Time Stood Still

Chapter 17: You Bring Out The Beast In Me.

Josh’s POV

I decided to walk up along the sand dunes, hoping the cold fresh air would help relieve my pounding headache which I’ve been trying to ignore all morning. Oliver seemed to buy my little white lie of only having a headache this morning, when actually it’s been days. I’ve been having these really bad headaches lately, I’m not sure what’s causing them but they seem to be getting worse each day but I didn’t want to tell Oliver that though. I know for a fact if he finds out it’s been going on for awhile he’ll freak out and get all super protected and paranoid and have me checked over by someone, when it’s really not necessary. I hate looking like a stupid weak human to him; I can handle these headaches on my own and without worrying Oliver over nothing.

I soon find myself regretting walking along the sand dunes because it was absolutely freezing up here and the walk had started to ache my legs because I was walking on sand and slightly up a hill which meant that I actually had to put some effort into walking. Oliver knew this of course but I refuse to have him say I told you so to me so I continued walking, despite how much I fucking hated it. Ugh, I sometimes wished I had the ability to disappear and travel at the speed of light just like Oliver and Hannah, they had it so easy to come and go as they pleased whenever they wanted.

I heard some cheering in the far distant which made me look up and around to see where all the commotion was coming from and I could see that people were in the sea, surfing. What the fuck, how can people surf in this weather, they must be crazy it’s November for crying out loud! I don’t understand the people who live here, didn’t the cold bother them?
I stopped in my tracks on top of the sand dunes to watch the surfers for a few minutes as they decided to take on the approaching wave. I haven’t surfed in weeks, I always moaned that the water was too cold to cover up the fact that I was still nervous about being in the water… It didn’t matter anyway, it’s not like Vic was around to take me surfing with him these days. The thought of Vic’s absence saddened me, even though I may not like surfing because of my fear of water but I still enjoyed myself because it was something we did together. I’d do anything for him to text me and ask to go surfing with him now, despite hating the freezing temperature and my fear; I would jump at the opportunity because it would mean I could spend some time with him. Man, I really did miss Vic. How could he just cut me off?

I was distracted from my sad thoughts by another loud cheer from the surfers and I whipped my head up to see what was going on now and saw that one of them had manage to ride out a wave without falling off their board. I watched the four surfers closely, squinty my eyes to see if I could try to make out if I recognised any of them and that’s when I felt my heart drop. It was Vic and the others.

I felt so hurt and betrayed. All this time I thought Vic was ill or that something bad had happen to him. Week’s I have spent sat in classes alone at college, phone calls and texts messages ignored, Kellin’s bullshit lie’s telling me he had the flu, Oliver refusing to let me go to his house or refusing to answer any of my question’s about him. I had even asked my mum if she had heard anything from Victor about why he hasn’t contacted me. Yes, I had become so desperate to know why he was avoiding me, I had asked my mum for help and that took a lot to ask. And he’s right here. Looking all fine and dandy, on the same beach as my house… my house which is only fucking minutes away and he was surfing! I couldn’t believe that he actually had the nerve to be here surfing and not even bother to come see me.
I curled my hands into balls of fists, feeling my sadness quickly turning into anger and without a second thought; I marched my way down from the sand dunes and onto the beach to confront him.

I walked a crossed the beach, ignoring how bad the winds were the closer I got to the sea, my trainers slowly sinking into the wet sand the closer I got to the water but I didn’t let that stop me. Still keeping my distance, I stopped when I thought I was close enough for all of them to be able to see it was me and just stood glaring at them all until they noticed me.
After a few minutes of death staring, one by one they all turned they’re heads when they realised someone was watching them and just gaped at me from they’re surfboards. The other three didn’t really bother me, my attention looked past them and continued to stare down the long haired Mexican who was the furthest out to sea.
It took about a minute before Vic decided to paddle back to the beach, leaving the others behind in the water; they knew we needed to be alone to speak.

I got a little nervous as Vic slowly approached me… no, I can’t give in to him now, the little shit has hurt me and he needs to know how pissed off I am for him treating me like I don’t exist. I want to know why he thought it was okay to make me feel like this when he used to try so hard to do the opposite. I wanted to know what changed.

