Yes, this chapter is pretty short, but what can I say? Transition chapters are also important to the story, even if they're not where the majority of the action takes place.
Also, this story has a new cover. It's just a pic I found on the Internet that I added the title to. I don't own it, and if the owner should tell me that they want it down, I will comply. But the cover's hardly the most important part of the story, is it?
Current music: Build A B*tch - Bella Poarch
CODY HARVARD, 19
The suggestion that the story could have a happy ending was, of course, ludicrous. I'd bitten a fellow student, so what did I think was going to happen? That I'd get a pat on the back, be called a good boy, and then rewarded with a higher grade?
I might not have been in my right mind when I had gone through with the act, but now wasn't exactly my best chance to explain myself. For that, I would have to wait until the trial.
The thought of standing trial for something I had done sent chills down my spine and made my stomach drop. But unlike the stomach drop one experiences on a roller coaster, this one was the type of sensation that nobody clamors for.
After the barrage of questions from Detective Liat, the woman called the other cops back into the room using her walkie-talkie. Once they had returned, she addressed them directly.
"Take Cody Harvard back to the campus of Greater Pastoria University. He will pack up everything in his dormitory, but he won't be going home tonight. He'll remain in jail until after his arraignment."
The cops nodded, and I submitted to the handcuffs once more without complaint. Resisting arrest would only get me in more trouble.
As I rode in the back of the cop car through Pastoria City, I was all too aware of people, as well as a few Pokemon riding in the back seats of the cars, gawking at me. One of them was a Meowth, leaning well outside the window of his master's car, so much so that he might not have even been wearing his seat belt.
I didn't pay him any more attention than that. I simply stared at the floor of the police cruiser and waited for the light to turn green. It felt like the longest traffic light of my life, even though it couldn't have lasted more than a minute or so.
So let's take inventory of the last twenty-four hours. I found out that my wolfsbane is useless now that it hasn't been refrigerated for so long. I learned this the hard way after I bit Bella, something I would never have done were I under the influence of the wolfsbane. And, of course, now I'm going to jail. What a day. And it's not even close to midday yet.
Soon enough, we arrived at the gates to GPU's campus. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, with a Pikachu and Eevee frolicking around the common green among the fallen leaves. The crisp autumn air felt amazing against my skin, and yet…
This time yesterday, my life had finally been looking up. I'd worked up the courage to get out of my shell, and even if I had to miss the Halloween ball, I had still made some progress in improving my social life.
And then, much like a Jenga tower may collapse if you make one wrong move, I'd seen it all come crashing down.
There were a good number of people outdoors owing to the day's near-perfect weather. None of them tried to start a conversation with me, but I did get an ungodly amount of stares from the students present.
Of course. Photographs of both my human and Lycanroc forms had surely circulated all over the Internet by now. I'd gone from nobody on campus knowing my name, to everybody on campus knowing my name, and it wasn't for a good reason. I'd become persona non grata to the whole school.
With every step, my sense of dread only increased. I knew that as soon as I went inside my dorm room, Max Saint Lawrence would probably either pepper me with questions or simply stare contemptibly at me.
Unless, I realized with a glimmer of hope, he's not there for some reason. Does he take part in any sports, any extra-curricular activities that would keep him away from the residence hall?
I had never bothered to find out the answer to that question. This fact served as a testament to just how little I'd been socializing during my time at GPU, just how lonely I had been before meeting Bella.
Bella...I can't think about her.
I realized that I still had the card key that unlocked the residence hall, as well as the metallic key that unlocked my specific room. I held the former up to the door and heard the lock disengage.
My heart nearly stopped as I swung the door inward. Every second, every inch I walked, I would get even closer to Max. But then, why did I fear him so much more than everyone else?
And then I remembered that incident all those weeks before, when he'd seen me take my medication and asked me what it was. He had probably already known, or at least suspected, that something was different about me.
Once I unlocked the door to my specific room, I saw that the lights were still off inside. It might have been late morning, but Max was still lying on his bed, dead to the world.
Come to think of it, I hadn't paid much attention to Max's weekend sleeping habits either. In his right hand, he was clutching the Pokeball that I knew contained his Charmander, Probst. I didn't understand how he could sleep so soundly while keeping such a strong grip on the Pokeball, but I didn't question it either. I had more important matters to attend to.
Okay. I need to get all my stuff out of here before he wakes up, without causing him to wake up. This is going to be pretty difficult, if not impossible. But I might as well try.
The first thing I did was to load my clothes into their laundry bag. I could have used the laundry basket, but if it banged against my legs or the wall, it would make too much noise. That wasn't an option.
I realized that my still-clean clothes would probably be all sweaty after spending time in the laundry bag with my dirty clothes. I wouldn't be able to sleep in my pajamas that night in jail.
Jail. I'm going to jail, and yet I'm still worried about not getting to wear pajamas? The Region of Sinnoh intends to deprive me of a lot more than that.
Once out of the residence hall, it occurred to me that I did not know where to take my belongings. My mother, as far as I knew, was nowhere near campus at that moment.
