I-O-U-A [Creator]

"Last stop for you kid! Your ticket ended ages ago, your lucky I don't take you to the police!" the bus driver said as he pushed Bradley off of the bus, he had ridden that bus as far as he could from Nebraska, he had now reached Des Moines, Iowa. Hopefully this was just a quick stop until he could get back on track towards his temporary destination, Chicago Illinois. Shiver, his wolf side, had been a great annoyance, as far as he knew he hadn't caused any death other than to the wildlife, the worst part was the few days before his full moon turn where his senses would be heightened tenfold, buses would become possibly the worst places to be, the smells would be terrible.

Bradley brushed the dust off of his clothing, he had been wearing the same clothes for a long time now and it was time for a change, however he didn't have any money or a change of clothes, the only thing he could think of doing was shoplifting some clothes, or diving into a dumpster to find some and even though he was half wolf, he still had some pride.

Day broke and Bradley found himself on the streets of Des Moines, he had many strange looks as people passed him by whilst he looked for the nearest shopping centre in the desperate search for clean clothing. Bradley found a bench immediately across from a clothing store, he held a piece of paper and pretended to look at it as he scoped the store, it seemed to have an attractive teenage cashier which made Bradley regret having to do it even more, but it looked like there would be no hiding his face, he would just need to find something he wanted and then run straight out of the store and hope that this would never come back to bite him, but if it didn't come back to him, it would come back to his parents and that could prove even more disastrous. Bradley stared at the store, hoping that something would happen out of nowhere that would stop him from doing it, as much as he hated to do it, he really did have to.

For reasons unknown to himself Eeli had found himself in Iowa. He didn't even know what part of Iowa he was in he just knew that he was in Iowa. His mother was the one that had set him up for this. As he roamed the streets he caught the familiar scent of dog. Normally he would just let the smell go and walk off but this smell had a familiar kick to it. He stopped in place and looked around before spotting a boy looking into a store.

It was Bradley from....some amount of time ago. Eeli looked down the street with a smirk and walked towards the boy. He seemed intent on looking inside the store which never turns out good for anybody. He then remembered that the boy had left his house the morning of his first transformation. When he was behind the bench the boy sat at he gave a evil grin as he quietly leaned into Bradley's ear.

"Something tells me your broke." He spoke enthusiastically as he pulled his head back quickly.

Bradley jumped and his head snapped around to whoever was behind him, his first instinct was that it was a security guard so he was prepared to run as quickly as he could away from this place, but he recognised the face immediately. "You? Have you followed me all the way from Nebraska? That's pretty weird man... well yes, in case you couldn't tell from my clothing and malnourishment, I am broke... I spent pretty much all of my money on food and ate it all in a few days, left no money for clothing which I didn't think would be much of a problem, but now I realise that it is..." Bradley said as he seemingly peeled his dirty hoodie off of his chest.

Bradley stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulder as he turned to look at his old friend, "Is there a reason why you followed me? Pity? Fun?" he asked anxiously.

The tone of Bradley's voice caused eeli to react by punching him in his arm. He then looked at him and laughed sarcastically.

"I'm here because my ma got some of her friends to kidnap me and bring me here." He said with a slight tone of irritation as he remembered the events.

He then looked at the bradely and smiled as he pulled out the phone he took out of the boys room. He then gave it to him and looked past him at the store. After taking in the clothing found in he took a deep breath and looked back at Bradley. He bit his lip as he tried to consider the outcome of what he was about to do.

"A little of both, but anyways, would you like some food and new clothes?" He asked as he pulled out his wallet.

Bradley had a look of confusion as he slowly took the phone off of the Eeli, it wasn't until he inspected it closer when he realised it was his phone that he had left in his bedroom, was this Eeli's way of saying "Call your family and tell them that you are ok"? Because Bradley was doing perfectly fine on his own and the less that they know, the better.

Bradley was not one to accept things from others, especially if it put them out of their way, but desperate times call for desperate measures and when he saw Eeli pull his wallet out and flash some of his cash, it made it even harder for him to say no, eventually it was his growling stomach that forced him to agree. He sighed before saying "Alright, I'll take some food and clothing, but I don't feel good about it!" Of course he felt good about it, he hadn't eaten in days and he desperately needed some new clothes, however he still had his principles and he did not like taking things from others, even if they were offered to him.

An hour or two later and Bradley felt like a new guy, he had brand new, clean smelling clothing that he bought minutes ago and now he was eating fast food with Eeli, an edible food that he had only dreamed of eating for the past few days. Brad was wolfing down his food whilst Eeli was barely touching his, Brad was almost tempted to ask if he was going to eat any of it. During his meal, he stopped for breath, this gave him the perfect opportunity to ask some questions. "I do find it strange that you try to persuade me to stay at home with my family and then when I leave, you show up and say that you was brought here... Quite a strange co-incidence, are you gonna try and make me go back home? Because my mind is already made up, I'm going to Chicago to get some help, it's probably not the first place I should be going to, but I didn't really have much of a choice..." he said as he slowly went back to his food.