He stood only a few feet away from me, his long brown curls dripping wet, some strands clinging to the side of his face, his wet suite hugged his muscular arms and legs which looked like he had been working out because he looked a lot buffer than before. He dropped his surfboard down onto the sand next to him and finally met his eyes with mine.

“Hey.” He murmured.
“Hey?” I questioned in shock, not being able to control the scoff which came out, causing Vic to frown slightly and look back at me confused. Is he for real?!
“I don’t see or hear from you in weeks and all you can say is hey?!” I state, hurt lingering in my tone but he just shrugs his shoulders at me and that was enough to make me snap. Vic’s eyes suddenly widen when I storm over towards him, hitting his chest and pushing him back in anger, I was truly hurt by his reaction.
“What else am I suppose to say?” he growls, annoyed at my actions and curling his hands into fists ready to break into a fight with me but I held my ground and ran my mouth at him.
“Kellin said you had the flu! He said you were too sick to come to college or to even text me back, let alone be out in the freezing cold surfing!” I shout in annoyance.
“Well I guess I got better.” He shrugged, relaxing his muscles. Not really caring that he’s been lying to me or even care that he’s hurt my feelings.
“A-are you serious?”
“I’m just gonna break it to you now Josh, we can’t be friends anymore.” He says in a hard tone.
“W-what?” I gasp in actual shock, feeling myself become more than upset. He wasn’t being serious, was he?
“Don’t ask me why because the fact is we can’t. So stop calling me and texting me, stop waiting for me turn up at your house to drive you to college and don’t even ask your mum about me because we aren’t friends anymore and I’m no longer a concern to you.” He says harshly, with a permanent frown on his face.

A small lump formed in my throat as I feel my heart sink through my chest. My mind was trying to gather all what he just said to me, I’ve never had anyone say anything like that to me before and to be honest, it really hurt. I was always the cocky shit who always had loads of friends. Loads of which came and went but only really cared for the ones who stuck around which were my closes friends and even then I didn’t show my appreciation for them. And now, one of the only friends I have left is throwing our friendship away for god knows what reason. I haven’t seen Vic in weeks, not since our kiss and now he’s suddenly turn cold and signing off our friendship. I don’t understand what’s happen, what have I done? This can’t be all over a kiss can it? I can’t lose him, he’s my friend.

“Why are you doing this?” my voice sounding weak and pathetic but I was hurt and wanted to know why he chose to dispose of our friendship.
“It’s for the best Josh.”
“Best for who?” I demanded. The last thing I wanted to hear was “its not you, it’s me” crap.
I would never beg for anyone to be my friend, if the person didn’t want to stick around, then they weren’t worth having me as a friend but Vic was different. I’ve known him my whole life, we kind of been friends forever without really knowing so and we’ve connected so well since I moved back here, I don’t understand where all this has come from. I thought he felt the same way about our friendship…
This isn’t the Vic I know, not the warm hearted caring Vic that I have learnt to be so fond of, something is definitely wrong.
“Would you just listen to yourself, you sound pathetic. Your nothing to me Josh, now can you just get the hint and stop pestering me.” He mocks.
It took a lot for me to bite my tongue and keep myself from snapping at him. I could feel my temper boiling, his words were really hurtful but I did everything to hold it in, I didn’t want to come across as desperate and needy even though I really wanted us to sort things out and have our friendship back. But I wasn’t going to fluff his ego and beg for him. I was too stubborn for that and the prick didn’t deserve it.

“Fine.” I gritted through my teeth, refusing to say anything else.
“Whatever Josh.” Vic rolls his eyes and pick’s up his surfboard and turns away from me to head back to the sea but I grab hold of his arm to stop him which causes him to whip his head back and glare at me.
“Actually, no. Tell me what I’ve done wrong.” I demand but he grabs hold of my wrist abit harsher than normal and pulls it off of his arm, making me wince a little in pain and he notice as I rub my sore wrist.
“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to grab you so hard. Are you hurt?” his bitterness swiftly softens, showing me the real Vic, the one I knew. The caring loving Vic who cares so much for others and would go out of his way to make someone’s day better.
“No.” I say rubbing my wrist and looking down at it.
“Has your mum hurt you again?” he asks, making me look back into his chocolate brown eyes which held general concern as his stares back into mine.