One of the police officers, thankfully, answered that question for me. "Just take them down to the cruiser, and then come back for more. All of your luggage will be taken back to your home in Skylock, but you won't have it tonight, I'm sorry to say." He did not sound sorry at all.
I lugged the laundry bag across campus back to the police car. Thankfully, it was not a particularly large campus, but it still took me a couple of minutes to do this. Those were very uncomfortable minutes indeed.
Have you ever felt as though the whole world was staring at you, watching your every move, ready to yell at you for what you've done but never actually yelling? That's exactly what it was like to make the walk of shame back to the police cruiser.
I dumped the contents of the laundry bag into the back of the car. Since I sweated a lot on account of my large frame (6 feet, 2 inches tall), I had little doubt that the police car would stink to high heaven later. Fortunately, that wasn't my problem.
If the cops are mad at me...well, let them be mad at me, because I'm mad at them! They're going to steal my freedom for something that I didn't have any control over!
A few seconds after I had that thought, I felt sick to my stomach. I could hardly believe what I'd just considered: The thought that I hadn't been responsible for my actions last night.
Don't think like that, Cody! You've made a grave error, so you should own up to it rather than continue pretending everything is okay! Clearly something was wrong enough in your head that you decided to bite a fellow student.
I took a deep breath as I opened the door to the room I'd previously shared with Max. (There hadn't been any good reason for me not to close the door earlier; that had been a questionable choice on my part.)
This time, Max was awake, albeit still groggy. He looked around the room, green eyes slightly glazed over, until those pupils came to focus squarely on me.
I nearly gasped as I saw the expression on my former roommate's face. It was one of utmost loathing, or at least, it seemed like it at first. But when I read it more carefully…
No, it's not a gaze of loathing. It's one of utter betrayal, like he can't believe I did that.
"Are you packing up?" Max asked me testily as I loaded the second half of my clothing into a laundry bag. Given that I was taking this action, the answer should have been obvious.
I nodded sheepishly. "I've been suspended from Greater Pastoria University, effective immediately. I have to take this stuff down to the police car."
"Hold up, bro", my former roommate replied, raising his right index finger in the air. "You got arrested too?"
There was no reason not to tell the truth. For all I knew, Max might have slept through the news, but he was going to learn what had happened eventually. I'd rather he heard them from me rather than through the grapevine.
"Yep, I did," I replied. "And I hate to leave you so soon, but the cops are going to be kind of suspicious if I take too long getting this stuff out of the room."
Max seemed to be having trouble processing this information. "I heard about it last night, and got an email alert. But it's just so hard to fathom...you, a werewolf...that just sounds so 'out there', you know?"
"You didn't know I was a were-Lycanroc? What about the medicine I was taking?"
I realized that I was using the same tactic I'd attempted against Detective Liat back at the police precinct. Right now, I wanted to avoid talking to the police for as long as possible. It would need to happen eventually, but if I could squeeze another few minutes out of this conversation, I would.
Max's pupils dilated to no small degree. "Are you saying you were taking wolfsbane this whole time?"
"Not this whole time. Just during the week of the full moon. Been doing it for five years, but it stopped working when I forgot to put it in the fridge here."
There was a silence after that, which ironically felt very loud. However, eventually Max was the one to break it.
"It's cool to say that I've met a were-Lycanroc for myself. It's just a shame that it had to happen under such circumstances."
I realized what Max was talking about. He'd previously expressed an interest in the occult, a category into which lycanthropy would presumably fall. To some extent, his dream must have been coming true; that would explain why he no longer seemed so angry with me.
But what changed so suddenly? It was just a few seconds!
"Any news on Bella?" I said.
Max shook his head, his expression turning serious just as suddenly as it had become casual. "Last I heard she was in the ICU. She's probably going to survive, most do, but her life will never be the same again. It'll be like yours."
"Trust me, life as a were-Lycanroc is no fun" I responded, frowning as the truth hit me like a ton of bricks.
Not only had I condemned Bella to the same fate as myself, but it was very possible, likely even, that she'd wind up infecting others inadvertently. They would then have this horrendous condition, and they might infect others with it.
And so the chain of transmission would go on and on, until nobody would feel safe anymore. Not on the campus of GPU, not in the rest of Greater Pastoria, perhaps not in all of Sinnoh by the end of it.
I did not know when that day would come. But when it did, it was going to be ugly.
"Look, I have to keep packing up, or else they're going to wonder what's taking me so long," I told Max. "So as much as I'd like to stay here and catch up on the last twenty-four hours, I can't. I just can't."
My former roommate seemed to understand. I'll never forget the last words he told me before I picked up my laundry bag to carry my second batch of clothes to the cop car.
"Take it sleazy, Cody."
Whatever those words might mean, I didn't really care. I had too many things to worry about for that to be at the top of my mind.
Still, something seemed notable about them. But what could it be?
Anyway, after another few trips between the dormitory and the police cruiser, I had completely emptied my side of the room. I even brought the bottle of wolfsbane, although it was useless now, as I knew all too well from last night.
After that, I was driven across town to the Greater Pastoria Jail. It was on the outskirts of the city, where there was a lot more green space. People played around with their Pokemon next to the bike paths, and I even saw a few battling courts where the friendly competitions were taking place.
