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were (as in WEREwolves....ahh, never mind, just read on) story (to anyone who is reading this, this was the first story, and not exactly my best...i was still trying to figure out how to express what i wanted to)
Chapter 1
I pulled off my raincoat as I entered the school, making sure not to get any rain on myself. If there was one thing that I hated more than life itself, it was rain.
Well, at least there are only four years left of school before I can disappear, I thought to myself with a slightly hopeful expression. My plans were to disappear from everyone’s lives as soon as was possible, which meant that I had to finish school first. Afterwards... who knew what would happen to me?
This was my first day of high school. I knew that I would have no problems with any of the teachers because I knew everything there was to know about them, due to my mother being the school principal. She told me what teachers to avoid, which ones to speak nice and slow to, and which ones to never ever interrupt. I knew everything there was to know about every member of staff at High School. I knew which teachers were nice and would probably let me off for being a little late to class, and which teachers would let you use their classroom as a short-cut.
I knew that I would never be late to class, due to me knowing the school inside and out; I also knew that no matter what I did here, it would be just like everywhere else.
Always the same. Always unable to escape from it. Always destined to be miserable, I thought with remorse.
I wandered over to my locker, grateful that I had a bottom locker. I would never understand why people always thought the top lockers were better than the bottom ones. They were both exactly the same, though I suppose a really tall guy like me should be really mad that he got a bottom locker.
I noticed many people staring at me, and at first I couldn’t understand why. It was when I heard some of them complaining about the lack of a high school in when I realized that these people were not from around town. They were from a neighboring town that sent their kids over here due to the lack of a high school of their own. The town was trying to raise money to build one, but they were not having much success.
Anyway, all of the out-of-towners were staring at me. Most of them were staring in horror. I knew that it was the excessive amount of hair that was growing on me. It grew so fast that the week after a hair cut, it needed to be cut again. I just gave up on trying to tame it, and after a month it stopped growing. I had managed to keep it at a manageable length, and I preferred to wear it in a ponytail in order to keep it out of my eyes.
I saw others staring in what I assumed was a shocked expression. They quickly took in my enormous height, my lean muscles, and my passively calm face (this was the face I used when I wasn’t letting my emotions control me) and immediately assumed that I was dangerous. There was, however, one face that stood out from all of the others.
It was a girl. Her face stood out, not because it was insanely beautiful (which it was) but because of the expression on her face. It was not horror, or shock that I was seeing, it was the face of someone who was befuddled by what they saw, and were curious about it. Her face had a slight tilt to it, like she was thinking about something, and her brow was furrowed in concentration. Her lips had a little pout to them, and she was continually brushing her warm brown hair out of her equally warm brown eyes. She was about five foot five, and was dressed in a cream turtleneck sweater with a close fitting denim skirt over black tights. She had on high rise black sneakers, and was crouched down at her locker. I quickly looked away, feeling myself blush for the first time in a long time, and felt her eyes follow me as I walked down the hall toward my locker.
I was lucky, because at that moment, one of her less elegantly dressed friends asked her a question and she reluctantly looked away from me. I sighed a sigh of relief, and collected my books from my locker and went to my first period class, which was thankfully in the opposite direction of the girl.
I arrived at Group Psychology and took a seat. The teacher wasn’t there yet, so I had a little time to relax and try to lock in the emotions that were threatening to escape. I carefully arranged everything back where it belonged, and took a careful look at my memory of the girl. I couldn’t believe that her expression when she looked at me didn’t have any shock or horror. I wondered at what kind of a person she was. I wondered at why I found her so attractive in a way that I had never felt towards anyone else before.
The teacher walked in at that moment, with the rest of the class filing in after her, and I sat up in my chair and waited for the class to begin.
“Hello, class. My name is Mrs. Chycove, and I will be your instructor for your Group Psychology class. Please take a seat, and we will begin.”
I groaned to myself. Mrs. Chycove was a very nice teacher, but I had been hoping for Mr. Beth. Mrs. Chycove had this “paired psychology” program that she always did, which meant that you had to participate. Mr. Beth didn’t really care if you participated, as long as you weren’t a trouble-maker.
“Now, I would like everyone to pick a partner, and have their desk face them. Please stop when you are done.”
I quickly counted the students, and counted an odd number, including myself. I sighed in relief, because Mrs. Chycove always gave the odd person book work. My smile quickly vanished when I heard Mrs. Chycove say, “And who are you?”
I whipped my head around towards the door and saw the girl from the hall walk in the door. She directed her voice towards the teacher, but her eyes were once again staring at me, with the same expression on her face.
“Hello. Sorry I’m late, I had a little trouble finding the room. My name is Mary Grant, by the way,” she said.
“Very well. Please take a desk and seat yourself facing Leonard, please.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Chycove.”
She faced me fully now. She had a slightly curious smile on her faced that grew as she came towards me. Her eyes were penetrating, and held mine until the desk she pulled squeaked on the linoleum floor. I hurriedly dropped my gaze to my desk, blushing as I went. What is with this girl? Why is she so interested in me and me alone?
I saw her sit down out of the tops of my eyes and saw her slide her bag off of her arm. She turned and faced the teacher as instructions were given out.
“This person that you are now sitting across from will be your psychology partner for the rest of the year. You will do all assignments together and you will be each others psychologists, switching every day. Your assignment for today is to learn about each other. This does not mean that you should be using this to your advantage. I am handing out a packet saying what is allowed in my classroom and what is not allowed.”
“Leonard, is it?” she asked me. I nodded. “I’m Mary Grant, in case you didn’t hear me before. What’s your last name?” she asked politely, clearly restraining herself from asking other, more important questions to not sound prying.
