Chapter 61 – Walter and Sarah
Walter slid the door open and stepped into the room.
Despite the room's opulence, the silence was dense and the atmosphere heavy. At the center, on a bed overflowing with velvet, lay Sarah, sleeping with an expression of almost unsettling serenity.
Walter approached slowly, watched her, and sat beside her, waiting in a patient and quiet stillness. He seemed reluctant to interrupt that brief and false peace.
A few minutes passed before Sarah's eyelids fluttered. She opened her eyes, and calm shattered instantly. Her gaze scanned the unfamiliar room, lingering on the luxurious but alien details.
Where am I? she wondered, the awareness of danger returning like a cold blow to the chest.
She sat up abruptly, fear prickling her skin. When she recognized Walter, a strangled cry of relief escaped her throat, and she threw herself at him with such desperate force she almost knocked him to the bed.
"Walter! Tell me… where are we?!"
Walter's answer was a strangely serene murmur: "In the twins' mansion."
Sarah recoiled, her eyes glassy with terror. "What? Are you insane?! They're… they're monsters! We have to escape! Didn't you see what I saw?"
Her panic became physical; she jumped from the bed, grabbed Walter's hand, and pulled urgently.
"Come on, Walter! We have to run!"
Walter didn't move. He held her hand with a silent firmness, anchoring her in place. His composure was the most frightening thing of all—a dark contrast to her hysteria.
"Wait, calm down! Everything is fine. Let me explain."
He maintained his firm grip. He tried to infuse his voice with calm, but just as he was about to speak, a dry, hollow laugh—completely unfitting for comfort—escaped him.
Walter's voice was hoarse, a joyless laugh echoing in the room: "You want us to calm down? And then what, Sarah? Do you remember I can't walk?"
His gaze fell on the hand she still held.
Sarah froze, her face tightening in frustration and confusion. She looked at him—and suddenly the adrenaline drained away, replaced by a sting of guilt.
Her voice broke: "Damn it! I forgot! What do we do? Where are your crutches, or that chair you had at the ice rink? I'm so stupid, Walter!"
Tears burst from her eyes as her panic turned into complete desperation. She collapsed beside the bed, sobbing uncontrollably, terror overflowing.
"I don't want… I don't want them to eat me. I'm so scared, Walter…"
Walter slid his hand out of hers and gave her a small tap on the shoulder.
"Sit down, Sarah. Sit here beside me, and I'll tell you everything. Alright, dear friend?"
Sarah looked at him wide‑eyed, drowning in desperation. Her words tripped over her sobs.
"They're monsters! Monsters, Walter! They're going to devour us, do you understand?! Why are you doing this?! Why are you so calm?! They will eat us!"
Walter's voice was low and eerily calm: "I know, Sarah. I know exactly what they are."
He leaned slightly closer, his gaze piercing. "And that's what we need to talk about."
"Stay seated. Look at them carefully: the boys ARE what you say. To be exact—they're lycanthropes."
Sarah's confusion deepened: "Lycan… what?! Speak normally! What is that?!"
Walter let out another laugh, deeper and more resonant. "Hahaha, you're very funny, Sarah."
Sarah glared at him, a flash of anger slipping through her fear. "Funny is the beating I'm going to give you if I get out of here alive. I swear on my holy mother's grave I'll do it."
Walter raised his hands in surrender: "Fine, fine, relax! They're werewolves."
Sarah gasped. "What the fuck?! What the fuck are you saying?! Werewolves! We're toast!"
She burst into tears again—sharp, hysterical sobs that vibrated through the room.
Walter waited for the wave of panic to ease slightly, his face unreadable. He extended a steady hand and pointed at the edge of the bed.
"Sit. I'll explain everything. After that, you can decide what to do."
Sarah obeyed halfway, sitting shakily on the bed, rubbing her eyes.
"Let's start from the beginning, Sarah. Who rescued you from the bathroom when Melanie and her bullying group cornered you?"
Sarah sniffled: "I know, I know. Cristal and Titus."
Walter nodded: "Exactly. And who saved us when the first beast attacked at the rink? Bruno punched it across the place, and then Cristal sliced its throat. Who ran to save all those people being attacked? Tell me, Sarah."
