"AM I HALLUCINATING?"

I stared as Sullivan and the other man greeted Beta, having a few conversations. There was no way I could hide from this man, hoping he does not know me.

  I had already swore in my mind that if he was my teacher, I would stab him and run away. 

  Sullivan brought out some pieces of paper, signed off some documents and hopped on his horse to leave. A sigh of relief came to my heart as it happened, remembering that he was just a secretary here. 

  “Let’s go Nathan.” I looked at my uncle, he wasn’t the one talking. I looked at the lame man. He still wasn’t the one talking. 

  I finally stared at Sullivan as he stretched his wicked hands out to me smiling his usual evil laughter which I knew no one but me saw. 

  I didn’t reach out my hand in return. I would rather die here, or go back to take the blood oath. But going with this chameleon was out of the question. I stepped back and watched as he pulled back his hands, wondering why I did not want to go with him. 

  “What do you think you are doing Nathan? Get going!” Simon commanded. 

  Just then, my thoughts returned to me. It was in fact the other man stretching out his hands to me, not the wicked Sullivan. Maybe I had already began to imagine the worst possibilities. 

  I looked at the man, looked at my Simon and looked at Sullivan. Was my uncle actually going to leave me in the hands of some weird stranger whom I don’t even know to train me? 

  Simon looked at me, bent down and placed his hands over my shoulder. He smiled and then took out a bracelet from his hands and gave them to me. The bracelet looked weird, but I could tell that it had some story attached to it. 

  “Seven years. Your father must be so proud of you right now Nathan. Go and get ready to take vengeance on Papa. You promised him. Be strong.” 

  For the first time, I found comfort in my uncle’s words. I clung to the bracelet, clenching my fist on them. I didn’t wear them immediately though.

  I bid my uncle goodbye as I hopped on the stallion with the lame man, watching as Simon and the wicked Sullivan faded into thin air. I would soon expose the wizard of a werewolf for who he truly was. 

  We came riding past the town, through the market place, people staring at us, through the fields, until we came outside the city. I stared at the gate one last time, hoping that fate would bring me and that beautiful girl together again. Soon, our horse began to move slowly and then faster. 

  I sat back in the chariot enjoying the ride as thoughts of my parents kept flashing back. I would sometimes cry. But all through the journey, the man said nothing. He would just close his eyes often and kept a long face all day. 

  

 ******

  It was almost noon. We finally got to our destination. The man hopped down from the stallion, leaving me to get down myself. I already knew that this man was going to be a wicked teacher. But I was eager to train and get back my revenge.

 His house was not the regular type. He seemed to have more modernized items than almost everyone. He had light bulb, he had a radio, and he had a wall clock. I was kind of elated that my teacher had some cool stuff. 

  “Grab a bite from the kitchen and go to bed. Training begins tomorrow” the man said. 

  Come on! Won’t he at least tell me his name? He just kept a long face, took his glasses and stared at a tiny piece of metal for a long time. 

  I murmured, took my tiny legs and located the kitchen. His kitchen was a small one. I saw some veggies and meat on the table close to the sink. I took just the meat and left the kitchen. 

  I was surprised as to why this man lived alone in this big house. Was he up to something too? Besides, I had met the man and Sullivan together earlier today. Maybe they were plotting something. My small brain could only imagine. 

  I walked into a room. As soon as I got in, I got out of it, shut the door immediately and went to the other room and shut the door behind me. What I saw in this man’s room was agonizing. Was he a killer? But I won’t say what I saw.

  My room was quite a small one. It was almost empty. Just a bed, a reading chair, a wardrobe and some strange figures hanging on the empty walls. I guess there were my fighting clothes in the wardrobe. Maybe I would need to get some clothes for myself. After all, I would be staying here for seven years. 

  Seven years! I gulped down a chunk of meat as the thought came back to me. I would be here for seven good years. What would happen after that? How strong would I be? Many thoughts ran through my mind as I chew the meat in my hand gently. 

