Leticia (24 page)

“OK, we have horror, action....” he turned and smirked at me
.
“Chick flick
.
”

“
Piss
off
,
” I laughed
.

“
Suspense
,
” he said in an eerie voice
.
“Thriller
.
”

“Get something funny, but not cheesy
.
”

“
OK
, I think we could do with a laugh
.
”

“It would be nice to actually see you laughing to be honest
.
”

“I do laugh
,
” he said pulling a weird face at me
.
“
Honest.
”

He put the DVD in the player and turned the TV on, before turning the lights off and sitting next to me on the sofa.

“I’ve not seen this one yet, but I believe
it’s
hysterical
,
” he told me
.

He was right, the film had only been on about ten minutes and we were killing ourselves laughing. I actually had tears running down my face, I’d laughed that much. It was nice to see him like that, his whole face lit up when he was smiling and he had the cutest little dimples ever. He was gorgeous. There was one part of the film that tickled us both so much that we kept rewinding it just to see it happen again and again.

Just over half way through the
movie
, Nancy and Tristan popped in to say they were calling it a night. Nancy couldn’t take the smile of her face
.
She
kept looking at us both in turn, her smile getting bigger and bigger until Tristan finally dragged her out of the room. Jackson paused the
movie
and excused himself for a moment
,
then reappeared with two cans of Pepsi and some toffee popcorn.

“See, who needs to go to the cinema, when we have these
,
” he smiled, passing me the popcorn.

“You are my new
favor
ite person
.
”

We watched the rest of the
movie
, laughed until we were in pain again and ate every piece of popcorn in the packet.

“I feel so fat
,
” Jackson moaned, rubbing his stomach slowly
.

“I know what you mean
,
” I giggled
.

“
Can
we do this again another
night?
”

“
Yeah
I’d like that
.
”

“Really
?
!” he
asked.

“
Why
do you sound so
shocked?
”

“I don’t know, I guess I wasn’t expecting you to say yes
.
”

“Jackson you know
when you’re like this, I really like you, I’m sure anyone would
;
it’s when you change that I
just
want to slap you
.
”

“I know
,
” he sighed, turning to face me
.
“I will try Leticia, but like I asked you before, please have patience with me
.
”

“I can’t promise that, sometimes you’re
so
nasty,
so
cold
.
”

“
But
you know I don’t mean it, you know why I’m like that I explained it all to you
.
You
know I’m going to try and snap out of it and go back to the old me
.
”

“I know and I do understand that, I really do, but try being the one on the receiving end of it,
it’s
not easy to ignore
.
”

He didn’t respond, he just nodded and lowered his head.

“Thanks for a nice night and taking my mind of
f
things, I appreciate it
,
” I said sincerely
.

Again he nodded
.
I
leaned
forward and kissed him on his cheek.
That
made him look at me
.
I smiled at him before standing and making my way out of the room. I went up to my
room;
I was starting to feel tired now
.
I lay back on the bed, thinking back to the night I decided to go into exile.

“Leticia
,
” I heard Jackson say
.
“
May
I come in
a
moment?
”

“Yeah
.
”

He walked in the room closing the door quietly behind him
.
He
sat on the end of my bed.

“Tell me what happened to you next
,
” he almost whispered
.

“Jackson it’s late...”

“Please, I’ll tell the others, you won’t have to talk about it again
.
”

“It’s not some great story you know
.
”

“I know
.
I just want to know more about you, I want to know everything that happen
ed.
”

“
OK
,
” I sighed
.
“I hope you
’
r
e
sitting comfortably
.
”

22
nd
February
200
1

Was this it? Was this to be my fate? Was I meant to spend the rest of my life in exile, isolation, never to interact with anyone ever
again
or
risk losing my life?
I stood there
, on the edge of
the deathly
sharp bend in the back country road, the
Devil’s Elbow
,
facing
the crack in the hills where
,
according to the legend, the devil landed after being struck
down
by
G
od himself
;
his elbow causing the gap in the hills. Behind me, the street lights of Tintwistle, Glossop and Mottram,
shining so brightly that the darkening clouds above seemed to have a reddish tint to them.
The towns would be
full of life, people going about their business, most of them happily
enjoying a night out with their families or friends, maybe both
. How I wished I could join them.