“My last name is Were. Leonard Were. I’m guessing you’re from ?” I inquired.
“You guess correct. Now, please don’t think that I am rude in asking this, but why do people avoid you? I noticed it as you were walking down the hall this morning. It’s like their scared of you, or do they respect you that much?” she asked with an interested look in her eye.
I chuckled darkly to myself. “I don’t know why people avoid me. They’re definitely not scared of me, and the treat me like dirt, so it’s not a respect thing. Maybe they’re just afraid that any contact with me will make them strange, or different. Just like me,” I said with a humorless chuckle.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. People treat you like dirt? I don’t understand why,” she replied with a confused expression on her face.
“Look at me. I’m about as different as different can be That’s why everyone treats me like dirt. You’re either like everyone else here, or you’re an outcast. That’s the way life goes in this school.”
She looked at me with a bemused expression on her face.
“What?”
“So, you’re saying that if I can’t find a group to be like in this school, then I’m an outcast for the rest of my days?” she asked with an amused expression.
“Just until you finish school and move away from the horridness of this place,” I told her, shuddering.
“Hmmmm,” she replied, studying my face with an inquisitive look. I hurriedly looked down and blushed deep scarlet.
What is with her? Why does she have such a reaction on me?
Luckily for me, the bell rang at that moment, saving me from any more psychology. I leaned back, never consciously realizing that I was leaning forward, and collected my books. Her eyes never left my face as I got up and made for the door. “I guess I’ll see you later,” I mumbled.
“Yes, I suppose you will,” she said quietly, mostly for herself.
I ran out the door, and didn’t stop until I was at my next classroom on the other side of the school. I leaned up against the wall, and breathed hard. I wasn’t sweaty from the run, but that was what I told myself as I tried to figure out what kind of a person Mary was. There was something about her, something that just wouldn’t let my mind rest. She had burrowed farther into my mind than any psychologist my parents had forced me to see. I didn’t realize until now that she was insanely curious about who I was, and that the talk in class wasn’t enough for her. I dreaded the next day, when I would have to talk to her in class again. Yet, at the same time, I looked forward to it. There was something about her that I wanted to know.
The only problem was, I didn’t know what I wanted to know.
Chapter 2
I made it through the rest of the day with only one other meeting with Mary. It was in last period Gym, but luckily she didn’t have a chance to talk to me, as we were picking our classes. I got out of the school in record time, and ran the few blocks to my house. It had stopped raining, but the clouds were still out, and the ground was still sopping wet. I opened up the door and set my muddy shoes under the overhang on the porch to dry. I got straight to my homework when I was done, but my mind wasn’t on it.
My mind was on Mary, and what she had said today. She had seemed truly concerned about me, but I just blew that off as curiosity. She had asked questions of me that normally I would have not bothered to answer, but I hadn’t even blinked an eye before I was answering her. She also seemed to know exactly what I was going through, almost as if she had gone through it herself. I concentrated really hard on her face, and her voice, and found myself blushing yet again. It unnerved me, so I quit my homework for the night and got started on preparing dinner.
My parents didn’t get home until late, so I had to fend for myself. It had been like this since forever, and I was actually a pretty good cook. It was only the really complicated French dishes that I really had a problem with. I had decided to try a fairly complicated fish, salad, and soup to keep my mind busy. It was one of my favorites, yet also one of the hardest ones for me to get right. Out of the thousands of times I had made this dish, I had probably gotten it right about ten times. Since then, this was the dish that almost always ended up with me throwing it away and ordering a pizza instead.
I was lucky. I had no oregano to work with, but I still made a pretty good meal, even if the fish was a little on the crispy side, and the soup could have been less watery also, but at least it was a good meal.
I left enough in the microwave for my parents, and then returned to my homework, for lack of other things to do. I paid special attention to my geometry homework, and had just finished up when my parents walked in the door and switched on the light.
“Oops, sorry Leonard,” my mom said, as I fell off my chair due to the recoiling from the bright light. I hadn’t noticed how late it was. I got up and, when my eyes had adjusted to the light, looked at my parents in an apologizing manner.
Both of my parents were on the tall side, but it was my mom I took after most. Both of us had the same reddish-blonde hair, and both of us had a thin figure. Her eyes were a dull gold, while mine were an unnatural shade of bright yellow. My dad, however, was heavily muscled, and had midnight-black hair, the kind that just sucked up the light. He had an olive complexion to his skin, and had an incredibly loud voice, which was perfect for being the boss of a large factory. My mother’s name was Lina, and my father’s name was Bill.
“Why are you up so late?” my mother asked me with a tired voice.
“I was doing my homework. See?” I held it up to show them. They glanced at it, and then looked toward the kitchen, taking a deep sniff.
“Mmm, it smells good. I guess you got the dish right this time, huh?” my dad asked with a playful sense of surprise in his voice.
“Yes Dad, I actually made something edible tonight,” I said with a smile creeping onto my face. Cooking always made me happy, and remarks on how good I was at it always put a smile on my face. I put my homework in my bag, and served them both up a hearty amount of food. I sat back in my chair and smiled to myself as I saw their hesitance at trying out the food, thinking that they would die on the spot. My father even went far enough to pretend to choke, grab his throat, and fall off of the chair, feigning death. I laughed at that, and my parents picked up on my mood immediately. They looked at each other in surprise, and then started the questioning.
“You’re certainly cheerful today. What brought this on?” my mother asked with a surprised look still in her eye. Both of my parents looked at me with earnest, awaiting my answer to the question.
“I don’t know, really. I just came out of school feeling this way, and don’t even think about asking me anything else, or else the good mood might just... slip away,” I waved my hands like I was waving good bye to my mood.
