The Lycan

Chapter 2

The young man ran through the open field. He looked around, and there he saw it. The black wolf, a majestic and young creature, padding up to him. The young man smiled, and pet the wolf, as it nuzzled and licked him in return. A gunshot suddenly rang out.

Nero jerked up from his sleep, disoriented. He immediately hissed and clutched his injured shoulder. The gashes on his shoulder were raw and deep, though they weren't bleeding as much as before. It didn't take long for him to notice the bandage wrapped around his head, and he tore it right off. His purple eyes darted around the room in alarm. It was bright, the sun's rays pouring through the windows, giving the room a warm, cozy feel to it.

He didn't know what it was. It was foreign, the sights, the smells, the feelings. He wasn't comfortable with it at all.

The door to the bedroom creaked open, and Nero snapped his head toward the woman stepping in. He growled, and backed away from her towards the head of the bed, looking like a cornered animal.

"Hey, hey!" Katie said, dropping the bandages and antiseptic, holding her hands up. "It's okay! There's no need to worry." She didn't know if it would help, she was rather frightened herself. The humanoid looked ready to lunge at her, but somehow she could tell he was afraid and anxious, despite his aggressive body language. He looked like a frightened animal mustering up the courage to stand its ground to its last breath.

"It's okay," she whispered, slowly inching closer to him. "I'm not gonna hurt you."

Nero's glare began to soften. He recognized the woman from the forest earlier. He stopped growling, but remained tense.

Katie picked up the roll of bandages and antiseptic and inched closer toward the bed. "Can I sit down?" She asked. Nero eyed the supplies in her hands, and finally, he moved himself to sit on the edge of the bed, his wounded shoulder facing her.

Katie smiled. She didn't expect him to understand so easily. She sat next to him, taking a cloth out of the pocket of her jeans, and dampened it with the antiseptic. "This is gonna sting for a second," she said. She gently pressed the cloth on the injuries.

Nero hissed in pain, flinching as the alcohol soaked into his wounds. But soon enough, his shoulder was wrapped in a bandage.

Katie set the first aid supplies down onto the end table next to the head of the bed. She simply just stood there for a moment, finding this situation rather awkward.

She turned to look at the man, who was looking down at the floor. In the sunlight she could clearly see that he had been living in the forest for a long time, covered head to toe in dirt and dried mud, his hair long and wild and riddled with leaves and small twigs.

"I wanna say thanks for earlier," she finally said. "You saved my life. My name is Katie."

She paused again, waiting for an answer from the creature. He remained silent, not looking up from the floor.

Can he speak? she thought to herself. "What's your's?" She asked awkwardly. No response. Looking down, she prepared to head towards the door.

"Nero."

Katie turned her head quickly. His voice was low and raspy, but she heard it. She smiled. "That's a cool name!" She said. "Uh, I'm gonna go and run some errands, so uh, stay here and rest up?"

Nero nodded, not looking up from the floor. He opened his mouth to speak again, but instead coughed, covering his mouth as he did so. After a moment, he cleared his throat, swallowed, and finally looked up to Katie.

"Thank you." He said, his voice a little smoother. Katie smiled and closed the door behind her.

...

Katie slumped down against the door, dumbfounded at what just happened. That went surprisingly well. But it was so weird!

She stood up, and grabbed her bag off of the rack by the front door not being able to help but smile to herself. No matter how crazy that was, she had a guest to attend to now.

Perhaps he would like some soup, she thought to herself as she left the cabin.

...

Nero stared at the door in front of him, trying to process what just happened. That woman didn't run, or look frightened. It was awkward indeed, but she helped him.

He was surprised he was able to speak at all; all he did was rely on growling and other animalistic vocalizations to ward enemies off. Katie, that was her name. She seemed nice. It was hard for him to wrap his head around the fact that she wanted to help him.

He decided that he'd take a moment to rest here for now, but he knew he couldn't stay.

Not tonight.