It was my legal day off, which meant that I can relax to my heart's desire after an exhausting work week. After a good sleep during the day, I decided to take a walk in the evening and breathe some fresh forest air.
Walking through the woods, I started to feel that someone was watching me. I turned around and noticed two yellow eyes that were staring at me from the depths of the forest. It was uncomfortable, but it wasn't scary. Sometimes a shadow flickered past me. I have never been able to detect it, but I clearly felt that someone was following me. At some point, fastly turning around, I saw a girl that seemed familiar. Her blonde hair fell in curls over her shoulders and chest. Her eyes somehow mysteriously glowed, and her slender body was tense. She was wearing the most ordinary clothes: blue jeans, grey sneakers and a white T-shirt.
For another second, she looked at me and then rushed into the depths of the forest. I don't know why, but I ran after her. At some point, the girl disappeared from my sight, and I had to slow down. Then something swooped me down. It was the wolf. His white-snow fur, combined with yellow eyes, was mesmerizing. Knocking me off my feet, the animal stepped aside and began to watch my every move. I laid on the ground in confusion. Why was I attacked? What was happening? I stood up, dusted myself off, but not even a minute had passed before the same white wolf attacked me again. This aggression irritated me. I didn't want to lose to some wolf.
Coming to these thoughts, I felt a strange warmth that spread all over my body, filling every cell. It seemed to me that the hair stood on from the anger that I felt. Another second passed, and I was covered with grey wool.
I growled, but my opponent wasn't afraid, only prepared for battle, and we entered into a fight in which I gained the upper hand. With all my might, I threw the enemy aside and heard a squeak. The wolf was clearly hurt. Feeling a sense of joy that I emerged victorious from this battle, I became himself again. Surprisingly, I still had some of my clothes on. The pants turned into shorts, and the shirt turned into patches, but still, it was better than nothing at all. And then I realized - I'm a werewolf. The same beast from ancient legends that turns into a terrible creature on a full moon and can kill even loved ones. The same...
Stop! I understood and controlled my actions, reasoned sensibly even in the form of a wolf. And even more so I was in the guise of a wolf, and not a half-man, half-wolf. Something was wrong here, and I wanted to figure it out.
I looked around and decided to look at my opponent. To the side, I saw a body that didn't move. Coming closer, I realized that on the ground, precisely in the place where the white wolf should have been lying, there was the same girl whom I had seen before. Her clothes were ripped, like mine. She was unconscious.
Suddenly I felt an incredible weakness, my head was spinning, and the earth disappeared from under my feet. I flopped down next to her. I don't know how long I was unconscious, but when I woke up, I realized that the girl was staring at me. I looked into her amber eyes, and she smiled sweetly at me, saying: "Forgive me, I did it not out of hate."
"Who are you?" I asked, peering into her face. "And why did she attack me?"
"Sorry. You see, everything has changed so much." She lowered her head apologetically. "I wanted…"
The girl fell silent. I decided to give her some time to collect her thoughts. At some point, she looked at me again, as if looking for answers to some questions only she could ask. She was ordinary, and only hints of scars betrayed her way of life. No, the girl was not an ordinary person - there was some kind of force in her that made me want to obey.
"Let me ask you," I began, finally collecting my thoughts. "What's your name?"
"Iza, my name is Iza." And again she lowered her head with guilt, whispering softly: "Forgive me."
She turned away from me. Her body began to shake a little, giving out that the girl was crying. Iza got up, leaning on a nearby tree, and turned her back to me. Her hands reached out to her face, and I realized that she was wiping away her tears. A minute later she turned around, smiling sweetly, and said: "I really didn't want to harm anyone, it just happened so... I gave up."
I tried to get up, it wasn't easy for me - every movement responded with a slight dizziness. Struggling with my own weakness, I went up to Iza and hugged her. That was all I could do for her.
"I have no grudge against you," I whispered.
"Thank you," the girl said, barely audibly.
At that moment, a wolf howl swept through the forest. Iza shuddered and freed herself from my hands. In the blink of an eye, she turned into a white wolf and ran away, leaving me alone with myself.
"By the way, my name is Herard!" I shouted.
The silence was my answer. I looked around. The moon was shining bright enough, so I easily found my jacket, which, apparently, I managed to take off before turning. My head was still spinning, but I had to get home. Leaning on trees, I happily reached my goal.
Closing the door behind myself and deciding to take a shower. It seemed that there were no physical changes, but I felt somehow different. The eyes remained blue, the hair - light brown, the body - healthy. And only a scar from a bite on the left shoulder reminded me of that very night. Having changed my clothes, I went to bed and soon fell asleep soundly. I dreamed that I, in the form of a giant grey wolf, was running somewhere around the woods and a slightly cold breeze caressed my fur. I was running with all my strength, not knowing where. It was as if someone was leading me in search of the unknown. Unfortunately, the search was interrupted by an alarm clock, and I realized with horror that I had slept all Sunday. Well, there was nothing to do with it. It was Monday morning, and I had to get ready for work.
The working day passed as usual. Nothing around me, and even in myself, didn't let me know about what happened not so long ago. Somehow evening came so quickly and as usual, which had already become a habit, went for a walk. Only this time, I decided to walk around the area without going into the forest. Turning on the music on my player, I went by my usual pace. At some point, something alerted me. Reducing the volume in the headphones, I slowed down. Looking ahead, I was trying to figure out what it was that made me so worried. Soon I understood.
A strange man walked towards me. He looked like an ordinary weak old man, but something in his appearance made me cringe. Fear gripped me. A piercing halo of death surrounded this man. At some point, I even thought that I couldn't breathe next to him. But the mirage disappeared, and the old man, as calmly as before, continued his way. I stopped. People passed by, not looking around, and only I tried to see what was no longer there.
Arriving home, I went to the shower, ate some food and went to bed. I tossed and turned for a long time. This strange feeling, as if the coldness of death had touched me, remained with me. A small shiver ran through my body, and I opened my eyes. The room was dark, thin rays of the moon were trying to break through the thick curtains - there was a full moon. For two hours, I couldn't sleep, my thoughts were constantly revolving around that stranger. Who was that? Why did this inexplicable fear appear in me?
And then I remembered about Iza. There was something about her that beckoned me. She seemed so fragile that I wanted to become her protector. The only problem was that I knew nothing about where exactly she was and therefore could not protect.
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