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Chapter 1
publish date:
2020-11-13 02:29:04Chapter 1
Lauras POV
>in the Forrest<
I look around my surroundings...
“Where am I?” I stare down at my hands and I realize that they are covered in blood. “Whose blood is this?” My head hurts. I struggle to recall what happened until it all starts coming back to me...
>earlier in the Hospital<
As a surgical intern at the hospital who saves lives on a daily basis, I´m used to having bad days. But today isn´t one of those days. This day is just darker than any other. “I just can´t seem to escape this dark cloud looming over my head.” We admitted a patient, a little girl the nurses found unconscious and abandoned outside the ER. We don´t know where she came from or who she is. But she´s having these seizures that we can´t explain. “I did everything according to the book. This little girl shouldn´t have these complications. Could it be because of these markings she has on her shoulder? It´s consistent with a bite mark, but it´s all healed up. It doesn´t make sense. I really hope her illness doesn´t progress overnight. God, I hope she survives the night.” My phone starts to vibrate in my pocket. It´s my mother calling. What does she want now? I pick up the phone. “Mom, I´m at work.” (Claire) “We need to talk, Laura.” “Look, Mom, if this is about my job here at the hospital, I already told you. I´m not quitting and I´m most certainly not going back to New York.” “You are wasting your time there, Laura. You can have a life here in New York. With me.” “You certainly didn´t want to live with me all those years when you sent me to boarding school. This is the problem with you, Mom. You make these decisions and only think about what is convenient for you.” “I only did that because I wanted to protect you.” “Protect me from what?” “Forget I said that.” “Fine, I gotta go.” I end the call abruptly and immediately feel about it. My mom and I have a very complicated relationship. I chastise myself for letting my mom get to me like that. It´s always been a touchy subject for me. Especially these days when I get so easily exasperated. Out of nowhere, I punch the locker room door. I stare in surprise when my fist just left a dent on the metal. “What's gotten into me?” I brush it off and change into my civilian clothes. “I just got out of a 36-hour shift - I need a drink.”
>Hospital hallway<
I slip out into the hallway and decide to head for the bar across the street. I hear footsteps behind me. I turn to see Dr. Patrick White - Wolf Springs Medical Center´s finest. And boy, he´s fine. His chin-length white-silver hair combed back into his neck. A strand of soft flowing silver in his face. His light blue eyes could probably look deep down your soul and drown yourself in them. His scrubs plays perfectly around his hardened body.
For a moment, I marvel at how handsome Dr. White is. “He´s just too perfect. No wonder he´s so popular around here.” I don´t know why, but there´s something about him that makes me attracted to him. More of the half female population of this hospital probably wants to get into his pants, but for me it´s more than just that. Maybe I should take action first. But that’s ridiculous just to think about it. What should I say? I probably stumble on my own words and embarrass myself to the core. Why would he even be interested in being near me. I´m a nothing. I´d better be quiet.
(Patrick) “Dr. Fuller. Laura. Hey!” Is this an opportunity? “Dr. White. How can I help you?” “About that patient of yours in Room 104. The one they found abandoned in the ER last night.” “We call her Elise.” “Elise, right. Well, I was reading her charts and I must say that her condition doesn´t make sense.” “My thoughts exactly.” 2You did everything right. Whatever complications she had couldn´t have been avoided. So, don´t beat yourself up about it.” Dr. White gives me an awkward pat on the shoulder. He´s being a professional, but I know for a fact that he´s been paying a lot of attention to me lately. Even going out of his way to be kind to me. I´m not sure how to classify that.
And I know I´m not having my signals crossed. He´s so into me. I like it. “I´ve run every test. I couldn´t find anything in the CT scan. No tumors. But she keeps having these seizures from time to time.” “We´ll run more tests and keep her under observation.” “Do you think it´s got anything to do with the bite mark on her shoulder?” “What makes you think it´s a bite mark?” His eyes seem to stare straight into my soul. “The pattern appears to be a bite mark. Like from some sort of canine or something. Only bigger.” Dr. White gives me a curious look. He probably thinks I´m weird now. “Are you thinking rabies?” “At this point, I don´t even know what to think.” “Well, if it´s some kind of bite from an animal, don´t you think it would have torn off her shoulders?” “Yeah, probably. Forget that I said that. It´s silly.” I blushed immediately and had to look away. “Anyway, thank you, Dr. White. I really appreciate it.” “No problem. And please, call me Patrick.” “I´, sorry, I´m just not used to calling my superiors by their first name.” “Trust me, it´s okay. I´m only ahead of you by one year. Besides, we were classmates once.” I gasped “We were?” “Yeah, at Pemberton University. I used to sit behind you in History class.”
