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It wasn’t the pain that woke Rooney. It was the screechy calls of the crickets and the prickly grass against her skin; the taste of blood in her mouth...
“Oh no…not again…” she groaned, overcome with dread.
She tried to move, then cried out as the pain hit. It wasn’t the usual dull ache that followed a transformation. She opened her eyes and looked for the source. It was her leg, caught in the maw of a large, rusty bear trap. Its teeth were sunk deep into her flesh and dark blood oozed from the wound.
A piercing howl echoed over the trees, making her sit bolt upright. If even one of the other monsters roaming the woods found her, she was dead. She jammed her thumbs into the bear trap and pulled. It creaked open far enough to squeeze her leg out. Already, her wounds had begun to close up.
There was just her foot left, when she heard a deep, menacing growl that sounded like it came from right over her shoulder. Her heart dropped to her stomach, and her fingers slipped. The trap snapped shut and its teeth sliced through her ankle down to the bone. Rooney screamed as her vision flashed white and then faded to black.
After they left, Rooney waited until their voices were nothing but faint baying in the far distance. She threw off the coarse blanket she had been laying under, pretending to be asleep, and began to tiptoe towards the nearest exit. With the pack gone, the once cramped semi detached house felt massive, even with all the clutter. Rooney half expected one of the younger ones to come careening round the next corner. She headed into the kitchen, there was a door heading out the side. She grabbed the handle and turned.
“If I were you I wouldn’t want to leave.”
Rooney sighed and slumped forward. She recognized that voice. It was the wolf who had found her in the woods, half changed and delirious from the fresh pain. After bringing her to their den, they had refused to let her leave until the full moon had passed. And she quickly realized that they were much faster and stronger than her.
“My family will be looking for me.” She lied.
“You don’t seem like the type to tell them where you’re going,” he replied, “Come here and help me make this sandwich.”
Rooney slowly turned and glared at him. She realized that it was the first time she was seeing him clearly in human form. He was young and lean, with dark skin and eyes the colour of syrup. He had a friendly face that matched his voice. Claw marks were etched across the side of his face, and his left hand was wrapped in a bandage. Rooney knew that she had caused those wounds, and that any other werewolf would have ripped her to pieces without a second thought.
“C’mon, I’m starving.” he said, “And, you owe me for last night.”
Rooney sighed again and shuffled over to the counter, where there was half a sandwich on a plate amidst scattered toppings and condiments. He was holding the top bread sandwich in one hand, and trying to grab a jar of mayo with his injured one. She took it and put some on the sandwich.
“Where is everyone else?”
“They went on a run. Most of them. Noah and some others went on patrol… ketchup.”
“So they just left you behind?”
He waved his injured arm, “Well duh… Since I’m the one who found you, I’m stuck with babysitting – hey not too much you’ll ruin it.”
By the time she was done with the sandwich, the evening had turned into night, and the moon had risen. She could feel it’s weight at the center of her back. Her muscles throbbed, and her head began to pound. She sank into the chair across from him and rested her head on the counter. She peeked over her arms at him, he was trying to cut the king size sandwich with a kitchen knife. His face was fixed in an expression of intense focus, as if he was disarming a bomb.
“How isn’t it affecting you?” she asked.
“What? Oh, you get used to it. If you stayed around I could teach you.”
Rooney lay her head back down. She didn’t want to stay. She wanted to go back to campus where her friends, her life and all her dreams had remained. But then she thought back to the month before, recalled the horror on their faces when they discovered the gutted sheep outside their dorm door… The pain in her head intensified and she buried her head in her arms in an attempt to suffocate the memory. She heard him slide something towards her.
“Eat something. It helps.”
It was half of the sandwich. She picked it up and sniffed it, a bad habit she was still trying to kill. It smelled good. But a bad taste had crept into her mouth, and she put it back down.
“Why are you even helping me? If you want money…”
“That’s not it,” he said, his voice suddenly taking on a grim tone, “You just remind me of myself before I was brought in. I was…pretty messed up. At least you have the chance to get help before you do something you’ll regret.”
There was an awkward pause between them as Rooney stared long and hard at her sandwich as if it was the embodiment of her growing guilt.
“Listen… I’m sorry about…your hand…and your face…”
“I’ve been worse,” he said, then he laughed, “Compared to the shit we regularly get, that was like a love bite.”
Rooney shot daggers at him but couldn’t keep a straight face for very long. His laughter was contagious. He raised his half of the sandwich like he was giving a toast. For a moment Rooney wanted to scold him, call him a silly, childish idiot, but she also couldn’t remember the last time she had been carefree enough to really laugh, and raised hers too.
They were silent after that, busy stuffing their faces with the sandwich. The moon was at its peak, but for once Rooney felt at ease under its pale white rays.
“Hey Nathan!” a voice bellowed from outside.
“What!” her companion replied, looking in the direction of the voice like the person was in the room, merely a few feet away.
“Get over here!”
“The hell do you need me for, I’m eating!”
“It’s your shift!”
Nathan gave an exasperated sigh but didn’t move.
“Don’t make me come in after you!”
Nathan cursed under his breath and got up. He stashed his half-finished half-sandwich in the fridge, picked up his jacket and left through the living room. Rooney looked towards the door. It was unlocked and unguarded. If she wanted to she could just-
The door burst open and Nathan stuck his head through. Pointing at Rooney, he said, “Don’t you dare eat my sandwich. I’ll know it was you.”