Chapter 10

Nate continued speaking with the kid finding out his name and other details. He thought he had it bad when that demon ruined his life but it paled in comparison to what the little kid has been through. It scared him to look into the ten year old kid’s eyes and see primal fury and anger.

“Look, you’ve been through the worst and I don’t expect you to believe me, but my apartment is open to you. Here.” Nate threw him the key. “I’m going to buy a bunch of food before it turns dark. If you want a place to stay—no strings attached—then go there. If not then just toss away the key. It’s up to you.” Nate stood up and dusted himself off then proceeded to exit the alley. Those were his only set of keys but he was sure he could somehow get the door open using his abilities.

There were several general stores in the city that sold food rations, amongst other things. He entered one of and began taking a good look around. He was surprised one of them actually had a TV for sale. “How does this work then?” He asked the man

“That’s not for you.” The clerk behind the counter said gruffly.

“What do you mean? Who’s it for?”

“Look kid are you going to buy something or not?”

“Alright, alright.” Nate placed a duffel bag on the counter and enough rations to fill the duffle bag.

“That’ll be 350 tokens.”

“Goddam! You shop owners have no soul!” He yelled.

“That’s the price asswipe don’t make me raise it!”

“Tch! Fine. Accept my dam money. I hope you know there’s a starving kid I’m supporting.”

The store clerk didn’t care. He easily took the tokens. Nate walked out with a heavy duffle bag full of food. As soon as he was in the streets he saw several hungry pairs of eyes land on him. Nate kept his head down as he made the way back to his apartment.

Looking backwards he made sure no one was following then climbed the stairs. He knocked on his door hoping the kid was there. “Aidan you in there?”

Nate waited several minutes but there was no reply. “Dam.”

Focusing on the door knob he projected mental energy into the keyhole and lifted up the tumblers. The lock clicked open with a tick sound. Nate twisted the knob and entered the room to find Aidan sitting there on his kitchen counter.

“Why didn’t you open the door?” Nate whined.

Aidan shrugged his shoulders. Nate shook his head. He locked the door behind him and hefted the duffle bag onto the counter. Unzipping the bag he revealed a vast amount of food. “Dig in.” He said after grabbing a bag of trail mix and a plastic cup. He filled the cup up with tap water and ate his food.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Aidan wolfing down snack after snack. “Hey, you throw up, you clean. Now relax and slow your pace.” Nate advised.

Howling sounded from outside as the sun set. Aidan briefly paused as he heard the howling then continued to eat.

Brave kid. Nate chuckled inwardly.

After Nate finished he went to the living room and lied down on the rug. Aidan looked at him from the kitchen counter observing him quietly. After he finished he went over to Nate. “You can sleep in your room, I’ll sleep here.” Aidan said.

“Nah you’re the kid. Go ahead and take the room.”

Aidan didn’t move right away. “Look I feel safer sleeping here alright? If someone comes bursting through the door I’ll be close enough to hear and ready to fight so just go sleep inside.” This finally prompted Aidan to go inside the bedroom.

“Ah!” Aidan crashed to the floor and cried out in pain.

Nate jumped up from the floor. “Aidan you alright?”

“Ahh!!!” He cried as his body convulsed on the ground.

“Aidan! Aidan c’mon buddy, you alright?”

Nate tried to turn Aidan over to see what was causing him pain but as soon as he placed his hand on Aidan he heard crackling sounds. “AHH!!!!!!” Aidan cried as his bones began breaking over and over again.

Nate stood there completely dumbfounded as Aidan slowly started to change right before his eyes. After several crackling noises Aidan’s body began to shift. The clothes were torn as his body grew. When the transformation ended Nate was completely dumbfounded as a wolf three feet tall stared at him ferociously.

“Aidan?” He said taking a step back.

