A Gift from the Goddess

"You were never meant to grow up in a city like this.Our kind stays together for a reason."

I could hear what Kieran was saying, but I was struggling to fully grasp it.

‘‘Not human"

‘‘Our kind’.

‘‘Werewolf’.

The words kept swimming around in my head.

An explanation that seemed too impossible to believe.

And yet, at the same time, what he was saying somehow made sense.

He was right.

I wasn’t human.

A part of me had always known that, dating back to when I was a child.I was never like the other kids at the house.

Turning eighteen had just manifested that part of me in the form of a beast.

So...was this what had been missing then? I was a werewolf? Like in those scary stories? Like...in those *monster* movies...? 

".How do I make it go away?" I asked after a few moments, my voice barely louder than a whisper.

"How do I stop being...a werewolf? To be normal?"

"Raven...it’s a part of who you are.There isn’t any way to remove it."

"But I don’t want to live with this burden of losing control at any moment," I argued.

"I can’t afford to have slips when things go wrong, or have this constantly interfering with every little thing I do.I’m living in a nightmare every time I lapse."

He took another few cautious steps towards me but I didn’t back away this time.

With every word he spoke, my resolve to push him away faded a little bit more.It was as though his presence had a soothing effect on m e and I couldn’t deny that I needed that right now.

"..It doesn’t have to be a curse," he said slowly.

"I can help you manage it.You didn’t grow up learning about the things you needed to...but I can teach you.It’s not too late."

He held out a hand to me, as if inviting me to take it.

Offering me something that no one else had ever before; A chance to live my life without fear.

...But what would it cost me?

 "I just need you to trust me, Raven," he said, making my gaze shift from his hand to his eyes Familiar.

There was familiarity when I looked at him, the same feeling I’d experienced when I first met him.

As if I'd always known him.

Whatever this reaction to him was, it was strong enough to sway every behaviour in my life.

If I believed him and accepted that this influence wasn’t due to foul intervention, then did that mean that my body had been telling me to trust him this whole time? That it was recognising in him the same condition I was born with? Was that just a normal connection between what we were? However, getting close to someone was dangerous.

Especially someone who I was meant to have investigated and then disappeared from entirely.

If my father found out about this.......But wouldn’t my father be just as upset if I continued to fail because of what I was? Medications, strict daily routines and punishments had been the only ‘solutions’ given to me up until now.

Solutions that clearly didn’t work since it continued to happen regardless.

Kieran wasn’t pretending to offer me a solution, filling my head with false promises if I kept conforming to the rules.He was offering me a way to take back control despite that very issue plaguing me.

A way to learn how to harness it instead.

"..Will I be able to stop the blackouts from happening?" I asked carefully, taking a slow step towards him.

"And the sickness? Will I stop wanting t o throw up every time it’s about to happen?"

His brow furrowed slightly at what I said.

"...Blackouts? I can’t say I’ve heard of that being a common symptom...but it’s possible you’ve been fighting against yourself too much.The more you try to stop the shift from happening, the more painful and uncontrollable the whole process is.I can walk you through it and help you so that it won’t happen."

He sounded so genuine that I wanted to believe him.

In fact, it was increasingly becoming harder to deny those feelings inside, the ones urging me to just run to him already.

But it was those very feelings that brought me here today.I still needed answers.

"And this...thing...between us.These feelings...," I vaguely said, my cheeks starting to burn a little.

I was used to faking romantic interest in people, but this was different.

It was an uncomfortable new situation for me.

spoke about at the

"The sparks?" he clarified.

trying to push through

thing between

was his turn to shuffle

bit of a complicated question," he fumbled as

something that had been bothering me since the day we met.I needed to know if there was

stop?" I pressed when he still didn’t

Oh.

the wrong question to

a look on his face that

there was something else there

you want it

I felt as an ache pulsed in my chest, the question bringing with it a

much connection to someone

this couldn’t

was far stronger than anything I’d ever felt before, a gravitation pull around him that

was? I couldn’t be the only one who found this

then another question came to mind, taking me b

want the feelings to go away? Truly? It was at that very thought that

a bit, trying to get over it, but ended up wincing involuntarily

"Hey, you okay?"

ask, but

probably overwhelming yourself too

was probably true.I’d spent the last few days

was worn out and still

though I still

his hands softly moving mine out of the way so he

he repeated, feeling

was so

the burning started to ease, and I

had happened today.So

have been pushing

Wait...

today...

today....

Oh shit.

about Noah in

to hide the slight falter

need to leave.I have someone waiting for me.Before I go though...I

of me didn’t want to, but I gently took

warmth were already far

need to know how to shut out the voices," I

I need to d o, almost as though it’s a mental

you mean

**BRRRRRRRRT

* **

BRRRRRRT

** ..Huh? 

**BRRRRRRRRT*

 **BRRRRRRT*¥* 

into my pocket to grab it, finding the burner phone I’d brought with

a jolt of surprise, I saw the number flash across the screen and recognised

have to take this...," I said turning around, and proceeded to hit the ‘answer’

voice on the other

throat, I tried to sound as natural as

"Hi, Zac."

you had a job tonight but you didn’t call yet.It’s been a few hours.Is

" uh..."

would think it

meant to be cleaning

was still very

...Fuck.

postpone," I lied, conscious of the fact

I’d

"What? Rae, I thought—."

praying that he’d pick up on

then it would make this more complicated than it needed

to call you once

"Who—."

"Bye, Zac."

I quickly

there was a

thought to myself, ‘please don’t let Zac tell my father

the phone call brought yet

what exactly do you do for work that keeps you busy until almost one o’clock in the morning?" came Kieran’s

I froze at the

job descriptions I thought of, but I kept that t

For obvious reasons.