Flesheater of the Forests

Chapter IX

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"Hey Yurie! I thought I'd check in to see how you're doing," he greeted with a gentle smile. Puzzled by Mason's unexpected visit, she descended the remaining stairs.

She foolishly extended her arm to gently touch his face, just to reassure herself that he was indeed real and not some sort of angry ghost coming back to haunt her.

With a sudden realization of her action, she swiftly withdrew her hand. A blush graced her face as she replied, "Nice to see you too, Mason."

Her mind was crackling with a surge of questions: How did he find out she had returned home? Why is he standing right in front of her? How did he manage to get here?

She directed her attention to his eyes, and she thought that she detected a glimmer of gold within them, but it's possible her tiredness was playing tricks on her. "Earth to Yurie," he said, snapping his fingers.

"I had just woken up," she replied, stifling a yawn. He stated, " It's three in the afternoon, but I won't judge. You must've been completely worn out from all the intense activities you involve yourself in."

"Shhh! Can we talk about camp at a later time, please?"
He gave a sly wink and said, "Of course, see you later at four."

With a mischievous snicker, Elektra communicated through telepathy, commenting on the guy's attractiveness. And how he unfortunately, didn't get to experience the exciting massacre.

As she made her way to the bathroom, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at Elektra's remarks. After preparing herself, she returned downstairs. Before unpacking her belongings from the purple backpack, she prepared a fast breakfast for herself.
~*~
Shortly after four o'clock, Mason returned and once again rapped on the door. After switching off the television, she stood up from the sofa and walked towards the door. As she opened it, Mason stood there waiting.

"Grandmother! I'll be away for a couple of minutes with my friend!" She exclaimed. The elderly woman responded, "Enjoy yourselves." Yurie closed the door and silently strolled across the front lawn alongside Mason.

"How are things going?"

"I'm doing well, I'm sure you are as well, right?"

"Yeah, you're probably wondering about the incident a few days ago."

"I know it wasn't you that killed everyone else."

"Do you really? How is it that you are still alive?"

"To answer your questions, you could say that I'm very similar to you, Yurie."

"Wait, you also have a twin that has fallen to the curse too?"

"Not exactly. Allow me to show you."

Glancing around to ensure no one was watching us, Mason cautiously surveyed his surroundings. With a mesmerized gaze, she observed as his arm unleashed a sudden eruption of black fur, while his fingers elongated into sharp talons.

She was left perplexed, speechless even, as she quietly questioned Elektra, "Do you believe what we're seeing?" With an excited tone, Elektra asked, "That's nice, but when are you two getting married?"

Unbelievable.

The skin on his arm stretched back over the black fur, back to its human form, and he revealed, "The curse has afflicted my family as well, passed down to me through generations."

"Why did my twin suffer the curse if, to the best of my knowledge, none of our family members are wendigos?"

"I have been asking the same question myself, as you possess the remarkable qualities of a wendigo, yet your appearance is still human."

As we strolled along the street, a young guy, seemingly of our age, crossed our path with a little girl holding his hand. As soon as he walked past me, my senses sharpened, detecting the scent of the crimson fluid pumping through his veins. Elektra's voice broke the silence, stating, "We must have blood once more, or else we will perish."

"Why are we unable to consume regular food like we have been doing for the past decade, like any ordinary person?" I whispered angrily.

They replied back, "Because we aren't an ordinary person as you can tell."

Mason explained that initially, controlling the impulse may be challenging, but with practice, it becomes easier.

"How am I able to keep this curse a secret from my grandmother?"
"Just do what I do, and you'll get the hang of it. She probably already knows," he reassured with a smirk.
He guided her into the forest and stopped near a towering pine tree.

After stepping in front of her, Mason transformed back into his wendigo form, causing the blood to bubble beneath my skin. His head slowly rose and, his face slightly stretched, revealing his elongated fangs.
With his mouth open, he released an ear-piercing shriek.

At once, all of the surrounding wildlife scattered and scurried away in fear. The howling of the forest was the only sound that she could hear for a long while, and she realized it was her who had made it.

Her chest was heaving, and her breathing was ragged, and she realized it was from excitement and euphoria. Mason's hands were gripping her shoulders, and her hands were grasping at his wrists. The intense longing to rip his heart out of his chest was overwhelming.
"Are you okay?"

"I'm doing better than fine, I'm extremely content and relieved that I have a wendigo companion now," she confessed with a wide grin.

"And what about your grandmother? Do you think she will be able to accept what you are?"

"I think she will be fine with it, since we're a family and are meant to support each other through thick and thin."

We continued our walk in silence for a while longer, as she basked in the comfort of knowing she no longer had to be alone.

During dinner that evening, Grandmother asked about my outing with Mason."Who is he?"

"He's just a guy I met at camp. We had a great time together. He even showed me what it feels like to be free, and it was amazing!" I happily responded, thinking back to the experience.

She felt Elektra's shock through our link. After swallowing a bite of food, she added, "I don't know how to describe it, it was like my whole body had been overtaken by this uncontrollable sensation and I wanted to hunt down something."

"You should've killed that boy you just talked to today!" Elektra said with excitement."Elektra! What the heck, you scared the crap out of me!" I exclaimed, setting my fork on my plate with a clatter.

The elderly woman's face quickly changed as if she had seen into the future. "Who is Elektra?" Her grandmother asked, a look of bewilderment plastered on her face.
"She talks to me in my mind and claims to be my twin," she unveiled, hoping she wouldn't be too shocked.
Grandmother remained silent for a moment and then replied, "I see. It's great that you made a few friends."

Yurie was happy to know she didn't freak out about her secret, and that she had accepted her for who she was.

After finishing her plate of food, she stood from the table and washed her dishes. Yurie thanked her grandmother for the meal, and returned upstairs to her bedroom. As she lay in my bed, she closed her eyes and sighed, content and relaxed.

Elektra's voice interrupted her thoughts, "You're happy now, right? This is all you ever wanted."

"Yeah, I'm very grateful for how things have turned out," she replied with a small smile.
She drifted off to sleep peacefully, thankful that everything was starting to become more bearable.
***