"Fuck, where am I?"
Lucian Tawan rose from his loose fetal position. A jolt of pain surged through his body as he sat upright on grass freshly kissed by the morning dew. Waddling to his feet like a toddler learning to walk, it was obvious his body was unclear of the temperature it wanted to keep. He stumbled to a nearby playground when he noticed the blood splattered on his bare chest as if he was violently attacked by a paintbrush. The shock coupled with his aching body caused him to collapse after taking just a couple of steps.
Waking up in the room he always knew was refreshing. He opened his eyes slightly to notice his parents standing at the foot of his bed having a conversation where he was the subject.
"Maggie will you relax, everything is going to be fine."
"But Seth, it's been two weeks. He was only out a few days last time!" His mother was a bit dramatic, but who's mother isn't?
"Look, he's still breathing. We just have to be patient."
Lucian tried to move letting out a groan before he could address his parents.
"Lucian! Oh! Honey don't try to move." His mother rushed to the side of his bed. Her eyes showed fear more than worry, detail that Lucian picked up on. "When we found you… I didn't know what would happen."
"Mom, I'm sorry. I don't remember what happened that night, but you must have been worried."
Maggie and Seth looked at each other then back to Lucian. Maggie rose to walk away from the bed while Seth grabbed a glass of water that was sitting on Lucian's nightstand.
"Here son, hydrate yourself."
"Mom, what happened that night?" Lucian asked as the cool water rushed through his dry veins.
"I can't speak it, I'd rather show you." She walked the his tv and pressed play on the DVD player. "This is from ten years ago, from when your affliction first flared."
"What affliction?"
"Just watch son."
A slide show of pictures flashed across the screen of a hospital's halls being stalked by a wolf cub. The cub looked more scared than anything. People cowered away, a younger version of his parents tried to corral the puppy.
"It was a spore festival. Once it started you got sick, so we took you to the hospital. They'd never seen anything like this… ever. The spores had done something wicked to your body. They kept you over night, and that's when you, my little baby boy, turned into a wolf."
Seth paused the video. Lucian sat in silence as he took everything in.
"We did well though, it was simple. Keep you away from the spores at all cost. That's why we come out here every month." Seth walked back over to Lucian, with a remote in his hand. "But this isn't enough anymore. We have to take much more serious action."
Lucian was scared now. Seth Tawan had a spirit within him that shook Lucian to the core.
"You were foolish Lucian, you were foolish and you went out. Now I have to make sure nothing like this ever happens again."
"Like what?" The flashes of the night started coming into his head. He remembered the blood the aching feeling he felt. "What did I do?"
Seth pressed play with the remote.
"We were able to extract this from his memories before anyone else could."
The screen showed a POV shot of hands crouching down as if the owner were hiding. Through the top of a bush you could see a tall bipedal wolf walking sniffing the air. It's orangish black hair bristling in the wind. The wolf dropped down on all fours and began sniffing the ground. The wolf closed in on the eyes on the suspecting victim, they swiveled and turned black, but you could still hear the wolf inhale right behind their ears. When the eyes opened again they met the wolves and Lucian felt every emotion as he looked back into his own eyes. The wolf reached up and brought down his mighty claw ending the feed.
"This is what happens when you let the spores touch you. But never again. You will control this even if it kills me." Seth pierced through his sons terrified eyes. "We've already made preparations, when the next spore shower comes, we will start to figure this out."
Lucian gulped as his father stepped away. Even with the sternness of his father and the dramatics of his mother, Lucian wanted to know one thing. To him, in this moment, this was the most important thing.
"Who was it?"
"The Memory Owner?"
"Yes, Who did I kill?"