“Well, well, well,” said the man in front. “What do we have here? It looks like there is a little wolf problem in the club.”

“Oh no,” Luke groaned. “Not them again.”

A wolf problem? Lily wondered. And why is Luke acting like he expected this to happen?

Before Lily could open her mouth to ask, Luke turned to face her. His face was twisted in pain.

“I’m sorry, Lily,” he said, “I have to go now.” Then, without another word, he turned away and made a dash toward the bar.

Lily watched helplessly as Luke ran superhumanly fast, jumping over the bar and disappearing through a door labeled “staff only”.

She was vaguely aware of the commotion that had erupted behind her. People were screaming, some running away from the hooded man, some running toward them. It sounded like there was a physical fight going on. She didn’t really care. Her eyes were set on the door through which Luke had left, abandoning her.

So, was that all you wanted? She thought. Did you just want to dance with me for a single night, and then discard me like a… like a… darn it! Why is thinking of good metaphors so difficult? She complained to herself. I guess ‘like a disposable cup’ would have to do. So, did you just want to discard me like a disposable cup, after you have charmed me? After you have made me fall –

“Lily!” a voice suddenly called beside her. It was Chloe. “Have you seen Jason? I lost him when the fight started, I hope he isn’t hurt. We need to find him and get out of here!”

“No,” Lily said, “I’ve not seen Jason.” Chloe’s concern made her realize something, though. “Sorry Chloe, I need to find Luke.”

“Luke?”

“He’s a guy I –“

“You met a hot guy?” Chloe screamed, forgetting about Jason. “You met a hot guy! I knew bringing you to the club was a good idea! Go after him, Lily! What are you waiting for?”

That last line was redundant, as Lily was already running toward the bar. She passed by a couple of confused and disheveled employees who were hurrying in the other direction, and entered through the “staff only” door.

***

Lily found herself in a fluorescent-lit corridor, with a series of metal doors on both sides. One door, labeled "Kitchen", was ajar. Lily approached it and carefully pushed it open.

The kitchen was empty… sort of. She couldn't see anyone there, although it was clear people had been here pretty recently, because the oven was still on. Although some metal utensils had fallen to the floor, there were no signs of struggle – no blood, or torn clothes, or anything similar.

Lily assumed that the employees she saw leaving were the ones working here, so they were at least safe. But where was Luke?

Suddenly, Lily heard a rattling sound behind a stacked shelving unit, followed by a quiet gasp. She froze in place, holding her breath. When she couldn't detect any movement or sound, she slowly made her way toward the shelving unit.

As she approached the corner, Lily could make out the sound of deep, slows breaths, similar to those of a sleeping animal. Her burning sense of curiosity prevailing over her self-preservation instinct, she peeked around the corner.

She was greeted by quite an unexpected sight. French fries. Lots of them. In fact, the entire floor seemed to be covered in huge piles of French fries, torn bags of fries, and cardboard boxes which used to contain fries. Most of them were uncooked, but Lily spotted a deep-fryer basket or two, filled with half-ready fries. And among all the fries, was an unmistakable motion – the up-and-down movement of breathing.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Slightly apprehensive yet very curious, Lily approached the breathing pile of French fries. Beneath it was, quite unsurprisingly, the chest of whatever it was that breathed. Lily swept aside the fries and found herself looking down at a very large, sleeping man covered in hair that was unusually dark and thick – one might even call it fur.

What in the hell? A man covered in fur… and were those canines that she saw coming out of his mouth?

Lily looked him over in curiosity. His facial features were recognizably human, even somewhat familiar, but they were distorted. His ears were slightly pointy. His nose was bigger and flatter. And it wasn't just the face. His arms were very muscular, but they looked different than the ones most body-builders had. As if the bone and muscle structures themselves were somehow different. And… yeah, those were definitely claws that he had at the end of each limb.

Her eyes wandered back toward his face, and she let out a small yelp of surprise.

His eyes were open now, and two unnaturally yellow irises were looking directly at her.

