As the phone's screen revealed the end of the call, a mirthful smile couldn't be stopped from showing on John's lips.
"I want to see her." He muttered under his breath, the image of Hope's figure taking form in his mind to satiate his desire to see her again. And just perfectly he imagined her.
From her auburn hair to striking blue eyes and delicate but gentle smile to her curves, the boy had her figure perfectly formed in his mind, with him silently appreciating it while droplets of water fell off his soaked clothes.
Initially, the minute sound helped him get into imagining the young woman's figure, each drop hitting the ground beneath him acting as a trigger to make Hope's form entirely.
But after half a minute into it, with John staring blankly into the space in front of him, he also started to comprehend one thing. An obvious thing for him, but people tend to overlook that thought frequently, and it wasn't different with him.
"It's just like they say…" Steam rose all around John's clothes, unfurling and twisting into the air before scattering through the cold air of the night. "'You fall in love immediately, but just notice it a few days later.' I guess it fits. That must be the only reason why I am feeling this reminiscing despite having seen her only a few hours ago." He chuckled dryly, taking the phone from the air and shuffling it into his pocket.
"Ah, shit…" John walked into the forest, back to where he left Jeremy and the werewolf. "Maybe I should ask her on a date?" The boy muttered to himself, this thought occupying most of his mind now than anything else at the moment.
John pushed away a branch of a tree that stood in his way, the action was more instinctual than putting the thought to do it.
"Or is it too early?" He asked himself. "It would be more to have fun than anything, so maybe it is fine?" John muttered about the topic, something he would do so along the way back.
What John was going through right now was exactly what basically everyone who realized their feelings for another did: Giving too much thought about something they normally wouldn't.
Now that the young man had realized his feelings, whether they were shallow or not for how long he had truly met her, he was overthinking a lot of things. Fortunately, this was something that wouldn't last long.
"Ah, fuck it." John ruffled his own hair with both hands. "I will try it. There is nothing to be afraid of." He said, dropping his arms.
"I just don't have to be stupid and-" The young man didn't finish his own words, for he forced himself into silence when listening to a distant, unknown voice.
"What, what is happening…"
The words brushed against the boy's ears, the intonation they carried were weak and soft, also filled with fear and a bit of panic.
For the boy, these words were barely audible, the rustling of the leaves and the wind howling doing wonders to diminish all other sounds.
But despite this, through these few words, John could easily assume who spoke them, for a feminine voice backed these words.
Did she wake up? He thought immediately, continuing to cross this part of the forest, rushing his own steps. I wonder how long it will be until-
Again, the young man was interrupted, now in his own thoughts. For this time, what he listened to sent a shiver down his spine.
Crack!
"Arrrghh!" A scream echoed loudly in the forest, the sound surpassing the past words many times in intensity.
Momentarily, John stood there, his expression stiffening in reaction to the sound he listened to. He was surprised, his mouth hanging open ever so slightly in terror.
"Was that… her fucking bone snapping?" He asked himself, immediately moving again after muttering these words.
This time, John didn't just rush his steps, but started running at a decent high speed. The trees and bushes blurred at his sides while dirt was sent into the air where he stepped at.
At this velocity, the boy in no time found himself back in the clearing. One of the first things he noticed was that Jeremy wasn't lying down on the grass anymore, but standing straight a few meters ahead, facing the girl that John had chained down to the tree.
The girl also wasn't in the same position as before when the boy left. Now, she was kneeling on the ground, back arched, her right hand against the grass in an attempt to support her body. As for her left arm, it was mangled in a way not natural, with others able to see the muscles under her skin strongly shifting–transforming.
Crack!
Now, it was her left leg, and the change was accompanied by another painful scream, followed by involuntary tears streaming down the girl's cheeks as she contorted herself on the floor.
"It started." John ran to Jeremy's side, watching attentively the young girl a few meters away from him.
"It did." Jeremy nodded.
Slowly, John looked at the hunter through the corner of his eyes. "Did you explain to her everything about her current situation?"
"Well…"
"What is happening to me?!" The girl screamed, snapping her head to both men.