They looked at each other, then back at me, then back at each other again. My dad sighed, and went into the kitchen to get more food. My mother just kept on eating, a frown of worry evident on her face. Obviously, they didn’t really believe me, but what was I supposed to do? Tell them that I vented some of my frustration upon another individual who seemed to understand me, and that it felt good? They would just demand to meet this person who seemed to be able to see the enormous good and decency that I had. And all of the normality, too.
I collected all of my things, and then went upstairs to take a shower. I let the water run over my skin, relishing the feel of hot water. But, like always, my dad shut the hot water off three minutes into the shower, and I had to beat it out of there fast if I didn’t want to freeze to death. I checked to make sure that I had everything done, and then I read one of my favorite books, Frankenstein. I only got two chapters into the book, when I closed my eyes and didn’t resurface until morning.
* * *
I opened my eyes just as the sun decided to make an appearance in my bedroom. It hit my mirror, and shot directly into my eye. I threw the covers over my head, recoiling from the sharpness of the light. I rolled over, and rolled right off of the bed. I hit the floor with a loud thud, and lay there, winded, for a moment. I groggily got to my feet, and looked at the alarm clock. I had woken up twenty minutes late. I groaned to myself, and got up to go get dressed, silently cursing the broken alarm as I went.
Five minutes later I was running to school, having just a minute ago choked down a granola bar and a glass of milk. I made it to school two minutes before the bell, and ran to my class, not really feeling like being late on the second day of school. I was in my seat right as the bell rang, and only then did it cross my mind what I had just done, or what it would seem I had just done.
“So, anxious to see me again?” Mary asked with a smile plastered broadly on her face.
“Not really. I just overslept, and was almost late too school,” I said with an exasperated look plain on my face. What is it with her? Why do I feel, almost safe around her? Why does she have this effect on me?
“Why did you oversleep?” she asked me.
“I fell asleep reading last night.”
“What were you reading?”
“Frankenstein,” I replied, holding up the book.
She smiled widely, and gave a little laugh that had me blushing deep scarlet again. “What a coincidence. That is the same book I have,” she laughed, holding up the book. It looked exactly like mine. It had the same cover, the same illustration, and it even had the same bookmark attached to it. I couldn’t resist laughing along with her. I still didn’t know why she did this to me, but I was going to find out if it took me all of my life.
“So, what did you do last night?” I questioned.
“Oh, I just took a run through the woods,” she told me with a smirk. It was like she was laughing at some insider joke that had to deal with what I asked. She didn’t go into it anymore, so I tried a different tactic.
“Okay, so where did you run too?”
“I just ran around. Basically, nowhere in particular. Why do you want to know?” she asked with a smile on her face.
I blushed, looked down, and said, “You asked me questions about myself yesterday. Today, it’s my turn, right?”
“I suppose.”
“So, do you think that I might be able to run with you eventually?” If I was going to find out more about Mary, I was going to have to spend more time in her penetrating presence.
She smiled in a sweet, yet curiously sad way. She took my hand, flipped it over so the palm was facing up, and looked at it. She smiled a sad smile, and gave me back my hand.
“Yes, you will be running with me in under a week.” She sounded unbelievably sad as she said this. Her grief sounded thousands of years old, and millions of miles away. Despite all of this, I reached out towards her hand to comfort her somehow, but I never got there. The bell rang at that minute, and I was startled. I pulled my hand back, and collected my books and left, saying a “See ya later” as I went.
I was at my next class in less time than normal, and was thinking about what she had said. I couldn’t figure it out, no matter how I thought about it. Well, at least I can ask her about it in gym today, I thought with relish. She was wonderful to spend time with. She was like a drug that brightened up my day, and my mood. I had spent less than three hours with her and already I felt that there was something between us that could not be broken. I smiled at that thought, and continued on with the class.
Chapter 3
I made it through the rest of the day impatiently, waiting for last period that way I could talk to Mary about what she said in Group Psychology. It was only the second day of Gym, and some people were still picking their classes, but I didn’t have a chance to talk to Mary because she had to go home early for a doctor appointment. I felt a little sad at that, but realized later that I could wait for tomorrow, if necessary.
I went home after school, and since I had no homework, decided to watch a little T.V. and try to find something interesting to watch. I came across nothing, so decided to watch some reruns of an old Abbot and Costello show. I watched the show till the pizza that I ordered arrived, and then decided to read a little bit after I was done. Now, I would never admit it to anyone, but I happened to like Abbot and Costello after watching the reruns. It was actually quite funny, even if the humor was old humor.
I picked up Frankenstein after I was done, and went to my bedroom to read. It always seemed a lot easier to read if I was lying down, or leaning back a little. I found it very hard to read sitting or standing. It just wasn’t possible for me.
I read only two chapters of the book before I conked out for the night, waking up to the blinding sunshine again. I groaned loudly before looking at the clock. I was an hour late for school. I groaned again, but instead of throwing the covers over my face and skipping a day of school, I hurried up out of bed and was up and running. I was at school twenty minutes later, and was just in time to get to second period after first making a trip to the office to explain why I was late.
I had missed first period with Mary, but at least I still had Gym to look forward to. I made it through the rest of the day with nothing else bad happening to me, except for a little dizziness, probably from all the running and extra sleep. The dizziness got worse as the day progressed, and it was during Gym when I finally could take no more.
“Mr. Sivad, could I please go to the nurse? I’m afraid that I don’t feel to good. I’m very dizzy.”
Mr. Sivad, the Gym teacher, sighed, and said, “Can someone please take Leonard to the nurse, please? I’m kind of in the middle of a class here.”
