Lycan

A welter of people moves toward us, guns and clubs in the air. My parents, panicking at first, are regaining their bearings. 

"Lycan you have to run."

"B..but mom why aren't you coming? "

"Right behind you dear" she gives me a reassuring smile

And I takeoff. I run a considerable distance before checking if mom and dad are following me. But then I freeze in bewilderment. 

Why aren't they running?

And then I see the horrific sight. The throngs consuming them. Their clubs and bullets connecting. I sink to my knees. If they didn't run why should I? And I sit there, waiting for them to send me to my heavenly abode, the same way they did for my parents...

"Lycan?"

The gentle voice of the warden broke my train of thought. Then I remembered where I was. It had been a week since I left the hospital. But even that seems better than here. 

A rehabilitation center.

I instinctively reached towards my neck, where a golden chain hung.

The only physical memory of my parents.

"You have to eat" she coaxes

"I'm not hungry" I reply

"But-"

"I'm not hungry!" I cry out

I then bolted to my room and slammed the door. And then came the tears.

***

A little while later I heard a soft knock on the door. And then it creaked open. It was my doctor, Mr. Wilson

The one who brought me back from the dead.

He didn't say a word. He sat across from me on the only chair in the room.

"How did you do it?"

"I'm sorry?" he asked

"I was dead,  Dr. Wilson. There was no possible way in which I could have survived such a grisly attack. What did you do to me?!"

He caressed my face in response, carefully not touching the gruesome scar that ran through my left eye, disfiguring my face. The only visible proof of damage.

"You wouldn't want to know."

"You made my life a living hell! No friends, no relatives, nothing! The least I deserve is an explanation!"

"Do you think I don't know what it is like to lose someone? You think i don't know how helpless you feel."

"I've lost friends too. And I've also had my fair share of scars." He said, lifting his shirt.

There was a a scar, running through his chest and stomach. Even though it was mostly healed, it still looked very painful.

After a long silence he spoke.

"You need to be strong. What happened gave you a second chance. Don't throw it."

I stare at his eyes- a flaming shade of amber, contempt seething below the surface.

"It's been a week, Lycan. The trauma will fade. Eventually"

And with that he left.

***

I stayed in my room till midnight. But I couldn't sleep. I was allowed to take walks around the center. And so, in the dead of the night, I snuck out. The crisp air was invigorating.  The full moon seemed calming. As I sauntered around, I heard a rustling behind me. I swiveled my head to find nothing.

But when I looked ahead, I saw three boys standing in front of me, smiling smugly. One of them held out a hand. 

"Give over whatever you have"

I shake my head. "I have nothing"

One of the boy points at my chain.

"That would fetch a good price, don't you think? " he smirked

"It isn't for sale"

But the boys had already snatched it from my neck. I jumped to retrieve it but with one strike, I was on the floor, my chest burning. The trio laughed heartily and moved to leave. All I could do was watch, with my anger brimming to the surface but ultimately, I was just the same boy who saw his parents die and do nothing to change it.

… Helpless.

The sorrow and rage overwhelmed me. What else could I have done?

I unleashed it.

All of a sudden excruciating pain gripped me. The hair on my body began rapidly growing. My bones seemed to be poking out of my skin and my mouth protracted into a snout. I began screaming from the pain. But gradually the shout condensed into a loud howl. The pain too, ebbed away. The startled boys looked back. They gawked, paralyzed with abject horror.

And with one deft pounce, the boy with the chain was gone. The other two regained their senses and began darting for their lives. It amused me how similarly I had reacted during the terrorist attack.

The prey, now the predator. 

How quickly had things changed?

But in the corner of my eye, I caught something. Something that astonished me. There in the bushes, was a giant wolf, standing on its hind legs.

It's flaming amber eyes bored into mine...