The Friend
1275 Words
Max woke before noon. The veins on his arm had darkened overnight. He wrapped them with a bandage, pulled on a long-sleeve shirt, and waited.
Nico texted at 11:47.
"Corner of Fifth and Market. Blue jeep. Don't keep me waiting."
Max walked fast. The streets were busy. People with their heads down, moving like they had somewhere to be. He kept his hands in his pockets. The bite mark itched.
Fifth and Market was a dead intersection. Old warehouses. Broken asphalt. A blue jeep sat idling near a loading dock.
Nico leaned against the hood. Same lopsided grin. Same messy hair. A little older. A little harder.
"Max." He pushed off the hood. "You look like shit."
"You too."
Nico laughed. "I mean it. You look like you haven't slept since high school."
"Haven't."
They stood there for a moment. Then Nico pulled him into a quick hug. "Good to see you, man."
"You too."
Nico nodded toward the jeep. "Get in. I got a run to make. You can tag along."
The jeep smelled like gasoline and old fast food. Nico drove with one hand, weaving through traffic like he owned the road.
"So," Nico said, "you text me out of nowhere after two years. What's going on?"
Max stared out the window. "It's complicated."
"Complicated how?"
"I don't know where to start."
Nico glanced at him. "Start at the beginning. That's usually how it works."
Max was quiet for a long moment. The jeep hit a pothole. His arm throbbed.
"My family," Max said. "They're dead."
Nico's face went slack. He pulled the jeep to the side of the road. Cut the engine. "What?"
"Murdered. Three weeks ago. My parents. My brother."
"Max..." Nico's voice was soft. Not pitying. Just... there.
"I've been trying to find out who did it. What did it." Max pulled up his sleeve. Showed Nico the bite mark. The black veins.
Nico stared. "What the hell is that?"
"Something bit me. That night. I thought it was a dog. It wasn't a dog."
"Then what was it?"
Max looked at him. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."
"Try me."
Before Max could answer, a truck pulled up behind them. Blocking the jeep. Two men got out. Big. Heavy boots. One carried a crowbar.
Nico cursed under his breath. "Not now."
"You know them?"
"Local muscle. They've been shaking me down for weeks. Want a cut of every run I make."
The man with the crowbar tapped on Nico's window. "Get out."
Nico rolled the window down. "Not today, Marcus."
"Not negotiable." The man pointed at Max. "Who's your friend?"
"None of your business."
The man with the crowbar swung. The glass shattered. Nico ducked. The other man yanked the door open, grabbed Nico's collar, and pulled him out.
Max moved before he thought.
He was out of the jeep. His hand closed around the man's wrist. Squeezed. The man yelped. Let go of Nico.
The other man raised the crowbar. Max's vision flickered. Yellow. He felt the claws push through his fingertips. The hair on his cheeks prickled.
He swung. The crowbar connected with his forearm but he didn't feel it. He grabbed the man's throat. Lifted him off the ground.
The man's eyes went wide. His friend ran.
Max dropped him. The man scrambled to his feet and disappeared around the corner.
Silence.
Nico stared at Max. At his hands. At the claws. At the yellow glow fading from his eyes.
"What the hell, Max?"
Max looked at his own hands. The claws were retracting. The hair on his cheeks was gone. He looked normal. Almost.
"Now you know," Max said.
"Know what? That you're some kind of... monster?"
"Not a monster. Something else."
Nico leaned against the jeep. Rubbed his face. His hands were shaking. "You just lifted a grown man off the ground with one hand. Your eyes turned yellow. You have claws."
"I know."
"Are you going to explain? Or am I supposed to just accept this?"
Max sat on the jeep's hood. "I was bitten. The night my family died. Whatever killed them... it wasn't human. It was big. Red eyes. Walked on two legs. It bit me before I passed out."
"And now you're turning into that thing?"
"I don't know. I think so. The full moon is in three days. I've been having dreams. My senses are sharper. I can do things I couldn't do before." He looked at Nico. "I'm scared, man. I don't know what's happening to me."
Nico was quiet for a long moment. Then he sat next to Max on the hood.
"You saved my back. Those guys would have hurt me. Maybe worse."
"I couldn't let them."
"That's not what I'm saying." Nico turned to face him. "You could have run. You didn't. You could have hidden what you are. You didn't. That counts for something."
"It counts for nothing if I lose control."
"Then don't lose control."
Max almost laughed. "It's not that simple."
"Nothing ever is." Nico stood. Kicked a piece of broken glass off the road. "So what's the plan?"
"The plan?"
"You came to OSLARD for a reason. You're looking for something. Or someone. What is it?"
Max thought about Harlow's words. The red-eyed creature. The bite mark as a leash.
"I'm looking for the thing that bit me. It's here. In OSLARD."
Nico's face went pale. "Here?"
"Harlow—some old man—said it's been hunting in this city for months. Killed people. Good people."
"And you want to find it?"
"I have to. It killed my family. It turned me into this." Max held up his hands. "I need to know why."
Nico nodded slowly. "Then we find it."
"We?"
"You heard me. I'm not letting you do this alone."
Max shook his head. "You saw what I can do. This isn't your fight."
"You're my friend. That makes it my fight." Nico crossed his arms. "Besides, you need someone who knows OSLARD. Someone who can ask questions without drawing attention. Someone who's not turning into a wolf."
Max stared at him. "You're crazy."
"Probably." Nico grinned. "But you're stuck with me."
They drove back to the motel.
Nico parked the jeep. Looked around at the cracked parking lot, the flickering sign. "Nice place."
"It's temporary."
"Everything is."
They went inside. Max's room was still trashed—claw marks on the wall, shredded pillow.
Nico whistled. "You did all this?"
"In my sleep."
"Remind me not to bunk with you."
Max sat on the edge of the bed. The exhaustion hit him. His arm throbbed.
Nico pulled up a chair. "So. Tell me everything. From the beginning. Don't leave anything out."
Max talked. About the screams. The creature. The hospital. The funeral. The lies to the police. The bus ride to OSLARD. The bar. Ella. The dreams. The old man Harlow.
Nico listened. Didn't interrupt. When Max finished, Nico leaned back.
"So you've got three days until the full moon. You've got a bite mark that connects you to the thing that killed your family. And you've got no idea how to stop any of it."
"That's about right."
Nico stood. "Then we'd better get started."
"Started on what?"
"Finding answers. You said Harlow mentioned the creature's been hunting in OSLARD for months. That means someone's seen it. Someone knows something. We just have to find the right person to ask."
Max nodded. "And if that person doesn't want to talk?"
Nico smiled. It wasn't a nice smile. "Then we make them talk."
Max almost smiled back. Almost.
For the first time in weeks, he wasn't alone.
- Writer