“I’ll take him,” a sweet voice said. I recognized it as Mary’s voice instantly. For some reason, I detected a tremor in her voice. I couldn’t tell what it could be about. She gingerly took my arm, and led me out of the gym nice and slow. Yet, there was an urgency in her step that had me speeding up, almost as if she were wishing that she could go faster, yet wanted to seem normal.
She got out of sight of the gym before she put me down on the floor and started checking my pulse at the wrists.
“What are you doing?” I asked, feeling a pain starting at my toes travel up my body.
“I was afraid that this would happen. I was hoping to be able to get you outside a little easier, but I have no choice. You’re going to phase in a few minutes, and I have to get you out of here, and quickly,” she replied, wrapping her surprisingly strong arms around me and carrying me to the door. I groaned in pain as the throbbing I felt got stronger, and Mary went at a brisk jog, saying, “Just hang on for a few more minutes, Leonard. Just hang on.”
She stumbled on the sidewalk, and then ran full out as a bone-crushing pain came from my spine. I gritted my teeth, refusing to cry out in pain, when a similar sensation came from my legs. I could see nothing except for light and darkness, and everything was tinted red. Red, the color of pain. Red, the only color that existed.
I cried out again as I was dropped from Mary’s shoulders, and felt a new pain radiating from my head. I cried out, and stopped just as soon as I started. I didn’t sound human. I sounded animal. Mary feverishly ripped apart a plant that she pulled out of her pocket. She tried to wave it under my nose, but couldn’t keep my face still. So, she just shoved it into my mouth. As soon as the plant touched my tongue, my eyes closed, and I drifted. I could still here, but I couldn’t feel anything. I heard Mary’s voice, but couldn’t tell what she was saying. There was a ripping noise that was constantly there, and refused to let me hear anything else. It sounded like the trees were crashing down on us, and she had given me the herb to stop me from having to feel that. Eventually my hearing stopped, and I drifted alone in a sea of darkness and shadow...
* * *
I came to, and glanced around me groggily. I couldn’t tell if it had been a long time since I fell unconscious, or if it had been no time at all. I wiped away the sweat that was everywhere on me, and tried to sit up. I was stopped by something at the top of my chest, and looked down to see ropes binding me to the ground. I glanced around, only now noting who was sitting on the root right next to my head. Mary was opening up a water bottle, and she held it to my face.
“Drink,” she said in a quiet voice. I took a sip, and gulped the whole bottle down. She got up when I was finished, and put it in a back pack sitting right next to her. “Give me just a minute and I’ll untie you.” She took a knife out, and cut the ropes securing me to the ground. She helped me to sit up, and leaned me back against a tree for some support.
“How long have I been out?” I croaked.
“Only twenty minutes. That’s how long the first transformation lasts. I gave you a very strong sedative that only lasts for a few minutes. I’ve been carrying it around for a few days just in case I didn’t have my bag with me. I expect that you have some questions, and I will answer all of them, but for right now, you have to stay still and not talk,” Mary told me while dragging some items out of her bag.
I did as she said and just looked around me. I saw that we were in the forest by the school, but that we weren’t very deep in. If I listened hard enough, I could here the overly loud radiators that the school was to ignorant about to replace. I noticed that several gashes had been ripped in close proximity to where I had been placed. I studied the gashes, and guessed that whatever had made them was big, strong, and lethal. I saw several young saplings completely torn to shreds, and the ground was all dug up. I stopped my looking when Mary came over and sat down next to me and put her face in her hands.
It wasn’t until a moment later when I noticed the tears leaking out from in between her fingers. I hesitated a moment, but I quickly put my arm around her and drew her close. She didn’t resist, and her head rested up against my shoulder. We sat like that for a few more minutes, with me rubbing my thumb up against her shoulder, and then she pulled away, wiping the tears from her eyes as she went.
“I’m sorry. I should explain to you some things before I start bawling my eyes out.” She gave a little giggle, filled with sorrow, and then sat on the ground facing me.
“Now, what do you want to know?” she asked. I thought for a moment, and then asked the most important question I could think of at that moment.
“Why was I in such pain? What was doing it? Why me?” I said in a voice filled with the brief pain that I had experienced.
“It was your first transformation. All firsts are unbelievably painful. I remember mine all too well. It’s a memory that will be with you forever,” she said quietly, her eyes closed in sadness and pain.
“Very few ever become what you became. I will try to explain as best as I can, but even we know very little,” she told me. She gestured at the first item on the ground, a small book bound with some sort of animal hide, and very old, hundreds of years old, at least.
“This is the book of our history. It goes as far back as the beginning of our kind, all the way to where our kind becomes legend, around 900 B.C.E. where it stops. There are other books starting from this time, and few copies have been made, in order to keep everything secret.”
“I’m sorry, and I apologize if I missed it, but who are you? Who is the group that you keep talking about?” I asked with a puzzled look on my face.
“Oh, I’m sorry. The group that I keep talking about, the group that I am a part of, the group that you just ten minutes ago joined, are the Were-People. People who change into animals.”
I gasped as she said this with such a calm air. I sat up and tried to wrap my mind around what she was saying. Were-People? Like werewolves? The way she said it, it sounded like there were more than just werewolves, and for just a few minutes I wondered if this wasn’t just all a big joke. But the longer I thought, the longer everything that she had told me so far made sense. I would wait until I got more information before believing her, but she made so much sense that it was hard to not believe her.
“Now, there are four major clans of Were-People, and four minor clans. The four major clans are the four most powerful predators in the animal kingdom. They are the wolf, the tiger, the shark, and the bear. The four minor clans are less powerful, but they are just as vicious, and thirst for flesh just the same as the rest of us. They are the snake, the spider, the hawk, and the rat.
