transformed

The safehouse

I walked slowly back up the street and Alex put his arms over mine and Amber's shoulders, dragging himself forward. He directed us down the deserted road and around the corner to the usually bustling main road. It was eerily quiet at night, only the one car passed us as we made our way down the road. Alex told us to go round another corner, up another long road, down the hill, past one turning then down the next. It seemed as if he was steering us through a rabbit warren. Just as I was about to drop him on the ground and head back home he told us to stop in front of a completely ordinary-looking house. He snapped out his claws and raked them down the old wooden door. It opened immediately but not fully because the person on the other side of the door had left the chain on.

"Alex?" the person asked.

"Please, Alfie. Let us in. Quickly," Alex coughed.

Suddenly the door slammed shut and I heard the chain slide back and then the door was flung open and Alfie guided a limping Alex into the house.

Alfie was really tall with floppy blond hair and braces. He was wearing, unusually, a superdry hoodie with a pair of shorts despite it being summer. Then almost as if sensing that I was thinking it was odd for him to wear a hoody he pulled it off revealing an Animal t-shirt (almost ironically) and rows of scars up his heavily muscled arms.

"I don't like strangers seeing my scars but you're with Alex so I can take my hoodie off. I was boiling!" Alex said.

It was a dump. The sofas were in shreds, there were bottles strewn everywhere and wet patches on the floor that I was careful to dodge. There was laughter and screams coming from the living room and I realized the screaming was coming from one of the boys. He was lying on the floor holding his head as if it was about to roll off his shoulders.

"This is a werewolf safehouse. it's a place where new werewolves come when they start going through the changing," Alfie explained. Amber's gaze drifted to the floor. she was probably remembering her first changing; writhing on the floor of my Dad's lab in agony as her body began to transform.

My Dad.

I realized that all of a sudden everybody's eyes were on me. I'd collapsed onto the floor. I put my head in my hands and let the tears engulf me. Teenage wolves stared at me as I broke down but not one of them laughed. The atmosphere was suddenly very solemn. Alfie scooped me up and I felt a sudden drowziness creeping up on my. My eyelids, wet with tears felt really heavy and my crying ceased to muffled sobs. The last thing I saw was Amber. Her eyes had left the floor and she was looking at me with worry in her... beautiful...hazel...eyes.

And then I was gone.