There's A Wolf At My Door | B X B X B

Part Eighteen: I Can't Look At You

Henry

I instictiveley walked backwards, stepping on a piece of glass and howling in pain. I fell onto the wall, slowly picking up my bleeding foot that was flowing with blood. "Henry- please wait-" Alan whispered, gently placing his hand on my shoulder. A cold wave of shock came over me and I pushed him away. I couldn't find the words- I couldn't think of any that wouldn't seem hurtful.

"Let me help you." Jared offered. His strange golden eyes were creeping me out but it was better than whatever happened to Alan. He helped me get inside and rest on the counter in his kitchen. He stepped back and looked at my bleeding foot. He was hesitating.

I tried to get the peice of glass out myself but there was a lot of blood. "Just let me help you," he insisted. I looked up at him with tears in my eyes and gave in, placing my head in my hands. I want this all to be a horrible dream. I want to wake up in my bed before all this happened. Before Alan showed up on my doorstep, before that night at the forest and before I opened the door for Lu.

My sobbing became harder as the tears no longer came from the pain. Everything seemed to be coming apart and I couldn't do anything to stop it. "It's out," he muttered. The tap rushed eith water as he began to clean the cut with a warm wet towel looked up at him and he quickly looked away. I could tell he was nervous by the way he was rolling back and forth on his heels.

His mousy brown curls almost covered his golden eyes which was somewhat comforting for me. His green shirt had a small smear of blood from my foot and his fingertips were covered in the red stuff. His new eyes have off a strange dominance. When did he become so muscular?

Okay. Now this just got weird.

"I know it seems confusing for you but if you'd just let us explain you would feel much better." He said while handing me a paper towel. I wiped away the blood while thinking. All my questions could be answered and there wouldn't be anymore lying. But what if I couldn't handle the truth?

"Do I want to know?" I asked. He gave me an uncertain look. Then Rita and Clarke walked in. They had their eyes glued to the floor, shuffling in. Alan wasn't behind them. "It's probably better if we sit somewhere more comfortable." Clarke suggested. He helped me off the counter and into the living room while Jared went to get a bandaid.

We all sat down on the couch as I was given the bandaid which I quickly over my small cut. I didn't look at them, and instead  focused on whatever was going on outside the window.

There was a long silence of us just sitting there waiting for someone to start talking. I played with my hair and pulled my legs up to my chest. "None of us know where to start.." Rita mumbled. "How about your eyes?" I suggested.

I dared to look at them and they stared back. Clarke sighed, pulling at his fingers and cracking his knuckles. Jared pinched his shoulder and he stopped immediately. "The reason you can see our actual eyes is because of the pill we have you," Rita started. That pale purple pill. Was it a sort of hallucinogen or something? "It was to help... cope with what you saw."

I closed my eyes for a breif moment and remembered Lu. I couldn't think about him without hearing those sounds. "I saw Lu. T-Turning into a monster." I whispered.  They all immediately looked hurt. "He wasn't a monster. He was a werewolf." Jared corrected.

My brain short circuited for a moment then I began laughing. Full-on laughing. They couldn't be serious! Werewolves were myths! Nothing but villains in fairy tales. The look on all their faces said otherwise. Somehow a monster was easier on my mind then a fucking werewolf.

"And you guys are-"

"Werewolves. Yes."

I stared at them with an open mouth. Werewolves. They were fucking werewolves. "Y-You're eyes. What do they mean?" I asked. "They represent our wolves and our status." Clarke filled in. I tried thinking about ehen I first met them. It was at work. Nothing was out of the ordinary! How could they be werewolves? Weren't they feral and mostly animalistic?

The more so thought about it the more it seemed plausible. Sometimes they'd forget how to use certain things. They'd somehow end up with dirt and mud all over their clothes when coming back from a break.

"I-Is Alan a werewolf?" I asked. Surely he couldn't be. I've known him forever. All those years- surely he would have told me if he was a bloody mythical creature! Speaking of which the man himself appeared in the doorway. He still looked frightening.

I quickly looked away and tried to process what was happening. "Henry please look at me." He pleaded, crouching down beside me. I let my long hair sheild my eyes from his unfamiliar face. "I-I'm sorry, Al. I can't look at you." I whispered. There was a stunned silence, then he got up.

"I didn't want you to find out this way. I wanted to do it when you were safe." He explained. I stared at the black couch and listened to what he had to say. It hurt me that I couldn't look at him anymore. I felt horrible.

"I'm a vampire, Henry. I drink blood and I can barely sleep. I starve myself for weeks because I don't want to drink that shit but I have to. To survive." He breathed out. I remained silent. A vampire. My bestfriend that I've known for years was a blood-sucking bat. Did he kill people to drink blood? Suddenly I felt very sick.  "Please don't think that I'd hurt you. That's the complete opposite of what I want to do- I'm still the Alan you knew before," he quickly added, A hint of worry and sadness in his voice.

Was he really the same? He had a new look, A new attitude and a new boyfriend. He wasn't a human. He wasn't living. "Henry-" he was cut off by Rita. "Al there's only so much he can handle at a time." She excused. She rested her hand on my knee and the thankfully I found that reassuring instead of scary.

I then thought of something. "Who are those people who keep showing up everywhere? Are they monsters too?" I asked. Once again they all had hurt looks. "They're one of the reasons we kept this big secret from you." Clarke had a slight look of anger which deepened to a scowl when Jared pinched him again. "They've been trying to get you alone since Lu showed up. They're vampires and werewolves part of an organisation that deals with criminal matter involving two species." Alan began talking again. Why would people like that be after me? After Lu?

"Now we believe that they're after you for some reason." Jared stated glumly. "Why?" I asked. None of them seemed to have the answers.

"We do know why they're after Lu. A few months back- in our home realm Alari- Alan and Lu were part of a scheme to kill one of the ancient vampire elders, leading one of the strongest vampire clans in our realm." Jared informed, acting like this was completely normal. So much for 'only so much I can handle'.

"They were.. successful. This caused a vacuum of power and a manhunt to take place. Now they're fugitives in both realms." He finished.

I hovered my hand over my head and tried to will the manifesting headache away. "Well why did I have a freakout earlier?" I questioned. Hopefully the answer wasn't too complicated.

"That was your brain trying to handle this new information, even if you didn't understand it completely. Most humans go through a longer, painful experience but strangely enough you got through it quickly." Clarke spoke up. "Those nightmares you probably got? Your brain trying to match up what you saw with what you've seen on media. Usually they're horrifying and that's why when humans find out they expose and kill us."

I nodded like it was okay. This was not okay.