“Now, these clans were once at peace with one another, and in full view of humans. Unfortunately, one day the wolf clan grew power hungry, and tried to do away with the other clans, with the help of the rat, snake, and spider clans. There was a big war, with all of the clans participating to survive, except for the shark clan. Despite being vicious in battle, they did not believe that war was the only option, and remained neutral throughout the entire thing. One by one, the clans not supporting the wolves cause disappeared from view, hiding themselves until they were sure that the wolves would not go after them. Unfortunately, the retreating clans sustained heavy losses, with only ten left over of the bears, twenty of the hawk, and only one tiger left. She was a female named Leah, and was thought to be the last of the clan. It was six months later that she had twins: one boy, and one girl, whose names have been lost throughout the centuries.
“The remaining members of the defeated clans held a meeting, and decided to remain inconspicuous, and to live among humans, instead of separate from them. They didn’t do this until they had became nothing but legends, in order to make it seem as if the Were-People had died out. Most of the legends of them had died out in less than one-hundred years, but the legends of the werewolves still were around, due to the atrocities they committed in the years after their win. It had seemed as if the wolves had died out, but in fact they too had mixed with humans, and still wanted to do away with the other clans. What remained of the good clans came together again, and resolved to either help the other clans that opposed their ideas, or to purge the planet of them.
“They went about this secretly, still among the humans, but working with them in small ways, using their knowledge of certain things to help their cause. What you experienced is what every unknowing human experiences. Some don’t know what it is, and end up going mad because of it. Others, like you, are found by members of the clans and nourished, guided, trained, or in some cases, killed. The clans have been rebuilt. All of them, except for the tiger clan. The twins that were born disappeared only a few years after they were born, and were never seen again. Since then, every few decades, a new werecat will emerge from nowhere, and will either turn to the side of good, or will be slaughtered by the other clans. You see, each clan had something they were good at: the bears were so strong, that they could juggle full size minivans nowadays without even breaking a sweat. The sharks had an amazing sixth-sense that enabled them to sense enemies close by; it’s nearly impossible to sneak up on one from the shark clan, and if this was honed, then they could even sense familiar people, and even sometimes into the future, and when people would come. The sharks rejoined the good clans about a hundred years ago, and this ability has come in very handily. The wolves were very vicious, and couldn’t control their bloodlust very easily. We have a few wolves with us that have perfected their resistance to their bloodlust. Snakes produced varying kinds of venom, from poisons, to ones that made one drowsy, to ones that cause intense pain. Hawks had amazing vision, better than the best animal, and could spot a grain of yellow rice surrounded by brown ones from three miles away. The rats were good at not being detected, which made it hard for anyone to know that they were being spied on, and which made them the best spies in the world. The spiders developed a unique and very strange ability. The gained the ability to transform into a regular spider for a short amount of time. It is very useful for them, because it enables them unique opportunities in various fields.
“But tigers are very different. The wolves want tigers dead most of all because of the abilities that they posses. You see, tigers are different from all of the others. Tigers have a numerous amounts of abilities at their control. From blindingly fast speeds reaching over 100 mph, tigers are one of the fastest creatures alive. This doesn’t last very long, because tigers are not long distance runners. Another ability is keen eyesight, hearing, and sense of smell. This is nothing compared to others, its just like a normal tigers abilities were enhanced. But the most powerful ability would have to be the lethalness. I’ve seen one tiger surrounded by fifty wolves, and all of the wolves attacked at once, but not a single scratch was laid on the tiger thirty seconds later as all of the wolves lay dead at his feet. Now, this tiger was an experienced master, and the wolves were novices, but not even great numbers will phase a tiger. It’s actually quite scary, having all of that power at your disposal,” she giggled at this, and the pictures in my head disappeared. I opened my eyes as her watched chimed, and she exclaimed loudly as she looked at it.
“Oh, no School ended ten minutes ago I have to get you back to the school, right away.” She collected her things, and helped me up. I was a little wobbly, but could at least walk.
“I’ll come over later tonight to take you to the headquarters. Everything will be explained there.”
We walked for a little bit longer, and were at the school when I gathered enough courage to ask a question.
“Mary? You never did tell me something, something that I think I should know.” I hesitated a moment. I had seen myself as all of the creatures, but I didn’t know what one I was. “Which Were-creature am I?”
She looked at me with a blank look on her face, and then let out a little giggle. “I guess I didn’t tell you. Well, I would have thought that it would be obvious, just by the way that you look and move, but I guess that’s just me. Leonard, the creature that you are, the one that you can transform into on command, the one that is you, is a tiger. You are a werecat, Leonard.”
Chapter 4
I stood there stunned as I tried to process her words. I’m a werecat? The most lethal, yet at the same time the one that werewolves most want dead? This can’t be happening, I have to be dreaming. But my imagination isn’t that good Maybe my mind finally cracked from the strain of my life, and others feelings towards me. Maybe I’m mentally unstable, or maybe this is hypnosis That would be the best explanation. Well, if I’m in hypnosis, then I can’t be hurt Although, if I were being hypnotized, I wouldn’t know that I was being hypnotized. Or would I? Argh, this is too confusing
I held my head in my hands as I walked home, trying to concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other. What Mary said had my mind spinning, and it was spinning in a direction that I didn’t want it to go. Everything that Mary had told me explained everything about why I was so different, and so abused, yet at the same time, scared of. It explained all of the problems that I had, and all of the problems of the past. It explained everything, except why I was chosen to be one player in a war thousands of years old. It also didn’t explain why I was such an important individual.
