The scent of fresh pine captured my senses the moment I took my first step out of the cabin. For an instant there, just for an instant my reality had managed to slip my mind. I tilt my head a little upwards to gaze upon the sky. It truly is a beautiful day. The clouds, white as snow, traveled in tufts across the infinite sea of blue above our heads. Although, I can only see a small fragment of it, like an incomplete piece of a bigger picture. The rest is hiding behind the thick veil of towering trees that surround us, shattering and scattering the rays of sunlight into minor segments. I like the way the air feels on my skin. It's neither cold nor is it too warm. It feels just... Perfect.
Apart from the cabin that stood behind me, there is no other indicator of human input in the area. Not as far as my eyes can see around me, at least. My sight journeys from the cabin to the trees, then from the trees to the visibly damp grass and dirt underneath my feet, then towards the sky one more time before making a final stop on Nathanael's figure. He simply stares back at me, a faultless smile on his face. Neither of us says anything for a few seconds before I felt the need to break the not so uncomfortable silence between us, "What is it?"
"Nothing," he shakes his head slightly until his features completely shed the smile he had, "You must have a lot of questions to ask me, still,"
While I do want to know what's going on through his mind, I can't deny I am eager to get more answers about his nature out of him first. I guess I'll have to pry the meaning behind the look he was giving me later on then, "So, this part of the forest is one of your family's properties,"
"Well, my mother's family. But by extension, yes," he says as his eyes gradually fall to the ground.
There's something in the way he said that, perhaps it's the fact that he decided to correct me just to say something that essentially meant the same thing as I said. It's almost like he doesn't consider his mother's side of the family as... Family, "Right, your mother... She's a Ferwulf, then. You said that, on your first shifting night, you were confined to this cabin per her orders," I make my attempt to plough deeper into the subject without sounding like a complete asshole.
"As I said before, our coming of age or our... First shift can be quite treacherous. We lose every semblance of control. Every shred of humanity we have, it all just disappears leaving nothing but bloodthirsty monsters behind. We have strict rules by which we live in my society and my mother is an absolute stickler for them, she won't take an alternative to perfection," he chuckles a little at his last sentence.
"Wow, your mother sounds... Terrific," I nod purposelessly.
"I guess you can say that," he doesn't even ask me if I meant terrific in a good or a bad way. The more he speaks the more I wonder.
"I was going to ask but I think you've already answered me," I pause for a minute before noticing his questioning look, "I mean, the Ferwulfs have been in Grimesbrook for as far as the records date back but I never...," I trail off.
"What? You've never suspected them to be shifters?"
"No, yes, I guess I never did," I stare down at my feet where I dig my heel into the dirt a little deeper.
"You seem disappointed," he says.
disappointed is a huge understatement. I am disappointed in myself, indeed. Grimesbrook has been crawling with werewolves and whatever the hell else, and I've been blind to it this whole time. I've always prided myself in my keen, perceptive eyes, my overzealous need to scrutinize everything around me but they never, ever gave me any sign or reason to even suspect their existence.
"Don't be," he pulls me out of my thoughts, "My kind has been living under draconian rules for centuries now. And we've been evolving and adapting throughout history in order to live normal lives among humans,"
"I've never even heard a howl or seen a wolf before. I mean, until yesterday, of course," I keep digging my heel downwards even further. My eyes remain on the ground, refusing to meet his own.
"I am really sorry about yesterday, by the way. I haven't even gotten the chance to apologize properly yet,"
At those words, my gaze rises back up to meet his. He stares into my soul, and I stare back into his. We remain that way for a good while before he breaks the connection and starts slowly walking away from the cabin, towards the trees.
I stand still for a short moment, watching as his figure strolls further away from me. I snap out of it and follow in his tracks, "It doesn't make any sense though," I say once I am able to walk by his side, "You say you live under some strict rules that your kind must follow to the t, but what was yesterday all about? How often does a... Shifter break the rules like that?"
"I see your point. It doesn't happen that often though, and when it does, our law upholders or justice system deals with it, accordingly, putting their best efforts into keeping the matter under wraps," he says.
"So, whenever a shifter fumbles the bag, your people make sure to erase all traces of their blunder, is that correct?"
"Well, not erasing their blunder. They're punished according to our laws, but we do our best to keep the matter away from human eyes," he says.
a sudden realization hits me out of nowhere. Well, not so sudden and not so out of nowhere. Of course, I had already considered the possibility that the presence of these shifters or whatever they call themselves was closely tied to the disappearances that have been happening all over town. Hearing it from him, in those words, does nothing but cement my fear of the thought. The idea that the possibility is in fact reality. A shiver runs down my spine as I become more aware of the air brushing against my skin. It's like the temperature dropped significantly in mere seconds.
I freeze in my spot, contemplating the depths of my case. I am casually strolling through the forest that has swallowed so many people out of existence. So many nights, I'd lie down on my bed thinking and wondering what could be happening in here and now... Here I am... In here…
Realizing I'd stopped behind him, he stops as well and walks back towards me, "We're safe. You're safe, nothing is going to happen to you here,"
You've got to be kidding me... How can this guy be so perspicacious at times and then completely oblivious at others? How doesn't he immediately make the connection between what he said and my reaction after it?
"What if they'd hurt me or worse, killed me? What would you have done then?"
"But they didn't and that's all that matters," he assures me.
Well, it certainly matters but I still would like the answer to my question all the same. What would he have done? Would he have hidden my body if I'd died? What if I didn't die but was injured? How would he have reacted?
I'd like to press him more for the answer, but my gut tells me not to. He's been extremely patient with me so far, and I don't want to push my luck with him. God, forbid he decides to show his true nature here and now. If he happens to be hiding it, that is. I think the best thing that can happen for me now is to go back into town, where there can be witnesses around us. I think I've had enough answers for today, "I'd like to go home, please. I am not feeling alright, right now. Can you show me the way home?" I fidget a little in my spot.
"Yes, yes, sure. As a matter of fact, I was heading back towards the town," he answers me in a half-hushed tone.
The way his shoulders just slumped down, the way his eyes fell to the ground as he turned away from me. For a moment there, I thought he looked like a battered puppy. It's like I broke something in him. My insides sting at the thought, but I brush the feeling away. All that matters for me now is my safety. My desire to live for another day to find out more about this, outweighs the guilt I feel about my reaction at this moment.
I am forced to take a few steps back when my face collides with Nathanael's back. I shake myself out of my own train of thoughts, only to see that he's stuck in his spot, perfectly still, barely breathing. My mouth opens for a second before closing immediately after. Afraid to voice my concerns. Thankfully, or not so much so, he slowly and very carefully turns around to face me again, at which point I take more steps backwards, away from him. He seems troubled and fully focused on something neither of us can see. His eyes keep on darting from left to right, like he's trying to grasp the source of a sound only he can hear.
"We need to get back to the cabin as quickly as possible," he says with a deep sense of urgency.
"What?" I mutter.
"Please, I know how this must look to you but believe me, if we stay here out in the open, I am not sure I can guarantee your safety. Just… Please," he practically whispers as he begs. The urgency previously detectable in his voice has turned into full-fledged panic, even though he appears to be keeping his shit together.