At that moment, her emerald eyes disappeared, taken over by irises of dirty gold amidst a field of black ink. Within them, the bit of an angered beast was revealed, its anger consuming the girl's mind.
Seeing it, John furrowed his brow. Shit. "No opportunity?" He whispered to the hunter.
"She just woke up, I couldn't say much before her transformation began." Jeremy replied, taking a deep breath. However, his words weren't said in a tone as low as the young man's, and even if they were, the girl would still have heard them.
"Tran-transformation?!" She forced out her words, trying to bear the initial pain of her muscles behaving in a different, inhuman way.
It was possible to see them adjusting through waves that manifested in her skin.
"What is happening to me?!" She asked again, this time with fury and anger laced around her voice. "Where did you take me?!" Her scream was followed by her attempt to crawl towards both men, a futile one as her body wasn't listening to her as she was used to.
She fell face first on the grass. And when she attempted to move again, raising her head off the ground by resting her chin on the grass, her expression brought a look of pity from the young man.
Tears, snot and dirt mixed together, painting her face in a not beautiful way as she clenched her teeth to resist the pain.
What should I do? John asked himself in this situation. What should I say first? He thought again, going over what he could–should say.
Crack! Krr!
The one second needed for John to think of those words were enough for the young woman to be overwhelmed in great pain again. She arched strongly as the clothes were torn apart, the same for her back, revealing gruesomely her flesh as decent amounts of blood gushed out, soaking her in her own blood.
"Ah-Aargh!" Her sobs and screams of pain mixed together, the sheer amount of terror in her voice making the world retreat. The winds stopped howling and the moon momentarily hid behind the clouds again.
Watching the scene ahead of him, the painful and bloody event that was the transformation of a werewolf, John didn't give time to think anymore.
In an instinctual response, he approached the young girl in fast steps, leaving behind the hunter alone; All this time, Jeremy watched everything with an unfazed expression, as if the pain afflicted on the girl didn't matter.
The hunter only showed a mild reaction–a raise of one of his eyebrows–when watching the boy approaching the turning werewolf.
"Hey, hey." One to two meters from her, John kneeled down on the grass, trying to get her attention with his words. "You asked who we are, right? My name is John–John Neo. This one here-" He pointed at the hunter with his index finger. "-is Jeremy Gilbert, we are respectively student and professor at the Salvatore School." The boy said quickly, making use of the time the girl was still human.
The girl, with some strength, looked up at the boy, trying to stay conscious with the pain she was bearing.
"Why- Urgh!" She fell on the ground again, now on her back. Her toes curled and threatened to change, the veins on her feet popping up by how fast her blood pumped. "What is happening to me?!" She shouted in one single breath.
For a beat, a moment, one second, John didn't immediately know how to respond to it.
From what he observed and knew, it was obvious she was unaware of the supernatural. The transformation for her was something new, something difficult to explain for those unaware of the secrets of the world.
So, to explain it to her, there weren't many things the boy could immediately say. Wrong words would only make things more confusing, more difficult to explain. So, to explain what was happening to her, the boy thought of the only thing that would probably get to her mind, the reason why all of this was happening in the first place.
"You killed someone, didn't you?"
[Jeremy's PoV]
His question brought silence to her screams. Her spasms and contortions didn't cease when he asked her for clarification, but her stupefaction helped her ignore it.
You killed someone, didn't you? A simple question, but I remember different times when others were confronted with it.
I remember asking it to many vampires, werewolves, normal humans; many reacted differently.
Some admitted it with serene words or nonchalant nods, others simply denied saying they never did it or because it wasn't 'their fault', but didn't care much anyway. I liked when some of them simply launched themselves at me when I asked; made my life easier sometimes.
However, there were also those like this girl, who the simple question made them reminisce strongly of the act. And then, the emotions resurfaced.
In her case, it was panic, fear and… I think I saw a bit of hopelessness. But mostly of everything, she expressed guilt.
"It wasn't my fault…" She muttered, her lips trembling. "It wasn't my fault!" Now, she screamed. "He, he… brought the knif-" Her words were cut once again.
I could see it and I was sure he could see it as well. Her face contorted, the muscles under her cheeks seemed to stiffen and get loose, going from one state to the other repeatedly as they moved under her skin covered in dirt and tears.
