The Contagion

.2.

"To be nobody but yourself in a world that's doing its best to make you somebody else, is to fight the hardest battle you are ever going to fight. Never stop fighting."

~ E. E. Cummings.

Dropping out from school was no good. Grandma felt home schooling was better. I would forget about that incident and my temper would decrease.

But she was wrong. Months after that incident, I haven't forgotten anything. I felt so bad that my best friend wasn't there to help me when I was being bullied. My heart ached and I would cry every night. I pictured myself in the center and the 'queen bee' throwing blue ink on my uniform. Her snarky remarks and teasing took the hell out of me as no one from the crowd came forward to help me.

One month later, I signed up for an online course as per the subjects I had taken in school . I would have to learn on my computer at home. It was a relief since the day of my bullying wouldn't be a constant reminder, but I missed my school. I always missed hearing the intelligent answers from those studious kids who would be ready for any question asked to them. I guess that's the marvel of having the Benet sisters in class.

The Benet sisters were the most intelligent students in my class. straight 'A's in all subjects. I remember the day when our exam results were announced in class. All the students would hold their breathes and there would be perfect silence. We all knew that the Benet sisters would ace in all the papers. And well, they did. The Benet sisters had an aura of 'don't mess with us'. They kept to themselves, ate alone and sat in their seats. Which was equal to zero headaches to the teacher.

Sharing information about academics and yearly studying does wonders. Well, about me... I was average. When someone would tell me about the latest technological improvements, I would stare at them in shock and bob my head.

In the afternoons, I would go to join the wolves at the abandoned orchard behind Dee's house. Myrel wasn't there and I frowned since James Bond would be there wherever I went. Whenever we would practice with each other, she and I wouldn't say a word to each other. We would practice the basic fighting techniques of knock, punch, duck and run. The trainers were tough people like retired sportsmen serving in gyms. There were strict instructions to come only in sweatpants. We were never allowed to tell any human about our training practices. Keeping low about the trainings was the best, as we were afraid that someone would see us and report it to the police.

We have been on the run for centuries. The council claimed that they were successful in massacring us. Once we were dead, they would be superior. They called us 'Mutant dogs'. I remember hearing tales from other wolves. The Council would compel wolves to shift and tie them up like guard dogs. They were given no food. When they died, there wasn't even a proper burial. They would tell the guards to discard the bodies in the forest and wait for the ravens to eat them.

What they didn't know was that there were two types of wolves. One was the werewolves and the other one was known as the rogues. The council had killed both the species but those were rogues. They made silly excuses that 'there should be an equal balance in nature', and so the wolves had to die.

Those who escaped from the executions and silver bullets ran all the way to Europe. Asia was also considered as a hiding place. But unfortunately, there was less forested land and more humans ruling these kingdoms. Since England was surrounded by water from all three sides, we made our home in England. The next big problem was issuing birth certificates. With great planning and precision, the elders made fake birth certificates for us.

The marriage between two species was the very reason that Quinton and Talia hated each other. She took every step in eliminating Quinton's pack. Luckily, I survived, thanks to the efforts of Grandma and Grandpa. Grandpa died with silver bullets while trying to protect mom.