1

Thrain strolled along the deserted pathway of the school, his senses sharpened as his instincts resembling those of a wolf kicked in. Aware of being observed, he could sense the gazes of his fellow classmates fixed upon him. This had become a routine occurrence since the moment he had unraveled his true nature as a werewolf. Previously, he had always sensed a disconnect, but now the reason behind it was made clear to him.

As he walked, he caught sight of a cluster of boys gathered closely, engaged in hushed conversations and occasionally casting furtive glances in his direction. Hastening his steps, he couldn't shake off the burden of their penetrating gazes following him from behind. Throughout his life, he had always been susceptible to being targeted by bullies, but ever since undergoing his transformation, the intensity of these assaults had escalated to a point where he scarcely could control his urge to unleash his fury and dismantle them.

Thrain tried to ignore them and focus on getting to class. He had always been a good student, and now he needed to keep his grades up more than ever.

As he turned the corner, he saw her. Edith. She was leaning against the lockers, surrounded by her usual group of friends. She had long, curly hair that fell in soft waves around her face, and her eyes sparkled in the dim hallway light. Thrain's heart raced as he approached her.

"Hey, Edith" he said, keeping his voice steady.

"Hey, Thrain" she responded with a polite smile.

Thrain, the school outcast, could only hope for the best in his interactions with Edith, the most popular girl, who had never engaged with him beyond exchanging meaningless greetings.

As he proceeded further, a wave of melancholy engulfed him. He would never be able to blend in with this place; he was unique... because he was a werewolf.

A mystical creature that exists only in legends; a beast that howls in the blindness of nights.

As he got to his classroom, he went to take his seat, located at the extreme of the class, next to a window.

But then something caught his attention. A smell. It was faint, but it was there. Thrain focused his senses, trying to pinpoint the source, fuck! He was the worst at concentrating.

The classroom teacher came in, he could barely focus, his attention had totally been drawn, his eyes totally fixated out the window.

That's when his eye came in contact with a man outside the school, he had a mix of silver, gray red pair of eyes, and it glowed as light shown on it.

Yes! There are rare and fiery color of eyes that often associates with the hereditary gene of a human, but this was different and unique, it glowed as each ray of light ran through them.

Thrain precluded the fact that he was who he thought he was, he took his gaze back, out the window, the figure wasn't there any longer.

Thrain! Thrain!!

The classroom teacher called out for Thrain, the one lost in his thoughts.

He slowly shifted his gaze towards the teacher, the classroom teacher's hand fell with a thud on his table, he trembled slightly as he was hit with a sudden surprise.

He knew it, he was in trouble, the classroom teacher hated diverted attentions while his class was going on.

The teacher smiled, gazed down intently at him, "Thrain, can you tell me the name of the process that converts light energy into chemical energy in plants?" he asked, hoping to catch him off guard.

But to his surprise, Thrain's head shot up, and he answered without hesitation.

"Photosynthesis, Mr. Thomas".

Mr. Thomas couldn't help but feel impressed. Thrain had never been one to participate in class, and he assumed he was just another lagging student of his. But his answer had been correct and quick.

The other students in the class looked just as surprised as Mr. Thomas felt. They had never seen Thrain show such initiative before.

[Just take a look at that, it's good to have a cheat like abilities… "Super hearing".]

Right after the question came out of the classroom teacher, a student sitting in the front whispered the answer gently and continued on the book right in front of her.

Thrain tried all his best and levelled his concentration to max, "Photosynthesis" his super hearing finally picked up something that sounded like the answer.

The sound of the bell was heard, signifying the end of the day class.

"We'll continue in the next class, make sure your assignments are all done" said Mr. Thomas, "And Thrain, my eyes on you… you understand?".

"Yes, I understand".

The classroom began to get noisy as Mr. Thomas left. Thrain picked up his bag and fixed it well on his right shoulder.

"You're leaving already?" mark asked.

Thrain looked down at mark who was still settled in his seat, "Yeah, something is making me bothered and feel unease," he glared at the woods through the window, a flurried image of the figure came again.

"We'll discuss tomorrow".

He brushed his legs by the table, this made the cute-looking girl with a thin old hair look up at him.

"Thank you," He muttered.

She felt creeped out at first, "For what?" she finally asked, looking flustered.

Thrain who never stopped walking, turned back and gave her a soft wink.

"Weird fellow" she muttered, finally focusing on what she had going on.

…

Thrain had his earplugs on as he walked down the roadside, without the earplugs all he hears are murmurs, whispers, and gossip of people around him, since he is yet to learn control over his hearing abilities.

Woof! Woof!!

A dog barked at passersby, but as Thrain's eye came in contact, the dog's barking came to a stop as it went back to its sitting position.

Thrain got closer to the shoulder, knelt close to it, and began running his hands on the dog's fur.

"We are kind of the same species now, so let's get along well," he said softly.

