Ouroboros (being rewritten)

Are You High ? ✔️

The pearls of sweat trickling down my forehead, the shivers coming up my spine and the tangled sheets were all evidence that I wasn't going to go fall back to sleep.

Testing out my resistance to hot water in the shower, I got thinking; were we the ones qualified to stop a psychotic wolf from killing again and more importantly, how were we supposed to stop it? Peter liked to act like he had all the answers but the truth was, he was just going along with it which didn't fill me up with confidence.

"You're up early," Donna said, looking up from the pancakes she was making.

"I couldn't sleep." I could've lied saying I was stressed because of school or the moving to another town but, giving the excessive amount of lying I could foresee in my future, I thought it best not to waste it on stupid white lies.

----
Peter had taken the habit of waiting for me in front of the school before going in, but this time he wasn't alone. The girl who was being bullied the other day was there, chuckling at Peter's dumb attempts to make her smile. We had found out she was none other than Roman's little sister, Shelley.

"Ok, let's try three," he said, taking another orange from his bag. He threw them in the air, trying to juggle them but fails, making Shelley laugh, "Oh no, no. He doesn't do it," he narrated his disappointment.

"Terrible," Roman said, making me turn around. "Got any other tricks ?" he asked, making the blonde girl in the pink sweater next to him giggle.

"I'd love to see you try Godfrey," I challenged him.

"What am I to juggle with oranges? A clown ?"

"I got some tricks," Peter added, "but not with the ladies around." Answering Roman's question, a smirk on his face. 

Roman understood what he meant but decided to move on, "Have you two met my cousin Letha?" He pointed to the girl.

"Can't say that I have," I reacted first as Peter was staring, "hi,"

He finally snapped out of it and offered his hand for her to shake but she simply looked at him, offering a smile instead.

"Well, if the circus is over, let's get going," Roman said walking towards the car park.

-----Talking about books and movies with Shelley distracted me from the main conversation, sat at the back of the SUV.

"... just like that guy lying on the road the night of the dance. The one who saw Brooke Bell." Roman said to his cousin, sat on the passenger seat. I doubted a lot of people were lying on the road that particular night, making me reach for my wrist. The bruise was slowly turning yellow but somehow the feeling I felt when he grabbed it and the pain was still very much present in my mind. "I was thinking maybe you could talk to your pops, see if you can find out more about him." Roman carried on, completely unaware of how torn I felt whether I should tell them about my encounter or not. Letha didn't seem against the idea but she also wanted to know the reason why making me look at Roman to see what kind of lie he was going to come up with.

"Like, um, something that might not have made the papers." She turned around to look at Peter and I and then back at her cousin, a curious expression on, 

"What are you three up to ?"

"Hunting the demon dog," Peter blurred out. I was about to nudge him in the ribs, calling him an idiot but Letha's reaction made me understand what he was doing.

"No you're not,' She laughed.

"We think the demon dog might actually be a person,"

"Are you high?"

Roman shrugged and shook his head, "Besides the point," he said almost hurt that what he was saying wasn't being taken seriously, "This guy is hurting people. "Letha kept on smiling but it was clear it was only to hide the fact that we had completely lost her, 

"Ok", she started, shifting her body so she would face Roman and see Peter and I face at the same time, "A: It's not a guy, it's an 'it' ", Peter gave me a look but didn't say anything, letting her finish, "B: say you had a single good reason to think it was a person," She was trying so hard to rationalise the situation and I knew I would've been in the same situation if I hadn't seen the boy sat next to me turn into a wolf. "You can't seriously think you're better off chasing him than a trained professional. And C, What do you think a psychiatric patient's gonna be able to tell you?"

It was reassuring to know that the man on the road had been taking care of, lifting a weight off of my shoulder I didn't even know was there but then the curiosity started to set in, I wanted to know more about him.

"Is that a yes?" Roman asked her, disregarding everything else she had said.

"Say it was a person. What do you imagine you're gonna do when you find him?"

"What do you think sweetheart," Roman was surprisingly in a better mood with his cousin by his side, making jokes and genuinely smiling making me think maybe we were the ones bringing out his worst traits.

----Roman parked the car near Peter's trailer and the boys got out, leaving me following awkwardly behind, waving goodbye to the two other Godfrey still in the car.

"... a retard then, you're hiding something." Peter finished. "People paying attention to me isn't the same as people paying attention to you."

"Then I'll see you guys at midnight," Roman nodded his head at us, making sure we were on board with whatever they had been discussing.

"You bring the shovels, I'll bring the rest." Peter finished and started to walk to his house, leaving me asking my question to both of them before running after Peter,

"What do you mean by 'the rest' ?" He left the door of the trailer open for me to just walk in, coming face to face with his mom,

"Good to see you again Rose, I see you're still friends with my son,"

"Too afraid he'd hunt me down and eat me next month," I joked. It wasn't particularly funny or clever but humour was the best way to deal with Peter's real nature.

"I saw your friend's mom at the general store," She said, pointing her fingers at the both of us. "And you know, I think she was looking for me. The woman was trying to act sly but you could smell the desperation. And -"

"Mom," Peter stopped her, "Rose doesn't want to know about our family laundry or what happened to you at the store," I felt like I was intruding and looked at my feet, hoping one of them would just move on with the conversation. "We're going out anyway," he warned her, telling her not to bother with dinner. It was clear she wanted to ask what we were up to, but decided against it. She followed her son's movement with her eyes as he was looking for different items and putting them in a backpack before stopping on a photo on top of a cabinet.

"Your grandfather Nicolae was very proud of you, you know." She handed the frame to Peter, "Do you remember when this picture was taken?" I was tempted to reach over Peter's shoulder, curious to see him as a kid but a quick grimace flashed upon his face, suggesting the memory wasn't as happy as his mother was making it out to be.

He put it down and kissed her on her cheek before handing me the same backpack he was putting over his shoulder and we got out to do whatever we were definitely not supposed or allowed to do.