Of Wolf And Man - A James Hetfield Fanfiction

~1~

I walked down the dark, cold street by myself after being in a club with a couple of my friends. I clutched my bag close to me, and nervously looked around as I tried to walk faster. My mind was probably playing tricks on me, but I could've sworn I saw something run through the shadows. My senses were affected by the darkness though, so I tried to speed up to get back as fast as I could. I saw it again, only a few feet in front of me this time. I stopped, standing completely still. The only movement was my breath becoming cloudy in the crisp air. I slowly turned my head to look around, seeing if there was anyone else near. I couldn't see anyone, but from a dark gap in between two buildings I heard a growl. I whipped around to see what was there. I squinted my eyes, assuming it must be a dog. From the darkness two glowing green eyes were visible, coming closer. I gulped, and tried to back away. The thing in the shadows jumped at me, and I screamed. It was quickly muffled by what felt like a human hand, just with more... was that fur? I struggled in its grip, desperately trying to escape. I could feel what seemed like claws digging into my sides as it held onto me, slowly scratching down my skin. I tried to scream from the pain but the hand was still over my mouth. I managed to wriggle free and tried to run away, only getting a few paces before I tripped on my heel and fell, hitting my head hard on the concrete floor.

As I slowly regained consciousness I looked around me in fear to see where that creature had gone. When I moved my head I felt a seering pain in my sides, which made my vision weak. I managed to turn my head to the side, wincing with the pain. Infront of me I saw a boy, a few years older than me, also lying in the alleyway. His shirt was ripped and his legs had blood on them. I got on my knees, and managed to shuffle over to him, wincing as I did so. I quickly moved my hand to my side, aware of a warm sensation. It was bleeding again. I looked at the amount of blood on my clothes and began to feel faint. I didn't have the energy to keep myself upright anymore, and fell down beside the boy, still concerned if he was okay. I rested my hand on his arm to try and wake him, but a few seconds later everything went black again.

The next time I opened my eyes I was no longer in the street. I opened them slowly, adjusting to the light in the room. Beneath me was a bed, I didn't recognise where I was, but I had a feeling that I was safe. I gasped as I opened my eyes fully, aware that I'd somehow moved. I heard someone else move next to me, and my eyes were met with two sparkling blue ones. I recognised them from the boy beside me in the street, and quickly looked to see if he was hurt. "Are you okay?" I managed to say weakly. He nodded, brushing it aside as if it was nothing "you're more important, are you alright?" He asked, with a strong look of concern in his eyes. I nodded, but winced with the pain in my sides. The boy stood up, and paced across the room, muttering something. I heard it when he walked past "oh fuck I've hurt her". I looked back to him and said "it wasn't you, it couldn't have been". He turned to face me again, and shook his head slowly. He knelt down beside me, and put his face in his hands "it was me though, but I can't explain why". I was extremely confused, and felt my head getting faint again, but fought it off. I think he noticed because he ran out of the room, returning with some chocolate. He handed it to me, smiling shyly. I ate some, the sugar making me feel less like I was going to die. I managed to prop myself upright on my arms so I could look at him better. As I tried to do this he moved his arms to my back to support me, a look of guilt on his face. "I'm James by the way". He said, removing his arms from around me. I smiled, and said "I'm Cleo" "I like that name" he said, smirking slightly. "Why did you say it was you that did this?" I asked tentatively, not wanting to make him spiral again "whatever it was had claws, it couldn't have been you" I said. He looked at his feet with an ashamed expression. "I've got something to tell you, and you probably won't believe me". I could feel the faintness coming back, but desperately tried to stay awake to hear what he had to say "I- I'm a werewolf Cleo". My eyes widened, and for the third time everything went black.

I got woken up this time by another pain in my side. I looked down, and saw James trying to clean the wounds. "Shit" I whispered, because it stung like hell. He looked back up at me and said "I'm sorry, but it will heal faster if I do this". "James, I've got a question". He looked at me again, still trying to get rid of the blood. He nodded slowly, and I said "why did you attack me?" He put the cotton wool down hard on one of the cuts and I winced, before he realised what he'd done "sorry" he said quickly, taking it off. "If I'm honest, I don't know. When I'm like that there's not much sense going through my brain" this seemed reasonable. "I probably saw you coming and got scared, and did this so you didn't tell anyone what you'd seen". I looked at him with sadness in my eyes. I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "How come you had blood on your legs when we were in the street, aren't you hurt?" I asked, glancing at his legs. He shook his head, and said "that was yours, I don't know how but when you passed out I had such a rush of fear that it snapped me back. This sounds stupid, but I just hugged you to me and tried to wake you back up, I never wanted to do this to you" I stared back at him, a love for this boy growing in my heart. He started to blush, and focused back on cleaning the cuts. "Eat more chocolate" he said, nodding towards it. I didn't feel like eating, but did as he said, knowing it would make me feel better. After a few minutes he was done, and he pulled my ripped shirt back down to cover them. I had no idea how long I'd been here, and didn't know how long we'd been on the street either, but the sky was starting to go dark now. James sat at the other side of the room, just watching me to make sure I was okay. "James... where am I going to sleep?" I asked, not wanting to steal his bed. He walked over to me and held my shoulders still "you're sleeping here, I won't let you move because you're not strong enough". "But then... where are you going to sleep?" He shook his head again, doing the thing where he regards everyone else above himself "I'm fine, I don't need sleep" he said, but I could see that wasn't true. He had bags under his eyes, and his skin was pale. "James please, its your house". He sighed, knowing I wasn't going to give up. "What do you suggest then?" He asked. I thought about it, and said "well I mean, there's room for both of us here" he did have a double bed, so I didn't take up much of it. He looked back at me, and said "are you sure that's okay?" I nodded, and said "of course". I tried to move over to one side, because he'd placed me in the middle, but he got on the bed and helped me. "Don't try and move by yourself, it'll hurt". I smiled at him gratefully, and he smiled back, as he lay beside me. I moved my hand under my tshirt, and gently brushed over the gashes to get an idea of how many there were. James noticed and looked at me "I'm so sorry for doing that, I promise I won't hurt you again". I smiled, and held his hand in mine "I believe you" I whispered, and he smiled back at me. We were both exhausted, and within a few minutes we were both asleep, my hand still resting in his.