has it worse.
He gently tapped his friend, crouching beside the seat.
"Nevaeah."
She stirred.
He tried again, whispering this time.
"Nevaeah, Cello told me you can put her in that little pink tutu you bought her."
Andrew looked off to the side as Nevaeah abruptly sat up.
"Really?"
He smiled.
"Dogs can't talk."
She paused, then grabbed his face and looked him over, earning another low growl from Andrew. She glanced at him, then Julien, before letting go.
She deflated.
"By the moon. Why didn't you answer your phone?"
Julien threw a quick glance at Andrew.
"I was… occupied."
He stood up.
"I'm sorry I worried you, but I'm fine, see?"
He turned this way and that, but Nevaeah was looking at the damage dealt to the apartment. He covered her eyes.
"How about you tell me what you managed to find?"
She sighed and lowered his hands before returning a smile of her own.
"I don't know if it'll even be helpful anymore."
—
There weren't a lot of things she could tell him that he didn't already know, and almost all of it proved useless when they checked it with Andrew.
Andrew wasn't weak to silver, he was as affected—no, even less affected by nightshades as anyone else, there was no way they were going to try burning or decapitating the poor man so that was out, and his shift was clearly affected by the full moon.
But there was at least one thing that could explain Andrew's behavior if nothing else.
Nevaeah stared at Julien, poking her cheek with the back of her pen as she inspected him up and down.
Click
Click
Click
Cli—
Andrew growled, paused, then used his words.
"Stop that."
"Sorry."
She put the pen down and tilted her head.
"Julien… don't take this the wrong way but do you think you're a part of his 'territory'?"
What?
Julien opened his mouth to deny it but he quickly closed it. Andrew wasn't quite clinging to him anymore but he was still in his personal space—though for whatever reason—Julien was finding it hard to tell him off for it.
Brushing his hair back, he thought about all of Andrew's strange actions from last night.
Andrew started off pacing around the first floor. Then he prevented him from leaving, even resorting to destroying Julien's bedroom door to do so. Finally, he captured…
Julien frowned.
When he caught me he… cornered me and just fell asleep.
Furthermore, he dragged Julien back to his room after Nevaeah showed up.
He stared at Andrew suspiciously as a thought surfaced in his mind, escaping his lips before he could contain it.
"You're not gonna piss on me are you?"
Nevaeah and even Andrew both cringed at him, though Andrew's expressions were a lot less dramatic. He opened his mouth.
"…Why would you ask that?"
Julien shifted uncomfortably.
"What? Animals… uh, wolves? Mark their territories by peeing on things right?"
He glanced at Nevaeah for confirmation and she nodded.
Julien paused, squinting at Andrew and scanning him up and down.
"Are you even a werewolf?"
No one answered his question—no, no one could.
Andrew didn't change into a big wolf or even a monster like you'd see in movies or fairytales. His eyes turned a sharp amber, his nails extended into claws, his ears turned to nubs, and he had a strange fleshy formation on the top of his skull.
You couldn't exactly call that a werewolf, but Andrew was definitely not human.
At least not anymore.
"…Next weekend, we can do more research next weekend."
In the meantime, this place was going to have to undergo some renovations.