• Chapter 1

    Time crept by slowly as my eyes followed the second hand, limping around the clock. It seemed to go slower just to irk me. The meeting that I was in was for the drastic increase of our company’s sales. The company that I worked for was named Serec-Tech, after the owner, Jacob T. Serec. We created new programs for computers so they responded better, loaded faster, etc. I worked a lonely position as lead programmer. I received most of the credit for the programs that we built and I was hated for that.

    I started daydreaming, looking out of the large-pane windows, watching two birds chase each other playfully. “−and we should celebrate.” I heard Jacob finish as I snapped out of my trance.

    He scanned the faces of his employees when he locked his eyes on me. “Mr. Haman, is that… drool on your chin?”

    I had gotten a little too mesmerized. I wiped the spit from my face and smiled, pretending that nothing happened. He shook his head and smiled. “So,” he began, “for our success of Mr. Haman’s new program…” His voice faded away as I slumped into my seat, not wanting to hear anymore, but it was too late; all of my co-workers were scowling at me.

    I knew that Jacob liked me and my work, but because of his appreciation towards me, my co-workers despised me. They always talked behind my back and today were no different. I heard two men to the right of me start whispering to each other when I heard a man and a woman across from me state my name in their conversation. I knew that this wasn’t going to die out for a while, but I knew that everyone liked to party.

    My eyes return back to the clock right above the door. It made a light, hollow clicking noise every time the second hand moved. It was 4:59 p.m., a minute before I could clock out and head home. The problem was that the second hand wouldn’t move any faster than a snail’s pace. The two men beside me snickered as they continued their conversation. They were, most likely, talking about me.

    Finally, after the sluggish second hand reached and passed the twelve on the clock, I ran out of the conference room, ignoring the people who laughed at the way I looked when I almost tripped on a wire. I inputted my pin number into the Time Clock, clocked out, and ran out of the skyscraper that was Serec-Tech. I glided to my blue Pontiac GTO, with a nice spoiler, and opened the door. The inside of the car was warm from the sun hitting my front window, the rays absorbed by the leather seats.

    I sat in the driver’s seat and put the key into the ignition. I turned the key, making the engine purr with intensity. I had one hand on the wheel and the other on the stick-shift. I backed up from my parking space and revved the car’s engine for amusement. The engine responded with a roar. I threw the stick to first gear and raced out of the parking lot and onto the street. Seattle was bigger that it seemed to be on TV, but after two years of living here, I was used to it.

    I drove down the highway, my head spinning. I was going at 70 miles per hour and rising. I thought about the reason of why I just can’t tell Jacob of what his unremitting appreciation was doing to me and my co-workers. I pondered on that thought as I closed in on the exit that leads to my home.

    I twisted down the exit, still having the befuddled look on my face, and raced down to my neighborhood. Night was chasing the sun away, darkening the skies above. I turned right at the third intersection, tires screeching at my curt turn. I finally got to my house and did something that I do on occasion: I drifted straight into my driveway.

    I shut my car off the exited it, staring at the streak of smoldering rubber that was plastered to the street. I stared at my house. I was disgusted by the dirt brown color it had, the ugly, disorganized bricks that were made into pillars, holding my patio up, and the fact that it was a two-story building that looked like a one story building and I won’t sell it. Plus, even though I make $180,000 annually, I still live in this dinky, little house. I just didn’t know… maybe it was just the house that I wanted, subconsciously, I mean.

    Well, it was my home, sweet home for me and it sufficed. I unlocked and opened the front door, past due for a fresh layer of paint. I walked into my home− only to stub my foot on the one of many worthless items that were scattered all over the floor. I skipped over the items, now wary and cautious, and stepped into my bedroom.

    My dog, a Siberian husky named Spike, whined as I entered my room, a sign that he was hungry. I grabbed his dog food from my miniature closet and poured some of it into his food bowl. Then I took his water bowl to the bathroom sink across from my bedroom, emptied the old water into the sink’s drain, and filled it up with new, fresh, and cold water. I stumbled back into my bedroom, hitting and kicking random tidbits on the floor. I placed Spike’s water bowl down by his food bowl while he spun around me excitedly.

    I patted his head as he engulfed his food. He wagged his tail wildly as a sign of happiness with me. I smiled and walked over to my computer, turned it on, and opened Microsoft Word 2007. I opened a file that contained a research project that I began on my own. It was on the fact that fantasy-type subjects could be real. I smiled as I read what it said:


    In the effort to persuade those skeptics who believe that myths and legends are an indubitable truth, I can say the opposite. The truth is _


    That’s as far as I got. I tried to come up with a powerful essay proving that creatures like werewolves, vampires, dragons, and shape-shifters exist, but that’s it; I couldn’t prove that they resided in the real world. I slammed my fists down on the computer desk in frustration as mind was drawing a blank for an example to prove the skeptics wrong. Then it hit me: I should search for them to expose the truth.