She cried even more and pressed her face against the grass. Maybe it was an involuntary response, the idea that maybe making some pressure in it the muscles wouldn't behave that way.
Unfortunately, such a thing if worked would only delay the inevitable. Whether she likes it or not, the moon would force her to change.
Like those wolf cultists I met in Texas used to say: 'Thus commanded the moon'.
"He… made me stab him." She once again raised her head, the guilt in her face not concealed despite her words. "I had nothing to do with it! He put the knife in my hands and attacked me! I- I-" By the end, she was stuttering through her words, unable to continue.
No more tears flowed out of her eyes. By now, from the pain she was experiencing, I think she emptied her reservoirs some time ago.
But even then, through her expression alone, I could see it. She was telling the truth, her expression told so. Or at least, she believed to be telling the truth.
I encountered her surrounded by vampires, and by the time, she was already in a not so good state. Who knows what might've happened to her before. But surely, such a statement would make sense why she would be so defensive of me when I took her away from the vampires, even more than how people normally are when I meet them.
While I indulged in my own thoughts, I was faced with some surprise, maybe leaning more towards relief. But these sentiments were not mine, but the girl's. And the reason is simple, it was the boy's words.
"I believe in you." He said, trying to soften his tone. Kind of funny considering how big of a guy he is. "Okay? I believe in you." He repeated, trying to get the words into the girl's mind.
And they reached her, for it seemed some weight was lifted off her.
For now, I can only wonder what she went through the past few hours before I met her that made her feel a sense of relief upon a stranger recognizing her words.
However… What happened before me was undeniable.
The curse didn't care if your actions were purposeful or not. It didn't matter if you pushed the knife yourself into another's heart or someone else used your hands. The curse triggering was a statement, the world itself recognized the action.
She killed someone. So, her curse was triggered.
She couldn't escape from the truth for long. I knew that, and I hoped the boy knew that. Because if he said something different now, it would only backfire later when she learned the truth.
I almost prayed for him to say the right thing.
But thankfully, I didn't have to resort to it.
"Unfortunately… the world sometimes has a sadistic way to do things." He said, and he seemed to know the weight of his words by how he muttered them. "You see, there is a dormant curse in many people around the world, a gene. The estimations are that 0.3% of the world population carry it. This gene causes what-"
"Aaaaarghhhhh!!!" She screamed again, enough for blood from her throat to crawl to her mouth.
I could see her chest frenetically rise and fall, her ribs were apparently moving. They must have rubbed against her organs and, well, it sure must be something that hurts as hell.
He winced at her scream, backing his body a little. However, surprisingly, he didn't leave his position. He continued there, trying to talk to her.
"It causes what you are suffering…" He finished his previous words, and they seemed to enlighten the girl a little.
"Gene? Am I sick?! Is that why this is happening to me?!" She questioned, curling in a fetus position on the ground as she tried to bear the pain.
"You are not sick, you are cursed. As I said, you-"
"Don't fuck with me!" She screamed at him and maybe she tried to reach him, but to no avail as she fell half-way. "Cursed?! This-"
The same way she interrupted him, John also interrupted her. "Yes, you are cursed." He strengthened his tone. "And the reason is obvious, don't you think? You may not have had the intention, much less the courage to do that, but the world saw it the other way. The weapon may have been put in your hands against your will, but when the life was taken, you held it anyway, didn't you?" He smiled wryly at her, pitying her. "That's why I said the world has a sadistic way to do things. Because it is not your fault, but you still suffered from the sentence."
I involuntarily snorted at it. The world has a sadistic way to do things… Yeah, you are not wrong boy. Not wrong at all.
The world doesn't care much about us at all. It doesn't even offer us the same starts, much less the same opportunities.
"So… to go through it. To bear this unjust weight the world has thrown on you, I would like you to listen to me. Can you do it?" He raised one of his knees off the earth a little and approached her.
"What if I-I- urgh…!" She ceased her words, for the teeth in her mouth trembled violently.
Even relatively afar, I could see her gums shaking, small quantities of blood spurting out from the line connecting her teeth and gums, painting her mouth in red.
