Breaking out from the forest and into the open field, I lifted my gaze up to the stars where a crescent moon was now hanging. The sight relaxed me, making me feel very small but unlike for most being a tiny speck in a vast universe eased my mind. Ultimately everything I did would not matter; neither the good nor the bad. I just had to do things for myself and those I care for.

I suddenly had to backtrack my thoughts. What I did could matter now, not on a grand cosmic scale, but affecting the entire planet was possible. Well, not the planet itself but rather society. I was a vampire now a creature thought to have been fiction. If I get through this ordeal and return to society, the public knowledge of my very existence would most likely cause massive waves.

I scowled at this realization that I could potentially change history now. This made me uncomfortable as now my mistakes had the potential of being much bigger in scale than I initially thought. Attacking and drinking the blood of a human in a blood frenzy would not only harm, potentially kill, and likely drop me in jail, it could also become the catalyst that reveals to the world what I am now in a less than favorable light. I surely cannot be the only one in this situation in the world, and it is not only vampires out there, but revealing that the mythological is real would affect them too. Of course, I was not planning on going public with this due to the usual fear of experimentation and persecution, but there is a lot more at stake here that could change the world.

I did not know how this has been kept hidden so far, with a werewolf seemingly running around free murdering an entire village, this surely cannot be the only case of such incidents.

Is there a magical society out there keeping the secret from spilling? Would they come for me? What about a vampire society?

There was too much I did not know, and surely more questions would arise if I thought about this more but I had no way to answer any of them. At least speculation could prepare me for some possibilities but if wizards or witches come after me wielding fantastical magics then it probably would ultimately not matter. With the huge unknown of what is and is not possible anymore, there was only a single realistic limitation I could exploit if it is true: that they are still human. This is only under the assumption that it would be a human and not a vampire society that might come for me, but I might just be paranoid and there truly was no one out there keeping the secret hidden. I and this werewolf could be the only ones, in a very localized incident that might even have been rigged. What if the werewolf had been a human previously and maybe even also possessed a cube. We were, after all, both races that are typically depicted as ones turned into from a human origin.

The various possibilities that kept on crowding in my mind gave me a headache. It was ultimately an impossible endeavor to figure this out with so little to go by and even if I did, my current priorities would not change. Unless this was all simulated. Then I would need to find the red pill.

My thoughts were interrupted by movement from the farmhouse. The werewolf was exiting out the front door and to my horror turned to gaze directly at me across the vast fields of upturned dirt and tall grass. I instinctively ducked down to hide in the hopes it coincidentally looked in this direction, perhaps following my scent or something on the path I took to the forest, and not because it had seen me. That sort of perception was terrifying, especially in the dark, but another very obvious possibility hit me.

I whirled around to see that Qubit had also ducked down taking cover behind me. Frustrated at not knowing whether it saw the glow or not, I peeked over the stalks of grass gently swaying in the wind and saw it was still staring. It felt like our gazes met, sending shivers down my spine, after which it turned and slowly walked to the stream, crossing over, briefly glancing in my direction once more, and disappearing into the distance.

Even knowing it was gone, I dared not move from my spot as I kept watch, hoping it would give up for the night knowing that I had seen it. I had to return to the house eventually, it being the only reliable shelter from the sun I had, but with the werewolf returning even once the likelihood of it doing so again became pretty much a certainty. I could potentially sneak into one of the other houses across the stream, but I would not only be getting closer to wherever the beast seems to be staying but also where it could potentially sniff me out.

I was not even sure what to do with the rest of the night and not knowing how much I had left made me hesitant to explore far. I had food and was not even feeling very hungry at the moment. I was not sure if I could stockpile blood or if I needed it fresh and frankly was not up for more hunting for the night. Weapons I had sorted out what I could with what I had and already collected everything of use from the house. Exploring the other houses was too dangerous and most likely not worth it unless I knew for sure there was a phone to be found. Staking out the werewolf for whenever if left to explore safely was a definite no-go as the earlier encounter came to mind. This all oddly left me with nothing to do but wait it out until the next sunset.

