Maya froze at one, something had clattered to the floor. The nerve racking sound of the burglary steel being dragged across the floor came to a halt. The wolf had stopped in its tracks.
The wolf was stunned by the sudden sound, it stopped and slowly looked around the room, then like it seemed to have just noticed the rope which tied a burglary to its leg. It tore at the rope until it came free then ignoring the smell outside the door it turned to the window from where the moon light filtered in and with a single spring it jumped out of the window, breaking the glass to shards.
The room was silent for the next minute. Maya and Arya still crouched outside the door. Maya guessed the breaking of the window was from the wolf which had already exited the building.
Maya soon realised that her hands had remained up for the past minute and she quietly put it down as she slowly released the breath she held in for the past minute.
She stood and made for the door. Arya didn't try to stop her this time, it had become quiet for too long, a single minute felt like an hour. Maya peeped into the room from the crack in the door and slowly opened the door.
This time Maya personally reached for the light switch and flicked it on. The room was almslost the same way they had left it except for the rope which was torn at some places and the few things which had fallen to the floor.
After a short look around the room Arya soon regained her composure and joined her.
"He left through this window, Maya pointed at one of the three windows in the room which was broken in the center with glass shards scattered on the floor.
"I think we should go after him" Maya suggested
"It" Arya corrected, "and what do you mean we should go after it? Arya stared at Maya, not believing her bravado.
"Trust me, we are going to have to go after him" Maya might have been shaken up just some seconds ago but now she was alert once again.
According to her little knowledge about werewolves, she knew that Derek would need help after this Saga so she felt she should follow him.
"If you're not coming along, I'll just go alone" Arya said and made her way to the door. Maya stood staring at her until she left the room. She could soon hear her light steps on the corridor going towards the exit.
"I must be out of my mind" Arya muttered under her breath and hurried after Maya into the night.
***
Derek now fully transformed into a wolf ran through the school, he zigzagged through empty deserted areas and kept running like he had a clear goal in mind.
***
"I knew you'd come" Maya smiled after Arya had eventually caught up with her. 'i can almost see the little streak of fondness growing in your eyes' she kept that last part to herself, she was not yet bold enough to provoke Arya
Arya rolled her eyes at her and aligned with her pace from behind.
"How can you tell which way he went?" Arya asked, trying to clear the chills in the air by engaging in a conversation.
"Let's just say I'm quite good at tracking people, but it seems like this one is going to be a little bit hard and we have to move fast. His trail is fading" Maya replied as she kept moving while focusing on the floor.
Arya could only stare at her behind in a pool of her own thoughts.
It took them more than ten minutes of walking around the school premises till they came about a tree with scratch marks on its bark.
Maya squatted beside the tree to examine the mark, it looked very fresh, she could instantly tell that what they were chasing was not far off,
As they walked through the school premises, they passed a couple of people, the number of people outside was reducing with every passing moment. Everyone had gotten their fill of the sightseeing and was ready to retire in anticipation of the continuation of the competition the next day.
Barely a minute after the tree bark, the girls could soon see blood stains on the floor. Arya could almost hear her heart thump loudly at the sight.
Their footsteps suddenly slowed down drastically, as if they were both reading each others minds, they had both decided individually that when they found Derek, they were not going to get too close to him, instead it would be a better option to observe from a distance.
They had not found him but it felt like he was somehow connected to the blood that they had just discovered, they were not willing to have theirs spilled next so they moved gingerly hoping to see the creature before it saw them.
Just a few more steps and they could see a figure sprawled on the floor. There was a slight trail of blood to the place where the figure lay.
Maya with nerves of steel as usual was the first to approach the figure. She strode fearlessly across the open space and into what looked like a yard. Getting closer to the body she could see the shape of a human boy. The little fears she might have had disappeared as soon as she saw that it was a person and not a wolf.
The figure on the floor looked battered and bruised with only a piece of clothing around the groin areas, she kicked the figure on the floor slightly expecting a reaction from it.
After several nudges without any reaction she bent close to the boy and pushed him over to his side. She was shocked to see that it was Derek, he looked so different and helpless lying there on the floor.
Realization soon dawned on her when she remembered that he was not moving, she quickly bent her head down towards his chest and checked his heartbeat. She relaxed slightly when she felt the slight thump of a heartbeat, though very faint he was also breathing.
Her body soon tensed up almost immediately when she heard a muffled scream from Arya.