The dresser top held several other small knickknacks and keepsakes. He even saw a cheap little snow globe. It seemed very much out of place next to all the highly crafted artifacts it shared company with. What was remarkable about it was that inside the plastic of the small globe was a replica of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge. William shook his head. Why would someone keep a piece of junk like that around?
“It reminds me of where I came from.”
William whipped around at the sound of the voice and stood up straight as Huan Li walked into the room. William watched as the old man stood still, looking William in the eye. The weighted stare of the Elder took its toll. But even still, William answered evenly in the natural tongue of the werewolves, “I’m not quite sure what you mean, Elder.” The last was spoken in a tone of respect. William hadn’t been told how to address the Elders one on one, but he was sure that some form of courtesy was necessary to be shown toward them.
“Elder?” Huan Li turned toward a simple wooden chair that was situated in the corner of the room. As the old man walked over to the chair his soft laugh could not be mistaken. He reached the chair and turned back toward William with a wry smile on his lips. “Why the formality, young pup. I thought you hated me and my pack because we… how did you put it? ‘We would have you and others like you die for nothing more than a series of tests’.”
William let his eyes fall to the floor. Huan Li removed a slender walking stick from the wall. He placed both of his hands over the top of the cane and rested his arms out in front of him, waiting for William’s reply. William shook his head at himself and raised his eyes. Looking in Huan Li’s eyes made him realize just how little he knew about everything. William held the gaze of the Elders for as long as he could before he had to let his eyes fall to the floor.
“I thought that it would be proper to address you that way.”
Huan Li smiled, an amused smile that had an edge to it. William felt very exposed and vulnerable, standing in this room filled with Chinese artifacts and a San Francisco snow globe. Huan Li had all the advantages here and the Elder knew it.
Huan Li turned his attention to Ares. “Why have you brought him here, Ares?”
Ares leaned in close to the Elder. William couldn’t make out what was being said. Ares kept his voice so low that William couldn’t be sure of anything that was being said. Ares glanced over and nodded his head at William and continued to speak in those same hushed whispers.
This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
When Ares began to speak Huan Li’s face was jovial, still wearing that small smile. As Ares continued to speak, the smile turned to a flat line and then a frown. William felt the weight of the Elder’s eyes move up and down his body. He never felt more naked than he did right then. He was naked, but that wasn’t the point. He was covered in fur, but he felt a chill run through the whole of his body and he felt that same ripple fan out through his mind, the ripple that wasn’t his own thoughts but the laughter of his other.
When Ares finished whispering, he stood up straight and moved back against the wall. Huan Li leveled a steady hard gaze at William. The Elder didn’t seem to move at all. He must have because the next thing William knew, Huan Li was standing in front of him. Even though he was over seven feet tall and Huan Li was five feet, five inches, maybe, somehow, he still felt like he was looking up at the Elder.
“You are here to ask for the secret to controlling the uncontrollable. To capture the uncatchable and win the unwinnable.” Huan Li began walking around William in the middle of the room. “What you really want is an end to suffering, your suffering.” Huan Li paused. “What happened to you in the lake, William?”
William took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling. The black obsidian was blemished with the same imperfections that spattered his room’s ceiling. The imperfections shined brightly down on him, flooding the room in a soft gentle light. William looked inside himself to the other consciousness that had taken up residence inside of his brain. The lump of coiled emotions and hunger that it was, slept once again. What are you? His other didn’t respond, not that he expected it to.
William brought his head down and looked toward Ares. Ares was leaning against the wall. At least that’s what he wanted it to look like. William could see that his leg muscles were tensed and ready for movement at a second’s notice. Ares head was resting against the cold black obsidian of the wall, but his eyes were alert and watching everything that happened. William knew that Ares was watching every part of his body at once, trying to read his muscle movements to anticipate an attack or any other movement that he made.
William could feel Huan Li standing behind him. If this was any other situation, he would be very creeped out by having an old man standing so close behind him. As it was, he was unsure how to answer the Elder.
“William, the question will not go away simply because you refuse to answer it.”
“I know, Elder, I’m sorry. I can’t explain what happened because I don’t really know myself.”
“You don’t?” Huan Li moved around him to face him directly. The old man leaned on his cane and looked up into William’s werewolf face. “Let me help you out then, pup. Let me see…” Huan Li placed a finger to his lips and looked up at his ceiling as if to draw the circumstances of what happened at the lake out from the various lights that shone around the room. “You were thrown into the lake, not knowing exactly why.”