I instantly froze as words left the lips of the dude who had what I assumed was a gun to my kidneys.

“Niko, wha—“

I shook my head firmly to cut off any more words from her.

“Why don’t you go and get whatever it is you were looking for we’ll speak later,” I suggested doing my best to convey the need for her to leave while she still could.

Sophie met my eyes and shook her head before picking possibly the least favourable option.

She stayed and glared over my shoulder at my mugger.

“Nah she can come too,” the thug said loud enough for her to hear him.

A car pulled up next to where we were on the street. I sensed the gunman move but his gun was still pressed against me and a moment later I heard the car door open.

“Get in,” he ordered while nudging me,” the both of you.”

“Listen man,” I began while trying to keep my cool, “whatever this is there’s no need to involve her.”

He gripped me by my left arm and growled in my ear.

“It wasn’t a goddamn request, get in the damn car or things get messy,” he threatened.

He was surprisingly strong and the leverage he had over me and Sophie was no joke, so I had to be smart about it. The few people passing us by weren’t really paying attention to what was happening aside from a few offhand glances.

I allowed him to escort me into the back of the car. Once seated, I looked over to see there was another man in the driver seat and nothing about his appearance stood out, save for the tinted glasses he wore. Soon I was followed by Sophie and the guy who had pulled on me closed the door behind her.

“Are you okay?” Sophie whispered as my eyes followed the gunman go around to enter the front passenger seat.

“Yeah I’m fine,” I told her as softly. “I’m so sorry Sophie, I have no idea what the hell is going on.”

The thug got into the front seat and I didn’t really get an idea of what he looked like but I was able to see the profile of his eyes through the rearview mirror.

Whoever these people were, they weren’t to be fucked with.

“Pass me your phones,” the gunman demanded as he stuck out his hand nonchalantly.

I hesitated but both Sophie and I did as he requested.

“Where are you taking us?” Sophie asked.

“Shut the fuck up,” snarled the driver.

“Hey!” I growled at him, “don’t talk to her like that.”

In my excitement to give the asshole a piece of my mind, I had leaned forward towards his seat.

“Get the fuck back,” the guy in the passenger seat warned.

He nudged me with his forearm before pulling up his gun and aiming it at my face.

The motherfucker grinned at me as I inhaled sharply, no doubt he thought I felt pain when he hit me. It really didn’t hurt.

I caught the asshole driver's smirk before the car started moving. Sophie’s fingers traced lightly on my face, she looked super worried and I took her hand and interlaced our fingers together.

“I don’t know what’s going on but it’s going to be ok.”

A shit load of thoughts went through my head about how this was going to go down and where we were going to end up. I didn’t panic when I felt as I should have and I was glad for it. I felt like I wanted to say more to Sophie but I didn’t have anything of substance to say, hell I’d probably end up just making her more worried. I kept my mouth shut so I just rode out the rest of the trip holding my friend’s hand.

The drive wasn’t that long, I guessed about twenty minutes in total had gone by.

We were in the projects now driving past a basketball court and towards an apartment complex.

When we stopped outside a building, the doors were opened for us and we stepped out. When I tried to reach for my bag I was denied and told to leave it behind.

This neighbourhood had definitely seen better days and the complex we walked into was a prime example of that.

The lobby was small and had a flickering fluorescent bulb, this situation was slowly turning into a cliche setup from some action movie. I shook my head to myself to keep focus, this caught the attention of one of the goons.

“You good?” he asked looking at me from higher up on the stairs.

“Yeah,” I said making eye contact, “where are you taking us?”

He didn’t answer me and just carried on walking and that was when I felt the nudge of a pistol being pressed into my back.

I gestured for Sophie to walk before me so that I could keep my eye on her. Shit, I didn’t even want either of these fucks to breathe the same air as her but from now I had to go along with whatever this was.

After we were walked up a few flights of stairs, we walked down a hallway and stopped before a door.

The driver knocked on the door a couple times. The knocks were done in a way that was far too precise, so no doubt it was a pattern to let the person in the apartment confirm who was coming in.

The door opened and we started to head in but my eyes flickered to all the doors around us in hope that someone would peak out to check what is going on. I had no such luck.

The inside of the apartment could give any college student’s a run for their money. I saw Sophie’s grimace and I couldn’t help but agree with her assessment.

We were gestured to the sit on a couch that looked to be the cleanest thing in the space which wasn’t saying much.

It was now Sophie and I in the room with three strangers, all men with one of them being armed. Speaking of armed, the guy who had held the pistol originally gave it to the driver, and then he took off his jacket. He also placed our phones on a small dining table.

