A Son of Wolves
Chapter 7: The Animal Within
Leo was going crazy, what was happening to him? His heart beat in his chest like he'd never experienced before, his breathing was short but loud, a cold sweat dripped down his head. What was wrong with him? He ran to the left of his room and grabbed a chair from his desk and jammed it under the handle before leaning back against the door. He looked around his room frantically as if either looking for a way out or for someone inside. He looked at his hands, his shaking, quivering hands. In summery, it felt like he was having a panic attack. His throat was closing in on him; he was shaking violently, a sweat starting to come down his face. Something was seriously wrong; nothing like this has happen in years. It was all coming back, just as he thought it was safe and over.
Caitlyn, Al, Rick and Ciara came running up the stairs and down the corridor not long after him. Al tried to open it, but found it wouldn't budge. He tried pushing a little harder, even shoulder barging it lightly just thinking it was jammed, but it soon came to him that it was blocked the other side. "Leo, Leo are you ok?" Al called out through the door.
"Sweetie it's only us, no-one else is here." Caitlyn added. "Leo open the door for us."
Leo heard them, but he was too panicked to do anything. He stared across his room, thinking what was wrong with him, and why was all this happening now? He reached down into his shirt and pulled out his necklace and glared down at it. It only got worse since he put it on, he shouldn't have put it on last night. He undid the chain and threw it across his room. He watched it fly and impact the wall above his bed before fall behind it where he couldn't reach it. He could still hear the others on the other side of the door, knocking and pleading he opens it.
"Leo, come on, open the door. We want to help." Ciara said knocking on the door gently.
"Come on bro, you'll be ok." Rick added. Suddenly, the door swung open, and Leo stood with a confused expression. They all took a step back, not knowing what was wrong with him or what he might do.
"Hey guys, what's up?" He asked casually and as if nothing was wrong. They all looked at one another, giving crazed looks.
"Leo are you ok?" Al asked.
"Smashing." He answered.
"Then what was all that downstairs?" Ciara asked.
"Nothing, just nothing." Leo answered with a confident smile. Once again they all looked at one another and trying to do that thing he did by seeing if he was lying. But they were no good at that, he was the cold-reader of the house, so there was no point in trying to figure it out. If he said nothing was wrong then it was best to leave it at that and forget it happened. That was exactly what Leo wanted to do, forget it ever happened.
"Ok…" Caitlyn smiled. "Why don't you guys head downstairs and finish eating, then you can go out and do something."
"I was thinking about going down to the slopes this afternoon." Rick added. "Wanna come guys?"
"Sure, could be fun." Leo smiled as he passed.
"Count me in." Ciara replied excited.
They all headed downstairs, thinking nothing of what had happened earlier and forgetting it ever did. One of the many copying mechanisms he learnt if this happened and hasn't used in a while was to do something to take his mind off it. He wasn't a wolf; his parents weren't wolves but people who thought they were and brought him under the same illusion. But no matter how hard he tried to forget or put his mind at rest, there was always a part of him that either still thought or wished that he was. He's seen how free they look in the wild, running for their lives in the thick forests and empty grass plains. Oh how he sometimes wished he could do that. But what they three did this afternoon gave him some of that freedom he wanted.
The town he lived was well known for the giant snow slope they had on the outskirts of town. Seventy five metres of downhill, indoor, artificial snow, and being a Saturday morning, there wasn't many people inside, so it made them see that they had the place to themselves. Leo and Ciara were snowboarders, Rick a skier. The three found the sports interesting after seeing the winter Olympics. Leo loved the snow, and racing down the slope with his friends partially gave him that feeling of freedom he always desired. This place wasn't far from the home they lived at, so they were granted permission to come here without supervision. Caitlyn sometimes came with them, but either because she had to, or because she liked to watch Leo grow up and have fun. They'd been doing this since they were seven years old, coming once or twice a month, so they were pretty good at it. They were known by most of the staff there, even offered jobs if they needed one when they finished school. That's how Leo, Rick and Ciara saw their life, working here, finding an apartment big enough for all three of them and living out together. Fun.
