The Bone Chapel

Room

It was just a room.

Four walls, a couple windows, and a door. On one side was an ornate wardrobe, on the other a bed and nightstand. A fan dangled from the ceiling, spinning around in lazy circles, pushing the heavy summer air through the boxed enclosure that was most assuredly just a room.

And yet, it wasn't just a room.

I sat on the edge of the bed that was supposedly mine. It had the sheets I bought with my money, but that fact didn't make the mattress, the frame, or the pillows mine. Not to mention, I neither wanted it nor asked for it. Yet, no matter how much I begged, I couldn't free myself from this room.

I clutched my soft rabbit plush close to my chest, resting my cheek atop its head as I thought of my room back at my parent's house. I recalled the books that lined my shelves, their spines raggedy and their pages wrinkled; the collection of posters that lined my walls with beaming faces of beloved characters and sweeping vistas of fanciful landscapes; and the small desk with chipped paint and the ancient computer my father had handed down to me. That was my room more than any other place I had lived in. Why couldn't I make everyone else understand that?

"Hey, Del, it's time for breakfast." Luc's voice, though soft and cautious, penetrated the thick wood door and filled the silent stillness of the dark room. I heard the floors creak beneath the beta wolf's weight. Her sigh tired and anxious. For a moment, I wondered if I would have heard the whine of the wood and her bated breath had my ears still been human.

It was in those passing thoughts I recalled my horrific status. I wasn't human. As much as I wanted to deny it, no human could have survived the injuries I sustained a month and a half prior. Long, sharp canines punctured my neck and cracked my jaw; a large, heavy paw crushed my abdomen and broke my ribs; blade-like claws dug into my legs and drew the last drops of blood from my body. I should have died the night after the Blood Moon, and maybe I had. My humanity, at least, ceased to exist and the curse of the werewolf replaced it. Yet, I also wasn't a wolf.

I couldn't transform. Healing, heightened senses, above average endurance and strength, some psychic connection with my supposed Alpha, Everett Hathaway — all that I had. However, I couldn't so much as lengthen my hair or nails, much less grow a tail. No, I wasn't human, nor was I a wolf. I was an outcast, just like I'd always been.

A fresh wave of emotion surged through me, starting at my gut before rising up and flooding my eyes. Sometimes the tears burned with anger and frustration, sometimes they drew long lines of sorrow and hopelessness over my cheeks, and sometimes they gave a single sign of life in an otherwise stiff body. At that moment, they offered the latter.

"I'm sorry," said the werewolf with a sigh, her body still guarded by a door that could not prevent her heightened awareness from reading the shift in my emotions. "I thought enticing you with a full menu of bacon, sausage, waffles, eggs, hash browns, melon, berries, donuts..."

I fought against the hunger that coated my mouth with saliva. It's not that I didn't want food, but a hunger strike was a side effect of refusing to leave the room. It may not have been mine, but it was also the only space that felt safe from the world outside. From the pack that didn't trust me, the townspeople that feared me, and the friends that struggled to hide their uncertainty. The room wasn't mine, yet it was my only refuge. The contradictions played a tug of war with my insides and brought on another wave of tears.

All the stress made my bones ache and my head hurt, but since my body now teetered on the edge of human and werewolf, I also had the added benefit of gaining a thick layer of muscle. Despite spending the past month and a half hiding in the room, save for an occasional excursion into the heart of Whisper Valley, my expanse of muscle had grown quite robust. I would have considered myself plump prior to arriving in town. I wasn't overweight per se, but I had a full figure. Now, with my heightened metabolism and strength, I was all skin, bones, and muscle. I might even be a threat to anyone who dared to cross my path, but without food to power my body, it was all pretty useless.