Sincerely, I was only still here because I didn't want to let the boy deal with this without anyone's presence. And if he wasn't here, I would have to stay.
That's why despite being part of the staff that spends the night with the wolves, I just stay up on the ground. This way, I barely hear the screams of kids and the sound of their bodies being mutilated and deformed.
I've already got enough nightmares on my own.
"Listen to my voice." John talked to her again. "This is your first moon. This process will last hours."
"Hours?!"
"Unfortunately." He nodded. "But if it is two or five hours, it is up to you." Not caring about bringing some harm to himself, John approached the girl even more and lowered his head to almost the same height as her, staring into her eyes. "You can embrace the pain, let it happen. Do not resist. The process won't find resistance, the transformation will be quicker. If you resist, the pain will only be worse–longer."
"Wh-what should I do?" Blood flowed from the corner of her lips, but she still forced the words out.
Well, that is a tricky part, isn't it? I myself wouldn't know exactly what to say.
I heard a few wolves before saying they should 'embrace' the inner beast or something like that. But would such vague words work right now?
But it seemed despite my doubts, the boy thought of something as he proceeded to say something.
"I don't know you, so I definitely don't know who you are, how you go about your day and what you do. But," He changed his tone again. It wasn't much, but it helped transmit his thoughts. "You hate this, don't you? The situation you were put in. A man forced you to take his life and thus you were cursed by the rest of your life to go through this hellish torture."
Is he gonna use anger to make things easier? Not… it wouldn't be the thing most recommended by Ric to be used as a trigger for a wolf, since they are the temperamental group. But, well, I guess we both don't know something better to be used now, do we?
"Somehow use it. Use it to lash out whatever you are feeling. The anger, fury and even the budding insanity of how much pain you are feeling, let it all out; even if your desire is to rip me apart, let it out." All his words were calm, not rushed. He said it all while bending on one knee, his face close to hers.
By now, although her transformation was far from over, it seemed bits of her sanity were already fading as traces of savagery and animalistic intentions glowed in her eyes.
Whoosh!
Pah!
In a second, her hand that rested by her side shot forward, claws that were still not completely formed lashed through the air. They hit nothing but the earth as the person in front of her simply disappeared, appearing a few meters away from her.
Is he quicker?
"You asked for this."
"Maybe I did." He looked at me.
"Argh!"
Clank!
In her attempt to move in our direction, the girl threw herself forward. The chain held her back and did its job in pulling her back slightly.
That was far from the end as she attempted to crawl at us again, only to fall in pain as her hands stiffened and the metacarpals under her skin were visibly changing.
"Aaarghh!!"
[Third Person PoV]
"Do you think it is gonna work?" John walked back to Jeremy's side, his eyes fixed on the girl screaming and groaning in pain as her joints and bones snapped, only to heal back in different ways.
Different from before, when she was talking to the boy, the girl was now throwing her sanity to the air. She was letting out all the anger and fury held up in her, uncaring if it did bring some additional harm to her.
This mental state of her numbed some of her pain. Not enough for her to feel unbothered, not nearly enough. Just enough to tempt her into sticking her own growing claws in her throat.
"Hard to tell." Jeremy's voice was carried by an almost mute tone, even lower than a whisper. "I never heard of a werewolf's first full moon lasting less than three hours."
"So, that's why you are whispering? For her to not hear that?"
"Yeah." Jeremy nodded. He retreated a few more steps, to prevent the earth and dirt that was thrown his way due to the girl's savagery. "You were good there. Talked some words into her mind."
"Ar! Argh!!!"
Brek! Crack!
"I just did what I thought was right." John flinched at the sounds coming from the girl's jaw. It momentarily hung loose before snapping back with a loud sound. "Hope said… I should tell her to embrace it, to not resist the moon." He said, slowly. "Changed a few words due to her circumstances, but it ended up having the same result. I think."
"We'll know in a few hours. Until there," Jeremy turned around, to the opposite direction of the girl. "I will take a bath as well. Though used, I don't like to smell like trash as well. That is the direction of the lake you mentioned?" He pointed at the woods, where John came from.
"Yes."
