I AM Lycanthrope.

7

There was an intense pounding in my head that caused me to groan as I tried and failed to sit up. My body felt oddly numb, as though someone had injected me with some kind of drug and I groaned once more as my eyes slowly opened.

The place was still dark but the small lamps that littered the tiny room I was in made it that much easier to see.

Why was I in a building?

Why was there a building in the heart of the forest?

Am I in the heart of the desert?

Before any of my questions could be answered, the door was pushed open and in walked an elderly gentleman carrying a basket filled with what I could only presume to be supplies.

"Good, you're awake. I was afraid that fall was more damaging than I first predicted."

"Who are you?" I tried to demand but my voice just sounded calm and that irritated me more than it should.

"It's one of the effects of the medicine." The man continued without even sparing me a glance. "I'm Barry, by the way."

"Where am I?"

"You're safe now son, just rest."

"That's not what I asked-"

"You lost a lot of blood but Alexander healed you. How you knew where to find him is still a miracle but you're lucky you did... we're all lucky you did."

"I don't-"

"Its okay, rest now son. We shall talk when you've fully recovered."

He comes over to me with a bowl of thick white substance and some leaves in his other hand before applying them to my shoulders, head and back. I want to argue with him, demand that he tell me what he was doing and where I was but within minutes my eyes were drooping and my vision became blurry. Cursing inwardly, I gave into the inevitable pull of darkness and watched everything around me disappear.

I woke sometime after to the place being too bright and children playing all around me. I was now outside, half sitting against a rock with a tingling feeling coming from my neck area. As I felt less groggy and more awake my eyes focused on the boy sitting besides me quietly as though waiting for me to react.

"Did you just lick me?" I demanded and almost smiled to hear the angry tone of my voice.

At least the effects of whatever that old bastard gave me wore off.

"I'm sorry but I needed to finish healing you. You had a nasty fall a few days ago and because you haven't turned yet your wounds weren't healing as fast as we'd liked it to."

He never made eye contact with me and his voice was so soft that if I was blind I'd mistake him for a girl. Something about him felt so familiar as though I'd met him before but in his position I couldn't tell.

"Look at me." I ordered and in a blink of an eye he was staring at me with the deepest, lightest pair of brown eyes I'd ever seen. It was almost green and when the sun hit in a specific angle, it actually was.

My heart did an immediate response and kicked into overdrive and without thought I inhaled. Releasing my breath, I looked away, cleared my throat and shifted my pants to hide the fast growing bump before looking back at him.