    I closed out of Word and shut off my computer, making sure that it shut off correctly. I grabbed Spike’s leash from the mini-closet and clipped it onto his collar. He whined when I put it on him, his tail between his hind legs. He never really had good things happen to him during his walks. I dragged Spike from the room and out of the house. He whimpered as a plea to let him back inside. I frowned at Spike as he clawed at the door, saying, “Oh no, you are coming with me whether you like it or not!”

    His ears went limp as all hope was lost for him and he stood by my side. I grinned and ran from my dull house and began running down the street towards the woods. The woods were a great place to get away from the world and just be myself. I was near the woods when I heard a yelp and Spike’s leash snagged, pulling me off of my feet. I never had good luck on these walks either…

    I flew a foot back and landed on the sidewalk with a painful thud. I threw my gaze to the leash while rubbing my back and followed it to the problem: Spike was being attacked by a SQUIRREL. He was galloping around my neighbor’s yard with a tiny squirrel trailing him. Spike yelped as the squirrel nipped at his left hind leg. I sighed at my worthless dog and stood up to help him out. I ran over to him, scaring the squirrel and making my dog fall over. “You’re a worthless, you know that, right?” I paused to gauge his reaction. He just stood there, gazing into my eyes, “But… you’re my dog,” I continued on, “Come on.”

    Spike barked and ran wildly towards the woods, dragging me along now. We finally reached the woods and trudged straight into the center of the massive group of trees. The birds were singing as the sun hid behind the horizon, burning the sky with its red hue. The trees shone with a vibrant shade of gold and silver as the sun sunk deeper into its next shift to shine Earth. I sat on a rock shaped into a rough oval with a somewhat flat surface, and gazed into the dense, dark, and green forest. My mind was lost in the texture of the leaves that hung precariously at the end of the branches, their beauty captivating my eyes.

    Dusk moved in and took over the sky with a full moon acting as its eye tonight. I snapped to my senses, shivering from the cold and windy night. I turned around the rock to see Spike staring at me with his cyan, mischievous eyes. I dropped my eyes to escape his iron gaze and laughed. “You’re just having a ball watching me freeze my butt off, huh?” I said through my teeth.

    He wagged his tail and let off one loud bark, agreeing with my question. I scowled at him as his tongue rolled down the left side of his maw when I heard a voice. It made my spine tingle as I heard it, but I stood up in anticipation, hoping that it was something other than human. “Hello?” I jumped up and down to gather some heat for my body, “Is anyone out there?”

    Out of the blue, I heard a reply. It was clearer now, but it still wasn’t loud enough to hear. I smiled as my anticipation grew within me. I stood by my dog and raised my hands up to my mouth screaming, “Hello? I can’t understand you!”

    “Who is he talking to?” the voice replied, much clearer now, and it made me jump.

    The voice was loud and sounded very close to me, but no one was by me other than my dog. That was when it struck me. It sounded stupid to me as I thought about it, but I stared at my dog with content to see if he heard it. Spike cocked his head at me with a befuddled look on his face, but not aware as if he heard a voice. I shrugged my shoulders and turned around when Spike barked. Simultaneously, I heard a voice say, “Why did you stare at me like that?”

    I turned around slowly in disbelief as I finally knew where it was coming from− it was my dog. 





    Chapter 2

    My mind went blank as I was hearing my dog talk. I stared at Spike with a blank expression on my face, not sure if I was shocked, appalled, or frustrated at that moment. He prodded my leg with his snout saying, “Come on. I want to go home! It’s scary out her…” his maw finally following his words.

    I stepped away from him with an earnest, but troubled look on my face. “You can talk?” I blurted out in amazement.

    His audits picked up as he cocked his head again. “You can understand me?”

    “Y-yeah,” I responded; the only thing that I could squeeze out of my vocal chords.

    Spike’s voice was smooth like silk, but had a tinge of gruffness. He laughed as he jumped onto the flat rock. “Well,” he chuckled, “I have a lot of things to say to you. For one thing, stop scrubbing me so hard during bath time. The bristles on the brush hurt my pelt! Plus, you need to get some better dog food. And might I−”

    “Okay! Okay Spike, I get it!” my voice was somewhat distraught.

    The male twisted his head towards me and scowled, a sense of worry permeating from his face. “You know that you have work tomorrow and it’s probably midnight by now.”

    My mind was still trying to wrap around the fact that I could understand my dog, so I did not notice him chatting with me. The moon stared down at me with an intensified brightness as we exchanged glances, distracting me from my own thoughts. The moon crawled through the darkness as it illuminated anything its reflected light touched. The circular area that Spike and I were in brightened and sparkled with shining stars of silver and blue. It was beautiful, the glorious sight that appeared to us. Then, as the stars of color faded into darkness, I heard a bush that was surrounding the area rustle.

