Chapter 2

Everybody in town was very fond of our new doctor. How many young ladies hurt themselves so they could go and see him, I could only guess. It irritated me. Mrs Connor was singing his praises. Megan, one of Mrs Connor's twins, said she envied me, to be saved by him. I was getting really annoyed and started avoiding Mrs Connor or anyone that I knew would be droning on about the talented, handsome doctor. Even my friends, Suzie and Ryan liked him. His face, his smile, and when he kissed my hand still haunted me, but somehow something was very off about him. What it was I couldn't exactly tell.

I was taking a jog in the woods when I saw something move in the bushes. Usually Suzie went with, but she wasn't feeling well. Probably an excuse to go and see the doctor… I turned my mp4 player off and listened. It looked big, could it be a bear? I didn't know there are bears in Everett forest? The next moment the thing stepped into a clearing and I could see it clearly. It was huge and hairy, but definitely not a bear. It looked like a huge wolf. My breath caught in my throat. I couldn't move. It would surely hear me and come for me. Luckily the wind was blowing from the opposite direction. It looked like it was exploring the area. I stood frozen for what felt like hours when it finally disappeared deeper into the forest. Finally I regained some life in my legs and started running back to town. Branches scratched me, but I didn't slow down for a moment. I fell twice, sure the thing would hear me and come after me. I wondered what Billy thought as I ran frantically past his repairs shop without the usuall chat-stop. I passed Mrs Swan's flower shop and Sam's on the corner. Finally I reached my dad's hardware store and rushed in, almost collapsing. My mom called out in panic when she saw me.

"What on earth happened to you? Look at all the scars! Honey, your arm. That will need stitching!"

"I'm …all..right," I stuttered, pale white and shaking. How could I tell them I saw a werewolf. Everybody will think I'm insane.

"It's not that bad, we can just clean it up with some dettol." My dad came to see what all the commotion was about.

"I tripped and fell in the woods. I wasn't looking where I was running."

My pleadings didn't persuade them otherwise. I still had to go and see the doctor. Damn.

"Ah, Miss Mckennitt. I was wondering when I would have the honor of seeing you here," doctor Morrison said, smiling his mesmerizing smile. I hated my mom for insisting in driving me here and then suddenly remembering she just had to go to see Mrs Connor about something. I had no way out.

I smiled weakly. "I guess the whole town had been here already," I murmured to myself, then said louder,"Well, here I am at last. Though I didn't think a mere scratch would be in need of your attention, doctor, but my mother…didn't want to hear otherwise," I said through my teeth.

"Well, if Mrs Mckennitt deemed it serious enough, let's have a look then, shall we?" he said and pointed me to the examination bench nearby. I suddenly found that I was very unstable as I got up. I lost my balance. If the doctor hadn't caught me, I would have landed face first on the floor.

"This is embarrassing," I said, as he helped me to the bench, smiling. I imagined he was getting this kind of behaviour from many ladies in town, I thought dryly. I didn't want to be labeled as being 'one of them'.

He was still smiling as he took a look at the deep scratch on my arm.

"This one will need some stitching, I'm afraid. What happened?" he asked conversationally as he reached for his tools. I could feel my face become even paler. Until now I had not been paying any attention to my wounds or the fact that I was almost covered in blood. I was a bad bleeder.

I closed my eyes when he started working on my arm.

"I had been jogging in the woods," I finally said. He stopped for a moment.

"And?"

"I tripped and fell into a ditch,"I replied annoyed, but at that instant the memory of the werewolf flashed into my mind and failed not to tremble when I thought of what I had seen in the woods. The mixed emotions I had experienced confused me as well. Mostly I was afraid, but there had been a moment, though brief, that I felt an intense anger, or was it hatred? Repulsiveness? A strange desire to attack… He had still not continued stitching, so I suddenly opened my eyes. I couldn't describe the look on his face. Puzzled? Annoyed? Shocked?

"My arm is not that bad, is it?" I asked to break the silence. Why would it affect him so that I jogged and fell?

"No, miss Mckennitt," he replied and continued stitching,"I would just recommend that you not go into the woods. I had heard some disturbing stories…" Did he know about the werewolf? I wondered.

I felt quite uncomfortable as the doctor listened to my heart. He had gloves on, but at his touch my heart rate speeded up and faltered at intervals, almost like drums to a rap song. I felt childish and consciously tried to calm down. My belly ring which I always kept carefully hidden, caught his eye, but he didn't make comment. It was something I had had done when I visited my eccentric aunt two summers ago. She lived in the city. She died last year. I loved her very much. She understood me better then my foster parents did sometimes.

"Please don't say anything to my dad about it. He will go ballistic."

The doctor just smiled, and continued his check-up.

"This pendant you are wearing, it is unusual," he observed.