Sarah made a face—annoyance or terror‑fatigue. "Bruno and Cristal. But they attacked us too, didn't they?"
Walter shook his head. "No. Who rescued me from the beast that had me hanging from its jaws? No—correcting—who saved BOTH of us, because after me, you were next. Who was it?"
Sarah clenched her jaw so hard it trembled. "It was Titus."
Walter confirmed: "Correct. And yes, he turned into one of those things… lycanthropes or whatever the hell they're called." His calm was maddening. "So do you really think they're against us?"
Sarah froze.
Her fragile mind was ambushed by a cacophony of internal screams.
RUN! RUN! THEY WILL EAT YOU! DON'T TRUST THEM, IDIOT! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!
Her other personality—aggressive, violent, protective—made her curl in on herself, hands clutching her head. Panic erased whatever logic Walter had offered.
The embrace Walter offered was a desperate attempt to contain the disaster, but Sarah's mind was already in open war.
Walter extended his arms, forcing warmth into his voice: "Girl, let me hug you tight. Everything is okay."
Sarah's Inner Voice hissed, a cold sound only she could hear, drilling into her skull: DON'T LET HIM.
Walter continued: "Listen to me. I need to tell you something else."
HE'S LYING. Lying, lying, lying.
Sarah wiped her eyes, forcing herself to focus, her voice cracking: "What… what is it? I don't understand anything."
Walter wore a mask of false despair but with cold, calculating clarity behind his eyes: "Sit. This will change your idea of me."
Don't listen, bitch. No.
Sarah's hysteria rose, hands trembling uncontrollably: "What are you talking about?! Don't scare me! And what could possibly change anything? WHAT IS HAPPENING?!"
She cried—no sadness, just raw hysteria bordering on madness.
Walter shook his head in practiced anguish: "I… I don't know how to tell you…"
He inhaled, then released the truth like a controlled detonation.
"I'M ALSO A WEREWOLF."
Sarah went still. The air was sucked out of the room. Her expression—pure, surgical heartbreak.
She spoke a single word, strangled, devoid of emotion: "You…"
Her gaze drifted, refusing to process the meaning of the pronoun. "…you…"
She refocused on Walter, her voice now a low hum—the beginning of her mental break.
"…what did you just say to me?"
Walter's voice was cool, controlling: "What you heard, Sarah. I'm one of them now."
Sarah backed away in terror: "No… no… No, Walter!"
TOLD YOU, BITCH! HE WANTS TO EAT YOU! RUN. RUN. RUN!
Sarah ran to the door, fighting the doorknob, breaths broken. At the last second, she turned back—saying goodbye to the helpless figure she thought she knew.
Her voice was a shattered whisper: "Oh my God… It can't be… Walter!"
Walter was no longer sitting on the bed. He was standing, right beside it, staring at her.
Her face collapsed—laughter and tears exploding together, a sound sharp and unbearable.
Walter stepped toward her slowly, deliberately. His voice was deep, stripped of weakness: "Now you understand, don't you?"
Sarah blinked, trying to process. She pointed at his legs.
"You can walk? Walter… you can walk? H‑how?"
Walter moved closer, mockery softening into a controlled explanation: "I'm not sure about the details, but when you turn into a werewolf, your whole body regenerates. The regeneration fixed my legs. I feel incredible. I can see better, even in the dark. I hear the crickets in the yard… even your heartbeat. I feel stronger, faster… I don't know how to explain it."
Sarah stopped laughing and crying. Her eyes fixed on him with terror and fascination.
She walked toward him—the hysteria fading into a strange submission.
"I understand."
She hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest—finding refuge in horror.
Walter gently pulled her away, looking into her eyes: "For your comfort, I'm one of them, but not fully. I haven't transformed. I don't know how. The obvious change is my legs. I think Titus didn't know either. His transformation happened because we were in danger… something activated."
He paused, gaze intense. "Do you want to go downstairs with the others? They're waiting."
Sarah clung to him, trembling: "I don't know… I'm scared."
Walter smiled with a new, terrifying confidence: "Come on, I'll protect you."
Sarah sighed softly, resigned: "Alright… just don't leave my side."
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Hook: Although he didn't know it yet, nothing would ever be the same after this…