  I lay on the bed after some serious thinking. I was already dizzy. Soon, I was fast asleep.

******** 

  I could hear myself snore as I slept. It was cold. I missed when mother would use her thick wrapper to cover me at night so I would feel warm. Now, there was no mommy. 

  As I kept thinking, I felt something creepy climb my leg. I shook it off and ignored it. I was used to sleeping with rodents back in my old pack. There may be a few hiding here.

  Again, I felt it climb my leg. It felt like sharp fingers walking on my leg. I tried shaking it off again, but this time, I decided to stand up. 

  As soon as I opened my eyes, I screamed loudly. There right in front of me was Alpha Blake’s wolf, bloodthirsty. He growled at me. Slowly, he walked towards me and raised his hands to slit my throat when suddenly, my teacher banged my door open.

  “What is it? What is going on?” He asked. I could see uneasiness written all over his face. 

  “Alpha… Alpha…Alpha…” was all I could say as I stood upright on my bed shaking. He was no longer there. He had disappeared.

  “You just had a nightmare. It’s a usual thing around here. Get to bed. Big day tomorrow.” He ended and left me to sleep. 

  I was scared. What kind of nightmare felt so real? I could even feel the pain of his finger on my leg. I tried to believe it was just a dream and forced myself back to sleep.

********   

  I sprang up from my bed as soon as I heard a loud bell rang. I looked through the window, it was still a little dark outside, though I could hear some birds chirping. I somehow located the bathroom and wanted having a quick shower before the training starts. 

  Las night was hell. I had waited for the night to really end. 

  I quickly got up and went to the sitting room. I met the man. He looked taller and stronger than yesterday. 

  “There’s no water in the bathroom. How do I take a bath?” I asked.

  “Follow me” he said, as he led the way outside the apartment. We walked for a bit until he then stopped. He bent down and reached to the ground. I couldn’t see anything, but I watched steadily, waiting to see what he would want to pick.

  He scattered some rusted leaves and grabbed hold an iron. He pulled the iron hard and opened up a well. As I took three steps forward and looked into the well, I screamed. 

  “What’s wrong?” the man asked as he saw me got scared. My legs shook. I looked into the well again, but I saw nothing. I could’ve sworn that I was not wrong. I did see it. 

  “I.. I, its nothing. I’m scared of wells” I lied so the man doesn’t think I was crazy. But it was right there. Human skulls. They filled up the well and was covered in blood. Was I hallucinating? 

  The man handed me a bucket. It was a big one. 

  “You have one week to fill this well up. When it is filled, then you can have your bath and we move to the next phase of your training. Your time starts now.” The man said nastily and pointed over to a stream close by.  

  “What? I can’t do that. This well is way too deep, and I don’t even have the strength to carry this heavy bucket with water in it. How is this a training?” I managed to speak up. This was not a training. This was torment. 

  “Then hand it over.” The man immediately said as he stretched out his hands attempting to take back the bucket. Would he at least not talk me into it? I knew that he was wicked.

  I refused to hand the bucket to him. I really didn’t know why. Some part of me convinced me that I was capable of doing this. So I held the bucket firmly and faced the direction of the stream.

  “For now, call me Master Tech. Good luck.” He ended and left me alone. 

 Slowly, but steadily, I walked towards the stream until I finally got there. It was very clean and beautiful. I smiled as I saw the fresh trees around it. 

  There was no time. Quickly, I dipped my bucket into the river and got it half filled. I couldn’t carry a full bucket. I dropped the bucket behind me, turned back to the stream to drink. 

  I got on my knees, dipped my head into the water with my eyes shut and took a refreshing drink. As soon as I took my last gulp, I could feel something was not right. It was like someone was watching me.

  I raised my head up and the person I saw made my head spin. I wanted to shout, but I couldn’t. I only stood still, fear gripped hold of me like my father did when he threw me into the forest. 

  There on the other side of the water was the same Alpha Blake I saw last night. It was just me and him. 

  What would I do?