Read Moonlit Sins :: So Far Away

Chapter 8: So Far Away

“I want to know what the hell is going on here…” Michael announced to Maleva not too long after he finally transformed into a human.

As painful as it was.

Michael had never felt pain on this level before. This was entirely unlike anything else.

“Are you going to be alright?” Maleva asked him as she helped him move forward in the woods, desperately attempting to find home again. It felt so long since the last time they saw the village where they both lived.

Maleva knew these parts of the woods like the back of her hand, yet the forest no longer looked, nor felt like the same place anymore. It could have been because she was disoriented. They both were. But it wasn’t typically like her to no longer be able to find her way back home… The thought of it frightened her. She had no idea what to do.

“I’ll be fine…” The young man then proceeded to cough a lot. Something was wrong with him. He was definitely hurt from his battle with the shadow wolf from earlier or whatever that was… Based on the recent wolf transformation that he recently went through, it would make a lot of sense for him to be sick. His body was changing because of whatever sickness he was suffering from, and this wasn’t good at all.

“You don’t look fine to me.”

“You don’t have to help me walk, you know?”

“I am not so sure about that. You’re hurt, Michael.” She reminded him.

“I don’t care about that too much right now… The only thing I care about is what happened to us. We went out for a night hunt. We were attacked by wolves…”

“You saved me by jumping right in front of me and taking the bite of the wolf for me…” She interrupted him, getting reminded of what Michael did for her.

It was so kind of him to do that for her.

“Right…”

“But then you messed everything up and attacked me!” All of a sudden, Maleva switched her tone from kind and appreciative, to slightly angered and disappointed.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s okay now. You weren’t yourself,” Maleva looked away and blushed.

“But then… I transformed into this beast. You did too. We were also attacked by the wolves again. Things kept getting worse and worse. Things are still getting worse now. It’s still not over. The worst thing that happened so far was this wolf that could walk on two feet and was made of shadows… What happened to it? Where did it go?” Michael was dying to know.

“You mean you actually don’t know?”

“No… Why would I know…? I passed out and when I woke up, it was gone.” He admitted to her.

“No. This isn’t what truly happened, Michael…”

“What did then?”

She was still helping him walk around in the deep woods.

“Michael. You’re the one who defeated it.”

“I did what?” The young man was shocked to hear this news. He suddenly moved away from his childhood friend and moved on to his four. He nearly puked, but ultimately only ended up coughing a lot instead.

“Michael! Are you alright?”

“I’m fine… Ahn… Don’t worry about me… Ugh…”

“Come this way. I believe I know where to go to make it back to the village.”

“But I thought you said you didn’t know earlier? You said that the woods no longer looked like they did before? You said that we were lost.”

“And that was correct. I don’t recognize these woods and no… We aren’t lost. Not really…” Maleva totally refused to admit that they were lost.

“So, how do you know where to go?”

Sniff! Sniff!

Maleva could smell something pretty relevant.

“I wouldn’t know how to explain it, but while I don’t recognize these woods, I am somehow able to smell home. I know where to go.”

“You’re able to smell home? Wait a minute…”

Sniff! Sniff!

Michael tried as well.

“Are you kidding me? I can smell home too. I know where it is.”

“Together we should be able to find our way back home. I just don’t understand how we’re able to smell something so far away like that.”

“This has to do with what happened to us. We changed, Maleva. We are transforming into beasts. I felt like this ever since I was bitten, and you probably also felt like this ever since you were. Ever since I bit you,” Michael theorized.

“Look, we’ll try figuring out what happened to us when we finally are somewhere safe, okay?”

“Good idea. And speaking of which…”

Michael slowly stood back up.

It took a lot out of him, but he did it. He felt so worn out ever since the recent transformation.

“... I got something that is going to keep us safe…” Michael swiftly pulled something out of the holster on his right hip: His precious pistol. He hadn’t been able to use it, ever since he was bitten and became sick. It was now time to use it again.

Khump!

Michael opened the barrel.

He took a look at how many bullets were left.

Two.

Only two.

“Two bullets aren’t going to keep us safe for too long…”

Shling!

Maleva swiftly pulled two of her daggers up.

“... My blades are.”

Cling!

Michael closed the barrel.

He aimed at the woods. Practicing a bit.

But he couldn’t see anything when looking from a far distance. His vision was all blurry. He couldn’t aim, but he never mentioned it to Maleva. Something he should have done.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Still want me to help you walk around?” She asked him.

“I never asked you to. I’m fine. I can walk by myself.”

Michael stepped forward. He walked. More or less. He limped around quite a bit.

“If you say so.”

“You coming?”

Maleva joined him. She followed him.

“So, I truly defeated the monster?” He asked her out of curiosity.

“You did, but you weren’t yourself.”

“What do you mean? I was changed? I had the wolf ears and the tail and claws and the fangs?”

“Not quite. It was a lot worse than that. You were a real wolf. Walking around on two feet,” she finally admitted to him.