Chapter 11

"Why?!" Michael frowned. 

"He possesses a dark energy. He's a raven. " The healer clarified and walked away before Michael could respond.

Michael was taken aback, his eyes widening in surprise. 

 He couldn't believe Jacob was a raven; he looked great after being bitten by a werewolf, which was unusual, and how could a werewolf healer heal him? 

"Is everything okay?" Elsa asked after noticing his worried expression. 

"Uh... Yeah. " Michael swallowed. "I'll go look for Chris." Straightening himself and inspecting his already healed arm, he left.

When Michael walked to the woods in search of Chris, he heard footsteps on dry leaves. His eyes darted and he found a stick which he grabbed and placed his back against a large tree, hoping that whatever was approaching wouldn't notice him. 

He strengthened his grasp on the stick as the foot steps became closer, preparing to attack. With his hold on the stick tightened, he rushed himself out of his hiding place, ready to strike, but he pulled himself back when his eyes caught the figure.

Startled, the figure fell to the ground. "You scared me." Elsa said, placing her hand on her chest and trying to settle her erratic breathing. 

"You can't sneak on a wolf. " Michael said, as he helped her up.

"I wasn't sneaking, I figured you'd need my help, you can't easily find a wolf who has been rambling around the woods for days. " Elsa walked past him. She muttered some words and snapped her fingers, fire illuminated numerous footprints on the ground. 

"How do we know which one belongs to Chris?" Looking around, Michael noticed countless footprints on the ground traveling down various paths. 

"They're all Chris's." Elsa sighed, realizing that finding Chris would be more difficult than she had anticipated.

Elsa chose the footprint she wanted to follow and began walking. Michael said nothing but shook his head and followed her.

After two hours of a futile search, Elsa spotted a big tree with gigantic roots that protruded from the ground and sat on it.

"It's getting late..." she said with a sigh. 

Michael frowned as he lifted his hands in the air, cutting her.

"I heard something. " He said, as he took slow, deliberate strides away from Elsa. 

Elsa leapt to her feet, her gaze flashing through the trees as she drew closer to Michael.

She was perplexed because she couldn't hear what Michael was hearing. She stood behind Michael, watching him take one step after another, his knees slightly bent and his head slowly rotating, as if he were a predator stalking his prey. 

"Don't move, remain where you are." Michael spoke up, his eyes fixed on what was in front of him and his hands stretched backwards to Elsa, motioning her to stop walking further. 

Elsa paused in her tracks as she heard a wolf growl from forty yards away. 

Michael let out a low growl, and when she looked at his hands, she saw claws instead of fingers. Did he intend to fight the wolf?

The wolf approached them cautiously at first, but then accelerated, sprinting at them.

Michael remained motionless, waiting for it to approach him. The wolf bolted forward, clashing violently with the rocky ground until it was three inches away from them. 

Michael dashed over to the unconscious wolf, knelt, and ran his gaze along its body. 

Elsa waved her hands. "He's fine. I just knocked him out for a while. " 

Michael drew in a shallow breath and closed his eyes.

"Is that Chris?" Elsa inquired, and Michael nodded, lifting Chris off the ground. 

"Let's go." He said as he began to walk out of the woods. 

When they arrived at the mansion, Emily, Giselle, and Jacob had left. They took the wolf to Michael's room, which happened to be the second largest in the mansion. He set the wolf down, and Elsa wanted to get started but couldn't, because the materials were in her bag, which was downstairs. 

"What's the matter?" Michael inquired, noticing her hesitation. 

"I'm going to need my bag; it's downstairs, and I should go get it." Elsa rose to her feet, but Michael grabbed her hand.

"No, just stay here, I'll go." He got up and walked out the door, closing it behind him. 

Elsa waited patiently. She stared at the large room before shifting her gaze to the unconscious wolf on the floor. Her gaze was drawn to the door when the door swung open and Michael ran in, she stood up and took the bag from him. 

Her bag contained a large ancient book, chalk, and a few candles. 

With the chalk, she drew a large circle, large enough to contain both the wolf and herself. She placed the candles in the circle and told Michael to place the wolf in it.

She sat comfortably, first kneeling before sitting on her legs. She flipped the pages of the ancient looking book that was already turning a light brown color, like it had been drenched and dried. She stopped almost at the middle of the book.

"That's the spell, I suppose." Elsa pointed at the open book.

"Then go on with it." Michael raised his brows and she nodded.

She snapped her fingers and the candles ignited.

