The Last Lycan

Chapter 2

    I was hiding in my room upstairs, I’d barricaded myself inside when my dad left. I’d made sure I had enough supplies to last the rest of this week. Then I would go back to school with Faye. The reason why I’m not at her house right now is that my dad called, threatening to call the cops on Faye, saying that she’d kidnapped me. When I told her what he said, she tried to get me to call the cops on him, but I couldn’t. I wanted to, but something was stopping me, I didn’t know why? When I got home he struck me with his belt till I couldn’t walk. Then left for three days straight, probably out drinking.

    Now, here I was holed up in my room. Scared to death that at any moment, my father would bust down my door and actually succeed at beating me to death. That probably wouldn’t happen though. As he’d told me “ you deserve pain and suffering ” or something like that. I couldn’t really remember. I was on the verge of passing out from the immense pain that had been inflicted on my body. I was just grateful he hadn’t done anything to my ribs that’d cause me to stay home from school any longer.

    I stopped my train of thought,  just listening to my surroundings. Soon enough I heard the front door band against the wall. I frantically, but quietly crawled under my bed as I heard him climbing the steps. I lifted myself up off the ground, getting as close as I could to the bars underneath the mattress itself. He would never check under the bed because he’d taught me that it was the worst hiding spot ever. I took a deep breath, trying to suppress my scent as best as I could. The door to my room opened, welcoming the grotesque smell of whiskey and beer.

    I watched as his feet got closer to my bed, hearing the sound of his feet dragging across the floor with every step. I quickly put my hand over my mouth, my eyes widening in fear as he stops right in front of my bed. He stood still for a minute before making a quick pivot towards my closet. He let out a deep gruff chuckle from the back of his throat. I flinch as I hear my closet doors slam against the wall. A low grunt is then heard. Then what sounded like a tsk-ing sound of disapproval or disappointment? 

    “ That little b***h probably slept at whatshername house again. I think her name’s may?...no... Faye.” He said with anger present in his tone before leaving the room and out of the house again.

    I let out a shaky breath of relief as I released my grip on the bottom bars of the bed, letting myself fall to the floor. Rolling out from under the bed, I check myself making sure that nothing happened. I rubbed the sides of my head in exhaustion as a brief sigh left my lips. I sat down on the bed and let my mind wander till Hayes popped up out of nowhere.

    “ Can we go on a run now, please!” he whined out childishly through our mind link.

    “ What did I say about that! you keep scaring me half to death and yes we can, as long as it’s in fox form… I'm not ready to shift into my wolf yet,” I said rolling my eyes at his annoying antics.

    “ Yes!, and yeah we can go in fox form, but I can only wait so long. I'm going to have to shift on your birthday, it’s the longest I’ll be able to wait,” he informed me.

    “ Ok thanks for the heads up, I’ll let you take control as we near the forest, but you have to wait till we get out of eyesight before you can shift,” I said as I wandered down the stairs and into the kitchen.

    “ Yes, mom,” Hayes said in an annoyed tone as if he was pouting. I ignored his last comment, as I grabbed a sandwich I'd made for school the week before.

    I took a bite as I walked out of the kitchen towards the door. I turned around after locking the door, making sure that the spare key was still under the welcome mat that my mom bought from our old house in Iowa. I looked up into the sky squinting my eyes as the bright sun shined into my eyes. Looking in front of me, I began to make my way to the back of the house towards the woods. I missed the seasons in Iowa, here in Florida it was always hot, this surprised me as I walked outside since I still wasn’t quite used to it. Some people would say it wasn’t that much of a change, but for me, it was a big change. As I neared the forest I slowed down, quickly looking around, making sure no one was in sight as I gave Hayes full control over my body.

    I could still see everything that Hayes did, but it was still kinda weird. I could see and feel everything he did, I just didn’t have control of my body. It felt as if I was floating around or as If I was somehow… paralyzed. I watched as he walked into the forest, after taking off my clothes and placing them on a tree stump along with my shoes. Then quickly, he shifted into my fox. As he shifted I could feel all my bones cracking into place as a tiny burnt-orange and black fox took my place.

    Hayes quickly sprinted farther into the woods towards the hidden waterfall. We found it last month when we tried to run away from home for a week. I forget why, but I do remember Hayes falling down a hill after he tripped on a rock, causing him to roll right into a pool of water. That day we had a blast, although it had gotten really cold as the night came around. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stay there that long because the next day I saw my mom tracking me. So I quickly and quietly made my way towards her, that way she wouldn't see which way I came from. That night she grounded me for a week. It was so boring, especially when you're in a house all alone with nothing to do.