    I jumped up from the rock, throwing Spike off of my lap, and whisked around 360 degrees. Everything was quiet now, but I still had the feeling that someone was here. I turned around to survey my surroundings again when I saw another bush shiver. I did not hesitate when it shook and pounced at it. When I was close to the bush, I saw a shadowed figure peer from it. It saw my immediate action and tried to scuttle out of the way of my outstretched hands, but it was too late. I tackled the figure to the ground and was that it was a man.

    He was tall, just about my height, and was skinny. He had spiked, dark brown hair that appeared to be wet, but was dry as the Sahara Desert. His eyes were green with a shallow, blue line tracing his iris. He also wore a tattered, leather vest and pants made from boar hide. What caught my eyes was that he had slightly pointed ears and sharp fingernails, which he was now digging into the left side of my chest.

    I winced in pain as his nails burrowed deeper into my side, but I still held a firm grip on him. I clenched my teeth as the pain fortified and wheezed. “Wh-why were you hiding just now?” My breath was escaping me as he shoved his other hand into my right side.

    He began speaking in a foreign language, but I quickly understood his language. “-have been trespassing on my area for far too long! I wanted to see who you were until you rudely tackled me down!” He took his nails from my sides, allowing me to breathe again.

    “Me rudely tackle you?” I let him go and stood up, furious and appalled at his attitude, “Like you’re one to talk, sneaking up on people!”

    Spike appeared by my side and bristled at the mysterious man. “I do not trust this man one bit Nathan!”

    “You should trust me dog,” the man bellowed as he stood up, “since I am halfway your kind.”

    I was awestruck as those last few words fell from his mouth. I tried to bore into his eyes, to see if I could read his thoughts from them, but his eyes were hollow and gave off no sign of anything. He folded his arms as he went towards the rock. He sat on the sturdy stone oval and his green and blue eyes fixed onto mine. He stared at me for a few seconds before laughing. “So you don’t have that great of a life now, do you?” He began scratching his right arm.

    “Well not really…” I paused and then changed the subject, “wait, why did you say you are halfway a dog?”

    “A wolf is more precise. Have you heard of lycanthropy?”

    My eyes widened while Spike trotted to my side. “You mean people that think and act like they are a wolf?”

    He laughed as I finished my sentence. My mouth formed a scowl at him as he settled down. “What are you laughing about?” I noticed that I was closer to him and was about to grab his throat.

    “Patience, patience,” he slapped my hand away, “The reason that I laughed was because people actually believe that,” he chuckled as he concluded.

    “So you’re saying that there are actually werewolves, real ones that look like wolves, around here?” My eyes widened up so much that they could have been mistaken for black.

    “Well, you are looking at one,” he pointed to himself and smiled.

    I lost it at that point. My heart was filled with joy as I grabbed his gruff hand forcefully and started hauling back to my house. His expression faded into horror as we grew nearer to the end of the woods. “Where are you taking me?” he screamed in horror.

    “We are going to my house! I’m going to show the world that you exist!”

    Suddenly, as if he just appeared, Spike ran in front of me and halted to stop me. I dug my heels into the dirt, stopping just inches of colliding into my dog. “I don’t think that’s a good idea Nathan!” Spike screamed, exasperation filling his voice.

    “Why do you think that?” the anger in my voice was overlapping my joy.

    The man ripped his hand from my grip and jumped into a deep evergreen. “Have you been taught history? How has anything unique and out-there have been treated?”

    I paused and bit my lip. “Ah, I see your point…” my eyes brightened as an idea sparked in my head, “…but why don’t you stay at my place? You will be warmer and much more comfortable there.”

    “Well, I don’t think that that will hurt me. Sometime this week, I’ll show you the ‘other’ half of the forest, okay?”

    “Okay, it’s a deal!” I nodded my head in agreement.

    We shook hands as we struck our deal. A smile escaped my lips as my level of energy was rising like Old Faithful. I turned my head to Spike to see if he agreed with our deal. He wagged his tail and gazed aimlessly into my eyes, but said nothing. I didn’t know if he agreed or not, but it didn’t matter now because we had already left the forest. We ran as quickly as we could to my house. I was sweating and Spike was panting wildly while the werewolf man was not even breaking a bead of sweat.

    I pulled my house keys from my pocket and inserted it into its slot. I turned the key clockwise 90 degrees when I stopped. I shifted my gaze to the werewolf and narrowed my eyes. “What is your name? I never caught it.”

    He smiled and pointed to himself. “My name is Rulik.”

    I raised an eyebrow in wonder. “Why is your name so weird? Why don’t you have a name like Jack, Kevin, Sam, or Darrell?”

    “Well, I was given this name when I was a pup.”

    My eyes opened a little as my interest grew. “A pup? Do werewolves start out as puppies?”

    “Yeah, or regular people can contract it by our bite. Also, we don’t like to be called ‘werewolves’. We are lycanthropes, true lycanthropes.”