I wanted to sleep but knew that was not an option however it seemed the new meditative trance state I had found myself in alleviated fatigue. Figuring out how that works might be my best course of action at the moment but I was hesitant to try it out outdoors. I did not want to end up fully falling asleep during it. Returning to the house now to practice increased the chances of the werewolf coming, but I had to anyway resolve myself that it was most likely inevitable at this point. It was why I had prepared the rocks and perhaps showing it once again that I am not worth the effort it might ultimately give up. Or get mad and want to kill me for injuring it.

I let out a sigh as I made a final decision. As it just now left this was probably the safest time as I doubt it would return so soon, not that there was any specific reason for it not to. I wanted to test the trance and see if I can freely rouse myself out of it whenever I desired as I could then immediately leave again and meditate in safety till sunrise.

I once again made my way across the field with a careful eye trained onto any signs of movement. After reaching the back of the house I waited for some time as a precaution before rushing around and heading indoors as fast as possible, thinking that I should keep one of the back windows open.

Bursting through the entryway, however, I witnessed an unexpected sight waiting for me on the once overturned table which was placed right in front of the kitchen fireplace. It was the corpse of a large gray wolf with its throat ripped out. It was dripping blood through the gaps in the wood and soaking into the dirt underneath. I had not even realized that I had already walked over to it, eyeing the red liquid. I snapped out of it and quickly examined the outdoors for movement but found nothing.

"Qubit, can you stay just above the door and drop rocks on the werewolf when it comes through."

This discovery sent my mind into a whirl. I doubted this was meant as a threat as the body was both killed and presented cleanly on the table. It was also a wolf rather than a human, fresh to boot when it could have simply dragged the nearby corpses in. What I found most odd however was the location. The table had been knocked onto its side against a wall but was now seemingly deliberately placed right by the fireplace. My mind instantly went back to the thoughts I had earlier while stargazing.

Is it trying to communicate? Offering food could mean peace or fattening me up, but it being a wolf makes me lean to the former. Could it truly be a human turned werewolf?

This being a trap to have me let down my guard did cross my mind but it should not have any reason to have to do that. Fighting it off last time was a fluke on my part. but it might not see it that way. Ultimately it all came down to how intelligent it really was and how much it wanted to kill me.

I ended up staring in the direction of the other houses through the doorway while thinking and witnessed the werewolf in question come into view as it climbed up the ridge leading up the stream and stopped to look at me from the other side. There was some distance between us but it felt all too close for comfort and I was sure that even with my headstart it would quickly catch up if I decided to run. That urge to flee slowly dissipated as I watched it slowly lower itself onto the ground to sit with its legs crossed and hands facing upwards on its knees.

This entire situation was inexplicable but proved to me that it knew human sensibilities. I hoped even more so now than ever that it had attacked not only me but the poor villagers out of necessity and not willingly. There really was only one way to know for certain and it was to engage in whatever it is scheming.

I left Qubit where it was waiting and stepped forward as far as I could without triggering its seemingly automatic return function, hoping that I could sprint the distance back faster than the werewolf could reach me. However it wanted to communicate better work over this distance.

Having a clear view of it revealed that the injuries I had inflicted on it were gone. Both of its eyes were looking right at me and when it opened its maw, I was that its fangs were glistening white and uninterrupted.

"Truce." It let out the single word in what looked like great effort on its part, it basically being a half growl.

This single utterance left me stunned twofold. The first was the fact that it can in fact speak and the second was that the word spoken was completely foreign to me yet I understood it. I ended up sort of nodding as a response as I tried to process what just happened in my mind. The surprises and shock did not end however as it continued to speak, seemingly taken my involuntary gesture as an affirmation.

"Humans. Come. Soon."

More words assaulted my mind with meanings that I knew in a form foreign to me. Hearing them each even once seemingly made them stick in my head as if I had known them all along. It felt as if I was learning a new language perfectly with every word I heard. The phenomenon nearly made me miss out on what was actually being said, the contents of which I was also trying to digest in this world and life that was making less sense to me by the second.

"We. Hunt." It growled with an almost happy intonation which I somehow picked up. "I. Share."