Lycanthropy and Me: The First Semester(mlm)

Day 30. Tuesday, Waning Gibbous

Hunter awoke the next morning uncertain. A hot shower did not clear his head, nor did mulling over his breakfast of off-brand flakes of corn. The wolf, his other self, edged him on to attack the staff and steal a plate of real food or run off into the forest and eat a small animal.

Just as he began to wonder what rabbits tasted like, Malcolm plopped down across from him with a larger plate than usual.

"Hey Reeds."

Hunter flicked his eyes upward and back down at his cereal. "Hey yourself."

"I'm sorry about the other night man. Then I forgot my charger, and my phone died.I was a county away for the whole weekend, so I wouldn'tve been much help anyhow."

Hunter shrugged. "Ish no b-big deal." Except I might get arrested.

"I heard about Ashley. They're callin' it a wolf attack."

"Mmm." Hunter slurped down a soggy spoonful. If Malcolm was off campus, that ruled him out. He decided to test the waters. "A wolf attack, huh? Did Mr. Garou say anything?"

"Just that she's in a hospital somewhere. God bless."

"Good. But where's the nearest Lycandoc near here? I know I should've looked it up before startin' school but it slipped my mind."

"Right in town. Ask for Dr.Mahmoud. But you know the deal, make sure to show them your health card before you start talkin' about shifts and stuff."

"Good to know." He dropped the spoon. The cereal was a lost cause, so he concentrated on the conversation. "So, what did you do off campus?"

Malcolm presented Hunter with his phone and slowly swiped through a set of photos.

"Went with some classmates to the Harvest festival in Lyndendale. It was crazy man. Tons of food, no IDs for the drinks, nonstop party. A buncha people from Redwood were there, even Serena. I'm surprised Ashley didn't go. She seems like the type that likes to party, hittin' our phones up with ideas all the time."

"Yeah. But wait, how did you bind up?"

"Ha! Real simple. Kept my inner wolf back with a buzz. Got to the hotel room before I was too hammered. I do it all the time.That way I'm too tired to move after the shift. It's like gettin' the itis. Get too full, go out like a light."

Hunter said nothing. He had seen other werewolves use the same method, getting drunk to slow down the shift. While it proved useful to others, it was a dangerous practice as far as Hunter was concerned.

Malcolm proceeded to eat his breakfast while Hunter drank his soggy cereal. If Serena was at the festival too, that meant she wasn't involved as well. So that was two people he could ignore out of who knew how many. Hurray.

With breakfast behind him he went to his lecture. In class he felt several pairs of eyes watching him. He could only assume that word about his breakdown had spread. He knew three students from his Monday night class with Lugosi were also in his Tuesday morning lecture, but he believed they had better things to gossip about besides the weird crippled kid. When the class ended he went to the freshly cleaned bathroom and sat in a stall. He pulled the evidence bag out of his backpack. It reminded him of days long since past, when his father was still around.

While other Father-Son duos played catch or cards, Hunter's father hid objects around the house for Hunter to find. He would either give Hunter clues or let him sniff things blindfolded, and then set a time limit. It wasn't the most exciting activity, but having a similar trait to his father gave Hunter a sense of pride. As a child he considered becoming a tracker one day.