Wolf Cry

The room was dark. Dark and silent.

Yet there were living beings in it. They were waiting. Waiting for the signal or probably waiting for the most important one in their group to show up.

The windows had been covered up. They did not need the light. They never needed light. They were night creatures.

Two knocks resonated on the door. Then it came open. Small light from the sky which had been ornamented with brilliantly shining stars rushed into the room. It illuminated the legs of the people closest to the door. There were about six legs.

In the doorway, stood the one they had been waiting for. Only his silhouette could be seen. He was tall and huge. His shoulders were broad and they spanned massively around the space. It was only a matter of time before he would not be able to fit into the door.

The strange man walked in and closed the door behind him. This caused the light that had found its way into the room to get shut out. There was only darkness again. It was as if they were enjoying the feel that came with the darkness. Perhaps, it made them feel stronger. Perhaps, it made them belong.

The man let out a low growl. Then he spoke. “Reveal your eyes.” His voice was a deep baritone that vibrated in the space. It carried power and authority. It carried fear.

One by one, they started to reveal the power that laid in their eyes. All their eyes began to glow a golden color. With the power of their eyes unleashed, they could see clearly. Their night vision had been heightened more than it was before.

The man counted the glowing eyes he saw. There were twenty of them. This meant that this meeting was composed of ten people, excluding himself. He smiled. He was satisfied with what he saw. This meant that it was all going according to plan. To show his satisfaction, he revealed his eyes too.

Unlike the rest of them, his eyes glowed a strong crimson. The rest of the people let out growls to show that they acknowledged him.

“Now, we can begin the meeting,” the man announced. He paused and began.

“We all know that Werewolves used to be at the top of the throne. We used to rule the world. We used to be gods!” the man exclaimed.

“Yes Alpha!” they all chorused.

“But unfortunately,” he paused and turned to the other side. They could all see his movements and his facial expressions thanks to their night vision. “The humans rose and waged war against us. They used a woman to betray us. Our Alpha at that time made the mistake of falling in love with one of them. That love was our downfall,” the Alpha narrated as he put his head down in shame for the mistake their Alpha had made. It was almost as if he had been there when it happened yet it had happened a hundred years ago.

All the heads of the rest of the werewolves in the room came down as they also felt ashamed by their Alpha’s actions. Then the Alpha cleared his throat and continued.

“Because of that love, we have become slaves to the humans. They have caged us like animals and treat us like we are not living things. They electrocute us and punish us as they please. Our women have no security. Our children have no hope. We are in ruins,” as the Alpha said this, tears streamed down his face.

The pain was mutual as the rest of them also mirrored that pain. There was a woman in their midst who had been wronged. She silently cried as she remembered. There was a man in their midst whose child had been murdered. There was another whose brother had been taken away. They had all been hurt by the humans in one way or the other.

“So I say; enough is enough. We have suffered enough! We have cried enough! We have been hurt enough! It is time to teach the humans just what we are capable of. It is time to show them the monsters that they so much fear!” His voice vibrated as he increased his tempo.

The werewolves yelled with enthusiasm as they all agreed with their Alpha.

“In other to protect what you love, you have to become the monster that hunts your love,” the alpha breathed in a low voice but their good earing senses allowed them to hear every word he said clearly.

This time, they all howled in response.

“When do we start?” The woman in their midst asked.

“Immediately! We will infiltrate their rulers’ homes. We will find all the weak spots in their legacies and we will destroy them one by one. We will make them all pay for what they have done to us. In the end, Werewolves will be restored to their glory as the gods that we were born to be. And this time, history will not repeat itself again. The meeting is dismissed. I will send you all the war plan and we will start working on it,” the Alpha said.

“Long live the Alpha!” the woman replied.

“Long live the Alpha!” the rest of the men chorused.

One by one, they started to leave the room. Everyone was gone and it was only the Alpha left. He sighed and walked out of the room. He locked it behind him. The room was situated deep in the woods. It was a long way from the city. It was safe for their meetings.

The Alpha began his hike back. He was still considering going on all fours when he heard a loud bang. His heart jumped as he thought one of his pack members had gotten in trouble.

He ran towards the direction. The trees he ran past were tall and large. The path was filled with dirt and weeds but he did not care. All he wanted was to get to his family.