I was able to get a better look now at the assholes that had dragged us here against our will. They didn’t strike me as some coked-up junkies like the apartment led me to believe, instead, they looked like the kind of guys that you’d find on a men’s health magazine; the real good-looking ones as well.

In front of us sat an asshole one who pulled a gun on me and he looked pissed. Then there was asshole number two who was sat off to the right with the gun in hand and had been driving; he looked more in control but his tense jaw proved he was far from calm. The third was resting on a frame that connected the living room to the kitchen. He didn’t look like he wanted to kill us, it was actually the opposite as he was making googly eyes on Sophie.

His stare actually pissed me off the most.

Asshole One placed our phones on the table behind them and looked at us.

“Let’s get this shit over with,” said asshole one as he fished for something from his jacket’s inner pocket.

In his hand was a small vial of a light bluish liquid that he held out to me. I hesitantly took the vial from him and inspected it, I turned to Sophie but she appeared to be just as clueless as I was.

“Drink it,” asshole one ordered.

“What is it?” I asked giving it a little shake.

“Drink. It.”

The other asshole who was the driver insisted as he aimed the gun at my face. There was no way they simply brought me here to poison me right?

Uncorking the vial, I ingested the fluid and waited for something to happen. Aside from the bland taste of medicine, I felt no different.

Asshole one narrowed his eyes and nodded to asshole two. He pulled out a vial of what appeared to be…glitter?

“What is that?” Sophie asked this time around.

“It’s Gold Rush,” asshole one informed.

This time it was my turn to ask a question.

“What’s it for?”

“Don’t play dumb,” asshole one snared at me. “You know exactly what that is and you’re going to tell us where it is.”

“Relax Rod,” calmed asshole two.

He gave me a long hard look but I couldn’t tell what his mood was.

“That’s Gold Rush,” he continued. “This substance was inside the box that you carried into the ‘Asiago Italian’ restaurant yesterday. Where is the shipment now?”

I blinked and opened my mouth to either voice my disbelief or come up with some sort of excuse. Before I can make a decision, ‘Rod’, shakes his head at me.

“Don’t even try to bullshit us,” he snarled at me.

I eyed each one of my captors as I scrambled for what to do, again, I didn’t like the way the guy standing up was looking down on myself and Sophie.

“I had no idea what was in that box,” I confessed. "I just gave it to some guy who took it from me and he didn’t tell me what he was going to do with it.”

I begrudgingly admitted the task I had done for Zack without name dropping him but I did my best to not tell them anything too damaging. This was all happening so fast.

“Hey guys,” came the voice of the guy behind us. “Why don’t we ask his hot little friend some questions. She might know something.”

He looked down at Soph and shrugged his shoulders. Soph just gave a clearly nervous smirk and I started to get a little angry despite the situation.

“Did you hear something Mike?” Rod asked with confusion.

“Sounded like…groaning,” Mike replied. “Yeah, for some reason the words ‘little bitch’ come to mind when I recall that noise.

Both seated goons stared at the third guy for a couple of seconds while he pursed his lips and turned his head to the size.

“Fuck you guys, that was one time,” the standing asshole retorted.

He didn’t even finish his statement before he was interrupted by the deep, raucous laughter of his friends. Well based on how they were acting, it was clear that the term friend in this scenario was a loose one.

As someone who had been the butt of many jokes in the past, I might have felt bad for him if he wasn’t the sleaziest fuck in the room.

“Shut the fuck up Kev,” Mike snarled. “You’re here as back-up.”

“Yeah,” Rod added. So back the hell up as you shut the hell up.”

More laughter as they jostled each other and in the corner of my eye I saw Sophie lay a comforting hand on Kev’s elbow. I think I saw a purple light on her fingertips and then he turned down to her; his frown gone.

Once the laughter ended, both douches refocused on us and their expressions shifted. They both now just looked pissed.

“Let’s just send them on their way,” Mike groaned.

“Fuck that,” Rod contested. “What are we going to tell Morgan? We can’t go back empty-handed.”

Rod then turned to me with a dangerous look in his eye.

“Where’re those envelopes you stepped out with yesterday?” he interrogated.

I blinked at his statement, I didn’t know why I was surprised as they already admitted to watching me. There was no way I could tell them where it was stored, they would want me to take them to my dorm room. Scrambling quickly I tried to think up an adequate response while somehow halting the drop of sweat sliding down the side of my face.

“I don’t have it with me,” I told them.

“No shit,” Mike snapped as he gestured with his free hand. “Where is it now.”

“I-It’s at my f-“ I tried to get out, but it was as if something had lodged into my throat mid-sentence.

This caused both seated goons to tense up a bit.

