Dislcaimer: You wanna hear it once more, I own nothing.
Chapter 2: Mors mortis
Tommy shifted once more in his uncomfortable waiting room chair. He had been occupying the same spot for the last six hours. Tommy had driven the Hearse with Merton laid out in the back to the hospital. One look at Merton and the doctors had immediately wheeled him off, so it had been six hours since Tommy had last seen or heard any news about his friend. Tommy fidgeted in his chair; the worst part was the not knowing. Looking at the clock for the ump-tenth time, Tommy thought about what they would be doing in school right now if now of this had happened. It was around 2:30, they would be in their last class of the day. They would be in physics. If everything was normal, they would be sitting next to each other. Merton would be explaining yet another concept that Tommy just didn't get probably with over exaggerated hand moments, but nothing was normal. Everything was very wrong.
His best friend was lying in a hospital attached to machines, and Tommy was forced to remain in the lobby. At the very least Merton wasn't alone. The Goth's parents had joined them some hours back. They were very clam when they first arrived. Tommy was almost upset that they weren't more worried about their son, but he had heard the call. The nurse had calmly said that their son had had an infection from a bat bite, and might be in the first stage of rabies.
If Tommy hadn't seen Merton he wouldn't have thought much of it either. His parents had been shown to Merton's room. Tommy had to remain in the lobby, because the hospital was only allowing immediate family in. Merton's parents had never returned. They weren't supposed to stay in there for long, but Tommy had heard the nurses talk about how they had refused to leave after seeing their son. Tommy could guess that his friend must have gotten worst.
Tommy sighed and turned in his chair again. He had called his parents a few hours ago. His mother had been furious. The school had called her first letting her know that Tommy had skipped all his morning class and was no where to be found. She quickly forgave him when she had heard the entire story. Merton had yet to wake up or even show signs of improvement. His mom had offered to come and pick him up but Tommy had told her to wait until she was done with work. He didn't want to leave with everything like this.
Tommy felt a protective tendency when it came to Merton. Even though Merton didn't normally want his help in day to day things, it didn't mean that didn't fell the need to jump in between him and T'N'T. It was even more so when Tommy was wolfed-out. He would never let anything happen to Merton. He needed him. OK, true it sounded girly, but Tommy didn't think he could make it through things without Merton anymore. He couldn't even seem to remember how he had done everything before Merton. True it was a little co-dependant, but it had happened that why. First it had just been with the werewolf stuff and the day to day of fighting evil and searching for wolfy-cures, but then they became friends.
Tommy had become a lot closer to Merton than he had to his other friends and a lot faster than he was use to. Merton soon fell into a different category. With his jock friends, all Tommy could talk about were sports, girls, and other per-ordained manly topics. With Merton, Tommy could say or do anything and he knew he wouldn't be judged or laughed at. Tommy had even cried a few times and Merton had reacted in an almost comforting manor. The younger boy was the first person since his mom that could really put him at ease, how weird was that?
Sometimes it almost seemed like they were dating without kissing or any of that stuff, yeah it was defiantly weird, but like most things surrounding Merton, it was weird in a good way. Tommy needed a confidant right now. How was he supposed to deal with this without Merton?
This entire situation didn't sit well with the wolf side of Tommy either. First, it felt like it had failed Merton. Even though Tommy knew there was no way to protect someone from an infection, he still felt like he should have been there, that he could have stopped all of this from happening. They fought monsters every week, and Merton had yet to break a bone with Tommy watching over him. One night he leaves him alone and simple bite puts his friend in the hospital. The worst part was, of course, this made him realize that there would always be things that even a werewolf couldn't save Merton from. How was he planning to fight an infection with claws and super-strength?
The wolf also seemed to be telling Tommy something else. That something greater was afoot. When he had been on the bed with Merton it had given a sense of the need to flee, to get far away. In the pit of his stomach, he had felt a fear so intense he couldn't understand what had caused it. He had tried to rationalize that it was fear for his friend, but he knew better, it had been a fear of his friend.
Shaking his head, he moved over to the snack machine. He had long since run out of money, but not before he had emptied the machine of all its beef-jerky. Sighing he rested his head on the plastic window. The situation was getting to him, if he wasn't careful he going to wolf-out soon. Pushing his face into the glass, Tommy tried to remember one of Merton's claming exercises, only to be reminded of Merton and the current situation.
Tommy pulled back to see Merton's parents in the reflection of the clear plastic. They walked down the hall silently side by side. Merton's father had his arm around his wife, and she cried silently into her husband shoulder. Tommy realized he didn't seem to be hearing anything. Tears could also be seen in Merton's father's eyes. Tommy felt himself begin to shake. He wasn't going to fall over or pass-out, he was just quivering for no reason. Willing his body to move, Tommy walked over to his friend' parents. Over their shoulders he could see a body being wheeled out of Merton's room with a white sheet over it. Tommy realized he had known before he had seen his parents. He been too wrapped up in his own thoughts to fell his friend's passing, but a little part of his sub-conscience had now from the moment he entered the Lair that his friend was going to die. Wolf's intuition, he didn't have anyone to ask about it now.