    “Wait, so what about your mother? What does-“

    “She,” he rushed to interrupt me, “turns into her wolf form to give birth. Some of us obtain our human form and become lycanthropes, while the other ones stay as wolves and live out in the wild.”

    “You mean-“

    “Yes, I mean that the wolves you see every day may be my relatives,” He shivered as the cold air began to creep upon us, “May we go inside? It is a bit chilly out here.”

    I smiled and opened the door. “By all means, I want to get inside myself. Plus, I want to ask you more questions.”

    Spike ran into the cluttered mess that was my house and plopped onto his bed. Rulik and I sat on my sofa, across from the TV. I grabbed the remote off of the end table and turned the TV on, which was already on the news. I turned my head towards Rulik and his towards me. “So,” I continued with our previous conversation, “continuing from where we last left off, does a wolf’s bit give you the lycanthropy disease?”

    “No. If they don’t obtain their human form, they do not have the lycanthrope gene and will just stay as wolves.”

    “So technically, they just become wolves.”

    “Precisely,” he agreed with my answer.

    “So what about the language between you guys? Can you understand them as well?” I raised my eyebrow as I waited for an answer.

    “Naturally,” he paused and put his hand to his chin, “but what puzzles me is how you can understand the canine and lycanthrope language. That is very interesting-” he pointed out the window and towards the moon, “-and on a full moon too. Hmm…”

    “’Hmm…’ what?”

    “Oh nothing…” he shook his head in disapproval.

    I stood up, stride over to the kitchen, and opened the fridge. I popped my head up from
    the fridge and said, “Hey, do you want anything to drink? I have Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Sprite, orange juice, water-”

    “Water will do,” Rulik replied, looking at the TV.

    I grabbed a can of Pepsi and a bottle of water from the fridge and shut the door. I walked back to the couch and sat down, giving Rulik his water. He opened the bottle and took a sip, only to spit it back out in a disgusted motion. “Ugh! What is this vile drink?” he said while spitting some more, the mix of water and spit falling onto my carpet.

    I was shocked at his disapproval of the purified water. “It’s only purified water. They use chemicals to purify it and make it cleaner than tap-“

    “They tainted the water with chemicals?”

    “Well, I wouldn’t say ‘tainted’, but-“

    I was interrupted when Rulik flailed onto the floor clenching his throat, saying, “You poisoned me!” and, “Curse you!”

    “Wait! You’re not going to die!” I pleaded my case, “The chemicals are harmless! Stop acting like you’re dying and keep what dignity that you still have left!”

    He stopped flailing about and let go of his throat, allowing him to breathe again. He stood up and sat back on the couch, his face red with embarrassment. He turned his head away as I chuckled and spat a little more. “It still tastes horrible,” his face gained more of a reddish hue.

    Laughter escaped my vocal chords as I changed the channel. “You really need to learn about the outside world, don’t you?”

    “Well… yeah. I’m a bit outdated on your people’s culture.”

    He nodded and looked out the window towards the full moon. He sighed as the moonlight danced on the streets and the rooftops of other houses. I watched him gaze out at the moon when a vital fact about lycanthropes popped into my head. “Shouldn’t you be changing by now?” my face puzzled.

    “Huh?” he said, coming to his senses.

    “I was just wondering why you haven’t changed yet. It’s a full moon now and you just keep staring out at the moon, as if mesmer… ized…” my voice trailed off as the short amount of time with Rulik and his actions reminded me of my actions during my boring ‘American Dream’ life.

    Rulik scratched his head in confusion. He didn’t know about how much we acted alike. He shrugged his shoulders and turned back at the moon. “We can change of our own free will,” his voice sounded distant, as if he was talking subconsciously, “but the moon is an allure to us. It’s like a shiny, priceless jewel that we crave, but can never have,” his eyes began to shine with the moonlight.

    My mouth opened to continue the slightly intense conversation, but was interrupted by Rulik’s hollow eyes, now looking at me, halting my thought process. “I think,” he paused, probably to recollect his thoughts, “you might be a crossbreed of lycanthrope and man.”

    “W-what?” my mind was blank as the shock set in.

    “It sounds farfetched, but in my village, there is a myth that a lycanthrope woman fell in love with a human male. She broke the sacred code for mating with another creature and was exiled from her fellow tribe. The problem was that she stayed with the human and eventually was married to him. Nine months and around three weeks later, she became pregnant, but when it came time to give birth, she didn’t shift into her wolf form. Rather, she stayed in her human form and gave birth to a baby boy, but this child had hidden lycanthrope abilities.

    “Unfortunately, his mother never had the chance to teach him of those abilities, for after she gave birth, she fell into a deep coma and never returned. After that, the human male took his son and raised him as a normal human child, knowing that this child was a half-lycanthrope, but never telling him.”