Only Leo's freedom wasn't granted longer then a few hours. They walked around town for a little while afterwards before heading home, the little incident this morning was already forgotten about. They three friends came walking back into the T.V room, and Leo leaned against the doorway a moment just looking inside. The T.V was on; it made him catch his attention, only to see that it was the news again and the same story as this morning. The same clip of the dozens of wolves that were running around that construction site was on while a woman spoke. Ciara saw him watching it and looked back up to him in worry. Leo saw her staring at him, so he took the controls and switched it off before proudly smiling and walking back out. Ciara smiled back at him, happy that things were going to be ok now. Only, it wasn't.
That night, Leo had another nightmare, one where he was running away from a pack of wolves after him, all with snarling teeth and frothing mouths, wanting to tear into his flesh. He only woke up once they caught him. He awoke with a gasp, his heart beating frantically, sweating, breathing deep and quick, but that wasn't the end of it. The week that passed was fully of events that only brought his sanity to a whole knew lower level. Each night was full of new nightmares and dreams, all containing wolves, either running with them after him, or running with him as if he was one of the pack, this one was starting to happen more often, it was more of a dream then a nightmare, he liked it. But why? Why was he enjoying these dreams, and why were they coming back with a vengeance and intensity each night? But it was strange, because he liked them, but he was taught to hate them as he grew up. That having dreams with wolves was a bad thing.
This still wasn't the end of it. Everyone began to notice a change in him, some darker and more disturbing aura around him. His eyes looked different, though they looked the same, there was something about them just didn't look like they belonged to Leo, but some wild animal. Three days after the nightmares came to him did this change really start to shine through. He was still playful and acted the same, but it was like there was another side of him. The others were seeing things in him they hadn't seen for a long time. Caitlyn grew ever more worried about him, she wasn't sure if this was just something early teenage boys went through as part of growing up, or something far worse.
On the fifth night, he was sat in his chair by his desk in his bedroom at night, not wanting to go to sleep in case of his nightmares, but also homework he had due in soon for school. He tried ever so heard to focus, but his tiredness only started to wear him down and started to fall asleep. He sat back in his chair and swivelled around to look across his room when he screamed. Where he was sat in his chair, in the reflection of a mirror was not him, but a grey wolf that snarled as he screamed. He covered his face and ran into the corner of his room, covering his ears and clenching his eyes tight. Al and Caitlyn who slept in the house came running in to comfort him, but when he explained there was a wolf in the room in his fearful voice, they knew it was time this was dealt with before it got out of hand again.
The following days were beyond normal for anyone, and even more so Leo. He started showing his former animal like behaviour, scowling at others who he had issues with in the home, the ones that he didn't like and they didn't like him. He started growling, snarling, remarkably like a wolf. His voice started to carry a tone of authority, he started to become ever more aggressive and protective over his things, food, friends, and what he was using, He was no longer afraid to use his talent against others, he would blurt out their biggest secret to put them in their place after he figured it out after watching their body language. In his head, he wanted to show the others, even the ones bigger and older then him that he was the one to look out for and don't mess with.
But what was wrong with him? He'd snap out of it once he did or said it, it was like he wasn't him, like he didn't have control of his actions and words. He was growing ever more terrified. Two weeks into it after he had his first night-terror again He sat in his chair, facing the mirror across his room, not seeing himself, but that grey wolf that glared back at him. He was insane, and he knew it. This grey wolf that stared back at him and mimicked his actions was a kind of grey/sliver on the top and sides, a lighter grey, not quite white on its belly, a light brown on the tips of its ears and tail along with its paws.
Al and Caitlyn would peek inside his room at night to check on him, only to see him staring blankly at his mirror; this needed to be dealt with. They started to fear that it wasn't only clinical lycanthropy that he was suffering due to his parents, but maybe also schizophrenia. He would sometimes talk to his reflection as if it was answering back, it was like he had a completely different personality then he did two weeks ago. Something had to be done before he hurt himself or anyone else.