His mood suddenly changed from being harsh and bitter to concerned and caring in the matter of minutes. Even though he just treated me like I was nothing, he still seemed to care about me which left a little hope to save our friendship. But he’s got it all wrong; for once it wasn’t my mum. It’s just, Oliver has a pretty tight grip when he pins me down and has his way with me and the outcome from it is having bruises all over my body. My body aches all the time and I’m always a little sore here and there but I kinda like it… having him leave his mark all over my body, a sign that I’m his. Even though no one will ever see the marks apart from myself and Oliver, I kind of like them. I actually find them abit of a turn on.
“No no no, she hasn’t.” shake my head, assuring Vic. I really didn’t want him to get the wrong idea and start freaking out, I was okay. He nods his head but stays quiet, leaving us both to stand in awkward silence.

An icy gust of wind blows through us both causing me to cringe at the bitter coldness, as it sends my pitiful human body shivering. The harsh wind manages to blow half of my scarf from around my neck but I didn’t even realise that my bare skin was now on show because I was too busy whining about the weather to myself and shaking in my denim jacket which hardly kept me warm. I glance back towards Vic to see if he was suffering from the bitter cold like I was but instead I’m met with a pair of wide shocked angry dark eyes.

He flares his nostrils in anger and reaches for my neck, yanking off the rest of my scarf unkindly and revealing what was lying beneath the fabric. I flinch back from him, scared of why he had suddenly become so aggressive with me to make him act this way. Vic glared at me with such rage; his beautiful chocolate brown eyes had darken, almost turning as black as Oliver’s.

“You’ve allowed that disgusting blood demon to have his filthy way with you!”
My hand flings to my neck, my eyes widening in realisation when I suddenly remembered Oliver’s crescent moon bite marks and dark purple love bites were now clearly on show for Vic to see.
“To think I was actually feeling sorry for you because I thought your mother had hurt you. You’re a disgrace Josh, how could you let that monster put his hands on you?!” Vic yells in disgust and my mouth falls wide open as he spoke. I wasn’t exactly sure if I head him correctly… did he really call Oliver a blood demon? No he can’t know that Oliver is a vampire, it’s impossible.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about Vic, he’s not a monster!” I hissed back in Oliver’s defence, trying to cover up the evidence he already seen on my neck and to also try to keep Oliver’s real identity a secret.
“Yes he is!” he roared stepping towards me, his whole frame shaking with rage. I was shocked at his outburst and actually quite afraid… Vic has never lost his temper or spoken to me like this before, so I wasn’t really sure how to react to it. I just knew I didn’t like it. Not one little bit.

“I will make sure he never sinks his teeth into you again!” He roared once again. I was seconds away from snapping back but when I glanced his way, Vic’s entire body was shaking violently, my heart began to beat with so much fear from what I was seeing in front of me right now and it all just happened so fast. Within seconds Vic kind of exploded out of his wet suit; thick dark brown fur coated his skin, his body grew into a huge shape which looked like some sort of wild beast. The beasts let out a low deep growl which revealed its lethal sharp teeth and with eyes determine to kill… and those eyes were focused on me.
A strangled scream somehow escapes out of my throat when the beast towers over me like it was ready to pounce. I stumbled backwards in fear and I clumsily trip over my own feet and fall back against the wet sand.

Not really caring too much about my clumsiness, my eyes shoot back up towards the angry beast only a few feet away from me but this time I recognised the three faces which appeared beside the animal.
“Vic calm down, you know you’ll regret hurting him!” Mike pleads but the huge beast growls at him in return. Did Mike just call him Vic? This beast like creature is actually Vic? That’s not possible… Even though I saw the transformation with my very own eyes seconds ago, I didn’t believe it. One minute I was arguing with my friend standing inches away from me and the next, a furious beasty wolf had taken his place. What on earth is going on?

