As always, disclaimers are on the first chapter!

Not much in the way of commentary. I've got nothin' to comment on! I was surprised I didn't hear anything from anyone in the last chapter. Bah...

Return

"Stop your... Shut-UP! I think she's waking up!"

The last time I heard an echoing voice like that, I had woken up in a cage. This time, I felt a body move under me and I recognized the voice. I opened my eyes to see the face of my brother, Kata, hovering over me from behind. I blinked once, sighed heavily, and started to close my eyes again.

"No! No, no, no! You can't go back to sleep, Nyxie." I felt his hand brush my hair from my face. "The doctors said to keep you awake if you woke up."

My eyes flew open. "Doctors? What fucking doctors!?" My voice was hoarse and very quiet, as if I hadn't used it in a long time. I struggled to sit up, but my brother held me to him by wrapping his arms around my shoulders and across my chest.

Kata looked at someone that was down by his feet, frowning a bit. "You were found... We were hoping you'd be able to tell us what happened."

I squirmed a bit, sitting up so that I was leaning back against his chest. Across the room was a nurse, preparing something out of my sight. Sitting on the edge of their chairs, at my bedside, were my past roommates Lona and Tyger. Only three...?

"Where's everyone else?" I rasped.

"Mom, Dad, and your parents are all home," Lona answered. "They took turns here with you yesterday. It's our turn now."

"Where am I?"

"UCI Medical."

I started to feel the prickle of tears in my eyes. "What am I doing here?" I whispered.

"Sistah..."

I tilted my head back to look up at Kata.

"You were found unconscious in Anaheim about a week ago," he continued. "We were... We were hoping you'd be able to tell us what happened to you. You've been missing for about half a year."

"What??" I tried to sit up, but Kata insisted on me staying down by tightening his arms around me. "What do you mean 'missing'?"

"You dropped off the face of the planet about six months ago. No one could find you, your phone was cut off, everything. Then, one night about a week ago, you were found with only your ID on you."

All I was able to do was blink up at my brother. Before my brain could formulate the next question, the doctor came in.

I was released from the hospital within a few days. I never told them what really happened to me, just that I couldn't remember and that I didn't know how I ended up in Anaheim. They said that I showed no signs of brain damage, but I knew that someone had "suggested" that I be watched carefully.

That wasn't too difficult, considering that in six months I had lost my apartment, my job, and my car. I moved back in with Lona, Tyger, and Kata, who all promised to help me get back on my feet. That part wasn't so easy. I didn't have the heart to tell them that I didn't want to be back on my feet. No, that's wrong... I didn't have the desire to make the effort this world required of me.

At first, I tried. I tried to feel better about my situation. The Leviathan was gone, back to nothing but a creature of my imagination. Nick was safe...or, back to nothing but a creature of Kelley's imagination. Goddess, was that a depressing thought. I tried to get a job, but I just couldn't focus on it. Normally, I'd fall back to web design for an income, but not this time. Maybe further down the road, but I wasn't ready then.

What I tried the hardest, though, was to Change. I figured that, maybe, just maybe, if I could become a wolf again, there would be not only proof to myself of what happened, but I would get back that feeling of freedom during a run. A part of me knew that running alone wouldn't be nearly as much fun as running with the Pack, but it was like having a bit of what had finally made me happy back. It never happened; and as time continued on, I fast lost hope that I'll ever Change again.

I spent my days moping on the couch, watching television but never really seeing what was on. It took me years to finally get back in the groove of just living. I started working from home again, finally able to design websites again for the technologically inept. It was almost like I took that job back up in memory of Nick. Each site that looked like crap that I redesigned, I was reminded of that first night we argued over the reds and greens he picked. A bitter sweet reminder of what I had to leave behind.

All that changed, coincidentally enough, on the night of the Wolf moon.