We entered my apartment to find Eric and a girl I'd never seen before lounging in the living room. Their position told me everything I needed to know.

"Hey, bro," he said as I walked in. Then, he shot bolt upright when Layla strode in behind me.

"Oh, you've got company," he added, clearly surprised.

"Layla, this is Eric, my roommate. Eric, Layla."

"Nice to meet you," Eric said.

The rando girl poked her head up. She had blonde hair and a turned-up nose. She was dressed like any of Eric's one-nighters: an extremely low-cut top that showed off ample cleavage and short shorts.

"Hey," she said in a nasal, pinched voice.

"This is Astrid," Eric said, standing to shake Layla's hand. "She's a friend of mine."

Layla shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Bro, how are you walking around?" Eric asked.

My face flushed and I stuttered a bit. "I-I—I told you. It was, it looked a lot worse than it was."

"Still," he said. "Some kind of Superman. Well, good for you, dude." Without another word, he turned to Astrid and stuck his tongue down her throat.

"Come on," I said, making a disgusted face. "We can go upstairs."

Eric turned to me and gave me a knowing grin, but I rolled my eyes and headed for the stairs, Layla in close tow.

Our apartment was one of those townhome styles. Eric's room, the living area, and the kitchen were on the first floor. Then, a short staircase led to my room and a small—very small—room we thought was meant to be an office or study area that we put a foosball table in. No one ever played it. I closed the door to my room behind us and sat in my old rolling desk chair. Layla took a seat on the bed.

My mouth went suddenly dry like someone shoved cotton balls inside. I reached for a glass on the desk with a bit of water in it. I had no idea how long it'd been sitting there, but it did the trick momentarily.

"Sorry about that," I said.

"About what?"

"Eric and Astrid."

"What about them?"

"Oh, you know," I said.

"They seem nice enough."

"Yeah, I guess."

My leg bounced—a nervous tick of mine. As soon as I noticed, I pressed a palm against it, willing it to stop.

While I didn't want her to think I was nervous about having a woman like her in my bedroom after we'd just met, I also wasn't sure what to talk about. This sort of thing wasn't exactly typical for me.

"Can I get you something?" I asked.

"I'm good. This is a nice place." She stood and sauntered over to me, and my tongue turned to ashes.

"Oh, wow," she said. "Are you researching werewolves?" She nodded at my open laptop.

My face went hot. I reached for the laptop display, but she held it open.

"Yeah. It's nothing, really. Just... for a paper... a school paper."

"That's awesome," she said. "We don't have any classes like that at my school. Wish we did. I'm a bit of a mythology buff."

I perked up. "Yeah?"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah. What do you want to know?" She leaned against the desk, her leg touching mine. Needless to say, mine started bouncing a bit again.

"We don't have to bother with that," I said. "Really. I mean, it's just a paper. I learned the basics online."

"Probably all nonsense," she said.

"Really?"

"Yeah. For sure. Werewolves are fascinating."

She said it as if she wasn't talking about made-up fairy tales—like she really believed in them.

"I've sort of had an obsession with them for a while. The stories online usually borrow from movies and books and stuff."

I cocked my head. "What else is there?"

"The real story," she said. She must've sensed something in my response. "Okay, fine. You think I'm crazy."

I shook my head. "No, no. Not at all. Go on. What's the real story?"

"You sure?"

I nodded.

"All right. Well, most things about them are consistent. How they were created, how they change, what they eat, etc. But the details change depending on who you ask. It starts with a bite, usually a wound in the hands or feet."

She points through my window.

"Full moon," she said. "Ever heard the word lunatic? Yeah. It comes from the word Luna, like the moon. They say full moons bring out the crazies."

I could feel the moon's pull, and I knew it was affecting me, but I fought the feelings and listened to her talk.

"Stories of werewolves appear as far back in history as vampires," she said.

"So you... believe in werewolves and vampires?"

"Don't you?" she asked. "I mean, the stories had to come from somewhere, right?"

