"Sarah," a familiar voice cut through my sleep. "Sarah. Wake up."
Raphael was nudging me roughly.
"What time is it?"
"First, can you tell me why you have blood staining your shirt?"
"What? There's blood on my shirt?" I asked, my voice thick with sleep.
Now that I was awake and the panic of last night was over, I could actually feel a sharp pain in my back. I took off my shirt and let him look at my back.
"How is it?" I asked him quietly. I was afraid of his answer.
'"It's not as bad as I originally assumed with all dat blood on your shirt. Can you please explain to me how you have giant claw marks on your back and you ain't dead?"
"Claw marks?" My heart fell and I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate.
"Calm down, you gotta talk to me. Tell me what happened. Did Xander do this to you?" His voice became a growl when he said his name.
"No…but it happened at his house. The weapon company his family owns, they once created guns for killing werewolves." He looked at me like I was crazy. "Yes, werewolves." I had to clarify the seriousness of the conversation because a mutant turtle was somehow finding it hard to believe that werewolves can exist. Oh the irony. "It's different now though, he had the wolf at his house because he's trying to find a cure for the disease that causes it."
"So, you're tellin me that a werewolf sliced up your back?"
There was a long pause before I answered. Could it be possible that everything about werewolf legend was true? Because if it was, it could mean that I could contract the virus from the beast scratching me.
"It has to be from the wolf. I saw it last night after I fell asleep. He must have put me in a guest room. I was sleeping and the next thing I knew, I was dodging werewolf attacks." I replied.
"We need to get you checked out. Come on, Donnie is in his lab."
I followed him to Donatello's lab. He was tinkering with something that was glowing a bright shade of blue in a test tube. Clara was sitting in a rolling chair with her face buried in a book.
"Donnie, I need you to look at this wound on Sarah's back."
"Are you hurt Sarah?" Clara asked with a worried voice. She came to stand beside Donatello while he studied the gashes on my back.
"How on Earth did this happen?" He almost mumbled.
"I was attacked by a werewolf last night." I told him, trying to remain calm.
"A werewolf?" Clara screamed.
"Shh. Yes, a werewolf. Calm down. I need everyone to stay calm so I can stay calm." I said in a panic.
"Ok, I'm calm. But, can you please tell us how?" She replied.
I reiterated the story. During my story telling process, Whitley, Tori, Leo and Mikey had joined the room. They had all been concerned as to why Clara had screamed.
"I hate to ask this and I know everyone has been avoiding the question, but do you think this means you'll change on the full moon now too?" Whitley spoke hesitantly.
"I don't know. As much as I really don't want to, I need to speak with Xander."
"What are you waiting for? Call him." She urged.
My stomach was churning. Why was it so hot in here? I made a beeline for the toilet. I don't know if it was from the pain in my back or from the stress of the entire situation, but I emptied the entire contents of my stomach once I made it to the bathroom.
I reentered Donnie's lab with sweat beading my forehead and I was shaking almost uncontrollably. If there was ever a time that I needed my mom, it was right now.
"I gotta go topside to make the call…" I slowly spoke.
"I'll come with you," Whitley responded.
We made our way topside and Clara and Tori joined us. The guys couldn't come topside since it was still the middle of the day.
I pulled out my phone and scrolled down to his name. I pressed dial and the phone began to ring. My heart was thrumming in my chest. It was beating so hard I was surprised that the girls next to me couldn't hear its drumming.
"Sarah?" His voice came through the other line.
Not wasting any time I asked the question I needed to know the answer to, "Do werewolf scratches cause the virus? Is that part of the legends true?" My voice was shaky.
"Why? Did you get scratched?"
I hesitated before answering, "Yes, I did. On the back. It must have been when I jumped out of the bed and into the floor. I thought it had missed me."
The line was silent.
"Xander?"
"Can we meet in person?" He said.
"Just tell me. Please tell me. I can't stand not knowing." I pleaded.
"This isn't really something I want to tell you on the phone."
"Why? So you can tell me the life shattering news in person?!" I yelled through the phone.
"Please, just meet me later this afternoon an-" I cut him off before he could finish his sentence.
"Tell me."
He sighed before speaking after a short pause, "Yes. If you were scratched, you will contract the virus."
I hung up on him and just stood there staring down at the pavement. Whitley was talking to me but I couldn't hear anything she was saying. I couldn't hear anything over the ringing in my ears. It was as if my entire body went numb and began acting of its own accord. I walked away from the three of them, not speaking. I just couldn't be there right now.
When I walked away from my friends, I wasn't really sure of where I was going. But I guess my mind had made itself up for me because before I realized what was happening, I was unlocking the door to the apartment. I entered the small space and walked straight for my room. I lay down in my bed and let the tears roll freely down my cheeks. I couldn't get the image of the wolf I had come face to face with out of my head. I would be that wolf on the next full moon. I might hurt the ones I love. I was going to turn into a monster. The tears continued to stream down my face.
