When fear is unconventional, it could make you do a lot of things. I rushed to the toilet. I opened the tap and quickly flushed away the drinks from my lips, my mouth. I dipped my hand inside my throat and vomited all the things I had eaten in the last few hours. I rinsed it all before I came out. I wasn’t still satisfied with what I had done. I remembered I had brought some suppressant with me the first day I left my father’s packhouse. The suppressants are not only meant for keeping male werewolves away from their female counterparts during the heat period but were designed with other unique qualities- that are special. It could help fight some heavy poisons and on some occasions where the power of the poison is too strong, it could help slow the speed of the spread.
I went through my bags, I didn’t mind if I would disorganize everything. I looked for them where had I kept them. I found the suppressants, inside a small pocket, right inside the bag.
I quickly swallowed three pills instead of two according to the prescription- an action I think was triggered by anxiety. Don’t blame me. I wanted to get rid of everything. I found a chilled water bottle inside my fridge, I drank some. I went back to bed and relaxed. I wasn’t exactly sure what could be used to measure the level of foolishness I had just displayed in front of the woman, Audrey. I had never done something as stupid as this before even though I had my reasons. The snowy old lady had just put me to test and I knew it. She came prepared. I had to put up some elements of surprise too. I knew she wouldn’t be expecting that decision that I took. I didn’t expect it myself anyway. But I had to take it because it seemed to be the only viable option at the moment.
I lay on my back and decided to relax my mind for a few minutes. I paid attention to my body, I listened to myself while lying down. I wanted to know if there would be anything I would notice about my body but I noticed none. I never knew my worry would soon degenerate into a plausible deep sleep. I thought I was the only one who had a monopoly on telling my body what to do. My body had its strata of decisions about how it wanted everything to be which almost entirely wasn’t under my command.
I thought it would be just a mere opening and closing of the eyes, but I woke up in the morning- feeling hot- to find out that I had spent more than six hours sleeping alone. I jumped out of the bed with an effort of little struggle and hurriedly hurdled myself into the bathroom. I sprinkled water on my body at least to maintain some kind of equilibrium between the environment and my body. Having done so, I slid into my clothes and then walked over to the window. I drew the curtains and looked over at the sky, it was getting dark. Shit!
Wait. Could it be that the reason why the snowy Audrey had come was just to delay me? Could it be that the poison I had been worried about was just a mere sleeping potion? Even at that, it would be very stupid of her to poison me with a sleep potion. Because I knew for sure that if I didn’t make it out outside on time, then the Alpha or perhaps Cynthia might come looking for me as soon as possible.
I shrugged and bounced up to my feet. I made it for the door but had little to no success. I felt a sharp pain in my head, deep inside my brain. It didn’t feel only like a headache, it was more like a migraine. Jingles rang inside my head in a slow and disturbing wave-like motion. I leaned against the wall, closed my eyes, and then began to slowly count my breath. I thought that would help but it offered little support. Could it be that the suppressant had an adverse effect I knew nothing about? But it wasn’t really my first time taking it before, so why the pain? I took in a long deep breath and walked away from my room still feeling grumpy. On my way out, I saw Cynthia dressed in all shades of black heading in my direction. At first, my vision failed to pick her up as that slender beautiful lady, rather, it recorded her as a female figure with no facial features.
“Hi Luna,” I heard her say. I could feel that excitement in her tone of voice. “My apologies for being late. Ran a lot of tasks for the preparation of the event we have tonight. Could have made it here earlier if my mind hadn’t skipped it totally.”
“None was taken,” I said. “You shouldn’t have bothered yourself coming. Would have found my way out.”
She bowed. “It’s my duty, Luna. You shouldn’t worry about such a thing.”
I kind of smiled even amid the pain. “Let’s go then. There’s no need of talking here all day.”
We both began to walk outside. It wasn’t like I was following her lead. No. I was walking beside her. I grabbed her hand with mine. Even though I had done that because I needed her support but, to be honest, I didn’t want her to suspect anything. My movement was kind of slowing down so there was a need for her support. “Are you alright?”
“Y-you mean me?” I asked.
“Yes. You are almost limping.”
“Am I?
“Of course, I have seen you walk. This isn’t your walking steps.”
Goodness! What is happening to me? “I will be fine.”
Cynthia frowned. “Are you sure? If you are not ready for any of this, you can let the Alpha know,” she said. “You don’t need to put pressure on yourself.”
“I said I will be fine. You worry too much.”
“You look worn out. Your eyes. . . they are darker.”
I crossed my hands over her neck, trying to make my face look as normal as possible. “Can we get going now? Please?” I begged.
She looked at me caringly for a while. “Okay. Let’s go.” I followed her, acting strong. I didn’t slow her down but I found myself burning more energy just to catch up with her speed. It continued to get darker when I looked outside, the moon was in its full size, bloodied. I could feel the energy coming from it, I was feeling twice as strong just by looking at it. The path we followed was narrowed up but surrounded by tall trees as though it was an artificial forest. I had initially underestimated how large the packhouse was.
“Are we there yet?” I said.
“Almost.” Cynthia was quick to reply.
“Oh, I can’t wait.”
It didn’t take long after her last statement, we transited into a large pathway. Not far from me, I began to see lots of what I suspect should be more than a dozen men and women gathered up. Someone had made a campfire and it illuminated the whole place which in real sense should have been very dark and scary as hell. As we approached, there was a loud howl from far in the semi-forest. There was also a sound of drums and chants. Getting closer, I saw that it wasn’t only the campfire that was the only source of illumination, there were candles too- more red candles than white candles- lined in a position that gave me the impression that this would also associate an initiation ceremony. That had been the whole idea, I guessed.
Most of the people I saw first were all members of the council of twelve. Yes, there was Simon there, Cecily, Princy, and Audrey. I looked at Audrey and she looked back at me, looking surprised. She studied me through raised and knitted brows before she turned around and vamoosed. I didn’t have a good feeling about it and I didn’t know why. This brought me back to start thinking about what I had just experienced on my way coming here. I wasn’t limping before Audrey came into my room. And I see no reason why I should be limping all of a sudden if she didn’t know something like this was going to happen. “Our Luna is here” the prefect shouted, sighting me. “All hail.”