Thank the gods Harlow shot me with shadows. I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like something you’d be thankful for. But in this case, it broke the monster’s hold enough that I could slip through. I really felt bad for Ren at this moment - he’d had to do this for nearly all of his life. /Wolf?/ Naomi’s mental voice cut through the chaos that was both my head and the cave. /Hold on. Just try to hold on./ She almost definitely did not expect a response, but I gave her one anyway. /I’ll try./ /Thank the gods, that worked./ She was next to me now. /Hold still./ She paused for a moment, then a glowing pinkish potion appeared in her hands. /Drink./ /Can’t/, I answered. I was afraid that if I moved from my position, the monster would take hold again. /Don’t blame me if you’re cut by the glass./ She shattered the potion bottle, slipping its contents onto me. The tension between me and the monster faded enough for me to sit up, sort of. /Did that work?/ Naomi asked. /I don’t know. It held it off, that’s for sure/, I answered. My eyes met Ren’s. He was still lurking in the shadows, like he usually did. He didn’t say a word, but I got his message. /Just remember who you are./ /Break the contact/, I told Naomi. /What?/ /Break the mind link. This is going to get messy. I don’t want you to get hurt./ /Okay. I’ll connect again if it fails, alright?/ I nodded. Her presence left my head, and I closed my eyes. /I can do this, I can do this./ I threw my thoughts out to the monster, intentionally trying to draw it back. It followed my probing, slowly drifting back in control. When it was about half-and-half, I threw most of my mental energy at it. Thoughts of Shadow, Harlow, Brazen, Dusk, Calli, Raza, my parents, Naomi, even Ren flew at it. It cowered away, but still tried its best. /You are a werewolf - nothing more than a mutation. You’re a monster. You’ve only ever hurt your friends. You have nothing. You/ are /nothing./ All these thoughts and more had been cycling throughout my head even before the monster. But I knew enough to contradict every single one. /You’re right, I am a werewolf. It’s a mutation, sure, but also a gift. You’re the monster here, not me. I may have hurt them, but I know how to repair it. You don’t. I have something, and I am someone. I’ve got my friends, and we’re all stronger than you./ /I am Acwulf Hamilton. My friends call me Wolf. I am a werewolf. I know who I am, and I know how to defeat you./ As I threw this at it, it recoiled, not expecting my resistance. While it was weak, I used the last thoughts I had left to fight it - my own weaknesses, my own fears. I owned up to every single one. The monster, having nothing left to grab onto, slipped away, becoming nothing more than an inky black shadow on the floor. Ren stepped up, zapping it with some sort of electricity. That was the last thing I saw before slipping into unconsciousness, spent from fighting the monster.
Notes/Credits: If you're reading this, you probably know I wrote The Wolf Boy. Well, here's the sequel: The Monster's Curse. This is Chapter 14. Previous Chapter(s): Chapter 1: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652476202/ Chapter 2: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/652950608/ Chapter 3: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177024/ Chapter 4: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655177565/ Chapter 5: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/655621072/ Chapter 6: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/656955201/ Chapter 7: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657580423/ Chapter 8: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657583863/ Chapter 9: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657586191/ Chapter 10: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/657668860/ Chapter 11: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/658404211/ Chapter 12: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659115920/ Chapter 13: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659116659/ Credits: Me, for being the author Shannon Messenger, JK Rowling, Eoin Colfer, and many other authors for inspo @aqua_di_angelo, @AL600AWESOME, @Lanze_cupcake_face11, and @Yayabinks for inspo and supporting the story! QOTC: What do you think the electricity Ren shot at the monster was?
