Chapter 5: New Life

I was sitting at home reading a book when something crashed into my window. “THE HELL?!” I shouted. I ran into the kitchen and grabbed a metal pan, then slowly walked out to see what had come in. I peeked the corner to see the boy who was in that alley with his mother. He was panting heavily, but not sweating. I slowly walked over to him, then his eyes darted at me. “Nice lady!” He exclaimed, “I'm so happy I found you. I’m scared, I-I…” He was in a complete panic, I heard police sirens circling the area, clearly, his meeting with the paramedics didn’t go very well. As I was watching him, I noticed something I didn’t before. His hands, feet…they were these beast-like claws. And on top of his head, he had beast-like ears. He continued to mutter, “I’m scared.” it made me feel bad for him. Just from our first encounter, I could tell he, whatever he was, wasn’t used to being outside like this. He’s got a million things on his mind and I’m sure hardly understands any of them. I walked closer to him, put down the pan, and knelt in front of him. I stroked his head, “Hey, you’re okay. You’re okay.” He seemed to calm down a little and tears began to roll down his eyes. “Nice lady,” He started, “I don’t know what’s happening. Why is water coming out of my eyes? Why does my chest hurt?” He had so many questions, so I tried to answer them the best that I could.

“That “water” is called tears, and what you’re doing is crying,” I told him. He looked at me confused as he rubbed his eyes, “Crying? Why am I crying?” He asked. “If I had to guess, it’s because of the death of your mother,” I said. “Because of Mother? Because she is asleep forever.” He responded. “Yeah. Now, why are you scared?” I asked. He sniffled, “They called me a freak and a monster. They surrounded me, so I attacked. Then, cars charged at me, so I ran and came to you.” He looked down at his hands and cried harder, “They all thought I was a monster. Mother said I’m not….I’m not, right?” He asked. “Of course not,” I responded, “You were just scared, that’s all. It’s not your fault.” He sniffled and whipped his tears, “You’re very nice Nice Lady. What is your name?” He asked. I never realized that we’ve never actually exchanged names. “My name is Clare. What’s yours?” I asked him. “93-” He paused for a second, “Ferral. My name is Ferral.” He said. I smiled, “Ferral, that’s a very nice name.” I responded. “Thank you. My mother gave it to me.” He said. I got up and looked outside to see the police cars were gone, but something told me they were still patrolling the area. I couldn’t send Ferral out, they would find him and arrest him, so the only thing I could do was….“Do you wanna stay here for a while?” I asked him, and he looked at me with surprise. “R-Really?!” He asked. I nodded and he shot up and hugged me, wrapping tightly around me. “THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH!” He said with joy. He was strong, I could barely breathe with how tightly he was hugging me, but I smiled and managed to get one arm out to stroke his head. “You’re welcome.”

Afterward, I ask him if he wanted anything to drink, and he said this dark fizzy drink which I have to assume meant soda. “Sorry, I don’t have any of that.” I told him, “But, I do have some orange juice if you want that?” He tilted his head, confused, “What’s that?” He asked. I took out the carton of juice and poured some into a small glass. He sniffed it before taking a sip…his eyes widened and he chugged the rest down. “THAT WAS SO GOOD!” He exclaimed, “Can I have more?” I chuckled, “Something tells me you’re just gonna want the whole carton.” I put the carton down on the coffee table in front of him, he grabbed it and started chugging it down. Guess I’ll add orange juice to my Saturday shopping list. I looked at him, examining his animalistic features. What IS he? He looked human but had the claws, ears, even a tail of that of an animal. Out of my curiosity, I asked him, “I don’t mean to be rude, but what ARE you?” I asked and he looked at me, putting down the empty carton. I was actually afraid I might’ve offended him. “I’m a wolf and person put together.” He answered, rather calmly. “So, you’re some kind of genetically engineered half human half animal hybrid? That’s incredible.” I responded. “I…don’t know what that first thing you said was, but you said it was incredible.” He said. “Hybrid means you’re just two things mixed together,” I said, “And genetically engineered means you were made by science.” “Ooohhhh. Yeah, that’s me.” He responded. He must be some kind of secret government project or something. “Where are you from?” I asked. He shrugged, “I don’t know. Mother always called where my home “The Organization,” and I lived in my box.” How he can say that so casually baffled me. “I see. Are there others like you?” I asked, “You know, animal hybrids.” He scratched his head, “Yeah,” He answered, “But I’ve never met them. The only people I know are Mother the people who dressed like Mother. The people dressed like Mother always hurt me. But Mother, she always made me feel better.” So that’s it. This “Organization” must’ve tortured Ferral, and his mother was sorta the only one who cared for him. “One more question, what’s your mother’s name?” Feral tilted his head, “Huh? Oh! Her name was Ms. Amber.” So that’s it, his “Mother” isn’t his biological parent. To think that he’s lived this long with hardly any knowledge of the real world and only one foster parent. It’s amazing to me that his personality is the way it is. This Ms. Amber must’ve been an angel to have molded Ferral into what he is now. Questions for another day, he must’ve had one exhausting day. “Alright, it’s getting pretty late, I think it’s time for bed.” With that, I turned the couch into a makeshift bed, gave Farrel some blankets and a pillow, and before I knew it, he was knocked out. I lay in my bed, staring out the window, pondering what I was gonna do with Ferral. Do I let him live with me for good? Do I try and take back to this “Organization?” If they WERE torturing him and trying to potentially turn him into a weapon….what about the others? He said there were more, but he feels like the one they must have high expectations for him if they let him out. Are the others like him as feral as him? All I know is that I need to keep him safe and keep him by my side. And speaking of windows…I gotta get the one he shattered fixed! Ahhh damnit. *sigh* It’s definitely gonna be an experience having him around.