What The Morning Found
914 Words
It was almost dawn
Ethan moved through the forest with a stiffness in his limbs. Every snap made him jerk in fear.
“Alisa,” he called softly.
No answer.
He kept moving as his heart beat faster at every step.
Then he saw her.
She lay beside a tree, naked with mud all over her skin like it was painted on purpose, her dark hair tangled around her face. Now her body is human again, small and looking fragile and shaking with deep, uncontrollable tremors.
Ethan dropped to his knees.
“Oh God,” he whispered.
He quickly pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her carefully like he was protecting an egg from breaking . She flinched fearfully but still not conscious.
“It’s okay,” Ethan murmured,
“I’ve got you.”
You are safe now," he said softly.
He lifted her up with surprising ease, holding her close as he picked his way back through the forest. Her skin was cold. Her breath shallow. She clutched weakly at his shirt like instinct remembered him even when her mind didn’t.
Home came into view.
Ethan didn’t think. He just acted.
He locked the doors. Drew the curtains. Cleans the dirt from her skin without looking too long, without thinking about claws or fur or teeth. He dressed her in one of his oversized hoodies and laid her in bed.
Ethan wandered around the apartment unsettled, he walked into the bathroom and angrily punched the mirror into pieces the moment he saw his own reflection.
He sat on the bathroom floor under the running shower and cried quietly and so painfully that one could wonder why he cried. He obviously looked miserable, like someone who had done something he's not proud of but couldn't tell what it is.
After a while, he walked quietly to the room and watched Alisa from the door. He walked closer but hesitated. His face was filled with something that looked like guilt mixed with sadness, one could barely tell if it was because he had forced her to the party earlier or because of something else untold.
The sun was almost risen when Alisa bolted up.
Her scream ripped through the quiet room like glass shattering.
“No..no…no please get away from me!”
She sprang backward, slamming into the walls with her eyes wild, breath coming in so sharp, panic bursts. Images flashed into her mind, like bones breaking…skin tearing, sights of blood… Ethan running… Her chasing.
“I will hurt you,” she sobbed. “I will kill you, stay away from me," she screamed in a shaky voice.”
Her hands shook violently as she pressed them into her face. “I turned into a monster," she cries.
“Alisa.”
Ethan’s voice interrupted.
He stood a few feet away, hands visible, calm forced into every line of his body.
“You’re not.”
She shook her head violently. “You saw me. You saw what I turned into. Don’t lie to me!”
“I felt it. I wanted to hurt you. I wanted to.”
“I know,” Ethan said quietly.
That made her stop .
She looked up at him sharply. “Then why aren’t you scared?”
The question hung between them, sharp and trembling.
“Anyone would be.” You are not supposed to be this close to me after what you saw.
Ethan swallowed.
“I was,” he admitted. “Last night? Yeah. I was terrified.”
He took a step closer, slow, deliberate and knelt in front of her.
“But you are not a monster to me," he said. "You are Alisa. You are my best friend, not a monster."
Tears rolled down her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to…
“I know,”
She stared at him, chest heaving. “So what am I, Ethan?”
The words came out cracked and desperate.
“What really am I?”
Silence stretched.
She laughed suddenly. “You know something. I can see it on your face, Ethan. You don't seem surprised or even scared , is there something you are not telling me?”
Her voice rose, anger punching through fear. “Why the f**k are you not scared of me? Tell me"
Ethan closed his eyes briefly.
Then he opened them and met her gaze.
“I would tell you,” he said carefully. “But not like this.”
She froze. “Like what?”
“Like you’re about to shatter... You need to calm down, Alisa. Your anger is only going to make your situation worse. "
She searched his face for lies. Found none, Just worry And something heavier buried inside, practiced restraint.
“So you are not denying you know something?” she whispered.
“No,” he answered.
Her shoulders sagged as she started to sob again. “I don’t want to be this.”
He reached out for her hands and held them slowly. She flinched...but didn’t pull away.
“You’re still you,” he said. “And you’re safe. For now.”
“For now?” she echoed weakly.
Ethan didn’t answer.
Her eyelids drooped as exhaustion started to crash in like waves. She slumped forward with her forehead pressing into Ethan's chest as she sobbed softly.
Ethan wrapped his arms around her, staring deep at the window.
“Soon,” He whispered calmly.
"I will tell you everything."
“Just… not yet.”
- Writer