Eventually, he did. But what he saw was nothing he had in mind. A car had crashed against something and this had caused it to flip over. It was now laying helplessly upside down. There were burning particles scattered on all sides of the car. Suddenly, the top of the car also lit up in flames. It was only a matter of time before the car would explode.

“Help me! Help me please. . .” a woman’s voice pleaded to him.

He looked to driver's seat and saw a woman stuck on it. She had tried to get out but all her efforts had been in vain. The Alpha also noticed something else.

She was a human.

He stood still and watched her. He was not entitled to help her. She was not a werewolf. Instead, she was their enemy. Her race were who were hurting and killing his people. He could start making them pay by letting her die.

He turned around and started to walk away. The woman deserved to die.

“Please, don’t leave me here. I’m afraid of dying. I’m not ready yet, please. . .” The woman pleaded in a broken voice.

This made the Alpha stop. Her pleading voice, her words, they reminded him of someone.

“I'm afraid of dying. I'm not ready yet. . .” the voice of the one he remembered seized his ears.

His sister.

She had pleaded for her life just as she was doing. She had begged them to let her go. But they never listened. Her prosecutors were humans but there was no humanity in them. He remembered their echoing laughter as they contemplated on who would give her the final blow.

The death blow.

Tears filled his eyes again.The humans had killed her yet he was about to do the same today. Could he live with this conscience? Knowing that he could have saved this woman but he didn't? He hated himself when more for what he was about to do.

He tore the lower half of his t-shirt and covered his nose and mouth with it. He tied it hard behind his head so that it would not fall off his face. Then he turned and ran to the woman. In a strong and single pull, the door came apart. He threw it to the side and pulled the woman out of the car. The moment their bodies came into contact, he felt a strange surge of electricity that he did not even know existed within him, come alive him. She must have felt it too for she looked up at his face and their eyes met.

Staring into the strange sea of emerald green eyes that she possessed, felt like staring into an unknown eternity. It felt strange not knowing what laid in them yet they intrigued him. He was driven with the urge to know the mystery that she possessed in her eyes.

The woman on the other hand could not tell exactly what color his eyes were. They seemed to keep changing. It felt like an illusion of sorts. Or probably because she could not clearly see. Her only source of light was from the burning particles. His eyes kept switching from gray to streaks of red.

Suddenly, the car exploded. He swiftly shielded the woman with his body and he burned instead. He stifled the growl that he so much wanted to release due to the pain the burns caused him. Eventually , the explosion subsided and he released her. She sat up immediately and the worry she felt was visible on her face.

“You're hurt!” the woman exclaimed and tried to examine his back when she noticed that the exposed part of his back had started to heal. This gave her the understanding that he was a werewolf. She flinched away and brought her hand to her lips.

“You’re a werewolf!” she whispered as she stared in shock.

The Alpha did not know what to do. Was this the part where he fled? Was he supposed to stay?

“A very. . .beautiful one,” she whispered breathlessly.

The Alpha was shocked again by her words. He could sense the fear that laid deep within her but along with fear, there was something else. It was an emotion he could not identify. It only intrigued him further.

Yet he remained silent. He only watched her as she watched him. Slowly, the woman began to raise her hand to touch his face. He knew this was crossing the line, yet he could not bring himself to stop her from touching him.

It was when her fingers got inches away that he flinched and disappeared into the woods in a swift moment.

The woman was left alone with only a memory of his existence.

Sounds echoed.

Voices. Her name. Someone seemed to be calling out to her and she could not place it. The sounds started to get louder. There was a force that was pulling her in. She tried to fight it but she could not. When she lost all her energy, her eyes flew open.

"Ruby!" A child screamed.

As she took in her surroundings; she understood one thing, she was no longer in the room. She was somewhere she did not remember yet a place that felt so familiar. She was standing by the edge of a cliff somewhere deep in the woods. The sun's rays were on her face.

"Ruby!" The child screamed again.

Her head shot down on impulse and saw a child who could have not been over ten years hanging onto a tree branch that had grown below the cliff.

"Shit! Don't be afraid. I'll help you!" Ruby exclaimed and wasted no time in trying to save him.

She went on all fours and