TWELVE BUT TOUGH! THE TRAINING.

I paused there for a bit and watched what he wanted to do. Should I run?   I thought of fighting him, but my wolf just laughed at me. It literally laughed at me? What? I could now hear my wolf?

   My brain rebooted quickly and immediately, I picked up my bucket and began to run. My movement was very slow because I had a bucket of water in my hand. I ran and ran and ran, not looking back, until I came to back to the well. 

  I looked back, but I didn’t see no one pursuing me. I was now scared. First, I saw Sullivan as Teacher Tech, then I had a nightmare of Blake. And now, I can literally see Alpha Blake’s wolf again. Did my old pack conspire to hunt me? I was very sure that he doesn’t know me. 

  I thought of going to tell Tech, but again, he would see me as a crazy person. So, I twisted the question. 

  “Is there another stream around here? That one is haunted” I lamented to the lame man watching as he fixed something. He didn’t look back. He just continued what he was doing. This made me remember that I hadn’t eaten breakfast. 

  “Is there another stream here, please? Come on, you gotta tell me” I asked again. As soon as he turned back to look at me, I screamed again and ran as fast as I could to my room, shutting the door behind me. He was a skull. A werewolf’s skull craving for meat. 

  “Hey, come out. I gotta show you something” Teacher Tech knocked on my door. I was scared, but I did open the door anyways. What was a door for a werewolf to tear down anyways? I already knew I was hallucinating.

  “The moment I saw you reject my hand at first back in town and later accepted it, I knew that you saw something. Then when you talked about seeing an Alpha last night, I was convinced. Nathan, you have the gift of dark visions. Perhaps the Moon goddess chose to give it to you.”

  “What do I do with dark visions? They’re scary” I cried. 

  “You fight them off. They’re not real. Anything you keep seeing is what you fear the most and that’s why you are here. To fight these dark visions in real life when they happen.” 

  “But it was Alpha Blake I saw. My old Alpha’s wolf, bloodthirsty. That isn’t good right?” 

  I could see the fear written all over Tech’s face. I guess he too was scared of Blake. Everybody was. 

  Immediately, he took some liquid in a glass container, rubbed some on his hands and smeared them into my eyes. I screamed for a bit as it was hot, but then, it cooled down. 

  “That should help” He said.  “Go back to that stream. If you see anything again, ignore it. Fight it. It’s all in your head. And yes, you can have breakfast.”

  I saw yet another piece of meat and veggies again, still I grabbed the huge meat and continued fetching the water.

*****

  Hours turned to days, and days turned to weeks. One week to fill a well with water. Crazy! I didn’t see Blake again, neither did I see any weird vision at night. Thanks to that liquid. 

  Each time I got to the stream, I would fill the bucket more than the last time, until I finally got to fill it to the brim. I would feel my whole body ache after a whole week of fetching, eating meat every day.

*******

  I woke up quite late the following week feeling a sense of accomplishment waiting for my next training session. Wondered what it would be. Maybe sweep the whole yard for a week. 

  I took a shower finally. God, I stank! I headed to Tech’s office. He was always fixing something tiny.

  “Well done. Here’s a mirror. Check your muscles. You have learned to be consistent”. I could swear that they looked a little bigger than usual. This was getting interesting. 

  He brought me to the backyard and stationed me in front of a small tree. He then handed me a heavy stick and a soft glove. 

  “Raise this stick morning and evening every day, then in the afternoon, keep hitting this tree hard till it falls down to the ground. You have three Good luck” He left and again, I started. 

  Every day I would raise the heavy stick yelling while I did then I would punch and punch until my hands were sore. 

  *******

  Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks and week turned into months. Every week came a new crazy training. I would hit a small tree till it breaks, I would raise heavy objects, and I would hang on to a branch for hours. I would do certain exercises. I would always cry because they were too difficult for me. 

  Slowly, the month turned into a year. Yes, Tech did stop me from eating meat. Every week, he would change my food ration. 

  I could feel myself becoming stronger. My muscles were bigger, I had grown stamina already. When I would think of mama and papa, I sometimes broke down and cried. Tech never soothed me. He would just give me a cloth to wipe my face. 