I adjusted myself on my seat. "I... guess? I mean, it could all be made up, right? People have good imaginations."

"Stories about vampires and werewolves have been found in almost every single culture worldwide. That can't be a coincidence."

I started sweating. A lot.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said. "Just... hot in here, isn't it?" I stand to open the window.

"Actually, I'm kind of chilly."

I cracked it open a bit and let the cool breeze wash over me. Then my gaze rose to the moon hovering in the inky black sky. After I felt a little better, I shut it and leaned against the sill.

"Am I boring you?" she asks.

"Not at all. It's all just a bit much," I said. "You know, believing it could all be real."

I thought back to Cleo and Kareem and the others. Cleo had called it a dream, but I was beginning to have my doubts.

"Well, I don't know how much you know already, but the werewolf myth first appeared in the late 1500s in Germany, but the truth is people have been passing down tales of wolf men since long before that. But when the whole Peter Stubbe thing happened—you've read that, right? Basics. That's when it became mainstream, and everyone started talking about it. Sadly, I've been studying them for years, but I have yet to find an ancestor of mine who could've been turned."

"Sadly?"

"Uh, yeah?" she said. "How amazing would it be to learn you had a werewolf in you family line?"

"Pretty cool, I guess."

"You guess? Jesus, Jude. It would be incredible."

"Why are you interested in werewolves?" I asked.

"I think I've always been drawn to the supernatural. The bizarre. The unexplained. I guess it's just human nature to wonder what else is out there that we don't know about."

I could almost smell the honesty coming off her. And something else. Something that smelled... delicious.

"Keep talking," I said.

She smiled. Then leaned in conspiratorially. With her so close, I could feel her breath, taste her scent. It was intoxicating.

"So, I told you I'm from a different school," she said. "That's not exactly true."

"Okay?"

"There's actually a local myth about werewolves. I've heard there're tunnels underneath the university. So, honestly, when I saw you were researching them, I figured you knew."

I shook my head. "Have you been down there?"

I was suddenly more than intrigued. Tunnels. So maybe I wasn't in a cave in my "dream." Was I somewhere in the underground tunnel system?

What if the tunnels had something to do with the Darkness I was supposed to find?

"No, but I've seen a map. Here. I'll show you."

She turned and leaned over my desk.

I froze, sensing her body so close to mine. Then, she sat on my lap and began typing into a search engine I'd never seen before. The mixture of emotions rushing to my brain was overwhelming. Layla was gorgeous. Typical guy things aside, there were other... things. The excitement of learning all of this gave me hope I wasn't going insane. Sure, this still could've been some weird result of me drinking alcohol laced with something at the part, but it didn't feel that way. It felt real.

I also had to ignore my basest desires. No, not to tear her clothes off and make love to her like Eric would, but... I wanted to dig my teeth into her and—

"Here..." She pointed at the screen, tearing me away from those thoughts. "The tunnels run from a complex of old buildings down by the river all the way to the main campus. Apparently, they were dug when the school was built to serve as a bomb shelter. When digging them, though, they found a series of natural tunnels. So, they gave up their plans due to safety issues. The ground down there was too unstable."

I glanced up, and our eyes met for a moment. Flecks of amber danced amongst the rich browns, almost magical. Then, my gaze slowly lowered to the flesh around her chest. Though there was nothing sexual about my thoughts. I felt myself blushing and looked away.

"Anyway," she continued, "The tunnels have been sealed off for years. They're supposedly hundreds or even thousands of years old."

"Did you say thousands of years old?" I asked, smacking my lips and forcing my eyes to meet hers again.

She nodded. "I've also heard rumors of werewolves down there. And old vampires, too. I know a girl who heard that her ancestor was turned down there. He came out covered in blood."

I shivered. "Turned?"

"Into a—shhhh. Did you hear that?" she asked, suddenly distracted. She stared toward the door with a look of... intrigue? Horror? I couldn't tell.

"Hear what?"

"I thought I heard..."

Before she could finish her sentence, I heard it, too. A low growl issued from the other side of my door. It sounded like it was getting closer.

