“I think you know who I am.”
Kaelen and the stranger had not broken eye contact. Yet Kaelen heard his voice clearly in his head.
Kaelen stared at the stranger sitting smugly in his chair. Kaelen stepped forward and growled, the hairs on his neck standing on end as he did so. He might not feel a threat from this stranger, but he was irritated by him.
“So you’re the voice in my head. The person who has been watching me. That doesn’t tell me JACK about WHO you are!”
The stranger smiled, and nonchalantly cleaned under his fingernails.
“Sit down, boy.”
Kaelen found himself sitting on the carpet in his living room in a blink of an eye.
“What the hell!” he exclaimed, about to rise to his feet.
The stranger jumped up suddenly, towering over Kaelen.
“STAY!”
Kaelen found himself cowering a little at this and dared not move. Which angered him. He stared at the stranger, never losing eye contact.
“You are a stubborn one, I’ll give you that. There’s a fierceness in you. You might survive yet.”
This last sentiment surprised Kaelen.
“What? Survive what?”
“Okay, I was hoping you’d have put it all together by now on your own, but clearly, intelligence isn’t your strong suit.”
Kaelen glared at him.
“Can you stop beating around the damn bush!”
“Sure. You’re turning into a werewolf.”
Kaelen stared at the stranger, incredulously for a moment before he burst out laughing.
“Hahaha, oh that’s a good one. Phew. Let me just call the police.”
Kaelen stood up.
“Sit!”
Kaelen sat down.
“Damnit! How are you doing that? Did you hypnotise me or something, is that why I can’t remember anything from…” Kaelen trailed off.
“From when, Kaelen?”
Kaelen stared at him.
“Wait, so you do know my name! What is going on here?”
“Just told you. You are turning. I had to come and prompt you a little, as you’d resisted a lot longer than I thought you would. So once I got your primal fear heightened by attacking you in your home, sorry about the mess by the way, but you won’t be needing all this junk soon. But once you went primal, you were out in the forest and finally made a kill. Albeit a rather distasteful one. I mean, really? A rat?”
Kaelen continued to stare at him, a swirl of emotions gripped him. He was not sure what he was feeling, fear, anger, disgust, doubt, hunger. They all continued to interchange, causing a decision paralysis.
“A rat did the job, it just needed fresh blood and raw meat to start the process. Although, I’d advise you to get some human blood and meat into you, to enhance your chances of survival.”
“You’re insane.” Kaelen finally uttered.
“Really? You are the one hearing voices and eating live rats.” The stranger smirked at him.
Kaelen glared at him as the stranger walked to the front door, still sitting where he’d been ordered to.
“You’ve got a day before the full moon Kaelen, so heed my warning. You will need rest, and nourishment to survive the transformation. Physically and mentally. If you make it physically but not mentally, you will be hunted and put down,” He looked back at Kaelen, “Not by me. It is the law of the clans though.”
With that, he stepped out the front door, closing it behind him.
“You can stand now. My name is Alden. See you soon.”
Kaelen leapt to his feet, sprinting to the front door and flung it open. Knowing already that Alden would be long gone.
Kaelen was irritated by Alden's entire visit. Physically and mentally intruding on his life, trashing his home, and spouting rubbish about werewolves and clans. What the hell was that about? Had he stumbled onto the set of some B-grade horror movie?
He needed to clear his head. Running always helped him when his thoughts spiralled, and right now, his mind was racing. He threw on a loose shirt and his runners and headed down the street, away from the forest of his morning ordeal. He could not handle having any flashbacks.
He was not ready to risk dealing with that yet.
The steady rhythm of his feet on the pavement grounded him, the familiar burn in his muscles welcome. After roughly five minutes, he reached another parkland and followed the path that circled a small lake in the centre. The calm water glimmered in the midday light, the surface smooth except for the occasional ripple from ducks paddling lazily.
There were only a few people out. Just a couple of runners on the far side of the lake. Kaelen paid them no attention. He focused on his pace and breathing, letting the monotony settle his frayed nerves.
Then, he saw him.
A male runner came into view, moving in the opposite direction along the path. Kaelen glanced at him briefly, then dismissed him, just another jogger after all. He tried to dismiss him as unimportant, but something flickered in the back of his mind, a primal awareness that was not there moments ago.
As the runner drew closer, Kaelen felt his body tense. His pulse quickened, and his breath hitched for reasons unrelated to exertion. He caught the faint scent of sweat, and the runner’s breathing was audible even from several metres away.
And then it hit him.
The urge to chase.
It was immediate, visceral. An overwhelming compulsion that stopped him mid-stride. His feet skidded to a halt on the gravel path as his eyes locked onto the male runner, now passing him without a second glance.
Kaelen’s hands clenched into fists. He could feel his muscles coil, ready to launch after the man like he was prey. His heart thundered in his chest, a growl rising unbidden in his throat.
“No,” Kaelen muttered through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse with the effort of restraint. “What the hell is wrong with me?”
He forced himself to turn away, staring out at the lake, willing the strange impulse to fade. He breathed deeply, trying to steady himself, but his body felt... alive, buzzing with energy and a hunger he didn’t understand.
When he finally regained his composure, he started jogging again, slower this time, forcing himself to focus on his breathing and the crunch of his shoes against the gravel.
But it did not last long.
Ahead of him, a female runner came into view. She moved at a slower pace, her ponytail swinging with each step. Kaelen’s eyes locked on her before he even realised it, the scent of her sweat faint but tantalising.
The urge came rushing back, stronger than before.
His strides lengthened, and his breathing deepened. His body surged forward, driven by something beyond conscious thought.
“No,” he growled, shaking his head violently. But his feet betrayed him, carrying him faster toward her.
“Stop,” he hissed, his voice desperate, but the word felt hollow, powerless. His legs pumped harder, his heart racing, his blood roaring in his ears.
The distance between them was closing rapidly.
Kaelen’s vision narrowed, his focus tunnelling on the woman ahead of him. Every instinct screamed at him to chase, to run her down, to—
“NO!”
The sound of his voice snapped him out of it. He veered off the path, stumbling into the grass and skidding to a halt. His chest heaved as he bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for air.
The female runner continued on, oblivious to how close she’d come to being hunted.
Kaelen stayed rooted in place, his limbs trembling, his mind reeling.
“What the hell is happening to me?”
The lake shimmered mockingly before him, its calm surface a cruel contrast to the chaos inside him. He wiped the sweat from his face, feeling the sticky residue of blood where it had seeped from claw marks that weren’t there earlier.
Alden’s words echoed in his mind: “You need rest, and nourishment to survive the transformation. Physically and mentally.”
Kaelen shook his head. He wasn’t ready to believe it.
But his body was making it harder to deny.
Now all he could think of was getting home, fast. He jogged away from the park back onto the road heading home. Before he knew it, he was sprinting, at speeds he had never managed before. Without the disturbing urge to chase someone down, this felt exhilarating.
He was home before he knew it, sweat pouring off him, sucking in deep breaths. He felt alive. This is something he could get used to.
