'Something smells good' I thought as I woke up on the couch where I fell asleep last night.
After stretching and shaking off the morning weariness, I decided to find the source of the pleasant aroma. I followed my nose to the kitchen where my mother was cooking.
"Good morning, honey. I'm sure that you are hungry so I'm making some food." Mom said cheerfully as she held a pan over the stove.
"Didn't we have enough food last night?"
"Nonsense. You can never have enough food and it's only breakfast. It's nearly ready, so why don't you wake up your brother, and you can both wait at the table for it."
"Ok, mom."
I headed upstairs and knocked on my brother's door. There was no response. I opened the door to see my brother still fast asleep in his bed. His face was peaceful and undisturbed by my knocking. I decided to shake him awake seeing that making noise wasn't very effective.
"Wake up Kyle. Get up!" I repeated as I tried to shake him awake.
Kyle's eyes lazily opened, and he smiled at me. Still half asleep he started mumbling. "Hello, doggy. Where did you come from?"
I lightly flicked his forehead to knock him out of his delusions. "Hey, I'm not your dog, idiot! Come downstairs, mom made breakfast."
After that, I left his room and headed downstairs. Mom was putting plates of food on the table and despite being "Only breakfast" there was quite a bit. There were sandwiches with bacon and eggs in them and at least a dozen freshly cooked sausages. In the middle of the table was a jug of orange juice and a pot of tea.
"Why so much, Mom?" I asked looking at my plate.
Mom looked a little embarrassed. "Well, your father was always ravenous after his transformations, so I assumed it would be the same."
'Now that I think about it, I do feel hungry.' I thought whilst sitting at the table.
I thanked mom for the food and then started eating. The bacon and egg sandwich was delicious, and I washed it down with orange juice. As I began to start on the sausages, Kyle came downstairs and seated himself at the table.
"Morning Kyle." Mom shouted from the kitchen.
"Morning Mom." Kyle replied yawning.
Mom left the kitchen carrying her plate. When she sat down, we all started eating.
In between the clanks and scratches of the cutlery, Mom made conversation. "Well since you won't be going to school Kate, what will you do?"
I was about to answer mom's question, but I was cut off by Kyle. "What Kate gets to stay off school? Why can't I stay off?"
Mom tried to calm Kyle down. "Kate is going to be moving schools soon, so she is spending some time off before she leaves."
"Wait, Kate is leaving?"
Kyle looked at me with a sad expression that made my heart stop for a second. "Sorry, it isn't my choice to leave, because I turned into a wolf I've got to go to a special school. But I promise I will call you and mom whenever I can, and we can still play games online."
"You promise that you will play with me?" He asked sadly looking at me.
"Of course, Kyle."
After hearing me say that Kyle's happy expression returned.
'His mood can change at the drop of a hat. I guess that's one of the benefits of being a child.'
Mom petted Kyle's head to cheer him up. "Don't worry sunshine. We are allowed to visit on holidays, so we still have plenty of time to visit your sister."
"Anyways, what are you doing today, Kate?" Mom asked trying to get back to the original topic of conversation.
"I will probably check on Rose. She seemed to be hurt badly last time I saw her, so I want to check up on her." I replied pouring myself some of the tea from the pot.
"Ok honey, make sure your back for some dinner and make sure you say hi to her parents for me."
"Ok, mom."
The rest of breakfast continued uneventfully as we talked about mundane things. I did want to know what kind of school I was going to, but I thought I would save those questions for when we weren't eating breakfast.
I was the first to finish and said goodbye to mom and Kyle before leaving."
"Make sure you cover your ears with a hat and tuck your tail into your pants or a coat." Mom said before I left. I put on a beanie and an enormous coat. It felt uncomfortable to cover my ears, but I decided to put up with it to not give away my secret.
Rose's house was close by, but with how badly she was injured I was unsure if she would be there. In the end, I decided to check first before looking somewhere else. It was only a 2-minute walk to her house.
I arrived at her house which was larger than mine. The memories of visiting Kate and spending time with her and her family filled my mind. They made me hesitate to knock on the door.
'What if she remembers everything that happened? What if she hates me for it? I don't want to leave knowing she hates me?'
