His Soft Fur
● XXII ●

On the day back to school, I noticed something different. Well, I noticed I was being stared at by the Martin brothers. At first it didn't bother me because I've gone through this before, but I feel like today was worse, because they were staring at me and they were shocked.

I was sure I didn't do anything.

Yet, I could see Brendan and Channing together and they looked so surprised. I know they were staring at me, it's not like they would have that expression while staring at someone else.

I didn't say anything wrong, did I?

I haven't talked to anyone today.

I went to my locker, trying to use it as a shield so I wouldn't be stared at. When I shoved my book in my bag, I moved to close my locker but someone did it for me.

"You've got a different smell on you today, sweetheart." Cina leaned against the lockers and stopped me from leaving.

"What do I smell like, Cina?" I shouldn't entertain the conversation, and I know he was going to be sly, but I didn't stop myself when the words came out.

"Sex."

It took less than a second for me to realize why his brothers were staring at me. I smell different because of Ty. My face was getting hot and I could only stammer for words as I tried to come up with a lie to tell.

"We could notice that from a mile away." he smiled. "It's rather...inviting." he was coming closer, but I pressed my hand on his chest to stop him. "C'mon, sweetheart." he did try.

"I'm not like that, Cina." I warned him.

"That smell says you are." he didn't seem concerned by what he was saying.

No wonder everyone was staring at me. They know what happened between me and Ty without him even telling them. I hope that this doesn't set them off, but Cina took only seconds to try and make his move. That's rather rude.

"He treat you well?"

"That's a really personal question." I was about to shove him away from me but he took my wrist.

"Trust me, we'll all find out what he did to you soon enough."

I think I was more terrified that if Ty were to be around his brothers while they are wolves, he'll spill everything. I couldn't hide that revelation from my face.

"If you ever need something more," Cina leaned closer to me, way too close to be okay with. No one ever bats an eye lash because Cina does this to absolutely anyone and everyone. "You know where to find me." he whispered.

I have to talk to Ty about this. Cina is going to be all hot and horny as long as he knows something is happening.

I didn't have to push Cina away, he turned to leave on his own. I was going to go find Ty because this is definitely something we need to control, but the bell rang and I had to go to class.

I could still feel the Martin brothers staring at me.

I was attacked by the twins next. Already knowing that they aren't the nicest in the bunch, I wasn't excited to hear their remarks about what they know and what they're about to know.

"He finally hit it?" They both asked me as they wrinkled their noses.

"Can you not ask questions like that?"

"We could smell you a mile away." They said, just like Cina.

I was upset now.

"It's like...heavy." One twin said.

"And drowning." the other added. "But also intoxicating." he said and his brother agreed.

"I can't do anything about it." I told them. "And please don't talk about it. We didn't know it would be like this."

"Yeah, right." They started laughing.

"You know, I heard you like Monique Shaw." I didn't want to keep talking about me. They need to leave me alone. Their smile faded rather quickly. "Thought you could impress her with your graffiti?"

"We did pretty well."

"I'm gonna have to see that one for myself." I said because I didn't believe them. "And which one of you is going to date her?" I asked, but I didn't stick around for the answer. I walked into class as I let them let the question settle.

They both can't date her.

That should shut them up for a while. I just need to get through the day without someone asking me if what happened actually happened.

I went out to see the vandalism in the evening. I told my dad I was going for a walk to clear my head so I could study, and he bought that.

I have to admit that the twins did a pretty good job with their images. But it was nothing compared to the girls they were trying to impress. I know these two girls, and I immediately knew it was their graffiti the second I saw it.

No one will turn them in.

A concerned parent has to be all self righteous to want to say something.

I liked it though.

The images of the wolves were the best ones. There was a white wolf painted large all over this one bulldozer and it was done well. On another one was a black wolf. There were images of other animals and words and all that.

As the sun began to set, one of the images began to glow because of the ink. I think that one was my favorite to look at. I liked the detail.

People really do care about what's going on here and are trying to fight it. The vandalism was just another way to show that, the images of the animals, the forest before part of it got taken down, how the community was before.

I could stare at this all night.

That's how much I liked it.

“What are you doing here?”

I whipped around quickly to see the twins behind me. My heart was racing so fast in my chest, I thought it was one of the construction workers or police. I almost died.

“I told you I was coming to see it myself." I turned back around to stare some more.

“Told you we did a good job." They both said to me as they stood next to their art. "We're creative."

"Okay." I didn't have anything to say to that. "So is that. And that." I pointed to both Sarah's and Monique's images of the forest and the wolves.