“It’s a friend’s house?” Sophie stepped in for me. “Is that what you're trying to say?”

I nodded while clearing my throat but no one was buying what I was selling.

“It’s at your house isn’t it?” Rod growled menacingly.

I could only stare down in shame at being caught out. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why did I have to literally choke at the one point that meant life and death?

Mike shook his head disapprovingly and pointed the gun at me directly.

“Get up,” he barked at me.

“Why? What’s happening?” I asked getting up, Soph was still holding my hand.

“We’re going to your place to get the money you hid,” he hissed at me.

Soph got up to join me standing but Mike shot her an angry look and motioned for her to sight back down.

“Just him,” he emphasised with the end of his gun. “You’re going to sit your pretty little behind and wait for us to get back.”

Soph’s eyes bulged as she looked up at me. I tried to get out an excuse for them to allow her to come but instead, I was nudged in the shoulder to turn around.

As I inched to the door, I could hear Soph protest behind me.

“Can’t you tell your friends to take us with them?” Sophie begged.

“Shut the fuck up bimbo,” Rod admonished. “You stay quiet and do what you’re told.”

That was the second time they had badmouthed my friend and I turned to glare at Rod over my shoulder. He noticed me and smirked.

The douche then got off his seat and proceeded to gently rub the side of Soph’s face. Surprisingly, Kev came to her aid and slapped the asshole’s hand away, prompting both of them to square up.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Rod muttered menacingly.

“I could ask you the same thing,” Kev shot back. “Aren’t we supposed to be handling this issue for Morgan? Get your dick wet in your own time.”

Mike had stopped marching me to the door, so it allowed me to turn enough to get a view of what was happening behind me. Rod turned to Mike as he pointed at Kev’s face.

“Is this kid out of his goddamn mind?” he asked incredulously. “You were literally looking for an excuse to bump uglies a second ago. Now you’re the white knight.”

He chuckled the last part and I noticed Kev’s jaw tighten. What the hell caused this to come on?

“Nice of you to finally find your testicles Kevin,” Mike mocked with a chuckle. “Put em away for a tonight though will you.”

This caused Rod to cackle out loud and Mike joined in shortly after. Kevin was trembling now.

I caught Sophie holding Kevin’s arm.

“These are your friends right?” she said softly. “They shouldn’t be laughing at you like that.”

“Damn straight,” hyped Kevin. “You guys love talking down to me but I’ve done just as much to earn my place in the pack as you guys. You need to quit screwing with me and start taking this shit and me seriously.”

“The hell did you say?” Mike hissed as he turned his back to me completely.

Kevin turned to glare at both his thug friends and the wild look in his eyes definitely made me uneasy.

“I know it’s been a while Kev,” Rod pointed out with his arms open in mock surrender. “Since a girl’s said anything positive about you. But you’re the fucking tag-a-long we ain’t got to respect shit.”

As Rod said this, he continued to inch forward toward the thoroughly pissed Kevin.

“Hey!” exclaimed Mike trying to get both of their attention.

“They’re not listening to you Kevin,” Sophie stated, not even trying to be subtle anymore. “You should do something.”

Rod’s eyes then narrowed at Sophie before he looked up at Kevin and then back at her.

“You dumb little- what do you think you are-“ Rod began to reach for Sophie but was grabbed by Kevin instead.

What happened next absolutely blew my mind as both the grappling men’s bodies started to change. Kev’s body was undergoing the change quicker than Rod’s as I saw his spine shift as it began to pop in different places. Body parts began to grow in size as his clothes tore.

As if my eyes couldn’t get wider, hair or rather fur began to sprout out from his skin and his skull started to change into a dog-like one.

They were turning into freaking werewolves.

As Kev wrestled to keep Rod under him, he growled out words during his transformation.

“Don’t you dare touch her you fuck,” I thought he growled?

Movies or books could never really capture the sheer horror of something’s flesh mutating into something else. The sight was so traumatizing that I was struggling to remember to breathe.

“You morons!” Mike yelled as he began his own shift and approached his enraged comrades.

Sophie then ran up to me and tried to get my attention.

“We need to leave,” she advised as she took my arm. “Right now Niko.”

Despite being led to the door my eyes were glued to the three writhing werewolves on the floor.

“Don’t you see what’s going-” I started to say but Sophie cut me off.

“I can’t get the door open,” she complained. “Please help.”

In my distracted state, I didn’t notice Sophie was doing her best to get the door open.

I moved in to replace her at the door and barged the door once, thank God for my newfound strength. There was a large dent in the door and I guessed that two more well-placed hits would get the door down.

