Chapter 12

Three kilometers into my pedometer and I can’t run anymore. We didn’t have a proper warm-up. And the rule was that we can’t walk around. My muscles were soaring and I can’t handle this anymore.

I was gasping. I needed water to hydrate myself. I lost more than a liter by all the sweat all over my body. Angelo was either beside or behind me. I was never behind him.

There’s a huge gap between our conditions. At this moment, I already lost all my energy. But he’s fine as if he didn’t run at all. It made sense that he’d been doing this since the day he trained her.

I wanted to stop. I wanted to quit. But quitting is for weak people. It is for those who can’t handle things anymore. If I didn’t continue to train here, I wouldn’t be able to gain the strength to protect my brothers. This isn’t just for me, I reminded myself. This is for my brothers and justice on the death of our parents.

Then I collapsed on the ground. I can handle it, but my body cannot run for more. Aside from not being trained enough, I was never a physically active person. The longest run that I had was two to three kilometers. At that point, I’m already exhausted. Multiplying it by ten means death.

“Catherine!” Angelo stopped from running. Others glanced at me and pretended they didn’t see anything. My face hit the dirt. I wasn’t able to move more, even crawl the ground. Everything in my body was sore. “We should fetch for help.”

I don’t know if someone’s going to help me. Everyone seemed to focus on their distance.

My face was dumped into a speck of dirt that smells like poop. I hate being here. I wanted to stand, but it wasn’t an option for my body which had collapsed. My pedometer was a few inches from me. I glanced in the distance. Five points twenty-six kilometers. At least I did more than a quarter of the original goal of twenty. Who the hell can run for twenty kilometers straight?

“Can you wait here? I’ll call Chaz.”

My head moved slowly into a nod. “Yeah…” My voice was rattling. Did I even have sleep? Can I even survive the next days after this? Will Chaz even accept me as a student?

Angelo left me alone. He called Chaz’s name even from the distance. A foot stomped in front of me—the shoes resembled Stacey’s.

“This is just the start of your journey. I don’t want Kaz to utter your name next week that you quit. You’re more than that, half-blood.” After what she said, she foxed away from me. Stacey’s words were a bit motivational. Her point was that quitting shouldn’t be an option.

I won’t quit. Unless I die today or tomorrow.

A few minutes after, Chaz arrived at the scene. I thought he was going to laugh at my almost dead situation. He didn’t speak but he carried my body carefully. I didn’t know where he was going to bring me. Before I close my eyes, I smelled his rosy perfume and saw Angelo’s worried face.

…

I woke up inside an airconditioned white room. This isn’t a hospital. The walls were dark gray and there were a whole lot of things inside. Men’s shoes on the ground, a black backpack, a brown wooden table, and a lamp beside the table. I tried to crawl up from lying on the bed when my ankle cracked and I screamed for pain.

Chaz rushed inside. On his hands were a bottle of water and a mug with steam rising from it. “You’re already awake.”

“Everything sores. I think I’m going to die.”

“You’re not going to die. It’s your fault that you’re in that state.”

I crumpled my forehead. “I wouldn’t be at this fault if you didn’t ask me to run for twenty kilometers.”

“And now you’re quitting?” He didn’t answer my question.

“No. I’m not.” I hope everything’s going to be alright.

“Good. You’re in that state because you’re a fool to follow everything that I’ve said.” He smirked. What does he mean? “There’s a third aspect in this training—strategic training. You need to be smart. And sometimes you shouldn’t follow everything that someone told you. No matter how strong you are, it’s nothing you can’t plan a great strategy.”

“I don’t want to get another punishment.”

“That’s not a punishment. That’s a test. And you failed it. I wasn’t watching you run. I was sipping my early morning coffee when Angelo called. You can walk back and forth to fill up the pedometer. You can stop at five kilometers because I don’t check it.”

“Why are you telling me all these? It looks like you’re telling me not to do all the training anymore.”

“I’m telling you that there are cheats for everything. Just like what you did earlier, I was surprised to find you not meditating at all. You’re the first one who didn’t follow my rules. I bet you’re a bit informed. You still be needing physical and mental training, but be strategic when you’re doing that.”

“You didn’t tell the others, right?” He nodded. “Then why did you tell me?”

“You’re special. I can scent it. Don’t tell the others.” He gave me the mug he was holding earlier. “Drink this and you’re going to be a little bit better afterward.”

He left the room. I was left with a steaming mug I don’t know what substance it is. Maybe it’s a potion like what Nana makes. I sip it. Bitter. Leafy. Since I drank tea before, it wasn’t that alien for me. I finished it and after an hour, I felt better.

…

I came back home without any sorer. Angelo was constantly asking me how I feel.

“I’m fine. You shouldn’t worry about me anymore,” I answered.

He smiled at me then I entered the house. It’s Saturday. My brothers were in the living room, laughing at the movie they were watching. Their laughs were music to my ears and I can’t stop myself from smiling.

They stopped when I showed myself up.

“Cath, have you eaten lunch?” Jay asked. “There’s food in the fridge. Or we can go out and eat outside?”

I missed spending time with them. Chaz’s potion—or whatever it’s being called truly helped the soreness of my muscle. The last time we go out together was a couple of months from now.

I grinned. “Can we go out from this town?”

Felix spoke, “I’m sure we do.”

We rode the car as soon as we decided to eat outside this town. I didn’t mind my grumbling stomach. We can wait for the food that we’re going to eat outside. And it’s going to be fully satisfied with the time I’m going to spend with my brothers.

Felix played a song in the background. It's a country song, which I didn't think he listens to. Most guys like rock music, but I think Felix also listens to other genres.

When I saw the sign ‘Thank You For Visiting Dusk and Dawn’, I felt a relief in my chest. It had been more than a month since I locked myself inside this town. It felt like staying inside a vacation house for a week and going out to see the world again.

We stopped by in a mall. First, we had lunch because our stomachs couldn’t handle hunger anymore. Then we go shopping. They bought me books, my favorite thing on Earth. We also played arcade games, winning nothing but candies. Though we didn’t win anything big, bonding with my brothers again was already a winning moment for me.

“I’ll just go to the comfort room,” I told them.

They smiled at me and let me go by myself. As I paced towards the comfort room, I saw a janitress standing outside.

“Is this the one for ladies?”

She nodded. “Yes.” She sniffed. Her eyes turned huge. Then she almost whispered, “Half-blood.”

Even though I wasn’t in the town of Dusk and Dawn, my identity wasn’t safe whenever I am with other werewolves. The truth is I can’t go back to my life before. An innocent Catherine who brings a book anywhere. Because as soon as I entered the town of Dusk and Dawn, I also embraced my identity as a half-blood wolf.