"It's all I have left of my mother. I've always had it."

"Mrs Mckennitt is not your mother?"

"No…they had sort-of adopted me. I had been in an accident a few years ago, and lost my memory. Professor Haylee found me and asked the Mckennits if I could live with them. He's been trying to help me get my memories back, but so far it had been unsuccessful. Come to think of it, it had been some time since I last had contact with him… anyway, the Mckennitts took me in as one of their own," I said with a warm smile as I thought of my family.

"You don't remember anything before the accident?"

"No…thought sometimes I get the feeling of deja vu. It's almost like I'm on the brink of remembering, but then it just slips away again. It's quite frustrating…" I wondered why I felt like telling the doctor everything. Perhaps because he seemed sincerely interested in what I had to tell?

"…I often wonder who I had been. Professor Haylee said I helped him at the lab. We were doing research. Bio-development. Who were my friends? Did I perhaps have a boyfriend? Professor Haylee apparently didn't know me well enough to tell...anyway, I guess if I had a boyfriend, he would have come for me, wouldn't he? It's already been six years, so I guess I had been on my own…"

The words died away when I saw the expressions on his face. He looked very pained.

"Are you okay, doctor?"

He composed himself. "Yes. Sorry, something you said just reminded me of something painful."

"Sorry." Did he perhaps come out of a broken relationship? I felt a little sorry for the guy. Perhaps he moved all the way out here to get away from the pain?

The marks on my legs were itching enough to annoy me. The scratches were not deep. He disinfected it. I groaned when it burned.

"Are you sure you feel allright?" he asked me when he disposed of the used cottonwool. His eyes looked into mine intensely, as if he was trying to find something there. How could I tell him I saw a werewolf? Everybody thought me odd, even when they didn't say it to my face. This would give them an excuse to call me crazy.

"I'm allright…thank you doctor…"

"Call me Daniel."

I was surprised that he wanted me to be familiar with me. I just smiled, blushing stupidly again.

Suzie regretted that she hadn't gone jogging with me. She mused that she might have fallen then instead of me and gone for a visit at the doctor. Ryan just rolled his eyes. His admiration of doctor Morrison had its limits too. We were watching t.v. at our house. Mom and dad had said that they would be out tonight and Ava was sleeping over with Megan and Beth, the Connor-twins, Suzie's younger sisters. Billy, Ryan's dad didn't allow a t.v. in their house, saying it wasn't good for building character. There wasn't anything interesting on so we ended up throwing popcorn at each other, and later listening to some cd's.

"Next month is the costume party in the city hall. Have you decided what you are going to wear? I am going to be a forest nymph." Suzie said excitedly. Ryan laughed and teased her, asking if that meant she was going naked.

"Of course not! I'm dressing in green. It will look like I'm dressed in leaves."

"I'm going to dress like Zorro," Ryan said.

"But you were Zorro last year!"

"I still like being Zorro just as much, thank you," Ryan said folding his arms over his chest. He would look quite fetching as Zorro, he had even grown the moustache and exercised a lot for the occasion this year. He so much wanted to catch Catherine's eye, but she ignored him. The plastics ignored most people. They consisted of Ella McKnight, the leader, then Catherine Swank and Hillary Blake, her followers. They made school years hell for Suzie, just like the gel-boys, like we called them, always picked on Ryan. Perhaps it was what forged the bond of friendship between the three of us. When I came to stay with the Mckennitts, I instantly became the new target, even though I was older than most of them.

"I hear Julian and his lackys are doing the three musketeers this year," I said to break the argument.

"Hmp. They could wear their jockeys on their heads for all I care," Ryan said annoyed.

"You only say that because you are jealous, Ryan!" Suzie started again.

"Stop bickering you two!"

"We're not bickering, we're discussing facts!" Suzie defended herself, "besides we would like to know what you are planning to wear?"

"Don't be a spoil sport like last year!" said Ryan.

"Okay, perhaps a mime wasn't such a good idea. At least it gave me an excuse to ignore certain people and pretend I was a statue. What do you suggest then?"

"How about something exotic…like an Indian woman?"

"No."

"Or…a cowgirl?"

"That's Ella's favourite. I have no plan of competing with a plastic."

"Good point…"

"I know just the thing!" Ryan suddenly said. We both jumped.

"We can dress you up in a bunny suit, a pink one! Just think!"

"Very funny Ryan! I will if you agree to go in your underwear!"

"Awww. I thought you would look cute…"

"I'll decide what I'll wear myself, thank-you. End of discussion."

"You're planning to ditch the party altogether, like you did the year before last, aren't you? We'll have to keep an eye on her, Suzie. Drag her there in her nighties if we have to," he said winking. We laughed.

"I promise I'll go to the stupid party. Okay?"

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