    My mouth was wide open by the end of the myth, the reason being that for as long as I remember; my father was the only one who raised me. Plus, every time that I asked about what happened to my mom, he would just change the subject. Rulik notices the shock on my face and smiled. “Sounds like your childhood, doesn’t it?” he said with a slight smirk on his face.

    “Y-y-yeah…” I stuttered out.

    My mind was still wrapped around the myth and how it was apparent that it was talking about me. Rulik jumped up off of the couch and pointed at me. “Ha! I knew it! You’re the half-lycanthrope that was in the myth!” he said with an excited expression on his face.

    “Whoa! Whoa! Don’t jump to conclusions just yet,” I stuttered as I frantically thought of an excuse, “It might be a coincidence. Just because I didn’t know my mom and my dad would change the subject when I asked about her doesn’t mean that I am a half-lycanthrope!”

    “Well, how do you explain your love for the forest?”

    “Anyone can have that.”

    “What about your ability to comprehend and understand the canine and lycanthrope languages?”

    “Well I-“

    “Plus, how do you explain the fact that this all happened on a full moon?”

    Rulik’s multitude of questions was leaving me exasperated. “I-“

    “Just admit it Nathan. You know, in your heart, that you are the half-lycanthrope in the myth,” he sat down on the couch and sighed, “I could help you reveal your powers to you if you want.”

    “I-I-” my brain stopped. I couldn’t find the words to say.

    I stared at the moon, its bright light gently caressing my skin. My eyes dilated as it faded behind a cloud. Am I really a half-lycanthrope? I thought to myself, still gazing at the moon. I shook my head to get off the subject. My eyes then turned to the clock to check the time. It read 3:30 a.m.

    My face turned white. “Is it that time already?” I said with a tone of fear and anxiety.”

    “What?” he replied.

    “I need to get to bed! I have work tomorrow!” I sputtered out, my breathing quickening.

    “Oh… I’m sorry if I kept you up so late,” he dropped his head with guilt.

    “No, no. It’s not your fault. I was interested with your kind and just asked too many questions.”

    “But I asked questions about you too,” his eyes peered out towards me from the shadow of his face.

    “The problem was that I just stayed up too late. It was not your fault,” I stated, “Let’s just get us to bed. You can sleep on the couch, if you want.”

    He smiled warmly at the gesture. “Yeah, that would be fine.”

    “Do you want a pillow or a blanket?” I pointed to my room.

    “Nah,” he replied with an honest disregard for comfort, “I’m used to sleeping like this.”

    “Oh… alright then,” I said slowly.

    I climbed up the stairs with ease. Maybe I was more cognizant, or maybe I was just not feeling any pain, but all I knew was that it was much easier to walk up the stairs this time. I halted in the middle of the staircase and dropped my head below the first floor ceiling. I looked at Spike, then at Rulik. This is going to be a fun and bizarre day tomorrow, I thought as my mouth turned upright into a grin.

    I finished up the stairs and went into my bedroom. I opened up the window and let the cool air flow through my room. The breeze was an icy kiss to my face, taunting me to stay, and I did. I left the window open and climbed into my bed. My eyes became heavy and I drifted off. I had a wonderful night of sleep that night.
     


    Chapter 3

    A blaring, screeching sound aroused me from my peaceful slumber. I kicked off my blanket and shot up off of my bed and onto the floor with a thud. The room was freezing, a result of leaving the window open at night. I was shivering as I spotted what blew me straight off of my bed; it was a bird. I stared at the winged, feathered creature as it hovered above my head mockingly, entertained by my flailing gestures and over exaggeration. It must have flown by my ear and tweeted, because I have no alarm on my clock.

    Its cheerful chirping didn’t help the freezing temperature inside my room, so I closed the window and turned my attention back towards the light-hearted bird. There was no time to tackle the conflict because I had to get ready for work. I left the room, making sure to close the door, and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I turned the nozzle on halfway towards hot and let it run while I undressed. I stripped off my clothes and stepped into the shower, steam flowing out like a sauna.

    The water felt like tiny fingers touching me as it trickled down my skin. Its warmth was embracing me, warming me up as the smell of body wash permeated throughout the bathroom. The water made a tip-tap sound as it hit my skin and a pitter-patter sound as it splashed against the tub’s surface. I was at peace when the sound of footsteps interrupted my utopia of the mind. I thought that it was just Spike, so I continued on by grabbing the shampoo after I rinsed off the soap that was lathered all over my body.

    The next few minutes were quiet as I washed my hair, the water tracing my slightly wavy, dark brown hair. I thought Spike had left by now, so I pulled the bathroom curtain back, just to frantically throw them back closed, my face beet red with embarrassment. Spike was gone, but he was never there in the first place. It was Rulik who was right outside the shower soaking wet− and naked.

    “Why in the world are you naked?” I said in a loud and frustrated tone.

