His hands scraped across the table, leaving small claw marks. Nervously, Jeremy covered them up with his arms and tried acting as though the conversation bored him. Mr. Shames had been criticizing the wolf-shifters for some time now, calling them ‘werewolves’ and ‘evil beasts born by darkness’. It enraged Jeremy; each word Mr. Shames said on the subject was spoken in pure disgust.
‘If I had just one minute and permission,’ thought Jeremy, ‘I’d kill that lying son-of-a’
Thwap! The ruler came down too fast for Jeremy’s hunter instinct to dodge.
“Mind somewhere else again, Mr. Stone?” came Mr. Shames. Jeremy slid his papers over the claw marks and clutched his hand as if he were in pain. He grunted in reply.
“If you don’t work on your behavior, I’ll send you straight to the war with the werewolves.” He was serious. Jeremy grinned. “Bet they’d like me better than you do, Shames.”
Mr. Shames pushed up his glasses in distaste. “That’s Mr. Shames to you, boy.” He said, continuing with his speech on how Jeremy’s kind would kill them all someday.
‘And I hope they do,’ though Jeremy, chuckling.
~~~
Jeremy slid his papers over the wooden desk and sat down. Humans flooded into the monochrome room, dropping papers and laughing; sounds Jeremy heard from them often. The noise eventually came to a close, and Mrs. Hanes gradually made her way to the blackboard. She jotted 'STUDY HALL' down and returned to her seat to rest.
Mrs. Hanes was old; time had creased her face and crumpled her figure. She could barely remember where she was anymore. He winced; her impurity was almost sad to him.
As usual, the round desk he had chosen was empty except for him, the humans following their instincts to fear him. Jeremy hung his head low and scribbled on his science paper. By this time, Mrs. Hanes was asleep like a rock.
The room was silent until Derek stood up angrily, muttering, "Dammit, dammit, dammit!"
Derek was arguably the smartest human in the school. His brown hair was oiled back and combed, clothes neat and tidy, and his shoes were always well polished. His papers were marked only with A's and A +'s and his teachers timed him when he was working. Apparently, his best time was a 50 question science test in five minutes flat.
"What is it, Derek?" Asked a human from the table he was working at.
"I've made a miscalculation." He answered. People focused their attention on him with wide eyes, and muttered amongst themselves nervously. "I was too hasty in assuming that everyone here is human," he started, "when it's almost obvious that someone here isn't."
Humans muttered louder, nervously and joking, saying he was a few bolts short of a complete machine. Jeremy almost laughed; he really was a genius. But how had he figured it? Jeremy hadn't shifted or showed his true attitude since he had taken a mission and came here. He'd stayed quiet and made no friends, but had surveyed the humans expertly every day.
"In fact," Derek continued, "The non-human is sitting neatly by the window, the lone table." Everyone's eyes turned to Jeremy, who was quietly examining a 'what does DNA stand for?' question. He tapped the pencil to his head, then looked up at the wide and scared people around him.
"...Who died?" He asked, jokingly.
Everyone continued to stare, so he set down his pencil and donned a scowl.
"What? Did I grow a tail or something?" His voice was hard and he acted aggravated.
Derek pushed up his glasses and glared at him. "Enough with the innocent act, wolfie."
Jeremy stood up, as if he were outraged. "That's an insult! I'm as human as you are, Derek!" The humans around him jumped, their instincts telling them to run from the predator.
Derek stood his ground. "Why do you think he's alone so much? He's obviously spying on us, waiting to kill us a-!"
The bell had humans scrambling for their papers and rushing out the door, eventually tripping on each other. Jeremy and Derek stayed in the classroom until silence wrapped around them again.
"If you're human, then I'm from the bottom of the ocean." Said Derek.
Jeremy moved towards him in a predatory fashion. "I won't stand for this stupidity. You shut up right now, or I'll personally send you to Hell." He suppressed the instinct to growl; to strike his prey, leaving them as strong as a lump of watery jelly.
Derek's fear showed strongly in his eyes now; he was confronting a strong enemy that showed no mercy for him. He started to shake horribly.