The beast like wolf who was apparently Vic never took his sharp black brown eyes off me. The stare alone sent shivers down my spine which made my heart want to jump out of my chest from the amount of fear which was flowing through me right now. My chest felt like it was on fire as my frantic breathing continued to get the better of me and take over my body in complete panic.
Another nasty growl spat through the wolf’s mouth which made me tremble and whimper once again in fear.
“Josh, get out of here now!” Jaime warned stepping in between me and the wolf, pretty eager for me to get away from here, while the three people who I thought were my friends try and hold off the large beast.
I nod violently and scramble back against the sand not being able to find my feet, or any part of my body that is; I’m still in shock from what’s standing right in front of me and every part of my body felt like jelly to even be able to find my balance to stand up.
The large wolf seemed as if it was growing impatient and without warning, it tossed Jaime aside with its large head as if he was nothing.
I instantly freeze when I see the animal set its deadly eyes back on me again and the beast attempts to stretch its large paw towards me as some sort of threat, making me let out another loud scream past my lips as I covered my face with my arm and prepare for the brutal attack which I knew I was going to happen any second now. I was dead meat.

Something must have happened because I wasn’t attacked and there was something odd about the growl which came from the wolf which was Vic.
I hesitantly open my eyes and pull my shaky arm away from my face to see what had stopped Vic from attacking me and to my surprise, I find Hannah standing in front of me, face to face with the deadly wolf.
“H-Hannah, move out of the way he’ll hurt you!” I shriek trying to warn her, the last I wanted was Hannah getting hurt because of me. But she stood completely at a standstill not even the slightest bit bothered about the terrifying beast which stood before her, ready for the kill once again.
“I’m warning you dog, stay away from him or you’re going to get hurt.” Hannah says in the most calming smooth voice you would never have guessed it was a threat. What is she playing at? I know she’s a vampire with extremely strong strength but there’s no way she’ll be able to take on a gigantic deadly wolf on her own.
Ignoring Hannah’s warning Vic spits and lunges straight at her ready for the kill and I can’t do anything but just sit and watch in total disbelief from the ground.
“No, Vic don’t!” Jaime yells before transforming into the same beast like creature as Vic and trying to stop him from attacking Hannah but Vic barged him out of his way again but when he was close enough, Hannah then simply knocks Vic away with the back of her hand which sends the wolf flying through the air at a crazy amount of speed. I gasp in shock and blinked several times looking back and forth at Hannah and to the wolf which was now miles away from us along the beach. It just happened so fast I barely saw it.

The sudden action caused Mike and Tony to transform into the same gigantic beasts, ripping out of their wet suits and charging straight at Hannah but the dark brown beast which I believe was Jaime creeps in front of Hannah and lets out a small husky growl. This wasn’t a growl of aggression; it was more of a growl of caution… his eyes remained focus on her and she nodded at the wolf as if she understood what he was trying to say to her. I’m quickly distracted by the other two wolves which are fast approaching us and within seconds we would be out numbered and more or less dog food but Hannah and Jaime seemed to be too far wrapped up staring each other down to notice the danger approaching. I was about to scream in fear again because the two wolves were literally inches away from us but thankfully Hannah rapidly turns and crouches down and holds me tight to her chest and we both disappear from the scene and the next thing I know we’re appear in my bedroom.

~~

I was sat on my bed trembling in total fear from everything I have just witness. My friends were werewolves and they tried to hurt me… well, I think one actually tried to help me.

