by Jessica Swan
Selene slowly got up out of bed. As she stood up, she noticed she felt strange. She wasn’t in pain, but she somehow felt different; she couldn’t quite figure out what it was. It was almost as if she felt lighter; every movement seemed quicker and easier than it had before.
Curious, next she quickly headed to the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror. Surely if she really had been bitten in reality there would be a horrendous wound on her neck. She stared at her reflection, amazed; there was no wound at all and no sign of her being hit by a car.
‘That’s strange,’ she thought. ‘Everything felt so real. How could I have been dreaming?’
She rushed over to her purse, which was on the nightstand beside her bed, and checked her phone for a date and time. The battery was dead. She plugged it in the charger right next to her and booted it up, impatiently muttering, “Come on, come on!” At that moment, she hated herself for not having some other way of quickly checking the date. There was, of course, her computer but that would take even longer to boot up.
Finally, her smart phone booted and displayed the date in the top left corner of the screen.
“Sunday?! What the hell?! Where did Saturday go?”
She plopped down on her bed again and stared at her phone, not believing her own eyes. How could she have skipped Saturday? Had she been so drunk Friday night that she somehow hallucinated the whole incident, and then came home, passed out on her bed, and slept the entire day Saturday? It seemed very unlikely. She remembered everything that had happened at the club Friday night. She only had a couple beers and a mixed drink; not nearly enough to get her that drunk.
‘Did someone put something in my drink?’ she asked herself. At that point, every single possibility was crossing through her mind. That was another one that seemed unlikely, though. She had her eye on every drink she had had at all times. No one put anything in it.
‘Something very strange is going on. I need to get to the bottom of this,’ she thought, but first, she had to get some coffee and a little something to eat.
When she sat down at the kitchen table with her coffee and cereal, she first took a sip of coffee, thinking how odd it tasted. Had she mixed it right? Then she took a bite of cereal and spit it out.
“Yuck!” she cringed. She went over to the fridge, determined to find something better to eat. She eyed the steak on the second shelf and her mouth watered. Against her normal judgment, she took the steak out and cooked it. Normally, she would eat her steak well done, but this time, she felt like eating it rare. ‘Another odd thing,’ she noted as she sat down with the steak and began wolfing it down. ‘What’s wrong with me? Now I’m eating steak in the morning. This is so weird.’
Within five minutes, the steak was gone, and she felt refreshed. Abandoning the coffee, she drank about a pint of water, got dressed and headed out. For some reason, she felt like going for a run in Central Park today.
Marcus spotted Selene leaving her apartment from where he was standing just down the street. Since it was Sunday, he didn’t have to go to work, so he decided to spend the day keeping an eye on Selene. He was glad to see she had made a full recovery. He wondered how she had reacted when she woke up in her apartment after her near death experience Friday night and having slept through ‘til Sunday.
As he began to follow her, he came across a familiar scent. It hadn’t taken him long to realize that he had smelled the scent before; it was on Selene when she had been brought into the agency, but it wasn’t her scent. He could clearly tell her scent apart from this one he smelled now.
Then he realized what it was; it was the killer, and he was somewhere nearby, or had been recently. Panic overwhelmed him. The killer had probably tracked down Selene and was waiting for the perfect time to attack her. That was the only explanation as to why he was so close to her apartment.
Marcus followed Selene for a few blocks until they reached Central Park. He was nervous; he suspected her reason for coming here was to run. What if she exposed her supernatural abilities? He continued to follow her, but moved closer to keep a better eye on her.
As soon as Selene entered the park, she broke into a run. Within the first few seconds, she noticed how light her body felt with each stride. It felt as if she was gently gliding across the ground. She had no idea how fast she was really running until she flew by several other people who were running at the normal pace in which she used to run. They stopped and gawked at her in awe.
As she ran, she heard the footsteps of another, and they were gaining on her. She ran into the brush nearby and hid. No matter how fast she ran or how invincible she would ever feel, the thought of what had happened to her Friday night, or what she thought had happened to her, would continue to haunt her. What if that same man was following her? What if he tried to kill her again?
After hiding in the brush for a moment, she stood up, looked around to see if her stalker was possibly around. Seeing that no one was there, she stepped out of the brush, and gasped as she felt someone’s hand on her shoulder. She turned around and came face to face with Marcus.
“You! Are you the one who bit me?! Get away from me!” she said, backing away from him.
Marcus was glad no one was in the general vicinity; they would think she was crazy, or worse, they might think he was trying to attack her.
“No, Selene, listen–”
“How the hell do you know my name?!” Selene yelled at him.
“It’s a long story, but I assure you, you can trust me.”
As she looked into his gentle green eyes, somehow, perhaps by instinct, she felt she could trust him. As she stepped closer to him again, she could smell his scent, as strange as that sounded to her, and it was unfamiliar. She had never come in contact with this man before. ‘How do I even know that? What is going on with me?’
“What’s your name?” she asked calmly.
“Marcus, and I’m an NYPD detective. Well, at least for now.”