    Hayes jumped into the water, diving towards a school of minnows. They scattered before he could even get our snout under the water. It was pretty funny until I realized that his snout went straight into the ground, causing tremendous pain to shoot through my body. It reminded me of the day I sprained my leg during gym class in second-grade. I got freaked out because it was healed in two days when the doctor said that it would be fully healed after two weeks. I thought I had magic powers, so I did what any kid would do at that age. I went around telling people that I had the power of healing. While I was reminiscing in old memories, Hayes quickly shook away the pain. He then began to dog paddle towards the deeper area of the pond, but instead of staying in the middle he swam towards the waterfall itself. 

    As he neared the actual waterfall I tried to tell him that he was going to swim straight into the wall. He didn’t listen, saying that he’d been here before when the moon goddess had sent him down to find a human. He said he’d either be hanging with the moon goddess or he’d be here talking with this kind witch named Olivia. He told me that she was one of the witches that were kicked out and left to fend for her own after she rebelled against the queen and king of witch's wishes of having any contact with the wolves. Hayes said that she told him the only reason she rebelled against them was that her mate and only friends were werewolves, but her king and queen ended up sending out another witch to kill her mate. Sadly the witch succeeded at killing him. It was out of jealousy, for the witch hated that Olivia was always the queen and king's favorite before she rebelled against them.

    So from then on, they got to know each other and soon became friends. After he told me this I asked if he still talked to her. Hayes told me that he did but, only through their mind link. This was because she’d told him that she needed to leave to get things, but she never came back. A few days after she left she made a mind-link with him and told him that they would talk through their. She told him that if anything bad were to happen that all he had to do was mind link her the situation and she’d try to do her best to help out. 

    Hayes said that they would always hang out and talk about things. She’d even taught him a few spells, but when he’d asked her why she taught them to him, she paused looking down at her hands. It was as if she was thinking about what to say. When she looked up her eyes weren’t their usual emerald green, they’d turned black with white glowing pupils. Then she’d told him that he’d find out when he met his mate. Hayes told me that there was only one thing that she said to him that sounded quite off.

    “ She said that she would be back to help win the war,” Hayes told me as I took a look around the cave behind the waterfall.

    “ Wait?... War?... What does she mean by war?” I asked, puzzled by what Hayes told me.

    “ I don’t know, after that, she said she needed to get ready and that I’d know when the time comes,” Hayes said sounding almost as confused as me right now.

    “ That's weird… do you think she might have just been joking around?” I asked, thinking that could be the solution.

    “ No, she would always tell me if she was joking or not. I'd always get paranoid by what she told me because I knew she had the power to look into people's futures.” Hayes said as he turned around, hopping back into the water and quickly swimming back through the waterfall, towards the shore.

    I kept quiet as I began thinking about what she meant by “You’ll know when the time comes,” it just didn’t make sense. How would she know if what she saw was true? For all she knew it could have been a lie, and what did she mean when she told Hayes that she’d be back to help aid us in the war? What war could she possibly be talking about? Why would she tell this information to Hayes? Is this normal? Has this happened to someone else? Or was it just me? I should probably stop overthinking it.

     After all, she said that we’d understand when the time came but, what was in store for him when the time came? Yet, so many questions were floating around in my head. Something in the back of my mind just couldn’t settle with the little information we’d just received. I tried to forget about this information and just relax, but I couldn't. I just kept wondering about the one question that kept bothering me the most. Why would she tell Hayes that Important information and then... leave him to wonder? I quickly tried to focus on the main reason we were here at the waterfall and that was to have some fun. 

    A couple of hours later Hayes finally tired himself out. Gaining full control again, I swiftly began to sprint past all the little shrubs and giant trees. I headed back towards the direction of the house, stopping every couple minutes or so to take a view of the forest and pretty flowers that Hayes had passed by earlier. I chased a couple of butterflies and grasshoppers too, but let them go unharmed when I caught them. I could see the squirrels dashing around, gnawing on nuts and some stashing them away in their burrows. I trotted past some deer who were grazing on the grass while watching their fawns try to walk, helping them back up now and then when they fell. After about forty-five minutes, the house came into view.

    I quickly trotted into the back door with my clothes in my mouth. Leaping upstairs to my bedroom I walked into the bathroom, shifting back into human form. I turned on the faucet making sure the water was warm and not too hot. Walking out of the bathroom I head to my closet, picking out my favorite bunny onesie. I was so glad that my dad hadn’t found it yet, or I would cry my heart out knowing he’d shred it to pieces right in front of my eyes. At least, that's what he did to my cat onesie.

