Chapter 10: Alex Can't Eat Meat?! Louis Reaches His Breaking Point!
The next day, when Alex left his bedroom, he saw Legosi pacing nervously. "What's wrong, Legosi?" Jack asked. The wolf didn't respond to him, only shooting a side glance at Alex. "The transfer student? So you're keeping secrets from me and not from him? I'm your best friend, Legosi!" Jack cried out. Alex walked towards the two of them.
Jack glared at Alex angrily. "I've known Legosi since we were kids! We've been best friends for years! And he barely knows you, yet he shares his newest secrets with you?" Jack growled. The dog shoved Alex, which made his eyes widen.
"Jack, what's gotten into you? You're not acting like yourself," Legosi worriedly said.
Alex took a moment to consider everything that was going on. He knew that Legosi's mental state could get bad if he had to keep everything that happened during their patrol night a secret. He also saw Jack and the way he looked at Legosi. The way that the Labrador retriever gazed at the gray wolf was very protective and affectionate, meaning they must be extremely close. The white wolf wished that he had a friend like Jack growing up; it would have made his childhood a lot easier to deal with. "Legosi, whatever you want to say to me, you can say to both of our faces," Alex ordered.
Legosi gulped. The gray wolf hesitated, thinking about how to phrase things without revealing too much information. "I'm just concerned about Louis-san," Legosi quickly answered.
Alex nodded; he knew exactly what Legosi was worrying about, Louis's injured leg. "Tell you what, Legosi. You and Jack find a secluded place, somewhere that you two won't be eavesdropped on or interrupted. Then you can tell him everything that's happened since we met," Alex advised.
Legosi's tail wagged wildly. "Really, Alex?" Legosi asked, his tone of voice excited and enthusiastic.
"I mean it. If there's anything I learned from my time living on the streets, it's that best friends don't keep secrets from each other," Alex said.
"Oh, thank you! You don't know how hard it's been to keep this from Jack," Legosi joyfully sighed, giving Alex a quick hug.
The rest of the day passed by quickly. There was less than 48 hours before the opening performance of Adler was to occur. Because of this, tension was running high at the drama club. And no one was more tense than Louis the red deer. Right now, Louis was sitting in his private drama club room, thinking to himself.
"I've gotten this far thanks to Alex's powerful painkiller pill and my own stamina and willpower… but the pain is intensifying with every hour that passes by," Louis thought to himself. Then he shook his head, clearing his mind of negativity. It was too late to feel sorry for himself, and he had always known that his body wasn't built for fighting. Louis's inner monologue was interrupted by the sound of the door opening.
"Louis?" Alex called out.
The deer straightened his back out, composing himself. "Yes?" Louis replied.
"Just checking in to see how you are doing," Alex answered.
"I could be doing better, but I'll survive. I've been through much worse," Louis answered, his tone of voice steely and confident. The albino animal then entered the room.
Louis motioned for him to sit down and they talked for a few minutes. Then Louis made a remark that caught Alex's attention. "You know, you're much more of a wolf than Legosi is," Louis told Alex. The white wolf raised his eyebrows.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex wondered, a little curious to know what Louis meant by his question.
Louis got up and advanced on Alex, making him back up into the wall. "It means that unlike Legosi, you don't hide your strength. And you aren't afraid to use it," Louis explained.
"Uh… thanks?" Alex replied, now a bit worried about what Louis would do next. The way Louis was acting made him uneasy.
"Show me your fangs," Louis ordered. Alex unhinged his jaw, opening his maw wide and allowing Louis to see his pearly whites. Louis's hand whipped forward and stuck itself in Alex's mouth.
Alex was shocked by Louis's careless attitude and brash actions. He could feel his teeth rubbing against the red deer's fur, could sense the warmth that was being emitted from Louis's hand. "So much more outgoing than that gray wolf! Very good. Now, bite me," Louis commanded.
Alex was shocked. What was Louis thinking!? This sort of behavior was really dangerous. If Louis was on the streets and he asked a drunk predator to bite him, that drunken predator would likely comply with the deer's command. Either Louis had the conviction and bravery of a hero or he was stupid... based off of Alex's observations of the drama club leader's behavior, it was likely a mixture of both bravery and stupidity. "No," Alex growled.
"BITE ME!" Louis repeated, with much more force and conviction than the previous time. He started stuffing his hand into Alex's mouth more. Now Alex could almost taste it, and this brought a flood of dark memories to the forefront of Alex's mind. Alex wouldn't admit this to anyone but his girlfriend and to his best friend Nick Wilde, but the wolf was afraid of what might happen if he tasted meat.
"I... SAID... NO!" Alex roared. He kicked Louis in the chest with his knee, sending the red deer staggering backward. Alex glowered at Louis, every fiber of his body shaking with pure, unadulterated rage. For the first time in a very long time, Louis felt fear. "What the FUCK were you thinking!?" Alex snarled.
"I wasn't! My herbivore instincts compelled me to want me to be eaten!" Louis quickly replied. Alex's red eyes bore into Louis, and the cervine felt as if the white wolf was staring into his soul.
"Do you know what it's like to be eaten, Louis?" Alex then asked, a dangerous tone in his voice. Louis was about to say "no" but Alex didn't give him the chance to.
"You find yourself trapped inside a fleshy, constricted, red mass. That's the stomach. And at the bottom of the mass is the stomach acid. It burns, BURNS you as it breaks your skin down and strips the flesh from your bones. Worst of all, you feel absolutely powerless and you KNOW that you're going to die, ending up as a stinking pile of shit and bones in the sewers. No one will ever know what happened to you," Alex explained.