I followed her gaze, then back at her.

"Don't worry," she said. "I'm sure it's just Eric."

Then I heard it again. And this time, it sounded like it was right outside my door.

I stood slowly, motioning for Layla to take a step back. Then, approaching my door cautiously, I reached for the knob. I gave her one last glance and pulled it open.

A large, dark shape stared at me, growling.

I yelled and slammed the door shut.

"Oh my God," Layla said. "What was that?"

The creature started scratching at the door, barking and snarling. I looked around for anything I could use as a weapon. I settled on my desk lamp, which sent the room into almost complete darkness when I yanked it free from the wall. Only the faint moonlight gave us the light needed to see where we were going.

"I don't know," I said. "Just stay by the window.

"Jude," she said. "I'm scared."

"It's fine," I told her as the door rumbled against the frame.

Then I heard Eric's voice.

"Bad dog!" he shouted. The growling stopped, followed by a short yelp. My door opened, and Eric stood, hunched over, clutching a dog by the collar. On second glance, it appeared like a harmless Australian Shepherd.

"I'm sorry, bro," Eric said. "I forgot to tell you Astrid brought her dog. She was closed in my bedroom but I guess I must've left it open or something. What's wrong with you two? You look like you just encountered a chupacabra or something."

I chuckled softly. "I guess it just startled us."

"Geez. Well, Astrid is heading home along with this little terror. So you two can go back to... whatever you were doing." He gave me a wink and turned to head back downstairs.

After a minute or so, Layla said, "I should be going too."

"Yeah, I understand," I said, a little let down.

She smiled. "Don't worry. It's not you. I've got stuff I need to do tonight. I had a really good time, and I'd love to do it again sometime?"

"Yeah, me too," I said.

She kissed me on the cheek. Her skin was frigid. Maybe she really was cold in here. Then, she quickstepped over to my laptop and typed a short string of characters.

"I left my number in the search bar. Call me soon?"

"I will," I promised. "Soon. Let me walk you out?"

"No, it's okay," she said. "I can find my way. Goodnight, Jude Harper."

"Goodnight."

As soon as she was gone, I tossed the lamp onto my bed and plopped down next to it. My thoughts immediately drifted to Layla's pale skin and how it had felt so cold when we touched. Her smell filled my nostrils, sending me into an internal frenzy.

I rose, took a deep breath, and tried to think of anything but her. Sitting at my desk, I added her number to my phone, then pored over the map Layla had left up on the screen.

Could the tunnels underneath campus have something to do with the Darkness?

Was I really interested in traveling underground to meet up with a bunch of werewolves that had appeared in a dream?

I was conflicted. The thought was alluring, but after the last few minutes, terrified over an Australian Shepherd, I wondered how I could possibly face a pack of werewolves in the dark underground. Sure, I'd held my own against the sword-wielder—but if that was a dream? Even if it wasn't, I didn't fully understand my new powers. While I didn't know a lot about video games, being a Level 1 cub couldn't be good.

Curious, I mentally tapped two menus on the HUD and pulled up information on how to increase my Level. Using my skills and combat were the two main ways to get from Level 1 to Level 5 cub. At that point, I had to join a pack to advance. For the moment, I was just concerned about the first step.

I climbed into bed, thinking about the easiest and safest way to increase my skills. Had choosing [Intellect] as my path been a mistake? [Might], [Stealth], and [Spirit] had all seemed too specialized to me. With [Intellect], I could use my brain to get me out of tricky situations.

Though, I guessed the very nature of being a werewolf meant I was still expected to fight to increase in power. I just wasn't sure I was ready for that part of things. One thing popped out at me just as I was planning to will the HUD away.

[Current Experience Points:] 10

Your bravery in combat, even if the threat wasn't real, has earned you 10XP.

Huh. That meant I received experience points for stuff other than just combat, which was good. I rolled over and stared at the moon through my window, hoping I wouldn't wake up tomorrow covered in someone else's blood.