What he said next surprised Jeremy.
"No."
The wolf-shifter changed before him; bloored eyes were pinned on Derek to keep him from running, while Jeremy's skin quickly changed to dark orange fur. His ears, dotted with white, became pointed back and flattened against his head. His fingers became charcoal-colored claws, and his tail was down. What stood before Derek now was what his kind had fought since the beginning of time itself.
A low growl filled the air.
~~~
A feeling of dread had swept through the school that afternoon.
Jeremy had avoided suspicion by jumping out the window after the fight. He kept his head low and ears sharp: people were whispering about how Derek had been found dead on the floor by Mrs. Hanes when she woke up. They said he had his throat cut and several claw-like marks. But they didn't ever mention Jeremy, not even from a distance. They showed no sign of knowing.
But everyone was avoiding him more than usual. Even when the bell rang and humans spilled from the school like milk from the carton, they all gave him a wide berth.
As usual, Jeremy took his place beneath the large apple tree to the right of the school building and took out his notepad. He surveyed the schoolyard and listened to their gossip, taking note and leaving out nothing.
And, as usual, when the schoolyard cleared completely, he closed his notebook and trudged down to his apartment.
It was a small, grey building, with dark windows and fading paint. The inside wasn't much better, but it had a feeling of a nice hotel room. It was owned completely by wolf-shifters, and everyone inside a spy for their tribe.
The wolf at the front desk welcomed him and then buried himself in a book. Jeremy walked up the stairs, unlocked room 131, and dropped his papers. He unlocked his desk drawer, replaced his school notepad with his social notepad, dug up some money, and locked up again.
~~~
The coffee was hot as hell.
Jeremy quickly set down the scalding liquid and turned his attention to his surroundings. The waitress set down her tray and chatted with a customer - probably a friend - about how her job was 'so totally hard.' A man and his quiet daughter sat behind him, sipping hot chocolate.
And then there was the teen in the corner of the monochromatic café. His hair was coal black and it swept to the left, covering his left eye. His eyes were golden-yellow and shown as if they were the only color in the restaurant; they were focused on something out the window. He was dressed in an open, black jacket with a skeleton pattern. Beneath it stared a red demon's face on a grey shirt. His presence reminded Jeremy of family.
Jeremy wondered three times if he should walk over and address the teen. It wasn't like he was thirty, in fact, judging by his looks, he had to be 16; same as Jeremy. He made up his mind to leave once he left, to harmlessly chat on the way out.
That would've worked, too, if the teen didn't walk up to him first.
Jeremy found himself staring into the golden predatory eyes close up. The teen had planned to walk past him, but was stopped cold by Jeremy's stare. Moments of silence passed slowly, like the hour hand of a clock.
Then everything went wrong.
The teen grabbed his collar a hoisted him up high. His golden eyes were clouded; he must've felt Jeremy's presence in the same way: family. He was just confused.
"I don't want trouble, dude." Said Jeremy, acting calm.
"Wh- Who are you?!" He questioned.
"I'm a guy who wants to be put down. People are staring..."
The teen set Jeremy down. "Who are you?" He asked again, trying to stay calm.
"My name's Jeremy Stone. What's with the killer grip, dude?"
He looked away.
"Well? Tell me yours, dude." Jeremy was impatient.
"Aiken. There, happy?" He snarled back. Jeremy almost jumped; he wasn't used to Aiken's behavior. He had to be a wolf. Or at least a shifter.
Moments passed again, their eyes remained locked.
"Got a last name?" Jeremy joked.
"Yeah."
"...Gonna tell me it anytime soon, buddy?"
"Hell no, stalker."
Jeremy stood up and nearly punched him. His fist stopped right in front of Aiken's unsurprised face.
"Don't make me fo- I gave you mine. Why not give me yours?"
"Fine. Aiken Get-the-hell-away-from-me Jr." He pushed Jeremy back down and started to walk towards the door.
"FFFFFFF- YOU GET BACK HERE DAMMIT!" Jeremy's notorious anger flared up again. He hopped up and followed Aiken out the door in a blind rage. Aiken rounded the corner and waited for Jeremy.
