To remind myself I tried so hard, in spite of the way you were mocking me, treated me like part of your property, remembering all the times you fought with me, I'm surprised it got so far, things aren't the way they were before, you wouldn't even recogni

To remind myself I tried so hard, in spite of the way you were mocking me, acting like I was part of your property, remembering all the times you fought with me, I'm surprised it got so far, things aren't the way they were before, you wouldn't even recognize me anymore.

-Linkin Park, In the End

Tommy stopped, and slowly turned around to see a girl with standing behind him. She was semi-tall, with red hair, dressed all in black. He stood staring at her, trying to decide if she was a threat or not.

"Just a friendly warning," she told him with a small grin as she walked forward a bit. He tensed up as she got nearer.

"You don't have to worry about me, you're definitely not the first werewolf I've ever meet, and from what I've seen about you so far, you would never hurt me. I'm not one of those small towers, ready to kill the big bad wolf," she told him sarcastically.

"Why is that?" he asked, taking a step back as she got closer.

"I'm not ready to tell you everything about me…..Tommy," she said.

"How did you know that?" he asked, getting more agitated.

"I've been watching you, I actually went to your High School, but you were only a freshmen then. I came back this year after hearing about a werewolf in the area, these kind of things just interest me," she told him.

"Are you going to turn me in?"

"No, there's not much point, wouldn't do any good."

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I want to learn more about you, as much as I've read, and from the actual experience I've had with your kind, I still only know a few things," she told him as she moved closer, this time he didn't back away. She looked up at him, though he was only a few inches taller than she was.

"I might be able to help you, but you have to help me," she said.

"Sounds like a good deal," he said, his nervousness apparent.

"Good, I'll see you later," she said giving him a little poke on the nose. "I have a feeling this is going to be a mutually beneficial relationship," She told him as she walked off.

He stood there paralyzed in surprise. His brain was still trying to process what had just happened. This woman just showed up out of nowhere, and told him she wanted to get to know him better, and that she knew who he was. There was something else different about her, that he could quite put his finger on. It wasn't anything big, it was something little.

------------

"What do you mean?! She shows up out of nowhere and your just going to trust her?!" Merton practically yelled at Tommy. Merton and Lori were standing while Tommy sat in a chair in Merton's Lair. He had told them what happened.

"What? It's not like she's given me any reason not to," he said.

"Tommy you barley know her…..you had what, a three minute conversation?" Lori reminded him.

"I wanted to trust you, and that worked out well," he said.

"That's one time Tommy, not everyone is going to be as nice as Lori," Merton said.

"Thank you," Lori smiled.

"Your welcome," Merton smiled back before looking back at Tommy. Tommy didn't look very happy with either of them.

"I can take care of myself," he said angrily as he stood up.

"You don't even know her name!" Merton pointed out.

"I'll ask her next time I see her," he said sarcastically as he moved to leave.

"We can't let you see her by yourself again, who knows what she'll do," Lori said moving to block his exit.

"Lori move," he warned her.

"Tommy, were trying to help you," Merton said as he came to stand next to Lori.

"Merton…..to you I'm just a pet….something to test, and study," he said coldly. Merton just looked at him with his mouth open, unable to think of anything to say.

"Tommy, that's not true," Lori said.

"Your not much better. You only want me around cause it's cool to have someone like me around to do things for you, don't even deny it," he said as he slowly turned to look at her.

"Tommy, we care what happens to yo….."

"You don't give a fuck what happens to me," he said, starting get closer the edge where he would transform.

"How can you say that?!" Lori screamed at him.

"Easily."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Merton snapped, glaring at Tommy. Tommy just shook he head and preceded to get past the two. Merton tried to stop Tommy by putting a hand on his shoulder, and Tommy spun around, grabbing the front of Merton's shirt lifting him off the ground. Merton stared at Tommy who had transformed. Tommy recognized the look of fear in his eyes, he saw it from many people, and sometimes he had seen it in Merton and Lori before, and that's when he realized it. That was what had been missing from that girls eyes. She hadn't had the slightest bit of fear in her. He threw Merton onto his bed and ran out the back door.

Lori stood stunned for a second, staring at the open door before she remembered Merton, she turned and ran over to check on him.

"Are you alright?" she asked, scared that the answer might not be good.

"I'm fine," he said calmly. "Physically."

"I told you something was up," Lori said.

"I can see that now," he said as he sat up, but his ribs hurt a little, he had some stuff on his bed that he had landed on.

"You're not okay," Lori said as she lightly touched his ribs, making him cringe a little. "Does that hurt?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay," he said taking her hand and holding it so she wouldn't touch the bruise again. She looked down at their hands and blushed.

"Sorry," he said letting go.

"Don't be," she said as she smiled at him. She bit her lip, then leaned in and kissed him. He kissed her back for a moment before pushing her away.

"I can't….Tommy would….he's my friend," he told her.

"Didn't you just see what happened? He doesn't want us to be his friends anymore," she said.

"I think you should go," he said looking down at his feet. Lori sighed, and got up, closing the door as she left.

-------

He was running again. He knew that running was something that your always told not to do, but there wasn't anything else he wanted to do, and right then he didn't care what anybody else had to say. The running felt good, at least he could run from something. He knew where he was going, back to the same clearing from the night before. He reached it and stopped. He knew she was here, he could smell her.

"Hello Tommy," she said as she walked out from behind a tree.

"Hello…what is your name?" he asked.

"You can call me Mang, Only my family calls me Mangiatore," she said.

"You sound familiar," he said.

"Look in your year book for Mangiatore Del Lupe, it's an Italian name," she told him as she walked forward.

"I will," he said. "I gave up a lot to come here again."

"You mean those two you call friends? Tommy, I've been watching the way they treat you, there not your friends…really," she said as she walked around him making him follow her by turning around.

"And you know who a werewolves friends are?"

"Only those who have been that way can know," she with a sad look in her eye as she looked up at the sky.

"You're a werewolf?" he asked, the shock in his voice obvious.

"No, I was…I'm better now," she said taking her gaze from the sky back to him.

"How?" he asked.

"I can help you, it will be a few days before the ritual can be prepared, but I think you deserve this gift," she told him.

"Why are you helping me?" he asked.

"When I very first transformed, a man helped me. He let me out of my prison, he was killed by the syndicate," she told him.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It's alright, I wanted to keep his work alive, help those worthy of it. You're the first I found that I think deserves it. I feel like I know you, I've been watching you since almost your first change. I truly think you deserve this…gift," she explained to him.

"I don't know what to say…..thank you," he said.

"There's only one problem."

"Of course," Tommy said as he closed his eyes and shook his head. "There always is."

"The syndicate has the artifact I need to complete the ceremony. We have to get it."

"They took it because you were trying to change people back to normal? Sound like them," he said.

"I think we can get it back, but you have to keep this a secret, your friends would never let us do it. They would never trust me, and they would never want you to go near the syndicate again," she said.

"Yeah, your right," he said as he sat down on a log. "And you don't have to call them my friends…not anymore, they'll never trust me again after what happened."

"You don't have to worry about them….there kind doesn't understand those of us who have had to go through the torture you and I have, they have never been trapped inside themselves," she comforted him as she sat down next to him.

"I've never meet someone who understood the way you do," he said. Then his eyes went wide as she leaned forward and kissed him.

"Well, I've never meet someone as kind as you….you've been burdened with this thing, but you still use it for good, when it would be so easy not to, It's very attractive," she smiled at him.

"You get right to the point don't you?" he asked with a similar smile to hers.

"Always."