My New Home
Angie tried her best to keep her mind busy while waiting to be called and assigned a room. The feral had gone from sitting and fidgeting to pacing and scratching his arms. His head took turns jerking from one side to another as he walked from the entrance to the benches.
Krystal looked up at the feral, “Hey kid.”
He stopped and looked at Krystal, “Yeah?”
“I hate to say this, but if you don’t find a way to chill, I am going to have to tranq you, savy?”
The boy’s eyes flew open, “I can’t help it. I can’t stay still. I don’t know why.”
Krystal stood up and walked over to the boy.
He stood watching as she stopped and made eye contact with him one more time, “Do you want me to put you to sleep, hun? Would that help? That’s what a tranq is.”
The boy nodded, “I feel like I am going to crawl right out of my skin.”
Krystal pointed to his left arm, “I need your arm, hun.”
He held it out. She straightened it and poked him with a needle. By the time he got back to his seat, he fell into a deep sleep.
Krystal shook her head, “Poor thing. He doesn’t deserve his fate. No one does. I just hope he can take to training.”
Krystal must have noticed the shocked look on Angie’s face, “He’s not put down, hun. It’s just a tranquilizer designed for pups. He’s just taking a nap.”
“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean-”
The administrator waved a hand at Angie, “No offense taken, dear. Lorn only describes so much to people and nothing more. It’s why Gloria hates it when he is the one to transport young pups.”
Nick looked around that cave and wrinkled his nose at the smell. The pile of bones and rotting entrails told him all he needed to know about his sire. He made his way further into the cave until the light was no brighter than a candle and had to pinch his nose at the pile of skins in the rear corner. They had not been cleaned let alone tanned for use as pelts or leather. The smell made him wretch.
“You got a problem with the smell?”
Nick turned to see Armin with a deer across his shoulders, “You could at least tan the hides. Honestly? This place is disgusting.”
“The smell keeps bears out and nosy hunters from entering. You get used to it.”
“I highly doubt that.”
“What’s your name, pup?”
“Nick.”
“Well, Nick, I’m Armin, and you have a lot to learn about being a werewolf, a wild one. Lesson one is making your den safe for you are your pack. You do that by what you see here. Now, follow me.”
Nick followed Armin deeper into the cave to a cleaner spot that contained tanned hides, elevated beds, and a campfire, “You didn’t we would sleep up front, did you?”
Nick looked unpinched his nose, “Yeah, I kinda did. I thought you were a slob.”
Armin laughed, “You’re not the first.”
Angie was about to doze off herself when Krystal called out her name. She looked as the woman walked over to her with another female. “This is Jade, the den mother. She will show you to your room.”
Angie stood up and nodded, “Hello, Ma’am. I’m Angie.”
Jade smiled, “You have manners. Those are rare. You can call me Jade, hun. It’s fine. Come with me.”
They walked down the hall to an elevator. After going down two floors, the doors opened to another long hall. Painted cinderblocks lined the floor and walls between the steel doors.
Angie looked down the hall, “This looks like a prison.”
Jade sighed, “Yes, we know. However, everything else that was tried was shredded by ferals and pups that didn’t make it to the safe room in time.”
“Oh.”
Jade led her to the fourth room on the right and unlocked the door, “This is your room, sweetie.”
Angie was greeted with a single bed on the left of the room with a wooden headboard and footboard, shelves lining the back wall, and a writing desk with an executive chair. The closet, which was on the left of the room, revealed a chest of drawers on one side and plenty of room to hang clothing on the other two walls.
“You can request to have decorations delivered to personalize the room and cover the cinderblocks. Keep in mind that the decorations can be rescinded if you break the rules and destroy anything.”
“I understand. Does the requesting include a computer?”
Jade nodded, “Yes, but no outside wifi. So, you will need to be specific about the computer and the games you wish to have on it. You will not be able to download anything.”
“Got it.”
