Outsiders Imagines Novels & Stories

“I’m rotting in here.” “You have everything you need. We even renovated the courtyard to give you—” “An illusion.” My voice slices across hers. “An outside illusion. You still don’t get it.” Her shoulders sag. She exhales heavily and stands, as though my words physically weigh her down. “Your doctor says you’re getting better.” “I want to go outside.” She stills. Hesitates. “You know that’s not possible. If someone sees you, it’ll cause a ruckus.”

It couldn’t be that long. I walk to one of the round windows, leaning against the clay wall, and take a peek outside. No one is about; the wind howls spookily through empty huts and a cuttard scuttles across the space as I watch into the forest on the other side. Eldad is silent. For a second, I get the absurd idea that everyone has left. Gone to Tussel and left us alone in the camp. The feeling that follows my assumption is strangely akin to relief.

“You know, I was at the beach yesterday and as I watched those waters I saw a fish, one I’ve never seen before. It bobbed to the surface and looked at me and I felt like it was saying hi. I just know it Aden, that there are others that share the waters with us.” “Yes. The fishes.” “No.” I smack him. “I mean other wolves on the outside.” He rises up on his elbow and looks down at me. “What is it?” He pulls out and sits on the edge of the bed and I sit up. “Aden.” “We talked about this Neem. You promised me you would stop talking about The Outside. Just thinking about the damn Outside is a capital offense, punishable by death. It is ‘treason’. Is that not enough to get such damning thoughts fr

“Then you have to go back there and prove them wrong. They’re the only ones you have right now, Portia, and they’re going to help you in saving the entire pack. You need to trust me because there’s no other way around.” “But—“ Before I could explain myself, I was immediately cut off when Aunt Odessa held my head, causing a sharp pain in my mind. It didn’t take a while before I felt her pull away, so I slowly opened my eyes, only to realize that I was outside of the fence gate. My body was laid on the ground and all I saw inside that gate was a dark graveyard filled with fog that covered most of the tombstones. The paradise I’d seen was nowhere to be found, the same with Aunt Odessa who vanis

She nodded. “When you start to see the whole world from a distance, and you keep your emotions in check all the time, and you have this power over life and death… I mean, I can kill someone from seven hundred yards away through a window, and I have. All those things make it fucking challenging to let anyone in. Dean and Chris and Jim were close and stayed close, because they were physically there, and they get it. But letting in anyone new? Outsiders and civilians? A girlfriend? It’s – it’s not easy to explain things to them.” “I can see that.”

They had no medicine on hand and could only resign themselves to fate. “Elders, something bad has happened. A few outsiders have invaded our territory!” Abell's friends rushed in and quickly reported the incident. Everyone stood up in shock and disbelief. After so many years, outsiders entered their territory again. “How did this happen? What do these outsiders look like? Are they up to no good?” the first elder asked worriedly. The last time outsiders entered the village, it resulted in serious consequences. Their holy maiden, Julie, ended up in this state.

“I expect it’ll be Shelley that people want first. Goldhawk Pack’ll talk about her, right? So next time a werewolf’s worried they’ve got a bad spell on them, they’ll think, hey, I know a witch who’s cool with werewolves, I’ll check it out with her.” “Only if they think she’d side with a werewolf she didn’t know, instead of with the witch that cast the spell,” Sarah warns him, and she’s right. Most packs will be suspicious of outsiders. They’ll assume outsiders will be suspicious of them too. I rub at my face, feeling tired already. I’ve given myself an impossible task, but I have to try anyway. “Sorry to drag you all into my… daydreams and wishful thinking.” “It’s called a vision, you’re a v

Sharmaine suddenly opened her eyes, she looked at Osmund. “I went in to check your body temperature.” Sharmaine sat up, she looked around. “You feel unhappy?” Osmund interrogated Sharmaine. Sharmaine put her hand on her chest, she shook her head: “Can you take me for a walk outside? Being in this place, I feel uncomfortable.” Omsund looked at Sharmaine and went out: "You change your clothes, the clothes are in the closet, I will wait for you outside." Sharmaine changed into light clothes, she went out. Osmund was outside playing with the small animals in the forest. Sharmaine slowly walked over. Osumnd then turned to call her.

The path curved sharply into the deeper parts of the pack, where life pulsed in a different rhythm, slower and heavier. I passed by sunken faces and hollow eyes. Some looked ill, their skin pale and stretched thin; others simply looked defeated. Their gazes followed me, long, unblinking stares. Some froze mid-task, their hands still holding buckets, tools, or scraps of food. Silence followed me like a second shadow. This was the first time I had ever truly walked into the depths of the pack, I was always in a carriage. And it was clear, I was an outsider here, untouchable yet watched. A rare creature among the broken.

Hayley opened her eyes at the sound. Kieran stood a few feet away. He set the now-clean pot down, then turned to leave. Before he walked off, he said, "You people should leave soon. The inner camp… They're not like us. If they find out you're outsiders, they'll kill you." Hayley blinked, watching his thin, hunched figure disappear into the dark. By morning, the camp was already buzzing. People from the outer camp had washed up the night before. Now, they wore the cleanest clothes they had, doing their best to look presentable.