By the time we finished cooking, it was nearly evening. Every bone in my body is crying for relief and when I sit to eat along with everyone else, I nearly fall asleep. Cyran sits beside me and wolfs (no pun intended) his food down. I start with small bites, but eventually, I start taking huge bites of the meat and my mouth fills with potato. He gets me another plate and I lick it clean unabashedly. I take a good look at everyone around me and they all seem strangely familiar. It's like they're all a part of me, and I'm intimate with every single one of them on a deeper level even though I haven't been introduced to anyone else.
My hand has stopped tingling and I wonder why. It was a deep gash, deep enough to need stitches. I flex it and I feel absolutely no pain. The bandage is filthy and covered in blood. I want to pull it away, but I'm afraid to look.
"Come, Mia," Cyran says. "I'll take you to your room and show it to you."
I have no choice but to follow him into the cabin. I look around before. Everything is dark, but I can see surprisingly well. A few men are patrolling the area. Escaping will be harder than I thought, but I'll find a way. I have to. This place is horrendous and I need to get far away from these people. Or wolves. I don't know how to classify them anymore.
We get inside and Cyran shuts the door behind him. I sit on the ground and he mimics me. He grabs my hand and I feel the urge to pull away from him, but I don't bother. I can't stand a chance against him.
I watch as he removes the bandage and my eyes nearly pop out of my skull. There's no wound whatsoever. There's a thin scar where the gash was and I nearly scream.
"Don't," he warns. "This is normal. We heal quickly. There's nothing to be afraid of."
I scoff and pull my hand from his grip. "Are you out of your mind? Do you think there's anything normal about this? You live in the middle of the woods and sleep in makeshift cabins and transform into animals and you think there's anything normal about this? It's like this is all some kind of cult and your uncle's leader."
His brows furrow. "What's a cult?"
I don't answer him. I'm on the verge of tears. I cover my face with both my hands. "Go away."
"I can't do that, Mia."
"Why not? Why can't you just give me some space?" I sniffle. look as calm as ever and it's the most frustrating thing in the world. He's completely oblivious to my suffering, my confusion. Why won't he just leave me alone?
"Because I know what you intend to do with it," he says with conviction.
I shake my head. "Can you read my mind? Is that it? You're psychic?"
He scratches his chin. "It's not your mind I'm reading. It's your instincts, your emotions. You're a newborn, you're not good at controlling your instincts. I can read them clear as day. You intend to escape and return to your old life. I can't let that happen."
I feel a rush of anger. "Why not? Do you seriously think you can keep me locked here forever? You're psychotic."
His expression hardens and I suppress the urge to recoil. "This is your home now. There's nothing left for you out there."
"I have a family, you know. I have friends. I have an amazing boyfriend and I can assure you they're all concerned about me. And if I don't get out of here, they'll come to find me."
He stands and begins walking towards the door. "If you say so." He shuts the door and leaves me alone in the dark. I climb under the blankets and stare at the dark wood. I need to find away. I need to get back.
Cyran doesn't wake me up in the morning. Instead, he asks Emilia to do it. She's timid and still apologetic about what happened yesterday. She treats me like I'm superior to her and I don't understand why. If anything, she's superior to me. She's been here the longest. She's already accepted this way of living.
"I can help you get dressed," she offers. "I'm very sorry about yesterday. If only you could forgive me."
I put a hand up as I tug my pants on. "Don't worry about it. You didn't do anything wrong." I don't know why she feels the need to constantly apologize to me. It was an accident, and it's not like I'm in pain. But there's this little part of me that hates her guts and relishes in her discomfort. I don't know where it's coming from, but it's there alright. Her presence irks me.
She escorts me to the makeshift kitchen and Donna is already there. She doesn't look up when I walk in and I wonder once again what her problem is.
I help Emilia with the animal carcass and we work for hours without saying a word to each other. I have a few cuts, but they're so minor they've healed completely in just a few hours. I keep glancing around, looking for possible exits. So far, I have my eye on one path. I haven't seen anyone patrolling that area once. I catch Donna's eye sometimes, but I look away quickly. The intensity of her gaze is unbearable.
A man walks in wearing a pair of ripped shorts. "Emilia, Alpha Serge wants to see you."
She drops her machete and fluffs her hair. I wouldn't make such an effort for that lunatic. "What does he want?"
"I don't know." He says. "Perhaps it has to do with the Feast of the Full Moon."
She leaves the kitchen, but the man lingers still. Donna doesn't say a word to him, just peels vegetables. I look up and I realize he's looking at me. "I don't believe we've met. I saw you last night. You were sitting with Cyran."
I contemplate ignoring him, but I don't need another enemy here. "Yes."
"My name is Bryce. I'm the Beta of the Pack." He says this with pride, but I have no idea what a Beta is. I nod once in greeting. "I'm Mia."
"Mia, yes I know." He says my name in a surprisingly normal way. Unlike Cyran, who says my name like it's a completely different language. "I'll see you around." He leaves and I return to my duties. The conversation was normal, not like with Cyran. He talks in riddles and he makes little sense most of the time. How long has Bryce been here, I wonder? Does it even matter? He seems content with his life here, prideful even. There's no way he would help me return home, it's pointless. No one here is willing to help me, I see that now. Maybe everyone's been brainwashed by Serge, or maybe Cyran himself. I don't feel the same way. I'll get out of here, I feel it in my bones.
Emilia is gone for some time and when she returns, she looks distraught. Her eyes are wide and filled with tears and she resumes butchering the carcass. I feel the urge to ask her what the matter is, but I bite my tongue. It isn't my concern and I have other things to worry about.
Night falls and by the time the preparations are done, I'm extremely tired. I haven't seen Cyran all day. Not in the kitchen, not even in the fields. Maybe he left? The 'pack' joins for dinner. I search the crowd and I still don't see him. That's strange. He was always breathing down my neck and now, it's like he simply disappeared. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Emilia is busy serving plates and plates of food. Donna disappeared the minute she finished the vegetables. She touches my shoulder and asks me to retrieve a bucket of water from the well. "I wouldn't ask if it weren't extremely important. Donna normally does these things, but I'm not sure where she is at the moment. Please."
I have no choice but to do what she asks of me even though I don't want to fetch anything. The area around the cabins is completely vacant. I find the well and I fill the bucket. The bucket is half full when someone grabs my arm and starts pulling me.
"Hey!" I say, fear filling me to the brim. "Let me go!"
A hand clamps over my mouth and under the moonlight, I see Donna's wrinkled face. She keeps pulling me and I let her. I'm too scared to do otherwise. She guides me to a space between two cabins and I see a clear path leading to the woods. She stops and turns to me. I kind of expect her to say something, but then I remember she's mute.
She points at the path.
I shake my head. "I don't understand."
She points again.
I stare at the path before I and realization sink in. I turn to her. "Why? Why would you help me?"
She doesn't react to my words. She just stares at me blankly, her glare venomous and full of contempt. I don't know why she hates me so much. I'm the one her kind wronged.
I take a step towards the path and I watch for her reaction. I take another, then another, and before I know it I'm running. Running away from her and that 'pack' and that terrible nightmare. The forest engulfs me like an open mouth, filled with sharp teeth. I run farther and farther from the encampment, and I don't stop for a single second. My heart is in my throat. I'm afraid it'll jump right out of my mouth at any second. I don't hear anyone behind me, which is a relief. I don't know where I'm headed, but anywhere is better than here, that's for sure. Hopefully I'll never see Cyran or Serge or Emilia ever again.
I don't look back. I keep running.