    Walking back into the bathroom, I checked the water temperature before turning off the water. I lowered my body into the tub, letting out a sigh of relief feeling my muscles loosen as they were submerged into the steamy water. Leaning against the back of the tub and closing my eyes, I sunk deeper into the water, loving the feel of heat as it engulfed my body. I stayed still for a while just soaking in the nice warm water, before grabbing a bar of soap and scrubbing my body, and layering my body in soapy bubbles. I stood up turning on the shower, quickly rinsing off the mixture of soap and dirt. Then I turned off the shower, laying back down in the warm water. I sat in the tub, just laying there in silence, as I thought about what it’d be like if I wasn’t an omega? if I was normal… if I was… human.

    I sat up, reaching over the tub ledge to grab my towel. Wrapping it around my waist, I stepped out of the tub. Quickly going to the cabinet under the sink, I grabbed another towel and dried my hair off. I looked up at the mirror, seeing the tired bags under my eyes and my dry lips. I looked away, going into my room to grab my clothes I’d set on my dresser. Then going to the desk beside my bed to retrieve my chapstick, I sat on the bed, taking off my towel and putting on my bunny onesie. I got it from my mom for my birthday last year. After she found out what dad did to the other one, they’d gotten into a big argument. Resulting in dad storming out of the house in a fit of rage. He didn’t come back for a week. 

    When he returned I was surprised he didn’t say anything cruel to me, but that thought quickly changed the next day. He broke my arm for making mom mad at him. He left after that, leaving me alone with a broken arm and a bruised shoulder. I had to pop it back into place all by myself. It hurt so bad, I couldn’t go back to sleep. So I was up at 2 a.m. till 10 p.m. in the afternoon. It was around noon when I decided to get out of bed and get ice since mom had finally left for work. I’d fallen asleep peacefully in my bed with the ice pack taped to my left forearm that day. 

    I let out a small sigh at the memory, before getting out of bed, knowing my mom would be worried about me not eating while she was gone. I made my way downstairs towards the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen I head straight to the freezer, taking out a bag of shrimp. Turning on the faucet I make sure the waters warm, setting the bag of shrimp in the sink. I make my way towards the closet, grabbing a bag of rice and pouring it into a pot of water on the already lit stove. I grab out another pan from beneath the stove, setting it on the right burner, while the pot of rice sat on the left burner. 

    Making my way back to the closet I grab out chocolate cake mix. I grabbed a medium-sized glass mixing bowl and poured the chocolate powdery substance in. Then I grab two eggs and put them in after pouring in ¼ cup of water and vegetable oil into the bowl. I began to mix them all, stopping ever so often to stir the rice. Quickly getting out 2 cupcake trays, I spray them with non-stick spray before pouring in the chocolate batter. 

    Then I put them in the oven at 350. I made my way to the sink as I grabbed a pair of scissors, cutting open the shrimp and pouring out the leftover water after pulling out the drain plug. I turn on another burner and add some oil in it, before grabbing the strainer and pouring the pot of rice into the sink. Quickly, I run some cold water over it for a few seconds before heading back towards the stove to finish cooking the shrimp. I sang quietly as I danced to "you’re someone else" by Flora cash. 

    I went upstairs and ate in my room, enjoying the home-cooked food. I ate quickly, the drowsiness from the bath finally catching up to me. After taking a sluggish walk back downstairs to rinse off my plate, I flopped back down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling. I’d felt tired, yet I was wide awake. I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath. My mind flashed to old memories back in Iowa when we were a kind of a family, though we weren’t any better than now. 

    My mind flashed back to when we went to the beach. It was my first time going to a place with such a big body of water, let alone all the creatures that lurked underneath it. My mom laughed at me when I stuck my foot in the water, only to quickly yanked it back in fear. I did that a couple of times before my mom stood by my side, encouraging me to take some steps into the water. That day my mom had taught me how to float on water and swim. I’d had to have been five or six back then. I reopened my eyes, letting out a sigh of disappointment, wishing I was with my mom.

    I rolled onto my left side, grabbing Storm and Nova before snuggling with them under my blanket. I took a deep breath in, clearing my mind. I stayed like this for a while before turning to my right, curling my legs into a comfy position. I closed my eyes, staring into the darkness, seeing yellow and white lightning streaks popping up randomly in the darkness. Thirty minutes or so had to have passed as I let out a sigh of frustration. I couldn’t get comfortable as the gears in my mind kept going, showing no signs of stopping anytime soon.

    I started to get restless, not used to staying still for such a long period. One thing I am terrible at is staying still, no matter what the case is unless I'm in a car. I can not stay still after forty-five or more minutes have gone by, or else I’ll get super antsy. By now it was ten-thirty, an hour had passed by, welcoming me not even the slightest bit of shut-eye. I was still surprised by how long I’d laid down. I’d eaten at seven, taking quite a bit of time to eat as I was also watching Tv. So I ended up getting in bed around eight, plus an hour or so of contemplating things that had happened recently.