I
n front of me
lay
my fate, the
steep climb to the top of the peak, then only the seeming
ly
endless stretch of barren land. Their only decor
ation being old rocks, the odd stream,
trees and wildflowers. Nobody would find me here
.
N
ot many people would walk up here. The land
and weather could be
perilous
,
unless people were incredibly fit
and well prepared;
I doubt they would tackle these hills. I would be safe
and
I would go un-noticed
.

I looked behind me once more
and
a tear fell down my cheek. I wiped it away quickly, looking at the water on my fingers in disgust, as though I
were
ashamed of it. I took a deep breath and started to climb
. L
oose rocks fell down the steep slope below me. I removed my jacket, folding it and placing it inside the little waterproof rucksack I had with me.
When
I finally reached the top, I looked around – nothing. I removed the rest of m
y clothes, placing them too in
the bag, I pulled the zip, securing its contents, then
,
let it fall to the
ground
.

I stood there naked, letting the cool crisp wind hit my skin. A light rain started to
fall;
I held my head back letting the raindrops hit my face. I took a deep breath and let myself slowly start to transform. My body started to change shape, my teeth grew. I dropped to my knees and watched as my fingernails turned into long, deadly sharp claws. There was no pain, no fear. Only sadness.

It took a few minutes for me to change, I wanted to make the transformation last as long as I could
so I could
enjoy being in my human form for as long as possible
.

Eventually I took the handle of the rucksack in my mouth and started to wonder deeper into the
barren
lands. The rain became heavier and I looked around to see if there was anywhere I could take shelter for the night. Luckily, I saw some large rocks, as I got closer I found I was able to craw
l
underneath one and be somewhat protected from
the
elements. That provided some comfort. At first glance I didn’t think I would fit underneath, werewolves are a lot bigger than your normal wolves, we can range from between five and seven feet tall and that’s when we
’
re still on all fours.

I think I must have fallen asleep for a few hours
. W
hen I woke, I found the rain had passed. I decided to move on and try
to
find somewhere I could call home. I needed to be able to bury my bag and keep my things safe. I needed a landmark, so I would always be able to find my way back to them. I found an old
unused tunnel;
I assumed it was from an old railway line that once ran through here. It was easy to find, provided shelter and
above
all
,
it was dark. I wouldn’t be seen in there. There was a little stream only a few hundred feet away which I would be able to use as my watering hole. This was perfect.
I started to dig into the side of the hill, deep enough so that my bag would be completely covered.
I didn’t want to simply leave it in the tunnel, just in case.

I was starting to get hungry now, and couldn’t just pop into town to get something to eat. I knew I would have to hunt, to use the wildlife of the hills as my food supply. The thought of it made me feel nauseous, but I had to eat
to
keep my strength up. It was something I would simply have to get used to.

The days that passed felt like weeks, and the weeks more like months. I was sad, cold at times, and alone. I would spend all day in the tunnel, silent and still, waiting for the cover of night to come so I would be able to go out and hunt. Night time was the only time I would eat. I got used to it in the end, I had no other choice. This was my life now, and I would have to adapt.

I sat on the bed, my duvet pulled around me, staring at Jackson. His face was unreadable.

“I can’t believe you spent eight years like that
,
” he finally spoke
.

“I did what I
thought I
had to
.
”

“How did you feel after a few years?”

“Not good, in fact I thought I was losing my mind
.
”

“I’m not surprised
,
” he frowned
.
“What made you decide it was time to return to normality?”

“I just couldn’t take it anymore
;
the
only time I got to see people was on the odd occasion I turned human again. I only did
that
to go into the bank
and
move some money
around;
so that they didn’t think I’d done a disappearing act. I hadn’t held a proper conversation with anyone other than the bank manager since I left Colchester
.
”

“I don’t know how you did it. You must have a strong mind
.
I mean, I wouldn’t be able to do that
.
”

“I don’t think I could do it again
,
” I told him
.
“I would rather die than go through that again
.
”