"Then I am going. Take care of her while I am out. I will be back soon." Jeremy said, walking away from the young man as his figure headed into the forest, his figure quickly disappearing.
John just gave a brief look at his way before turning back to stare at the girl, seeing her trying to rip the chains apart and the metal still holding itself together.
Good… John let out a mental sigh, walking to the nearest tree. I guess I will be here all night. He leaned his back on the tree and sat down on the grass. For now, I better make use of my time. Slowly, John closed his eyes. The tree shadowed him from the moonlight and the screams that gradually turned into roars and howls became distant to his ears.
[Scene Break]
Chirp… Chirp…
The sun peeked from behind the horizon, granting the world a new day. And long ago, the birds had already welcomed its arrival, happily singing to it.
On the clearing that was being bathed in sunlight, three figures were spread on the ground. One completely thrown on it, torn clothes were surrounding her. However, with care, the hunter quickly covered her naked figure with a large shirt of his, freshly clean.
Looking at the side, Jeremy walked to the borders of the clearing, where a young man was sitting by a tree. Throughout the entire night, John didn't move an inch from where he was. If not for his chest rising and lowering from time to time, people could have thought of the worst.
"Are you awake?" Jeremy asked. "If not, I am going to kick you." He quickly added, taking a small step back with one of his feet, readying himself.
Very quickly, John opened one of his eyes, looking up at Jeremy. "Is that a way to treat a high school student?" He opened his other eye, both revealing he was fully awake.
"I would if you went to sleep through the entire night while I had to watch her."
"I didn't sleep, believe in me." I wish I could sleep a little now. John thought. "I actually spent the entire night taking a look at my soul. Arranging a few things." He explained while rising up to his feet, noticing the man's blank look as a result of his words.
"Soul?"
"I am pretty sure there are passages in some of the books in the library talking about an afterlife. Will you raise an eyebrow at someone taking a look at their own souls?" John asked while taking off the metaphorical dust on him.
Jeremy nodded and raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. One thing is someone messing with spirits, souls when they are not bound to a body. I never heard of anyone alive doing things to their own soul." He said, his eyes narrowing by the end.
"There is a first time for everything." John said, walking past the hunter, the girl finally entered his sight. "I guess we didn't consider her clothes being torn apart during her transformation."
"We didn't." Jeremy agreed with him. "Luckily, my shirt was not entirely shredded, so I could hand it to her. But there are still problems with… you know, covering her lower parts."
"Yeah, I almost can see it." John said, turning around before he peeked on anything he shouldn't. "So, what do we do?" He turned around to face the hunter.
"We go back home, somehow." Jeremy said, reaching his hand into his pocket. He tossed a key into the air, with the boy easily catching it. "Go to the city, get some clothes for her and a few things for all of us to eat as well. When coming back, get my car and get it to the closest of where we are." He quickly gave some tasks to the young man. "You know how to drive, right?" Jeremy asked after a beat of silence.
I guess he is now not welcomed in Columbia unless he wants to go against a group of vampires. The boy concluded. "Yeah, my father taught me." John shuffled the keys into his pocket. "But how will I pay for anything? You don't expect me to rob some stores, right?"
"No." Jeremy chuckled, handing out a debit card as well. "It's in Ric's name. There is enough money in there, so spend it as you seem fit."
"If you say so." John didn't reject the card and guarded it as well. "Do you have any preferences?"
"Anything with a high amount of calories, to eat and to drink."
"The American meal, huh?" John replied.
"Exactly."
It was the boy's turn to laugh. "Okay, I will get something good for us all." He said, taking a quick look at the girl. "I will see if I can get something her size correctly."
"Ah, right. Also fill the tank. We will have a long way back to the school." Jeremy crossed his arms. "Or are you going back by flying?"
"No, I will save some energy." Until my soul adapts, it's better this way. It's uncomfortable spending so much energy. John shook his head. "Okay, I will be going. Anything else I might pay attention to?" He turned around.
"If you see someone with long fangs, run or take their hearts out of their chest. That's my only advice."
"I will keep it in mind." John nodded, but the sarcasm in his tone was clear.
And with a little push of his feet against the ground, he disappeared.
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