    “Well, because I need a towel… but you were taking your bath, so I waited until you were-”

    “Why didn’t you say that you were in here in the first place?” My voice became sharper. “You were humming,” he replied with an honest, simple tone; it was like a child’s voice.

    I was befuddled at this point. Should I be contradicting or caring to him? I didn’t know. I stuck my hand out from the curtain and pointed to my room. “Go to my room, open the door, and go to my closet. Don’t mind the bird that is in there too. There spare towels are in my closet,” my voice now monotone.

    “Thanks,” I heard from behind the curtain, then his footsteps leaving the bathroom.

    I pulled the shower curtain back slowly and cautiously. There was nobody other than myself in the bathroom; that made me sigh with relief. I made sure to lock the door so no one would come in. My mind was on my usual events and how my new friend and power will affect them.

    Suddenly, there was a loud crash in my bedroom, the sound of wood snapping into shards and splinters, and then silence. It was not a pleasant sound to my ears. I dried myself off with my towel with anxiety and threw on my clothes. I ran out of the bathroom and desperately swung my door open. My heart dropped as I saw my bed torn into shreds. Then wooden frame to it wasn’t any better as it was now an amputee with no legs to support it. Then, to add insult to injury, Rulik was sitting on all four on my now ruined bed, chewing on the once joyful bird, now silent as I was.

    He had a towel wrapped around him in a bizarre position. It looked like a toga, only furrier. He gnashed his teeth as he swallowed some of the bird muscle down, happy about his kill. My rage and anger was rising as I was about to scream at him out of fury when something under his towel caught my eyes. It was a furry, gray wolf tail swinging back and forth happily. “Hey Rulik,” I paused and put my right hand to my chin.

    He spun around effortlessly and stared at me playfully. “Yeah, what is it?” he slurred his sentence out with one breath.

    “I was wondering,” I paused again, taking careful measures to ask without being rude, “why do you hide your tail?”

    He was confused at the question. “I thought that you would have figured out by now, but I hide it to walk among humans when I go out to get supplies for my village that we can’t get there.”

    That was the stupidest question that I have ever asked. My head became limp, a sign of me stating my embarrassment. He laughed as I raised my head. “Well, enough of that. You need to hurry up or you’ll be late,” he stated while wiping off the blood that surrounded his mouth.

    He was right. It was already nearing nine in the morning, I needed to be at Serec-Tech at ten o’ clock and it was a 53 minute drive from here to the building. I ran out of my room, scrambled down the stairs, and shoved open the door, creaming like a mad man. I heard Rulik laughing from my room. He was enjoying the ‘entertainment’ that my curiosity and stupidity brought. I closed the door and locked it, hoping that Rulik doesn’t leave and follow me. My car was shining as I ran towards it, a symbol of freedom to me. The reflection of the rising sun casting off the GTO blinded me when its rays pierced my eyes.

    Squinting my eyes so I could see, I unlocked and opened the driver side door. I threw myself in there, escaping the blinding light, and shoved the key into the ignition. The GTO purred with ferocity and the radio turned on, Avenged Sevenfold’s song, “Demons” filling the car. I clenched the stick and threw it into reverse. I made sure to back out easily enough and raced down the street, turning onto the main road just before the traffic light turned red. My tires left their mark on the road as I weaved through the morning traffic. My recklessness also almost caused me to crash as I came onto the highway.

    My heart raced, as if in tune with my car. I’ve never felt this much adrenaline pumping through my veins. I felt as if I was burning, my skin dancing with the heat, but it felt good. I pressed gas pedal down to its fullest extent and the city turned into a giant blur. Cars that I passed on the highway either screeched to a halt as fear and shock was finally piercing their nerves or began blaring their car horn in a flurry of anger and road rage. I was going at around 143 mph and rising. My heart was beating faster and faster, feeling more like a drum roll than a heartbeat.

    My mind finally caught up to my senses and my car slowed down to a steady 45 mph as I entered the city’s plaza. I didn’t know what happened back on the highway. I’ve never acted like that before. The fact of the random adrenaline rush was plaguing my thoughts. I pressed on the brakes and slowed down to a full stop at a four-way intersection, my mind racing like yesterday. The light turned green and tires began turning slowly in its usual pattern. I sped up to 35 mph and smiled. I didn’t know why I was smiling until I sped up to 40 mph; I became happier as I sped up.

    This was new to me; it was probably a trait of the lycanthrope gene that activated after last night’s event. I struggled to slow down when the Serec-Tech parking lot building drew closer into view, but I managed to twist the wheel counter-clockwise and turn into the lot, almost taking out the GTO’s rear and a pillar in the process. I slowed down even further as my parking spot appeared from behind the gray Chevy Neon parked beside it. After parking my car and turning it off, I exited the car and locked it with my key. It made a deep, low click as the locking mechanism shifted to the ‘locked’ position. I grinned as it stayed there, a mechanical wolf ready to ambush its prey.

    the building was silent as I entered my pin code to clock in. It was creepy; people were usually noisy and obnoxious here, but everyone was dead silent today. I scanned everyone’s face to figure out why they were silent when I saw the cause of it. A man with a gray wolf tail hanging right above his rear end was scaling the skyscraper. The reason why there was a tail showing was because the man had a towel wrapped around him like a toga.

