‘Sh*t! I'm back in a hospital bed again, aren’t I? What happened this time.’ The green haired teenager tried to recollect his thought as he clenched the sheets tightly. He could only remember bits and pieces, with most of it just being a reminder of how painful that hunger had been.
Eventually, the memories of what had happened were slowly coming to him, and thankfully not one of them had him eat, kill or injure anyone else. Still, he also had no clue how he had ended up in this room. He remembered the teacher Eddy getting involved with the fight towards the end, but that was it.
“Well… I can always ask someone later. I guess it at least all worked out in the end.” Gary let out a sigh of relief. He took in his surroundings. The Werewolf knew that he was in a hospital bed again, seemingly in a private room, though slightly different from the last one, with a plant pot here and there, but that's when he realised something.
Slowly the pain in his stomach was coming back to him, the pain of hunger.
[10/300 Energy]
Seeing the low value, he felt relieved. He was a bit surprised that he still had Energy left over, but then he noticed the IV drip connected to his body, ensuring that he would have enough nutrients to survive.
[30 Days until the next full moon]
‘Wait, did I read that correctly… the full moon… it already passed! I don't have to worry anymore!!’ Gary thought excitedly in his head. He would have cheered if he had the Energy, but for now, he just enjoyed the comfort of the pillow. ‘Great, I can finally eat without holding back.’
Unfortunately, his joyous moment didn’t last long. The realisation hit him how close a call it had been, the third turning. The pain he had gone through and the amount he needed to hold back was worse than the previous two times.
On the first night, surviving just the night alone had been enough, though he had been occupied with his fight against Blake at the time… Then there was the second turning, and suffice to say, three hungry Werewolves being cooped up in one room had turned out to be a recipe for disaster… yet Gary had learned a lot from it. Enough to survive this third turning, at least that is what had been his assumption.
In a way, the starvation method coupled with his draining of Energy had worked. Perhaps without that match, he might have made it the entire day, but if things would get harder and harder, then he might have no other choice but give in to his urges.
To just eat, and then transform on that night to go out hunting?
‘I guess I could always just make someone who I don't like a hunting target.’ Gary tried to joke with himself, but he knew it was a serious matter.
In all honesty, he wished that either Tom or Kai would walk in through the door. Speaking of the Beta Werewolf, he was curious how his Pack members had fared with their own turning. Was it also getting worse for them each month, or was it just an Alpha thing?
Whatever the case, he could at least put off his own suffering for another thirty days, and Gary was great regarding postponing problems he could do nothing about.
‘What is going to happen to me now, though? I didn't reveal myself, did I?’ Gary wondered. ‘Xin should have only seen my arms transform and my eyes, she can't think I'm a Werewolf.’
There was a worry in Gary's head, if one person he wanted never to see him fully transform, then that was It. Because, she and the rest of the gang had been attacked by Billy that time. Although he had joined, he was in his Werewolf state.
If she was to find out, it might take her some time, but eventually, she would put two and two together. If she had to know the truth, then he wanted her to find out from his own mouth.
Just then there was a knock on the door. At least the Werewolf didn't feel the need to escape from the room this time, but he was concerned about who might walk through that door and what they would say.
Surprisingly, Numba was the one to enter the room. “Hey, you're awake, I didn't expect that.” The Goat Altered greeted him, as he pulled out a chair and sat down next to him. “How are you feeling?”
“Hungry,” Gary replied without an ounce of hesitation.
Hearing the green haired teenager speak in his usual manner brought the largest smile on Numba’s face.
“You're back to normal… I thought something had happened to you. I was worried you might have stayed like that forever… You knew something like that was going to happen, didn’t you? That's why you told me to hold you back, right? It's why I came alone and didn't bring any of the others with me either.”
“Hold me back?” It was then that Gary remembered mumbling something like that… At the time, he had been close to being delirious. If he hadn't been knocked out, then he wanted Numba to lock him in a secure room, and leave him in there, making sure he didn't escape.
“Thank you,” Gary said, looking his friend straight in the eyes. “Thank you for getting into the ring that time. I… I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t… You've really proven to really be a wonderful friend. I don’t know what I can do to ever repay you for that.”
Numba stood up from his seat, and headed towards the door. “Stop that. Isn’t that what friends do for each other? Let me grab one of the nurses to bring you some food. They might want to take your blood before that, though.” Numba said opening the door.
“Blood?!” Gary shouted out. “Hang on, Numba, does that mean they haven’t taken my blood yet?!”
The Werewolf instantly remembered the voices he heard moments before he had passed out.
“Umm, no, I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure they were waiting for you to wake up. To be honest, I shouldn't even be here. I snuck in here to make sure you were alright. Because of the way you acted, Eddy suspected you might have been turning into a crazed Altered, but since you're all okay, there should be nothing for you to worry about.”
Alas, there WAS something to worry about. Gary already knew about the blood test thanks to White Rose. And he also knew that his blood wasn’t that of an Altered. While White Rose might not have cared about it, how could he explain to the AFA, an academy EXCLUSIVELY for Altered how he had made it in and how he was able to transform without being an Altered himself?!
“Numba, I don’t have the time to explain things but I need a huge favour from you. I need your blood to pass that test!”
****
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