The wolf flashed and suddenly Nate felt teeth digging into his shoulder. “DAMMIT!” he yelled as he tackled the wolf pushing him away using his telekinesis. Aidan was flung several feet away but he easily shook it off and circled Nate like a real wolf would, only Nate had his back against the wall so Aidan was only half-circling. Looking at the wolf’s eyes Nate saw nothing but animalistic rage.

Aidan charged again. Nate reached out an ethereal hand, made completely of mental energy and grabbed Aidan pinning him against the floor. The wolf thrashed and fought his grip but Nate held on. “Aidan c’mon man this isn’t you.”

He’d seen the werewolves on the street hunt before and the way they moved convinced Nate they weren’t just dumb animals. The intelligence he saw in the eyes of the wolf that first night he saved Aidan convinced him these were people shifting into werewolves although he still couldn’t understand why they didn’t enter into people’s buildings and homes. Nate didn’t know why Aidan hadn’t retained his human side but he was hoping to bring Aidan back to the surface.

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“Aidan c’mon.” Nate begged as an hour went by and no change. The wolf had stopped fighting but its hackles were raised and it stared at him with a look that promised death upon release. Nate felt his brain throbbing in pain but he couldn’t let go. Even when the pain got so unbearable he had to close his eyes he still focused on the wolf.

Nate decreased the force in which he was holding the wolf to the minimum so that there was barely enough pressure to pin the wolf in place. Even with this attempt to save mental energy and reduce the stress to his brain he felt his limit approaching.

“I have to keep holding. I have to keep holding.” Nate repeated over and over again like a mantra. The only alternative was to kill the wolf or to send him outside. He was afraid if Aidan was tossed outside he would never be seen again.

It was strange to think that since Aidan was a werewolf but even that wasn’t entirely true. The other werewolves he’d seen before looked just like wolves but Aidan was different. He had a silver coat of fur but there were magical blue lines that glowed faintly. He’s never seen this on any of the other werewolves before.

The pressure was becoming unbearable. His whole brain felt like a bomb that would go off any minute. The pain was all encompassing now, it was through sheer willpower he was still able to pin Aidan to that floor. He didn’t know how much time passed, it just felt like an eternity of pain. Suddenly he felt several bursts go off on his brain. That was the last thing he remembered as his eyes rolled up into his head.

…

When Aidan woke up he found himself staring up at an unfamiliar sky. The sky’s not brown. He suddenly realized he wasn’t outdoors.

He panicked thinking a grownup had him locked up inside their home. Sitting up he frantically looked around. There was a man lying face down on the carpet, a puddle of blood surrounding him. “Serves you right asshole.” He cursed at the adult.

Suddenly his mind cleared. “Nate? Nate you alright?!” He said running up to the black man who saved him.

With extraneous effort he managed to turn Nate on his side but there was so much blood. “Nate please.” He felt tears flow out of his eyes. Nate was the first adult to show him any kind of compassion. He desperately needed someone like Nate in his life.

He realized Nate was not dead. The rise and fall of his chest indicated he still lived. “Oh thank god.” Aidan wept silently.

He stayed beside Nate but after several hours of no change he grew hungry. He stood up and went over to the duffle bag full of food and helped himself to some breakfast.

As he munched on a raw square of ramen noodle he wondered what happened last night. The door was still locked and the windows were intact so nobody broke in. The marks on Nate also suggested it wasn’t self-inflicted.

“Those were bite marks.” He recalled the only physical wound he found on Nate’s body.

“No…” He whispered as he came to a realization. As if it read his mind his inner wolf howled. Aidan’s body began shifting again. He curled up and yelled in pain as his body underwent the transformation.

Last night when Aidan transformed there was so much pain that something within him told him to let go. This time he refused that voice, unwilling to let go for fear of hurting Nate. His inner wolf howled in anger as it thrashed about but Aidan ignored it.

Blood! Aidan felt the saliva spring up in his mouth as his stomach rumbled. He needed meat. Following the scent he walked over until he found Nate’s body lying there on the floor.

