Chapter 7: Werewolf

Twenty minutes later, we were walking in the forest following Stiles.

During the trip, Scott told Stiles about his mom dating our father and me and Raphael being his stepbrother.

My modest brother didn't lose the chance to brag and told Stiles about our Lacross career. He responded that even though they lost, it was worth it after seeing how a certain Jackson was pissed off about it.

I look up from the path and see the three of them looking at me expectantly, so I blurt out.

-Yeah, of course.

Raphael jumps excitedly, and that's when I know I have fucked up.

-See, I told you he didn't mind training you too.

Ohh, come on! Why do I always get caught in his plan?

-Just out of curiosity, Stiles, which half of the body are we looking for?

Stiles stops for a moment and resume his walk.

-Huh! I didn't even think about that.

-I hope we find the upper half.

They all turn towards me.

-Why?

-So we can see what expression she had.

They all shiver, and I chuckle. I love dark humor, unlike my brother.

-Dude, stop! You are creeping me out.

-And what if what killed the body is still out there?

Good question, Scott.

-Also, something I didn't think about.

-It only makes things even better.

Now, everyone is looking at Raphael. Maybe the other two could think he is joking like me, but I know better than that.

We go up a small climb, and at the top of it, Scott leans on a three, breathless.

-Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight, huh?

He then takes out his inhalator and shakes it while I give my brother a look that says, "How are we supposed to help him train if he has severe asthma?".

Stiles dolphin dives on the ground ahead of us, and we all copy him. A hundred meters along us, a row of police officers are roaming around with dogs in the research of the other half of the body.

Before I have the time to ask what's next, Stiles jumps on its feet and start running in the dark. Scott tries to stop him while Raph follows him giggling in excitation.

Now we are all running in the same direction. I follow behind Scott in case he has to make another inhalator stop.

-STILES

Scott's shout makes him stop and turn around, unaware of the danger to whom he just gave his back. We all saw it except him, and it only took a second for all three of us to hide. Behind a tree for Scott and Raph and in the shadow of the recess in the ground behind a cluster of roots for me.

The bark of a dog scares Stiles and throws him on the ground. The policeman, a sheriff if I take account of his badge, holds back his dog from jumping on Scott's friend.

-Hold it right there!

-Hang on, hang on. This little delinquent belongs to me.

Stiles's dad, I presume, and I get the confirmation right away.

-Dad, how are you doing?

-So, do you, huh, listen to all my phone calls?

-No... not the boring ones.

The sheriff nods and looks around, calling for Scott. They must not be at their first time. Stiles defends him, and when nobody responds to his calls, the sheriff grabs his son's shoulder and drags him in the opposite direction from us.

We leave our hiding only when we don't see them anymore, just in case one of the police officers decides to look back.

-What now? Do we keep looking for the body?

-I think we should go back. It's already late.

-I agree with Scott here, Raph.

He shrugs, and we start heading back. Scott looks around curiously.

-Dude! can you stop looking everywhere like that? You are stressing me.

-Sorry, I don't walk in the forest at night usually. It all looks so... different.

A herd of deer appears in front of us, running and jumping toward us. I scream to get out of the way as I push Scott to the side. He falls, but at least he isn't in the trajectory of the mad deer. As fast as they appeared, the deer runs past us and disappears between the trees.

-huh, I lost my inhalator!

Scott looks down around him with the light of his cell phone.

-Did you just lose it, or was it before the deer?

-I had it before Alex pushed me, so it must not have fallen that far away.

I guess I'll help since it's partially my fault. Raph helps us, and we search around the zone I pushed Scott.

Some minutes pass by as we walk further from each other. I am about to call Scott and tell him I will buy him a new one, and we should get on our way, but his scream interrupts me.

Without a second of hesitation, I run toward him. What I found stuns me for a moment. Below me, a large creature is attacking Scott. I slide down the slope, hoping to make it in time before it can hurt my new stepbrother. I would probably lose some points with Melissa if I let her son die on the day we meet.

-Let go of him!

On the other side of the fighting and struggling duo, Raphael is standing, ready to jump into the melee. The beast lets go of its prey and steps aside. Did it understand? Maybe it was because he was wary of the two newcomers. I have my question answered when It looks into my eyes.

No normal animal possesses eyes like these. Blood-red pupils staring into my soul, as bright as my brother's and mine. That means...

-Look at that! A wild Werewolf level 36 appeared.

I sigh in desperation.

-Can you at least pause your shenanigans for the serious moments? Scott, run away!

-He is already gone.

I look around, and as Raph said, Scott is nowhere to be seen. I was too focused on the werewolf. If he is able to run away, he should be fine.

My brother and I stand on both sides of the creature, trying not to let it escape, and it eyes us with curiosity.

Even in the total darkness of the forest, I can see clearly. It was one of the first power I discovered when I awoke my power at the age of 5.

-Wow, you dam ugly. Did your mother get raped by a bear or something?

The taunt of Raphael let me know that he sees the monster as clearly as I can. It turns its head toward its bully and growls.

-Was I wrong? Maybe she was the one that raped the bear. I can understand that even an animal wouldn't sleep with her if you've inherited your face from her.

It was more than enough for the werewolf to propel himself at a surprisingly high velocity in the direction of Raphael while growling angrily.

-MACHIDIEL!

Like the sun, his hands shine brightly, disrupting the monster's charge for a brief moment due to blindness. I dash at his pursuit, and my brother slashes at its raised arm.

