The Real Us (A world of werewolves series)

It was Friday night when I decided to go for a run. Leaving my flat, I headed for the common that was right opposite the beach and fair. It was nearly half eight and dark by now, the only light coming from brilliantly lit up arcades in the distance. It was eerily peaceful, just how I liked it. I had been out for half an hour and was jogging past some bushes when I tripped and nearly did a header into the cement. Gathering myself up, I thought I heard a loud rustling from inside the bush to my left. I stopped to listen while my heart was beating furiously against my chest, but there was no more noise. I was about to walk off, laughing to myself for my own nervousness when I saw a dog emerge from the bushes. I thought it was a lost husky at first, but bending down to have a closer look it was more like an actual wolf, but wolves didn’t live wild in Portsmouth, did they? I had heard of people owning wolf-dogs though and assumed that must be what it was, a very large one too. He was a golden colour and looked beautiful. I loved animals so crouching closer towards it, I tried to stroke its head, stupid really, and in a quick natural reaction it bit me. I yelped and jumped back, more from shock than pain. It had only grazed my hand slightly with its teeth, but I could have sworn I saw terror in its eyes while it stared at my now grazed, barely bleeding hand. Suddenly, it shot off into the darkness, stopping once to look back with that almost human like fear in its face, then it was gone. I made my way back indoors and greeted my cat Tamara before heading straight to my wolf quilted bed. I didn’t bother to wash the small scratch on my hand and hoped that the dog had found his way back to his owner. I had always loved wolves with their beauty and wisdom, but I had never dreamt of them until that night. Waking up, I got dressed in jogging bottoms and a vest top. I hadn’t bothered with looking nice lately. I didn’t see the point when I couldn’t even find myself a decent man, a sad way to think, but true I would often think to myself with self-pity, terrible I know. I usually opted for jeans and a t-shirt rather than old rough jogging bottoms until lately…I swear. My first serious, but short relationship started out good in the beginning, but I found s*x quite painful, something about cervical Ectopy and vaginismus my doctor had said, and if I asked my partner to stop halfway through he wouldn’t. It was beyond painful, and he never stopped even with my tears and protests. That was the first time he raped me. I left my place that afternoon and headed to my Mother Grace’s. I often went there for company as I was so shy and so didn’t really have any friends, only one who I hadn’t seen in a few months due to her being busy having a family to take care of now. I was halfway there when I noticed a woman staring intently at me from the bus stop. She had lovely burgundy red hair long and wavy with perfect make-up to match. I also noticed she was wearing a mint green top with jeans and long heeled sandals. She was staring at me so intently that I stopped and looked down at myself to see if I had forgotten to dress or something, when I looked back up to her, she quickly turned her face away. She was a very beautiful woman, so I figured that maybe she just thought how scruffy I must look and carried on to my mother’s maisonette. It was actually one of the nicer buildings in this rough town, she had fought for so long to get it, and I was happy she’d finally won and was now content. The next day I found myself heading to my Mother’s place again. They were doing a barbeque there and bringing some friends and family from St. Helena, which is where my granddads side of the family all came from. I was Josie Reynolds, twenty-two and black with long thick, straight black hair and big brown eyes like half of my family, although there was a mixture of all sorts of ethnics there. Walking past the bus stop, I was surprised yet again to find a man leaning against the window, staring at me as intently as the woman had yesterday. He was also extremely attractive. He looked exactly how I thought an angel would look if I were to see one, with his perfect dark brown hair all floppy and messy looking and dark blue eyes. He was wearing a grey t-shirt, black jeans and boots. It was easy to see that he was all pure muscle underneath; all he needed were some wings! At the barbeque I found myself actually feeling happier than I had been for a while with all the music and chatter going on around, catching up with family I hadn’t seen in years and hearing the story again about how napoleon was exiled to St. Helena, and how slaves would be tied up to a certain tree that was still here today. It ended all too soon though and later that evening I headed back home miserably thinking about another lonely night I would have to face, but at least I had Tamara, I thought sighing. Making my way down the subway, I tried not to stomp my way back as I grumbled about my boring existence. Looking up from the floor, I spotted both the woman and the man together coming up and both staring straight at me and making no effort to disguise