Leo was no longer afraid of the wolf that sat in his chair or copied his actions when he walked in front of it. He saw it as his imagination or the lack of sleep he was getting these days due to the dreams and nightmares causing him to see it. Either way it was a trick of his mind. Sometimes it was there, sometimes it wasn't, but if it was, then it would snarl and growl at him. It would be there for split second, but after he blinked it would be gone, so he tried not to. He wanted to face his nightmares; the best way to get rid of them and his fears was to face them head on. Something in his head kept niggling him and a voice always spoke saying some along the lines of "face your fears, never back away" or "stand your ground, but avoid conflict". Those words always came to his head in the voice of a woman, but he didn't know who it was. It was familiar, but so alien; he couldn't place his finger on it.
Finally, the day came that he went too far and action was taken immediately. Leo's former animal like nature had returned and he actually lost his mind and ended up brawling with another child after some teasing and pretty much "asking for it" comments. Only he started biting, scratching as well as punching and kicking. He was split apart from the child, both in serious trouble. Rick and Ciara could only watch on as this happened, not knowing what they could do to get their friend back as well as his mind. Leo was sent into a timeout room, a bare room with nothing to hurt himself on or with. It only had a few foam blocks for the child to either take out their anger on by throwing them or hitting them, but they wouldn't be able to hurt themselves or break the windows with them.
Leo was guided inside and the door shut behind him, it was only then that he spun around with a wild look. "Did I just really do that, that can't have been me?" He thought over and over again, but he knew it was, he just didn't have control over it. He's never been one for fighting or starting them, so why on earth did he just do that? It wasn't him, he wasn't him, this was something else. He sat in the corner of the small room and placed his forehead against his knees while wrapping his arms around his legs, trying to block out everything that was happening. Deep inside he was hearing howls that echoed in his head, he was panicking because of the small room he was in, why did he now have a thing for small rooms; this one wasn't even that small! He started crying to himself as he tried to block out the howls and understand what was wrong with him. He knew what was going to happen, the doctor would be called in and he'd most likely be shipped off to some other care home for children like him, ones that don't belong in a family and need help.
The howls grew louder, now matter how hard he covered his ears, he still heard it. But then it stopped, at the same time he heard two faint voices down the corridor. He looked up at the door, expecting someone to walk inside, but they didn't, the voices stayed where they were. He got up and walked over to the door, placing his ear against it and straining his hearing to hear what was being said. It was Al, Caitlyn and Shan the other care worker. "We don't have another choice." Shan started. "He's too dangerous to himself and he's terrifying the other children."
"Let me try and talk to him, he listens to me, I can get through to him." Caitlyn said.
"It's too dangerous." Al replied. "We should have had this dealt with the moment it started."
"What are you going to do?" She then asked again.
"We need to call Dr. Gideon, he'll know more about this then we do." The same doctor who Leo had his sessions with before, that's who they were talking about. He heard footsteps walking away, meaning that whatever they were going to do, they weren't going to let him out until he came. He knew what would happen, and it would. He'd say it wasn't safe for him or the others here and that this needed to be treated before it happened. He didn't want to be locked up in some insane asylum for kids like the animal he was turning into. Although it maybe the best for him at the moment, he never wants to be locked away.
He let his head drop against the door and the tears resume falling, but he didn't make a noise. So this was it, now he was going to be taken from his home, his friends, he was going to lose everything. He looked to the ground where his tears fell, but then someone on the other side of the door said. "Leo?" He looked up at the door.
"Ciara?" He questioned.
"Leo what's happening to you?" She asked sounding absolutely terrified. He took a shaky exhaling breath.
"I don't know." He replied as another tear fell. "I don't know what's wrong with me. They're going to take me to some crazy house and lock me up every night, I heard them."
"We'll make them change their minds." Rick added. "We won't let them take you."