Patrick is smiling this perfect smile and I can´t help but return it. Damn, he´s hot.
“To be honest, everything before medical school was a blur.” “I´m kinda hurt that you don´t know me.” Oh my gosh, that hurt look on his face made my heart skip a beat. Why was this so important to him? He looked like a beaten puppy. And I so wanted to wrap my arms around him. Wait, Laura, stay focused.
“I´m so sorry.” Was all I could bring out.
(Robert) “Laura.” I turn to see my ex-boyfriend Robert holding a bouquet of red roses. Great timing – NOT. I rolled my eyes. “Robert, what are you doing here?” “Inviting you to dinner. Who´s he?” He gave Patrick a disapproving look.
I can tell that Robert doesn´t like Patrick. He didn´t even try to hide it.
“This is my boss. Dr. White. Dr. White, this is Robert Millford. “Nice to meet you. Well, I´m going to do rounds now. I´ll see you tomorrow.” His deep gaze still locked with mine and I didn´t know how to deal with.
He seems too eager to get out of here that he´s gone in a flash. Just when we were connecting. Sigh.
“These are for you, Laura.” What should I do now? We may not be together anymore but he sure knows how to make a girl swoon. We broke up because of different life ideals. He is a businessman and I am a doctor.
“Thanks Robert, but I can´t take it. We broke up, you know that.” “Okay, I understand.” “You didn´t have to.” “But I want to.” There´s something different about Robert. I just can´t put my finger on it. He is still hot as hell. But something is definitely different. “You look good, Rob. So, what´s new with you?” “Well, I just quit my job at the research lab.” “Why, what happened?” “Well, I know how much you hated me for working at that facility. And I felt like it´s one of the reasons we grew apart. So, I thought making that step will give us another chance.”
“Robert, firstly, I didn´t hate you because you work there. I hated that facility because they used animals as test subjects. And secondly, we grew apart because you are too jealous of everyone. You even asked me to choose between you and my job. And you know how important that job is to me. That hurt me a lot.” “How many times I´m going to apologize for that?” “You don´t have to apologize anymore. Because I´m done.” “Laura, just give me a chance.” “Why should I when I know I´ll only end up getting hurt?” Robert moves closer to me, which is when I smell his scent. It´s familiar, yet there´s something different about it. Suddenly, my senses are overwhelmed. It´s enticing. What´s this? What´s happening? “Laura, I want you back.” He whispered as he got really close to me. “Robert, I...” “At least just have dinner with me? For old time´s sake.” I hesitate, I know I shouldn´t do that. I don´t wanna get weak. But it´s just dinner, right? “All right, Robert. I´ll have dinner with you.” There´s something about him, that I´m unable to resist. “Perfect.” Robert smiled and, in that instance, my heart begins to flutter. I blushed. That smile. Those lips. I just want a taste. But I can´t. I mustn´t. We´re broken up. I must keep this platonic.
That´s when I realized that tonight is going to be difficult.
>Roberts´ House<
I find myself in Roberts´ beautiful house. He´s done well for himself by working as a scientist at that research facility. Apparently, he´s got this whole night planned out as I am treated to a fine dinner at his home.
“I´m glad you agreed to this. I missed this.” He stares at me with those beautiful eyes; for a moment I think I am going to drown in them. I look away, breaking the connection. The full-moon is visible through the high-ceilinged windows of Roberts´ house, and I´m lost for a moment.
He crosses his arms and looks at me thoughtfully. “What is it, Laura?” “Nothing. So, what´s new with you? What are you going to do now that you quit your job?” “Actually, I already found a new job.” “Really, what is it?” Robert seems to hesitate for a moment. “It´s confidential for now. I´m not allowed to discuss it until they work out the kinks on my contract. All those legal mumbo jumbos. It´s never interesting.” “All right, if you say so, Robert.” But at that moment, my curiosity is already piqued. What is this mysterious job of his? Why is he being vague about it?
There´s a long silence that ensues before Robert speaks again. “Laura, I want you back.” He reaches out and puts his hand over mine. The touch of his skin sends electricity through me. I close my eyes for a second, savoring the sensation. I try to set it aside, struggling to resist the urge to kiss him now.
“Robert, I think you are a great person. But I don´t think you are the right person for me.” “You already said I´m great. Why don´t you just stop there? Stop overthinking this. You know you want me as well.” And I do. My basic instincts practically tell me that I want him right now. “It´s a little bit more complicated than that.
