“You should probably talk to him. Alone,” Shadow told me as we weaved through the trees, trying to find her father. “Why?” I asked, looking into the shadows. “He’s been a little… intense? Dark? Anyway, he’s been a little off lately. Blaming himself for you getting the monster or something. Just saying that I shouldn’t be there while you two are talking.” “O-kay. How does he think that it’s his fault? He had nothing to do with it.” Shadow shrugged. “I guess because he had the monster first? I don’t get his logic most of the time. Anyway, there he is. Good luck. I’m gonna watch from here, he might get a little angry,” she said, gesturing to her father standing in the shadows. I nodded and walked out. Ren’s head shot up. “Finally. I thought you wouldn-” He cut off before he finished his sentence, obviously not liking the topic. I shrugged. “That’s what most people thought.” He nodded. “Why did you go off on your own?” This question caught me off guard. “What?” “Why did you go off on your own instead of asking one of us for help?” I stayed silent. Why /did/ I run off? I hadn’t thought of it that way. “I guess I didn’t want to hurt any of you more than I already had,” I answered after a minute of silence. “Naomi?” he asked. “Can you read minds?” I asked incredulously. He shook his head, a small smile on his face. “Nope. Just observant. When you guys came down to the woods a few times, you two didn’t interact at all. You avoided each other as much as possible. Argument or fight?” “Argument,” I mumbled. He nodded. “That’s good. If you had hit her… let’s just say you wouldn't have held back. Apologize. Have you yet?” I shook my head. “No. Haven’t gotten the chance to.” “Do it soon. The longer you wait, the more time you have for the wound to open.” I nodded. “Why were you blaming yourself?” I asked, figuring if he asked me questions, I could ask him some. He looked down at the ground, not meeting my eyes. “What makes you say that?” “Don’t avoid the question. Answer it.” He sighed. “You wouldn’t understand,” he said bitterly, his voice raising. “Maybe I will, maybe I won't. It doesn't matter. None of my friends have had the monster, and yet I told them about it. Well, guess what. I’ve had the monster and you’ve had the monster. So I think I might understand. Give it a shot.” As I spoke, my voice raised in volume as well. “Fine. I was the one in which the monster first spawned, the one who banished the monster so that it had the ability to inhabit another host. If I hadn’t banished the monster, none of this would have happened.” “If you hadn’t banished the monster, we would not be talking right now. We all could be dead. And besides, you weren’t the first one with the monster, Cozbi was. None of it was your fault, Ren. It was the monster’s.” He turned away from me. “That’s not what the monster thought.” “The monster is gone. And why would you let the monster control what you think about yourself?” I asked, walking around to face him again. “Sure, it said stuff, but it was all the monster, feeding off your thoughts and regrets and flaws. Follow your own advice. Hold on to who you are, because the monster isn’t that.” With that, I turned and walked back to the trees, leaving Ren in the clearing. Shadow and I spent the first few minutes of the walk back in silence. Finally, she broke it. “You and Naomi got into an argument?” She asked softly. I nodded. I had no desire to have this conversation again. “What about?” “I had a request. She turned it down, I pushed too hard, she pushed back, we didn’t talk for weeks.” Shadow nodded. “When are you going to apologize?” I shrugged. “I don’t know.” More silence. We got to the school and went through the open door, starting up the stairs to go back to our row of dorms. Before we parted ways, Shadow told me, “Don’t let the monster change you as much as it changed Ren. We can’t have two of him.” I nodded. “I’ll try.” She smiled. “Good luck.” I smiled back. She went inside her dorm. I took a deep breath and knocked on Naomi’s dorm.
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 17. 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/ Chapter 14: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659117186/ Chapter 15: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/659420154/ Chapter 16: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/661425573/ 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: Who is your favorite character?
