Lola Untold

Part 2

Since that day Katherine has done nothing but help me find my way. She had begun living at the motel soon after that night. With her relationship rocky, she'd decided to separate from her boyfriend. Plus living at the motel was easier when working full time. She did everything, that woman ran the place better than anyone ever could. The last month and a half felt like a lifetime, I had learned so much. I started out doing laundry but the machines were confusing so now here I am cleaning the rooms day by day, and I have to admit I didn't mind the work. I got a discount for working at the hotel so after a monthly payment I was still able to save some money. I felt mostly human now, though most nights I was left to wonder about my past, why was I so different? The only thing that separated me from humans was the fact that my senses were slightly heightened and I had a strong immune system. But I'd been feeling off for sometime now, I didn't know if it was homesickness or regret. 

Today I had the lunch shift, which meant I was to clean all the rooms that checked out today by eleven. I walked into my last room, started to walk through my list of tasks. I sighed though I was almost done for the day. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had a cold or the flu or any kind of sickness but today I felt unusual. I stripped the bedding, that was always the first task I completed. Followed by disinfecting the mattress cover, and replacing the old bedding with a freshly washed set. I started to scrub down the bathroom, I quickly sprayed down every inch of the room when I suddenly felt queasy again. Stopping for a minute I knelt by the television stand. I took some deep breathes to shake the feeling before opening the mini fridge. It was over after that, there was leftover pizza and spilt cans of beer. The smell just hit me like a ton of bricks and it was too much to handle. I tried to make it out the door for fresh air but it was too late, I vomited into the trash bag hanging from my cart. I couldn't stop, I heaved until it came and went. I slid down the wall. I had to just sit for a moment, my body felt hot, I for sure was coming down with something. Or was I? Again I haven't been sick for a long time. I held my head in my hands trying to just focus on my breathing.

"Are you okay?" I look up to find the voice that had spoken. It's Raven another maid, I didn't know her very well but we talked on occasion.

"Yeah," I say "I just, I'm not feeling well. I was lightheaded and queasy, just needed to sit for a minute."

"You don't look so good." She peaks into the room I was cleaning. "How many rooms do you have left?"She asks.

"This is my last. I'm fine though, really."I say.

"I'll finish it, go clock out and get some rest."

"No-"

"Go." she helps me up and shoos me away.

I take the elevator, which I don't normally do. They scare me and I could use the workout anyway from the stairs. But I couldn't shake the feeling I had. My legs were shaky, I could barely keep myself together. I found my way to the front office to clock out. Katherine was in the office shuffling through paperwork, she says a quick 'hello' without looking up. I clocked out and made my way out of the office, but before I could Katherine called me. I turned to her with my eyebrow cocked.

"You okay?" she asks. I become very annoyed and all I want is to avoid that question.

"I'm fine, why?"

"You usually talk to me before you clock out."

"Ohh, um I'm just tired." I shrug still holding the door.

"Well, we'll talk later then." I nod and turn to leave.

"Dinner tonight?" she calls, I nod back at her. 

Something was just off. I didn't get sick, something was up. I should've noticed the minute I started feeling weird. But in my defense, I didn't know much about being a werewolf, and so anything weird my body did I always blamed it on that fact. Days like this make being in the human world hard, I had no one to talk to. I didn't have answers for what I needed. I should've paid more attention, I kept thinking. I wished I could talk to my brother, the twins were a year younger than I was and one of them was a very smart and hard working doctor. He's been the assistant pack doctor since he was sixteen. It's his specialty, while his twin Milo is a fantastic scavenger, I'd always thought he would be a great alpha. Unlike me they'd both shifted right on time, but here I was nineteen and still in human form.  I write them letters all the time, not to be sent but to get the thoughts off my mind. I write them to Taft, and Milo and Oliver, to my parents and my other younger siblings. I wonder if they still look for me, I hope not. I wouldn't want them to keep looking for me when I don't want to be found, it would disappoint them even more. But today I felt more than ever that I needed someone to talk to. 

I tried to take a nap, but to no avail I was up taking a walk within an hour. I was too impatient to wait, to let the storm pass. I had to know. The Inn wasn't too far from a gas station, I hadn't been there much because usually I would ride with Katherine to the closest grocery store for anything we needed. But this was the closest to walk to. I walked there, I tried not to rush it would make me nervous and my heart was already pounding. It was a long half hour, I kept stopping trying to make up my mind if I wanted to continue or not. I knew I had to. The place was lit with dim lights, guarded by a bored cashier just trying to make some money over the winter break. I looked through the aisles, searching for what I was looking for. It was right there in front of my face I knelt down scanning the different products. How was I supposed to know which one to get? I chose one that came in a pack of two.  I tried to bury it under a handful of miscellaneous items I randomly picked up and threw on the counter. The cashier didn't even eye me, he just scanned the items quickly, I paid and left as fast as I could. This time I sprinted back in record time, took only about fifteen minutes for me to get back to the Inn and hidden in my room. I shut the door, turned and pad locked it. I grab the box out of the bag and threw the remaining items on my bed. I read over the instructions, as I opened both tests at once. 

It five minutes felt more like five hours at this point. I paced the room, switch the television channel through the entire list of channels, and put away all the junk I'd also bought at the store. I looked at the clock, I'd been more than five minutes though I still couldn't bring myself to walk in there.

There was a knock on my door. Shit. I should've looked. I grabbed the box off the bed and buried it in the trash. I knew who it would be before I even peaked out of my window. It was Katherine. I was freaking out inside but I let her in. 

"Hey," she says "I was thinking maybe we could do a early dinner tonight and go rent a movie. It's Friday!" she exclaims. I bite my lip a little unsure of what I should say. "So get dressed and we'll go, but I have to pee." she tells me walking toward my bathroom. I panic. 

"Actually, I'm not feeling too great." I blurt. She stops at the door.

"We can order take out." she shrugs continuing to open the door. 

"Wait!" I say. 

"What?"she looks at me through the mirror. I don't know what to say next. She knits her brows and turns to close the door but stops. She looks back at me. I'm frozen. 

"What is this." she says.

"I don't know." I blurt. "Wait, don't." I tell her as she examines. "I haven't looked at it." She's unusually silent. I try to walk to her but I stop. "You don't understand." I try to explain. "I-"

"I think you need to look at this." she says. 

"I think I already know the answer." I nod, my eyes start to water and I feel stupid, why am I crying? I sit on the end of the bed. "I should've known weeks ago, I guess I kept ignoring what was right in front of me." she walks over to me, sets the tests in my hands.

"I knew something was up two weeks ago," she says, "I just didn't want to say anything yet."

I look down, I can feel the tears again, I wipe my face with one hand. I smirk, "Couldn't get rid of him that fast." I say with short laugh. 

"Who?" I bite the inside of my cheek, and take a breath.

"Katherine," I sigh "I-" but no words come out. I don't know what to say, I don't know how to explain everything to her. I don't know how to tell her, this isn't safe. "I wasn't in a cult."

"Okay." she sits beside me. 

"I was is a pack."

"Like a gang?" She asks.

"No, like a wolf pack."