Robert starts to lace his fingers with mine, and I can feel my heart beating against my chest. “Kiss me and tell me you don´t have feelings for me. Maybe I´ll believe you then.” I gasped in shock. “No, Robert, I´m not going to kiss you. I agreed to have dinner with you. But not this.” “Why can´t we just be friends?” “Because I don´t see you that way. Well, you should get used to it.”
Suddenly, Robert leans in and presses his lips against mine. I´m surprised by what he did. But I liked it. The taste of his lips lingers in mine. “Now, tell me you didn´t feel anything.”
Without another word, I kiss him again. This time with a hunger that had finally risen to the surface. I kissed him so hard that I bite on his lip. “Owww!” What has gotten into me?! Roberts´ lower lip is bleeding. “I´m so sorry.” I stuttered. Shocked by my own action. “It´s okay. Clearly you´re still passionate about me. Can we at least talk about this?” “I gotta go, Robert. We´ll talk some other time.”
>outside on the street<
As I walk to my car, I can´t help but feel like somebody is watching me. I look up and down the street but there´s nobody there. That´s when I hear a rustling of leaves among the bushes. And as I strain to see through the darkness, I see a pair of red, glowing eyes. It´s definitely not human, and it disappears as soon as I see it.
What the heck was that? A burst of cold wind sends shivers down my spine. I can literally feel the hairs at the back of my neck stand on end. I need to find out.
BEEEEEP
I´m about to cross the street when a car, honking its horns, speeds past me. I let out a shriek of surprise. “Asshole!”
I stare again in the direction where I´ve seen the glowing eyes. No, maybe that´s just an optical illusion or something.
I just shrug it off and decided to hit Knox Bar before heading home. If night gets any weirder, I´m going to need a lot of alcohol.
>Knox Bar<
Knox Bar is owned and run by my friend Lucas Knox. He´s one of my first friends I made when I moved here to Wolf Springs. He´s actually the only friend here that I can trust.
(Lucas) “So what is up with you, Lady?” “Just got off of a36-hour shift. I need a drink.”
With a snap of his fingers, the bartender gives me my drink of choice: Tequila.
“Work-related problems?” “More like a Robert-related problem.” “Let me guess. He wants you back?” “Bingo. What am I going to do?” “Just dodge him, ditch him, run as fast in the opposite direction as possible. He´s bad news.” “He´s quite persistent.” “Are you still attracted to that nerd?” “You know me so well. You´re like my gay best friend, only you´re straight.” I giggled.
“Well, as hard as it is to believe, I understand why you´re so attracted to him.” “Really? Why? Cause I think I´m the only one who hasn´t figured out why I´m so taken by him.” Lucas seems to hesitate for a moment. “Because - I mean, he is your first boyfriend ever since you moved here. That´s got to count for something. All that history. Right?” “I don´t know. It´s something else. It´s like that feeling that I can´t explain. I just don´t know what it is.” “I´m sure you´ll figure it out one of these days.”
Suddenly Lucas´ eyes dart to the side and his expression becomes suddenly dark.
“What´s wrong? You have that look.” “What look?” “Like you´re a guard dog sensing danger.” “That´s ridiculous -”
(Patrick) “Laura. Hi.” I turn to see Dr. White standing there in his civilian clothes. His shift obviously just ended.
“Dr. Wh – Patrick, hello! What a pleasant surprise!” “I´m just checking the place out. I didn´t know you come here.” “My friend here owns the bar, so this has become my watering hole of choice. By the way, this is Lucas Knox. Lucas, this is Dr. Patrick White, our newest resident at the hospital.” “Call me Patrick. Pleased to meet you.”
Lucas gives him a measuring look, and offers Patrick his hand. Patrick takes it in a handshake. I can tell that Lucas is giving it a firm squeeze as the veins in his hands bulge. “Lucas Knox. Nice to meet you.”
I hear bones crunching together. Patrick stares at Lucas, unflinching. (Laura) “Okay! So, we´re making friends.” What is up with these two?
The two men let go of each other´s hands. Lucas can sometimes be like an overprotective brother to me. But I don´t need that right now. “Lucas, don´t you have a bar to run?” “Right. I´ll see you around.”
Lucas leaves the two of us alone.
“Sorry about that. I´m like a sister to him, so he sometimes acts like an overprotective brother.” “I can tell the men in your life don´t like me very much. Are you sure he´s not an ex-boyfriend?” “Believe me, he´s not.” “I´m just kidding.”
“Why don´t we get a booth, so we can have a little privacy and get to know each other better?” Wait, what did I just say?
