churros and exchange gifts, nothing opulent since they didn''t have a lot of money, but the goal was to have a good time.
Since they needed to use all the time they could to study, it was not unusual for them to sit together during breaks to review something. That was the case that day in mid-January. Sofia and Dave were sitting on some rocks in a sand circlesurrounded by trimmed privets and the occasional tree. It was a quiet spot behind the school building, away from the cafeteria and other crowded places. It had become their usual study site, but their classmates believed that they were dating and looking for privacy to make out. They no longer cared, they were too busy to worry about such nonsense.
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“You''re restless again. During Christmas it looked like you had managed to relax, but for the last few days you''ve been having stereotypies again, and they''re getting worse.”
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“I''m stressed. We have so much to study, so much work to do, and I don''t have time for everything. What I really want to do is to take a walk with you in the woods, go for a run or something, but I can''t. I need to pass this any way I can.”
“This is not helping you either. You need to relax, unwind. You''re going to be much more productive and learn faster and better than if you lock yourself up at home to study.”
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Biting her lip, Sofia looked at her friend wondering how she could help him. Not only was he restless, but she had also seen him breathing rapidly a few times, and at that very moment his hands were shaking even though he was trying not to let it show. The forest scent he usually wore as a perfume had also dissipated again, Sofia imagined because he kept locking himself up at home to study. If he continued like this he would break before the public examinations came around. There were still many months left and Dave didn''t seem to be able to stand the pressure any longer.
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Dave picked up the pen with a trembling hand with the intention of going back to studying, but couldn''t. His body rebelled against him, shaking his muscles with a pang of pain. Clenching his jaw, the young man closed his eyes and let out a muffled groan as he brought a hand to his chest. Immediately afterward he began to breathe in deep, controlled gasps of air.
“No way, Dave. We''re not pushing on, not like this. You need to rest,” Sofia said, taking his hand, noticing how much it was shaking.
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On the gravel path just behind the hedge wall, they both heard footsteps walking their way. At first the two teenagers didn''t think much of it, as it was probably a group of kids who wanted to smoke before going to class, and they weren''t going to do it where they could be seen. However, those three were talking as they walked, and Sofia and Dave quickly realized that they were Luis, Rodrigo and Miguel.
“What do you want to show us now, Rodrigo? If it''s something related to that mutt again, I''m getting the fuck out of here, I''m totally serious,” said Luis, and from the way he sounded it was obvious that it wasn’t an empty threat.
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Sofia''s heart skipped a beat and she clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from whimpering. What animal? It couldn''t be the cinanthrope. It wasn''t that easy to take one down. Seeing her so distressed, Dave gave her hand a gentle squeeze in an attempt to reassure her, and leaned toward her so that his lips were next to her ear. In other circumstances his closeness and feeling his warm breath against her skin would have made her shiver, but she was too worried to think about her stupid feelings.
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I told you so, don''t always put yourself in the worst''. Now it was Sofia''s turn to start shaking, but in her case it was a consequence of the fear she had just felt. She had been trying to find the creature for weeks, but all tracks and tufts of hair she came across were too old. That he had been shot down wasn''t a remote possibility, but she preferred to think he had either become more elusive, or he had finally left. However, this changed everything.
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“Look at these tracks, man, and tell me if they look normal to you. I tell you that this animal is not a normal dog. Its paws are huge, and it has a very strange behavior. It''s as if it were a ghost that goes for weeks without appearing, and one day it appears again only to disappear again for weeks. The only animal it killed, as far as I know, was that roe deer. What kind of dog is capable of going for weeks without hunting?”
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Dave took the bottle and looked at it with some hesitation before opening it to take a good sip. As soon as he opened it, Sofia was hit by a strong smell of herbs that inspired her anything but any desire to drink that infusion. From the disgusted look on the boy''s face as he swallowed, it was clear that her nose was not wrong.
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Together, the three friends returned to class, and after apologizing to Rosa and enduring their classmates’ whispers, they each went to their seat. Sofia discreetly looked in her friend''s direction while he, as always, drank in the teacher''s words with fascination. The concoction was certainly effective, his hands had stopped shaking and his breathing had returned to normal. Sofia bit her lip. The forest scent had all but faded from his skin again, and last time, during Christmas Eve, it had been the same. He always seemed to be doing a lot better when the pine scent was strong on him. Sofia turned towards the window, the moon was still visible on the sky, and it was going to be full soon. That lingering suspicion was getting stronger each day. What she didn’t know was whether she was scared or thrilled at the idea.