Beth sat there for a moment, staring at her.
"Did you hit your head?"
"Beth, I'm telling you the truth."
"You can't be, lil sis. What you are saying isn't possible," Beth told her.
"Yeah, I know. It shouldn't be possible, but it happened."
“Alright, Stephanie. It's obvious you suffered some sort of trauma. Your brain must be trying to compensate by imagining these things." Her concern was obvious. It was clear the attempt to convince Beth what happened wasn't working.
Stephanie sighed. This was going nowhere. It hit her. The only way she was going to convince Beth what happened was to have Jason tell her the same thing.
"Fine, Beth. I'll get checked out, but first, I want to go see if Jason is okay."
"You want to go see the guy who assaulted you? To check if he is okay? You are messed up." Beth shook her head.
"Look, Beth, you can go with me. Just drive me to Jason's apartment to check to see if he is there and check on him, and then you can drive me to the hospital to get me checked out."
Beth stared skeptically at her, as if trying to figure out if she was being scammed. Stephanie tried to hide the fact she was absolutely scared to death about going to get checked out. Afraid they would be able to figure out what happened and lock her away. Luckily, she was sure once Beth saw what she did to Jason, and when Jason told her what he had seen, Beth would have no choice but to accept the story Stephanie was telling her. Hopefully, Jason would see her after what had happened.
"Fine. I'll drive you," Beth agreed. "But, there’s a chance I'm gonna kill Jason myself."
Stephanie smiled warmly at Beth. She knew Beth was all talk. Well, she hoped at least.
Stephanie knew there was something wrong when they pulled into Jason's parking lot. Mike, Jason's roommate, was running down the stairs at full speed carrying a duffle bag. When he saw her in the car, he dropped the bag and headed right for Beth's car. Beth had to stop or run over him. Mike went around to Stephanie's side of the car and opened the door.
"What the hell did you do to him?” he shouted. “What the hell happened to my apartment?"
"Is Jason alright?" Stephanie managed to get in amidst Mike’s interrogation.
"Is Jason alright? Is Jason alright? He had a heart attack. He almost died. Is he alright?" Mike’s eyes were wild, and his words tumbled out in an angry hurry. "I get a call from him early this morning asking me to come home and clean up the mess in and outside the apartment. My apartment is a wreck, the window is broken, and there is a blood stain on the carpet."
Beth had gotten out of the car and moved around from her side and slid between Mike and Stephanie.
"Now hold on here," Beth interceded. "Calm down and start making some sense."
Mike glared at Beth for a moment, took a deep breath, and turned back to Stephanie.
"I've been cleaning up here for hours, and then I get a call from the hospital, seems I'm Jason's emergency contact number. Anyway, I get a call from the hospital. Jason went into cardiac arrest. They have no idea what caused it, since he only suffered a puncture wound in his thigh — not anything to have caused heart failure.
They brought him back, but since they didn't know the cause, and whether he might go into it again, I should perhaps call his next of kin and get down there myself. That’s what they told me." Mike glanced back towards his car and the bag lying beside it. "I packed up some things so, at least, he could have some change of clothes and his tablet to play on." He glared back at her. "What happened, Stephanie? What did you do to him?"
This was Stephanie's worst fear and she couldn't contain herself anymore. A sob broke loose, followed by another. She couldn't stand the thought of having hurt, let alone kill Jason. The fact he was still alive was the only reason she hadn't collapsed into a heap on the pavement.
"I'm sorry, Mike. I didn't mean to do anything," she told him. Mike stared at her, his features softening under her obvious distress. Beth, however, stared intently at Stephanie. It seems this wasn't what she had expected to find at Jason's apartment. Her expression implied she was starting to suspect what Stephanie told her, no matter how unbelievable it was, might be the truth.
Stephanie got herself together enough to tell Mike they were going to go and see Jason.
"Oh, no, you aren’t. You did this to him. I'm not going to let you anywhere near him."
"How do you know she did this to him?" Beth asked.