London, England
A large glass building sat at the top of a grassy hill in a small vacant area on the outskirts of London. A large concrete sign sat nestled in a circle of red flowers. Etched in the stone read HAWTHORNE GUNS AND AMMUNITION. Inside the building a phone was ringing in a room full of leather furnishings and tall bookcases.
A man with salt and pepper hair sat aside his paper and put out his cigar before picking it up.
"Yes?" He spoke.
"We've got a problem." Xander spoke to the grey haired man.
"My son, I only get a call from you when there is a problem." Xander's father replied.
"This time it's a big one. The man that I captured last month and injected with the lycanthrope virus broke free from his bondages on a night when I had a friend over."
There was silence.
"Father?" Xander finally spoke.
"And? What's the problem? Your sole purpose for being in that country is to create the wolves and release them into the city so that we can create a demand for our guns. The werewolf population is nearly extinct and we can't have that if we want to stay in business. So you created one more, what's the problem?"
"She is a female friend." Xander said almost apprehensively.
"Ah. I see your dilemma then. She will most assuredly get killed by the hunters. How many are there in that city now? 100? 200?" He said almost amusedly.
"This isn't funny. I really like her."
"She wasn't put off by the fact that you're keeping a werewolf in your home?" The old man chuckled.
"I told her I was trying to find a cure."
"Brilliant lie! I've taught you well."
"You're no help to me. I will fix this. I won't let her die by the hands of those hunters."
"There is no fixing it, you know that as well as I do. If you don't want the hunters to finish her off, you'll have to do it yourself."
When I woke up there was no longer any light pouring in through my windows. The room felt cold and empty. Shrugging on my cardigan I left the darkness of my room and entered the living room where the others were. They were all talking quietly amongst themselves and a thick tension was heavy in the air. Raphael stood from his chair and came to my side the moment I entered the room.
"Are you alright?" He asked in a very concerned voice.
"I'm fine. I think the marks on my back might be gone…at least, they don't hurt anymore." I replied.
I raised my shirt for them to see and each of them let out a collective gasp.
"They're gone…" Tori whispered.
I felt the panic setting in again. Is this real? Is this really really happening to me? My breathing quickened and I was beginning to sway on my feet when Raph grabbed my waist to steady me.
"Let's get outta here." He guided me to the door. "I'll meet you by my bike."
He was waiting for me in our alley. The alley we always say our goodnights in, the alley we always meet in to go for a ride on his motorcycle. In a place I typically looked forward to being, I felt foreign. Alien. Something inside me had changed already. I could smell the rain and my hearing was so sharp I could pick out the sound of a rat in the alley over the sounds of the busy city.
Raphael handed me the helmet and I slid into my usual spot behind him. The city blurred past us and the cool night air whipped around my bare arms. I pressed myself closer to him. I could hear his heart beating…
Startled I pulled back. How was that even possible? I could hear his heartbeat over the roar of the bike's engine.
We came to a stop in front of an abandoned library. It looked like it had been abandoned for many years. Some of the windows were shattered and the pillars holding up the roof looked to be decaying.
"Follow me inside." He spoke.
"Okay…" The look of confusion evident on my face.
He took me by the hand and I followed him inside the old library.
The place looked like something straight out of a horror flick. Damaged books still sat on some of the broken down shelving of the library. Paint was peeling off the walls and the only source of light was from a dim overhead light whose light didn't even reach the far corners of the room. I was surprised the place still had electricity.
"Why are we here, Raph?" I huffed.
"Because. I have a plan. Dis place used to be a library, which I'm sure you guessed." I scoffed and nodded my head yes. I really wasn't in the mood for whatever he had planned.
He continued, "Before dat, it was a mental hospital."
"Are you trying to scare me to take my mind off of me being a werewolf? Because bringing me to a place that may or may not be haunted isn't going to work." I stated unamused.
"No, not that. They used to chain up their patients, lock them up…Some of the cages and chains are still intact in the basement of this library. I'm not sure why they didn't take them out when they remodeled the place."
Now I saw where he was going with this.
"So what you're saying is when I wolf out I can come here and be locked up and away from normal people that I might hurt."
"Well, when you put it like dat…" He rubbed the back of his neck in that nervous way I had grown so accustomed to seeing.
"I think it's a great idea." I spoke.
He looked confused for a moment, "You'd be alright with bein' locked up?"
"Yes, if it's the only solution we can come up with right now, I'll take it." I replied assuredly. "I don't want to risk hurting anyone. Especially when the people I love are at risk."
He didn't say anything. He only closed the distance between the two of us and wrapped me in his big protective arms.
"You're a brave chick, you know dat?"
I laughed and hugged him tighter. I could make it through this with the strength provided by him and my friends. If I can overcome losing my mother, this werewolf thing might just be a walk in the park.