"You should wait outside." Elsa studied the book for a moment and closed her eyes.

Michael stared at her for some seconds before drifting his gaze to the wolf that was lying in the circle. Michael reluctantly walked to the door and turned the knob, he stepped out, locked the door, and rested his back on it. Elsa sighed and started the incantations.

Michael waited apprehensively. He was walking back and forth in the hallway when he heard an aggressive growl and a groan at the same time.

With anxiety, he rushed in and found Chris, who had now been transformed, in excruciating pain. Elsa, on the other hand, was motionless. Her muttering continued and Chris's holler filled the room.

A quick breeze blew in, putting out the lit candles. She opened her eyes and stood up from the circle, taking her bag. She took the spell book from the floor and stuffed it in her bag.

Chris had reverted to human form, and he was filthy; his skin was caked in mud, his lips were parched, and his hair was tangled. Michael quickly grabbed a blanket from his bed and draped it over Jacob's body. 

"I'll be heading home." Elsa headed towards the door, her bag slung over her shoulders. 

"Let me get my keys and I'll drive you home..." Michael sprang to his feet to search for his keys. 

"Don't bother, just keep an eye on Chris." Elsa smiled, and Michael reciprocated.

*

When Giselle and Jacob got home, the house was dark and silent. They tried to sneak to their room when someone switched on the light.

"Where are you two coming from?" They heard a masculine voice behind them, and they froze.

"Dad," Giselle breathed, "We, um... We went out with a friend. " She forced a laugh, turning to Jacob, who nodded and also forced a smile.

"I saw blood stains upstairs. Care to explain?" Giselle's heart jumped to her throat when she heard her father's words, and Jacob's eyes darted.

"Uh... I was... I was um," Jacob stuttered, swallowing hard. He nodded. "I slipped. I slipped... and I broke my head." Jacob lied, his eyes darting nervously.

"Yeah, and we actually went to see the doctor too. That's probably why we are returning this late." Giselle added, "Jacob wasn't good at lying." From the way he spoke, one could detect the lies.

"Well, then show me." Dickson (Giselle's dad) spoke, his eyes shifting from Giselle to Jacob.

"What?" Giselle asked, pretending to not hear him well at first.

Dickson opened his mouth to talk when Victoria yelled from the dining room. "Dinner is ready!!"

"Let's go, we'll talk after dinner." Dickson said, turning around to leave.

"I'm not hungry." They chorused.

Dickson turned and studied them for a few moments, then he sipped his glass of blueberry juice and walked away.

Giselle and Jacob made their way to their various rooms.

"Where are the kids?" Victoria asked when Dickson came to the dinner, and she didn't see their children.

"They went to their rooms; they said they weren't hungry." Dickson sat down and grabbed his fork and table knife. "I think they're hiding something." Dickson said, and Victoria frowned.

"What do you think they're hiding?" Victoria asked as she cut a piece of meat and dipped it in her mouth.

I saw blood stains on the ground by Jacob's room. I asked them about it and Jacob said he slipped and broke his head, but I don't believe that. " Dickson said, chewing the piece of meat he had tucked in his mouth.

"Then what do you think happened?" Victoria asked.

"I haven't figured it out yet, but I will." Dickson continued his meal with a little nod.

*************

Chris woke up the next morning feeling strange and different. He gazed at his body before noticing Michael, who was lying beside him. Then he looked around, wondering why he had spent the night in Michael's room.

He tried to sit up, but he felt a stabbing pain in his head and he yelled, Michael sat up on the bed immediately, his eyes darting around the room in a startled manner.

"Chris." Michael called, as he shook Chris.

"Ahhhh!!!" Chris's yelling continued. He was in pain, he shut his eyes and used his hands to keep his head together when it felt like it was splitting in two.

Michael kept calling Chris's name and asking him what was happening to him. Then, Chris stopped yelling abruptly, he stared blankly at the wall in front of him. After a while, Chris dropped his legs and stood up from the bed. Moving to the mirror, he gazed at his reflection.

Michael's eyes followed Chris and observed him for some seconds. Chris walked to Michael's wardrobe and he already had a trouser on, so he just took a grey shirt.

"Dude, you're going somewhere?" Michael stood up and walked towards Chris.

Chris remained mute, wearing the shirt he had selected. He opened the door and Michael caught his shoulders. Chris shrugged them off, turning around, immediately clawing Michael's bare chest and pushing him to the ground.

"You should've left me in the woods, Mike." Chris gave a dark, one-sided smirk. He walked out and slammed the door.