Mike spared a glare for Beth, who didn't back down and glared right back.
"Well, for starters, she damn near apologized. Also, when I asked Jason what happened, he wouldn't tell me. When I asked about Stephanie, he wouldn't say anything, either." Mike glanced back and forth between the two girls. "Now, I don't know exactly what happened, but it is obvious it involved you, Stephanie."
"Look, Mike, I am not going to tell you the reason Jason is in the hospital didn't involve me. Or what happened in your apartment didn't involve me, either. What I can tell you, nothing is quite what it seems, and if Jason didn't tell you what happened, it means he doesn't put the blame on me, or he would have said it was my fault. Now, unless you are planning on physically stopping me, I am going to go see Jason." Stephanie shut the car door and waited for Beth to get back in.
For a moment, it seemed as if Mike might decide to take her up on using physical force, but Beth said something to him, and he changed his mind. Stephanie watched as Mike stormed over to grab the duffle bag and head to his car, glaring at her over his shoulder. Beth got into the car and spun the car around to head to the hospital.
"You got an explanation for this?" Beth side-eyed Stephanie.
Stephanie shook her head. Why Jason had a heart attack, she had no idea. You would assume if it was from stress, he would have had it when he was face to face with her when she had transformed into a monster, not hours later.
It was a decent chance his heart attack had nothing to do with her at all. Possibly he had an allergic reaction to something they gave him. Or, he had a weak heart and it happened to give out. For some reason, she didn't believe any of her possible answers. For some reason, she knew she caused it.
They arrived ten minutes later and parked. Wanting to get in there and see Jason before Mike arrived, Stephanie jumped out of the car before Beth had it fully parked.
"Hey!" Beth shouted at her and swiftly followed.
Running inside, Stephanie got to the elevators. All the elevators were many floors up and she didn't feel like waiting. A couple of strides took her to the stairwell.
Beth came around the corner as Stephanie darted into the stairwell, taking the stairs two at a time. She would have taken them three at a time, but with her short legs she would have eventually stumbled. Not for the first time did she wish she was taller, so she could run these damn stairs quicker.
Glancing behind, she saw Beth down a flight of stairs from her. Even though Beth was much taller than Stephanie, she was having trouble keeping up. Stephanie opened the door to level three. Taking a second, she yelled into the stairwell. ‘He is on level three — take a right out of the stairs.’ Proceeding down the hallway, she passed eight rooms, before stopping outside the door of the ninth room. The name on the board beside the door read Jason Randal.
Standing in front of the door, she realized Mike hadn't told her the room number, yet she knew exactly how to get here. Somehow, she knew Jason was here. Level three could be considered an educated guess given he was a recovering patient, but to know to turn right out of the stairwell and to go eight rooms down and stop right in front of the door... was a little too farfetched.
"Come in, Stephanie," she heard Jason call from inside.
Staring at the door, Stephanie wondered how Jason knew it was her outside, or that there was anyone outside his door. Glancing down the hallway, she saw Beth emerge from the stairwell and glance her way. Before Beth could stop her, she opened the door to Jason's room and entered.
Propped up in bed, Jason watched he
r as she entered. Her heart hiccupped for a moment upon seeing him, wondering how he would react to seeing her. He broke into a huge smile.
"I am so glad you're alright,” Jason said. “After what happened, I wasn't sure… "
Mouth stuck open, she stood frozen for a moment. He was worried about her? She had almost killed him, and he was worried about her?
Running over, she hugged him, hard.
"I thought you wouldn't want to see me, again." She buried her face in his shoulder.
"I love you, Stephanie. Why wouldn't I want to see you, again?"
She pulled away from him.
"Umm, I don't know, Jason, perhaps because I turned into a huge monster and almost killed you."
Jason laughed. "Yeah. Well, all women turn into monsters once a month at least, you’re just a little extreme." He smiled. "Oh, hello, Beth."
Peeking over her shoulder at the door, she turned to see Beth there staring at them.
