Chapter 6

***Chapter 6 ~ Animal***

***Beast Lupine***

***~***

***Mexico City, Mexico***

I couldn’t sleep. The noise from next door could be heard through my thin walls. My papa is the reason for the noise, his “work”. He slept fine at night, on the mattress of blood money from the fights. Cheers, groans, barks, and cries fill the house when he works; yet no one can hear it. The one rule he has for me, never get involved, he doesn't care if it will be an influence on me, he just doesn't want me to get in the way, or god forgive, mess something up. I do as he says, mainly because I despise all that he does and stands for, but I couldn’t just stay aside as it happened, not any longer, enough was enough, I got up from my couch, grabbed my sweatshirt, and made my way out the door. Cars were lined down our road, all starting out the giant garage in the lot next door. People were still filing in, wallets probably stuffed with money to spend on beer and the dogs. Without anyone noticing me, I slid my way through the front door. Orangish-yellow light filled the large room and the heat from everyone hit me like a punch. Through the splashes of beer and the brawls of men almost start, I continued to look for my papa to get him to stop, but the aching sound of the losing dogs filled my ears and broke my heart. I could not own animals, even if I tried to raise any pet, Papa would would put it in the ring or just let it die. Even though they weren't mine, I still felt the need to help and protect them. I pushed my way through the crowds till I finally came to the fence. The pit was a large hole my papa dug in the ground where the dogs would fight, surrounded by a chain fence. My stomach fell as soon as I saw saw what was going on inside the cage and I stumbled back at the sight of the losing dog. It was hurt too badly and bleeding from several places scattered over his body but still managed to fight.

“Javier!” My Papa’s voice roared from across the cage at me.
I tensed up as a few of the men closest to me went silent and looked down at me and my papa pushed his way toward me. I looked down at my feet, avoiding eye contact with him.

“Hello, Papa….” I mumbled barely loud enough to be heard over the crowd.
“What are you doing here?” He ordered, his dark eyes filling with anger.”
“I-I need this to stop, Papa, this isn't right." I stammered, but straightened my stance to look him dead in the eyes when I found my courage.
“Like hell you'd be able to stop all of this. I'm the only family you've got, you wouldn't call the cops on me.” He said coldly, gesturing to the ring around us.
A roar of cheers rang out as he puts his arms down and I manage to pull myself to the railing to see what was going on; the larger black doberman like dog had the mutt’s neck in its mouth, digging its teeth into the flesh. I couldn't just stand by and let this happen, its blood can't be on my hands, not any more. I jumped the railing and fell ungracefully in the dust.

“Javier!” Get out of there!” My papa ordered, probably worried more about getting in the way than my safety. This also got the doberman's attention and threw the mutt aside.
“Get it out of here?” I begged, pointing to the wounded dog.
I stood up awkwardly, shaking in fear as the doberman stalked closer to me. My back was pressed up against the cold stone wall as the doberman growled and got closer. I could hear the spectators shouting, it was all at once and hard to understand over the sound of my heart beating in my head. I closed my eyes to brace myself for the attack, but no matter how hard I tried, I was never prepared for when the dog’s fangs pierced the skin of my stomach. I let out a cry of agony and when it released me, I fell to the ground and gripped my gaping wound. But the dog didn't stop there; it went for my neck as well. I screamed again,  and my vision started to turn blurry as the dog readjusted its grip and blood rushed down, my neck. I could barely see anything but I could make out my father, frozen in fear, watching me in horror. First, it was hearing, everything went silent, then my sight, until I couldn't feel anymore. Everything was over.

“Poor, poor little Beast, all of this could have been avoided if you had just stayed home.” A gruff voiced advised with a tad bit of sarcasm.
Slowly, I blinked my eyes open to find my myself in a dark room with barely any light, and the feeling that I was being watched that I just couldn't shake. From the dark, stepped forward a man in a fedora and overcoat, completely black with his matching hair covering his eyes preventing me from seeing any noticeable features.

“Who...who are you?” I asked weakly.
“After your little mishap with that dog, I thought you would be begging for my help, which is not needed, because I am graciously going to offer you a deal.” He said slowly, his accent still as thick as it was when he first spoke.
“A deal? Why? Why would you help me?”
“Because you need to rule, Beast, it is your...so I say, birthright.”
I couldn't see well, but just by the way he said the word “birthright”, I could tell he was smirking. Pushing back the overcoat, he pulled out a rolled up piece of paper from the inside pocket. Despite how low the light was, it still managed to bounce of a copper looking stone that hung around his neck.

“All you need to do is sign and everything will get better; you will be able to live the life you can enjoy and don't resent like your current one.” He said calmly. “Just sign.”
I stared at him cautiously, not really sure if he was serious or how to even sign this elusive document for a better life. I could suddenly feel my hand against my bloody neck, and held it out, the bright red standing out against my bronze skin; all of this out of my control like something was controlling my body. He watched intently as my body was controlled by something else, and I put my hand on the black line at the bottom of the parchment. Right after I “signed”, he quickly rolled the paper back up and stuck it back in his pocket., sending the now rose colored stone flying against its string. He smirks again before walking away, leaving me alone in the dimmed light, pain growing and growing until it was unbearable; it became worse than the dog bite. It pulsed and rippled through my body and finally I lost all my sense again and everything ended in a black shadow.

