Big Bad

Truth

Kit's freedom had gone from bad to worse. His whole life he had been completely restricted in where he was and wasn't allowed to go, but now he had no freedom whatsoever. Kit couldn't eat breakfast, attend mass, or do anything without updating Father Charles. The man had taken to watching like a hawk.

Kit was effectively grounded. He wasn't allowed to leave the house for any reason. It was the weekend, so he had yet to miss any school, but Kit was beginning to grow worried that Fr. Charles wouldn't even allow him to leave the house for something as simple as that.

It wasn't until Fr. Charles was absolutely obliged to attend to a sick parishioner at the hospital that Kit was left alone, and even then it was under the supervision of Sr. Matilda with the strict instructions not to leave the house.

Kit found himself curled up in his room desperate for an escape when there was a gentle tapping at his window. He tried to ignore it, but found it only got louder. When he finally got up to check his window, he saw that both Anna and Daniel had climbed up to it and were currently sitting on the roof of his front porch.

"You scared me half to death."

"We figured you could use some company!" Daniel explained.

"How'd you even get up here?" Kit asked in shock.

"Trellis," Daniel shrugged. "We wanted to bring you to Elijah."

"How? Sr. Matilda will never let me leave." Kit asked.

Daniel's eyes shifted to the window.

"Hell no... I am not going out the window. No way!"

"You want to see Elijah, don't you?"

Kit hesitated. Despite the fact that it had only been a few days since they'd last spoken he found quite a strong desire to see Elijah again, to talk to him, to spend more time with him. It made even falling to his death from a second story window seem a bit less daunting.

"I'll do it."

...

Saying he could do something ridiculous and crazy and actually doing something ridiculous and crazy were two completely different things.

Kit's room was the farthest to the left on the front of the building providing a view directly over the town streets and the water. The sill of the window was directly above the top of the roof which covered the porch and there was a narrow white trellis with purple clematis, growing in vines.

Anna went out the window first and effortlessly shimmied down the trellis landing gracefully at the bottom. Daniel had to help Kit as he was not an expert climber and they both struggled to do it together. Kit found he did not like climbing out of second floor windows, and Daniel found it was uncomfortable to climb anywhere in a pair.

Kit stumbled to the ground, tumbling on his feet, and scuffing up his jeans, but he made it out all in one piece.

Daniel patted him proudly on the back and led him to the jailhouse. Kit paused only a moment as they began to enter the building.

"What?"

"Nothing..." Kit murmured. "It's just that I've never been here before."

As soon as the group entered the room, Elijah rushed up against the bars of the cell and his heart leapt for joy. Being separated from his mate was incredibly painful and he longed to see Kit, speak to him, and even touch him. At the moment, he'd need to settle for at least the first two.

"We'll give you some privacy," Daniel nodded, exiting the building with Anna.

"Elijah!" Kit grinned. He hadn't foreseen how much he had actually missed the other boy, but he felt physically better for getting to see him again. "Where's Damien?"

"They let him out a few days ago."

"Why?"

"His story had more support," Elijah shrugged. "Plus he had a guardian."

"Your parents wouldn't come down to help you?" Kit asked.

"I'm glad you came today..." Elijah avoided the question. "I've... uh... really got to tell you something, and I'm not totally sure that you're ready."

"What do you mean?" Kit asked in confusion.

"Well you see...." Elijah stumbled over his words, at a loss for one of the first times in his life.

"Is something wrong?" Kit asked softly. Unknowingly he had shifted so close to the bars that he could nearly touch Elijah who reached out for him regardless.

"Maybe it's easier to just show you..."

"Show me wha—"

Kit began. Within seconds Elijah had begun his transformation and in the place of the handsome boy who had been standing before him there was a massive gray wolf.

The wolf titled its head forward, eager for acceptance. Kit, on the other hand, remained utterly frozen in fear staring at the animal as if it had just been a person a moment ago.

The wolf placed its paw against the bar. Kit, in his stupor, found himself trying to connect this change to reality. Where was the boy that had just been there? The wolf did seem to have his eyes, and yet that wasn't really possible, was it?

Suddenly everything made sense, the wolf he'd seen before, how Elijah was able to find him so quickly in the woods, the fact that Elijah just happened to show up everytime he saw the wolf. It all made sense now.

After another moment of silence the wolf shifted back into the boy it had been before and Elijah stood there looking at him.

"I know this is quite a shock, but—"

Everything was too much for Kit and he fainted to the ground unable to keep himself steady anymore.