The image that met her eyes for the short second which the light was on had rattled her to her bones.
Arya's shriek echoed through the hallways. The scream of pain from Derek was much more diabolical.
His scream sounded more of a howl than a scream, the noise sounded like it was coming directly from his lungs.
The sound reverberated through the building, the sheer intensity of the sound waves vibrated the walls of the building.
***
At the top of the tallest building, certain someone somewhere in the city, at the sound of the howl looked up. His eyes blood red, stared straight at the moon.
With inbuilt agility, he jumped down from the top of the building and sprinted into the darkness.
***
Maya dove at the light switch and managed to turn it off just seconds after it had come on. But the damage had already been dealt.
Arya had slid to the floor in shock, her hands were trembling and her eyes were fixed to the exact same spot where she had seen whatever she had seen on the floor.
"Get a grip" Maya whispered in urgency, her tone carrying a note of authority. "get a grip" she repeated, slapping Arya slightly on the cheek.
They could still hear groans and heavy breathing coming from the corner of the room where Derek sprawled on the floor.
"Get your shit together, goddamn it" Maya shouted, slapping Arya hard on the cheek.
Arya shuddered, her eyes were now focused on Maya, her hands still trembled in fear but she was now back to herself.
"I… I… saw…" Arya's stammered, her voice broke at every word she said.
"I know, what you saw. You need to get it together or its going to be so much worse than what you saw."
Arya was never one to break down in fear, she was more of a calm and collected person. But whatever it was they were dealing with, she had never seen in her entire life.
She wondered how Maya managed to stay so calm despite everything, despite what she had just seen.
"What do we do?" Arya asked, slowly regaining her composure. She held one of her hands in the other forcing the tremors to come to a stop.
One thing Maya admired about Arya was the determination in her eyes, she could see the steel resolve in her.
Deep down, she was still scared but she was a bit calm and was already trying to analyze the situation.
"Is that Derek?" Arya asked, trying to hide the tremors in her voice.
"Yes" Maya answered, keeping her replies short.
"What is wrong with him" Arya asked again
"I believe he is undergoing his first transformation"
"Transformation?" Arya asked unbelievably "Transformation into what, he looks like a monster"
"To a werewolf"Maya replied once again, making her way towards Derek
"What!" Arya almost screamed "Those are not even real, they are fables and stories from fiction books"
"Well, tell that to the werewolf in front of us" Maya smirked in mockery
"Wha…"
"Get ropes, we have to tie him up. Keep the questions for later, we have to get this done quickly before he fully transforms" Maya said, cutting her questions short.
"Derek? Derek?" Maya gently called, approaching Derek with caution. "Grrrr" Derek grunted in reply.
Arya combed the room from one end to the other looking for a rope or anything that looked similar.
Maya was trying to force a conversation with Derek, but the most she was getting off him were grunts and growls. It seemed to her that he was losing it faster than she could comprehend.
She quickly pulled away from him and joined Arya in her quest for a rope or any binding material.
Maybe by a stroke of luck or mere coincidence, Maya couldn't tell. Arya suddenly called out to her.
Inside one of the cupboard compartments in the room, there was a rope sticking out the bottom.
Arya tried pulling it out, but the rope wouldn't budge causing her to call Maya over. Maya squatted beside the cupboard and tugged at the rope.
While tugging hard at the rope, a sudden loud growl sounded from the corner of the room where Derek lay, making the two girls jump.
Maya let go of the rope and looked around the top of the table that stood above the cupboard, she picked a small mallet from the table and smashed the lock on the cupboard.
The doors instantly swung open, revealing the contents of the cupboard. Maya immediately snatched the rope and ran to Derek. The rope was too long, it trailed behind after her.
"You have to control it" Maya said soothingly.
Derek turned to stare at Maya, she could see his gaze but there was no life behind his eyes.
In the darkness of the room, his eyes shone a bright shade of yellow, he was staring straight at Maya but it seemed like he was looking into the distance.
Maya slowly lifted her hands and ran the rope round his hands. As she intertwined the rope, she silently prayed that he stayed in control.
From the little she learnt about werewolves, she knew that it could take off one's head with the swing of an arm if they were not careful.
She knew they had to restrict it and they had to do it fast. Her hands moved rapidly, starting from the hands .
She bound them so closely together to eliminate any possibility of it generating enough power to tear the rope apart.
Next, she bound the legs and then the torso, Arya stood stiffly in one corner staring at the mesmerizing pair of yellow eyes which shone in the dark.
When Maya was done, fangs were already beginning to grow out of Derek's mouth. She pulled the rope making sure it was taut and she stepped back.
She looked through the window of the facility and saw the moon partially hidden behind a shadow of clouds.
In a few minutes, the full moon will be completely out in its full glory and hopefully it won't bring chaos to this silent night.