The Man With The Gloves (mxmxmxm)

12. Take my hand

"Trust is like a mirror, you can fix it if it's broken, but you can still see the crack in that mother fucker's reflection." (Lady Gaga)

As Fayez carefully leaned forward, he saw a young woman in the alley, one that he recognized to be Natacha, a student from Sapho's team. She was a well-trained warrior, but right now she seemed to be wounded and wasn't showing as much skills against her opponent as she usually would during training.

He was wondering what creature her attacker was, but quickly got an answer to his unvoiced question when said creature let out a loud howl.

A werewolf. That was his luck. And to think that as a child, he had been scared shitless of the only dog he had ever encountered, a friendly-looking Labrador named Baltazar.

He stood on the roof he was on for a few more seconds, secretly hoping that Natacha would get rid of the werewolf by herself. When it became clear that she was no longer in shape to win the fight, though, he knew what he had to do, and jumped from the roof as discreetly as he could.

He still wasn't silent enough not to draw the beast's attention to him, but that was as well, for the werewolf had been about to dive his sharp fangs in Natacha's neck.

Releasing the now unconscious woman, the werewolf turned toward Fayez, his tail wagging stiffly, his ears perked up and his chest thrown out, as he stood in a tense posture.

Even if Master Akhenaton hadn't given his students a lecture on the telling signs that a werewolf was about to attack, Fayez would have guessed by himself that the werewolf currently standing in front of him wasn't a laughing matter.

His intent to kill was crystal clear in his glowing eyes.

The werewolf was big, much bigger than Fayez, and judging from Natacha's current condition, he was more than capable to cause considerable damages.

Now, Fayez wasn't a hero looking for glory. The most he could hope for in this situation, was to get Natacha on a roof safely, without getting injured himself - or worst. That was also one of Akhenaton's main advice : whatever you do, don't get yourself killed.

Well, thank you for the advice, you genius. I wouldn't have figured it out by myself.

Fayez also knew, thanks to these apparently useful lectures on supernatural creatures, that werewolves could jump quite high, but not higher than a dozen of meters. In short, Fayez's best chance to survive was by never remaining for too long on the ground.

Contrary to popular belief, vampires couldn't transform into bats. However, they were able to jump so high, it almost seemed like they could fly.

As Akhenaton had put it, a mere minutes ago, Fayez was an excellent climber, and he very well intended to put this skill in the service of his own survival.

"Come on, you muddy doggo. What are you waiting for? I'm just right here in front of you" Fayez whispered teasingly, knowing that the werewolf could hear him just well, as every supernatural creature had an enhanced sense of hearing.

Speaking of supernatural creatures, he surely hoped that the humans nearby, who probably heard Natacha's scream, would be wise enough to remain in the relative safety of their houses. He already had enough on his plate, and probably wouldn't be able to protect Natacha and some other foolish humans at the same time.

"Come on, are you that shy?" Fayez cooed again, as the werewolf, who was now fully transformed, started growling louder.

Fayez's bravado would have probably seemed reckless, to an outside observer, but Fayez was doing it on purpose. He could sense that the werewolf was torn between the need to finish off his first prey and the temptation to attack the newcomer.