Unspoken│Roman Godfrey

viii. vargulf

Indie forgot her phone in the car. 

I was staying back for a few minutes to cram in extra studying time for a math quiz I had today when I noticed. 

Knowing Indie and myself, she couldn't take not having her phone for the day. So I trekked through the freshman hallway to get to her first-period English class. 

That's when I saw them. 

A group of freshmen, standing above Shelley, who had her knees pulled up to her chest and her head buried down to avoid the stares of the crowd. 

"Hey. Hey, sweetheart. It's ok. You can tell us. We're your friends. Us freshmen we... we gotta stick together." I heard one of them say. A boy, no taller than 5'8, looking down at Shelley, his tone thickly laced with sarcasm. 

"Come on. What'd you eat first? I mean, I know what I'd eat first." Another boy standing above Shelley said. 

"What the hell?" I said instinctively out loud as I walked toward the two boys. "Get the fuck away from her. I said, crouching down to put my hands on Shelley's shoulder comfortingly. 

"We're just having some fun, it's not so bad." The first boy said, ignoring my glare and turning back to Shelley. "Who tasted better?" 

"Gotta be Brooke, right? I mean, she was good to go." The other said. My blood boiled and I stood up momentarily. 

"Okay. Enough, asshole. Give it a rest." 

"Did you do it fast or slow?" The first boy asked. "Grunt once for fast." 

"Dude, now you're being a dick." The other said.  I kneeled and put my hand on Shelley's shoulder once more. It was obvious I wouldn't be able to get them to stop. 

"Let's just go, Shelley." I muttered, reaching out for her bandaged hand. 

"But seriously. Who's next? Class of '17, pinky swear, we're cool. We won't say shit."

"Are you done?" I asked, just as the first boy, tapped the other on the arm. 

"Fuck." He whispered. I turned my head to see Roman approaching after turning the hallway. Roman reached where Shelley and I were, kneeling as well to comfort Shelley from the other side. 

"Hey. Sorry, I don't know what's wrong. She just started crying and shit and..." The boy said. Roman looked up to meet my eyes, and I shook my head. He obviously got the memo, because he stood up. 

"We were trying to figure out what's up, you know?" The boy finished. 

"Kiss him." Roman said, making eye contact with the first boy. He scoffed.

"What?"

"Kiss his pretty little mouth."

And to my surprise, he did. Turning and grabbing the second boy by the collar, he pulled him into a brief kiss as the crowd of freshmen gasped. 

"Get the fuck out of here!" Roman said to the crowd, and they did, immediately dispersing down the hallway. I watched as Roman used a tissue to wipe his nose, which began to bleed. 

Something was definitely going on. 

--------------------

After the events of the morning, Roman had told me to meet him and Peter in the stairwell in front of the building after school ended. 

The time to see them had come, and I clutched the strap of my bag as I jogged down the steps and over to the stairwell, opening the door to see Roman and Peter, smoking on the steps. Peter hid his face while Roman turned his head to me, hitting Peter with his hand upon realizing it was me. 

"It wasn't me." Roman said as I sat on the middle of the step directly above them. 

"I know." Peter said, and I immediately knew they were talking about what happened to Brooke and whoever else was killed. 

"Vargulf." Peter said, passing the blunt they'd lit to me.

"What?" I asked before taking a drag from the blunt before passing it tom Roman. 

"Vargulf. A wolf will only attack if it's hungry or if it's provoked. If it's normal. A vargulf is a wolf that's gone insane."

"Insane how?" 

"It doesn't eat what it kills. That's not the way. It's like a disease."

"You sure that's what this is?" Roman asked. Peter only nodded his head as he grabbed the blunt from Roman. 

"How?" I asked. 

"I could smell it. That night at the park." He said, turning to Roman. "You can tell a whole life by a scent- sex, health, fucking needs. This wasn't like anything, this was just anger." He finished, passing the blunt back to me. I took the liberty of taking two hits this time. 

"Is it someone you know?" Roman asked.

"I never knew any others except Nicolae. But this is a strange town, you can feel it on your balls." My eyebrows creased as I handed Roman the blunt.

"So, I guess we find him now." I declared. 

"Who?"

"The... the vargulf." Roman said, seemingly having the same idea. 

"Why?" Peter asked as if we were speaking a different language. 

"So he stops killing people?" I suggested. Peter gave me that look. The look I hated. The one that made me feel stupid. Made me feel like an alien, like I was some foreign subject, and nothing about what I was saying made sense. I jumped as the door slammed open and a girl ran down the steps, maneuvering around us before running down once more. 

"Have you heard of the order of the dragon?" Roman asked once she was gone. "It was a group of knights from the crusades. My mom used to tell stories." He paused, lip trembling. "I've always wanted to be a warrior." Another long pause. "I see things sometimes." 

What he said, the way he said it, made my blood chill. Judging by the look on Peter's face, I knew he did, too. 

"Me too." I muttered, voice barely above a whisper. 

"I hear these whispers, but I don't always know if they're real or not. I need to do something." 

"I know." Peter said, grabbing his bag and standing up. 

"What are you talking about? You just told me-" 

"Maybe this is something you guys should be discussing with your guidance counselor."

"The fuck is that supposed to mean?" I asked, suddenly immensely irritated at his pretending he wasn't the same. 

"It means no!" He yelled, turning to Roman. "I know that's not a word you're used to hearing, but no. Sorry." He added, climbing the steps to exit. 

"Sorry?!" Roman asked. "Hey!" He tried, chasing Peter up a few steps before climbing back down once he was gone. I was on my feet now, too. 

"I think we should do it." I said, leaning on the opposite wall as Roman. "With or without his help." Roman lit a cigarette. 

"Isn't this thing, like- after girls?" 

"You don't know that." I said, outstretching my hand for the cigarette, which he passed to me. I took a long inhale from it, using my right hand to do so. 

"What is that?" He asked. My eyebrows raised. 

"A cigarette?" 

"No, this." He said, gently yet quickly grabbing my wrist and examining the bruises that now lay there. 

"My business." I replied, snatching my wrist back and tucking it under my sleeve. 

"Jesus, Stevie." He said. "You shouldn't be with someone capable of doing that shit." I hardly knew Roman, yet here he was, giving me relationship advice. 

"I'm not having this conversation with you." I said, grabbing my backpack from the stairs and slinging it over my shoulder. 

"Hey, Stevie! Wait!" I heard him yell, but I didn't. I kept walking, exiting the staircase and leaving him behind.