I got home, and for the first time in my life, skipped dinner. My stomach was churning, and I didn’t think that I would be able to keep anything down. I took two pills: one to help my stomach, and one to help me sleep for a few hours, hopefully calming myself enough to not go absolutely crazy.
I woke up a few hours later to the sound of chuckling. I groggily looked around the room, and noticed Mary sitting just a few feet away from me.
“Well, good morning sleepy head. Although, it’s really not morning. It’s midnight, and we had better get going before it gets too late,” she said, with a warning in her voice, telling me instantly that she meant what she said. I sat up, and got up out of my bed, feeling much better than when I had first gotten in. My stomach had settled, and my head felt relaxed and ready. I had grabbed a sweatshirt and hat and was putting them on before I saw Mary shaking her head with a smile on her face.
“You won’t be needing a sweatshirt tonight,” she said, the smile growing on her face.
“You must be joking. It’s only fifty degrees out there We’ll freeze to death ” I yelled. I winced instantly, as pain throbbed in my head. It seemed that I had a headache, and would have to watch out.
“Don’t worry, I think that you’ll be plenty warm enough. Come on, or we’ll be late.” She rose from the chair, and I followed her out the door and down the stairs, putting on a pair of shoes as we got downstairs. She stood by the door, waiting for me, and I opened the door for her when I was done. She walked out, and I locked it behind me, making sure not to leave the key in the door, as I was so prone to doing on occasion.
We walked for about a minute, before Mary stopped and turned and face me.
“We’ll be running the rest of the way. This will be your first voluntary phase, so I will walk you through it. Clear?” I nodded, my chattering teeth making it a little difficult. “Good. Now, I want you to close your eyes, and picture your werecat. Everyone’s werecat is different, and it all depends on your personality, mind, body, and heart. Now, I want you to imagine all parts of it. Everything. Don’t open your eyes until the tingling that you will feel stops.”
I did as she told me, and closed my eyes. As she finished speaking, an image appeared before my very eyes. It was a beautiful creature, the likes of which I was sure the world had never laid eyes on. Standing on all fours, its shoulder was equal with that of a tall man’s. Muscle rippled beneath the skin, making the glossy orange, red, and yellow coat shimmer, and making the big, beautiful stripes shimmer. It’s face looked like a tiger’s, but had humongous teeth, that retraced as I watched them. It was at this point that I felt a tingling, but I resisted the urge to open my eyes, and continued studying the creature. It had a tail at least four feet long, and it swished back and fourth as I gazed upon it. All four paws were very large, but looked strangely delicate, and had what looked like a thumb. The claws suddenly sprang out of nowhere, and I studied them carefully. They were long, serrated, and came to a very sharp point. I instantly knew that one swipe with those claws and paws, and your head could be knocked off. The back legs were powerfully muscled, and designed for running very, very fast. The body was streamlined, and the wind would just slip over everything like it wasn’t even there. The hair was a little longer around the neck and on top of the head. But the thing that stood out the most, the thing that was most striking about this creature, were the eyes. They had a deep, ancient intelligence, coupled with an ancient sorrow. They ached with a pain so magnificent, that I knew that it was no physical pain. This pain was one of the heart, and very little could heal this pain. The eyes were an unnaturally bright shade of yellow, and it was when they looked directly into mine when I realized that I saw something in them that was not mine. You are the key, O ancient son of mine. You are the answer. You are the one that can end the strife, in a way that will be frowned upon. To aid and guide you, I give you myself, to help you along your way. You must not fail. I heard these words in my head, and was drawn towards them. The instant I tried to go near the creature, it vanished, and I was left disappointed. I opened my eyes, and gazed at myself in amazement.
I had transformed into the magnificent creature that I had seen in my head. I had the same muscle, the same coat, the same claws which were moving in and out, in and out, feeling the ground, and the same eyes, an unnaturally bright shade of yellow. I could feel the power that lurked in every fibre of my being, just waiting for the signal in order to be unleashed. I closed my eyes, and could hear a baby bird breathing only twenty yards away from me as if it were standing right inside of my ear. I felt the ground shifting infinitesimally beneath my feet as worms moved. I could taste the moisture in the air. And when I opened my eyes, it was as bright as noon on a hot, cloudless summer day. I could see the individual veins in a leaf ten feet away, and I could see racoons moving through the grass fifty yards away. The sense of freedom, and power, that I got was a high that fully intoxicated me with it. I was drunk on my power, and relished the fact.
“Wow, nice job for a first time. You look very powerful. Very familiar too. Oh well, I’ll figure it out eventually. Now, I will transform slowly, and you will see how it happens. By the way, I love the serrated claws. Those don’t come around very often in any of the creatures, and you should consider yourselves lucky. Those are a very handy implement.”
She backed away about ten feet, and then closed her eyes. I gazed in awe as she started to shimmer. Her hair grew, and lengthened. She grew enormous amounts of muscle. She fell onto all fours, and claws appeared. She grew, and grew, and I was amazed that so much could possibly fit inside of her. Fur sprouted, and swirled round and round. It eventually settled on a pure white coat, with midnight black spots all over. Her face changed form. It only took about thirty seconds, but it was amazing at that. The last thing to change happened when she opened her eyes. They grew bigger, and the pupils went from tiny slits to a giant black hole. She had become a tiger.
“Well, what do you think? We normally phase slowly when we want to appear gentle, and graceful. However, there is a speed change that is used when we want to appear threatening, or when we need to fight in an instants notice. You will learn all of this later. So, your opinion?”
I stood there dumbfounded for a moment, and came up with only this.
