Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Chapter 1: New Life

Present Day

Cody

After he places the final box in the moving van, he straightens his back and stares at his old home. It still looked as new as he first saw it. He has been in this household when he was sixteen turning on seventeen. Taken in by a nice woman who treated him like a son.

"Cody, before you go, I made cookies!" called out the mentioned woman.

Cody spots his foster mother, Sarah Elias, standing on the front porch. The older woman hadn't aged in the last four years since he first met her. Her hair had grown longer to be pulled back into a ponytail and she wore a black chef's uniform. A big smile was on her face as she viewed the now 21 year old Cody Winters.

His dark brown hair became a lighter shade and had been cut into a buzz. The lean muscles he once had were now thicker. Cody grew a couple of inches, now the height of his father who was 6'2. If anyone knew what his father looked like in his twenties, they would say Cody was a spitting image of his father.

"Chocolate chip or oatmeal?" Cody asked as he shuts the van's door. He knew he could never turn down Sarah's cooking. Being a professional cook is always an advantage to Sarah. She can lure anyone in with her cooking.

He walks up the front steps and meet Sarah at the door. At her feet was an older Izzy. Her scales seemed to darken through the four years and she grew at least a few inches longer. If Cody was correct, she is about 15 years old. Old age for an exotic animal in captivity. Though it doesn't mean she still isn't as lively as she was before.

"Chocolate chip. Your favorite." Sarah said. She headed back inside as Cody follows after her. 'My mom's favorite too,' he thought sadly.

The familiar clacking of claws against the wooden floor echoed as Izzy walked beside him. He watched as the old lizard followed them into the kitchen. No matter what creature she is on the outside, she is a dog on the inside.

"Is Michaela coming over? I'm sure she would want to say goodbye." Sarah asked as she places over a dozen cookies on a plate. She places is on the counter, the food up for grabs. Cody takes one and nibbles on it. "She's busy studying at the University of NYC. Being a criminology major takes a lot out of a girl." Cody said with a small smile.

Ever since the Michael incident, which was labeled the Upscale Murder by the media, both Michaela and Cody became interested in criminology. While Michaela decided to study crimes and serial killers, Cody decided to follow his father's footsteps as a police officer.

It took him two years to finish his training at the academy before he was accepted to work at one of the precincts in central New York. Now he is going to do what his father does: protect the innocent from evil like Michael.

"The university isn't far from the precinct you're working at, right? Maybe you can visit her?" Sarah considered as she takes a bite of a cookie herself. "I wonder how Marcella's doing. She only lived was us for a year before Michaela moved into an apartment." she said thoughtfully. A smile broke out on Cody's face at the thought of the pit bull. The dog was ten years old now but still acted like a puppy. She enjoyed playing with everyone she comes into contact with. Marcella loved to play with Izzy the most.

A comfortable silence sat between the two as they ate cookies. Cody munches quietly as he began to think. 'Three years . . . I can't believe I'm a police officer now. If my parents could see me now.' he thought. 'Mom would've been so scared.'

"Have you talked to Adrian in awhile?" Sarah asked suddenly.

That one question caught Cody off guard and caused him to accidentally inhale the cookie. He starts to cough heavily, trying to dislodge the remains of the cookie from his throat. "Oh my god!" Sarah yelled as she ran around the counter to get behind Cody and started to give him the Heimlich. With two pulls at his esophagus, she was able to clean his airwaves as the pieces of the cookie was coughed up.

Cody lets out a few coughs to clean his throat. "Your breakup was that bad?" Sarah asked worriedly. She pats her son's back a few times to help him clear his throat. "Very bad." Cody stated. "He was . . . with another person." he lied easily. His memory flashes back to the reason why he decided to end all ties with Adrian.

Adrian still murdered people because no one can control those urges of his. He always visited Cody every night but sometimes he had blood on him. A lot of blood. Cody didn't understand why he was still attracted to the psychopath when he saw Adrian kill in the first place.

After two years of dating Adrian, he could no longer take his insanity. Especially when he sliced up his math teacher . . . because the man was 'too' attached to Cody. He caught Adrian giving his teacher the final blow and it took forever to get the image out of his mind.

Cody put new locks on the house doors and windows to make sure that Adrian couldn't get in. Yet somehow the man never got the message. Adrian was able to get in no matter what obstacle was in his way. It took a few months plus Michaela's karate moves to finally get Adrian to leave. But Cody still knows the man was still around . . . somewhere.

"I don't want Adrian to know anything. He's not fond of the police so I don't think he'll enjoy the fact that I'm one of them now." Cody said as he takes a sip of water. (He was offered a glass by Sarah.) "I better get going." he said suddenly. "I start work tomorrow so I better get to my new apartment to unload as much as I can."

Before Cody left the house, he snatches two more cookies and stuffs them in his mouth. He also pets Izzy goodbye, earning an odd churring noise from her.

It felt as if he was saying goodbye forever as he climbs into the driver's seat of the moving van. The sight of Sarah at the doorway reminded him of the first day he met her. He was brought to the house by his social worker at age sixteen after three years in the foster care system. Cody was suspicious of her as he was with every one else he met. The woman did all she could to get him to warm up to her from food to allowing Izzy to sleep in his room. (He was extremely interesting in the lizard when he first saw the iguana.)

Now Cody is moving to a new apartment as a police officer in New York City. He refuses to forget his past no matter how gruesome it has been. When he first entered the foster care system, he didn't want to get attached to anyone. That decision was thrown out the window once he got to her Sarah.

'I hope that nothing happens to this new life of mine,' Cody thought. 'It was hard enough going through high school after killing Michael.'