Insanity Chapter Seventeen

Insanity

Chapter Seventeen

~Why Bother Having Odds?~

Day Fourteen

A fall, trip, crash, forgetfulness, and a bout of careless later, Fang found himself on the day of the full moon calling the eye doctor for more glasses. Of all the scenarios Fang had run through his head, the fact that Penelope would manage to break her five pairs of glassed and an antique vase in an hour’s time didn’t make his list. And it all happened before breakfast. He breathed deeply as to control his slowly overflowing anger. What was the use of having odds when nothing in this house seemed to abide by them?

Penelope sat on a couch, her head low in shame. Her eyes were squinted to better her vision. She glanced at Shadow who was picking up the larger fragments of the once beautiful vase. Even Alister woke up because of the kayos.

“We should have them ready by 6:00 today,” the secretary said over the phone.

“Six?” Fang sighed, “Couldn’t you get them done sooner? We’re in a bit of a hurry.”

More like Fang didn’t wasn’t to go out at six in the evening.

“Sorry, we have a lot going on today. Six is the soonest they will be ready,” the woman explained carefully.

Fang let out another annoyed sigh. He looked at Penelope who was sitting in front of him. She looked up at him. There was no way she was going to survive without her glasses. She was clumsy enough with them on. There was no telling what she would get herself into without them. They all needed the glasses today as soon as possible for sanity’s sake.

“Fine,” Fang said on the phone.

“If they do happen to get done sooner, we’ll give you a call,” the kind patient woman said.

“Thank you,” Fang said before hanging up.

Penelope looked down again. Fang looked around. A rug was ruffled where Penelope had tripped and fallen. There were some scratches on the stairs where the girl had fallen down. The vase was in pieces where Penelope had walked right into while her nose was in a book. A broken pair of glasses could be seen under a large book where Penelope had forgotten she put there. There was also a dent in a wall where she had run into face first. Keep in mind; this was all before Fang had even begun making breakfast.

“S-S-Sorry,” Penelope said quietly.

Fang just nodded. He didn’t trust his anger to stay under control.

“Can you imagine?” Shadow started to say, “Five pairs of broken glasses in one hour. I mean, what are the odds of that happening, huh?

“About one in a quadrillion,” Fang blurted out, “and I’m rounding the one.*”

Penelope winced at the mention of how rare the incident was.

“How much is a quadrillion?” Arisa asked Blue as he tried to assess the damage to the wall.

It’s a one with fifteen zeros at the end: 1,000,000,000,000,000.

“Don’t you get that he isn’t ever going to answer?” Alister overheard, “A quadrillion is a one with fifteen zeros at the end.”

Blue looked at him with slight irritation in his eyes.

That’s what I said, you idiot.

Alister noticed the expression and scowled, “Hey, don’t look at me like that! It’s true you aren’t going to say anything’.”

I’m going to go make breakfast,” Fang said quietly as he walked away, “Of all the odds in the world one in a quadrillion had to happen today of all days.”

Pots and pans were being loudly slammed about as the cooking process continued. When breakfast was ready, it was way below par. The eggs were runny, the bacon was burned, and the pancakes were nonexistent. At the dining table there was a strained silence. No one knew what would send Fang flying off the handle.

Shadow kept a close eye on Fang, noticing the little things that most everyone else didn’t. He noticed that Fang’s nails had grown to a point even though Fang kept his hands in his pockets or rolled up in a fist. Little noises seemed to get Fang’s attention easier, the same with smells and light. Even in the room now, Fang squinted slightly as if the light in the room was to bright even through it hadn’t bothered him before. He also noticed that Fang didn’t talk as much, probably hiding his growing canines. Shadow smiled. Eventually whatever was to happen would and even after Fang’s careful measures it would get out in the open somehow. Fang must have sensed Shadow’s gaze and turned to look at him, expecting him to say something. Shadow looked back down at his food.

Fang eyed Shadow for a while. He wasn’t sure what the man was thinking but he had a feeling that he didn’t like it. Fang looked down at his plate of food. It was made up of mostly bacon. He tried to eat anything else but his stomach just wasn’t hearing any of it. Bacon was just all he wanted to eat. Fang thought about lunch and dinner. He would have to incorporate meat in those meals somehow.

When breakfast was over, Fang went straight to his room and wasn’t heard again until lunch and dinner. At around six-o-clock the phone rang and the glasses were ready. That was a relief because Penelope was as blind as a bat without her glasses and needed someone around her at all times to help her do basic functions. Fang told Shadow to go get the glasses. Obediently, Shadow did as he was told. After dinner, Fang decreed that everyone was to go to bed early for the day. This received a complaint from Arisa who said that she and Blue were going to host a card game tournament for Penelope when she got her sight back; this notion was apparently Arisa’s whim given away by Blue’s confused expression. But the command was set end everyone went to bed, except for Shadow who had gone to get the glasses.

So while everyone was sleeping, Shadow stopped by the eye doctor’s clinic. There was a long wait line and the wait lasted much longer than Shadow had guessed. He acquired the glasses though, ten pairs in total, and walked home.

The sun had set for only a few minutes when the large full moon started to rise in the east. Shadow stared at it for a while. Fang’s irritability had started almost five or six days before. This seemed to make sense. Fang had always looked like a lone wolf to Shadow. He wasn’t sure if it was his stature or what but something came across wolf like. Wolves and full moons were always thought about together. Werewolves transformed during the full moon; not that Shadow though that Fang was a werewolf. The face of the moon rose quickly. Shadow continued his walk home.