    My heart stopped. This was not going to end well if he was caught. He kept climbing up the building with a scroll in between his teeth. I knew that it was Rulik, but my eyes didn’t want to believe it. I ran over to the elevator and slammed my fist into the its ‘up’ button. The elevator door slid open to reveal vinyl flooring with stains of an unknown substance near the left corner from the door. There were handrails plastered on halfway up the white bumpy walls too.

    I jumped into the elevator and hit the top button: Floor 56. The elevator door slid shut, letting off a clunk as it locked itself. It shot up towards the 56th floor, a mechanical bullet. I held onto the handrail as it kept rising with intensity. The claustrophobic area finally stopped when the digital sign above the door said ‘56’. I squeezed through the opening elevator door and shoved my body past the heavy ‘Emergency Roof Exit’ door.

    The moment that I stumbled onto the roof, Rulik was waiting by an exhaust vent. “I knew that you would run up to the roof,” he spoke calmly and steadily, “You will need this for after work.”

    Walking towards me, he outstretched his arm to me, revealing the scroll. The problem was that I was not even thinking about our current conversation. I slapped the scroll away and it flew over and rolled by the exhaust vent. My voice rose in anger as the hair on my body bristled. “Do you know how many people saw you?” I couldn’t control my fury that was being unleashed upon Rulik, “Did you even take the time to hide your tail?”

    His tail hung between his legs, like when a dog takes a scolding. His head dropped as he knew that he put himself in danger. In a flash, the male lycanthrope disappeared into the corner near the door, becoming one with the shadows. “I forgot about my appearance…” he mumbled under his breath.

    Rulik’s hand revealed itself from the shadowy abyss, just to point at the scroll that was cradling itself by the exhaust vent. “Take that scroll,” he began to sound like a parrot, repeating himself, “It will show you the path to my land.”

    “You mean like a map?” my attitude was annoyed, for the most part.

    “Yeah, you could say that,” he snickered as he finished.

    “But-” my mind stopped, lost in translation.

    What did he mean when he said ‘you could say that’? My thoughts kept replaying that
    sentence until I was interrupted by Rulik. “But… what?” he questioned, interest filling the tone of his voice.

    “Nothing, nothing,” I quickly changed the subject, “Anyways, where are you going? It sounds like you are leaving.”

    He chuckled, then burst out laughing. “You’re funny. I have to see my family at some time,” he said, steadying himself from his laughing fit.

    Shock appeared on my face. “You still live with your family?” I asked incredulously, thinking that he was living on his own.

    “My mother and siblings, yeah. We stay together in a pack within our village,” he replied, his voice sounding wary.

    “Oh… alright. Well then, get yourself some clothes and get back to your pack.”

    Rulik grinned, brightening his face. “Yeah, yeah. See you later,” he said before he jumped off of the skyscraper and disappeared from sight.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    The day went by smoothly as no one said anything all day long. My bet was that Rulik shocked them all, temporarily stalling their minds from thinking straight. I clocked out early that day because of the morning ‘event’. I had to hand it to Rulik though; he sure knew how to make an appearance. Once again, his mysterious ways intrigued my interest, leaving my mind to ponder as I sat in my car. What was it like to be a full lycanthrope? Was it fate to meet with him and unveil my past, or was it just coincidence? All of these thoughts rambled in my brain as I ignited my car and sped off onto the main street.

    the ride home felt smoother than usual, most likely because I was still on my adrenaline rush of today. Suddenly, everything was a blur once more, but now it was not from speeding. It was like if time slowed down to a crawl and I was the only one that wasn’t affected by it. The voice on the radio became slurred and deep. Cars slowed down to a standstill, while the people’s expressions were frozen in place. This must have been one of the lycanthrope abilities instead of a change in my actions, the reason being that I was at normal speed, but everything else was fixed into place.

    I stepped out of my car, shoving the shift to neutral as I exited the car. Leaning myself onto the back of my GTO, I began pushing it towards the highway exit. The car was ignorant to my efforts for a few seconds until, finally, it began to move. My muscles ached as I continued on my strenuous plight, but they were relieved of that burden once my car accelerated to a decent speed. Nearing the exit, I jumped into the car and turned the wheel towards it. The other people probably thought that I disappeared in a flash, thinking of what is happening in normal time and when this ability wears off.