I was having a full blown panic attack, my breathing out of control, body shaking, pathetic whimpers escaping my lips, I felt like I wanted to throw up, everything just seemed all too much to take in. I struggled to get words out of my mouth. What the fuck did I just witness?!
“Josh look at me, your okay.” Cold fingers cradled my face as I was force to look into the kindest black eyes I have ever seen.
“T-they’re w-wolves?!” I stuttered still in complete shock, the word felt awkward enough to say it, let alone believe it but I somehow managed to force it past my lips.
“Shh. Josh just breathe okay.” Hannah coos, trying her best to calm me down but how could I be calm? I was almost attacked by a werewolf and not just one werewolf but by four! And they weren’t just normal werewolves they were my friends! How on earth can I be calm?! This is insane.
Hannah brushed my hair out of my face and smiles at me reassuring me that everything was okay, even though it felt far from it. Her cold thumbs massages cool little circles into my cheeks and my heavy pants slowly start dying down, her little actions calming me.
I let out a deep sigh and finally relaxed my face in her hands; I knew I was safe with Hannah. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again and staring straight into the big black pixie eyes which were staring straight back into my human blue ones.

“D-did you know?” I asked her, seeing her eyes squint at me slightly before answering.
“Yes.” Of course she knew and I bet Oliver knew too but there was no time to get into all of that now, I needed to know more.
“Have they always been wolves?”
“Yes but unknowingly. They’re true form have only awoken recently.” She admits, dropping her hands from my face. She’s a lot easier to talk to than Oliver; at least Hannah gives me answers. Oliver is always so secretive, it’s as if he wanted to keep me in the dark and not want me to know the truth about anything… mostly the truth about Vic.
“Does… erm… does Vic want to kill me now?” I mumble biting my lip as I look down into my lap, feeling really anxious about what the answer would be.
“No. He actually really cares about you.”
I look up to meet Hannah’s gaze to see a small smile placed on her lips. But I can’t help but snort at her answer, she wasn’t being serious surely. How can he care about me? He just tried to attack me and if Hannah didn’t show up when she did, I’d probably be Vic’s new chew toy right now.
Hannah must have sense I was doubting her words and doubting the friendship I had with the wolf because she reached out for my hand in my lap and smiled at me.
“Josh, he lost his temper. Vic wouldn’t hurt you intentionally.”
Intentionally? Like that’s suppose to make me feel better? This whole situation doesn’t make me feel better at all. Vic, who is just Vic. Vic, who was my friend. Vic, the only one who’s made me feel like I was actually worth something. Vic who I’ve known my entire life… is a deadly werewolf. I cringe and shudder at the thought. Another mythical creature has managed to swan its way into my life, like one wasn’t enough to deal with.

I don’t get why Hannah’s defending him anyway, aren’t vampires and werewolves suppose to be enemies? Or is that another stupid made up story the human world came up with just for stupid entertainment?
I was so confused because witnessing the little scene of Hannah and Jaime today had me second guessing… I swear they were communicating with each other somehow.

“C-can you communicate with the wolves? I mean, it seemed like you understood what Jaime was trying to say to you.” I say, looking back at her who was sitting crossed legged opposite me on the bed.
Jaime jumped in and tried to help us, he tried to stop Vic attacking me and he blocked the path of the other two wolves who wanted to attack us as well, and he even gave us a head start to disappear… that’s amazing. I knew he had a crush on Hannah but that was very brave and risky of him turning on his own kind like that… I hope they don’t beat him up too much for that, he clearly was trying to do the right thing, I think.

Hannah tilts her head to the side and looked like she was about to answer my question but we were suddenly interrupted.
“Enough Hannah.” The stern familiar voice I recognised all too well appeared unexpectedly in my room. Warning his sister not to tell me any further information but I didn’t really care at this point. My heart sunk at the sound of his voice and my eyes searched my room for the person I was dying to see more than anything right now. He was sat right beside me on the bed, causing me to flinch, his black eyes searching for any signs of distress on my face as he took hold of it in his hands. My eyes watered a little when they landed on his beautiful angel like face, I was so fucking relieved to see him, and I couldn’t help the shaky breath which escaped from my mouth. I knew now I would be safe from everything.

