It didn't take long for Nicholas to arrive at my doorstep, rapping on the door just loud enough for me to hear but not too sudden that it didn't make me jump in my seat. It was like he knew I was on edge and that every creak in the house made goose bumps crawl on my flesh. Before he had arrived I went out and checked on the horses, chickens, and other small farm animals that roamed my property. The horses seemed calmer than last night but were still shaken and I wanted desperately to clean the stall so they didn't have to deal with the smell of rotting blood but there was little I could do.
If I could figure out what to do with Nicholas I would scrub it and keep the horses in my sights. I thought it was during the day time, Adam was somewhere nearby keeping a monitoring and hidden eye on my property. I released the horses for them to run free in the pasture so they didn't have to deal with the acrid scent, but they didn't go far, staying near the fence closest to my house.
I didn't mind, to be honest. It was easier to see them through the windows and keep a better eye on them and their safety.
I didn't know what to expect from Nicholas.
I didn't know if I was going to be face to face with the beast, salivating with fresh blood or the same glimmering yellow eyes catching me in their trap.
However, when he came to the front door, the wind knocked out of him, his hair ruffled by the wind, and his eyes flashing blue as he gazed disheveled at me--that was the least of my expectations.
Nicholas had <i>ran</i> to my house.
I instantly opened the door and let him step through, the wind pushing passed me as I caught the whiff of pine and wild roll off of him.
It was a beautiful smell and I closed my eyes slightly to savor the scent as it flooded my nostrils.
When I closed the door behind him he whirled around me, his face contorting with some kind of battle that performed for the split of the moment then disappeared. He stood tall, his shoulders broad and his chest puffed out. He seemed more animal than man at this moment and it made me shake to my feet but I was also drawn to it.
"Eboni..." he said in his dark and winded tone. He didn't walk towards me, I think I would've stepped back from him, but then again I might not have.
I saw him lick his lips and offered, "Would you like some water?"
He nodded, face full of sadness suddenly.
I walked into the kitchen hearing his heavy footfalls behind me. I had learned in many movies and books never to turn your back on your enemy, but Nicholas wasn't my enemy--
--Was he?
I grabbed a cup from the cabinet and filled it with the sink water and put a few cubes of ice in to make it chill quicker. I handed it to him, our fingers brushing, his skin extremely hot. I leaned back, folding my arms across my chest as I tried to look anywhere but at him. He drank slow but it was obvious he was parched and devoured the water--just like he had devoured Jekyll's guts.
I became nauseas for a moment and almost faltered when I felt his hands on my shoulders, turning me upright. I met his eyes and his nostrils flared. His eyes flashed yellow then was blue once again.
I shuddered.
"Here, lets have you sit. You're not feeling right," observed Nicholas as he led me to the dining room chair.
"How do you know?" I asked him, obeying and curling in my seat like a child.
Nicholas must've felt he wasn't welcomed for he hid in the corner, slightly darkened by the shadows, his blue eyes gleaming out towards me.
"Everyone has a certain smell. Sick, sleep, hunger smell. The list goes on and on. Your smell altered just a bit and I knew you were feeling...not well," he replied with some difficulty as if the truth was sticking in his throat.
I chewed on my lip. I had so many questions yet had none at all. I wanted to confront in his face but also wanted to ball beneath my blankets and pretend the monsters were all fake.
"How come you never told me?" I asked after a few minutes of quiet between us.
He huffed out a small laugh. "Would you have believed me?"
I considered. No I wouldn't have. My doubt must've been easily read on my face for he nodded and turned his face away.
"How long have you...been like this?" I continued to ask. I wanted my answers and I was going to get them today.
Nicholas fumbled with his fingers, playing with them and I noticed the back of his hands were darker than yesterday, hair covering him. Fur. I shook gently.
"Senior year," he answered rather bluntly.
I wasn't expecting it and I jumped in my seat in shock as it rocked through me.
"I guess it runs in the family," he chided. "Some inheritance, huh? Only the men in our family get it though, women don't they can't handle the Change. And if they do, they don't survive their first transformation. Its a game of fifty-fifty with us. Sometimes we control the--wolf but other times the wolf controls us."
I waited, my expression questioning and patient.
"Mine controls me," he concluded.
"Is that why..why..."
"Why I moved? Yes. My family took me somewhere far out of the city, away from other people so they wouldn't get hurt." Nicholas shook his head, his dark blonde hair brushing around his face. "What the funny part is, was that I did control it. I had complete control during the first three days. My parents thought I was ready and let me return to the city, we almost moved back. Almost. I changed and I had no control. The--wolf went insane and...well.."
