Welcome to Dreadville (On Hold)

Chapter Thirteen

I open my eyes. Pale blue light is coming in through a window on my right. I sit up and take in my surroundings. I'm back in the room that I had awoken in the previous night. The events that occurred last night come rushing back at me. Terry telling me I'm a shifter; Nick making dinner; talking with Terry; Nick drugging me, me falling into Terry's arms then everything going black...

I lift my arms up and stretch them. They feel fine, but my head hurts only a little. I raise my arm and run my hand through my hair. I swing my legs to the side of the bed and stand up. My vision blurs and stars light up in front of my eyes. I sit back down and lay my head down on the pillow. I wait a couple of seconds then try again. I close my eyes while standing. I keep them closed while I take a cautious step forward. I take a couple more steps forwards then I open my eyes.

I walk towards the door hoping that no one was on the other side. My mind goes back to last night when Terry and Nick were speaking outside the door when I had awoken. Maybe this time someone was waiting for me to wake up.

I get on all fours and look through the little crack beneath the door. I see a pair of shoes a couple feet in front of the door. I get back up and look around the room. I notice the window and walk towards it.

A silent swear comes out of my mouth as I realize I'm on the second floor. The window was at most fifteen or sixteen feet above the ground. I couldn't jump. Then I saw a dog running around the yard. I unlock the window and open it. I look back at the room and look for something I can throw to cause a diversion.

I see nothing lying on the ground, but I see a closet that might contain something useful. I walk towards it and slide the door open. Inside were men's clothes hanging and shoes lying on the floor. I poke my head in it. A familiar scent reaches my nose. Thinking it was probably something I smelled yesterday, I ignore it. I see a shoebox lying at one end of the closet. I'm about to close the closet door when I stop to think about the shoe box. Why would there be a shoe box when there are other shoes lying all over the closet floor? I reach for the shoe box and open it. Inside it are different kinds of books with no cover. I take out a couple and lean against the side of the closet.

I grab one and open it. On the inside of the cover is Terry's scribbled name. One the next page are small pictures of strangers. Its a photo album. I felt like I was intruding on something private and special. I shouldn't be looking through these, but I was curious. I continue to flip the pages. I see pictures of Terry with other people. Maybe they were his friends. As I get near the end I notice that he gets gradually younger. In one picture he seems to be fourteen or thirteen. In another the photographer caught him transforming into a cat. Maybe that was his first time transforming and he wanted his picture taken.

The last pages are filled with him standing next to what seemed to be his parents. They seemed to look like humans, but there were some characteristics that proved that they weren't. Terry looks a lot like his father. His father was tall, had long and messy hair, and had the same nose as his son. The difference between them was that his eyes, unlike his son's, were gray, and he had a yellowish aura surrounding him. Terry had no aura. His mother shared nothing with her son other than her eyes. Terry had inherited her strikingly and beautiful green eyes. Unlike her husband, she had a green aura surrounding her.

They seemed to have been a happy family. Terry said that the parents of a shifter don't leave their child until they are ready to fend for themselves. Terry seemed to be about seven or eight years old in this picture. Terry also had said he hadn't shifted until he had been around twelve, so had his parents left him after he was able to shift?

The door opened, bringing me out of my thoughts. I jumped a little after realizing I had been caught.