Aubrey
I was woken up by the sun rays hitting my eyes, and the voices in my head having a field day, cooking up all sorts of storms in there. I lay the blame on my long, deep sleep on my weak body, knowing that I'd never be able to enjoy this level of rest frequently. A few old hosts were lonely, filled with regret and hate for what they'd done with Greyback.
I silently hoped I wouldn't be such a burden to Greyback's next host.
Ferdinand, a host of Greyback's was a conjurist and magician during his time as host, and he claimed to simply conjure up clothes that fit his environment after he was done ravaging some defenseless farm village or affluent rich mansion. It didn't matter to him, and his legend spread far among his successors.
I used to be skeptical of him until Greyback showed me an image of them in action, the wolf and man in perfect tandem, both entities fully surrendered to the other. I wondered whether we could achieve that, and Greyback kept silent, as if to say that it depends on yourself and your dedication to the craft.
Did it have to be magic that I learnt, I said in a light whisper
It doesn't matter what it is, Greyback replied, with a slight hint of excitement in his tone. I think he was happy, or relieved that I was finally warming up to him and the idea of hosting him.
What do you advise me to study, to attain such chemistry, I asked.
It doesn't matter. Just master anything you think you're good at, and I'll enable the rest, he said.
With that, he retired to whichever corner of my brain he enjoyed.
Today was a silent one by host standard, with only 3 of them engaged in conversation, so I had some time for thought.
The last couple of months have been frightening, exciting, depressing, exhilarating, and I've been through every emotion on both sides of the spectrum.
I wouldn't say I hated the whole experience, but I certainly didn't love it. That was partly due to the strain it put on me, physical and mental, but it was mostly due to the fact I was ignorant of the machinations of the wolf in me, and I had no way of learning about it, except from a few things I learnt when I transformed.
Life was much easier 2 months ago, when I was just a hotshot data analyst heading my big tech company. It was a boring life compared to this, but it was a Peaceful existence. I had my girlfriend, Paula, and I had my friends, Benny and Abel. And my lovely co owner Sandy, whom I never seemed to get along with. Pretty standard for a 28 year old American. Life was good.
Until I went thrift shopping and bought this gray overcoat that I thought would go well with the gray pants I had just bought earlier in the week.
The man who sold the coat looked dodgy and jittery when he came at me, muttering about how the coat was an excellent fit for me and my height, but who cared, I was getting the coat either way. I was more excited about getting a good deal for the coat, a coat that was obviously of superior grade than the price it went for.
The demeanor of the man showed that he couldn't wait to part with the coat, and I was all too happy to take it off him, Since he didn't know the true value of the thing.
Greyback had since explained to me that the man, who found Greyback on the floor, lying bare, apart from his dead host, was frightened out of his pants by him and was acting under his influence and he was in a hurry to rid himself of Greyback because he was tormented severely with gory images of Greyback's adventures.
Greyback didn't choose him, Rob said in plain terms. If you weren't chosen, the wolf devoured your soul. If you were chosen, you feast on souls with the wolf.
I wasn't sure I was ready for any form of feasting, with or without Greyback.
After my last adventure as Greyback, I picked up a few more things on the working of the wolf. When I was trying to find my way home a couple of days after devouring the police officers, I realized that I was manifesting some of his features. First was the speed I walked with this time, reaching home on foot in 30 minutes. I either had a Ferrari F50 engine fitted on my feet, or the distance between the cave and my home was compressed to a walk around the block. Next was the massive strength I acquired. I learnt of this when I encountered a huge log that blocked my path a few miles before I reached the city. I lifted it with as much ease as a crane would lift it, and I threw it a respectable 200 yards, and it landed with a thud that ringed in my head for the longest time.
The one I liked most was the smell.
As we approached the city, I could distinguish between almost all the smells emanating from the city. Sunday cookouts in the suburbs, chemicals rotting in the industrial areas, smell of alcohol and sex dissipating from the downtown buildings, and the smell of fumes settled in the atmosphere, centered on the massive bridge separating the two parts of town.
I take the south path at the edge of the woods; the hills where my cave was located far behind me in the horizon. I screech as I am reminded of the feature I hated the most by the high pitched scream of metal plates against each other. Wolves had a good sense of hearing, and unfortunately, it came with my upgrade package. Hearing the screams of kids in pain from whatever source was disheartening to me, and to Greyback even, but we disagreed as to how we would solve the problem.
The wolf wanted to murder all of them, but I did what I could to stop him. That was all I could do.
I steered away from the direction of the main city, and headed over to my house at the south edge of the city. It was about to be a long day explaining where I was to Paula through the night.