My memories retraced back to the newspapers, the media screaming about the death toll.
"The Massacre of the Decade," I titled, recounting of what the news had said. So many families dead, corpses lying everywhere on the streets, in their homes, as buildings were trashed.
"Oh yeah," muttered Nicholas. "The wolf's personal best. It's quite proud of it. That was the first time I changed in the city and when I realized I had no control of it anymore. But there are people out there who put people like me out of their misery."
"Bounty Hunters," I whispered, thinking back to Adam. Everything was puzzling together.
Nicholas agreed. "Adam has been after me for years."
"Why..then why..." I tried to talk but it came out in difficult breaths.
Nicholas, with his beautiful eyes and gorgeous face upturned to me, waiting patiently. I couldn't believe this wonderful and humorous--this angel, had a demon dwelling within ready to be released.
"I'm so sorry Ebs." His eyes shook and became glassy, holding back his own tears. "I never meant to hurt you. Never you. I didn't mean..what happened to Jekyll...I really tried to stop it." He slouched onto the floor, clutching his head and balling into himself.
I don't know what possessed me but I stood from my chair and went to his side, taking him into my arms and cradling his face. I kissed his hair. There was nothing to forgive as I smoothed his shoulders. He didn't cry, he warred against it, but he did shake in my arms and I wondered if the wolf wanted to be released.
He looked up at me.
"Eboni..." he said my name like it was his elixir, his health potion.
I gently kissed his lips. He drew in a long breath, taking in my scent. When he opened his eyes they were yellow longer than normal and I saw the wolf beneath, waiting to break from this human shell.
"Your eyes..." I murmured out, so low in my breath it was a wonder he heard me.
His eyes widened, their color remaining the same, as his pupils shrunk. He whipped his face away from me, hiding his eyes in the pitches of his palms.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry!" he repeated.
Where was my Nicholas?
I would fight for him to return.
"Nic, look at me," I tenderly demanded.
He lowered his hands but didn't look at me.
I took his chin in my hand and made him direct his line of vision with mine. His eyes were a menacing yellow but I didn't care. I loved him, I always would. Of course I was frightened, but I would learn to move passed that.
I rubbed my thumb along his high cheekbones where he had smiled so many times. "I like them." And I meant it.
"How can you stand to be with me? I'm just a monster," he said, panting scooting away from me.
I only crept forward, squishing the gap between us. I kissed his nose and looked at him again.
"You are no monster, Nicholas," I stated, cupping his face in my hands. I ran them through the thickening whiskers on his face and dived into those glowing eyes. I was surprised that I accepted it, but how could I decline him? Leave him all alone?
"Oh Ebs..." he sighed out in relief as he leaned into my palm. My heart fluttered as my cheeks became hot.
"I do have one question though," I stated before we got too far off track. "Why did you come through here? You weren't really going to visit your parents were you?"
He shook his head and gave a halfhearted laugh. "You know me too well. No. My parents are across the country. I knew my time was coming up, the scent of Adam was getting closer. And although this life of mine has given me tons of regrets, there was at least one I wanted to fix."
I stared at him. Was he--
"I followed your scent here. I wanted to fix us before I--well--you know. Got put out of my misery," he confessed. "I wanted to see you one last time since in high school I wasn't even able to ask you out for a date."
My spine tingled as I felt numb all around. I almost got up and danced. My heart pounded to be released as it thundered against my chest. I wrapped my arms tightly around his muscular neck and dug into his mouth, our tongues colliding as I searched deeper and deeper. I tasted him, a mix of mint and grass. I ran my fingers through his hair as my blood raced, pulsing so quick I think my forehead became hotter than his. I pressed myself against him, pinning him to the wall as our lips played.
A gut-wrenching rumble that was often suppressed came from the trenches of his throat. He gave me a possessive growl as he crushed me against him, consuming my lips. It was when I felt something sharp upon my tongue and scrape it did I break out of the romantic trance between us.
"Ow!" I said as I pulled apart from his, feeling my tongue.
Instantly knowing his mistake, Nicholas covered his mouth with his tongue. "I'm so sorry...when its the nights of the full moon it's easier for the...you know...to take control of me."
I tasted blood in my mouth but I would be fine. "Wait, then technically could you...?"
"Change right now? Damn straight," he said. "The wolf only gets three days each month, although it's stronger with the moon, it's just as strong during the day. If I don't keep a barrier between me and the wolf I would be running around causing mayhem day and night."
"Then was that--" I guessed.