"I think we can compete with theirs." One twin said.

"I think Monique liked it." The other said.

"I hope so. We were up all night the other day."

They must really like her. And it didn't rattle them that they both can't date her. Well they can try but I don't think she'd be interested...then again, it's not like we're all telling everyone who or what we're interested in.

"I like the ones with the wolves." I was standing in front of the one with the white wolf. My fingers ran over the dried paint, almost wishing I could bury my fingers in the wolf's fur.

"I like the forest one." One twin said.

"Really? I thought you would've liked the glow in the dark one."

"I know you would like it. It's cool though."

"The forest one is cool, too..."

They proceeded to cut me out of the conversation effectively, like usual. I shouldn't be surprised by that.

I was staring at the art so I wasn't bothered. I enjoyed the view. I wonder what might happen next. Where would people vandalize next? Conrod is starting other projects and it's aggravating, so I can expect more to happen.

“Your smell is going away." One twin said.

"Thanks, Lowe." I said plainly.

"It's Lowell." The other corrected. I turned to them slowly. Lowe talks a lot. His brother, not as much.

"I'm pretty sure Ty is itching to leave his mark again." Lowell laughed. I was sure he was Lowell because he likes being a tease.

"It's breading season."

"Sure is when the rest of us has to deal with the smell."

"Can't you..." I didn't know what to tell them but I was annoyed. "Can't you two stop?" I asked them. "I said I didn't know that would happen, okay-"

"Relax, Gabriel." They told me to get me to stop complaining.

I was frustrated at this point.

The twins kept talking behind me as they moved around, touching everything and comparing the art that was still visible.

Someone shouted from across the street. "Who's out there?" We all stopped moving.

There were multiple people running towards us.

Our first instincts were to run and we did, right into the forest. It probably wasn’t the best choice but people were coming for us and this is probably the only way to lose them. I didn’t think twice about taking off into the remainder of the forest and the twins were right behind me. We heard the shouting of the men following us and yelling at us to stop running.

As we got deeper into the forest, it started to get darker because of the tall trees. I was surprised the twins didn't run past me, I know they can take off to get to a safe space. They stayed behind me and I did my best to run fast. It wasn't so dark that I couldn't find my way around. I used to play in these forests all the time.

But we had to hide, and it was getting darker because of the setting sun.

We can't hide out here forever. We can only run so much further before being blinded by the dark. I won't be able to move around as much as the twins. They pulled me with them, guiding me along because they could see better than I could.

Something caught my ankle and I tripped forward. One of the twins tried to grab on to my jacket but his fingers slipped and I fell on the ground. I rolled down the slope of the hill. I tried to move up more to slow down, but I hit my head on something.

I couldn't remember what happened after that because next thing I know, both my arms were outstretched and my wrists were being held. My body was dangling over something but I wasn't thinking about that. The side of my face was wet and I couldn't see.

I was being pulled up and it was pretty fast, too. My arms were held, my jacket was being pulled on. I just didn't have the strength to move.

Everything felt like it was spinning. I was nauseous and felt like I was about to pass out. When I was on the ground again, I touched my cheek and felt the wetness on my finger tips.

I was confused.

"Are you okay?" One of them asked me.

I couldn't find my voice. I tried to talk but I was shaking and cold and I knew something was wrong.

When I didn't answer, they began to panic.

I felt one of them touch my head, and I winced from the immediate pain. I even slapped their hand away because it hurt so bad.

"He hit his head."

"There's a lot of blood..."

My ears were starting to ring so I wasn't sure if I heard them. One of them tried to touch my head again, and I know they were trying to help but I didn't want them making my dizziness and headache worse.

"Please, stop." I said quietly, almost begging them.

"We have to stop the bleeding." They told me.

One of them held me still because I started to fight them. Not hard apparently because they didn't use that much force on me. I felt something press on my wound and I almost shouted from the pain. It hurt badly.

"Sorry." One of them apologized but the pressure didn't stop.

"I think I'm going to be sick." I warned them, but they still held on to me.

We were huddled against a tree in the dark. There was yelling not too far off, but I wasn't sure if I was hearing anything right. I think the workers were still trying to find us.

There was a small light, one of them had their phone out. I looked away from the light even if it was dull in the darkness.

"Brendan's coming." One of them said. The other was trying to wipe my face. I was just blankly staring up as he rubbed my face with his sleeve.

"Gabriel." They tried to get my attention.

"I'm f-fine." I was shivering and my head hurt.

I just want to go home.

"The others are coming." They said.