Fang dug his nails into the wall. He had locked his door and closed all the blinds. A part of him hoped that the moon’s touch would reach him while he was locked, alone in his room but he knew that that was a foolish thought. It hurt. Everything hurt. His mouth was opened in a silent cry as he slid down to the floor. A nasty growl rolled in his throat. He pushed himself violently from the wall and crouched on to the floor. His nails were making scratching the floorboards.

All of his senses were enhanced. He could hear the little dog barking all the way across the island. He could see in the dark as if it were day. He could smell the old owners of the mansion as if they were right in front of him and when he gasped for breath he could practically taste them. His gold eyes darted around. There was someone there. But that wasn’t possible, he had locked the door. Fang dismissed it and brushed it off as another person who had owned the place long ago.

He felt himself slowly transforming. It wasn’t at all a pleasant feeling. Pain ran through every part of his body. It took all of his wits not to scream in agony. The pain was continuous for almost twenty minutes. After it all, a lone wolf howl escaped the small room and echoed throughout the mansion and beyond.

A large black and white wolf staggered to its side a little. It shook itself as if shaking the remaining pangs of pain away. Its gold eyes looked around suspiciously. It growled at the wall. Slowly a form came out of the wall.

“You’re quite large as a wolf, Fang,” Shadow said, smiling.

Fang growled.

Shadow raised his arms defensively, “That wasn’t intended to be an insult. Someone’s a little touchy. So how long do you stay like this?”

“Get out!” Fang bared his teeth at Shadow.

Shadow continued to stand there unaffected. In fact, he walked closer and kneeled down in front of Fang. Naturally, Fang took a few paces back and growled.

“I said get out! Get out before kill you!”

“Is that a threat?” Shadow smiled, really not afraid or worried, “Well, I’m not going to take you seriously because if you kill me, you would lose a valuable asset. And as an educated man—well, um—wolf, you wouldn’t want to lose any edge you can get against our enemies by killing me.”

Fang growled.

“Besides,” Shadow continued, “You’re much too weak to finish me off. You might get a bite in or two but you wouldn’t be able to take on a healthy full grown man after a transformation like that. That’s why you’re making threats. A healthy wolf would have just killed me.”

Fang’s eyes looked into Shadow’s red ones. Deep inside Fang knew that Shadow was enjoying this. And the fact that Shadow was right didn’t help Fang’s mood either. His four legs buckled and lay down on the floor. He was exhausted. Fang let out a low growl at Shadow’s small smile.

“I thought so,” Shadow mused, “So does that only happen on the full moon or can you do that any other time.”

“Stop treating me like I’m a science experiment,” Fang said, then his sighed, “I can transform whenever I like except during the new moon. During the full moon it’s sort of like a mandatory transformation.”

“That’s sucks,” Shadow said, “The rest of us get decent powers but you had to die and get stuck with a transformation that hurts. You sure you have no powers?”

Fang’s ears flattened, “I think I know my body better than you.”

“Sorry,” Shadow said.

Fang’s mouth opened into a yawn revealing white sharp fangs. His eyes drooped slightly. He was really beat. Shadow leaned against the bed and reclined. He reached into a small bag and pulled out a sausage link.

“Couldn’t help noticing you weren’t eating vegetables today,” Shadow smiled, “and I imagined that you must be at least a little hungry after all that. You want it?”

Shadow held it in his hand. Fang’s nose twitched slightly. The smell was intoxicating. Of course he wanted it but he didn’t want to look that helpless and in need. Fang turned his head away but of course that didn’t help all that much, he still wanted it. His stomach growled a little bit and he hoped that Shadow didn’t hear it. It was almost too obvious that he had. With a gruff sigh, Fang stood up and walked over Shadow with his tail in between his legs.

The first piece of meat was handed to him at arm’s length. The second piece was handed at only half that distance. Fang eyed Shadow and padded a little closer to acquire his late night meal. There was no scale anywhere and no odds fathomable that could describe the humiliation that Fang was experiencing. Shadow pulled out another one at half the distance of the second one. Angered Fang turned back around to his corner. But the smell was all too much and he turned back around and ate the sausage making sure that he looked obviously displeased.

When he finished, he sniffed the air. He was nearly full but wanted just one more. His sensitive nose picked up the scent of another link. He decided that he was going to help himself. He pushed his nose inside the bag and enjoyed the pleasure of finding more than one link left. Fang ate without realizing Shadow petting his back. When he did realize, he hardly minded. He had eaten and was full. It was hard to be in that much of a bad mood on a full stomach.

Fang yawned. He walked off a little ways and prepared to sleep. In his wolf form he hated sleeping in a bed. But he stopped and walked back to Shadow. He rested his head in Shadow’s lap and closed his eyes. Shadow rested his hand on Fang’s head.

“Tell anyone and I will kill you,” Fang muttered.

Shadow smiled, “I wasn’t going to. I figured there would be a time you would tell the others. Either that or you would be forced to. Whatever happens, your secret will get out. But I can promise you, it won’t be because of me.”

Fang’s eyes opened slightly. He was silent for a while. Fang shrugged it off and got himself more comfortable in Shadow’s lap.

“Whatever,” Fang said quietly, “now I know you’re making stuff up.”

Shadow smirked, “Night, Fang.”

“Do you ever stop taking?”

*I’m not really sure what the odds are of that happening but one quadrillion seemed like a cool and rare sounding number.