My thoughts were running a mile a minute, but they came to an abrupt stop when I heard a voice behind me. "Kate is that you? Are you here to check on Rose?"
I quickly turned around to see Rose's mother. She was a petite but kind woman, her hair was the same colour as Rose's.
"Hello, Helen. Yes, I was dropping by to see Rose. Is she not here?"
"Yes, she is still at the clinic, but she will be released later today because her injuries aren't too serious. I just came back to grab some food for her. If you want, you can come with me to her?"
We live in the countryside, so the nearest hospital was a two-hour drive, so most people just visited the local clinic.
"Sure, if you wouldn't mind taking me?"
After Helen grabbed some snacks and food from their house, we set off to the hospital. The card ride was awkward because I was sweating bullets. It was in the middle of summer, and I was wearing a gigantic coat and hat. Right now, I felt like ice cream in a desert.
We finally arrived at the clinic, and I was free from the oven on wheels. Helen headed straight inside after grabbing the snacks she brought, and I followed. She stopped in front of the receptionist and wrung the bell to grab her attention. "I'm here to see my daughter. I was just here a minute ago."
The receptionist looked up at Helen. It took her a second to recognise her, but when she did a smile appeared on her face. "Ahh, miss Helen you are back. Feel free to visit your daughter, she is in the same room as before."
Helen thanked the receptionist, and then we walked through the clinic's hallway until we reached the room Rose was staying in. The room was on the second floor and had a window looking at the street below. There wasn't much in the room, but the bed Rose was in and the few stools next to it.
When I saw Rose, I smiled happy to see her, but she began to shake. Her face was covered in bandages, but I could see her eyes, and they were afraid. She seemed despondent and unaware of her shaking, but after a few seconds, she realised what she was doing and stopped.
"Sorry, I don't know what came over me then. Maybe it's all the meds they are having me take?" Rose smiled at me and beckoned me to sit down on the stool next to her.
I sat down still a little shocked by her reaction. 'Why did she start shaking? That agent guy said she can't remember anything, right?'
Rose snapped me out of my thoughts "Hey, you don't have to look, so sad. The bandages make it look a lot worse than how it is. I'm allowed to go home after tomorrow. But why are you out of school are you skipping or suspended?"
"About that, I actually got kicked out." I laughed a little, but Rose looked shocked.
"Your joking, right? All you did was defended me and I have you seen receive less punishment for a lot worse. Why are you getting this harsh treatment?"
"How much do you remember of what happened?"
I used this opportunity to figure out how much of her memory was erased.
"Nothing, the last thing I remember was winning the basketball game and then I was here being questioned by two police officers. The doctors say I'm probably repressing the memory because of the trauma."
As she spoke, I began to think of a story to tell Rose. I tried keeping as much as the details the same, but I removed all the magical things.
"Well, when I saw you being hurt by those two pieces of shit, I got angry, angrier than I ever could remember being. I ended up beating the two to a pulp. I probably did more damage to them than they did to you, but at the time I didn't care. I'm pretty sure that I broke one of the girl's ankles, but I stopped when I saw myself in the mirror. My bloodied hands and expression terrified me. I wasn't me; I was some monster.
After that, the police arrived and shortly after that I was kicked out of the school. Then the police talked to my mom about sending me to school for people like me. Apparently, I met all the requirements for the government to pay for all of it. I leave in a week."
I finished the explanation sombrely, and Rose hugged me in tears.
"I'm so sorry! I had no idea I was the cause of you having to leave."
I laughed and made a joke to try calm Rose down. "What kind of meds are they giving you to make you so delusional? In what way was this your fault? If I could go back, I wouldn't change a thing. So, don't blame yourself or your ass is next on my chopping block."
Rose laughed in between her sobs and tears, and Helen also hugged me. "Thank you for protecting my daughter. If there is anything we can do for you, we will."
"There is no need for something like that, Helen. Just keep my mom and Kyle company every now and then. I'm sure they will be lonely without me."
"Of course. Your mother has always been kind to us. I would happily keep her company."
I spent the rest of my trip to the clinic talking to Rose and her mother and making plans with them for my last week here.