Chapter 27: Hallucination?

Alvis lifted his eyes which glinted with hope, "I haven't used up my chance. I can enter the forest and look for the wolf for you." He suggested.

Duran stood up immediately, "That's not possible. You can't risk your life like that." He refused the idea, shaking his head. Alvis stood up too and walked closer to him, "Duran, you have used up the only chance to go into that forest while I've never even seen it before ---" He tried to convince him.

Duran threw Alvis's hands that were on his shoulders away angrily, "Exactly! That's the point. You don't know that forest and you have never seen it before. I and my friends are the only ones that understands the danger that lurks in that godforsaken place." He shouted, his stomach rumbling in annoyance of the fear that he might lose his best friend.

"I understand but --" Alvis wanted to speak. Duran cut him short, "You are human. I can't allow you be endangered because of my predicament. We will find the wolf that bit me some other way." Duran finalized and Alvis sighed, giving up.

Duran slept in Alvis's house since his parents had gone on a trip, "You have any plans for tomorrow?" Alvis asked, feeling bored of the long stretched silence between them. "Just baseball training and attend a few classes, that's all." Duran answered with his eyes closed.

Alvis nodded and slept off sooner than expected but Duran couldn't sleep. He kept tossing around and around on the bed. Unaware of what was happening to him, he stood up to go shower for the third time in twenty minutes. It seemed like his skin was on fire, his inner muscles and bones ached him.

It was strange. His fingernails, toenails and teeth gums were scratching him so hard that he fills like ripping them off. His eyes felt heavy was obviously red from him rubbing it repeatedly. "God...." Duran exclaimed in a low voice, almost unable to control everything he was feeling.

One of the windows was opened by him. With the fresh air hitting his skin, everything increased. At one go, he jumped through the window, landing on the ground roughly. "Fuck!" Alvis jumped up in fear due to the sound. He sighed when he saw the window opened and Duran absent in the room.

Alvis sat on the chair, in front of his laptop and began to research. He was sure something more was going on with Duran but he just couldn't pinpoint it yet. "Werewolves are prone to be exceedingly hot tempered and with their nature, they are naturally aggressive." He started reading, reading and reading, connecting everything to his friend's werewolf behaviors.

In the woods, Duran ran as fast as his legs could carry him. In the next minute, his knees came in contact with the ground forcefully. His hands held his head as he grunted into the dark night. "Ahh! --" Duran watched his hands grow out claws. He used those claws to touch his teeth just to feel fangs growing out. His ears had grown bigger too.

"Can I ever get used to this?" Duran whispered heartbroken. His eyesight wasn't the same like a normal human's. It was emitting like a red light, to be able to see where he was going. Duran puffed out cold breath, trailing his hands on his face - it was hairy which meant if he looked in the mirror, he would be staring at a complete werewolf as himself.

Duran ran long and short distances with a heavy heart, just to cool down his werewolf side. That wolf brought this on him, he shouldn't have suffered that bite. After some minutes, he walked back to Alvis's house as a shirtless human.

AT SCHOOL ✓

Duran tried as much as possible to avoid trouble, he tried. "We really need to be in field right now." Alvis pushed him towards the field, out of the changing room. He was trying to follow his friend everywhere as he isn't human again and to protect him because the last he went on field, he had his werewolf complete change.

The field was filled with students, seniors and juniors - they came to have fun, watching their training. "You have fifteen seconds to prepare." The coach blew the whistle. Some of them warmed up, jogged around while some only practiced with the ball.

"You should play with some sense and potential today." The coach informed and Duran swallowed before nodding. "Are you sure you wanna play?" Alvis asked, his eyes traveling towards Kaleb and his friends talking like they were mocking Duran. "I'm not quitting." Duran replied with gritted teeth.

The training started, everythinh was going the normal way it should be until the ball was passed to Duran. The strength came from nowhere when he gripped the ball. He ran past every of his opponents and slammed the ball into the net. "Yes!!!" The crowd screamed at the first goal since they've started.

Duran relaxed, feeling excited. Is this how it feels? Under another minute, the ball was in his custody again. He dribbled most of the players, including Kaleb who tried his best to seize the ball from him. The net was open, Duran jumped and slammed it in again, another goal. "That's it, boy." The coach shouted surprisingly.

Alvis wasn't entirely surprised because he knew where the strength was coming from, "You played so well --" "We need you amongst those players now."...."You should partake in the first match coming up next week." Different people came to meet Duran, he was smiling throughout with his bag on one of his shoulders.

Alvis shook his head, dragging him away from people, into one of the classrooms. "What are you doing?" He asked, his hands on Duran's shirt. "What am I doing? I don't understand. We just finished training --" Duran was surprised as he pointed to where they were coming from, the training field.

"I mean, the next week match." Alvis admitted, "Oh...." Duran smiled, "I think I might be able to play. Did you see those shots I gave? It was simply crazy that I could jump so high like that." He recounted, smiling hard. Alvis sighed, "You could do all those because you aren't human anymore."

Duran covered his mouth, moving him away from the classroom to somewhere seclusive. "What do you mean by that?" He asked, adjusting his bag. "Remember you were one of the slowest players a week ago and now, you are suddenly one of the best players. Don't you get it?" Alvis explained.

"Werewolves possesses great strength. Their bones, muscles and reflexes will be ten times stronger than that of a human. That was what happened today. Your werewolf abilities is growing rapidly and if you are not careful in the school, people might be suspicious or even find out --" Duran covered the remaining words against his friend's mouth.

Alvis sighed, "Are you sure you still want to be a player in next week match?" He asked again, hoping to hear the right answer. One of the lockers slammed close and back open, books pouring out of it which made the both of them jump in fear.

"Fuck you!" The voice of a frustrated and annoyed lady sounded as she struggled to fix both the locker and her books. Duran was lost staring at her - her long brown hair and the way she dressed. Instinctively, he bent to help her out with the books and their eyes met. He wouldn't deny being captivated finally with her eyes, God.

Alvis rolled his eyes, laughing silently. He has never seen Duran look at a lady that way, ever. "Are you new ---" Duran was about asking, "You are the hot player everyone is talking about." She cut him off, smiling brightly. Duran adjusted his bag again, the whole school already knows about today's training?

"Um, I'm not sure I'm the hot one ---" Duran stuttered, glancing at Alvis for help. "My name is Ines. I'm also in your class." She stretched her hand forward for a shake, her bright smile radiating all over Duran who sluggishly accepted the shake. "I will see you around." Ines said, giving her locker a lock.

Duran nodded as he paved way for her to pass so she could be on her way, "Wait, I haven't told you my name." He motioned for her to stop. "Everyone knows your name, senior Duran." Ines smiled, turning to the left direction. Duran watched her back till he couldn't see her again.

"Snap out of it!" Alvis slapped the back of his head, "I love her smile." Duran whispered, still looking at the direction she took. "Everyone likes her smile." Alvis replied. "What? You know her?" --- "Ines is quite popular as a fresher. Maybe because of her long hair and beautiful face. She competes with Fiona, the popular girl in the whole school." Alvis explained.

Duran was surprised, how come he doesn't know anything about this before now? They kept on talking till they were outside the school gate. "I have to go home today, yunno ---" While Duran was talking, Alvis felt someone or something was off.

There, opposite them, in the woods was someone standing akimbo, staring intently at them. No, at Duran. "I want to introduce you to ---" Duran snapped him back to reality. Alvis looked back to the particular spot, the person was gone - was it an hallucination?