LYCANTHROPE: TRUE ALPHAS

FAMILY, LILLY & THE WOODS.

"Wake up Phil" shouted his aunt Julie from across the room.

Phil jumped out of bed and started looking around his room, his heart still beating so fast from the nightmare he had just woken from. He was so relieved to see the snoring sight of his cousin Joe, whom he shared the room with. At least something assured him that he was back in the land of the living. His nightmare felt so real last night. It felt like his life was ending and he could never wake up. The other thing he was glad about was that the sheets were still dry and he wondered how the hell he survived that without wetting his bed. Maybe he was so busy running for his life to bother stopping for a bathroom break. It was the final day of school before the summer holidays begin. Phil had a whole summer planned out and he wasn't going to let the nightmare ruin them. He woke up Joe and they both got ready to go to school. Though Joe didn't look so thrilled about the idea of going to school, as he always was.

Joe and Phil grew up together and they were basically brothers. They have stayed in the same house with his aunt Julie, who is Joe's mother. Being the same age is maybe the reason why they felt so close and went on to be best friends. Joe always knew that he wasn't related to Phil, mainly because he had never met anyone from Phil's family. But this never came up when they talked. This was the same with Aunt Julie, maybe because as Phil grew older, he knew that the only family he had was his Aunt Julie and cousin Joe. He decided not to focus on the family that abandoned him and made peace with the fact that he might never know where he came from. Julie and Joe were always there for Phil when he needed them and they treated him as part of their family. Phil wasn't even sure when his birthday was, so they shared a birthday with Joe. This is why the issue of Phil's background faded away and never came up. Phil felt nothing but at home living with Julie and Joe all those years.

Julie lived in a small town called Creek surrounded by a reasonable population. The residents here were all very friendly, well maybe not all. The Creek forest that surrounded the town made the area feel cool and calm. Apart from heavy rain and winds that appeared out of nowhere, dropping the temperature to near freezing and the flooding of the streets, another reason Phil was looking forward to the summer. The weather during the summer was a bit warm and bearable. With only light showers of rain popping up every now and then. The forest became lively as teenage parties continued throughout. This will also be the last summer Phil and Joe spend as high school kids. So it was bound to be a memorable one. He just didn't know how memorable it would be. Of course, his plans included Joe, as all other summer plans always have. The only difference was this summer, he was planning on telling his crush, Lilly, how he felt about her.

Lilly had always been Phil's crush and only Joe knew how much Phil wanted to tell Lilly he liked her. Since he was thirteen and his hormones kicked in, Lilly has always been the one girl Phil liked. The problem is he has never mastered enough courage to tell her. What was worse is that Lilly lived next door and had been friends with Joe and Phil since they were little. So maybe Phil was afraid that Lilly only viewed them as such and nothing more. He wasn't sure if they would ever be more than friends.

"Are you thinking of Lilly" asked Joe as he stepped out of bed slowly."Its either that or the guys who wanted to kill you in your sleep", Joe added jokingly.

Phil had started to forget all about last night but Joe's statement brought the memories rushing back in. Phil decided to forget about his nightmares and was ready to start enjoying the summer holidays. The two boys finished getting ready for their final day at school and hurried downstairs for breakfast. Julie was already getting frustrated because she had called them a while ago and they were still wasting time in their room doing nothing. They packed their lunches and headed towards the door.

"I'll be working the night shift this evening at the hospital" Julie told the boys before they headed out. She was a nurse at the Creek hospital."So don't stay out late!"

"I love you guys", Julie added as Joe and Phil opened the door.

"Love you too"

Phil opened the door and saw Lilly standing in the road waiting for him and Joe. They had to walk to school as they had missed the bus. The good thing was that school was only ten minutes away if they took the shortcut through the woods. It had drizzled last night so there was a bit of dew on the ground but very little mad. Phil, Joe and Lilly set out towards school. For some part of the way there was a weird silence between them. Then Joe and Lilly started talking about what they would be doing that summer, before going to college. Phil wasn't sure about college just yet. As they approached the opening to the woods, the nightmare memories started again. All the time Phil and Joe passed through Creek forest he had never felt afraid. There has never been any incident reported to have happened in the forest, so there was no need to fear anything. There were no wild animals in the forest and this made the locals feel comfortable using the forest for leisure and other activities. But somehow this time Phil felt afraid. He wasn't sure why this time he felt afraid of going through the Creek forest. The forest in his nightmare didn't look anything like the one in Creek town and he basically grew up in the forest as they spent most of their time there, him and Joe. It seemed like the nightmares he promised would affect his summer were doing the exact opposite and the nightmares were going to haunt him the entire holiday, especially last night.

"Hey, wait for us" shouted Joe as they approached Phil.

"You look like you've seen a ghost" Phil heard Lilly's voice and turned around so quickly he almost embarrassed himself by falling.

"NO, I was just admiring the trees and waiting for you guys", Phil answered quickly, trying to hide the fact that he actually looked like he had seen a ghost.

"It's the nightmares he has been having" said Joe, "They are getting worse everyday."

Phil wasn't about to bore Lilly with the stories of the nightmares he had been having. He actually preferred it if Lilly didn't know that he was having nightmares. But the cat was already out of the bag.

"It was just one bad dream, nothing more." Phil defended himself before Lilly could ask any questions.

The three Musketeers, a name which Joe really wanted to stick, walked into the woods and headed for school. Creek forest was known for the many birds that built their nests in the tallest trees. The shortcut to school was clear with very few bushes as some of the locals also passed through it. The ground was squashy from last night's drizzle and you could smell the decaying leaves on the ground. The rays of morning sunshine pierced through the tall pine trees above. Some trees also had roots that ran through the forest like railway lines. They had to be careful not to slip on the wet roots. Some of the trees in the Creek forest were very huge and grew hundreds of meters. Some of the locals even had stories about some trees in the Creek forest. Not that they were true stories or anything, but they made them feel like part of the forest itself. It was a beautiful morning and the forest was calm. There was very little mist and you could hear droplets of water hitting the puddles of water around.They finally made it out of the woods. The only problem was the awkward silence between Phil and Lilly, mainly because Phil didn't want to talk about his nightmares and embarrass himself in front of his crush.