“Wow. Wait a minute, how are we capable of human speech?”
“Well, our mouths are designed that way. However, some take a while to master the skill, and some never do. Now, no more chit-chat. We have to run.” With a nod of her head, she pointed out the direction. “Just follow my scent. It will lead you right to a giant oak. Just crawl through a hole at the bottom, and prepare to fall. Now, let’s race ”
And like that, she was gone. The leaves swirled around where she had been, but nothing else marked her passage. I took a deep sniff of her sent, just to get myself familiar with it, and took of.
I was like a ghost. I was like lightning in a physical form. This was a freedom that most people dream about, but never really experience. I was intoxicated by the speed. Trees flew by me at an alarming rate that it seemed like I was going to hit them at any second. A rabbit was startled like my passage, and made to bolt, but by the time it had even noticed me, I was gone. It was amazing, how fast I was going. And I was hardly breathing very hard. I remembered Mary telling me about tigers running abilities, but I didn’t believe her at the time. Now, however, I believed her all too well. I saw her ahead, and matched my pace to one slightly above hers. She seemed surprised by my arrival, and pumped herself faster. I responded by pushing myself so far, I rocketed ahead of her, leaving her in my dust. A highway was approaching, and without stopping, I sped right through the first, and took a giant leap across the second, sailing way higher than the slow moving tractor trailer below me. I cleared the ten lane highway, and had so much room that I probably could have jumped over the first one. I took another flying leap, just to feel the freedom of what the closest to flight that I had ever come by, and saw a giant oak tree in the distance. It was so big, that it took me another minute of running to reach the massive monster. It had to be at least two hundred feet tall, and was swaying gently in the breeze.
I stopped, and approached the hole by the roots. It was a tight fit, but I had followed Mary’s scent to it, so it had to be the right one. I got through, and started sliding. I was going very fast, and I didn’t know how to stop. It was so dark, that I couldn’t see a thing. But suddenly, I was tossed into the air, and caught by enormous paws, at least six feet in diameter. A light was lit, and I saw a cave with five bears, six hawks, and what looked like a woman, yet had qualities of a shark.
“He is not against us,” she said, and I was released. “Welcome to the Tree of Knowledge, Master Leo.”
Chapter 5
“I understand that you may have some questions, but we can’t answer them here. We must proceed into headquarters in order to talk freely.”
I nodded, and followed the woman over to a door set into the wall. She had shoulder length black hair, with red highlights. Her skin was a light to mild brown color, and she was clearly Spanish. Her shark features had receded, and I could more easily see more about her. Her eyes were a dark brown, almost black color, and she couldn’t have been more than five foot five. She wore a tight green wet suit that emphasized the wiry muscles on her.
My observations were cut short as she opened the door, and motioned me through. I hesitantly did as she told me to, and was confronted with a long hallway, made out of some dark colored wood. There was an enormous door at the opposite end of the hall, and there were other doors near our side of the hall.
“This is your first test. Survive the traps hidden everywhere in this hallway, and you may enter the doorway at the opposite end,” the woman informed me. I looked around the hall, carefully scrutinizing everything, and noticed patterns. They were subtle, but still there. There seemed to be little holes along all of the walls, in lines that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. Every few feet along the wall, there was the tiniest of slits in the walls, running from the floor to the ceiling. There were minuscule gaps in the floor that stretched from wall to wall, and little stars in the ceiling. The hallway was at least forty feet long, and I didn’t think that I could run fast enough to escape whatever nasty objects would appear.
I decided to test the defenses, and put one paw in the line of one of the holes in the wall. I immediately pulled it back, and could feel the wind against my paw as a dart no bigger than a pin was violently launched out of the hole, and completely buried itself in the wall opposite. I carefully judged the distance from here to the end of the hall, and decided to fight quick traps with tiger speed. I didn’t think about what the consequences could possibly be. I didn’t think at all. I just acted on instinct. I tensed myself, and then launched.
I didn’t see what happened next. All I was aware of was the way my body was moving. I was twirling, sidestepping, jumping, running, and twirling again. It was like a complicated dance that I had no memory of learning, but knew by heart. I heard dull thuds and high pitched whines. I heard buzzes and the sound of wood being hit with tiny, sharp darts.
Then, it was all over. I was by the door at the end of the hallway, and the shark-woman was at the other end of the hall, where I had left her. She gave me a small smile, then knelt down, and flipped a switch hidden behind a knot dangerously close to where the little darts shot out from. I heard a beep as the button was pushed, and then she proceeded down the hallway. It seemed that the hidden button was a switch that turned the traps on and off, because she pressed a similar button when she reached me.
“Congratulations. You’re the first one that we’ve had in many years that survived the Hall as well as you did. Not even a scratch on you. I am impressed. Now, you will have to phase back to your human form in order to not appear threatening to the elders. Although, I think that from what they have just seen, you will seem threatening to them no matter what.” She smirked, and stood there waiting for me to change back.
“How?” I asked.
“Just imagine your human form.” So I did. A minute later, and I was standing before her as myself. She looked surprised by the way I looked, but didn’t say anything. She turned, and was about ready to open the door, when Mary opened it from the inside.
“Oh, hello Julia. I thought that it would have been Brode, or Billy who would bring Leonard in. Why you?” Mary seemed to be straining herself to keep things polite, and Julia seemed the same.
“The elders wanted to see me today, so I thought that I might as well do both things at once. I suppose you took another entrance?”
“Yes. I took the one by the north end of the tree, behind the brambles. It was the quickest one, and I wanted to try and beat Leonard to the door. It’s amazing how fast he runs.”