“What do you mean, for now?” Selene asked, frowning at Marcus.
“It’s a long, complicated story.”
“Why don’t you try me?” she said, staring him down. “Believe me, the shit I’ve been through since Friday night would blow your mind.”
“Um, let me guess. You were walking home and got attacked by a strange man. You don’t know who or what he was, just that he bit you on the neck. You broke free and ran into the road, getting hit by a car. Then, the next thing you knew, you were in your apartment and had no idea whether what had happened really happened or not.”
“What the hell? How do you know all this?” She was freaking out.
Perhaps he shouldn’t have said all that so soon. Sometimes Marcus cursed his own big mouth. The look on her face and how she was acting, yep, he probably spoke to soon. He realized he was going to have to go into detail and explain what happened to her.
“Because my friends picked you up off the side of the road and took care of you before we brought you back to your apartment. Whoever hit you, apparently just kept driving.”
“People suck like that sometimes.” She was hurt. How could someone hit her with their car and just ignore the fact that she could be dead, or seriously injured and in need of help. Some people were assholes, no doubt about it.
“They sure do. I’m sorry for that; because they make the ones who try to do the right thing get looked over.”
“So, do you have any idea who that was who bit me?” She sounded so hopeful.
“No, I don’t know who it was.” He wished he did. He felt the need to know, especially since the werewolf who bit her was most likely the one responsible for the murder of Michael Jones.
“Well, do you know what he was at least? He sure didn’t seem human to me. I don’t know, this may sound crazy, but I’ve been feeling very different today, like I’ve changed somehow.”
“No, it doesn’t sound crazy.” Marcus didn’t want to get into all of this, not yet.
They walked in silence for a moment before Selen
e said, “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Which question?” He played dumb. He was hoping she would drop the topic.
“Do you know what that thing was that bit me?” she asked again.
“Um, I don’t know if you’re ready for me to tell you that just yet.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” She stopped walking and glared at him, her hands on her hips. She was growing impatient and irritated. Why couldn’t this man answer her question?
“I’ll just say this. There are things in this world that you don’t understand. Things you have no idea exist or even could exist. Things that would haunt your thoughts, day and night.”
“Well, I’ve got news for you. The memories of what happened to me Friday night are haunting me now. Not knowing what that creature was is killing me. Wouldn’t that bother you, too if you were in my place?”
He considered what she said, and yes, he knew how she felt. In fact, that was exactly how he felt when he was bitten. He wished there had been someone there to tell him what had happened. Someone to tell him not to worry and that it wasn’t the end of the world. With his mind made up, he faced her.
“He was a werewolf.”
~ Chapter Four ~
“A werewolf?” she whispered with tear-filled eyes. “I was bitten by a werewolf?”
“Yes, I’m sorry.” Marcus was sorry for having to tell her. He knew too well what it was like losing a part of yourself, when you finally realize the true meaning of what has happened to you. And you find that your life is forever changed.
“How do you know this? Maybe you’re wrong. Maybe it was just a crazy man.” She went over the different possibilities in her head. She had never considered the possibility it was a werewolf. This was just crazy, and if it was true, what did that mean for her?
“I’m not wrong, and I know because I’ve seen that type of bite before; the bite that was on your neck. Don’t you wonder how you miraculously healed so fast?”
Selene stared at him for a moment, deep in thought. ‘Really? Me? A werewolf? Am I dreaming? If so, I wish someone would wake me up now because this is really starting to piss me off.’ Then, when she snapped back to reality, she noticed how long she had been staring at him. She looked down and blushed. Yes, she did think he was handsome, but honestly, come on, with all that was going on, flirting with him should be the last thing on her mind at the moment.
Marcus wished they had held their stare a little longer. There was no denying it; he thought she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever met. For a few seconds there, he let his mind wander, imagining what it would be like if he could call her his own. However, even though he had seen her early the morning before, he had literally just met her. How could he think these thoughts already?
“So,” she began, tearing him away from his thoughts and back to reality, “you say you’ve seen a bite like mine before. Where have you seen it? And how do you know it was from a werewolf?” There, she said it again: werewolf. Just the fact that she was saying that word sounded crazy to her. ‘They didn’t exist. Okay, in the movies but not in real life. Right?’ she thought.
“This may sound crazy to you, just like everything else probably has since your accident. I was bitten, too once.”
She looked at him, wide-eyed in shock. Half of her believed what he was saying and sympathized, while the other half of her thought he was just bullshitting her. “When?”
“When I was five.” He could see her struggling with trying to believe in what he was saying.
“So, you’ve been a… werewolf… your whole life?” she asked slowly, not believing the words coming out of her mouth. This was getting to be too much for her.
“Yes, and like you, this was forced upon me. I never would have chosen this life for myself.”
“Me either,” she sighed, looking down at the ground.
Marcus slowly reached out and gently tucked one of her long, brunette locks behind her ear. When she looked up at him and smiled, he could have sworn he was stepping through the gates of heaven. ‘She’s so beautiful,’ he thought.
