Someone banged on my door without opening it up, jerking me awake. I rose, but Stefa burst into the room with a flourish, sitting down on my bed.
"I'm bored," she said. "And it's finally sunset, will you go exploring with me?"
"Are we allowed?" I asked.
"What are they going to? Lock us up?" she pointed out. "And it doesn't seem like they have guards watching us, what's the harm?"
I stretched once, rolling my shoulders before rising from the bed. Stefa grinned broadly and opened the door, allowing me to step around her into the dark hallway. There was still some daylight left to see by, but none spilling around us as we walked.
"How's your hand?" I asked.
"Still burned," she replied. "I need blood to heal, remember?"
"What happens if you stay in the sun too long?"
"We don't catch on fire, that's just a myth," she replied. "I avoid the sun personally. But I hear that it burns our skin away until we melt into decayed organs and dust. Sounds horrible, and I'm planning on avoiding it always."
"Gross," I agreed. "You know, Grant didn't tell us how staying here would work."
"I realized that," Stefa agreed. "I'm hoping there are people around who will say something. I feel like that kid who's gone to grandma's house but the novelty of the guest room has worn off and now I'm bored and worried about the rest of the trip."
"That's quite the metaphor," I remarked.
"It's a simile, I used 'like'," Stefa replied. "But sure. You didn't visit your grandparents on account of being a wolf. My grandparents were so strange. Grandma Rose hated cats, and my mother would make us lock our cat up when she came to visit. And Grandpa would try to get my brother to try his chewing tobacco. Mother would get so mad about that. They lived in Chicago, and it would get so cold in the winter I'd try to wear all my coats to bed."
Stefa absently opened doors, peering inside before shutting them again. I didn't know what she was looking for; she shut the door before I had a chance to see for myself. Surely there were some people around, no one would leave us completely unattended.
"Winter is hard as a human," I said. "I don't mind it as a wolf. What are you looking for?"
"You've got fur, of course you don't mind," she scoffed. "I'm just, you know, looking."
She paused at the next door and I craned my neck to peek inside. This room was white and sterile and I wrinkled my nose. Stefa took a cautious step forward, looking around at extremely familiar surroundings. It was a medical room, complete with the cushioned bench at one side and a sink on the other. I saw a phone sitting on the counter, wondering if I could make a call without others finding out. The only odd thing was what looked like a small refrigerator against the wall, holding vials.
"It's blood," Stefa said. "I can smell it. Smells like your blood to be honest."
"Why would they have my blood?" I inquired.
She shrugged.
"I bet they have a workout room or something," she told me. "You're very impressive and all, but you have the style of a ham-handed blind man. I should teach you a thing or two before you get us killed."
"I would not get us killed," I protested.
"You're right, I'm already dead. You would get yourself killed and me ripped into bits. Come on."
YOU ARE READING
Toy Wolf
Werewolf{🐾Book 2🐾 } Captured for a murder he didn't commit, Conor is forced to adjust to a life of experiments, and to his odd cellmate, a bitter vampire named Stefa. As the scientists question what he is, he will be pushed past his breaking point and p...