Nicholas nodded. "I hate fighting like this."
I kissed his cheek delicately, the wolfish yellow eyes finding me. "Everything will be okay Nic. I'm not leaving you."
"But why? I might try to--"
I put a finger on his lips. "I love you Nicholas. Nothing will ever change that."
We smiled in surrender and gave each other another heart-curdling kiss.
We spent the rest of the day in that corner. I asked him questions of werewolf tales and movies. Silver bullets were stronger than regular bullets, but both could kill werewolves just the same. It was true they changed during the full moon, and from what I saw last night, they were hardly the harmless giant wolves from the books by Stephanie Meyer. I was interested, I was learning a whole new side to Nicholas. And due to my interest and acceptance, I think Nicholas felt comfortable within his own skin, not once complaining about the color of his eyes or the hair growing along his arms and face.
We had lost track of time that when the sun began to set, it gave Nicholas a jolt. I had been resting on his chest, falling into a light sleep when he had awoken me.
"Ebs, I gotta get going," he said slightly struggling in his voice.
I shook my head, my thoughts tracing back to this morning with Adam and his warnings. Lock him up. Keep him here.
Adam would be waiting. He would be ready with his traps. He would kill Nicholas.
Tears swelled in my eyes as I clasped onto his neck, begging him to stay. "Please, please stay, please."
"I can't you know I can't. Don't you know what will happen?" He gruffly asked me, his voice turning sharp and yet rolling like a canine's growl.
"But Adam will be waiting...you'll die! Please don't go." I wasn't ready to let him go. The moon couldn't take him yet. I wasn't ready.
I heard him deeply whimper in my throat as his nostrils flared, yellow eyes glinting at me in the darkening room the sun setting faster and sinking quicker. Time was against us.
"Then where am I supposed to go?" he asked me.
My mind raced a thousand miles a second. I thought about the layout of the land, about this small town where I could put him--God, I'm making it sound like he's a wild animal--then I thought to the basement.
"Come with me," I said taking his hand and leading him to a door which lead down a flight of stairs. Nicholas obediently followed, shoulders tense as his heavy breathing became pants. The house was become dimmer, our light almost gone. When we reached flat ground I felt tiny pricks of his fingernails slowly lengthening.
I pointed to a steel door and explained, "I forgot this used to be a slaughterhouse back in the day. That was the freezer. Thermometer's broken but the door is still rock solid."
His chewed on his bottom lip. "Anything valuable in there?"
I shook my head. There was extra food I had stocked up on during sales but I could always buy more. I guided him into the freezer and we stood in the narrow space.
"I'm sorry its small..."I said meekly, transfixed by the ever glowing eyes.
He shrugged. "The wolf will deal."
I tightened my hold on his hand and brought myself closer. He inhaled deeply, closing his eyes, taking in my scent and savoring it. I kissed his lips, one more before I was forced to be separated by the curse and by the moon. I felt the moon was approaching, his muscles were tensing yet relaxing around me. He was confused, his body unsure how to react around me. The wolf hungered for me, I often felt his teeth sharpening and it was part of his control to not bite off my tongue.
Pop! "Urgh..."
"Nicholas? Are you alright?" I asked, pulling back, my face red with racing blood.
"It's--it's coming. You must go." He gave me a gentle shove as a tremor ran up his spine.
"But--but--" I'm not ready.
"Eboni--" He growled, grasping at his chest as another crunch echoed up his legs. He fell to the floor. "Eb--"
Nicholas snarled, writhing out of his clothes as his skin boiled hot, fur sprouting from every pore.
"Nicholas!" I cried getting down to his level, holding him close. I didn't care if he could snap my neck, I didn't care if he craved for my blood. I couldn't leave him alone like this. "You're doing a good job. Everything's okay. I'm here. I'm here."
He groaned which deepened into an unfamiliar whimper. "Goooo--ooo."
I shook my head in his shoulder. He flung it up as his fingers crackled, knobbing and rearranging before my eyes.
He whined as he struggled in his transformation to crawl away from me. I only scooted closer, holding his head and kissing him, feeling his ears point and brush against my cheek.
"GET OUT!" he roared as he snapped at me, fangs white and searching for my heart. He had given into the wolf. The wolf had won. Nicholas was buried away for now.
I managed to dodge it somehow, hands grabbing onto me and pulling me out of the freezer, slamming the door and locking it.
Adam!
TO BE CONTINUED~
Tue Mar 12, 2013 6:21 am by mianmani
Subject: Who Cried Wolf? Page 9 