Eeli laughed as he listened to the Bradley.

"First off I never said stay with your family I just said you didn't have to leave them. I bet that's why you think I brought the phone?" Eeli said as he picked up some fries off of his plate. He had eaten a few minutes after he was kicked out of the car. "I brought the phone because everyone needs a way of contacting people when they need something, whether they want to admit it or not. And also I don't even know where here is. I just know that i'm in iowa. And I also don't care where you're going. By now you have me curious...why Chicago?" Eeli finally asked as he began to devour his food.

A latent hunger filled his stomach as his body realized how long he was in the car, and unconscious. Just as he thought he was getting full an unnatural cramp infested his stomach. He rested his hands on the back of his forehead as he felt the hunger pulse constantly in and out, like that moment in life when you're so hungry that at points you're not hungry anymore.. "Shit." He sang as he fought the hunger away.

"Alright then..." Bradley thought, he placed his fries down and wiped he grease onto his brand new jeans, a great start for them. Bradley lifted the phone up and fiddled around with some of the settings, in a few short moments he had deleted every piece of information from it and had reverted it back to its factory settings, it was a bland phone with no contacts on it whatsoever, a brand new start for him. He made a small, pleased sound as he placed the phone back down on the table in front of him, "There, just like my life, this phone has completely erased it's past and is starting fresh" Bradley triumphantly took some fries and munched on them as he listened to Eeli's question, to be honest Bradley just needed something to work towards, there wasn't much point in him running away if he didn't have anywhere that he wanted to run to, Chicago just so happened to be the first place he picked and he had found the reason for going after he began his journey.

"I know this is a long shot, Chicago is all over the news for the terrible amount of crime so I'm risking my life just by going in there, but I've also heard of this organisation called The Knightwatch, now I don't know exactly what they are, but I hear that the members of it aren't just any regular people, there's something different about them, they are the first people to talk to about... whatever it is I have. Shiver is a nuisance, my senses get heightened for a few days every month and its more of a curse than a gift, I just hope that they have something that can get rid of it or at least help me control it to my benefit..." That was Bradley's plan, head to Chicago and talk to an organisation that may or may not be able to help him, the entire trip could be in vain if they couldn't help him, but he had no other choice but to try.

"Why do you constantly call shiver a curse, that's not gonna make him like you more." Eeli said as he leaned into his chair. He was about to relax when the pain set in again. This time it surprised him and his face contorted into one that looked like it was about to puke. His eyes and hair flickered into his alter ego for a second before turning back to normal. Eeli put his hand to his stomach and looked up into the sky. "Oh my gosh please just stop." Eeli said in a whine.

He then looked forward and continued as if nothing happened. "Hmmm nightwatch sounds familiar though." He said as he began to look around the mall. Normally he would be able to just ignore the pain when he was hungry until it went away realizing that he wasn't about to eat, but for it to be this strong "food" had to be near. But Where he thought to himself.

Brad couldn't help but laugh slightly, "First of all, Shiver isn't a person or an alter ego, its a disease and a curse that I don't want and didn't ask for, and you can keep trying to justify it all you want, but if I have a choice to get rid of it, it's going, I would much prefer a normal life than one with this thing inside of me" Brad caught they eyes of an elderly couple who shuffled around a bench to give a judgmental look at him, he clearly could have come up with a better way to put, but Brad simply gave a quick and equally judgmental smile back at them as they turned away.

Brad lifted his drink and took a sip out of the straw whilst staring at Eeli who was clearly in some kind of discomfort, he lowered the drink back down before asking, "Are you alright? You're not looking so good, I think you're finished here" he said as he pulled the fast food away from Eeli, he tried his best to not take any of the food, but couldn't help but take a few fries. By the look on Eeli's face, there was definitely something wrong, his eyes were darting all around them, causing Bradley to become intrigued, he turned around in his chair to try and see what Eeli was looking at, but he couldn't see anything.

"Dang dude that's kinda harsh, but question...what "Normal" life are you going to go back to?" He asked with a blank stare. He wanted to hear the answer to this. Eeli was now curious if he knew much about his werewolf identity.

"I know a solution." Eeli finally said as he leaned back while taking a deep breathe.

"What normal life am i going back to? I get this thing taken away from me, then I head back home to my family, come up with some kind of excuse as to why I left, probably get grounded for a while, but at least I can resume living my life as a teenager and grow up like everybody else, get good grades, job, then eventually a wife and family, you know, the usual." Bradley thought it was slightly strange why he Eeli asked that question, he thought it was fairly obvious what he wanted, to go back to what his life was like before his scratch.

Bradley lifted his drink to his mouth and took another slurp out of his straw until he almost coughed it back up after hearing what Eeli had said. At first he was quite surprised, but his optimism slowly faded, if he actually had a way to fix this, Eeli would have explained it already... right?