    I sat up in bed pushing down the cover that lay over my body. Slowly lowering my sock-covered feet onto the floor, Shivering from the slight draft of cold air, I made my way over to the bathroom. As I walked through the hall, I came upon an old-tethered-looking photo that peeked out from behind a picture of my mom and dad on their honeymoon. I had been only a child then, so they had sent me to a pack to stay with a friend of moms. Slightly tugging the photo out from behind it, showed me a photo of a man that stood next to mom who had me in her arms. They both looked at me with loving eyes. 

    The man was significantly taller than mom, although they still looked to fit perfectly together. He must have been an uncle of mine. He had a strong square-like jawline as his bulky-figure was accompanied by broad shoulders. His eyes were alight baby-blue, his light brown hair shone as if a golden-like tint was placed upon it. My hair looked almost the same as his, except it was slightly muddier looking. Maybe he’d been my mom’s sister’s mate, though she barely mentioned or told me anything about her.

    I quickly and carefully slid it back into the photo frame behind the other photo, as I began shifting back and forth. I was quickly reminded why I had gotten out of bed as I hurriedly walked towards the bathroom. I jumped slightly as my foot touched the cool tile of the bathroom floor before continuing in. As I did my business I started whistling, tapping my foot along to, not used to the tense atmosphere that the silence seemed to bring with it as if they were mere friends. Though the subtle feeling of loneliness still seemed to find a way in as if it was inevitable.

    I finished quickly, washing my hands before heading down the hall towards my room. I began to space out as I continued down the hall, images of the forest flashing through my mind as the scent of fresh pine leaves wafted through my nose. Somehow the sent distracted me, quickly disabling me from moving. Though I stopped right in front of the stairs leading down to the kitchen. I felt as if gravity was pulling me as if it wanted to show me something. With one more glance towards my bedroom, I began descending the staircase.

   As I entered the kitchen, the scent became stronger as if it were a few feet away from me. It smelt like milk chocolate, strawberries and… mint? yeah, mint. Wait, how am I able to smell all these things? Wouldn’t this mixture smell nasty if it were intertwined? Yet here I am, loving all the scents mixed together. I lifted my head up sniffing the air, slowly making my way to the back door. I knew I should’ve been in bed, but the smell was so tantalizing… I just couldn’t turn away.

   “ Do you smell that?” Hayes groaned slightly out of breath, loving the smell too.

   “ Y-yeah,” I stopped, taking another whiff of the air,“ do you know what it is?” It was silent, all I could hear was our heavy breathing before hayes took a deep breath.

   “ No,” Hayes halted as if in thought, letting out another groan,“ wanna go follow it?”

   “Sure, I guess?” I said, not sure if it was a good idea.

   I shifted into Hayes’s form, making sure I was still in control, before taking off in the direction the scent seemed to be coming from. I could feel hayes getting ansier as I closed in on the direction of the wonderful scent. I navigated through the forest with ease, bypassing all the trees and shrubs with not one falter in my step. My light-weight and night vision, from hayes’ spirit, helped a lot as I wouldn’t have been able to dodge any of the incoming trees and shrubs that surrounded my house with normal human eyesight.

   I stopped abruptly as I lost its scent. Hayes’s petty whines wash through my head, begging me to find it again. I turn around trotting back to where I had smelt it last before it disappeared. After a little way my nose began to twitch as I had picked up the scent again. By this time I’d let Hayes have control as he took off north-east like there was no tomorrow. We slowed as we neared a small pond, taking a quick drink as Hayes had gotten thirsty from running. It was about two in the morning now as the moon now sat just a few meters above the canopy.

    Hayes sat down near the water lapping it up happily, his tail swishing back and forth in a rather fast paste. He looked up at the sky, looking at the moon. A million thoughts rushing through his mind like a train gone haywire. So many thoughts, yet the only one that really stood out was how our mate was doing. Hayes slapped the water with his paw splashing our snout as he stood up trying to clear our mind. What was the point of following this trail the scent left behind if it seemed endless?

     Suddenly a shiver went down our spine as we heard a low rustle of leaves. Though we thought nothing of it, probably just a bunny or a squirrel out for a midnight snack. Slowly turning back towards the direction we came from, Hayes began trotting home. Hayes did his own thing as we hurried home, occasionally stopping to mark certain places as our territory and so forth. We were just about to turn northwest before a giant dirty brown wolf came barreling out at us.