Outsiders
9

I woke up groggy and cold. When I sat up, I got to add dizzy to the list. It was dim or my eyes were at half-mast. I shook my head and almost fell over. That hadn’t been a good idea.

“Cassie?”

“Uh.” I managed, trying to focus my eyes.

“Are you okay?”

“Blah…what? Wait.” I said, trying to get moisture going in my mouth.

I saw a wooden door and a stone wall. I was on a concrete floor and naked. No wonder I was cold. Where was I? How did I get here? There was a guy. Why does my shoulder hurt?

I turned my head and saw another stone wall. My back seemed to be resting against another one. I looked left. There was a hand over the edge of a mattress. I looked up. Katelyn!

“I found you.” I said, smiling.

“You’re drugged.” She said.

“Hmm.” I said, “Yeah.”

I felt a vague sense of alarm. Something was not right. Where was wolf?

‘Hello in there?’ No answer. What?!

‘Where are you!’ Just silence.

‘Wolf?’ I was alone. I whined but it was just me making the noise.

“Are you hurt?”

“No. Yes. I don’t know.” I said, “Wolf is missing.”

“About that. Why did you lie to me?”

I staggered to my feet and went to the door. It didn’t open though I pulled and pushed.

“Cassie? Seriously. I thought we were friends. Why did you lie?” Katelyn demanded.

I turned, feeling trapped.

“I didn’t mean to. It just happened. It was an accident.” I said and went back to trying to make the door open.

“No. You accidentally eat the last cookie. You don’t accidentally forget to tell me you’re a werewolf.”

“No. You don’t get it. You were hysterical and freaking about seeing that boy with fangs and begging me not to be one of them, you know. What was I supposed to say that wouldn’t make you instantly hate me too?” I said facing her.

“Well, the truth would have been a nice start. A bit easier to swallow than seeing my bestie get up licking her lips from devouring a friggin cottontail while cleaning her teeth with claws.”

I groaned.

“You’re right.” I admitted, “I just didn’t want a repeat of the whole Marcus mess and I got it anyway. Serves me right. So, go ahead and hate. I’m like everybody else.”

I turned and kicked the door. It just hurt my foot. I tried to force my hand into a claw to scratch the door to shreds but got no response. Wolf was gone.

“No, you’re not. Usually. What was the Marcus mess?”

I crossed my arms, not turning around.

“My first shift. A disaster of epic proportions as they say.”

“Tell me.”

“Nah. Don’t want to remember.” I said.

I closed my eyes trying to find where wolf was hiding. I had never heard of any drug that could destroy the wolf side. She had to be here somewhere.

“But you remember it anyway. Might as well tell me since Wolfie isn’t here.”

“Wolfie knows the story.” I said, giving up on my internal wolf for the moment.

“Spill. It’ll be good for you.”

“Doubt it.”

“Come on.”

“Why?”

“So, there aren’t any deep dark secrets between us.”

“You mean, like why you were wandering through the woods when you saw your first werewolf?”

“Ok. You tell me about Marcus. I’ll tell you that story.”

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“Yep.”

I sighed.

“Marcus was my foster brother.”

“Older or younger?”

“Younger. Seven. I was twelve. We didn’t have much money, but I got an allowance I used to buy CDs. They were like my prized possessions. I get home from school and Marcus is using my CDs to build bridges and roads for his little trucks and cars. He’d broken the cases and scratched some of the CDs. He was just playing but I flipped out. Literally. I had never shifted before but when I grabbed him away from my stuff, I had claws, and I was growling through fangs. I scratched him and he bled. I couldn’t tell. It looked bad to me, like needing stitches, maybe bleeding to death bad. I just remember that look of fear in his eyes when he looked at me. His big sister had become a monster, the literal big bad wolf, and hurt him. I ran until I couldn’t run anymore. Then I ran for three more days. I ended up in the Colorado forest somewhere.”

“You didn’t go back home?” Katelyn said quietly.

“I was a monster. I had scared and hurt an innocent little boy. I had no home.”

“I get it now. I’m sorry, Cassie. I shouldn’t have jumped on you.”

“No. You were right to. I led you on and scared you, too. I’m not exactly friend material.” I sighed, “And you don’t have to tell me how you ended up in the woods. It’s okay.”

“No.” she said, “I said I would. I was on vacation with my fiancé. We were traveling in an RV. And one night I ran away.”

“Just get lost?”

“Not exactly the whole story. He was a control freak. I didn’t realize it when we first got together but it got worse and worse. I couldn’t have any friends. I couldn’t go anywhere or do anything or even call anyone on the phone without him getting so angry he beat me. He said he was jealous. He said it was my fault. He said if I ever left him, he would find me and kill me. He said once we were married, he was going to chain me up in the basement of our house. I believed him. So, I bought some over the counter insulin at the pharmacy when I went in to pick up a birth control prescription. He got very angry one night and my blood ended up all over the RV. I just knew next time I’d be dead. After he fell asleep, I shot him full of insulin. When he went unconscious and stopped breathing, I set the RV on fire and ran away. The news reported it as a murder-suicide. Still think you’re the big bad monster, Cassie?”

I stared at her for a minute.

“I think you’re a brave hero.” I told her.

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