Louis was left speechless for a second before a response popped into his mind. "There's one problem with this story of yours. If you got eaten, then how did you survive?" Louis smirked. Instantly the deer knew he had made a mistake, as Alex growled and slapped him in the face before pinning Louis against the wall, the white wolf pressing his paw tightly against Louis's chest.
"The elephant who thought he was a tiger that ate me? I was nine years old at the time. And as I sat in that burning miniature hellspace, I was reminded of why I kept on living. So I bore my fangs and extended my claws, before devouring that psychopath from the inside out," Alex hissed.
Louis didn't utter a word, fearful that his next words might be his last. "I blacked out for the actual eating part of it, letting my instincts take over. The scent of fresh air brought me back to my senses. When I came to, I was covered in blood. I don't think there was a speck of fur on my body that wasn't tainted red. I remember being surrounded by ZPD members and doctors in a hospital room. Due to the extreme circumstances of the situation: my age, the fact that I was nearly eaten alive, by a herbivore , no less... I was let off the hook, didn't get in trouble. But I was scarred from that experience. I wouldn't let anyone touch me for the next week and a half. I was terrified of what I might do if I came into physical contact with an animal, fearing for their safety," Alex continued.
The wolf released his grasp on Louis, backing away nervously, as if he had just come out of a trance. "Shit, I'm sorry. I probably overreacted, but you must understand. It has been fifteen years since I have let flesh of any kind touch my tongue. But the very thought of doing so repulses me. I'm afraid of what might happen to my mental state if I taste meat again," Alex apologized.
"I'm sorry for aggravating you like that," Louis responded.
"It's fine. Just don't do that again. You need to keep your instincts under control. You're lucky that it was me that you were tempting and not some other carnivore. Other predators will not be so generous. They will use the opportunity that you thrust upon me and bite pieces of your body off," Alex advised. Louis nodded his head, and Alex quickly fled the room.
Time passed by quickly, and the performance quickly snuck up on Alex. As the odd animal out in the drama club, he occupied his time by being the "errand boy" going and retrieving objects for the different subgroups of the drama club. "And what should I do during the first performance? In case you need any help, or someone gets injured," Alex asked Pina.
"Well then you can sit in the front row on the left side in the audience. That's the closest seat to the backstage side door," Pina suggested. Alex smiled and gave Pina a thumbs up. The rest of the 48 hours flew by, and Alex enjoyed watching the first act of the play. Zoe did well in his role of the water spirit, and Louis did a phenomenal job as the star of the show.
Intermission came, and Alex got up to use the bathroom backstage, as well as check on how everyone was doing. Everyone seemed to be doing fine, though Louis was showing signs of pain. "Where's Bill?" Alex asked. That tiger was the only drama club member unaccounted for.
"I think I saw him go into the bathroom," Els offered. Alex dashed off to the men's room, but he was not prepared for what he would see.
He opened the door and saw Bill drinking a vial of red liquid. The white wolf acted quickly, snatching the vial from Bill. There was about a fourth of the contents left inside, enough for Alex to identify whatever it was by scent. He was shocked and appalled to smell rabbit blood. "Hey, hey, hey!" Bill cried out as Alex poured the rest of it down the bathroom sink.
"You fucking vampire! Why the hell are you drinking blood?! Don't you know what this shit can do to you?! Where did you even get this vial!?" Alex howled. Bill took a step back.
"Dude, chill! My grandpa gave it to me, said I would know when to use it. He called it 'liquid courage', a confidence booster," Bill told Alex.
"This shit is worse for predators than goddamn heroin. It can permanently alter your mental state, intensify your predatory instincts," Alex snarled.
Bill gulped. "R-really?" The tiger whimpered. Alex nodded solemnly.
"Absolutely. And you don't even know what's been put in that shit. There could be hallucinogens, antidepressants, chemicals, god knows what," Alex answered. Bill grabbed his canteen of water that was attached to his costume's belt and began drinking it like he hadn't had water in weeks, trying to wash the taste off of his tongue.
"Now, you had better keep your instincts under control. If you attack Louis onstage, then you'll be expelled and that WILL be the end of your student career. I'll tell EVERYONE that I caught you drinking blood, including your parents, and I'll make damn sure that you wind up in the nearest drug rehabilitation center," Alex threatened.
Bill blinked twice, then stared at Alex. "You some kind of cop or something?" The striped orange feline asked.
In response, Alex flashed Bill an evil grin. "You might say that. Don't tell anyone that or else I'll have you expelled," Alex responded. Bill hurried out of the bathroom back on stage, and Alex returned to his seat in the audience.
The rest of the play went without much incident, though Louis's movements became progressively more sluggish and stiff as the finale of the performance approached. Though the ending of the play was a little too tragic for Alex's liking. As Louis stood up and bowed to the audience, the curtain came down, and Alex got up. The white wolf slowly walked to the side stage entrance, when he heard a loud but all too familiar THUD.
It was the kind of thud that was heard when a dead body hit against a wooden floor. The wolf's pace quickened drastically. Alex burst onto the stage and saw Louis unmoving and crumpled on the ground. Legosi was already kneeling to check on the deer. "Louis? Louis, wake up! LOUIS!" Legosi yelled.
And now, a sneak peek at the next chapter!
After Louis collapses, Alex and the other drama club members rush him to the infirmary. But Bill begins to violently react to the blood he drank earlier, and is trapped within horrifying visions of blood and murder. With the help of Els and Pina, Alex must bring Bill back to his senses.
Find out next time in Chapter 11: Battle For Bill's Body And Soul! The Demon Rears Its Head!
