The Wolf

Ch. 56: Become a Monster

~Nico~

The water surrounds me. It's freezing cold. Colder than anything I've ever felt in my life. It seeps into my bones and oozes down my throat. I choke on the thick substance, but it slides down my throat and into my lungs. It seeps into every cell and atom of my being until I feel like ice and lead. My body slowly sinks down and down. Consciousness fading away like smoke.

I open my eyes and find myself sitting in a chair. My head lolls. It feels as if someone has poured cement into my bones. I try and move my hand, but leather straps dig into the flesh. What is this? I think groggily. My legs are strapped to the rusting metal chair as well. My senses are so dulled I can't even panic at my sudden predicament. My mouth tastes bitter like I've drunken poison or slime. 

"Oh, I see you're awake," A voice says chirpily. 

I roll my head toward the source. My eyes blink lazily as I take in the figure before me. My thoughts are running calculations as I try and place where I've seen her before. She's got long brown hair and her eyes are glowing gold. She's a wolf. I don't remember seeing her at camp... My head aches with the effort of trying to remember. 

"Poor Nico, you're still a little groggy, huh? It must have been all of that water that you swallowed. Don't worry, I'll help you out. The name's Jocelin." Jocelin's lips curl into a sadistic smile. 

The name takes a moment to process through my foggy mind. A tendril of panic tickles my stomach. It's her! But how? She should be dead. I killed her myself. 

"You're probably thinking about how I'm here?" Jocelin wraps her arms around my shoulders. She puts her mouth against my ear. "Well, of course, this is all in your pretty little head." 

I gasp as she bites my earlobe. Something hot and sticky drips down my neck. I struggle against my bonds as I try and touch my ear. Jocelin walks around the chair until she's sitting in front of me. She licks my blood off of her lips with an elated expression. My heart jolts at the sight of blood. I wonder when I've grown so affected by the sight. Maybe it was when she was cutting into me. Maybe it was when I saw Dom covered in it. Or maybe it's somewhere deep in my mind that I can't recall. 

"How did I get here?" I inquire. My voice is slurred from whatever drug she used. 

Jocelin smiles. She walks over to a table with a silver tray on it. "You don't remember? You jumped into the lake. That was a terrible idea, you know." 

Jocelin picks up a knife with a jagged edge. She walks over to me with it held in her right hand. My thoughts are sluggish, but I can feel fear slowly rising as I realize what's about to happen. 

"No, wait, please!" I beg, watching the knife glint as she presses it against my skin. 

"I was thinking the same thing when you killed me. When your wolf form bit into me and I was dying. But you didn't hold back or show mercy. No, you killed me without a second thought. Now, you're going to live with the consequences." 

A scream tears from my lips. Warm blood spills from the cuts. The sound of the knife sawing through my flesh causes bile to rise in my throat. I try and throw up, but suddenly there's a gag in my mouth and I'm choking. I wonder what I'm going to die from first: bloodloss or asphyxiation. 

For what feels like hours Jocelin cuts me open. She chops off fingers that magically reappear. She cuts out my heart and I watch it beat in her hands. She keeps going until the pain barely registers. I again wonder how I got here. Why am I suffering like this? Will anyone save me? Alex...

Like a bolt of lightning, a thought strikes me. I'm here to save Alex. I'm here to save my pack. I'm here to save Celeste's daughter. I can't sit around and be tortured forever. Jocelin turns around to grab another instrument off of her table, laughing and chattering like mad. I pull at my hands, trying to free them from their leather bonds. Skin scrapes off as I pull them free, using my blood as a lube to escape. It's just like before.