The dog tilted its head in response, as if understanding what Thrain had just said.

"Good! I'll name you Ruby," The dog barked in response. He stood up and continued on his journey home.

Finally, He got home, but it was already late since he had branched at a friend's place to play the Nintendo game…

"Thrain! You came home late again!" his mother shouted at him, the scream made him cover up his ears.

"I was busy studying with mark, mum!" Thrain said putting the plugs back into his ears.

"Once your dad is back, he'll hear of this," his mother said, glaring at him intently.

The stairs creaked as Thrain slowly ascended them, his feet dragging along the rough carpet. He was exhausted after a long time playing video games, and all he wanted to do was collapse into bed and forget about everything.

"Feel free to tell him, it's not as if he has time for his family" he muttered.

He reached the top of the staircase, and with a sigh of relief, he headed towards his room. The sound of the door creak was heard as he slowly pushed it open.

"What a naughty one, to make my first".

Thrain's room was dark, as he laid there, thoughts swirling incessantly in his mind, he felt am unshakable sense of loneliness. There was no one here to share his pain, no one to listen to his problems, and no one to tell him it'll be all right.

He rolled over, burying his face into the unyielding pillow, his nose picked up a scent, yeah, the same one back from school.

He began to feel uneasy, he rushed towards his wardrobe, rummaging through it, looking for any sharp piece of object, finally he got his hands on a chisel.

"Fuck! What's a chisel doing in my wardrobe," He thought, but didn't have enough time to process it.

As he slowly shifted his gaze towards the window, he was met with a glowing eyeball, the same silver and gray red pair of eyes.

Thrain had never felt like that, ever since his first transformation, that feeling, a sense of oppression you get when being looked down on, all he wanted to do now was obey every of his commands. At the same time, a thought rushed through him, his mother, was she safe?

Finally, the figure took off at insane speed, barely feeding his eyes. He felt relieved, as if released from some sort of bondage.

"Now, it's clear, we are the same!".

Thrain got a hold of himself, went into the bathroom. As he had finally cooled off, he laid on his bed, "But, what does he want?" he thought until he fell deep asleep.

…

¶Somebody save me, let your waters break right through¶

¶Somebody save me, I don't care how you do it¶

¶Just save me, save me¶

¶Come on!¶

Fiona and Ethan drove at high speed near the woods. The loud suspenseful song played in. The beat had a normal rock tempo, making their hearts race.

They drifted into the tree lines path, slowing down gradually. The trees started to blur together, and soon they were surrounded by the darkness, making it hard for them to see beyond the road.

Suddenly, they noticed movements in the direction of the woods. They stopped the song as they listened intently. All was silent, except the sound of cricket in the background.

"Did you see that?" Fiona whispered.

"I don't know, let's keep going, and who the fuck goes into the god-damned wood for something as lame as a picnic?" Ethan replied, almost shouting. "I'm beginning to regret my decision".

Fiona switched off the engines and got down from the car, "And now it's my fault you're here huh!" she said while hitting the hood of the car.

Ethan was already getting really pissed, he wanted to shout at her, yeah, she is a fucking damn girl, can't she really be shouted at? Only one thing was cooling him off… The god-damned vibes being emitted by the fucking woods.

"If only that freaking mystical legend reading freak had agreed on coming with us," he spouted, running is hand through his sandy brown hair, moving around on a spot.

"Yeah, Mark would have been better than you, a fucking guy with a god-damned anger issues, This states why you haven't got yourself a girl all this while".

What did you just call. . .

Once again, they noticed movements in the woods as leaves rustled. Ethan stopped his sentence halfway, he spotted it again, a pair of glowing red eyes staring at them from the tree line. They both gasped and quickly entered the car.

"What! Now of all time?". The car wouldn't start.

The creature already sprinting straight for them, Ethan grabbed Fiona's hand, "There ain't time for that, run!".

They both took to their heels, as they ran heavily without taking a glimpse of what's chasing them down, all they knew was it had a strange eyeball.

After a while of running and panting heavily, Ethan finally made a halt as he couldn't hear the loud thud made by the feet of the creature, "I think we lost it!" he said, taking a deep breath with both his hands on his knees.

"Fiona, let's find our way out of here, we'll come get your car first thing after class tomorrow".

He turned his head towards Fiona, only to see her in a frozen state. Her gaze was piercing and intense with a hint of fear shown, slowly he turned his head only to see a seven feet tall hairy wolf overshadowed him.

"Fuck! This bitch is crazy," he said softly.

Fiona began to run once again, she was totally out of it, not even knowing what kept her moving, was it the desperation to live? "Is Ethan still alive?" she wondered as tears rolled down her face.

She could no longer gasp for breath again, her legs had gotten sore, she fell on the ground on her back and stared at the starry sky.

"That was quick… and truly it's my fault," she said quietly to herself as she heard a heavy breathing. The creature swiped its hand across her head, knocking her out…

An alpha werewolf.