Werewolves of Bloomfield Hills

Chapter 17

Following the incident with the reptile, wherein the traumatic effect had been her going comatose, Penny lived in a prison of her own making. A place of a kaleidoscope of misery where she relived the event that broke and rebuilt her in a continuous cycle. This torturing pattern continued for a long time that even she could no longer discern how long she'd been trapped in it. Whether days or months or years, she didn't know. It all seemed like an eternity to her, until something happened one day. After her physical body came in contact with a strange substance (the herb that had taken away her fever), she became partly conscious. That is to say, while reliving the horrendous incident, she could also perceive the things happening around her. She could hear and smell, but sadly she couldn't move. In conclusion, she was now in a nightmare. The type where one was aware they were sleeping but couldn't wake. At least that's what she thought until something funny happened. And now here she was in a strange room, lying like a log of wood while the druids examined her.

"So how are you feeling now?" one of them asked her. Judging from his voice, she knew he was the one called 'Hendell'.

"Much better now" she muttered and he smiled at her.

"I presume you have a lot of questions for me?" he asked her and she nodded like a little girl. "Good. I'll do justice to all your questions, but before that, I need to enlighten you about your heritage"

"I already know what I am, and I know a great deal about werewolves, so you can skip that" she interrupted him, leaving the druid in awe for a minute.

"Okay, so tell me, what else do you know?" he inquired.

"That my dad was a werewolf, and I used to be dormant, and that you're Hendell" she answered smartly.

"Okay, you already know the basics. I guess you can ask your questions now" he reclined on a chair, bracing himself for any question she could ask.

"Thank you. So what did you mean when you said I was a very special person?" she asked politely.

"I take it that the first herb made you partly conscious?" the druid said more as a statement than a question. He was certain that was how she knew everything. Without waiting for a reply, he continued. "Are you familiar with the tales of the moon goddess, Selene? The virtuous goddess with translucent clear skin and all?" he asked and she nodded in reply. "Well, you're... how should I put this, an embodiment of her; more like but not entirely, a reincarnation of her" he concluded.

"Why do I get to be a reincarnation of her? Are we related in some way?" Penny asked. It was clear she wasn't satisfied with the answer the druid gave her.

"No, not in any way that I am aware of," he answered.

"Then why me?"

"I'm not sure. We haven't deciphered how she picks her hosts. I guess if she reincarnated more often, the job would have been easier. But what we do know is that Selene only comes when her children are in danger. And I'm not surprised she has come, considering the reptiles are back." he answered.

"Judging from what you've said, I take it that a lot is expected of me?" Penny arched an eyebrow.

"It's nothing you can't handle. Being Selene's host, you're endowed with unfathomable power, roughly, about the strength of five alphas put together or even more, heightened werewolf abilities, and very thick hide. My dear you're a walking tank, who's impervious to a lot of things that can kill an ordinary werewolf. And let's not forget" the druid suddenly threw a dagger at Penny, but she caught it before it could reach her. "You have incredibly quick reflexes" he announced.

"You could've hurt me. Didn't you think you should have warned me first" she bore a grudge because of the druid's reckless act.

"I think it's best if you saw it for yourself" he answered nonchalantly.

"So you're saying I'm Spiderman?" she asked.

"I'm not overly familiar with your pop culture references, but yes, if you mean you have super-werewolf abilities," he replied. Penny and the druids spoke for a great deal of time before they left her apartment after they'd finished diagnosing her.

Left on her own now, Penny sauntered about her apartment aimlessly as she tried to digest the things she had learned this past few days. It was nerve-racking coming to terms with her true identity, but she had to. After all, she didn't have any other choice. Resigning from her thoughts, she turned to go and have a refreshing bath before she heard a faint knock on her door.

"Come in" she gave her permission then Jane entered, followed by Topher.

"Hey!" Jane called awkwardly as they walked towards her.

"Hey" Penny saluted too, her voice low but tensed.

"We heard about you so we wanted to come support you in any way we can" Jane explained their reason for coming.

"Also, I feel we have something to discuss" Topher who lingered around like he was in the wrong room, added. He was nervous.

"Go on" Penelope motioned him to have a seat, then folded her arms as if shielding herself from an invisible cold. She was nervous too. The tension between the two of them was almost palpable.

"H-how are you?" Topher asked her. "I mean with the new development and all?" he added after regaining his composure.

"I'm getting better" Penny muttered.

"Okay, that's great. That's great." he nodded, then cleared his throat as if bracing himself for the next thing he was about to say. "Um... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry." he reached for her hands then continued. "That's it. I just want to say sorry. I'm sorry for not telling you what I really am. The thing's, I used to convince myself that it was the right thing to do in order not to put you in an awkward situation, but thinking about it now, I've realized that I was just being selfish." he apologized sincerely.

Penny stared at him in silence, not knowing how to react. She knew he was right and that she had the right to be mad at him if she wanted to. But she wasn't going to do that because she wasn't in the mood to keep malice and because personally, she was occupied with her own problems. Considering these things, she said, "It's alright. I'm not mad at you" then hugged him to assure him that she meant what she said.