“That does not mean you won’t be able to play games with others. We do have our own network, and you are not the only gamer.”
“Cool.”
“I will also be your trainer. So, be ready tomorrow morning bright and early.”
“Yes, ma-, Jade.” “Breakfast is at 7 sharp and ends at 8. Lunch is at noon and dinner is at 6. If you miss any of the meals, you will get a light snack. We will not scold you, but if you consistently miss meals, you will be reevaluated to make sure you are not going feral or are having a hard time in general. We want you to be healthy and as happy as possible in your new life.”
Nick watched Armin dress the deer and throw the entrails at his own feet, “Take those to the pile toward the entrance. I need to finish dressing this so we can have something to eat.”
Nick looked around the cave with his lips pressed to the left of his mouth, “Um, how long until I turn?”
“The next full moon, but you have plenty of time before that comes around. In the meantime, you have to learn how to pull your weight and what to do when the moon changes you.”
“Right.” Nick picked up the guts and walked toward the entrance.
He called back to Armin, “What do you do with the bod-”
Armin was there before Nick could react and had covered the kid’s mouth with his hand, “Your voice carries. You need to ask questions? You do it in the back, not at the cave mouth. Jesus.”
He uttered a muffled, “Sorry.”
Armin waved for him to follow and went to the rear of the cave. Once they were around the fire, Armin looked at the kid, “There are two groups out there, kid: cops and the Paranormal Preservation Society. I have no clue what the first group does when they find them. Log it down as a serial killer for all I know. If the second group finds them, they park themselves in the general area until they find the wild ones and dispose of the bodies in case I screwed up and made a pup.”
“So there is a government-”
“They’re not government, kid. For all I know, if the government found out about them, the dissections would begin or some crap. The government is way worse.”
Angie sat on her bed as Jade closed the door behind her. The lights were soft as they lit up the room. She fell backward onto the mattress.
Holy… It’s memory foam!
Looking at the ceiling, she saw there was an attempt made to mask the cinderblocks. There were tiles in a chevron pattern. The walls had a faux finish to make them look like sheetrock. She shifted from the bed to the desk and sat in the chair. She opened the three drawers in the oak desk and noticed one was deep enough for files.
Who files stuff anymore? Don’t these people use a cloud system?
The middle drawer had a pad and pen. She took them out and started writing down things she needed.
After everyone had been assigned to their rooms, Krystal and Jade found themselves in the break room sharing tea.
Krystal put ice cubes in her tea, “Out of all the admits you’ve put in rooms, which one do you think will do well?”
Jade stirred honey into her tea as she looked at the ceiling, “I don’t know. I am leaning toward Angie, but she may show some homesickness or depression. We have to keep an eye on her.”
Krystal nodded, “Noted. Sadly, I don’t think the feral is going to make it. His medical came back.”
“And?”
“His mental state is highly unstable. When we acquired his medical records, it turns out he was diagnosed with ADHD.”
Jade sucked air through her teeth and looked pained, “Yeah, ferals with ADHD don’t have the best track record. We will definitely have to see what we can do to help that one.”
“Jade the last one that was like this one didn’t make it.”
Jade looked at Krystal, “I won’t lose another feral, even if I have to bite him myself. He’s a child, Krystal.”
Krystal stopped lifting her cup and her jaw dropped, “You can’t do that. The council will never approve, Jade.”
Jade stood, “I don’t care. I am tired of feral after feral being put down because their sire was not cautious. There has to be another way.”
“I know you get attached to every pup in your den, but you have to come to terms with the fact some just don’t make it.”
Jade spun and met eyes with her friend, “Don’t tell a mother wolf one of her pack isn’t going to make it.” She sat down and took a sip of her tea, “Sorry, I can’t help it. Has anyone ever tried to rebite a pup?”
Krystal looked down at the table, “Not to my knowledge. No one knows what would happen.”
“It might be time to find out.”
House of Geek 