Double Edge // ONC 2024 Novella

Chapter Three

After a six-hour wait in the emergency room, debridement, a rabies shot and stitches I was given antibiotics and a morphine prescription then sent on my way. I limped out of the hospital's main doors, still shaken from the whole experience.

The morning sun now glistened overhead, sparkling against the car roofs in the hospital parking lot. Finally, I spotted him. Seff rolled down the car window and waved at me. Death metal blared out of his little black Honda.

I plunked into the passenger seat, utterly exhausted.

"Thanks for picking me up," I said.

"Anytime." He pulled the car out of the parking lot and headed to the road. "Why didn't you call me sooner? I would have waited in there with you. Are you ok?"

"It's hellish in there. I didn't want to waste your time."

"Connor," he scolded. "It's not a waste of time. You don't have to go it alone all the time."

"I know, but -"

"No buts, next time, call me. So what happened anyway?"

I told Seff about the wolf and the cemetery. 

"The doctor said it must have been a dog. Wolves haven't been in New Brunswick for over one-hundred years, but I know what I saw."

"There was one a few years ago, but it got shot by a hunter," Seff said. "So I mean, it's not impossible, but one in the middle of the city is a bit odd. If you say it was a wolf though, I believe you."

I sighed in relief. For a moment, I had thought maybe I was going crazy. I'd certainly painted enough wolves and dogs throughout my career to know the difference. There were similarities in certain breeds to be sure, but the animal that attacked me was a wolf beyond a doubt.

****

Seff helped me up the stairs to my apartment. They hadn't given me much trouble in the past, but now I noticed how steep and narrow they truly were.

Once inside, I went to the couch, and started to lie down. My leg throbbed and twinged with every movement. The pain medication I'd gotten at the hospital started  to wear off.

"I think you should go to bed," Seff said.

"Nah, I just need to rest a minute. I'll take one of the pills, then get back to paint -"

Seff raised an eyebrow. "You can't seriously think you're in any shape to be painting? The doctor must have told you to keep off that leg for a bit?"

"I'll sit in my office chair," I insisted. "I can raise it up."

"You're impossible," he sighed.

Seff tossed the throw blanket over me before heading into the kitchen for a glass of water. I pushed the blanket off my face. I could still see him from where my head was positioned on the flattened pillow. He had combed his mohawk back today, tying it in a short pony-tail at the back. His hoodie was a mish-mash of colour. Dark blue, splattered with neon splotches in carefully arranged patterns. Perfect order in an imitation of chaos.

He returned, placing the cup on the coffee table next to the pharmacy bag and plunked into the armchair.

"Rudi was right," I grumbled.

"Who's Rudi?"

"A girl I met -"

"You met a girl?"

"Yeah, don't act so surprised," I said. "It's not like that anyway. I hardly spoke to her, but she warned me not to go out last night."

"That's weird. How could she have known?" Seff asked, furrowing his brow.

"I thought she might be referring to the serial killer."

"I dunno man, it all kinda rubs me the wrong way, but I can't see how it fits. Perhaps it's a coincidence?"

The throbbing pain in my leg inched to the edge of unbearable. I cracked open the pharmacy bag and took one of the pills, washing it down with a sip of water.

"That's probably more likely. It just doesn't feel like it," I said. "I'm being crazy."

"I'm not ruling out werewolf," Seff teased.

"Now that's crazy."

Seff leaned forward in the chair. "Think about it. Missing girls, and shredded bodies in the woods. Last night was a full moon and you happened to get attacked by a wolf in the middle of the city. It's feeling pretty spooky to me."

Between the lack of sleep and morphine, I could hardly keep my eyes open anymore.

"You gotta stop watching those paranormal videos, bro," I mumbled. "They're messing up your head."

My eyelids refused to open and I was drug into the darkness of sleep.

****

I wandered a greyscale field. The ashen sky hung heavy above me. A round moon observed the scene with indifference. The small herd of sheep huddled together in fear beneath a craggy black tree. They bleated and shivered. Some stamped their hooves. I looked to see what they were afraid of. The empty pasture showed no threat.

A sour, acrid tang hung in the still night air. The hum of buzzing flies nearly drowned out the worried murmurs of the herd. Fluid - thick, wet and warm, filled my mouth. I tasted copper.

Then I saw it.

The sheep lay gutted before me. Its blood, perylene red against the grey corpse. My nose plunged into the intestines, scattering the flies. Sharp teeth rendered the flesh. The meat was sweeter than victory. A howl rang out. I looked to see wolves lined along the distant hill. They called to me, asking me to follow. I felt it. I needed to go.

That damned sheep's eye looked at me in horror and judgement.

****

I woke to darkness, my chest heaving. Sweat pasted my curls to my forehead and soaked my shirt. Once I regained my bearings, I sat up and got off the couch. Nausea made the room spin and I took my time getting up again.

Heat seared my body from the inside. I could cook an egg on my skin.

Why can I hear the appliances? When did electricity get so loud? Am I having a bad reaction to the medicine? Is the bite infected?

I padded through the living room and kitchen to the bathroom. I clicked the light switch and was immediately blinded by the intensity. I sat on the floor, clutching my head with my eyes squeezed shut. When I opened them again, my vision blurred, gradually coming into focus.

I used what strength I could gather to put the shower on. Turning the water all the way cold and crawled into the bathtub with my clothes on. The frigid water brought a sliver of relief to my burning body.

With shaking hands, I peeled off my jeans to get a look at my wound, preparing for the worst. I expected angry red flesh and oozing pus. Slowly, I unwrapped the bite, wincing how the bandage pinched my tender skin.

I stared in disbelief, twisting and turning my leg under the stream of water.

How is this possible?

Only now did I realize the pain was gone. I sat beneath the pounding water, my teeth chattering. Scar tissue fully encased the stitches as though the bite had happened years ago. The wound was completely healed.

.......

Word count: 1207