"Li-Lily?" the man asked in astonishment. His voice was hoarse, but Lily thought she recognized it.

"Luke?" she asked in confusion.

"Yes, that's me," he said, sitting up. "What are you doing here, Lily?"

"I followed you," Lily said, "duh."

"Ugh. I guess that makes sense," Luke said half-mindedly as he looked around. "Anyway, you should go away now," he added in a low voice.

"G-go away?" Lily was a bit hurt.

"It's dangerous, Lily!" Luke whispered. "I'm a werewolf, if you haven't noticed!"

"A werewolf?!" Lily exclaimed.

"Keep your voice down!" Luke reprimanded her. "If they hear us, they will kill both of us."

"Who is they?"

"The huntsmen," Luke said the word as if its meaning should have been obvious to Lily. "The Brotherhood of Light. You know, the guys that barged into the club and broke the spell that prevented me from turning into… this."

"Right…" Lily felt she was completely lost.

"Lily, listen to me!" Luke's yellow eyes looked directly into her own. "Go away! If the huntsmen don't kill you, I could. The only thing preventing me from killing you right now is all these fries – "

"WHAT?!" Lily exclaimed.

Luke sent his hand to Lily's mouth in an attempt to hush her, but it was too late – someone had heard them. "What was that?" called a voice from the other side of the wall.

Luke put a finger to his lips, signifying Lily to be silent. Then, very slowly, he bent down and picked up something that she couldn't see. In one swift motion, he threw the small object at the wall. The object – which seemed to be a potato – hit the light switch, and darkness fell upon them.

Not a second later, the door swung open, letting a small amount of light into the room. "Who's there?" said the person at the doorway.

Lily turned her head slowly toward the door. Although her field of view was mostly blocked by shelves full of boxes, she was barely able to make out the silhouette of a figure wrapped in white robes, with some glistening metallic object strapped to its waist – was that a gun?

"Tarnation!" the robed man exclaimed as he rifled through his bad. "Where are my candles?"

Candles? Lily wondered. Is this man from the Middle Ages or something?

She gave Luke a questioning look, but he gave her an expression that said "this is not the time for questions". Or maybe it was an expression saying "I love chocolate" – it was hard to tell in the dark.

Lily heard the sound of a match being struck, and a small light filled the room. The robed man lit up a candle, and then turned to search the room.

Lily and Luke, who were mostly hidden by the shelves, held their breath as the man looked over the other half of the room. Finding nothing, he turned back toward the door.

Luke exhaled in relief, and the man turned back immediately. "I knew I'd heard something!" he exclaimed as he rushed over to the shelving unit. He moved around the corner, and found Lily and Luke ducking amidst a huge pile of French fries.

For a moment, nobody moved. Then, several things happened in quick succession.

The robed man reached for his weapon – it was not a gun, but a sword – and cried "leave the girl alone, vile beast!"

Luke jumped onto his feet and pushed Lily against the wall. "Stay back! I'll take care of him!"

"Wait, what?" asked the robed man. "You… You do not want to kill her?"

"Of course I don't want to kill her, huntsman! I'm covered in fries, if you haven't noticed!" Luke retorted in anger.

The robed man – the huntsman, as Luke called him – moved toward Luke, his sword drawn. Luke raised his clawed arm, ready to strike.

"Wait!" said Lily. "Hold on a minute. What does being covered with fries have to do with anything?"

To her great surprise, the huntsman froze in place. And while Luke may not have completely frozen, Lily could see his muscles relaxing. He looked at her in surprise.

"Lily…" Luke muttered through his teeth. It looked like it was hard for him to talk.

"Yes?"

"Let's run! Now that you froze him, we have – "

Before he could finish his sentence, the huntsman shook off whatever was holding him in place, stepping forward and raising his sword to defend himself.

"What in the name of – " he began to ask, but a punch that weighed like a truck hit his chest, and he was thrown to the floor.

"Lily, let's go!" Luke shouted. He jumped over the huntsman's limp body, and stormed toward the door.

Lily stared at the door in total shock, still unable to comprehend everything that had just occurred.