Changing You ✦ 𝑍.𝐷.𝐻.

Chapter 54 {R}

~ ☾~

After two more days in the hospital, me and Daniel were ready to leave.

Even though I couldn't wait to be with my family again, coming home was strange. While everything inside the house still looked the exactly same, everything felt different.

The sense of security I always used to feel lasted no longer than a second, the feeling of comfort only faint as my body remained tense. He knows my name. He knows where I live.

Only Isla's twinkling eyes had made me crack a smile as I reunited with her, but not even her tight hugs could make me feel better.

The five of us held a pizza night that evening: me, Jack, Isla, my mom and my stepdad. We sat on the couch, huddled together underneath shared blankets, all eating our favourite pizzas and all wearing pj's, the most comedic movies we could find playing on the tv, just like old times.

We weren't laughing as much as we used to, though.

They all sensed my restlessness, and while they tried everything to lighten the mood and ease off my tension, I could tell it put them on edge too.

Underneath their smiles laid the constant worry. They looked at me like I could break down any second; they reconsidered every word before saying it out loud.

In their eyes I could read the questions left unsaid, but they wouldn't dare bring up the subject. They were waiting for me to open up, I understood, but I couldn't.

Not even to my mom, who had been my go-to person ever since I had started breathing — to whom I told everything, from my monthly period cramps to my illogical werewolf instincts.

Not even to Jack, who I knew always had my back and tried to protect me as much as he could — wether that was from high school bullies or professional werewolf hunters.

I couldn't bring everything up, let alone put everything into words, as I was trying so hard to not let it cross my mind again; as I was so desperate to forget.

After taking a shower later that evening, I found myself standing in front of the mirror for a long time.

My body had healed. Completely.

There were no longer any bruises, no cuts, no burn or bullet wounds, no damaged skin. Besides the limp in my walk, there wasn't any remainder of what happened.

But I knew in a few days, my leg would gather back its strength and then the last trace of physical pain would be gone. And there wasn't even a single scar that marked my body; another perk of being a werewolf.

That would make it easier to forget, you'd think, as there's nothing left to remind me of those three horrible days. You can even pretend it wasn't real and move on. Wrong.

It were the physical scars that could heal, yes, but it were the memories — the mental damage — that couldn't be erased so easily. Mental scars are always permanent, and God can they go deep.

I was the first one to go to sleep that evening, and after I had got engulfed in big hugs and was told to sleep well, I went up to my bedroom.

The first thing I noticed when I got there was that my room had been left completely untouched: my bed wasn't made, my homework was still openly placed on my desk and Zach's jacket was still lying on the ground.

You can just pick up right where you left off, I thought, pretend that nothing happened.

I sat down on the edge of my bed and rubbed a hand over my face. It felt good to be alone for a moment, as the silence comforted my overly exhausted senses.