“a familiar voice broke the silence.


    Did he make Vorm die with him? He thought Vorm would just find someone else, but he pulled it to death with him?


    “Vorm warned.


    but he couldn’t finish as memories flooded his mind. He was a human before…? No! He hated humans. He was no human, he was a Storm Wolf! But the memories mercilessly kept coming. He was first a human, then a wolf. What had he done… that city… those people… but…


    He felt himself torn, he wanted to scream and tear at himself, but he was just a disembodied mind, it was driving him crazy. He wanted a body he wanted to move, he—


    “


    Ray heard a voice, but he didn’t comprehend. Then he found himself laying on the ground. He tried to move, he moved. Finally! He had a body, he tried to get up but he fell. He was neither a human nor a wolf. He kept changing, some parts wolf, some parts human, then the wolf parts turned human and the human parts turned wolf. He tried to convince himself he was a wolf, and the human parts turned wolf. But all the memories of his human life were flooding his mind, and some parts turned human again. He understood. He had to make up his mind about what he was. Who he was.


    Who was he? He was Ray, that he knew. But was he a man or a wolf? Neither, and both. At his core, he was a human. He was a man first before he became a wolf. His body took on more of a human shape. But he could not disregard himself as a wolf. Too much blood, too many lives slaughtered, the girl… no, he could not disregard his life as a wolf. Wasn’t it all real? It felt real. Even if it wasn’t, it was real for him.


    As his memories mixed and mingled, he was desperately trying to find a balance between them, to reconcile the old and the new, to accept that he was a human, and to accept what he had done as a wolf. The changes in his body slowly settled as his mind quieted, and he embraced it all. He sighed, and slowly got up to look at himself.


    He was covered in short fur, but it was so short it was like silky skin. It was black as night towards his back, but faded into silver gray towards his front, his arms and legs. Just like when he was a wolf. He touched his face, it felt human. He touched his head, he had wolf ears, and his hair felt like long fur that cascaded down on his back. He twisted himself, trying to look at his back. Sure enough, he had a tail as well. He smiled and licked his teeth. They were sharp, a mix between human and wolf. His body was a careful, balanced blend between the two. He had mixed feelings about it. He turned into a damn furry and he didn’t want to admit it, but he felt satisfied with how he looked now.


    He looked around, but there was nothing as far as he could see. The sky was dark and empty, the ground a dull gray. There was a hole not far ahead of him, but he knew he shouldn’t look.


    “Vorm’s tone was laced with joy, it made Ray cautious, that was not normal.


    Ray wanted to ask more about this place, but he was more wary about Vorm.


    “Vorm went on and on, then sighed.


    Ray’s head was spinning from all that information. He couldn’t digest all that at once, but he grabbed on one important fact.


    “yup, so what? What can you do about it?”


    ……


    “


    “


    Ray was furious. Then he had a thought, and strode towards the hole. He had a bad feeling about it, so maybe if he jumped in, he could die. But as he got close, the hole disappeared. He looked around and not far ahead, a new hole opened.


    “


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    “Vorm answered as if deeply offended.


    No… please no… you can’t do that to me.I don’t want to live.


    Say, Vorm… that girl, her brother… she…


    “that’s all Vorm said, that was all it needed to say, and Ray understood. He felt extremely disgusted and lashed out at Vorm. Then something occurred to him.


    “ Vorm said coldly.


    He spat out the words, sneering, his fists clenched so tight his sharp nails dug into his palm making him bleed. He found the pain somewhat soothing.


    Vorm paused. It never thought about it. It wasn’t really an answer, but it had no real answer.


    Ray closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to calm himself. This creature, whatever it was, it wasn’t human, it didn’t understand. There was no point blaming it for something it was incapable of understanding. It did not even understand itself in the first place. Ray suddenly felt lonely. He paused as he remembered the most important thing in his life.


    “


    How do you know about my cat?


    “


    Were you always with me since I was born as a human?


    “No, I only have the memories, I only started accompanying you after you died as a human.”


    But you still have my memories. You.. you should know how I feel about this then? You know what happened to me when I was twelve?


    “I have your memories objectively, without the emotions. I don’t see the problem, but I understand what’s your stance, and in most places the majority abhor these kinds of things when done to too young humans. But human values always change, many…”


    “


    At that moment, Vorm’s voice was the most disgusting sound Ray had ever heard. He came back to himself as he muttered.Then he said through clenched teeth, punctuating each word


    He turned away from the hole, and dropped himself on the ground, hugging his knees tightly, and burying his face. He shook sometimes as if crying, but no sound came. The smell of blood slowly permeated the air as his nails dug into his arms. Then, as he slowly pulled his hands on his skin, his nails left deep gashes. It bled, it hurt, it made him feel better.


    He was a mess, his mind was a mess, as his memories came back all at once, everything was too vivid, too fresh, the buried past all dug up and displayed mercilessly.


    For once, Vorm stayed quiet. Even if it didn’t understand human feelings, even it realized what it said upset the fool. And the fool seemed really, really upset this time. He used to cut himself, but he hadn’t done that for many years. Now, the fool was doing it again. Vorm didn’t see the point of it, but based on the memories, the fool seemed to calm himself like this. Vorm watched as the puddle of blood grew under the fool. It was starting to get frustrated with this fool and his pointless actions. It thought about what else the fool used to do and had an idea.


    Something dropped right in front of Ray. He moved his legs and arms apart a bit to look through the gap to see what it was. It was a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. He looked at it in a daze. He quit smoking long ago. He didn’t think much about it, he lit one and inhaled deep. It didn’t really help, but this gave him a thought. Could he summon things? He thought about one of his favorite books. It appeared, but the cover was blurry. He opened it, and sure enough, it was just black blurs inside. He threw it away in anger. Useless. But as soon as he threw it away, a new one appeared. This one’s cover was clear, and as Ray opened it with a shaky hand, he saw the sharp, printed lines. He quickly thumbed through the book, and all the pages were clear and readable. He felt a trace of joy and excitement as he started reading it.