"Thanks guys, but the doctor's coming soon." He sighed, his friends were so funny, persistent, it made him smile. "They think I'm some animal, so they're going to get it out of me. Probably what I need right now." He chuckled. There was a silence shortly after that, it made him start to think that what he said made them really fear him and move away. But then Ciara said something.
"What do animals do best?" She asked. Making him lift his head off the door and look at it as if looking through it and at her. But then the door lock clicked, making him step back and away as the door was pushed open, and there stood Ciara and Rick like he thought he saw them. Both with tears running down their faces, Ciara more then Rick. Leo continued to look at them but more her, wondering what she meant by her random and bizarre question. "They run." She added with a small smile.
"Run free Wolfie." Rick added. He walked towards them and wrapped an arm around them as they did back. All three began crying again and cling onto one another, for the last time. But then they pulled back quickly. "Go, before the others find out." He Rick said walking around and locking the door again.
"I'll see you again soon." Leo said as he started to walk down the corridor towards his room. "We will see each other again."
"Run." Ciara said before he turned around and did just that.
He ran to his room, managing to keep his footsteps quiet and himself unseen. He made it and shut the door behind him and leaning against the door. He was really going to do this, he was really about to run away. He slid open his mirrored wardrobe and grabbed a small bag pack inside, stuffing an extra set of clothes inside. He ran to his side draw beside his bed and grabbed his phone off the charger and turned it off to place in his bag. He grabbed his notepad, pen and pencil, something to keep him occupied while he was on the run, maybe he could draw on the way and make a living out of that. He packed all the things he thought he'd need, finally he was ready. He changed into something that would be suitable for him while he's on the run. Some grey baggy trousers, a little long for him and the bottoms of the legs worn away. A white T-shirt, and a grey, thin baggy jumper with a hood and long draw strings. He grabbed his rucksack and tightened one strap as tight as it will go and the other as loose as possible before throwing the loose one over his head and through his arm so it ran diagonally across his chest.
Finally he was ready to go, and the adrenaline was getting to him. He pushed off against the bed, but as he did, he heard a clink of wood to wood contact. He looked around to where the noise came from, the back of his bed. He lay on the floor and looked underneath it, seeing that necklace of his. He grabbed it and sat back on the side of his bed and held it in front of his face. Because of this small, worthless triangle, the nightmares came and he's changed into this animal, the animal that has been inside him all this time and has awakened from its deep slumber. Because of this bit of wood, he's now what he is, an animal. He placed it around his neck and clipped it back on before standing back up and looking himself in the mirror. He didn't see the wolf, he saw himself.
He walked back towards his door and opened it, but then had to slam it after seeing the doctor, Al and Caitlyn all heading his way. They saw him, and it was after he jammed to door again that he heard running footsteps and constant banging on the door followed by… "Leo open the door now!" Al yelled. Leo didn't know what to do, he looked around, the only way out was the window. He ran to it and opened it. He was three stories up, he couldn't jump. He could still hear not only the calls, yells and pleas from Al and Caitlyn to get him to open the door, but also the door starting to move. He looked out and to the right, the gutter was right there and it went all the way to the ground. He reached out and sat on the ledge to grab a hold of it before swinging out and slowly slipped down it. He was careful to do it smoothly and without slipping.
He made it down in no time, letting himself drop the last few feet before scrambling to his feet and away. He heard the door burst open and slam against the wall as he reached the end of the drive and around the corner.
Where was he going to go, he did not know. As far as he knew, he was just going to run wherever life took him. He felt like he could run forever, and he was willing to. But wait, he's been accused of being an animal, and he's admitted to becoming one. Where do most animals live? Where would be one of the few places they'd never come looking for him. Not Jasper itself, but what about the Park?
Leo getting closer to home, what will happen next? Leo's crazy, he's turning into the wolf he once was, and a wolf doesn't belong in the human world, but in the wolf world. Did Sahara's recipe work, are the pack still alive to this day, who was it who was shot in the news? All the answers will come in due time. Until next time folks. :)
The FalconWolf