  ******

  I woke up even before the bell rang. It was a Sunday. There were no trainings on Sunday. I walked to the sitting room. Tech was already there fixing his ‘thing’. I could smell the aroma of beans and beef coming from the kitchen. 

  I stared at the calendar. It’s been two years since I got here. Two birthdays passed without me even realizing it. I guess everyday did count. Only mama and papa did say a prayer for me on that day. I was now twelve years old. 

  Twelve years old kid with muscle and a little fighting skill. Twelve but tough. I wondered that the next five years of training would make me be. A werewolf perhaps? I chuckled.

  Every full moon, Tech’s wolf would howl just like mama and papa did. I really couldn’t wait to transform. 

  “We have visitors. They will spend two nights here before going back to the city. On an important business. Besides, we’re almost out of food” 

  “Do you have a family? I mean, just you alone for how many years? Are you a rouge?” I always asked him, but he never gave me a reply. But it seemed he was willing to give me an answer today. 

  “My dad was born in Cold Mountain Park. He gave birth to my elder brother and sister there. He left them to fend for themselves when they were ten and twelve years old respectively. He came here to Leviathan Moon Park and slept with another woman. She conceived me. It was an abomination, and so, my dad was killed.”

  “What did you do then? Did you return to your brothers?” I asked curiously. 

  “No I didn’t. It was then I heard the new Alpha was a wicked one. He enslaved all the Omegas and would kill his own people. Always shedding blood. Escaping meant death. Any ooze would be fatal, unsuccessful. So, I came here to build a house for myself. I trained everyday hoping that I would one day free my brothers.”

  I felt for the man. Little wonder he always stays quiet. This finally explained everything. Why we were suddenly treated with cruelty, why we were not allowed to escape. It was the new Alpha’s doings. If someone doesn’t do something, he would kill the whole city.

  “You haven’t avenged them yet?” I asked and he stopped what he was doing and looked at me. His eyes met mine. 

  “That’s why you are here. Leviathan Park is in danger and you are the only one who can save it. There are traitors everywhere.” 

  Did he know about Sullivan? What plan did he have? I was sure of one thing. Vengeance for my parents. And now that I am training, nothing would stop me.

 *******

  It was a pretty stressful hunting day. It was late noon and I had catch just a rabbit. I decided to head home. Tech said we were to have a visitor. I packed my bags and headed home. 

  I could already hear chatter coming from the house. Guess the visitors had arrived. 

  As soon as I approached the door, my head ached me so painfully that I fell on my knees. I saw blood stains on the door. Right coming behind me were werewolves that looked like Zombies, all bloodthirsty. I couldn’t scream, I didn’t want to draw any attention. So I calmed down a bit remembering what Tech had said ‘It’s all in my head’. 

 I opened the door and shut it behind me. There were two people. One was a girl, the other was a man. 

  “Hello Nathan. You’ve grown big. Nice to meet you again.” The other person welcomed me. It wasn’t Simon my uncle, it wasn’t Alpha Eugene. It was my very nemesis. Beta Sullivan. What the heck was this man doing here?

  The girl looked familiar, the curled up hair. Her beautiful eyes and yeah, her soft lips. It couldn’t be. It can’t be. It shouldn’t be. It was her. My crush. The girl I saw at the training two years ago.

  No! Was she… was she Sullivan’s daughter? 

  I didn’t want to attract any attention, neither did I wish for Sullivan to suspect me, so I greeted him and sat on a chair observing as he and Tech exchanged words. 

  I looked at the girl again. She looked at me and smiled. I had not seen that smile in years. Damn, she was beautiful. I smiled back. But that smile was mixed with worry and fear. If she was Sullivan’s daughter, then I… i... I don’t even know. It was obvious that I liked her, and I guess the feeling was mutual. 

  I gestured my head to the upstairs so she would follow me to my room. I stood up and she did the same. Asked her dad if he would let her. He smiled at me and agreed.

  As soon as I took two steps forwards, I saw Sullivan shift. His wolf immediately grabbed hold of Teacher Tech and broke his neck at once, leaving him to die. He then came after me growling with blood dripping down in his fingers.

  Before I knew what was happening, he grabbed hold of me too and began using his claws to rip my stomach open. I screamed!