shift.
“But you can stop , Jason! You can walk away from all of this and go back to living a normal life! I can’t!” She clenched her fists.
“Normal? How the fuck do I go back to normal after this? Could you live as a human knowing how many of them you’ve killed?” I took a deep breath, struggling to stay human. “Just… change me. It doesn’t have to be about sex. I don’t care what it does to me; I can take care of you forever.”
“I can take care of myself.” She moved past me toward the tree.
“No you can’t. Have you even looked in a fucking mirror? You turned an innocent child into a monster, and I’ve been waiting here the whole time.”
She stopped, but didn’t turn. “I screwed up with Abby… but she has Sarah now, and Sarah will love her the way she deserves.” She shook her head. “It’s just the virus, Jason… if we weren’t connected, you wouldn’t even think twice about me.”
“Goddamn it , Ash! Don’t try to tell me what I feel isn’t real. That’s a bunch of bullshit and you know it.”
She dropped her head and sighed.
“Ash, please,” I whispered.
She looked at me. “What do you want from me , Jason?”
“I want you to love me the way that I love you.”
“What about her? What happens when you run into her again? You’ll leave me.” Her eyes danced over my face. “Love isn’t something you shop for. You can’t just wake up one day and decide who you do and don’t love.”
“I didn’t choose this. I do love you.”
“But not like you think… you’ll always love her more.”
I winced at the tug in my chest.
“See?” she said. “It won’t go away. All of the pleasure, from every woman you’ve ever been with won’t compare to what you’ll find with her.” She headed back to the tree.
“If you’re too scared to, I could have Sarah do it. Her virus is the original.”
She stopped to glare at me. “I won’t allow it.”
“You’re not in charge, no one is! The Quatre is dead! There are no more rules! I’ll do whatever the fuck I want!” My body shuddered as I kept a grip on my human form. Her rejection made my blood boil.
She watched my face carefully. Oz.
The tug was strong and physical. I took a step to steady myself and looked at Ash. A single black tear rolled down her cheek.
“If you really love me, you’ll go to her,” she said.
Ash ran toward the tree and I growled loudly. I let the shift take hold as vertigo filled me. I was suddenly on all four s as pieces of cloth dropped around me. Ash disappeared beneath the tree, and I unleashed a roar. Then I ran.
8 THE STRANGER
Running always took my mind off things. Some people got mad and fought, some got mad and screamed. I got mad, turned into a werewolf, and ran. There was something soothing about running through the forest, leaping and jumping off overgrown trees and sword ferns. It was freeing to be what I truly was and not think of anything else.
I ran down to the beach. I knew Ash wasn’t going to follow. When I ran out onto the wet sand no one else was there. The tide was receding and I sat in my werewolf shift and watched the water as it rolled onto the beach. I wanted to enjoy a few minutes of solidarity with the sea.
I watched the waters churn for a long time. After a while I felt a strange sensation, as if I were being watched. I looked back toward the path up the cliff, then across the beach. I didn’t see anyone. Then I looked out at the broken rocks stretching from the shore.
A girl was on a rock, close to the water’s edge. Beautiful seemed like an insult. She was much more. The girl posed seductively on the rock and dipped her oddly shaped hand in the water. Was she wearing strange gloves? She looked up at me with large brown doe-like eyes. Her dark brown curly hair fell over her breasts and down to her waist. I’m sure that any other time I would have studied her nude body, but I couldn’t take my eyes from hers.
The sound of the
“But you can stop , Jason! You can walk away from all of this and go back to living a normal life! I can’t!” She clenched her fists.
“Normal? How the fuck do I go back to normal after this? Could you live as a human knowing how many of them you’ve killed?” I took a deep breath, struggling to stay human. “Just… change me. It doesn’t have to be about sex. I don’t care what it does to me; I can take care of you forever.”
“I can take care of myself.” She moved past me toward the tree.
“No you can’t. Have you even looked in a fucking mirror? You turned an innocent child into a monster, and I’ve been waiting here the whole time.”
She stopped, but didn’t turn. “I screwed up with Abby… but she has Sarah now, and Sarah will love her the way she deserves.” She shook her head. “It’s just the virus, Jason… if we weren’t connected, you wouldn’t even think twice about me.”
“Goddamn it , Ash! Don’t try to tell me what I feel isn’t real. That’s a bunch of bullshit and you know it.”
She dropped her head and sighed.
“Ash, please,” I whispered.
She looked at me. “What do you want from me , Jason?”
“I want you to love me the way that I love you.”
“What about her? What happens when you run into her again? You’ll leave me.” Her eyes danced over my face. “Love isn’t something you shop for. You can’t just wake up one day and decide who you do and don’t love.”
“I didn’t choose this. I do love you.”
“But not like you think… you’ll always love her more.”
I winced at the tug in my chest.
“See?” she said. “It won’t go away. All of the pleasure, from every woman you’ve ever been with won’t compare to what you’ll find with her.” She headed back to the tree.
“If you’re too scared to, I could have Sarah do it. Her virus is the original.”
She stopped to glare at me. “I won’t allow it.”
“You’re not in charge, no one is! The Quatre is dead! There are no more rules! I’ll do whatever the fuck I want!” My body shuddered as I kept a grip on my human form. Her rejection made my blood boil.
She watched my face carefully. Oz.
The tug was strong and physical. I took a step to steady myself and looked at Ash. A single black tear rolled down her cheek.
“If you really love me, you’ll go to her,” she said.
Ash ran toward the tree and I growled loudly. I let the shift take hold as vertigo filled me. I was suddenly on all four s as pieces of cloth dropped around me. Ash disappeared beneath the tree, and I unleashed a roar. Then I ran.
8 THE STRANGER
Running always took my mind off things. Some people got mad and fought, some got mad and screamed. I got mad, turned into a werewolf, and ran. There was something soothing about running through the forest, leaping and jumping off overgrown trees and sword ferns. It was freeing to be what I truly was and not think of anything else.
I ran down to the beach. I knew Ash wasn’t going to follow. When I ran out onto the wet sand no one else was there. The tide was receding and I sat in my werewolf shift and watched the water as it rolled onto the beach. I wanted to enjoy a few minutes of solidarity with the sea.
I watched the waters churn for a long time. After a while I felt a strange sensation, as if I were being watched. I looked back toward the path up the cliff, then across the beach. I didn’t see anyone. Then I looked out at the broken rocks stretching from the shore.
A girl was on a rock, close to the water’s edge. Beautiful seemed like an insult. She was much more. The girl posed seductively on the rock and dipped her oddly shaped hand in the water. Was she wearing strange gloves? She looked up at me with large brown doe-like eyes. Her dark brown curly hair fell over her breasts and down to her waist. I’m sure that any other time I would have studied her nude body, but I couldn’t take my eyes from hers.
The sound of the
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