CHPT 142: What feels right?

Thursday Nov 1st, 2240.

Lying. Hiding. Misdirecting the truth.

Claude always knew how important these words had become, but Arne truly brought to light just how important it was.

Shape-Changers that decided to continue living in a human society had to become masters of deceit for the safety of their loved ones and their own.

Living in a world defined by Man Vs. Monster, makes Shape-Changers the beings that tip toe the line between both— while also often being discarded by both.

If you choose to try and hide, you lie and pretend your normal for 29 or 30 days a month. Then on that one day, you she'd your human skin and venture into the untamed lands of the world— where you're either strong enough to dominate the area, or weak enough to die a gruesome death and become somethings second dinner.

If you choose to reject your old life and become an omega of human society, you risk dying at the hands of a gloryhound— an average Hero, determined to get his/her battle-stripes and bring your skin back to hang on their wall.

Some might say going out at the hands of human is worse, if you run into the right brand of psycho.

But, Claude couldn't help but think of that option as an actual possibility— aside from dying and being skinned. It's not like he couldn't survive in the wild— he'd been doing it for years even before he was a Lupine. Even so, if he chose that option, he'd be going against his goals and feelings.

Being a Hero. A Hero in its truest form, combating injustice— saving lives, fighting to keep the Tangents from overrunning the earth. He was a long way from feeling like one after all the people he killed. But it's what he wanted, its what his Father wanted.

He wanted to do what he felt was right, and the first option of living as a Shape-Changer felt that way, for now.

The first option was also the hardest.

He'd lied to Ursula before— and it always made him feel horrible. But this time, it was especially painful, it stung even.

It stung so much because this time, her trauma was brought to the forefront of the situation. There was no more extroverted tough girl that didn't care what people thought of her. As she sat on the bed next to him, she looked small, weak and vulnerable.

He never even really considered how hard the events in the Deviant hit her. He never thought that maybe all the nights he spent tossing and turning in his bed, she was too.

The Lupines affected them all. The only difference was, he was now one too.

***

Claude now headed to his first period feeling angry— incredibly angry, nervous and like a terrible friend. But it was necessary. Lying to her was necessary. He had to keep reminding himself of that as his mind wandered to what Samuel was doing now, where he was. Or Tai. Was he simply roaming the wilds as a deformed mass of muscle and fur? Was he dead already?

"It was necessary." He told himself again.

He knew she was too smart to settle with an animal attack— as believable as it was. He had to tell some truths where they'd help him.

That meant revealing Samuel and Tai. He told her the two fought and chased him out of the University all the way into a solitary forest where they transformed and continued to hunt him in their true forms. He then told her how they could've killed him before the Detective stepped in. There was no reason to feel sad when he told Ursula she died and he had no choice but to hide inside a Tangent, thus explaining the other injuries and Goblin blood. The talk caused him to remember more of what happened on the Full Moon and left him just as filled with hatred as he'd been only hours earlier.

What made him sick was, it sold the story that much more. But, he wasn't dumb enough to think she was completely off of him. Although the realization that the twins were in fact like the monsters in the Deviant seemed to grab her attention for the moment, he wasn't surprised that she always considered it either. Even so, she was too perceptive to stay oblivious to everything.

Until then, he now had to figure out what to tell H.M Alaric. Even though he was sure the man was aware of two students missing. Two high profile students that were the sons of one of the strongest men in New Gloria.

The realization hit him as he stepped out of the University and entered his Aura/Element Affinities Class. It was only logical that word would get out, students and teachers would look to the one student that had always opposed the twins and basically everyone else. Being an outcast was starting to bite him in the ass.

"Today's going to be a long day....FUCK!"