Chapter 3: Not a Vampire, Not Human Either

So, it turns out I'm not a vampire. Just as Evan promised. But, I'm not exactly human anymore either. Apparently, and I'm not really sure I believe this, I'm a werewolf.

Yes, a werewolf.

Oh, the day started normally enough. Dr. Cummings stopped by and told me I'd done such a great job on my dinner of Jell-O and applesauce that he was upgrading me to solid foods. And my broken arm? It's almost healed. He thinks the cast will come off tomorrow. He told me that I would be able to take a shower later today, since my knee was as good as new. I asked him just how long I'd been in the hospital and once more he ducked the question. It made me mad enough that a serious sounding growl came out of my throat. That was a little scary.

He took the bandage off my neck. When I asked for a mirror to look at it, Dr. Cummings hesitated.

"Lauren, I'm not going to lie. Your neck looks like hell right now. That guy ripped you up pretty good. You've got over a dozen stitches that will come out in a day or two. Just believe me when I tell you that, eventually, the scar will fade and you'll hardly be able to tell anything happened. Just give it a bit more time to heal before you look at it. The shower will help, getting rid of the iodine will make it look a little better. Just be careful with it, okay? It's going to heal slower than the rest of you."

After promising me something more solid than Jell-O for dinner, he left and I struggled to keep my eyes open. It sort of worried me how much I was sleeping, but Dr. Cummings had assured me it was completely normal.

"You're healing. Your body is burning all kinds of energy to make that happen. Resting is the best way to make the healing go faster. Don't worry about sleeping so much, you're fine."

Lying bastard.

"Fine" apparently includes growing fur and a tail. But Dr. Cummings didn't mention that little detail. No, I learned that when I talked with Evan later that afternoon. After Dr. Cummings left, I fell asleep while waiting for lunch to show up.

When I woke up from my nap, Evan Maxwell was sitting next to my bed watching me sleep. It was a little disorienting to wake up and find him staring at me. His expression was so odd. It took me a moment to decide what it was. Irritation and tenderness. I wondered why.

"Hey, I didn't realize you were coming back today. Didn't mean to fall asleep and keep you waiting."

"I haven't been here long. Don't worry about it."

"So is it just you today or will Steve be here, too?"

He grinned ruefully, "No, it's just me. Steve had to go back home. He's got a lot on his plate right now, what with your office burning down a week ago."

My office burned down a week ago? What? Why?

The shock of it had my system going into panic mode and my hands started to shake. He reached over and touched my arm gently, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you like that. I haven't slept much lately and I'm not thinking clearly."

I wanted to ask him all sorts of questions about the fire, but a part of me was terribly afraid I wouldn't like the answers. The shock was sliding into a vague numbness so I focused instead on his last sentence, "Why haven't you been sleeping?"

He shoved his hand through his tousled hair and stood abruptly. With his hands in the pockets of his well-worn jeans, he began to pace around my room.

"I haven't been able to sleep because I've been worrying and watching over you. Look, there's a lot I need to tell you and I'm probably going to mess it up. Just try and stick with me, okay?"

Trying to ignore the small curl of fear in my belly, I agreed.

"Do you remember in the basement? After Steve staked that bastard who attacked you, you overheard us talking. Even though you were dying in my arms you found the strength to open your eyes and ask me to stake you too, rather than let you become like him."

Yes, I remembered. He'd brushed the hair away from eyes and promised to keep me from becoming a vampire. I nodded at him because my throat was swollen shut with fear.

"Do you remember me slicing my wrist and making you drink my blood? Then I took some of yours?"

Again, I nodded. I remembered.

"Do you remember what happened next?"

I did. I wasn't sure I could get the words out. I tried, but my voice cracked. Evan poured me a glass of ice water and after a few sips, I thought I could talk.

"A wolf. There was a wolf in the basement. He bit me on the shoulder and I blacked out. I don't remember anything after that."

He nodded, "Yes, there was a wolf in the basement. He attacked you to help me save your life. My blood wasn't enough. You also had to be bitten by the wolf. You were so far gone, we were afraid you would die anyway."

I still didn't understand. Why did I need to be bitten by a wolf? Oddly enough, my shoulder didn't hurt at all. Shouldn't that still be healing, too?

"Why? I don't understand. Why did being attacked by a wolf save my life?"

He sighed, and there was both sorrow and regret in his expression. "Lauren, you weren't bitten by a wolf. You were bitten by a werewolf. Steve is the one who bit your shoulder. By exchanging our blood, I provided a bond to help you stay in this world. But in order to counter the vampire and keep you alive, Steve changed to wolf form and bit you. He bit you a lot, actually, but you were unconscious at that point."

Steve was a werewolf?

I was completely numb. Well, I was attacked by a vampire. If I accepted that as truth, being bitten by a werewolf wasn't really any different. Was it? But it still shocked me. I thought vampires and werewolves were just some folk tale. Horror stories told around a camp-fire to freak kids out. Movies and books to entertain people. Shit like that doesn't exist in reality.

Yet, here I was, undeniably in a hospital while someone in all seriousness tried to convince me a vampire tried to kill me. If I hadn't seen the fangs, felt them tear into my neck, I never would have considered this. And I had seen the wolf, too. I tried to remember that part, thinking hard about what I had seen.

Was Steve standing there or was he gone? Gone. No Steve. Just Evan and the wolf. Wait a minute...

"I had a dream," I whispered. "I dreamed I was on my hands and knees in this bed, snarling at you. You told me to calm down, that everything was okay. You told me to go to sleep. I curled up on the bed ... but I had a tail. It thumped on the bed as I fell asleep."

Evan nodded at me, "Yes, you did. You didn't have a dream, Lauren. You weren't on your hands and knees. You were standing on all four feet. That really happened."

And then he said the thing that I was afraid of all along.

"In order to save your life and keep you from becoming a vampire, Steve and I turned you into a werewolf."

What do you say to that? Thank you?

I just sat there in the bed trying to process what this meant. I felt like everything was frozen. Waiting for what came next. I don't know how long I sat there in total silence, but I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

A werewolf? What did that even mean exactly? Then something in my brain clicked.

"You're a werewolf, too, aren't you?"