Chapter 7: The System
"How is this possible?" Jake thought worriedly. "How can there be a stray somewhere so close to the academy."
"What am I going to do now?"
Amidst the chaos, the werewolf ravaged the area, leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake.
Jake was unsure of what to do. He contemplated running back to the academy, but the werewolf was blocking the path that leads to the academy.
And straight behind him was the way to the forest. Confused on what to do, Jake decided to try and take the round route around the werewolf, but just when he was about escaping, his path was blocked by a giant creature that stood around 9ft tall.
Looking up, Jake saw that he was blocked by another werewolf.
"Wegre do yohu thindk yohu are goijfng to, tasgyty humuan." The werewolf struggled to say through his enlarged jaws.
Jake's chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath, his pulse pounding in his temples. Flashbacks of that night when his family were murdered resurfaced in his mind again.
Not knowing what to do, Jake decided to run towards the forest while the werewolf was hot on his tail. While running, Jake bumped into a man and something was slipped into Jake's pocket by the man but he didn't notice because of the panic of the werewolf.
Jake kept running while panting hard but the werewolf was taking its time trying to catch Jake.
Then finally Jake managed to get to the forest, he ran and ran until he saw a huge tree and decided to hide there while trying to catch his breath.
"I think I managed to lose the werewolf." Jake said quietly while trying to catch his breath. "What have I put myself into? I should have listened to Peter's advice when he said I shouldn't go into town."
Jake decided to peep behind the tree to see if the werewolf was still chasing him.
Jake sighed of relief while still looking behind the tree he was hiding. "I think it got fed up of chasing me and went back."
Then Jake decided to turn around in order to rest a bit before tracing his way back to the academy. That was when his face met with a large snout with eyes of someone or something that managed to see a tasty snack.
Jake's body stiffened, his eyes fixed on the werewolf as his mind went blank.
"I finwally got yohu, tabsty humuan." The werewolf said through its large snout making his words quite incoherent. The werewolf's eyes gleamed with excitement as it taunted Jake, its voice dripping with malice.
The Werewolf's breath wafted towards Jake making his skin crawl as he struggled to catch his breath.
The werewolf grabbed Jake around his neck, trying to strangle him while Jake was struggling to breath.
Jake trying to make the werewolf release his grip on his neck tried punching, hitting or even biting the Werewolf's hand but the werewolf only laughed at Jake's pathetic efforts.
"If only I had something to stab it with, maybe, just maybe it might release its grip from my neck." Jake thought hurriedly because he was already losing his breath.
As Jake fumbled in his pocket, the Werewolf's grip tightened around his neck, making his vision blur.
That's when his hand touched something but he didn't know what it was. Hurriedly pulling it out thinking maybe it could be of help to him, Jake pulled out a round orb like object but he didn't notice it because of his panic, he thrust it in the face of the werewolf.
And then a blinding light appeared temporary blinding Jake and the werewolf. Because of the light, the werewolf let go of Jake's neck causing him to fall and hit his head on the tree, then Jake heard a robotic message say "System activated." then he lost consciousness.
When Jake opened his eyes, he was met with an unfamiliar place. Looking up he could see a white ceiling, he could smell chemicals. Trying to get up, he felt a banging headache.
"Woah, easy there lad." Nurse Hayley said coming over to check on him.
"Where am I ?" Jake asked. "And what happened to me?"
"Well, you are in the academy's clinic." Hayley answered.
"But how did I get here?" Jake asked again trying to get out of the bed then he felt a banging headache and the memories of him encountering werewolves resurfaced to which he shuddered.
"One of the sergeants brought you here, he said he found you lying in the forest unconscious." Hayley answered again checking Jake's vitals on the tablet.
"Sorry, but how long was I out for?" Jake asked.
"Just a day." Hayley replied.
"Oh thank heavens." Jake heaved a sigh of relief. "I thought I was going to miss my first class in the academy. So you are saying, today is Sunday right?"
"Correct." Hayley replied.
"Did anybody come to ask or check up on me?" Jake asked now lying down on the bed trying to get a little bit of rest.
"Yes actually, your roommates came to check up on you yesterday, when they heard what happened to you." Haley answered.
"They truly consider me as family." Jake thought quite happy that he had found people he could trust and call family again.
"So when am I going to be discharged?" Jake asked again trying to shut his eyes.
"In the afternoon. You are perfectly okay now. Apart from the head injury that was there initially and the trauma, there's nothing wrong." Hayley said now suddenly remembering something.
"Speaking of which, when you were brought here, you had an injury on your head, probably it's because of you hitting your head on something heavy. And now it's all gone. An injury like that will take some days to heal up."
"Huh!!?!" Jake thought surprised while touching the back of his head and recalling him hitting his head on the tree.
"I don't really know what happened. Aren't you the nurse here? Maybe it healed up after your treatment." Jake said.
"Probably." Hayley mumbled and went to sit at her desk, letting Jake get some rest.
Meanwhile Jake remembered something else also. He remembered the system interface that appeared in front of him before passing out.
Thinking of the system, it appeared in front of him which totally freaked him out that he yelped loudly that Hayley came over worried.
"What is wrong? What happened?" Hayley asked.
"That…" Jake said pointing to the system floating in front of him. "can't you see that screen there?"
"What screen?" Hayley asked worriedly.
"That.. there, its in front of me. Can't you see it?" Jake asked.
"Are you sure you are feeling fine? Maybe I shouldn't discharge you yet." Hayley said looking concerned.
"Will you relax. She can't see the system. It's only you that can see it." the System spoke.
"Who is there? Who is talking?" Jake asked twisting his head around trying to see if he could spot anything.
"Jake, you are already scaring me." Hayley said looking very worried.
"Calm down, will you! Or else she might think you are going crazy." The system spoke again.
Finally Jake decided to calm down and listen to the system.
"Uhmm, am sorry for spooking you up like that." Jake apologized. "I think am just seeing things. I need to lie down a bit. Maybe i will feel better."
"Are you sure you are ok now?" Hayley asked.
"Yes, I am." Jake replied while closing his eyes.
To which Hayley let him get the rest he wanted and went to her desk. Meanwhile, Jake decided to check the system out.