The next thing I knew, I could feel a weird fur running back and forth against my nose. Slowly I blinked my eyes open, and they widened when I realized that it was a tail. I quickly stood up and covered my mouth so my scream wouldn't be heard when I realized that it was MY tail, a long dark copper tail coming from my lower back and my hands lingered up higher on my head to realize my ears had been changed as well, they were furrier and pointed, all features like a dog’s. This time I didn't cover my mouth when I screamed. Almost immediately after, I heard footsteps run towards me. Leaves crunched in the abandoned forest from all sides, and finally they came through the brush; a tall blonde man man, a shorter orangish-blonde haired boy, about my age, a bright blonde haired girl, same age, give or take, and a white haired woman about the other girl’s age.

“What’s your name kid?” The man asked with a voice like thunder.
“I...I...um...Beast.” I stammered, only remembering that one word and nothing else.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Beast. My name is Skye, and this is Twister, Flare, and Glitch. We would like to welcome you to the Island.” The white haired woman explained sweetly, a gentle breeze blowing as she talked, and motions to the man, boy and girl.
“Why am I here?...” I asked slowly.
“Besides being special, we’ve got no idea.” Flare added, his own accent wasn't too off of mine but different none the less.
“Special??”
“Flare, Glitch, how about you two go first.”
They nod; Flare held his hand out and a bright orange, red, and yellow flame danced on his palm and fingers. Glitch smiled and clapped her hands together and pulled them apart slowly, sparks of electricity crackling between her fingertips.

“This is what we mean.” Skye explained as she spun her wrist, creating a strong breeze around us.
“I doubt it will be hard to know what yours is, huh?” Twister added, looking at my tail that was swinging back and forth and my ears that were twitching slightly at the breeze.
“I guess…” I mumbled, suddenly feeling self-concious of my new image.
“Stick with us, cher, we’ll keep yah on the straight and narrow. We’ll figure this out together.” Glitch commented, still smiling.
“Thank you, that means a lot to hear.” I said, a smile finally starting to grow.
“What about his wings?” Flare asked slowly to Twister.
“Thanks, yeah, Beast, there should be something on your wrist. So far, each of us have something so the chances for you aren’t too slim.” Twister explained as he rolled us his sleeves to show a tattoo of a storm on one wrist and a clear day on the other. “Like this almost but yours are probably different.”
I nodded slowly and rolled up my own sleeves up to my elbows and held out my forearms for the others to see. In dark ink, which was about a black and navy kind of color, were bird, almost raven wings.

“Now those are cool!” Glitch laughed, winking at me.
“Not too bad, won’t be hard to pick yours out. Alright you four, there's a storm brewing and the island needs it too much for me to stop it, there’s probably an open cabin for you Beast, we can show you to it.” Twister said, eyeing the greying sky.
They followed after him and I stumbled to my feet to follow, still trying to get used to my tail batting against the back of my thigh. The sounds of the forest grew louder to me, all the calls and chirps of the animals. Twister lead the file down the path with me slowly trailing behind as the storm clouds grew above us and rain threatened to break.

“I’ll show Beast, where to go, everyone else find shelter, this is going to be a heavy one and it’s not going to be my fault if you stay out; Glitch.”
“It was one time Cher! Not my fault this place is too easy to get lost in!” She threw her head up and whined.
“This is what you’re getting yourself into….enjoy.” Flare joked softly at me. “But she is right, it is easy to get lost, so do be careful, I’m sure there's even parts Twister hasn’t even seen yet and he’s been here the longest.”
“I’ll uhh….keep that in mind, thank you.” I nodded with a meek smile, still trying to get a handle of it all.
Little droplets of rain began to cascade down from the foreboding clouds as our pace quickens. Skye and Glitch went off first for their cabins.

“Just look for the raven winged door, it won't steer you wrong. Try going down the row to your left, I think I’ve seen it in that direction.” Twister advised, pointing down one of the rows of houses, already getting soaked. Flare looked equally uncomfortable in the situation, maybe even worse.
“Okay, thank you, stay dry you two.”
“It’s a little late for that.” Flare groaned, shaking his head and sending the welled up droplets flying.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at his misfortune and with a clap of thunder and flash of lightning, I made the ultimate decision I needed to get out of the storm and fast. I said my “thank yous” and “goodbyes” before scampering off down the path hurriedly for what I could assume would be my cabin. I passed many that looked exactly the same as the other but had different markings on the doors until one of the doors looked like what I had on my own wrist. It wasn’t like I had much choice to get out of the storm so I ducked inside into the warmth of the cabin.

It was actually brilliant inside; most of the furniture was made up of wood, like the couch, lamp and even the bed frame on the second floor. Leopard and tiger print pillows decorated the plush white cushions on the couch. There were even copper colored drapes hung over the window to give the whole room an orangish glow. Overall, the whole sight was welcoming and felt almost like home. The whole thing was odd, with the new people, a strange island and especially, without a doubt my tail; but it's not like everything was a bad thing, I could almost get used to it all.