Imagine being free to hang around the park, to feel the cool breeze against my skin, to know that I can do anything I want. To have a clear conscience...couldn't be me.
As I saw a battle between a Pichu and a Chikorita, I knew that even if my life someday got back on track (to the extent that it could when I'd still be a lycanthrope), I would never look at battling the same way again.
While I wouldn't begrudge any trainers or Pokemon who still took part in them, it wasn't for me. Every time I saw a Pokemon physically attack another, even if it was just done playfully, it reminded me of the moment last night when I'd done the unthinkable.
We arrived at the jail, which was surrounded by a small clump of spruce trees. To me, this almost felt like I was being trolled by the architects of said jail.
As I knew I was about to learn the hard way, there's no greater unpleasantness than seeing a reminder of what your life could be like, the way it is for almost everyone else, and knowing that you can't have it.
I was reminded of the ancient story of Tantalus, whose eternal punishment was to stand in a pond underneath a fruit tree. Despite being both hungry and thirsty, if he tried to drink from the pond or eat from the tree, the food or drink would evade his grasp.
It was much the same here; no matter how close nature and freedom seemed, it would ultimately be unobtainable. It was literally right there, but I couldn't experience it.
As though reading my mind, the police officer in the passenger seat turned to face me. "Don't be melodramatic about this, Mr. Harvard. This punishment isn't eternal, it's only until your arraignment. Then you can go home and sleep in your own bed."
How did he know what I was thinking? DID he even know that, or was he just assuming it?
Not for the first time, he seemed to be mocking me, but I tried to ignore him. I had enough on my plate already.
Once more, I was hauled out of the police car and led through the small grove of spruce trees. The needles were so abundant, just the perfect color for spruce, and I wanted to stop and sniff them. I wanted to cherish the last experience of nature I'd have before my arraignment.
Alas, it was not to be; I simply wasn't given the time. Right before entering the jail building, I was handcuffed again and told the following:
"You will be led to your cell, and you are not to leave it under any circumstances. Food will be provided, and your arraignment hearing is tomorrow morning. You got that?"
I nodded.
The police officers showed me down the hallway, which didn't look too different from that of a hospital. Much like the hospital, the hall felt perfectly sterile, as though it were cleaned regularly. Of course, when I was shown the actual room I'd be staying in, I was taken aback by the stark contrast.
The cell was a simple room, roughly ten feet by fifteen. In one corner there was a toilet and sink, in another a bed that looked more like a weight bench than anything else. The ground was covered in a fine layer of grime.
It became clear within seconds that I was going to have far too much time to think here. After all, there really wasn't anything else to do in this tiny cell.
"Thanks" I told the cops. It was such a random word, I could hardly believe it had come out of my mouth. The police officers were the last people I should be thanking.
One of the cops frowned. "Why are you thanking us?", he asked, which pretty much echoed my thoughts exactly.
"I don't know. Just felt like saying that. Thank you for all that you do, protecting Greater Pastoria from people like me."
The policeman narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to butter us up so that we'll be lenient? It's not going to work, we're not going to cave into pressure."
I sighed. "I wasn't trying to butter you up, but have it your way."
At first, I was relieved when the police left me alone in the cell. Even if there was nothing to do, boredom was better than having to interact with the cops, or so I thought.
And then I realized just how many hours, how many minutes, how many seconds stretched out before me, and I knew that it was going to be a long day.
BELLA FOX, 18
"You! That thing who's stalking me! Don't you dare consider it!"
The Lycanroc stared into my soul, fangs bared, seemingly ready to go in for the kill. I tried to keep calm, but everything else in my body urged me to do otherwise.
Is this the end?
No. I still had so much to live for, and I wasn't going to become another statistic in terms of women bitten by the werewolves of Sinnoh. I'd heard stories about humans becoming were-Lycanroc as a result of these bites...but were they really true?
I didn't want to find out the hard way, but, before I realized it, there was a warm oozing sensation on my left arm. It felt pleasant at first, like a hot shower, but then the pain hit me. And it was then that I understood exactly what had just happened.
Anger rose within me like a geyser. What right did this Lycanroc think it had to bite me? What had I done to warrant such treatment?
With the anger came adrenaline. I knew that I would be in serious trouble from the standpoint of blood loss soon enough, and should really be calling an ambulance. But nobody ever thinks they're going to have to call an ambulance for themselves, so it's fair to say that I was more shocked than anything else.
Still, I had the presence of mind to reach into my jacket pocket with my good arm and pull out the Pokeball. I pressed the small button on the front that would release my Lucario, a female named Azure.
It's just like that day at school all those years ago, I thought to myself. Azure will be my protector. But I'm not going to be a damsel in distress who just lets everything happen to me! Where's the fun in that?
My Lucario appeared in a flash of blue-green light, which is one of the last things I remember seeing. At some point within the next minute, I lost consciousness.
Regarding the reference to Greek mythology: We'll say that in this universe, the population of Nexus (my name for the planet on which Kanto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, etc. are situated) are aware of Earth.
Also, I want to apologize again for this chapter's lackluster length. The next chapter is roughly 55% longer than this one; I just finished it last night.