    I finally reached the intersection that turned into my neighborhood when time resumed once again. Cars flew by, but luckily, none were coming my way. That gave me time to shift back into first gear. My car roared as I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and sped off, smoke floating from where it once was. the tires screeched as the car slid into the driveway. It was the best drift yet− for me, of course.

    the car rumbled as I sighed, breathing hardly after today’s events. My heart was pounding harder than it ever had. the rush was exhilarating, but also frightening. Why are these abilities coming out now? I had my suspicions, but I did not want to announce them until I was sure. My eyes caught the map, rolling back and forth on the passenger seat. It was tempting me to pick it up, its alluring textures taunting my interests. I picked it up, my interest taking over, and opened the ancient-looking scroll.

    There was a map of Seattle that was placed on the inside with a dot positioned at the center of the forest. Looking closer, I saw that the dot was fixated on the opening in the woods, the place where I first met Rulik. My eyes dropped to the bottom of the map where markings were written across it. They were translated easily as it must have been the lycanthrope language. All it said was, “Recite this and know your true path. Laa’shan cætrel unisol túso zelük.”

    Something pounded on the passenger door, disrupting my concentration on the map. I
    hesitated, fearing who could be knocking at the door, but then I opened it. Spike jumped up onto the passenger seat, wagging his tail as he shuffled around for a comfortable position. “You know that Rulik left, right?” he questioned as he slumped down on the seat, finding a comfortable position to lie down.

    “Yeah, I know…” I paused, then changed the subject as I usually do, “I have a map to get to the lycanthropes’ place.”

    Spike tilted his head to the right, confusion shown in his face. “Wait, you mean to Rulik?”

    “I really don’t know,” my eyes returned to the map, “but what I do know is that this map will lead us to somewhere new. All that I hope is that the inhabitants are friendly and I can gather some evidence to prove mythical creatures’ existence.”

    “They probably will be and I’m unsure about the existence thing, but it’s up to you,” Spike replied, ears twitching from the cold.

    I exited the car, making sure to take the keys out with me, and shut the door. Spike repeated my actions not long after, closing the passenger door with his two front paws. “Well, are we ready to go?” I asked as I began walking towards the forest.

    “Ready as I will ever be,” he replied, walking beside me.

    After a couple of minutes and some minor ‘altercations’, we finally reached the opening at the center of the woods. For some odd reason, the trees seemed to glitter against the sunlight. The sun’s intensity during sunset was stronger than it ever was before. it was as if it knew that today was a special day for me. I stepped up onto the rock, map in hand. it swayed with the wind as I opened it.

    The sky was beautiful when I looked up to the sky. Stars were beginning to show as the day was quickly turning into dusk. The sky then began darkening from its daily light blue to its nightly navy blue color. My hands shook a bit as I looked back to the map. I was afraid, nervous, and even shocked, but my excitement exceeded them all. With chapped lips and sweaty palms, I began to recite the saying. “Laa’shan… cætrel… unisol… túso…” I stopped to lick my lips, then resumed, “…zelük!”

    Out from the night sky shined three blue lights, brighter than the stars in the sky. The lights then became beams as they shot down to Earth in a triangular formation and surrounded Spike and me. They rotated 60 degrees counter-clockwise, revealing three emblems that were embroidered into the rock from where the beams once were. On the southwestern emblem was a ruby colored dragon breathing fire, while on the southeastern emblem was an onyx colored Cerberus arguing with its three different heads. On the northern emblem was a silver colored wolf howling proudly to a full moon.

    The emblems began to shine as the beams dimmed away, revealing three more emblems: a golden gryphon flying in the sky, a greenish gray basilisk looking intimidating, and a blue sea serpent slithering through the sea’s ground level. The gryphon was positioned northeast on the rock, the basilisk to the northwest, and the sea serpent to the south. Spike looked up to me in confusion as the beams died away. “Was that all? I thought that there would be more…” Spike asked, but I was as confused as he was.

    At that moment, the emblems exploded with a blinding light and connected with each other to make two overlapping triangles. It looked like a David’s Star, but it wasn’t− it was an alchemy circle. The alchemy circle was finished as two rings were traced; one was connected by the emblems and the other a little more inside the bigger one. The emblems became beams themselves, enveloping us with the emblems’ colors. My eyes widened as the rock suddenly turned into a teleportation platform, with the emblems rotating clockwise.

    They rotated faster and faster, eventually blending with each other and forming a multicolored cylinder around Spike and me. My head felt like it wanted to explode as the whirring sound being made from the rotating emblems grew louder, turning into an ear-splitting screech. Spike was taking the most damage as he howled in pain from the screeching noise. The pain was so much for him that he eventually passed out, slumping to the rock.

    The rotation and whirring noise intensified, forcing me to cup my ears in pain. Everything was becoming blurry and incoherent as my head pounded like a drum. I phased in and out of consciousness, the pain marring my thought process. My heart was racing, my body ached, and I felt paralyzed. Where was this going to take me? Was this the right decision? Questions were flooding into my head when everything suddenly went black. I knew what happened… We had left and gone to the other world.