Jack felt as if all the air had been knocked out of his stomach as he entered the kitchen. Sterling, the young man who had so kindly welcomed him to their school, sat with his feet propped up on the table twirling a spoon in between his fingers. The hard brown eyes casually traveled up to Jack's equally hard face. As Jack stared at Sterling he felt the hate brimming over. After a long moment of hard silence Sterling sighed.
"What are you doing in my house?" He cocked an eyebrow.
The corner of Jack's mouth lifted in a defiant grin. "Your house?" He scoffed and walked over to the pantry. None of the food seemed appetizing and his head felt like someone had smashed it in with a sledgehammer so he simply reached for some Tylenol. "Didn't know you had that kinda doe on you."
The muscles in his jaw tensed. "Getting a little comfortable aren't you?"
"Well, you know what they say." Jack turned to the werewolf. "Mi casa es su casa."
A low rumbling, almost like a growl, escaped from Sterling's lips. His eyes changed from brown to green and he clenched his fists but he did not move from his position. Jack ignored him and walked over to the refrigerator. But as he opened it Sterling hopped up and slammed it shut. He looked Jack directly in the face with ice, cold eyes, his jaw set. Jack returned the stare and lightly, but firmly, pushed him aside. This time the growled turned into a high-pitched howl and Jack felt Sterling's massive claws dig into his shoulders as he was forced to the ground. Jack kneed his opponent in the stomach gaining the top. Letting all the anger that he had built up come raging out, he sent a fist into Sterling's perfect face. The silver ring left a red trail across his cheek and the side of his nose. His wolfish eyes flashed with anger and with amazing strength he shoved Jack off, slapping him on the chest with his long claws. Jack yelled in pain as Sterling pinned him to the ground. His brown eyes went wide as the claws raised in the air ready to strike again. For a moment he really thought death had finally caught up with him but, like an angel of protection, Pearl ripped Sterling off and threw him to the ground. Then, to further his embarrassment, she stepped on his chest.
"You!" Sterling's eyes went wide. Jack could not tell whether it was from fear or disgust.
"Yeah, it's me, hun. What were you thinking hu? What thoughts were going through your head?" Pearl asked. She did not give him a chance to answer. "No, you know what I don't even want to know what was going through that thick skull of yours. You could have killed him!" Pearl yanked him up by the shirt and pushed him out of the kitchen. Sterling almost retaliated but then thought again. He had a better idea.
Meanwhile, Pearl turned to Jack who had now started cleaning his wounds with a handful of paper towels. "And you, didn't we have this discussion a few days ago? Didn't we establish that it was stupid and dangerous to your health to annoy him?"
Jack looked up. "Am I gonna turn into a werewolf?" He held a bloody hand up.
Pearl's face went pink and her laughter filled the room. "No Jack, not unless you're bitten. Now come on, you are human, we have to go see what we can do about those claw marks."
Jack grinned. He took two steps forward but then the room spun. The pounding that had been filling his head seemed to shake his world and suddenly, the room faded. The air rushed past him, and then, nothing.