“That would be a good idea.”
We seat ourselves in a booth, with Patrick sliding in next to me. He´s so close that I can smell his musky scent. I surreptitiously breathe it in. My breasts instantly perk up at his masculine scent. He smells so damn good.
“I'm pleased I found you here. Back at the hospital I was actually going to invite you for drinks, but your ex arrived.” “Well, we´re here now. So how do you like Wolf Springs so far?” “It´s amazing. I like it here. I think I might decide to put down roots here.”
I notice his ring-less finger. So, he´s single? “Did you move here with your family?” “Oh, no, I live alone. My parents are divorced. My father lives in Arizona am my mom lives in Nevada.” “I see. So, no wife or children?” “No wife. No children. At least, none that I know of.” He smiles, drawing my attention to his lips. I wonder what his lips taste like. “Very funny.” “But seriously, I have no one.” I detect a hint of sadness in his eyes as he says this, although it´s only for a fleeting moment.
“What about you? Do you live here with family?” “Mom lives in New York. I never knew my dad. I live in a house with a supermodel for a roommate.” “Interesting. A supermodel and a doctor in one house. How´s that going for you?”
“I barely ever see her. She´s always away for days on photo shoots in various cities.” “Must be nice. So, do you really not remember me from college?” “I told you. With a face like yours, I´m sure I´d remember you.” Damn, he´s so hot, I just can´t help myself. I hesitated to lean into him. I shouldn´t be doing this. He´s my boss.
As he moves in closer, his scent seems to overwhelm you. What´s happening to me?
Suddenly something in me snaps. “This is wrong.” I quickly pull away from Patrick, who looks confused. “What happened? What did I do?” “I need to go.”
I stand up, and Patrick does the same to give way to me. As I move past him, he touches my arm, but my reaction is to shove his hand aside. But I did more than that. Patrick yelps in pain a I inadvertently scratch his arm, which is now bleeding. “I´m sorry.” I look down at my hands in horror. It appears that I don´t even know my own strength.
(Lucas) “Laura! What´s going on?” “I don´t know! Something´s wrong. I can´t explain.” “Okay, calm down, Laura.” “I gotta go!” “Laura, wait!”
I run out of the bar, leaving them behind.
>On the street<
I approach my car and fumble for my keys. My heart is pounding so hard against my chest that I drop the keys. As I kneel down to scoop them up, I hear clicking sounds, like claws against the pavement. “Who´s there?” I yelled. As I peer around, I´m certain that my eyes catch something darting into the shadows of a dark alley. Something big, and hairy, like an animal. A dog?
Suddenly, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I check to see who´s calling and it´s my attending, Lydia Wilde. I take a deep breath to calm myself before answering.
“Fuller.” (Lydia) “We´re about to get an influx of trauma patients at the ER.” “What happened?” “Animal attack. I need you back here. We´re going to need all hands on deck tonight.” “I´m on my way, Dr. Wilde.” “I´m counting on you.”
Lydia terminates the call abruptly.
Animal attack? That´s strange even for Wolf Springs standards. But then, this night has been really strange so far.
I get into my car and I am about to drive off, when my phone buzzes again. This time it´s my mom. I ignore the call. I can´t talk to my mom right now. Not like this. I don´t want her to worry.
I bet she´s calling because it´s the full moon. My mom has this superstition that the full moon foments danger. Before of her weird fears of the full moon, my mom had given me this ornate knife to protect myself when I was in my teen years.
>back in the hospital<
I reach the hospital that night and it´s pandemonium. The screams of pain of the victims fill the whole ER.
What kind of animal could have done this?
(Lydia) “Fuller! I need you at room 104.” “That´s Elises´ room. What happened?” “She´s having some kind of seizure. Go! We got this covered.”
I hurry to Elises´ room where Nurse Abbey is trying to pin her down to her bed. She´s thrashing uncontrollably. I try to help the nurse. “I´ll take it from here. Get me a sedative. Stat!” I struggle to restrain Elise as she flails in a frenzy. “Elise! It´s me, Laura. Calm down. Calm down.” With one flick of her arm, she sends me flying across the room and against the wall. There´s blood on my fingers when I touch the back of my head. I start to become dizzy. My vision blurs. But before my sight fades, I see Elise turn into something else. A Wolf?! Then evening goes black.
>Lounge<
Later, the police are is questioning me about Elises´ disappearance.
“I told you, she didn´t attack me. She was having this convulsion and she accidentally threw me off-balance and I hit my head. I lost consciousness for a moment, and by the time Nurse Abbey found me and I came to, the girl was gone.” What do you want to hear from me? That the girl turned into a wolf?