I was able to get another one in but before I could break the door down completely I heard Sophie shriek next to me.

She had a claw wrapped around her shoulder and she was pulled back.

“Not so fast,” growled whoever had a hold of her.

Her back hit the floor and I could see the pain visible on her face. I rushed to her to offer help but quickly found myself on the floor as well from a backhand.

“Stop you dumbass,” Rod commanded, as he had now gained the upper hand against his confused friend. “You’re being manipulated.”

With a growl to highlight his seriousness, Kevin decided that he finally got the message and quit struggling.

A moment later I heard Sophie struggle and she got tossed next to me while both wrestling werewolves were now standing before us.

“So what are you? Vampire?” Kev growled.

Sophie said nothing while she nursed her shoulder and panted, I could even see the trickle of sweat on her brow.

“It don’t matter,”rumbled Mike, “we’re gonna kill them anyways.”

Growls from all around us filled the space we were in and I scrambled to think of something.

“Just please let Sophie go and I can call Z-“

My plea was interrupted by a sharp strike to the head.

“Shut the fuck up,” Kevin admonished me as he smacked the back of my head.

Gruff laughs were now filling the room as my forehead landed against Kevin’s feet.

“Don’t try and kiss my feet you little bitch,” he mocked and followed up with a strike of his own.

The backhand sent me against the couch and I could feel the blood run down my head.

“What a fucking pussy,” mocked one of them.

“Shiiit no wonder she ain’t fucking you,” commented another as he gestured to Sophie. “Don’t worry, after we end your pitiful ass we’ll take good care of her.”

“Yeeah,” Kevin quipped, “show her a real good time.”

This was followed by further mocking remarks and laughter as I held my head in my hands. It may have looked like I was crying but in actual fact, my fear was gone.

My fear had turned to anger and this anger was further highlighted by the trauma to my head.

For as far as I could remember, most people never really expected much from me.

Just when I started the day actually feeling like I could take control of my life, I was going to get brutally murdered by a bunch of Twilight rejects and my best friend was going to get raped before most likely getting killed as well.

All because I wanted to help my other friend with simple delivery.

What the fuck? What the actual fuck?! Was this how my life was going to end?

No, no it couldn’t end like this, I wouldn’t let it.

The searing heat that I experienced when I woke up was back but this time I didn’t try to ignore it. I let the circumstances fuel my anger as my body started to burn hotter and hotter like the sun.

I was broken from my burning rage by a female shriek.

Kevin was reaching out for Sophie as they all laughed.

“Don’t you dare put your filthy claws on her,” I growled in a tone that was alien to me.

All heads in the room turned to me as I got to my feet.

“What did you say you-“ Mike began to say but I cut his shit off real quick.

“I said, don’t you put your filthy fucking dog hands on my friend you Hollywood rejects.”

With each word, my talking pace increased as did the evil undertone I was letting seep into me. I began to feel the heat in my body reach a fever pitch and my muscles felt like they were being torn apart.

It hurt like hell but I didn’t fucking care. All I cared for was ripping these assholes into bloody chunks.

My height increased and as my clothes and shoes couldn’t handle the changing size, they were turned to scraps.

I watched as the werewolves all started to back up away from me and even Sophie did so with her hands. That was probably best as I didn’t want her to get caught in what happened next.

Whatever change that I had undergone had finally stopped and I let out a primal roar that the whole building must have heard.

I was on Mike first, or at least I thought it was him. I didn’t really give a fuck who it was, he would be the first one to get it.

Grabbing onto his shoulders I slammed him into the wall, pinning him there as my claws dug into flesh.

The goof thrashed around while I held him and once I was satisfied with observing his suffering, I tossed him to the ground.

I felt one of them jump on top of me and try to wrestle me to the ground but I braced myself with my forearm against the ground before I could fall completely.

I rolled onto my back and elbowed him in the side. The one who I thought was Mike was growing at me but I put that shit to a quick end when I raked my claws across his face.

I didn’t just hit him with the tips, but the palm of my hand as well. Bone cracked as his neck snapped to the side which was followed by a pitiful whimper.

He was incapacitated for the moment but I would end him later. For now, I would focus on the cur beneath me.

A devastating elbow met the muzzle of the motherfucker beneath me and I caved part of his face in. His skull cracked and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. I could hear his breathing so he was only unconscious but then I looked down at his chest and thought of a way to remedy it.

As I brought my claws to circle the area of his chest where his heart would be, I was stopped by the commotion behind me.

I snapped my head around as the last prick had his claws wrapped around Sophia’s leg and was pulling her towards him.

How dare he touch her!

