William scrambled down the mountain through the woods. He had to get away. He made his legs move faster. In his blind rush he missed judged where a tree root was, and it caught his foot. He fell to the ground. In an instant he was back up again and ran face first into a wall of tan fur. William bounced back from the werewolf and found himself face-to-face with death. He could still smell the hot coppery smell of fresh blood and the golden eyes of the werewolf were looking at him only inches away from his face.
“You can’t run away from me, you know that.”
William turned and ran in the opposite direction. Before he made two steps he was pulled back and slammed on the ground. The werewolf was standing over him his claws clenched into fists. “I will always be here, William. No matter how far you run, no matter how hard you try to ignore me, I will always be here.” William raised his right leg in a kick to the groin area of the werewolf and he felt a pain explode between his own legs. William grunted and felt the need to throw up. The werewolf lifted his head up to the sky and let out a roar of laughter. “You can’t hurt me, William, not without hurting yourself.”
William scooted himself away from the werewolf on the dirt. The werewolf made another grab at him, but he rolled out of the way. Once onto his stomach he pushed himself up and ran blindly once more into the forest.
He was in a dead panic.
He knew that what he was experiencing was real. It had to be a nightmare, but it was real. He heard the werewolf move through the trees behind him. The only reason why it hadn’t caught up with him was because it was playing with him. The thought of being played with before being killed only made him more terrified. He recalled that this sort of thing would have made him angry in another time, but he hadn’t felt anger since he came here. He knew that had something to do with the werewolf that he was running away from. He heard a howl ring out into the silence of the night and he collapsed to the ground holding his ears from the sudden noise.
William looked over and saw that the werewolf was only feet away from him laughing into the moonlight.
“You are so frail in that form. Don’t you want to change back into a werewolf?” The werewolf looked up into the night sky and saw the near full moon still rising in the early night sky. He nodded to it. “Too bad it’s not quite a full moon yet. You could change then, couldn’t you?” The werewolf stopped and seemed to be thinking to himself. “Or could you? Since you and I are both here, maybe you couldn’t change at all.” The werewolf squatted down on the ground and moved within an inch of William’s face. “Maybe you do need me. You will always need me. And I will always be here.” The werewolf ripped himself up from the ground and in that same fluid motion he grabbed William from under the arms and pulled him to his feet. “You are nothing without me, William. I am you.”
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“No, you’re not me.”
The werewolf ripped William from his place on the ground and threw him behind him. “Yes, I am, I have been with you since the beginning. You and I are the same. You can’t kill me unless you kill yourself, even then who’s to say? Maybe I will be resurrected in our body. I will be free to do as I please and you will be dead in your hell where you belong.”
The werewolf took several steps toward William and landed a powerful kick to his abdomen. William coughed up blood. A small trickle of blood issued from the werewolf’s mouth as well.
That didn’t stop the monster. He lifted William into the air and threw him into a clump of nearby bushes. William took the opportunity to roll through the bushes and using his inertia he got back to his feet and was running again. William was scared that he would die. There was no stopping his other from ripping him apart. It appeared that he was receiving the lion share of the damage that the two of them felt. He couldn’t understand how that was possible but even now when his other clearly had the upper hand he was still hiding behind him. That thought should have brought some comfort, but it didn’t. It only served to fuel the fire of panic that was raging through him, stealing his wits. He felt a concussive force slam into his neck and his legs flew out from under him.
The pain and the inability to breathe was overshadowed by the pain that exploded on his back as he landed on either a rock or a protruding root. He grabbed at his back to try and massage the pain but before he had a chance he was being kicked in the side. He heard an impossibly loud crack and his whole side went numb. William was dazed and he couldn’t get a clear bearing on where he was or where his attacker was coming from. The numbness of his side was dissolving into spider webs of tingling, stinging sensations that ripped up and down his body. William tried to roll over and as he did, he was amazed that he hadn’t suffered any broken bones, yet.
“What did I tell you, pup.” The werewolf reached down and ripped him up from his place on the earth. “You can’t outrun me.”
The werewolf left him standing and strode a few steps away from him. He looked around the forest and turned back toward William, who became aware that he was going to be unable to run away from the werewolf and as long as he was standing here, he wasn’t taking any more of a beating. It gave him time to recover from his injuries or at the very least time to think.
The werewolf stepped toward William and raised his still blood covered claws so William could clearly see them in the moonlight. “This is what you are now, pup. You are a force of nature to kill and maim and avenge all the wrongs done against nature. Why do you think we exist?”
William hadn’t thought about that question at all. He had always accepted what he had become and he didn’t waste time thinking about why or what his ‘greater’ purpose was. But seeing his other in front of him in his werewolf body, feeling his life force being slowly beaten out of him, the thought of God and heaven and the forces that create the universe seemed relevant now. He had no idea what his purpose was. Maybe that was why he was still under Ares care being led and trained to be part of Aceso’s pack and wanting to be part of the City under the Mountain.
“Whatever you are probably thinking of is wrong.” The werewolf raised his claws. “This is what we are for. We are the avengers of nature. We are made to kill humans and bring balance back to the world. We are their betters, and we can kill them where they can’t kill us.”