"So, what she told me is true, Jason?" Beth watched his face.
Jason studied Stephanie for a moment, searching her face for some hint of how to handle this.
"Yeah, Beth. It's true."
"I need to sit down." Beth moved to the corner where a cushioned chair waited and slumped into it.
Almost instantaneously she sat up straight. "How did you know he was here? The whole time I was following, I kept wondering how the hell you knew where you were going. I never heard Mike tell you Jason's room number."
"I don't know, Beth; I was wondering myself. It was as if I knew he was here. I could almost sense him." She turned to Jason. "How did you know I was outside your door?"
Jason cocked his head. "It was weird. I felt you approaching. Ever since I woke up from my heart attack, I had a sense of you. It’s the best way I can describe it. I had a sense of where you were, like in the back of my mind. When I thought of you, I could get a stronger sense of where you were. Does that make sense?"
Allowing herself to feel with her senses, she could sense Jason’s presence. If she closed her eyes, she could easily point to him in a crowded room.
"Yeah. It makes sense. I can sense you, too. I think I could before, but was so stressed out over everything happening, I didn't let myself be aware of you." She smiled at Jason, her face reddening. Jason returned it.
"Wonderful," Beth moaned from the chair. "Now you guys are more attached to each other. It still begs to reason why all this is happening, whatever this is."
Beth had a point and Stephanie didn't have an answer for her. At the moment, she was too happy to care. Jason didn't hate her. In fact, he said he loved her, despite the fact she almost killed him as a monster. Jason took her hand in his.
"Do you understand anything about what happened to you?"
Shaking her head, she squeezed his hand.
"Well, I can tell you what I saw happen and we can go from there."
Striding into the room, Mike entered, with the duffle hanging from his right shoulder. Taking one glimpse at Jason, his eyes traveled to Stephanie and Beth in the corner. Sensing something important was about to be said, he dropped the duffle and shut the door behind him. "Okay. Let's hear it."
Jason peered up at Stephanie, again. It warmed her heart he would check with her if it was alright to divulge her secret with Mike before saying anything. Mike needed to be told. He wouldn't let this go. If she and Jason were together, he would always imply something happened last night which defied explanation. Nodding to Jason, she let him know it was okay.
"We were on my couch when you doubled over from pain. I watched you as your body shattered and remade itself." Shaking his head. "At least, that is the best way I can describe it. I didn't know what to do. I could see how much pain you were in, but there was nothing I could see I could do. I tried to comfort you on some level, but you screamed at me to get away from you. You told me to run, I was in danger. At first, I didn't listen and tried to stay with you." Jason gazed into her eyes. She could see how hard it had been for him to leave her.
"It’s okay, Jason. I told you to leave for a reason," she told him.
"When you say, remade itself, what do you mean, Jason?" Mike asked.
"You saw the movie American Werewolf in London, right?"
"Yeah. Wait. Are you saying she is a werewolf? Come on man." Mike was incredulous.
"Not a werewolf, because she didn't appear like a wolf, she appeared more like a red fox."
Mike gawked at him and broke out laughing. "Are you kidding me? Is this a joke? Am I on camera or something?"
They didn't answer him, only regarded him straight-faced.
"You're not, are you? You're serious?"
They both nodded at him. Standing there for a moment, he raised his hands in defeat, and motioned for Jason to continue.
"I didn't run at first, as I said. I tried to hold you and help you through the pain. When you grew claws, one of them punctured my khakis and my leg. I ran. When I ran outside, I was staring up at the apartment window. Suddenly, you came flying through it, landing behind me. When I turned to observe you, I saw you, as some sort of humanoid fox. You were covered in red fur, except for your chest and abdomen which was white from what I could tell. You were taller than me, and frightening.” Shrugging. “Sorry." Jason smiled apologetically up at her. "I thought you were going to kill me. All I could think of was to try to reach you. I called out your name, hoping you would recognize me."
