The Stronghold 2: Immortals

The Truth Is Best

Brian was lying flat out on the floor, his shirt collar soaked in blood. His glasses were cracked and broken beside him and he was facing away from us all. 

"Is he dead?" Velena whispered. I changed back to answer.

"No," I said, surprised at how hoarse my voice was. "You can see him breathing."

"Why is Jake lying there?" Caspar asked. I'd been too fixed on Brian to notice anything else but saw that the teenager was right. Jake was sprawled in a heap a few metres away, his front covered in blood, especially his mouth.

"He was the werewolf," I realised. Anger flared up in me as I realised what he'd done. "That bastard! That complete and utter bastard!" I was across the room in an instant, pummelling my fists into the dying man's stomach, chest, arms, legs, face, wherever I could reach. "Bastard! Bastard!" I kept on screaming. 

"Shaade, calm down," Velena said in alarm, putting a hand on my shoulder. I snarled at her until my eyes went black and she backed away, letting me continue attacking Jake until I was punching a corpse. As my strikes slowed so did my breathing, eventually lapsing into deep, body-racking sobs. 

"He's still alive," Caspar reminded me. 

"I know that," I said in a low voice. "But being a werewolf is more a curse than an ability. He shouldn't have had to do that. You're cowards, the lot of you."

"I didn't see you offering yourself up to be bitten," Caspar spat. "So you can talk."

Tired of explaining and exhausted from my fight with the werewolf Jake I just turned and punched Caspar across the jaw. He fell back with an angry exclamation but I ignored him, shuffling over to Brian to make sure he was alright.

"Junior?" I said gently, shaking his shoulder lightly. "Are you still with us?"

"Mmhm," Brian mumbled. "I don't feel very well though."

"Well it's hardly surprising, seeing as you only went and got yourself bitten by a bleeding werewolf," I said. The ghost of a smile passed Brian's lips and my heart soared at being able to make him happy even though it was clear he was in a lot of pain.

"Did you get hurt?" he asked, eyes unfocused.

"No." I looked at the scratches ripped into my T-Shirt and shook my head. "No, not at all."

"As soon as I get my glasses I'll see if you're lying or not," he murmured. I looked down at his glasses then back at his searching hand. Acting on the spur of the moment I picked him up in a 'bridal carry' - supporting under the knees and the back - and vanished down to his flat in a whirl of shadows. He turned slightly green and I quickly carried him to the bathroom, setting him down on his feet but staying by his side.

"What's going to happen to me?" he said quietly. 

"You're going to feel like hell," I said, deciding that the truth would be better than lies. "You'll probably be sick a lot and you'll feel really weak. Most of the time you'll be on the verge of tears or ready to lash out at someone. Nothing you ever liked will amuse you any more and you'll start to think of all the bad things that ever happened in your life. You'll have bad mood swings, so bad that you'll go from one mood to another in the blink of an eye and not care. You're going to sleep fitfully and eat barely anything. You're going to have a fever you can't sweat out and all you'll want to do is be left alone so you can claw your own skin off.

'All of that will only last a few days. After that you'll probably feel more energetic than you ever have in your life, more boisterous, more likely to take risks. You'll be on a permanent high and probably get little sleep. You're going to be more likely to socialise and more touchy-feely, giving hugs and pats on the shoulder and stuff. You'll also be a lot more aroused than usual and, as you're in such a bizarre, 'I can do anything' sort of state will probably either sleep around or dry hump everything. And I mean everything.

'After that you'll probably have a day or two of nothing but sleep, waking up only for food and for the bathroom. Then your life will go back to normal, you'll just be a werewolf that could potentially kill people every full moon." 

"I don't want to hurt people," Brian whispered, clinging to the sink as if his life depended on it. He was hunched over the bowl but looked up at me with pleading eyes that somehow managed to focus on my own. "Please. Don't let me turn anyone."

"I'll find a way to stop you," I promised. "While you're lying around down here, shouting at plants, Velena and I will be thinking of ways to stop you from breaking free and murdering us all."

Brian whimpered, a strangled sound that sounded more animal than human. "What happens at the full moon?" he asked eventually.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," I said, avoiding the question. "For now, you might want to stay near the sink in case you sick up your guts. Press your symbol if you need me, I'll be in my flat." I turned to go but Brian held out a shaking hand to stop me.

"No," he said weakly. "Stay here, please. You know what's going to happen to me. I need you." He groaned and took his hand back to grab the sink even tighter, his knuckles going white. He trembled violently and it looked like he was about to have a fit but it passed. Once he was relatively calm again he spoke.

"How come you know so much about lycanthropy, anyway?" 

"About what?"

Brian gave a shallow laugh. "The transformation of a person into a wolf."

"Oh. One of my friends when I was little, she got bitten by a werewolf. Almost went mad afterwards."

"That's encouraging."

"Only because her family kept her isolated from everyone," I continued. "I camped out in her room and hid under her bed when her parents came in. I saw it all and she told me every little detail anyway, what she felt through the entire thing." I smiled sadly. "She was so strong. Not strong enough to face other, stronger werewolves when she was let out into the forest on the full moon."

"As much as I don't want to hurt other people, if you let me free I will kill you," Brian said. 

"After all I've done?" I said in mock-offend tone.

"You've got be bitten by a werewolf, caused the deaths of two of my co-workers, attracted creatures that have dealt out hundreds of pounds worth of damage and given my ex-boyfriend, who was a werewolf, a chance to rule over me again," Brian growled, his eyes flashing yellow. I took a step backwards, edging closer to the door.

"You know what I said about snappiness-" I began but I was cut off by Brian lunging at me, wrapping his fingers around my throat with a snarl of anger. He was deceptively strong and I saw dots pop before my eyes as I ran out of air.

"Junior, let go," I choked out. Brian's eyes clouded and then he withdrew his hands, tears filling his slightly-yellow eyes.

"Oh my gosh, I am so, so sorry," he gushed, tears rolling down his cheeks. I fought the urge to roll my eyes and guided him to his bed, shoving him down onto it and ordering him to sleep. I created a hole that connected the bathroom to his bedroom just in case he was started to feel sick all of a sudden and then went to leave again.

"Don't go!" Brian wailed, clinging to my arm tightly.

"I'm just going to get my laptop," I said, trying to pry my arm free. "As much as I'd love to sit and stare at you all night I have a feeling I'd get bored."

"Be back in ten seconds," Brian commanded fiercely. I nodded in alarm and shadow-walked to my flat, grabbing my laptop, a few blankets and a box set of DVDs - I moved in very quickly - and reappearing.

"It was eleven seconds!" Brian sobbed the second I return, throwing himself at me. I did nothing but stand in bewilderment as he held me like a life ring, bawling his eyes out.

"Okay," I said nervously, gently pushing Brian away and using magic to restrain him against his bed. "You sleep now. I'll be sat on the sofa, away from your hugging arms." I nodded to make sure he got the message and vanished quicker than a cheetah.