“I know. He just ran through the entire hallway, and didn’t even get a scratch on him.” She smiled a big smile, flashing her teeth at me in an obvious way.
Mary seemed to pick up on this immediately. “Well, I guess we should get going. After all, the elders are expecting him.”
Julia seemed to deflate a little, and nodded. Mary opened the door wider for us, and we walked in. Julia closed the door behind us, and Mary rushed me ahead.
“Be careful around Julia, Leonard. I’ll explain later.” I was very confused at this, but decided to trust her with this. Julia caught up with us, and walked on the other side of me. She walked within inches of me, and I got the feeling that she would have like to get closer, if Mary wasn’t there. We took many twists and turns, and I was hopelessly lost by the time we reached a door made entirely out of a dark colored wood, that I thought was cherry. There was a little hole in the door, and as I watched an eye peered through it.
“May I help you?” a deep voice said.
“Yes, we’re here to see the elders about Leonard,” Mary replied. The eye disappeared, and the door was opened. We entered, and the door immediately closed after us. There was no trace of the guard.
We had walked into a small circular room, made out of the same kind of wood as the door. Across from us was another door, and that one opened as well. We entered, and found ourselves in a small sitting room, with a woman at a desk across from us. We approached her, and Mary and Julia stepped up to talk to her. The room had only the desk, another door, and a few chairs. I approached a wall for a closer look, and I noticed that some parts of looked like they had gaps in them. I was about to try and open one of them, when Mary called me back over.
“Come on, Leonard. The elders are available right now.”
I reluctantly joined them at the desk, and we proceeded to the opposite door. We stopped at the door, but unlike the last two, this one wasn’t opened for us. Mary turned around the face me, and gave me some advice.
“You must treat the elders with respect, Leonard. Don’t insult them, act higher than them, or anything like that; they have taken time out of their teaching to talk with you, and you should be grateful. Most people have to wait days before seeing the elders, even ones fresh to this life. Behave, don’t act obnoxious, and think before you speak.” With that, she turned on her heel, and opened the door.
I immediately noticed that the room was absent of people. Instead, their were nothing but Were-Creatures. There were two hawks, two bears, and two sharks. The bears were huge, monstrous creatures, just like Mary had told me. One was midnight black, the other was a sweet caramel color. Both sat on thick stumps, upright, and acting very much like guards. They were the closest to the center. On pedestals slightly lower than theirs, a bit further out, were two tanks. These held one shark each. One was very large by normal shark standards, but seemed to be on the small side. The other one was a massive brute. He barely had enough room to swim a circle in the tank. He had scars covering every inch of himself, and he looked like he had strips were their was any skin left, kind of like a tiger. On branches lower down were two hawks. One was a bright crimson, and was snoring, and the other was a snowy white, with half its feathers missing. I felt power emanating from all of them, yet I also felt age. All of these creatures were very old. Some, like the white hawk, looked near the end of life. However, I felt something missing. Something important. I saw nothing in the unadorned room that caught my eye, until I saw the empty pedestal set into the wall between the bears. I puzzled its emptiness until I noticed Mary and Julia had inclined their heads, and were bent over. I hastened to bow, but stopped as a voice made itself known.
“Time and time again I’ve said it, yet no one will listen. Stop the bowing I’ve told all of you, we’re no better than you youngsters We’re just much older, much more experienced, know more, and complain more. Now stop bowing, before I stick a pole up your back.”
I looked up, and was greeted with the face of another tiger. This one was also white with age, and seemed to be losing some fur, but he still looked fit and healthy. He was a bit on the small side, yet had plenty of muscle left, and had all of his teeth. His claws were in, and there was a gleam in his eye that made me want to smile, just like he was doing. He reminded me of an elderly neighbor I had once had, who was as healthy as could be, was amazingly active, had all of his real teeth, and was ninety-nine years old. He had live next door to us, and I was too young to really remember him, but I knew that the day he died during a car accident, at least two-hundred people had showed up to his funeral. He had made friends with everyone, just by smiling at them. Well, this tiger reminded me of him, only a lot older. This creature was ancient, by my standards.
The tiger gave a little chuckle, and limped over to the pedestal. He looked too fragile to get up, but he jumped with plenty of room to spare. He turned to face us, and was about to speak when a bear interrupted him.
“Sir, are you sure you are healthy enough to be out here? You do need your rest, after just getting rid of that cold.”
“If I stay in that bed any longer, I’m going to die out of boredom. Just once, I wish that I was allowed out to have some fun, once in a while,” he grumbled, all traces of friendliness gone. I smirked, because he reminded me of a rebellious teenager, just trying to get out once in a while, away from all the rules and restrictions.
The bear shrugged, and fell silent. The tiger cleared his throat, and spoke to us again.
“Now that I am no longer being interrupted, I would like to the Tree of Knowledge, Leonard. I am Scorpius, and I am the leader of the elders, not because I am the oldest, have the most experience, am the smartest, nor because I complain the most. I am the leader, because I did not want the job, so naturally everyone picked me. Now, to my right,” he indicated the black bear, the big shark, and the crimson hawk, “are General Timber, Colonel Oscar, and Captain Garth, in order. They are in charge of training, and commanding, the army. On my other side are Professor’s Hugo, Sharon, and Isabella, in order. They are in charge of teaching all
the history, science, and other assorted subjects to all of the tree. Together, we make up the Council of the Elders. Our subject of gossip today, and probably for the next few weeks, is you.”
After that, he just sat there, and looked expectantly at me. I smiled at his humor, and asked an important question. “Excuse me, Sir, but do I have to join
 jayhkayjr · Mon Oct 27, 2008 @ 09:43pm · 0 Comments |
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