He noticed that my gaze was on him and then I bolted off my current victim, straight at him. His pitiful attempt to keep his distance by stretching out his free hand was thwarted when I got in close and backhanded him into the wall.

He went flying, crumpling to the ground and I let out a grunt of satisfaction as he lay there.

What a goddamn rush.

The coward tried to get up and run towards the exit but I wasn’t going to let him get away.

He barged the door down and was about to bolt through on all fours. As there was barely any space for him to navigate, I was able to grab onto one of his hind legs.

This only spurred him to try and get out of my grip faster and I leaned over with the unexpected jerk reaction. I stood firm of course, this weak little pup was right to fear me. Turning around I dragged the mutt and back into the living room.

Oh, I was going to enjoy this.

I crushed his leg in my mighty fist and there was a snarl of rage but when I made eye contact they quickly calmed down. Slowly, I walked along the side of his form and picked him up by the puppy scruff. My face was next to his and I could see the terror in his eyes as they nearly bulged out of their sockets.

“I’m sorry man, I had no idea you were-“

“Shh shh shh…” I hushed the trembling werewolf.

I was the same height as him but the way I manhandled the thug must have made him feel like a chihuahua rather than a wolf.

“You talk too much,” I growled before I opened my jaws and bit down on the side of his neck, and tore out the flesh. Slowly.

Then I dropped the pathetic lump and he thrashed on the floor at my feet like a fish. The fool’s blood began to pool all around him and I grinned which was followed by me spitting out the chunks in my mouth.

His eyes followed the clumps as they hit the floor and I could see him pitifully attempt to stop the bleeding with his hands.

“Here,” I grumbled as I rested my foot on his hand.

The action caused blood to spill out quicker and the sight brought me a deep-seated sense of satisfaction.

“Niko…”

I spun around to find a terrified Sophie, her arms clutched tightly around her.

My apprehension instantly vanished at the sight of her erratic expression.

“We should get out of here,” she suggested, eyes frantically staring at the exit.

I gave a shallow nod and she moved past me to leave.

With one last look, I took in the carnage, grinned to myself, and left after Sophie.

She was on the phone talking to someone.

“Hey, hey slow down,” she soothed, “I’ll explain when we get back home. I need you to come to the location I sent.”

She carried on speaking but I wasn’t paying attention. Instead, I was taking in the world around me and my need to destroy was burning even brighter.

I heard and saw a few doors shut as people were not ready to deal with the sight of what I turned into. Sophie periodically looked back at me but said nothing, so neither did I.

We eventually made it down to the bottom floor, my heavy footsteps creaking loudly down the shitty stairs. I noticed now that my shoes were completely gone but I didn’t really care.

Once we were outside we looked at one another but said nothing. How could we, in my current state I was nothing more than a walking time-bomb waiting to go off. I knew that my feelings on the situation were temporary while I…

I shook my head in frustration but then said frustration increased. Nothing made sense.

“I think it’s better if we stand over there-” Sophie offered as she pointed along the side of the building.

I on the other hand was heading towards the car that had brought us here. Approaching the vehicle I didn’t hesitate and broke open the backseat window.

The alarm was going crazy but I did not allow it to faze me. Once I turned around I found Sophie snapping her head from side to side to check if anyone was taking notice. Luckily there wasn’t anyone in the street so I took my time to cross back over to her.

I did as she asked by going to the place she directed and I could hear follow behind me but not too closely. The raging adrenaline that had driven me to unleash chaos on those fools was passing and I began to feel it replaced by exhaustion.

Sliding down against a wall when I reached the spot, I tried to force my body to calm down but I couldn’t. For some reason I had forgotten how to relax, it was like something was preventing me from just letting go.

In a moment I sensed the presence of Sophie in front of me. The streetlight allowed a shadow of her to be cast but I did raise my head up to look her in the eye.

“Niko…Jess is gonna be here any moment so…” she trailed off, still unsure if she should even speak or not.

“K.”

The situation was like that for a short while before Sophie moved to sit next to me. I hadn’t expected it but the sensation of her beside me continued to tease me further.

"We’ll be out of here in a moment,” she said as she gripped my bicep and stroked it with her thumb.

Unexpectedly, I felt my body deflate, literally. My once hulking and powerful frame began to shrink as my head slowly began to become more level with Soph’s.

She leaned away in surprise but she was leaning back into me in an instant.

My vision had not changed though. I could see just as well in the darkness now just like when I had changed.

I couldn’t be asked to think through it as my exhaustion began to take me as my lids grew heavier and heavier.

“Thank you, by the way…” I heard Sophie whisper as she clutched tighter to me. “I’ll thank you properly when we get a chance. I promise.”