There were people searching for us. They'll say we're the ones vandalizing everything and we'll get arrested. The voices didn't sound so close, so maybe we were safe. Maybe because it's dark out, they'll leave us alone.

Then I heard growling and the twins were moving around beside me. I wasn't sure who it was. The twins were still holding on to me to keep me upright since I was leaning forward. I told them I felt sick but they weren't listening to me.

Someone ran towards us but the twins hadn't moved.

“I smell blood.” Brendan complained.

“Gabriel’s hurt.” They said together.

I felt something move over my shoulders. I grabbed it and wrapped it around me to keep me warm.

“I got it from here." Brendan told them. "Cina needs help.”

I didn't know what they were doing and I didn't ask them. The twins were gone and I felt Brendan put his arms around me to keep me up.

Then he touched my head and I tried to push him away. He just moved my hands down and he started to tie something around my head over my wound. I had felt a few drops of blood on my face again before he took care of it. My head was pounding again because he touched it.

“How the hell did you hit your head?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” I don't remember.

“Ty's not going to be happy.” he said.

Where's Ty?

I want to go home.

“I’m sorry.” I said.

“For what?" He seemed confused that I was apologizing.

“This wouldn’t be happening if I stayed in my house.” I sighed.

My parents are going to kill me. I told them I would be home in ten minutes, and that's not what happened. I am in so much trouble.

"We just need to get you to a hospital without getting caught." He said.

Seems easier said than done.

I don't know what's happening. I couldn't hear much more because of the ringing in my ears. My eyes were closed tight because I was still dizzy but that didn't help at all.

“Where’s Ty?” I asked.

“He’s out there.” Brendan said.

He's probably going to kill someone. If Brendan could smell my blood, I know he could, too.

“You don’t want to go help?” I asked.

“I’m the only human person at the moment.” he said. "Someone has to get you out of here. You can't go anywhere by yourself."

“I'm fine."

“Yeah." He didn't believe me.

We waited for a little bit. At least I think it was a little bit. I wasn't sure what was happening. My heart began beating hard as I started to doze off just to wake me up. I think I knew better than to fall asleep but I couldn't help it. I was so tired and dizzy.

There were a few gun shots among the screaming and shouting. By then I was gasping for air, but I didn't like how cold the air felt. Everything was a blur for a second because I heard more shouting.

Brendan didn't seem frightened by it. Even the last gunshot didn't make him tense.

It was completely silent for a second. I might have fallen asleep but then Brendan moved me.

“It should be okay to leave.” he said.

I couldn’t move.

He helped me up slowly. I was shaky on my feet but Brendan moved his arm around me to hold me up. My chest felt heavy and my heart was still beating hard. I don't think I could stay up much longer. I couldn't feel my legs anymore. I needed more help or Brendan was going to have to carry me. I held on to his jacket but my fingers were shaking and I couldn't get a good grip.

I wasn't going to make it.

There was something that nudged my shoulder. I felt a huff of air against me as I held my hand out. I couldn't see but I felt Ty's fur against my fingers. I heard the small whine that came from him as he rubbed against me.

"I'm okay." I whispered.

But being up made me tired.

I could barely feel a thing.

I think I passed out.

I was slipping in and out of consciousness. Sometimes I would wake up to see I was being carried. Then I would see lights and hear voices another time. Then I would hear crying in the next. The more I slipped, the harder it was to stay conscious. I would only get a second of reality, maybe even less. Or it might have been some dream. Someone tried to talk to me but I don't know what happened there. I couldn't talk.

Everything was such a blur.

When my eyes opened again, I was staring up at the ceiling. I didn't know where I was. It wasn't my room but I was laying in bed. There was something over my mouth and nose that made it easier to breathe.

I was in the hospital.

Ty was sitting next to me, holding my hand.

My head still hurt and I had this pounding in my ears that made me nauseous. It was so uncomfortable that I wanted to be out again. Then I remembered what happened before, at least part of it and I began to freak out.

I couldn't say anything but I was panicking.

My parents are not going to be happy.

"Gabriel." Ty noticed that I was getting anxious. My heart rate was getting faster and we both heard it. He pushed my hair back from my face as he tried to calm me down. "You're fine." He told me.

I have no idea what happened but it's all my fault. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I was so scared of what my parents might do to me, or what happened with those workers. I can't remember anything.

"Please, calm down." He told me and he tried to help but I couldn't.

He let go of my hand and rushed out of the room. I didn't want him to leave, but he came back with a doctor. I was having an anxiety attack and I couldn't calm down even if I told myself to breathe.

So I was put under again.

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