Becoming Chaos

II - Ascending Light Part 2

I exploded into a hysterical fit of laughter. This Michael is a real nut. LOL.

Placing my hands on my chest, I tried to calm my uncontrollable peals. I was catching my breath and was breathing through my mouth to slow my racing heart down. “I’m a werewolf. You are really funny, you know that?” I said. “So will I be howling at the moon anytime soon?” I added as a chuckle escaped me. My gaze focused on him across the table as I continued to laugh.

“Yes,” he said, keeping his eyes locked with mine. His face was set and composed. If this guy was joking, he surely has mastered the art of not laughing at his own jests. “You still think this is a joke, Kaylene?” he asked, his tone suddenly serious.

My laughing fit halted. The intensity of his seriousness seemed to have silenced me. I tried to find the words for a rebuttal, but my throat was locked. He cannot be serious.

“I know what you are thinking,” he said, breaking eye contact. He stood up and turned to the dish drawer behind him. He took a plate for himself and sat down again across me. Without asking for my permission, he took three cubes of the Wagyu steak from my plate and transferred it to his. “That I am a devilishly-handsome escapee from the mental ward. Right?” He didn’t wait for me to reply and blabbered on. “Unfortunately, that’s not true. Well, at least the escapee part is not true. I know I am devilishly-handsome,” he added as he put the steak cubes in his mouth. “And, boy, do I cook so well! This steak is to die for. Come on, K, take a bite.”

“Do you really expect me to believe this crap? I thought we had a deal?”

“Yes, we have a deal, and I am holding my end. I’m not sure about you, though. Are you honoring our agreement? You agreed to eat as I explain.”

Putting both my hands to my face, I rubbed hard. The wave of irritation threatened to come back to the surface of my being. I placed my elbows on top of the counter and sighed in an effort to calm my raging heart. “How will I believe anything you say? One moment you act so focused and serious and the next you just drift off into random stuff like a child!”

“I have the attention span of a five-year-old,” he said. “I’m sorry. However, my personal psychological well-being is not the lesson of the day, K. Listen,” he said as he took another chunk of steak from my plate. “I know it is hard to believe. Most regulars don’t seem to want to be convinced about something that is out of their predisposed view of the world. There are a lot of unseen things lurking and roaming freely around us, but not seeing them doesn’t make them any less real.”

Is he going to be religious this time? I chuckled at the thought. Looking down on my plate, I saw that half of the meal he gave me was gone. I took a deep breath. “Are you telling me that I should have faith? Are you also going to ask for my spare change as love offering?”

“No,” he said calmly as though my insult went past him. “It is not about faith. As I told you, even if you don't believe any of the things I say, that doesn’t mean they aren't real. Come to think of it, tiger, why were your wounds healed? No human heals wounds that bad overnight.”

“Oh, that’s easy. The wounds actually just never happened.”

“Do you really think that’s the case?”

No, I wanted to say. The feeling of being brutally mauled by a monster came back rushing. The memory of the terror that gripped me as I watched the beast’s teeth grow into fangs flashed inside my mind. I recalled how the stranger’s face warped and contorted and protruded into a nightmarish deformity. Suddenly, I was back in the alley, feeling helpless. I looked at Michael, but he was busy downing the last bite of the food. Parting my lips, I tried to speak but no words came.

He looked up at me. His dimple appeared as he swallowed the last of the steak cubes. “Just as I thought," he said with a smirk. "If that is not enough to convince you, I have more. At this stage in your turning - the transformation process to a supernatural is called turning- I bet you are feeling the changes already. Your temper is wavering. Everything irritates you. There is a constant feeling of rage and anger under your skin, threatening to spring to the surface if left unchecked," he said as he stood up. He took the empty plates in front of us and threw them to the sink. He turned his back to me and tapped the faucet open.

Is he really going to wash the dishes right now? His broad shoulders and muscled back moved as he did the plates, but I kept silent. He was stating the answers to the questions that were taking residence rent-free in my mind. I was not just sure yet that I was convinced.

“And oh,” he blurted without looking back at me. He closed the tap and and shoved the plates to the dish dryer. “You will also experience a significant increase in your strength and agility. If you didn’t notice, you were able to jump over the bed in a split second when you tried to choke me,” he chuckled. “If I was a regular, I’d be dead. Luckily I’m not, since I am much faster than you. However, I’m still impressed with how swiftly you are adjusting even if you are unaware of the ongoing changes,” he said as he turned to face me. The bottom of his shirt was soaked in water, making it cling to his skin. His sculptured abs showed though the wet fabric. A one-sided smile was pasted on his face making me want to smack him with my fists.

“Okay,” I started as I tried to avoid staring at his chiseled abdomen. “I will pretend that everything you said was true. However, I still don’t understand how all these things happened. Why am I ‘turning’ into a werewolf? Why am I suddenly always so angry? Why am I strong?” I asked. My words sounded strange even to my own ears, but now that he had mentioned, I was suddenly aware that all of them were really happening. Never do I lose my temper over petty things, and hell, I could not even jump over a puddle. But they were true. His answers explained why I was able to rip the shirt that I’m wearing apart and I wanted to claw at him because of it.

“Now we’re talking,” he smiled deeper. He went back to the counter and sat across me. “You are sick with what we in the paranormal world refer to as lycanthropy. It is a disease caused by a werewolf’s venom. If a werewolf bites a human and the human lives, the victim will turn into a werewolf." he explained. "Lycans, another term for werewolves, have enhanced senses. A werewolf's auditory, olfactory and visual senses are amplified by at least tenfold. Further, wolves have superhuman stamina, agility and strength. Also, werewolves heal incredibly fast, which explains how your injuries were gone the next morning,” he said. There was a light in his eyes as he spoke. It was as though he really loved to talk about these things that his eyes seemed to glow. His enthusiasm was so infectious that I wanted to believe him, but still, I’m not buying it.

