The Wolf of The Woods

Chapter Two: The Stranger

Once he'd arrived, it was quite hard walking down the streets in such a public area while trying not to look suspicious or be spotted. Dan knew he should just take it slow and quiet. But his growling stomach was definitely taunting him, making him want to sprint towards the nearest source of food.

He was so hungry.

Having not eaten in days and having had most of the energy sucked out of him the previous night, he felt as though he could barely walk. But he knew he had to, he had to keep going.

As he walked down the strip of shops, he saw huddles of people peering in through the windows and others making pleasant conversation with eachother.

They all looked positively jolly as the rays of the sun above were bouncing and reflecting from their skin while they spoke.

Dan didn't know whether this brought him a feeling of disgust or distant longing. They were all with their families, none of them were alone.

Some small children ran around the place playing with eachother under the watchful eyes of their parents. Other children looked slightly less excited as parents dragged them around shops with bags full of what looked like school uniform. A sudden feeling of dread clawed at the pit of Dan's stomach.

He did not want to go to school next week. He'd almost completely forgotten about that too.

Now he'd have to get (well steal) himself some new clothes. He groaned internally at the thought of having to steal more things from innocent people. But there really was no other option.

Dan, being pretty used to it by now, had become quite good at stealing. As he entered the store, he'd already planned it all out. He snuck, straight past the aisles and oblivious shoppers, into the back room.

Luckily it was quite abandoned at this time as it was a Sunday and the store had only just opened. He had been back here many times, all he needed to do now was find... Aha, right at the back of the room he found a staff badge, a matching jacket and a slightly lukewarm cup of coffee (the coffee not being a necessary part of the plan but still a bonus).

He slipped the jacket on over his torn black t-shirt and pinned the badge onto it. He would blend in now. Now he just had to go around the store, find what he needed and come back here, if anyone asked what he was doing he would say he was 'taking the items out back to be examined' or 'confiscating them'. He took a sip of the coffee and went back out onto the shop floor.

-

When he returned he was carrying a loaf of bread, some apples, a packet of crisps, a chocolate bar (Becasue why not?), a pack of energy drinks (Particularly useful when you have to stay up all night as a werewolf), and of course, a school uniform.

He shoved the items into a bag that was hanging from an office chair and fled out the back door that was used by the smokers.

Dan was quite pleased with himself as he walked back down the street, his mood had lifted slightly (Mainly because he knew he wouldn't have to steal anything for at least a few days) and he even smiled slightly to himself.

He was still worried though, the thought of going back to school caused anxiety to seep through him. He hated everyone at school and they hated him too, though granted they showed it a lot more than him. They would always beat him up and call him names for being different and having no parents. Dan tried his best just to keep his head down.

He never dared tell anyone about being a werewolf, that was his secret, in fact he hardly told anyone about anything. He kept himself to himself and hoped that everyone around him would too. It was no wonder he didn't have many friends.

As Dan walked, he was so deep in his thoughts that he wasn't looking where he was going at all. So it was no surprise that he soon collided with the nearest stranger.

He tore himself out of his thoughts with shock.

'Ahhh! I errr... I'm sorry' Said the stranger. This only seemed to shock Dan even more. Was this stranger actually talking to, no, Apologizing to him? He couldn't seem to get any words out at all.

'Why did you apologize?' he managed, eventually.
'What do you mean?'
Dan could feel the stranger staring at him but he didn't dare look back. He took to staring at the floor instead.
'You didn't, I mean, that was my fault... I walked into you'

The stranger giggled and Dan looked up at him for the first time to see him smiling.
'I don't know, just seemed like the right thing to say' he laughed again. Dan looked into his eyes and stopped dead.

They were beautiful.

They shone bright blue and sparkled a glistening green. They were nothing like his own dull brown eyes, they looked just like the ocean dancing in the glow of the sun.

'Well... Er, I have to go,' Dan started awkwardly, painfully aware that he just been staring at this man's eyes for a little to long. 'And since it really was my fault I'm sorry' he added.
'Don't be.' The stranger smiled as he turned to leave. 'Have a nice day!'

Dan was pretty sure his cheeks stayed red for at least an hour after that interaction.