Till Life Us Do Part (Darkest Night Trilogy Book 3)

Chapter 2

"What the hell are you doing here?" 

"Oh you know, just hanging out in the woods, trying to kill you, same old." He smugly replied. 

"No, I mean... You're dead! I saw it happen. I MADE it happen!" 

"True. But my boss made me coming back to life happen. I'm sure she'll be interested to find out it was YOU that killed me..." He broke off his chokehold and started to walk away. I sprinted towards him, but before I could catch him he span around with reflexes faster than mine, even in wolf form. "You are useless, it has to be said. You seriously think you stand a chance on me now? Did you not notice the speed I hit you at? I've had a sort of upgrade, so now NOBODY can defeat me! But I know how arrogant you are, so I'll deal with you first." He put his fist through a tree and pulled out a chunk that looked like a giant's version of a splinter. He raised it slowly like a javelin, before he speared it straight through my chest. I cried out, and I could see the enjoyment in his eyes. He opened his mouth, but instead of gloating, I could see his canines growing larger. His once-laughable smirk now looked intimidating to me, as he leaned towards my throat. I closed my eyes in preparation for the end, and felt a huge wave of energy rush over me.  

I opened my eyes. I was now a great deal taller than James, and the hunger and sadism in his eyes had been replaced by pure fear. I looked down, and ended up doing multiple double-takes. In literally a second, I had taken my wolf form. Without the pain and date of an ordinary transformation. As I advanced, James began to back away, like a kid who was used to playing by his own rules. I cleared the distance between us in one short step, and held him to the floor.  

"So, you came looking for revenge, did you? Well, if that's the best you can do then I won't lose any (metaphorical) sleep over it. I could kill you right here, right now, and I wouldn't even break a sweat. It just so happens that I don't find you worthy of my time." I positioned myself so that I was standing directly over him. "If you ever come for me again, I WILL end you. And I won't be as nice as last time. I'll tear you limb from limb, and I'll make a song from your screams." I tore his arm off as a warning. "Now scurry off back to your little boss. Before I change my mind." I growled at him, and he powered straight into the forest without looking back. 

Now that the threat was gone, and my anger had subsided, the wolf pulled itself back inside me. Human again, I was able to think through what had happened. Firstly I'd heard a thought inside my head without being in wolf form. Secondly, I'd become a werewolf with the absence of the pain, the longevity of the transformation, and (more importantly) the full moon. Thirdly, the urge to kill James had come to me much too quickly. Even when I'd killed him the first time I'd had to work myself up, whereas this time I would have easily been able to do it. That last thought began to echo inside my mind. What had I become? I decided to get back to the house before I realigned my moral compass. 

Not needing sleep, bedrooms in the homes we "borrowed" were just used as a place to be alone. So when I skulked off to mine without saying a word, Hannah knew something was up. She followed me up the stairs. 

"Andy, what's wrong? You look seriously stressed about something." I sighed. I explained about James and what had happened in the forest. 

"I just don't know who I am anymore." She touched my face lightly. 

"You're still the same person I fell in love with a year ago. The fact you never killed James tells me that. I know that deep down, as long as we're together you'll never stop being my Andy." I smiled and kissed her lips lightly. She kissed me back, but she didn't seem as enthusiastic as she normally did. Perhaps it was "her time". I didn't know if being a werewolf affected that or not, and I wasn't really sure I'd be comfortable discussing that with her. 

"Hannah, do you feel like going to watch a film tomorrow? I think I need some human time to get my head straight." 

"Sure, there's one at about 7 that I quite like the look of." Her voice went a little softer. "Andy, I promise I'll be there for you until you sort out whatever's happening." It was times like this I loved her more than ever. 

So the next night we walked hand in hand to the local cinema. It was another hour until the film started, so we decided to just hang around town for a bit. I was sure I vaguely recognised this place. The arena was the spark that jogged my memory. I used to walk past it every day on my way to nursery. I hadn't been here since I was five. It was here that I'd met my first best friend. I'd kept in touch with him through Black Moon but I hadn't seen him in the flesh for eleven (going on twelve) years. 

"Andy? Is that you?" I turned around, and there he was. Blake Roberts. He was holding hands with a pale-skinned, raven-haired girl. We both grinned and ran towards each other. When we were about a metre apart we both stopped. There was a pause. 

"So," I finally said. "Been a while." 

"Yeah." An awkward silence. 

"I'm not going to hug you. Nothing personal, just... you know..." I gestured to the black-haired girl and Hannah. He nodded. 

"It's cool." We paused for a second, before we totally lost our composure and burst out laughing. We ran and threw our arms around each other. Hannah and the other girl looked at each other and raised one eyebrow simultaneously. "Andy, this is Kristen, my beautiful wife." Blake said, pulling her closer. 

"Wife? Wow, you've done well then. This is my girlfriend, Hannah." 

"Not that I'm not enjoying this cosy little catch-up, but I'm on kind of a tight schedule here." 

Jenny stepped out of the shadows, the moonlight making her face look deathly pale.