“Let me guess, I will turn into an over-sized dog come the next full moon?”

“Yes, you will.”

My eyes widened. I was about to curse him in unbelief, but he started talking again.

“Your first transformation will occur on the full moon following the bite. Your bones will break and bend and your muscles will contort and shift as you turn. The initial turning is always the hardest and the most painful as well. You will lose control of yourself. At times, the rage is too overwhelming for the newly-turned that they die after the transformation. However, if you survive, you will become a mindless beast of fur and sharp claws for the night until the moon sets,” he said casually like he was giving a lecture. “The successful turning will mark the process complete. This means that the disease has taken hold. You can then shift at will, however, the full moon will still force a transformation on you even when you don’t want to. The more you shift, the more you can control the rage. If you adapt well with your lycanthropy, you can shift partially like Vladimir.”

The mention of the stranger’s name sent a shiver to my bones. “You mean… my mouth will elongate like his did?” I said, horrified at the thought.

He chuckled. “I gather that I am starting to convince you,” he said. I shook my head in denial and shot him a dark look. He licked his lips and his dimple showed again. I wanted to pinch it out of his smug face. “Anyway, to answer your question, yes, it will. Not to mention you will be covered in dog fur,” he laughed.

“Not funny, Riverwoods.”

“I’m sorry, Summers, I can’t help it. Out of all the Other Worlders, I find werewolf transformations the most ridiculous. Imagine getting sick and then turning into a dog that barks at the moon.” His incessant laughing continued. “Oh, cats will hate you, too.”

Luckily, I don’t have a cat, I wanted to say, but I didn’t. “Other Worlders? What are those?” I asked instead.

Michael's pealing settled. His face blushed slightly from laughing which I found oddly endearing despite the fact that I had the urge to claw at him again. “You see, tiger, there are more than just werewolves in this world,” he breathed. “There are vampires, mages, elves, mermaids, and demons as well as all assortments of the mythical creatures in the known literature. There’s a lot of you Other Worlders lurking in the dark unseen.”

Did he just categorize me as one of his make-believe beings? I groaned at the complexity of it all. Counting my teeth using my tongue, I resisted the rising irritation within me. I decided to turn the table. “How about you?”

“I’m sorry?” he said, seeming a bit taken aback.

That’s a first.

“Suppose that I really believe all this crap. Where would you categorize yourself? What are you? A demon? A mermaid on foot, perhaps?”

He smiled a lopsided smile. “I certainly am not a mermaid, but I used to date one a long time ago. I ended that relationship because I did not catch her drift,” he winked at his own pun to which I responded with an eye roll. “I am not an Other Worlder like you. I’m a Soul Dealer and as such, I help safeguard the balance between the Worlds. We Soul Dealers keep the Other Worlders in check. We make sure you guys do not break our laws and do not wage war or inflict harm to each other, most especially to the humans. This is our Heavenly fore ordinance.”

“Heavenly? You mean, like the literal Heaven?”

He nodded. “It is exactly as it sounds. Our duty is sacred, handed to us by the angels.”

Just as I expected, this will take a religious turn, “So you are telling me that Heaven and Hell exist?”

“Yup. Everything is real, K.”

I huffed. “What’s next? Will you tell me that there is a devil and an angel floating above my head whispering and telling me what to do?”

“That bit’s bull,” he said. “Your actions are entirely your own. After all, you have your free will. No one can take that Heavenly gift from you. Unless you were possessed, which is an entirely different story,” he explained. He swept the hair that fell on top of his eyes. “However, there are times that the forces of good and evil may influence a person’s decision and--”

“Enough!” I shouted, not letting him say any more of his crap. “Here I thought you were really going to help me understand all the things that happened to me last night. After all that talk, nothing makes sense! It’s all fantasy. I applaud your elaborate ruse, but I do not believe you. You are insane!” Standing up, I turned my back to him. After taking a deep breath, I started out of the kitchen. I stormed through his apartment as fast as I could. I wanted to run away from him so badly that didn’t care that I was barefoot or half-naked. I just wanted to go home. My hand flew to the doorknob as soon as I reached the threshold. I was determined to escape his lunacy.

“What if I can prove to you everything that I said?” he announced. He suddenly sounded near.

With hesitation, I stopped and turned my head to look at him. “Uhuh? How are you going to do that, exactly? Are you going to sprout wings and fly around me and tell me that you are my angel?”

“If that’s what it takes, I will,” he said, his voice unwavering.

I shook my head and faced the door. “You really are crazy, Michael. I’m going home.”

“Neshama ve Emet,” he whispered.

For a moment, there was just silence. Suddenly, an intense golden light filled the room. I turned around to see what was happening, my hands shielding my face from the blinding glow. A sharp, whirring sound reverberated through the apartment as the light burned brighter. All around was blazing so hot that I had to close my eyes to prevent them from hurting.

The whirring sound ended abruptly, and with it, the light vanished. Withdrawing my hands away from my face, my eyes flew open.

Michael Riverwoods stood before me, his eyes closed. He was the same person, but he looked different. His black hair was now streaked with gold, and he was shining. My heart hammered inside me like it did when I saw the stranger turn into a monster. Back then, my heart raced because I was terrified for my life. Now, I was terrified for reasons I cannot explain.

He took a step forward.

“Kaylene,” he said softly. He took another step. A pair of wide and luminous white wings unfolded behind him. He finally opened his eyes. They were no longer hazel in color. They were gold. He flapped his wings and hovered midair. “Do you believe your Angel now?” he asked.

My legs shook as I stared at his Heavenly form. I fell to the floor on my knees, mouth gaping in disbelief. s**t just got real, I thought as I realized he was not crazy, after all.