Chapter 4: vague

  Nicole was just woken up by the crow of a hen, it had become quite a normal. Stretching and yawning, she turned to her side but Henry was not there even if he was with her late the previous night. She had never really wondered what he always went to do deep in the woods, Henry never told her about his family, probably because she never asked.

     Henry did his best to avoid any suspicions that about the stranger he harboured in his family’s cabin, he was scared that if his family members would freak out if they found out that there was a human in their cabin. As werewolves they were very particular about him getting too close to humans, to avoid anyone from knowing the truth about him.

     As Nicole got out of bed, she decided to take a short walk inside the woods. Even though Henry warned her against leaving the cabin, her curiosity would not let her stay back. Just a few meters and she began feeling a bit weak and dizzy, she initially ignored it but soon her legs could barely sustain her body.

     She tripped over a log of wood and fell to the ground, hitting her head against a tree stump. In a moment, she had flashes of what seemed to be her memories but most confusing of all was that she could not recognise any of them.

     The memories were quite vague and incomplete, but she saw faces of people she recognised but could not totally remember who they were. It was all in an instant, as she stood up she noticed that she was bleeding from her head. Nicole immediately rushed back to the Cabin, but by the time she arrived Henry had already returned but this time he was with a man.

     She could tell that the man was older than Henry and with the way the man communicated with Henry, they both seemed related. Nicole did not come into the cabin, she hid behind a tree just outside the cabin waiting for the elderly stranger to leave. Unknown to Nicole, it was Henry’s dad.

     “here is quite unkempt, its unlike you.” His father uttered, looking at Henry in such a suspicious way. Henry’s father, Collins Carter could catch the scent of a female individual.

     “yea, I have been quite busy with a lot of things lately,” Henry replied.

     “things like what exactly because it looks like a whole family lives here,” Collins pointed out, “ hey, you are old enough to have a girlfriend and I would not fault you for that,” his father Collins uttered, he thought that Henry had a girlfriend that he secretly spent time with in the cabin.

     “oh please dad, I am single and you know that,” Henry replied, “are you insinuating that I am living with a girl?” Henry asked, sounding surprised.

     “I just want you to be comfortable with me, I am your dad you can tell me whatever you want. Moreover I was once as young as you,” he said to Henry, Collins knew that he spent time with a female counterpart in the cabin but he just played things down to prevent Henry from getting uncomfortable.

     “mom says the exact same thing, you guys do not expect me to bore you with teenage stuff that just goes on in my head.” Henry uttered. As Henry talked with his dad seemingly calmly, he was actually panicking deep down because Nicole was no where to be found in the cabin. It was kind of relieving that his dad did not see her but he feared the worst.

     Soon his dad left the cabin, at that point Henry had no idea whatsoever where he could find Nicole but just then she stepped into the cabin.

     “oh! Thank God, I thought you left me,” Henry said, as he went up to her and gave her a hug.

     “I would never leave you,” she replied to Henry, “I stepped out for a moment, then I saw you with a man and I thought I should hide myself until he was gone.” She explained.

     “that was a really smart thing to do,” he commended her.

     “who was that man, you definitely did not want him to see me,” she questioned Henry.

     “it was my dad,” he replied, “but I do not want him to know that you are here for personal reasons,” Henry told her.

     “your dad...,” she said, Nicole felt like she was missing something but had no idea what it was, “I think my dad was... I can not remember, do you think there is something wrong with me?” Nicole asked Henry.

     “no i do not think so,” he replied, Henry realised that her memories were returning. He wanted to tell her all that happened but he did not know where to start from plus he feared that if she finally got her memories back, Nicole would leave him.

     “Maybe I am overthinking about nothing,” Nicole said, “anyway, why did you not want me to meet your dad?” she inquired from Henry.

     “if my parents found out that you were here, they would probably freak out. So I just think it is wise that we keep this away from them,” Henry explained to her. Just then he noticed some blood on her cloths, it was fresh blood.

     “is that blood, what happened out there?” Henry asked Nicole.

     “it was not anything serious, I just tripped and fell. It was a minor cut in my head,” she explained as she tried feeling her forehead to locate the cut but it had disappeared already. “uhm, I swear it was somewhere on my forehead but for some reason I can not find it anymore,” she was surprised.

     Henry said nothing about it, he just played it down but he knew that it was because she was now a werewolf so her healing factor was fast.

     “you have been here in this woods for days, and I think there is something you have to see,” Henry said.