Without trying to seem too eager to hear what he had to say, Bradley casually asked "And what would that solution be exactly?"

"Kill the person that made you a werewolf, or as you put it, a hideous curse that has done nothing but way you down and caused you pain and suffering." Eeli said as he rubbed his forehead.

"That's probably what knightwatch is going to decide for you as well." He continued as he leaned into his seat.

Just as he leaned back he caught site of a pair of bright blue eyes staring at him in a dark alley. just as he made eye contact his thirst enlarged and his next piece of food became clear. He flipped out of the chair and fell into the crowd of people. Using his max speed he was able to speed through humans before the human mind could process it. He was in the alleyway and cracked his knuckles as several eyes became visible around the first pair.

"Kill the person that made me a werewolf?" Bradley became extremely demotivated, he sighed before replying, "But that means I have to go all the way back home... And I have absolutely no idea how to even find the person that did this to me, all I know is that they can turn into a werewolf, just like me. I highly doubt that if I put flyers up asking for any werewolves to come to my house so I can kill them, I will get responses... besides, its one thing to find them, it's a whole other thing to kill-..." Eeli had gone, Bradley didn't even realize until now, he could have been talking to himself like a crazy person for a while.

"Why would he just get up and leave?" Bradley thought, one more strange thing to add to Eeli's list. Bradley tossed a few more fries into his mouth before standing up and wiping the grease onto his jeans. "Where the hell did he go?" Brad thought as he bolted up like a meerkat to find his friend. His eyes squinted as he tried his best to pin point an individual in such a large group, but it was actually quite simple as he was standing in an alleyway for no reason.

Brad brushed past several people until he noticed Eeli cracking his knuckles, clearly something wasn't right. Brad felt bad for not stepping i, to help, but he liked his throat where it was and not on the ground in front of him.

Eeli had put his hands down revealing long black nails that were sharp at the end and his hand was a little bonier than it was prior. He scratched his hand on the wall next to him as he slowly strutted towards the group of vampires. They hissed loudly and rushed him, but they were sloppy when they attacked, they were slow, and they were weak. In seconds blood spilled into nearby sewers as the bodies of vampires laid lifeless for a few minutes before being vaporized. Eeli had walked up to the man he saw when he first looked in the alleyway and scanned him.

"Scale of one to ten, tell me how bad it hurts." He said quietly as he bit down onto the mans neck.

At first the man cried in pain but then he was caught in a daze. He slid to the floor with a smile on his face for a few seconds before he vanished in a flurry of ashes. Eeli wiped his mouth and began to back away. "Dammit!!" He called as he walked towards the exit of the alleyway. Just as he was about to leave he hit a body and stepped back a little bit and looked into the face of Brad. He looked for a few minutes then looked back at the alleyway. "You didn't see anything." Eeli said as he playfully squinted his eyes and mocked star wars.

Brad watched carefully as Eeli seemed to manage himself against a group of, what he could only assume, was Vampires. Why they were attacking him in the first place was the question he wanted to ask, but when Eeli playfully recreated the Jedi Mind Trick hand wave, he thought it would be better to keep it to himself. The fact that no one saw this event take place baffled Brad for a while until he looked up and noticed a CCTV camera pointed directly at him.

"That can't be good..." he thought to himself. He was about to tell Eeli about it before he was cut off by sirens, "This is probably going to be worse..." he thought as he turned around to see several police officers making their way towards the pair of them, or at least that is what Brad assumed, when he turned back around, he saw an empty alleyway with just piles of ashes "Great..."

Half an hour later Bradley was seated in an interrogation room of a police station, the investigator entered the room with confidence and sat down opposite of Brad, he immediately flipped open his file to reveal several black and white images of him and Eeli throughout the shopping centre a short while before the fight. Bradley was going to try his best not to rat out his new friend, but it was also the night of the full moon, so he needed to do whatever he could to get out of this station and to somewhere safe.

"Who is this man?" the investigator questioned calmly.

"I don't know" Bradley replied snappingly, he was very nervous, but he was trying hard not to show it.

The investigator laughed before standing up and continuing "The pictures in this file show you spending a lot of time with this boy... He bought you clothes, food... and you expect me to believe that you don't even know who he is? Ok... let me explain to you who he is... He is a murderer, see these pictures here? These are pictures of an alleyway, here you are... here is your friend before" The investigator snapped the picture away revealing an image with a lot less people in it. "And your friend after... Tell me who he is so I can let you leave right now... It's not a very hard choice" The investigator had now turned from bad cop to good cop with the promise of freedom, but it still wasn't going to make Brad talk.

"You can believe what you want, but I don't know that man"

After 15 minutes of further interrogating, the officer sent Brad to a jail cell for the night to see if that will give him an incentive to get him to speak. Brad felt a nudge in his back as he was pushed into his new room with a nice window, a barred one, but one with a good view of the full moon... Full Moon!? Bradley was too busy trying to stay calm that he forgot about the change, it would happen any second now and it would not be pretty with where he was locked away right now.