Thorn (Werewolf) ✔

Chapter Twenty-One

I rub my bloated stomach and I pick boiled plants out of my teeth while Thorn extracts the large quilt from my bed and folds it out onto the ground. I don't know what he's doing. Maybe he's broken.

The sun has set and he's starting to act strange. Well, stranger than normal. He keeps stumbling as though he's drunk. I think I can hear him hissing too. His hand suddenly moves upwards and he lets out a low growl before tucking it beneath his shirt.

"Thorn," I call.

I stand up nervously. He keeps his back to me even though he can hear me walking over. I'm worried about him but he won't let me near him. He waits until I'm closer and then moves further away. Something snaps in his legs and he flops to his knees.

"What's going on?" I demand as I run to his side. "What's happening to you?"

"Get away from me."

"No, you're in pain. I don't understand!"

"Devon, I don't want to hurt you. Get the fuck away from me." His eyes glow yellow when they look at me.

I stumble backwards, transfixed by those eyes. The eyes that are suddenly not his, not even human. Thorn has green eyes. I've looked into them enough to memorize the colour. Everything about this is impossible and terrifying and yet I can't stop watching.

"I told you not to intervene," he says. "Just watch."

Thorn looks down to his hands that are starting to change. My own hands rise up without conscious thought. They become bigger and longer. The bones start breaking, my nails grow into sharp claws. I start screaming as I back away.

"How are you doing that!" I yell.

"I'm not doing anything," he says. "What are you looking at?"

"My hands," I cry. "They're changing."

"Your hands are not changing," he says. "Mine are. Look at me."

I pant in confusion as I turn my hands over. They're back to normal. No claws or broken bones. Did I imagine it? I look over to Thorn and he's smiling at me while his face leaks with sweat.

I blink and I am no longer looking at him. I am looking at myself from the same amount of distance that Thorn is. My body paralyzes with fear as I watch myself look back. It is a strange and mind-bending sensation, as though my soul has left my body and is possessing another vessel.

It vanishes a moment later when Thorn drags his shirt over his head slowly. I am blinded momentarily.

I keep blinking and rubbing my eyes until I can see Thorn clearly.

"What is happening to me!"

"I am so sorry," Thorn says, almost on the verge of laughter. "I completely forgot that this part of the bond existed. It's been a while. I'll try not to look at you so you don't freak out." He snaps his head up. "Let's look at a tree. That's a nice tree."

Thorn vanishes from my sight and I am on the ground, looking up at a tree. I panic so much that I fall backwards. I feel my backside collide with the leaves but all I can see is that tree. I rub my eyes again as my vision returns back to me.

Thorn cries out as he writhes on the floor. I stare at his hands that are claws. The exact ones that I just saw attached to myself. I want to help him but I am too afraid. Hair starts to grow all over his body. It covers his whole torso until there is no skin left. His legs grow so big that they rip through his pants.

I've seen doctors help people in pain before. There's always something you can do. What the hell do I do with this?

My mind starts to split. My own insanity creeps into it.