“He’s a little shaken up but he’s okay Oliver.” Hannah informs him.
Seeing my eyes water, Oliver brushes his fingers through my hair and pulls my slump body into his lap and I rest my head against his shoulder, so thankful that he was here with me now. Everything just seemed to suddenly hit me and all the information I’ve found out today just became so overwhelming that I buried my face deep into Oliver’s shoulder and tried to stop the tears which were urging to fall over my eyes.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there sooner.” He whispers into my hair but I lightly shake my head signalling him that it was okay. I’m just glad he’s here now with me, holding me in his tight grasp so I wouldn’t fall apart. I felt safe and comfortable in his arms, I got this feeling that I was always meant to be in his arms. Pretty ironic don’t you think, hopeless little human safe in the arms of his vampire lover. The thought is enough to make you laugh and throw up at the same time. But I didn’t really care, maybe it was the bond but I didn’t want to be away from him, he made me feel safe and wanted, everything which I wasn’t without him.

I continued to hide my face in Oliver’s shoulder as I suddenly became a lost for words and allowed Oliver and Hannah to small talk about what happened at the beach. All of this just seems so unreal and insane to actually believe that it’s all true. Something must be seriously wrong with me to attract these sort of mythical characters into my life… is anything normal these days? Is everything actually based on fairytales? I’m now involved with vampires and werewolves, can it get anymore fucked up than that? I really hope it doesn’t, I’m kinda struggling to keep up here. But these amazing characters aren’t just anyone, they are people I really care about and can’t understand why all of this has chose to happen to me. Was this always supposed to happen? Hannah did say Vic has always been a werewolf but unknowingly… so that means even when we were kids and used to be the best of friends, he was still this mythical werewolf and Oliver who has always watched me more or less my whole life has always watched me with his vampire eyes. Which means, he’s been watching Vic this whole time as well…

He knew, of course he did, he knew about everything. It all makes sense now. I wanted to be angry at him for not telling me about Vic once again but I’m still so shaken up over everything what happen earlier, I just want Oliver to hold me close and tell me everything is going to be okay and never let me go. I have so many questions but I’m actually afraid to know the truth this time… I mean, I’m still getting used to Oliver being a vampire and now I‘m hit with another unrealistic character, one that seems like he wants me dead. I wince at the reminder of Vic trying to attack me, its sad to think what our friendship has now become. We’d become so close and now he wants to kill me because I’m involve with vampires? I don’t know, I guess I’ll never know now.

“I should never have left you to walk home alone.” Oliver says, holding me tighter as he kisses the top of my head once again, the gesture breaking me out of my thoughts but I remain not to say anything. I still had the same nasty headache from this morning, my head was throbbing and the pain seemed to have gotten worse now after from today’s events. I grimace at the pain but still hid my face in Oliver’s shoulder so he wouldn’t notice I was still suffering from it, I didn’t want him to start fussing about it now in front of Hannah, I’ve worried him enough today and to be honest I just wanted to go to sleep and wished this was all a bad dream.

“That filthy mutt is going to get what’s coming to him.” he grits through his teeth, not letting the subject of Vic go.
My head shoots up with wide terrified eyes and I shake my head violently at Oliver. He frowns when he looks down at me.
“Don’t shake your head at me Josh.” He demands.
But I continue shaking my head as I’m still unable to speak. I didn’t want Oliver to hurt Vic. I don’t know why I was so against the idea, Vic did try to eat me or hurt me or whatever so why shouldn’t I let Oliver teach him a lesson? I guess, despite what deadly creature Vic has now become, I will always see him as Vic. My friend.
Oliver sighs when he sees me not about to back down from this.
“Josh love, he tried to hurt you. And not only you, he also tried to attack Hannah as well. Although I know Hannah can take care of herself, no one threatens to hurt my family or to hurt what is mine.”
I whimper and bury my face deep into his shoulder again and continue to shake my head no. I didn’t want Oliver to hurt Vic, I didn’t want Vic to have another reason to hurt me or Hannah or even Oliver. I didn’t want them to hate each other or to fight. I just want everything to go back to the way it was before all this… we were fine a few weeks ago before all the crazy unrealistic truth came out.

“Don’t worry, Fuentes is going to be sore for a while. I may have accidently hit him harder than I should have. But it will be a lesson learnt I’m sure.” Hannah says, causing Oliver to smirk. I hated all this, why can’t we all just get along?