Then, they felt themselves being drawn closer and closer together until their lips were within a couple inches of each other. It was like they had no control over their own bodies, the pull was so strong.
A shrill scream pierced the silence and they both jumped. Marcus took off in the direction in which the scream came, signaling to Selene to follow him. They followed the main path a couple hundred feet, and off to the side, they spotted a woman standing over a man. Marcus rushed over to him to feel a pulse, but he knew the instant he looked at him. The man was dead.
“Not again,” whispered Marcus, standing up. Selene rushed over to him and grabbed his hand. He was happy she felt comforted in his presence, even though they had just met.
Selene stared at the body; she couldn’t take her eyes off the wound on his neck. That must have been what her wound looked like. Then, her voice shaking in fear, she asked in a whisper, “Is this what would have happened to me if I hadn’t escaped?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so,” he answered honestly. This man was just murdered, too, which led him to believe he’s still in the park somewhere. Normally, he would chase after him and try to catch him before he killed anyone else, but Selene was with him. He felt an obligation to protect her. Well, not just an obligation; he really liked her and hated to see her get hurt again, or worse: killed. “Let’s get you home, Selene.”
“No, I can’t stay there. I don’t feel safe being home alone with this killer on the loose.”
“Alright, I have another idea. Come with me.”
On the way back to Selene’s apartment to pick up a few of her things, Marcus called the police department and made an anonymous report of the murder. He didn’t need them to know he was still involved in this. He was supposed to be on vacation, after all.
When they arrived at Selene’s apartment, she quickly gathered a couple changes of clothes, her cosmetic bag, and a few other essentials, and packed them into a tote. Then, as Marcus suggested, she called her boss to let him know she wouldn’t make it to work tomorrow because she was sick.
They walked down the street to where Marcus’ car was parked and hopped in.
“That’s convenient,” she said, referring to how close his car was parked. He started the car and began to drive. To where? She had no idea.
“Well, to be honest with you, I was keeping an eye on you.” He looked a little sheepishly at her as he spoke.
“Because of the killer on the loose?” She knew this was probably why, but a girl could always hope.
“Yes, mainly that, and also to make sure you didn’t tip off the public about your supernatural abilities.”
“Ah, I see. And what makes you think that’s your job to keep an eye on me and make sure I behave myself.”
“Because it is.”
“Stop being so cryptic, Marcus. Just tell me what’s going on. Really, I just found out that I’m a werewolf, among other things. If that didn’t put me into a serious state of shock, I don’t know what will. And frankly I’m getting sick of the run around. Trying to pull answers from you is like try to pull teeth. Geez, spit it out.”
“Okay, okay,” he chuckled. “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me you’ll keep it a secret. You must tell no one.”
Selene looked at him. He had a very serious look on his face. She didn’t know him very well yet, but she knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t the type of man to mess around with when he’s wearing that look. “I promise.”
“Ever since I was a young boy, my father has been running a secret, underground agency. I had no idea any of it existed until just recently; when he revealed to me that he is planning to retire soon. He asked me to spend some time there and see if I’m interested in taking over his position. It is called Black Wolf Agency, named after me, because I’m a black wolf when I assume my other form. Basically, what we do is monitor supernatural activity in the city and
eliminate the problems before they become noticeable among the human population.”
“So, if I became a problem, you would have…”
“No, no, we wouldn’t have done anything to you. You’re just an innocent who doesn’t know any better, kind of like a child.”
“Oh, I’m a child, huh?” she said, glaring at him, the corner of her mouth turning up in the slightest grin.
He looked back at her, knowing he was just digging his hole deeper with everything he said. “I didn’t mean it that way. Trust me when I say, definitely not that way.”
Then, she burst out laughing, and he couldn’t help but laugh along with her. “I’m just messing with you, Marcus. No, really, I understand what you meant about me being a child. I’m new to this werewolf business. I need to be taught what’s right and wrong by someone apparently. I thought it was awfully weird how I was just flying right by those people in the park who were jogging at normal speed.” ‘Gosh, I really am taking this all in stride. Maybe I do need to be locked up in the nut house, but I guarantee it would be a first for being calm,’ she thought.
“Yes, and there are ways to manage that. Now that you have these abilities, you’ll find it quite frustrating to be around humans. Between your superior strength and speed, you may grow impatient very quickly and find it difficult to not use your abilities in front of them.”
“Inferior humans,” she said with a playful, evil laugh.
He chuckled. Not only was she beautiful, but he loved her personality; what he had seen so far, at least. “Exactly. Imagine hiding your abilities from your own mother for your entire life. Now, that’s difficult.”
“I can imagine, but why would you have had to do that?” she asked, curious of everything about him.
“My mother was human. My dad didn’t think she would be able to handle the news about werewolves existing. And never except the fact that her son was one. After several years of hiding it from her, it started to get a bit easier.” Marcus said with sadness in his voice. There was a part of him that would always blame his nature for not being close to his mother.