I know what I saw. But at the moment, I´m not even sure what to believe anymore. I need someone to tell me I´m not going crazy.
(Police Officer) “All right, Dr. Fuller. We´ll contact you if we have more questions.” “Thank you, officer.”
The police officer leaves.
(Patrick) “Laura, what happened? Are you ok?” Patrick approaches me, wearing his scrubs. Apparently, he´s been called in as well because of the animal attack.
“I´m all right.” Seeing the concern in his eyes, somehow, I feel better. Being in his presence makes me feel safe. But can I trust him? I remain silent but Patrick notices. “I can tell something´s up. What´s wrong, Laura?” “It´s nothing really. I´m just tired -” I notice his arm and grab it to take a closer look. “Your arm. It´s completely healed.” Patrick takes his arm back, trying to hide from view. “I heal fast. Listen Laura, you´ve had a really rough night. You just got off of a 36-hour shift, you´ve been drinking. That´s got to take a toll.” “I didn´t even get to drink at the bar because you arrived!” “Regardless. I want you to go home and rest.” Am I really just seeing things? I know what I saw. I´m not crazy. “All right, Patrick. I´ll see you tomorrow.” “I´d drive you but they need me here. I can call you a cab.” “I´m good, trust me. Good-bye.”
>On the street<
As I walk to my car, I sense something dart past me. I wheeled about to see what it was, but only a burst of air meets my gaze. And then I see it, standing within the shadows of the building. A giant grey wolf with red eyes.
My eyes aren´t fooling me. This isn´t a hallucination.
The wolf turns around and shoots me a backward glance, before disappearing towards the back of the hospital building.
I think it´s asking me to follow it.
Without giving it a further thought, I break into a run to follow the wolf.
When I reach the back of the building, there´s nothing there. I walk toward the abandoned loading dock, my eyes searching. “Hello?” I halt in my tracks as the wolf emerges from the shadows, stepping into the light of a street lamp.
I observe the white crescent moon mark on his forehead, stark against the grey of its fur. It bounds slowly towards me. I am frozen in place. I can´t move. I can´t breathe. I tremble in fear as the wolf stops right in front of me. Its face is so close to mine that I can smell the stench of its foul breath that comes out in mists against the cold of the night. I close my eyes, my heart pounding wildly against my chest.
Suddenly, I feel this unforgiving pain on my left shoulder and I scream in pain. The wolf has bitten me!
>Back in the Forest<
I wake up with a startle. I look around my surroundings.
Where am I? I´m in a forest. It looks familiar. I stare down at my hands and I realize that they are covered in blood. Whose blood is this?
My heart hurts. I struggle to recall what happened until it all starts coming back to me. The wolf. My hand goes to my shoulder. I try to get a good look at it in the moonlight. My shirt is torn, but there´s no wound.
How can that be?! That wolf bit me. There´s no pain. But the warmth lingers. I remember everything now. I felt as if I wasn´t in control of my body, rather in my delirium, I had run away. I had run as fast as my feet would carry me. And then I had lost consciousness. Now I know where I´m running to. I am running to Lucas.
He´s the only one who can help me now. This trail in the forest leads to his house.
Suddenly, I hear a loud growl. Looking ahead, I see it standing there. The wolf! No. This is not the same wolf. This one is brown and clearly thinner in build, although it´s still gigantic. Also, it doesn´t have the crescent moon mark. Its eyes are yellow and much more feral, with saliva dripping from the side of its maw.
I decide to evade the wolf. I dodge out of the way as it snaps its jaws after me. I haven't gone far when the wolf pounces on me and knocks me to the ground. But I´m ready. I have my knife in my hands, and with a press of a button, the blades slide out from both ends of the handle. I struggle to turn onto my back and drive the knife into the wolfs´ underside. The wolf howls in pain.
(Lucas) “Laura!” The wolf shudders and goes limp. I pull my knife out and push away the wolfs´ lifeless body from on top of me, then climb to my feet. “Lucas!” However, something happens to the wolfs´ body that makes me stop in my tracks. It begins to shrink in size and change shape. After a few moments, it has turned into a human. “What´s going on? What is this?” “Laura, you need to get to my house.” I stared at him, bewildered. Yet he doesn´t seem at all surprised by what he has witnessed.
“This wolf just turned into a human! Did you not see that?” “I´ll take care of this. Just go!”
What is going on? Lucas isn´t telling me everything. Who is he?
I stare down at my hands and I realize that they are covered in blood.