"Goddamn, man! I just want to know your freakin' name!"
Aiken smiled. "You know, I haven't been getting much exercise these days." He drew closer to Jeremy in the same style Jeremy had used to stun Derek. It was working.
"Am I supposed to care that you're getting fat?" Jeremy growled.
"Hah. I was just wondering... why not fight me?"
"If I fight you and win, will you give me your real name?"
"Whatever. Just make sure you put up a good fight."
Jeremy awaited Aiken's first move. He wasn't disappointed. Aiken's body melted into shadowy fur, and he fell to the ground. His nails became sharpened claws and he stood proudly with his teeth bared. Jeremy followed suit with his own transformation.
Their eyes were locked, and the battle began.
~~~
Aiken moved like a ninja and hit like a cannonball. His eyes flashed and made the red markings on his paws and tail glow with otherworldly light.
His skill made Jeremy edgy at first, but he soon tricked himself into thinking he was fighting an inferior wolf. His attacks grew in power but his slow speed stayed the same.
Aiken lunged for Jeremy but was caught by the same attack he was trying to execute. Jeremy had him pinned.
The smell of the alley filled Jeremy's senses (the ones that weren't focused on Aiken); the blood that had been shed, the rotting, black trash, the stale rainwater that refused to seep into the cement. He had some cleaning up to do after he dragged Aiken into a holding cell back at the apartment.
"Let me go, you over-sized orange rat!" Spat Aiken. His attitude snapped Jeremy from his thoughts.
"Tell me your name, then."
"Grrrr... hell no!"
"Then you're coming with me." Jeremy pinched a nerve on Aiken's neck, causing paralysis. Aiken shifted back because of this, but couldn't move. Jeremy slung him over his shoulder and took the most discreet road back to the apartment.
~~~
Aiken was treated the best that the God Tribe had to offer. A nice cool cage in the corner of the room, complete with a soundproof glass if Jeremy decided he was too annoying to listen to.
Aiken spent the rest of the afternoon cussing under his breath and pacing the cell in his wolf form. Jeremy had studied his habits and wrote them down carefully in a new notebook. He locked it away and left the room, ignoring Aiken's protests.
There was a house cat that visited the building every once in a while. She was soft and wore a dark brown coat of fur that rarely bristled in anger, but more in curiosity.
But this was no mere house cat. When she shifted, she became a beautiful ten-year-old girl with dramatic black and white hair tied in a ponytail in the back. She walked like a proud leader and loved the adventure that Jeremy constantly invited her on.
But, because her owners were human, she was raised in animal form. They had no idea of her second form, but she had no inclination of showing them. Her name was Dark Star, of which she bent and twisted into nicknames that shifters used for her.
She approached Jeremy in her thin, pale, human form. Her torn black shirt with the band "CoyoteThreat!!"'s logo of a wolf's eyes drawn back to look sinister hung over her delicate frame and countered her deathly pale skin. She wore army print jeans that were slitted from the knee down, into worn dark green shoes.
"I heard that you caught a human-wolf," Despite her looks, her voice was ragged and higher than normal. "Where're you keeping him? I bet he's all creepy-looking!"
"He's a wolf-shifter that was raised by humans, is all. He's no different than us in looks, Dark." Jeremy patted her head.
"Still," She said, "I wanna see if he looks like me."
"In the girl sense?" Jeremy joked. Dark Star crossed her arms playfully.
"No, in the torn up sense."
"Somewhat," He said. He opened the door to his room, used to Dark bounding in and, as usual, accidentally flipping over the chair by his desk.
She tackled the glass. Aiken jumped.
"Woah, you look angrier than I thought you would," She muttered.
Aiken proceeded to cuss her out in a barely audible language. She smiled.
"I like him. What's his name?"
"He's not a pet, Dark," He looked in at Aiken. "All I've gathered from him is his first name, Aiken." Dark Star reached into the cage to stroke him, but Jeremy pulled her away before she could loose her hand.
Aiken stared back angrily.
~~~
(to be continued)
Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:14 am