Habitual Liar

C5- The liar

I feel someone touch my face. It's Lucius.

"You fell asleep with this on." Lucius notes, taking the mask off of my face.

"I...nnnngh..."

"You feel okay? Matt said you were sick. It seems to be true."

"I'm not sick."

"You have a fever." Lucius protests, feeling my head.
I look down.
"Don't worry, Matt told me you seemed sick while you were asleep. We pushed back your classes for a few more days. You have nine days now."

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry....." I sob, looking away.

"What's wrong??"

"I should've told you all that I'm so crazy. I just don't know what's wrong with me. I haven't even been to a doctor yet. I just got to this school and I'm already being a drama queen...and-"

Lucius smiles sadly.
"You're not crazy or dramatic. You're extremely ill. I don't know if you know this, but Matthias has an incredible IQ. I know that he's not always right, but I trust him to figure out the best way to treat you."

"What does he think is wrong with me?"

"When you were out, he took notes about you. When he got back he went to work at the ER and finished your medical reports while he was there. He forwarded the draft to me, which he can't finish until he gets the genetic reports back from you."

"I thought doctors weren't allowed to share information with non-doctors."

"You're right. However, Atlantis is a city that transcends human law. I am the alpha, therefore, pack law states that I have access to all information about any of my subordinates. Location, social security number, passports, bank info, insurance, all medical history and everything personal. I have it all. But by laws of pack dynamics, you can kill me if I abuse my power. Atlantis law will allow it. Without charging pack members."

"I see. What did the report say?"

"Well this may sound like a lot but they're all related disorders. First off, you have ADHD, which is rather common. You seem to show signs of depression, which is like, the common cold of psychology. You seem to be anorexic as well. You seem to have high levels of paranoia, which could be social anxiety. He says that a more complex diagnosis would highlight other disorders."

"Anorexic?! Just because I don't eat meat?"

"You don't really want to protect animals, do you? Hellhound instinct is stronger than that. Is it possible that you're lying and telling us that you feel bad for the animals, when really you're scared of gaining weight from eating meat? That's what Matt said."

I looked down at my hands.
"I-..."
I had barely even thought about lying, I just did it. Does it matter??
Matt saw straight through me.
"I'm not too skinny though, so how can I be anorexic?"

"You don't have to be emaciated to stop eating because you don't see your body as satisfactory. Also, you ARE skinny. Like, bad. People who die from anorexia can't tell how skinny they actually are until it's too late. "
Lucius sighs. He grabs the hem of my shirt and lifts it up. He frowns at the sight of my stomach. I frown because he's frowning.
"You're not supposed to see the ribcage of a pomeranian. And your stomach is nearly concave- you're pretty dehydrated as well."

There aren't any visible ribs. The only thing I can see is my fat rolls, so I yank my shirt down.
"I don't-... Whatever. I'm not that skinny."

"This isn't a joke, Richie. This is a deadly disease. You're already getting weaker. Not eating the food here is making it worse."

I groan and roll my eyes. "I'm okay."

"You'll need our help to get better. From now on you'll be taking any orders that me or alpha Matt give you. You'll be eating however much we want you to, and you're not leaving the table until you're done. You also wont be able to go to the bathroom alone until one hour after eating any meal. You'll take any medicine we give you, and no medicines that isn't approved by Matt. That includes advil and other common medicine. "
Lucius demands strictly, crossing his arms.

"Really? I'm scared."
I whine and stand up, and dizzily stumble forward onto Lucius, who catches me and lifts me back up.

"Everything will be fine. Plenty of domestic dogs have eating disorders. Adande was bulimic for awhile, and Midas only ate Beggin' Strips for a week thinking it would help him detox."

"I feel like I'm being dramatic. I wish nobody noticed, frankly."

"We're all crazy in here. Don't stress okay? Just get better first. Everyone will be home soon. We wont tell them about any of this. That's up to you."

I nod and drag myself into the kitchen. Lucius hands me a red Gatorade in one of those tall bottles with a mouthpiece. My favorite. Even though there's too much sugar, and I'm gonna gain weight. Whatever, I guess.

Lucius smiles. "I'll take you up to bed. You need to eat so Matt got you some kibble. You should like it."

"Okay."
I comply, and Lucius gets me a small bag of kibble and then picks me up effortlessly. This man is a monster.

He walks upstairs to my room before placing me on the bed and laying a thin blanket on top of me.
"No blankets. You have a fever from dehydration, so you can't get hot."

I nod.
Lucius ruffles my hair, then leaves. I pass out.
+++++

I've just woken up.
My mouth hurts so bad that I can't feel the slightly more forgiving ache in all of my joints. My mouth is dry, so I chug down big gulps of Gatorade. According to the clock, it's 7:13. Time for dinner. I jump out of bed and dizzily waddle over to the stairs before I cautiously walk down.
I sit at the table with everyone else. I feel bad for being late.

"S-sorry-" I whine and lower my ears.

"No, it's fine. You were still asleep when I went to check on you so I turned off your alarm." Lucius states.

Matthias was next to me.
"Hey squirt. I got you some medicine, okay? If you feel sick, let me know right away. "
He sounds a bit sad. He drops a few pills in my hand. "Zyrtec and Prozac for now."

I nod. I have no idea what they are.
"Wait a minute, are you trying to drug me? Am I gonna die??"
I asked, paranoid. This guy is older and giving me medicine that may or may not be dangerous.

Midas takes the pills and examines them.
"No, those are real. They're harmless, and small in dosage. Don't worry. But...why Prozac?"

There's silence.
I shrug and pop them into my mouth, and drink some water to swallow them. Matt is holding a rib from some sort of animal. This time around, I'm the one who's getting the puppy eyes from Matthias.

I grab the rib and take a bite of it. Matt seems to cheer up a bit once I tear all the flesh from the bone.

Then the mouth pain hit again.
I nearly pass out when I feel my incisors double in length... It hurts like a bitch for about a minute, but the pain quickly vanishes. Nobody notices.

Matt puts another rib on my plate and fills my bowl with water. I lap at it, before grabbing the rib. My new teeth easily rip the flesh off of the bone and by then, all that eating has exhausted me.

I look up at Matt before coughing a few times into my sleeve; eating too fast caused my asthma to act up.

Matt looked pleased, though.

I guess it really is time for a change in my diet, but only so I can see Matt wag his tail again.