Eyes of Gold

Chapter 8

Isaac's POV:

I start to slowly open my eyes. My whole body aches and my head is pounding. My vision clears from what seems like the longest sleep of my life. As my vision I see Jared sitting across from me.

"Jared!" I try and rush towards him but I am immediately lurched backwards.

I feel around my neck hurriedly, realizing I am restrained by a chain attached to a metal collar.

"Shit sorry Isaac, let me get that thing off of you," Jared says apologetically, grabbing a key and walking over to unlock me.

"Why...what...what's going on?" I ask, trying to wrap my head around what I've woken up to. Jared gets the collar off of me and drops it to the floor with a loud thump.

He slumps against the wall right next to me. "Well, I don't want to say I told you so in light of everything but, I did tell you so."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're a werewolf, Isaac," Jared tells me, not showing a hint it being a joke in his face.

"That's not possible."

"Do you remember anything from last night?" I sit up a little straighter, trying to recall the events that led me to this basement.

"Well, I remember being in the woods with you looking for my clothes and then I got this intense feeling, not really painful but it was something, I don't really know how to describe it. And then...." I pause as I get small glimpses of chasing after Jared until everything goes black. "Oh my god, are you okay? I didn't...I didn't mean..."

"Isaac, I'm okay. I promise. You didn't hurt me. You just startled me a bit." He tries to reassure me.

"I'm so sorry. I could've seriously hurt you. I wasn't in control of myself." I shake my head and tear up at the thought that I could've done something to him.

Jared gets up and closes the small gap between us, hugging me tightly. "I promise everything is okay." He releases the hug, takes me by my shoulders, and looks at me.

"You're my brother. I will help you deal with whatever this is. I am here for the good, the bad, and the...well...hairy." We both chuckle at this statement. I wipe my eyes and sigh.

"I promise I'll do anything to keep that from happening again, even if it means spending many more nights down here.

I take a moment to look around the large basement I'm in. Weird. I don't remember there being any places like this on campus.

"Hey, where are we? I mean, we don't have a basement in our dormitory."

"But I do." A voice not belonging to either of us suddenly appears.

I whip my head around to see an annoyingly annoying face at the top of the stairs. Theo. I look over at Jared and he gives me an innocent shrug. I quickly stand up, keeping my eyes on him, even as he walks down the narrow staircase.

"What are you doing here?" I demand. He crosses his arms over his chest.

"If it wasn't for me being here, your friend over there would be a pile of bones."

"How do you even know about any of this? You have a basement that looks specifically designed to contain someone like me. Are you a werewolf fanatic or something?" Theo laughs at this statement.

He bows his head and shuts his eyes. More gracefully than I probably looked when I turned, his hands grow claws, his hair appears thicker and darker all over him, and his ears grow larger. He looks up at me with the same golden yellow eyes I remember seeing in my reflection and he is sporting large, sharp teeth that seem to crowd his mouth.

"Because Isaac, I'm just like you."