As I pass by the place our enemy was standing, I see the footprint it left after its dash. It's deep... really deep.

Uneasiness rise inside of me. The brief instant I took to look down was sufficient for the werewolf to regain its composure and counterattack.

The swing of its arm breaks Machidiel and sends his wielder rolling down meters away. As if to dismiss him, it screams even louder toward my brother and turns toward me, giving me its full attention. Mine, however, is on my brother's face in the dirt. I can see him still breathing, so he isn't dead.

I stop my run. My heart beats louder. To be able to throw Raphael so far, and knock him up in one blow, means that this beast is powerful. I wonder if it was a good idea to run after it.

Its blood-red eyes pierce into mine in a dual of will. I lower myself into a stance, slightly bending forward. I start to leak my shadow from my hands. Condensing it in my fists, I create black twin daggers.

At the use of my power, my iris starts glowing a bright purplish. As I expected, the vision of my eyes changing color puts the werewolf in a confuse state, and I don't miss the chance to exploit it.

The approximate 4 meters between us is easy to travel with a strong push of my legs. I slash my blade to its torso, but my daggers only leave a scratch. I create some distance, and its claws slash the air a few centimeters before me. He attacked so fast I barely saw it. I cross my arm in front of me to protect myself from the next blow, and I am sent flying into a tree.

It is strong and fast. More than I expected from a werewolf, and its skin is tough. I have to condense and sharpen my shadow even more. The first thing on my training list is creating named weapons. My resolve to do that is strengthened when I see the beast towering over me.

The scratch my dagger made on its chest is already gone. However, the wound caused by Raphael is still there. A deep and burned mark. I focalize my shadow even more on my weapon, making them sharper and harder.

It sends its hand toward me, trying to impale my chest with its long and sharp claws. I roll to the side and kick its elbow.

The cracking sound of his arm snapping in two is covered by the deafening cry of pain of the werewolf.

Using the momentum of my kick, I roll backward, land on my feet, and dash again. I have to use this moment of weakness to try to hurt it even more, maybe even to kill it.

I misjudged it. The loss of an arm doesn't bother it as much as I expected it. I lock eyes with it and don't see any pain or anger. Only the same annoyance you have for a bee that stung you. A cold sweat runs up my back, but the biggest mistake I can make now is to hesitate, so I don't.

Arriving at its side, I swing my arm above my head to plunge my enhanced dagger at its throat. Probably underestimating me from the earlier failure of my weapon to hurt it, it abandons all notion of defense, and my black blade finds its way deep into the neck of the werewolf, just as its claws tore my side, fraying my flesh.

Clenching my teeth, I lose my hold on my dagger and take a couple of steps back. To my luck, I am not the only one suffering.

Losing a lot of blood through its hand pressing on its wound, the werewolf starts retreating into the wood, whimpering and stumbling every few steps.

I fumble backward until my back hits a tree, and I fall on my arse. I rest my head on the hard bark, close my eyes and let go a sigh of relief.

We underestimated it too much, and we are lucky it did the same with us too, or we would be dead by now. The long howl of a wolf resounds in the distance.

I have to wake Raphael up and try to find Scott. He is hurt too. I wrap my shadow around my wound to serve as a bandage, and I painfully raise to my feet.

I look around, but I don't see my brother. I raise my hand palm up and concentrate on creating a black sphere. I pack a considerable amount of power and compress it. Then I use a fraction of it and let it go in a big wavy sphere around me.

I close my eyes, and like a sonar, I can feel everything around me, the trees, those natural giants full of life, the animals profiting this fresh night to roam around the forest, and the earth's shape.

I finally sense the presence of someone standing alone in a clearing. I open my eyes and walk toward him. No doubt it's Raph.

After what feels like a long walk due to the pain in my flank, I arrive in the clearing behind my brother.

-What are you doing here? You could have helped me with that werewolf if you were awake.

He doesn't respond. In fact, he doesn't show any sigh that he noticed me. When I arrive at his side, I see him gazing down in front of us, so I follow his eyes and witness a large tree stump. Strange, I didn't sense it when I scanned the area, nor did I see it when I walked up to Raph.

I want to stop looking at it and tell my brother we must go, but I can't. Something seems to drag me toward this stump.

I take a step forward and move my hand slowly toward it. The closer I get, the less everything feels essential around me. Everything seems to be draped by dark clothes, and even the forest's music dies down in my ears. My fingers touch the dead body of this old tree, and all my senses come back at once as if I was finally free from a charm. I then heard this monotone voice.

-All the requirements have been achieved. System unlock.

My eyes widen, and I look in front of me in wary anticipation. After a few seconds of nothing happening, with me frozen in place, I hear a chuckle behind me. I spin around and punch Raphael on the shoulder. I immediately regret it when my flank sends pain roaming all over my body.

-Piss off, dude. For a moment, I got really scared.

I only get a full hearty laugh in response, and I storm out of the clearing back into the forest.

-Ohhh, don't be mad, it was just a joke! Do you at least know where you are going?

-Yes, I saw a road this way. We can just walk along it until we reach the town.

-Ahhhh! Can't we call dad and ask him to come to pick us up?

-And tell him that we fought a werewolf, and that's why we look so sheepish?

-You know we'll have to tell him that we know, right? We didn't have any reason before, but now that there is actually one here, we can't pretend anymore.

-Yeah... we'll tell him when we'll have the time. But not tonight. The dinner was enough stress for him for the day.

-Ohhh, I bet his stress is relieved by now, hehe.

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