Tommy turned as he felt a hand his shoulder. It was Merton's father offering him a ride home. Just go home, that was it. Nothing else to mark his friend's death except to just go back to his house, it didn't seem right. Shaking his head no, Tommy said good-bye to Merton's parents and went back to his chair in the lobby. He felt his wolf teeth begin to form in his mouth. "Well, it seems grief wolf's me out too," he thought grimly. Tommy got up and left the hospital unceremoniously, not wanting to draw attention to him.
Tommy made it to the woods just as he lost totally control and wolfed-out. Trying to choose a destination, but unable to think of any Tommy just ran. His thoughts were jumbled and emotions even more so. He normally ran to think, to straighten out a situation, or to concentrate on how to make things right again. Tonight was different. Tommy couldn't think or feel; the world seemed numb to him. There was no way to make anything better. Why should he even try? So, unable to do anything else, Tommy just ran.
The sun fell from the sky, and Tommy fell to the ground in the dark night. It wasn't that he couldn't see. He just couldn't concentrate. Maybe this was why Merton always tripped; Merton's mind always seemed to be somewhere other than where he was. Tommy's mind was with Merton. Replaying the advents of the day and how they could have been different. What would have happen if he hadn't been bitten? What would have happened if Tommy had gotten him to the hospital sooner? What if Tommy had stayed in with Merton last night? A hundred different scenarios played in Tommy's mind with Tommy secretly hoping that when he left the woods one of them would become a reality, and this would become a bad dream.
Tommy knew better, even though he had yet to admit to himself. His best friend, the person he felt the closest to, was now dead. There was nothing left of his friend except a body, a cold, lifeless body. For the first time that night, the numbness passed. The jock felt all the emotions hit him like a punch in the stomach. He curled into the dirt and started to cry. The wolf receded away at his anguish. Tommy remained there, in the dirt, crying until the emotion and physical exhaustion made him fall into a troubled sleep.
*****
Tommy woke some time later. He looked at the moon, his wolf instinct normally gave him a pretty good idea what time it was by the placement of the floating orb. Judging by it's height in the sky, it was around 1 AM. Tommy knew his parents were panicking by this point; he wished he cared. Tommy stood up and brushed the dirt off of his clothes. He had one other place to go first.
Tommy started to run in a new direction, when he heard something in the forest. He paused and looked around; nothing. He considered shouting out into the woods for a moment but dismissed the sound for his imagination and continued on his way. After Tommy left a black clad figure stepped out from behind the trees. The figure followed the werewolf at speeds even Tommy couldn't imagine, leaving nothing but a trail of disturbed leafs.
*****
Tommy made it to his destination without even sensing his follower; his mind was else where again. Tommy himself was in front, or the back of to normal visitors, of the Dingle residence. Everyone would be asleep, or at least Tommy hoped they would be. Merton had showed Tommy long ago how to open his locked door in case he ever needed anything or wanted help in the middle of the night. The faulty lock let Tommy into Merton's bedroom. There was no need to turn on the lights. While his night vision wasn't perfect, it was still better than a normal person's
Tommy half-knew why he had come here. It seemed logical enough, but somewhere the true meaning, the true weight of coming here felt lost somehow. Maybe it was to prove that Merton was still here. How could someone be dead if their dirty laundry was still in the hamper? Merton couldn't be dead. Tommy was surrounded by him; his posessions, his scent, everything that was Merton was here, except, of course, Merton himself.
Tommy picked a shirt off the back of computer chair. Merton always picked out his clothes in an organized fashion. He was secretly obsessive about whether or not his black matched. Tommy sniffed the shirt and immediately felt guilty. It was a very wolf thing to do, but the human had other comments about it. He could tell it had been worn. Its smell was different than that coming from the clean clothes piled in the corner. It was just Merton's smell, his cologne, his sweat.
Tommy fell back down to the floor. He felt exhausted again, the day had simply been too much to handle. The jock had almost begun to fall asleep in the middle of the bedroom when heard a sound up stairs. It was unclear murmuring, but Tommy got the picture when he heard footsteps on the stairs leading to the basement. Tommy shot straight-up now. Not wanting to be caught, Tommy fled faster than most could. He was far down the street before anyone had turned the doorknob. The only one who had seen him was the figure resting silently in the tree behind the house. They shook their head.
"It's too soon," the figure said to the dark night and was gone in a flash. Tommy had wolfed-out once again and ran the rest of the way home. Tommy was on his front steps when he noticed he still had Merton's shirt in his hand.
To be continued .....
