Run

William hadn't fed since he'd gotten to this island. Almost a week now and he could feel himself starting to fade. He hadn't aged too noticeably yet, appearing somewhere in his early 30's, but he knew from experience that everything would rapidly worsen if this continued. Not to mention that if Maria didn't get to him first, his cravings alone would be nearly intolerable.

He wasn't sure if it was caution, lack of opportunity, or a subtle desire to resist his demon's influence that had got him to this point. But the doctor was tired, whatever the reason for it. He wanted to be alone, or as alone as he could ever be. So he'd chosen to go to the park. The wraith could've been alone in his own house, but Maria was cranky because she couldn't come out, and since he couldn't sleep, he'd just be attempting to read while she was harassing him inside his head.

Besides the open air made her presence more bearable. Perhaps because it made him feel smaller or because he could almost feel the breeze on his skin as he walked. He almost missed the wolf in the darkness, as lost in thought as he was, but the way the light highlighted his fur caught his eyes.

"Hello there," he said quietly. He would not normally speak with wolves, but on this island, he was pretty sure most wolves were actually werewolves. At least, wolves that were lying down in the park instead of away in the forest somewhere.

Even though this wolf was taller than him, that did not scare the wraith. For one thing, she was sitting down and didn't appear to be at all hostile. Plus even if she did attack him, he was sure that although he didn't know if he could drain a werewolf in wolf form, a wolf would not be able to damage him enough that he wouldn't heal. Besides he was sure he probably smelled dead enough that the only creature that would want to eat him would be a carrion-eater.

What did set off a jolt of sick fear in the man was the unwelcome intrusion into his mind. Perhaps this strange wolf was only speaking, but it felt far too similar to Maria's voice - William did not like telepathy. "Miss - Sofia? Please stay out of my head." There was a definite edge to his voice. He'd come out here to be alone and now Maria was laughing in his head at his uneasiness.

The man paused and looked at the wolf apologetically. He'd talked to her first and perhaps this was the only way she could communicate. "I am sorry, miss, I have my reasons to dislike hearing other voices in my thoughts. Is that the only way for you to speak?"

When Miss Sofia made her apologetic gesture, William realized she couldn't actually talk as a wolf. Perhaps he should have expected that, but he supposed this island was making talking animals commonplace. The man frowned at himself for letting his fear control him, for giving in to Maria even when she wasn't manipulating him.

He had been rude and it bothered him. Politeness and a few leftover morals were all he had left to connect him to humanity. "I am sorry. My name is Dr. Brown." The wraith probably seemed stiff and formal, which wasn't far from the truth, but this was normal for his generation.

Even though it appeared this wolf woman's only form of communication was telepathy, if he didn't count her kind attempts at body language for his sake, William still hesitated to give her permission. The demon in his head was enough for anybody.

"I... if you need to talk in my head you can." He fidgeted nervously with that statement, fighting his fear.