"My eyes are up here, pervert." She punches him in the stomach, causing him to fall into the pool of blood next to Travis' body.
"I'm sorry." Daren strains his voice to say. "I didn't know you were a woman before you started speaking. I was just making sure..." Daren cuts himself off before he says something that pisses her off.
"Get up." She says, expecting Daren to recover quickly from her gut punch. "There's someone thst you have to meet."
Daren slowly gets up while holding his stomach. "Was that necessary?" She doesn't respond.
She stops at the bathroom door. Daren's eyes widen as the fabric of reality rips open a hole in the door. Loud cracking sounds eminate from the rift as it turns into a doorway, a portal into another world.
"WAIT, IS MAGIC REAL TOO?" Daren can't believe it. All those mythical stories that he thought were bullshit are turning out to have a grain of truth to them.
"You coming, or not?"
"Yeah." Daren follows her into the rift and steps into it, finding himself in cold wasteland. His body starts to shiver as the cold air hits him. The brutal breeze and snow pelting his face.
"Fuck, it's cold. Do you have a jacket I could borrow?" Darens asks her, but she ignores him again. 'I also need boots.' He keeps this thought to himself as he steps through the deep snow. "My feet are going to get wet." Daren accidently says outloud.
"Stop being a pussy."
The woman stops suddenly at a pair of tracks in the snow. "Follow these footprints." She commands him. "There's someone that wants to speak with you."
Daren can't decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing. The cold air is abysmal, and he's worried about getting frostbite. On the other hand. Getting turned into a werewolf and having magical powers sounds enticing.
He decides that he doesn't have a choice. They're either going to kill him or send him back with nothing. Returning home as a human after killing someone is sure to result in a jail sentence after killing a man. If he turns into a monster with magical powers, he'll be able to do whatever he wants.
Daren follows the tracks without any objections, forcing his body to move when it wants him to give up. He desires the ability to have more control over his life. No one can bully him if they are dead. No one will tell him not to do something evil if they fear him. And so he pushes on. He won't let anyone or anything get in his way.
After a few miles of walking, his hands and feet become numb. The tracks are now leading him uphill. Whoever left these tracks must have done this recently. The snow would have covered them by now. And more importantly, why does he have to be out here. Another test? Maybe. A test of willpower.
Daren puts his hands up to his mouth and blows on them. Trying to keep them warm. His toes are completely numb at this point. He has to get there soon.
"I just had to wear a t-shirt today."
'Keep pushing forward. I can't stop now.' Daren keeps saying to himself as his teeth chatter and his body shivers uncontrollably. His legs are ready to give up on him. He's just shuffling his feet forward, no longer having the energy to take long steps.
Daren falls to his knees after his legs give out. He was never the type to exercise that much. After high school, he didn't keep his body in shape. Now he's paying the price.
The rest of his body falls into the snow. But he can't give up yet. His arms still work. He uses the last of his strength to crawl forward.
It stopped snowing. There's no end in sight, but at least the tracks won't be covered over. The sun is starting to set. Soon, it will be too dark to see anything.
Daren creates a mound of snow to protect him on all sides from the harsh winds. He tears pieces of his shirt off to wrap his hands in to keep them warm. He does the same thing for his face to protect his ears and nose from severe frostbite.
The night seems like it lasts forever since he doesn't get any sleep. Strange nosies keep him on edge. They are most likely from wild animals, but since Daren spent his whole life living in a city, it's hard for him to identify the animals.
When the sun finally breaks over the horizon, Daren continues to follow the tracks. His legs feel rested enough, but he's worried about the possibility that his toes have severe frostbite.
Morning turns into mid-day. His mouth is dry, and his stomach is empty. Soon, he will have no choice but to eat some of the snow to keep himself hydrated at the risk of lowering his body temperature.
He starts to feel sharp pins and needles in his hands. He checks them to find that his hands are starting to blister. 'Shit.' He knows what this means. He's seen pictures on the internet of people who have their fingers turned black. Blisters are the first sign that the skin has been frozen and is dying.
The footprints come to a sudden stop. It's like the person who made these tracks suddenly vanished. But as he looks around, he sees a large wooden cabin off in the distance. That must be where he needs to go.
As he reaches the cabin, he doesn't pay much attention to its architecture. He just wants to find the entrance. He finds a wooden porch that leads to such a door. He tries the door handle and finds that it's open. He nearly sheds a tear. He survived this test of willpower.
Once inside, he notices that it's filled with modern-day appliances. The lights are on, it's warm inside, and it has a cozy feel to it. Lush decorations and paintings hung up on the walls, depicting the beauty of the outdoors. Expensive looking carpets that depict packs of wolves. After taking a closer look around, most decorations depict wolves. The railings that lead up stairs have wolves carved into the wood.
"You made it here alive." You hear a man's voice as he walks out of one of the rooms holding a coffee mug. He's a tall white male with black hair. His short, stubble, trimmed beard compliments his suit."Not everyone is as lucky as you are." He takes a sip of coffee. "Oh, I suppose that you want something to drink." He walks over to the coffee machine to pour Daren a glass.
Daren doest hesitate to take the the drink the man offers him. He takes a sip, feeling the warmth of the drink on his cold lips. "Are you the one I needed to talk to?"
"I am but a simple..." He pauses for a moment. "I can't think of the word. No. Let's just say that you have been chosen to do great things."
"Why me? I'm not special."
"Oh, but you are." He sets his coffee down to grab Daren a blanket, placing it over him. "My....master sees something in you. You have what he calls a strong aura."
"Does that have something to do with magic?"
"Kind of." The man says as he sits down and grabs a pen and paper. "Hundreds of years ago, he acquired the ability to see people's potential." He shows Daren the picture he drew. It's consists of a stick figure surrounded by squiggly lines.
"You need to take an art class."
The man ignores his comment. "Your aura is exactly what he is looking for. These tests are designed to mature the color."
"You've lost me."
The man takes a sigh as he sits up. "I can try to explain it better in the morning. And you can call me William."