"What are you?" He asks me, breaking the silence. I am quite shocked by this question. Mostly because I don't even know how to answer it.
"Werewolf. I think... And you are a vampire," I state. He nods.
"You don't smell like a werewolf." He lifts his...
My nose is still stuffed from crying before, and it pisses me off. I hate looking weak and vulnerable. That fucking vampire... If he hadn't been here, I wouldn't have been reminded of my pack - my family - being slaughtered. Normally I would have begun packing as a sign of us to leave, but we brought nothing but ourselves, so instead, I decide to enter the bathroom. I look around and see if there is anything we could bring with us. A bar of soap or a brush maybe. There is nothing, however.
I grab some pieces of toilet paper and blow my nose, so I don't have to go around sniffing all day. I'm about to put back the toilet roll but decide to take it with us anyway. It is not nice to be wiping your butt with leaves after you have done your business in the woods, so this would be a small luxury. I stuff it into one of the pockets on my cargo pants and splash a bit of water on my face.
I step back out into the bedroom and notice that both Hera and Athena are standing at the door, just waiting for me.
"You ready?" Hera asks in my mind, and I nod. I walk up to the door and open it. We walk in silence down the hallway until we reach the lobby. The same scrawny kid is standing behind the counter and looks at us with heavy eyes. I wonder if he has even slept. I look at the watch above the desk. It's currently 11 pm, so I guess not.
"We are leaving," Athena says from behind me to the kid. He looks a bit surprised.
"Already?" He asks. I nod and say, "Yes, and we haven't stayed for a night, so I'm sure we won't be paying full, right?" It's not really that much of a request, but a demand. He looks a bit unsure at us.
"Well, actually, you still have to pay..." He says, but sounding a bit scared of our response.
"We don't have any money, please, can't we work something out?" Athena pleads. At this, the dude stands up a bit taller, probably happy that he seems to have been dealt the greater hand here.
"Now that you mention it, I'm sure I could be using your help". He looks directly at Athena with questionable eyes. He then looks at me.
"I won't be needing you or your dog, so you can wait outside." I begin shaking my head no but stop as I feel Athena's hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll be okay. You'll hear me if I need help". She smiles reassuringly at me. I don't feel comfortable with leaving her alone, especially with the stalker situation we are in. We should stick together, but Athena insists, so I have no choice but to leave her to it.
I step outside with Hera and sit on a bench right beside the entrance. I trip impatiently with my foot and bite my nails. I feel horrible. It's a sort of icky feeling in my gut that chokes me from the inside and makes me want to vomit. I let my head fall down and let out a deep strangled sigh. I just want to leave.
I feel Hera's breath on my hand as she proceeds to lick it. I look up at her.
"Don't worry Kai, she will be alright. And if we hear the tiniest suspicious noise, you can just shift and we will run over and investigate, okay?". I feel a bit better knowing that we have some sort of plan, so I exhale again and nod. As if on queue, we hear a silent muffled scream coming from the alley. Hera immediately points her remaining ear and begins running towards the sound. I quickly pull off my shirt and pants and throw them on the bench before turning myself.
I grind my teeth from the pain of my bones cracking and healing into their new form. The pain is something I'm quite used to at this point, however, and it's over as quickly as it began. It only takes about 2 seconds for the shift to be complete, and then I'm off towards the sound as well.
As I get into the alley, I find Hera standing frozen.
"What's wrong?" I ask hastily. I look at where Hera is looking and spot Athena on her knees beside a container. The guy from the desk is standing in front of her, with her hair in a tight grip in his right hand, and with his other, he is grabbing her jaw. His pants are down to his knees, and his privates are right in front of Athena's mouth. She's struggling, both trying to get free of the guy's grip, but also making sure, that he doesn't get any closer to her mouth with his parts. She grunts and I hear her "Fuck off you creep, the wolf will tear you to shreds". At this Hera almost leaps right at the guy's throat, but is held back as another guy emerges from the shadows while mockingly tisking his tongue and wiggling his finger at the guy.
"It's him," Hera says, and I freeze as well. I can smell him. It's the vampire stalker.
I watch in panic as the vampire steps up to the guy, grabs his shoulder, and yanks him backward. His shoulder is definitely dislocated from that movement. He begins to scream in pain, but the vampire puts his hand over his mouth and then sinks his teeth into the guy's neck. I can see the boy go pale as his blood is drained from his body.
Athena is still on her knees, probably also in shock and not knowing what to do. The boy is now totally limp in the vampire's hands, and without further assessment, the vampire throws his dead body into the container. He turns to face Athena, and I see the panic fill her eyes as she falls backward onto her one hand, the other hand up in front of her to protect herself. I try to get myself to jump to her rescue, but I'm paralyzed with fear.
I try to mentally prepare for the worst, but nothing happens. He just looks at her, then lowers his hand down to one she has out in front of her and lifts her up onto her feet. Then he is gone in the flash of an eye.
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