Chapter 11

Even though Penelope had no clue how Topher could save her, but seeing him coming to her rescue made her heart tingle. It gave her hope that somehow they could still escape with their lives, but it all changed the moment she saw Topher hulking in size. At first, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her until his face began to grow into a snout. She watched in awe, as he rapidly grew gray fur about his body and now stood a few feet taller. His fingernails had all grown into claws and he had fangs in place of canines. She watched, petrified, unable to move a single muscle as her guardian angel (or werewolf) took on the giant lizard toe-to-toe.

Topher's eyes darkened, blinded with anger and hate as he threw the first punch, knocking the reptile a couple of feet away from where it stood. He was enraged by the knowledge that that reptile was going to hurt his girlfriend so he darted towards it again, lifted it from it lay, and threw it across the parking lot. In a fair situation, Topher would've been on the receiving end, but considering he was fueled by anger and he utilized the element of surprise, it gave him the upper hand for him to deal with the reptile mercilessly. His anger continued to build as he threw clawed blows at the reptile, and when that couldn't end his anger, he picked it up and sent it crashing against a truck in the parking lot. His moves were so fluid and fast that even Penelope and his dazed opponent could no longer keep up with it. But even after the damage he had caused the reptile, his rage didn't leave. It was as if that the only thing that could end it was seeing the reptile lifeless and determined to do that now (not minding what could be the consequences of his actions), he walked towards the reptile but suddenly stopped on his tracks when he got to it. He staggered backward, filled with uncertainty as he watched the reptile shifting back to its human form. Killing it while it was still a monster would've been easy for him, but seeing it now in its human form made things really difficult. And Penelope's eyes glued on him didn't make things easier. He had not seen her, but he knew she was watching, trying to see what he'd do next. He lingered around for a while, pushing back the emotions rioting inside him, then he turned and walked towards Penelope (shifting back to his human form with each step he took).

Penelope still crouched at a spot, unable to move or say a word as she watched Topher walk towards her. She was still having a hard time believing that monsters were real, and her boyfriend was one of them. A werewolf. But while she was still trying to process all this new information, she suddenly got an impulse to run for her life, because she had heard rumors of how werewolves were prone to forgetting the bond they share with people anytime they were hungry. She wasn't sure how true those rumors were but she didn't want to find out the hard way and so she mustered all the strength within her and began to crawl away from Topher's reach. True she was trying to save herself, but her actions broke Topher's heart. It almost made him cry, knowing that the one person he loved was abandoning him because she thought he was a monster. And while his heart broke, he felt something else break inside him and when he looked below, he saw razor-sharp claws jabbed into his side. His head spun, doing a 250, and his vision dimmed, then he collapsed, and the last thing he remembered was a reptile charging at Penelope and her retaliating with a pistol.

Candace busied herself with a computer, punching the keyboard furiously as she went about her one too many cop duties. It was almost midnight now, yet she wasn't done with what she was doing and she wasn't ready to leave her work unfinished (even though she was the only one left in the station now). Exhausted from sitting at the same place for a long period of time, Candace rose from her seat and walked towards the cafe area to make herself something that would help keep her up all night. She grabbed a mug along her way, rinsed it first before she placed it under the coffee maker, and then filled it to the brim. Satisfied by her effort, she grabbed the mug gently and turned to return to her desk but saw Hendell standing right before her.

"Holy shit!" she almost jumped out of her skin. She was so frightened that she spilled her coffee, burning her hand in the process.

"Wait, let me see that" Hendell offered to help, but Candace took her hand away.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" she fumed, soothing her hand with a wet towel.

"I didn't mean any harm"

"Sure you didn't. Are you broken or something? You always bring chaos anywhere you go! How the fuck did you even get in here?" she bombarded him with questions

"Well, I'm a druid" Hendell shrugged. "I'm sorry okay? I just wanted to check up on you."

"I bet there are less creepier ways you could've done that! And I don't need you to check up on me. I can take care of myself" Candace vented her anger on him. "You couldn't even protect Harry when he needed you the most, so don't expect me to let you watch my back?" she muttered, still soothing her hand. There was a brief moment of silence between them as Hendell reflected over Candace's harsh words while also refraining from losing his temper. He shut his eyes when it became difficult trying to do the latter, then opened them when he was finally calm.

"You know, Candace, you're not the only one that lost something that night." he managed to force out the words from his mouth. He took a step towards Candace and held her by her hand. "You might've lost your husband that night, but I lost my brother too, and it still hurts me every time I remember that I failed both of them" he let go of her hand, and when Candace looked down, the burn was gone, and Hendell too.