The Werewolf and the Human

Meeting the Neighbors

I should have said no. I don’t know what I was thinking. Why did I say yes? What was I thinking? This was a bad idea. I wanted answers, but I didn’t know how to get them. This was a start. A bad start. It was a start that I would surely regret, but it was a start. The question was how willing was I to see this through. I had to have some perseverance. I had to be willing to fight through this and see the answers. I was just wary of how far I would be willing to go. I was wary about how far I was going to need to go. Still, I had to try. 

              I was unsure how having him alone in my house would go over. Would the town talk? If they knew. Maybe that is why we are doing this at my house. What would they say? Nothing good, I am sure. I am sure he doesn’t have the best reputation when it comes to women. He’s slept with everyone, I’m sure. I’m not sure what that says about him, not sure what that says about me, or at least what that said about me at the time. It says a lot about me now. More than I want.  

              My first day of work was nothing special. Mostly orientational stuff. And a lot of paperwork. There was so much paperwork. I have no idea why there was so much paperwork. Finally, I was done and set free.

              Set free to go shopping, and then head back to my house to make dinner. The shopping was awkward at best. I was a fish in a tank. I was an animal in a cage. I was to be looked at, but not to get too close to. Children were steered away from me. I might eat them. The big bad wolf of the situation. I was the monster hiding under the bed. This went beyond normal paranoia too. This was not just stranger danger. This was a true fear of me. I did nothing wrong, and yet every one of them saw me as the monster. It seemed that just being a stranger there was enough. I was enough to be a problem. Which didn’t make sense to me.

              Still, there was nothing I could do about their judgment for me. The only thing I could do was keep moving forward. I had made the decision to walk down this road. I had made the decision to be here. It was time to just accept that.

              I was walking home. My bags were fumbling, or maybe I was fumbling with my bags. I was sure I would drop my bags when Nicole, the nurse from before, came up to me. She was accompanied by the man I had seen with Bartholomew at the museum. “Hello,” she said, a smile on her face.

              “Oh, hi,” I said, nearly faltering with my bags. Both Nicole and the man quickly helped and took some bags off my hands. “Thank you.”

              “No problem,” Nicole said with a smile. “How have you been feeling?” She faltered with the bags for a second until she was set.

              “Better,” I said, smiling at her. “I still have some sore points at some times.” I looked over my body as I said this, trying to see some of the bruises that had healed since I last saw her.

              “Any other problems?” she asked, adjusting the bags in her hands.

              “No.” I gave a smile. “You’re not on duty, so you shouldn’t have to worry about it.”

              “I may not be on duty, but I have no problem keeping an eye on my neighbors.”

              “Neighbors?” I asked her.

              “Yeah, I live right next door. I meant to stop by yesterday to see if everything was alright, but I pulled a double.”

              “Oh, it’s alright,” I said, looking at her. I stopped and thought for a few seconds. “You live next door?” I repeated the words, sinking in my head.

              “Yeah, they would….” She stopped herself, realizing in real time that she had started saying something she shouldn’t have.

              I waited a few seconds, waiting for her to continue, but she had been stopped and would not start again without a slight nudge or maybe a kick in the right spot. “Is there something that you wanted to add?” I knew I was taking a gamble about whether she would answer that question.

              “If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to stop by.” She paused and then looked to the man with her before she added. “I know this town can be a little harsh on outsiders, and I want you to know that you are not alone.” She turned her attention back to me with a smile on her face.

              I looked down at the ground for a moment. I picked my eyes back up at her. “Thank you for that.”