Eat! Eat! Eat! His inner wolf kept saying.

Aidan was almost tempted. Taking a deep breath in made his mouth water and drool. But as soon as he saw the bite marks on Nate’s shoulders he sobered up. Thinking about his human form allowed him to transform back.

The process was just as painful as the first time but the time it took to shift was growing shorter. Aidan was without clothes though, the only thing still intact was his hoodie. Putting that on he went back to the duffle bag full of food and started eating like a ravenous wolf. The shifting process took up a lot of energy and to replenish that energy he needed food.

Aidan started getting worried when night fell and Nate was still out of it. There were no doctors in the Asylum—none that he could access anyway. They all operated on food tokens and you needed a collar for that, which Aidan didn’t have.

But to even contemplate getting a doctor he’d have to carry Nate and bring him to the doctor, which was something his ten-year-old body wasn’t capable of. He was sitting by Nate’s side when the howls drew closer.

They were even closer now, he could hear them on the streets right below the apartment. His inner wolf howled begging for release to go run with a pack, it was an effort just to keep ahold of it. The werewolves were now on their floor, people screamed as they ran inside and shut their doors.

“This isn’t right; they’re not supposed to barge into people’s homes.” Aidan had no clue if that was true but for as long as he could remember he’s never seen nor heard of werewolves breaking into a home, they only hunted people that were still out at night.

Boom! Crack! Boom! Crack! Crash!

“N-no…” Aidan’s stomach clenched in fear as the sounds of heavy bodies slamming into the door sounded throughout the whole apartment. The door wasn’t that sturdy in the first place and it broke open on the second hit.

The door flung inward and slid across the room. Several werewolves then walked in casually expecting to find a cowering Nate. They could smell there were two people in here, but only one of them was their target. Still, now that they broke in they wouldn’t spare anyone.

“What the hell.” The pack leader growled. What they found instead was a strange looking werewolf standing guard over their target.

“I don’t recognize your scent pup. Who’re you?” the pack leader said drawing closer to the strange werewolf.

“Leave!” The strange werewolf said.

“We’ll leave after we’ve taken what we came for. Why do you protect that human?”

“Leave!” The strange werewolf said again.

“You don’t mean that. Your inner wolf is probably howling right now; you belong with your own kind not with this human. Tell you what, you kill that human there and I’ll let you join us.” The Pack leader offered.

Aidan’s inner wolf was howling, but not for the reason the pack leader thought. Once he made his inner wolf understand Nate was someone who saved him, who protected him, the attitude of his inner wolf changed from aggression to fierce loyalty towards Nate.

Aidan and the inner wolf started to merge as their goals became aligned. The blue lines that were all over his body glowed even brighter as his visage grew even fiercer.

“Your loss.” The Pack leader.

As soon as the pack leader spoke the other werewolves charged Aidan. Aidan was in a strange state, he felt power transforming into the wolf but now that he melded with his inner wolf he felt even stronger. He flashed forward and bit into the neck of one werewolf.

The other werewolves looked surprised but they immediately surrounded Aidan and attacked. Aidan was faster, and stronger than them. He bit into their necks and killed them, one by one. The blood smeared all over his fur dying his beautiful mane of silver into a bloody crimson color.

“Retreat!” The Pack leader shouted. He was standing at the back watching the fight unfold and couldn’t believe what was happening. This werewolf looked strange to him but he knew not only was it strange, it was far more powerful than any of them.

The werewolves, those that were still alive, retreated with the pack leader. The last image the pack leader saw before retreating was a silver wolf with blue lines all over his body glaring fiercely at him, its mouth covered in blood and a blue hazy aura surrounding its body.

“What the hell was that?”

“Did you ever see something like that?”

The surviving werewolves were asking each other as they slowed down once they were far enough. No one knew the right answer so they turned towards the Pack leader for guidance.

“I don’t know either. But there is one person we can ask.”