18 Blood! (2/2)

The back building used to be a small gym, back in the old days when the Academy was a much smaller institution. As the Academy grew and more funding became available, larger buildings and facilities were built, leaving the old buildings to be used as storage.

”Hello?” Hunter called out into the empty storage room. He fumbled for the light switch on the wall. Just as he felt something on the wall, he was suddenly pushed to the ground.

THUD!

Hunter fell hard on to the floor, his head narrowly missing the ground. He felt a hard kick on his shoulder, causing him to roll on to his back. Then he felt someone pulling him up by the front of his shirt and planting a knee in his stomach. He saw who it was and he stared back in surprise. It was Ash, and she was shoving his leather vest in his face.

”What is this?!” she yelled at him.

”It's a vest?” he answered, confused.

”Why was this in my room?!”

”Babe, I don't know---”

Ash felt a renewed surge of anger go through her when she heard Hunter call her ”babe.”

[This motherf*cker! He violated me and now he thinks he can call me babe?!]

She punched him in the face with her right fist, hard enough to draw blood from his nose. She yelled out as she hit him, screaming in a voice that was half-girl half-wolf.

Hunter felt the pain in his face as his head snapped to one side. Perhaps it was the pain or Ash's strange guttural yell, but the wolf inside him woke up and quickly took over.

He quickly got up and pushed her off him with one hand. Ash started to fall sideways, but she quickly righted herself. She bared her teeth and growled at him, brown eyes flashing into a golden yellow. Hunter pushed her down and got on top of her, pinning down both of her arms, holding her down by the wrists. He growled back, showing his fangs. He blinked once and his eyes went from blue to amber. Bright red blood ran in a line from his bleeding nose to his lips.

Ash stared hard at him. She looked from his amber eyes to his sharp teeth, and her own growling stopped. Her eyes went from gold back to brown and her fangs regressed into human teeth.

”I . . . wh-what's happening?” she whimpered.

A dark shadow crept over Hunter's face.

Hunter shook his head, trying to clear away the shadow in his sight.

As the shadow left his vision, he looked down at Ash again. She was trembling with fear as she looked at his face. She looked like she was about to cry.

Hunter blinked his eyes back from amber to blue and inhaled sharply as he pulled his fangs in to become human teeth. He let go of her wrists and moved off of her.

Sitting sideways beside Ash, he pulled her up and propped her up against his knee, much like he did for her just a few nights before, back when they were in the woods.

Unlike in the woods, Ash curled her body into his, wrapping her hands around his neck, burying her head in his shoulder. And then she began to cry.

”Wh-what are w-we?” she asked, sobbing. Her voice was muffled as she buried her face in Hunter's shoulder.

Hunter didn't answer. She had asked, but he knew she wasn't ready for the answer just yet. Quietly, he rubbed her back, holding her gently as she sobbed in his arms. He put a hand up to his face to wipe the blood from his nose, but his hand came away dry. There was no blood on his face.

***

Past the fence, a dark shadow barreled in the wind---a black mist with a bright red streak of werewolf blood.