"Just when I thought you were going to slice me into little pieces, my words must have gotten to you. You stopped, and it was like you saw yourself for the first time. Then you ran away. Man, did you run. I don't think I've ever seen anyone move so fast in my life." Jason took a deep breath. "It was the last I saw you."
"From there I ran to the park and into the forest," Stephanie said, taking up where Jason finished. "I didn't know what to do, but I was worried about Jason, so I came back to the apartment, but the lights were out. It seemed like you were gone." She glanced to Jason for confirmation.
"I drove myself to the hospital after wrapping my leg." Jason informed her.
Stephanie continued. "Seeing no one was home, I went back to the forest and eventually fell asleep. I remember waking up at some point to incredible pain, but must have passed out, because the next thing I knew, I woke up, and I was no longer in that form. I was back looking like I normally do."
"Okay," Mike began. "Let's assume for a moment what you are saying is true, and I'm still not entirely convinced it is, but let's say it is, for the sake of this argument. If you were some sort of were-creature like a werewolf, only a fox instead, how did you change. It wasn't a full moon, yet. You still have a week or so before it gets here!"
"Well, Mike," Beth spoke up. "First, since none of us, and I think I speak for all of us here, have ever heard of a werefox before, let’s assume everything we think we know about werewolves isn’t true."
"Fair enough. I'll grant you that." Mike conceded.
"Now, I don't think it's a coincidence after she injured you, Jason, you guys can somehow sense each other," Beth interjected.
"What do you mean?" Mike glanced over at her.
"Well, this is before you got here, but Stephanie walked right to this room. I mean, she didn't ask anyone for directions or a room number. She bee-lined it right here. And, it appears your buddy here could sense my girl standing outside his room without seeing it was her."
Mike stared at them both, and as one, they nodded their agreement.
"Well, I think you guys need to tell the doctor or something," Mike told them.
"Are you nuts, Mike?" Beth walked over to the bed, in a form of support. "They will stick them in a lab somewhere. Run some tests for who knows how long. That is, of course, if they don't throw us all in the loony bin for trying to tell them this story." Beth shook her head. "No. The best thing for them to do is to get out of here as fast as possible and go on with their lives."
"Okay, you got a point,” Mike said. “But I also don't think they can
go on pretending this didn't happen, or it might not happen, again. What if Stephanie is sitting in class and she changes into this creature. Who knows what sort of devastation she could cause? Just because she could stop herself from killing Jason doesn't mean she would be able to stop herself, again." Turning towards her. "No offense, Stephanie, but I don't want you at the apartment, again. I'm not gonna risk my life because Jason cares for you."
"Now hold on a minute, Mike..." Jason began.
"No, Jason," Stephanie broke in, "it's okay. I totally understand what he is saying and respect it."
Stephanie wasn't upset at Mike. She understood what he was saying. It was clear she needed to avoid people as much as possible, but she didn't know what she was going to do either. There was no obvious reason why she changed into the creature, and without some sort of clue what had triggered it, there was no way to predict if, and when, it would happen again.
"I'm going to go back home. I live on a farm. I can easily get away from people if I need to. I think it's for the best," she said.
"Nonsense, Stephanie, there is no point in not living your life. You don't know if it will happen again," Jason said to her. "Are you going to live the rest of your life in solitude? There has got to be a better way." Jason was regarding all of them in turn, searching for suggestions. None of them had any. Jason sighed.
"Well, there is one thing I agree with Mike on in this. We should get out of here right away." Jason swung his legs off the bed and started to get up.
Stephanie placed her hand against Jason's chest and pushed him back down.
"Your injured, and in no shape to go home, buddy."
Jason smiled. "That's the thing. I wasn't feeling pain at all anymore in my leg. So, I took the liberty of checking..." Lifting the bandage of his thigh where his puncture wound had been; showing them. It was gone. Stitches were stuck to the gauze as if they had been pressed into it. The leg wasn't red or swollen at all. It was like he never was injured at all.
The Awakening Box Set Page 42