it. At that point, I couldn’t help myself. I panicked and turned back, quickly crossing the road instead. Looking back, I could see them watching me, but they never spoke a word, nor did they move. I got indoors making sure they hadn’t followed, trying not to worry, failing miserably and eventually drifting off to sleep wondering what in hell they were up to. I had kept my apartment pretty simple with the walls all warm browns and creams, the kitchen was a light peach colour though, with a simple two-seated oak breakfast table. The bathroom was a sky blue, with a bath tub, sink and toilet, but no shower. The next day, dressed in my black shorts and red t-shirt, I was planning to go to the beach and read for a while. The weather was gorgeous and hot, which was a rarity in England, and I was going to make damn sure I enjoyed it while it was there, and before I started my evening shift as a cleaner. I was halfway through my breakfast when there was a knock at my door, making me jump and nearly spill my cereal all over the place. No one ever came to see me, so creeping quietly over with my heart racing, I looked through the spy hole and saw it was the same woman that I’d kept seeing lately. Terrified,I didn’t know whether to answer or not. Before I even had time to consider, she started speaking calmly through the door, “Josie, I know you are in there. I can smell you, don’t be scared. Open the door, and I’ll explain everything, I promise.” Well, now I really was terrified. How the heck did she know my name? And what did she mean, smell me? Surely, I wasn’t that dirty? But there was only one way to find out, so reluctantly I opened the door. "Hello Josie, my name is Jane, and I’m sure you’re wondering why my friend and I have been following you. I’m here to explain." She sounded so nice and genuine with her radiating smile I instantly warmed to her and let her in, after all it was daytime, and it made me a bit braver, or perhaps I just couldn’t imagine this glamorous woman being a psycho serial killer. They probably just wanted to try and sell me something. She was again dressed lovely with perfect make-up and a pale blue dress that was a bit short and see-through for my tastes, you could even see her black matching underwear if you were close enough- but she somehow made it look elegant and sexy all at the same time. I instantly felt hideous and embarrassed with how I looked and almost thought about making some excuse to go change quickly, not that it would have made much difference, but it still crossed my mind fleetingly. Sitting down opposite her, I asked nervously, "So why have you been watching me nearly every day, that man too. Have I done something wrong?" She looked at me as though I were some delicate child who needed to know that the monster really was under the bed. She replied, "Josie, I am so sorry to tell you this, and you may very well not believe me, but that wolf you probably thought was a dog was,in fact, a wolf, well, a werewolf, actually. His name is Sam, and he has been severely punished for what he has done." she went a bit quiet, not sure how to tell me the next part, I think. "If this is all true, then what exactly has he done?" I guessed already what she would say, but asked anyway, not sure how to take in what was going on. "Well I’m sure you’ve heard the werewolf legends?" she quietly laughed at that. "But the truth is, all it takes is a tiny bit of saliva from a heredity born werewolf to get into your blood stream, and you can become one of us, though it’s extremely rare. You are the fifth person from thousands to be bitten and change. Most of the time, if someone receives a bite or any fluid from us directly to their bloodstream, nothing happens, we watch that person for a while and if there’s no change to their scent by the third night then we know there’s going to be no change, but you however now hold our scent and so here we are." "Ok, so what, I’m a werewolf now?" I replied sarcastically. To be honest, I had always wished something awesome like that could be true, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one out there, but to actually believe it in reality was just madness, surely? "Josie, you don’t have to believe any of this, you don’t even have to come back and join our pack, although I would advise strongly that you do. A lone wolf is never good and believe me there will be changes to your mind and body very soon. It’s not nice to have to go through something so new to you and have no one to ask for help." she looked at me with her vibrant green eyes like a mother would look at her child with a final warning. "Ok, say I believe you, what happens then?" "You will come back with me and Michael, that’s the man you saw me with, then we will take you to where the whole pack stays throughout the summer, although a few do stay there permanently, including the Alpha and his second in command." She had sounded so serious and genuine that I agreed to go, (though it was probably stupid of me) taking a few clothes and toiletries and feeling extremely excited and nervous doing something that could turn out to be dangerous. This clearly shows just how badly I needed to get out more..