༺ Otis ༻
I almost scream but can quickly put a hand in front of my mouth.
The stranger raises an eyebrow as I scan his body. Short, black hair. Dark almond-shaped eyes. A thin face.
If it wasn't for the visible biceps and tattoo under his chest, I would have assumed that somebody put up a mirror.
"Sup."
"Sup?"
I quickly close the door behind me. Then I continue staring at him.
"What do you mean 'sup? Who are you? What are you doing here? Are you me from another dimension? From the future? Am I about to die?"
The guy seems unimpressed by my eruption of questions. His eyes stay calm.
"I'm Ren."
I snort. "Right. Of course! How did I not recognize my own dog? How sil-"
"Could you stop blabbering for a second? I need some clothes."
Without waiting for an invitation, he walks over to my closet and pulls out some shirts and pants until he finds something he likes.
I watch him, still in complete shock, as he puts on the outfit.
This guy does not look like a dog. Or act like a dog.
This is not a dog.
Once he is done, he turns back around.
"So." He claps his hands. "It's time that we talk."
"I don't know if I want to talk to you. Maybe this is a prank and you're just a clone. Who sent you? My mom?"
"Nobody did. I told you, I'm Ren."
I shake my head, unwilling to believe that.
"Ren?" I yell. Usually he'd come running. But instead, the house stays quiet.
A bad feeling spreads out inside my stomach.
I look at the guy. "What did you do to my dog? Where is he?"
"Maybe we should sit down for a minute."
I think about calling for help but considering how quiet the house is, I assume my parents must have have left to buy food.
The guy basically forces me to sit down on my own bed and grabs my wooden chair to take the place opposite of me.
I stare at him, still amazed by our similarities.
He has my face, there are no doubts. And although he is clearly more masculine and toned, our bodies aren't that different either. The way his shoulders are shaped and the relatively small hands - we look like two birds of the same feather.
The guy folds his arms and leans back. "Okay, how can I prove to you that I in fact am Ren and not lying?"
"Oh, we are playing that game now?"
I think for a bit, without taking my eyes off of him, making sure he can't pull any tricks. Then I get an idea.
"What did the woman at the shelter look like? The one who showed me around?"
"Short black hair, nose piercing. Her name is Lydia by the way, she was really nice, took good care of me."
Okay, how can he possibly know that? The shelter surely has more than two employees and when my dad and I were there, we were the only visitors. I would have noticed my doppelganger were he present.
"Who was the man with the thermo flask?"
The guy hesitates. "Next question."
"No, we aren't skipping that one. What did he want?"
He sighs in annoyance. "He wanted to take me with him but luckily you didn't let that happen. He is dangerous. But it's too complicated to explain now."
"Okay." I'll let that slide for now.
I look at the boy as I carefully form my last question.
"And now answer me this: Why did my dog supposedly turn into a person that looks exactly like me?"
We stare at each other for a while as we sit in silence. I'm waiting for an answer but his facial expression is hard to read. Does he even have an explanation or is he trying to come up with a fake story in this very moment?
Then his mouth opens.
"I'm your twin."
Okay, I had not expected that answer. I furrow my eyebrows.
"I don't have any siblings."
"We were separated at birth."
"Right." I don't understand. Is he seriously trying to sell me this story?
Stuff like this only happens in books but not real life. My mom had never mentioned a twin brother before, why would she keep that from me?
"And I'm not a dog, Otis. I'm a werewolf."
Hearing that, my mouth drops open but he looks completely serious. He is clearly convinced by what he is saying. So I start laughing.
"A werewolf!" I wheeze, completely overwhelmed with this absurdity. "My brother is a werewolf!"
"Yes! Stop laughing, I'm dead serious."
"Right. Sorry." I hold a hand in front of my mouth to keep in the laughter but can't stop chuckling.
Ren gts angry and shoots up from his chair. "This is not funny. My life is in danger and now yours is as well because you adopted me. We never were supposed to meet."
Before I can defend myself, he grabs my collar and pulls me up from the bed, so quickly that I almost stumble.
Our faces are only a few inches apart and I'm forced to stare into his pitch black eyes. My pitch black eyes. The irises are shaking as he hisses.
"I was cursed. Okay? I was held captive for years but I managed to escape. Now I need to break the curse and that's why they are after me."
I want to keep laughing but my throat is clogged. What I hear in his voice is complete honesty. Yet absolutely crazy.
"And who is 'they'?"
"My enemies. Very bad people. A bunch of werewolves. Recognize this?"
He shoves his left wrist into my face and now I can see it. A small tattoo of a black crescent moon. The same symbol the man with the beard was carrying.
"But-"
"He is one of them. He somehow managed to break into August and now he is waiting for the right opportunity to catch me."
"And then?"
"They will kill me." His tone is sharp as glass and sends a shiver down my spine.
If any of this is true, then we are both in great danger.
"So what do we do now?"
"We'll have to escape."
My heart starts beating faster. "Escape August?"
"Escape August."