“How could you follow me?” Frank hissed, then punched the wall. His anger wobbled and rose in him again. His teeth shone with saliva, like a hyena being seduced by a prey before it. Hollowness then crept in his heart as the anger subdued him. His eyes were wild like a lion, heat filled his face, and when Ruby saw that, she shyly looked away.

“I … I …” Ruby said while turning her face to the ground. She couldn’t face his strange face anymore.

While listening to Ruby, Frank strolled back and forth like an angry bird, and even though she was scared by his action, she trusted him because he had never laid a hand on her.

“How could you? Is there something you want to tell me,” Frank asked while standing in front of her.

Ruby shook her head in response, but she never lifted her face up. She was suspicious about the night when he had vanished from the church, and she thought that the monster she had seen at church had something to do with him. She only wanted to clear her suspicions.

“Don’t follow me,” Frank shouted. There was a sour, twisting sensation around his heart, and an ache in his throat. Worry deepened the crease on his face.

Instead of responding, Ruby looked at Frank’s red, fuming face, and she thought it would be a wrong decision to ask him what was troubling him. It just wasn’t the right time.

“Baby, I’m sorry! I was curious to know if the monster would come back,” Ruby finally responded, pretending to be telling the truth. She tried putting coldness in her voice, and tried not seeing the disappointment in his eyes.

“What if something happened to you?” Frank said, frowning and choosing his words carefully. He sat on one of the benches sadly, but it was all an act.

“But I’m here, safe,” Ruby responded with a tightness in her throat. She sat beside him and kissed his cheek, which left red lipstick on it. She giggled. “Baby, why was the priest shouting?” she asked curiously.

On hearing Ruby’s question, Frank’s anxiety rose, but her eyes remained staring at him. He looked dumbfounded and spread his legs apart. He then kicked off the mud off his shoes. He didn’t know what to tell her because she wouldn’t believe him, and he knew that the truth could make her leave him. How can she date a monster? He couldn’t protect her if the full moon came back. He knew that she couldn’t know that he was a werewolf, because if she did, then the whole world would know, and what would happen to him?

“I don’t know. I was also shocked. Maybe I said the wrong words,” Frank said anxiously, then he pointed his index finger other side confusedly. He hoped it would work.

**********

Back at Frank’s home, while they were sitting on his bed, Frank heard the echo of a closing door. He then jumped and looked through the window. His father’s Range River was parked in the driveway. He was back.

Frank didn’t know his mother, and he had never seen her. He had never asked his father about her because he had told him she was gone. He had never seen her in his life, and his father had told him once that she had disappeared, and that had broken his heart deeply. He then lost interest in her after that, but it had planted a big void in his soul, and it was still developing.

“My dad’s back,” Frank announced.

On hearing the news, Ruby quickly packed her books and wore her shoes. She was afraid of him, and she knew his father was a reserved man who wouldn’t tolerate nonsense. She didn’t want him to think they were misbehaving and having sex. What would her parents say?

“That’s my cue to leave,” Ruby said, then she kissed Frank on the cheek and rubbed off the lipstick with her finger. She chuckled when he rolled his eyes teasingly.

“Take care,” Frank said as he flopped on the bed and lay his on his hands while staring at the ceiling.

After a long night, during which Frank had a blissful dream, he found the sun colourful. The birds were chirping like no one’s business, so he jumped off his bed. He remembered that, now that his father was back, he needed to get answers from him. He hadn’t wanted to approach him the previous night because he wanted him to rest, but as soon as he was out of bed, he rushed to his father in his pyjamas.

********

The night was moonless, but Ruby felt as if someone was following her. There was a small shrub tree between two houses, and she saw two, creepy, yellow eyes there. She felt like it was a dangerous animal, so she ran as fast as she could to get away from it. Her heart pounded and her knees were trembling, and when she got home, she quickly stormed into the house and locked the door behind her. Once she got inside the house, she leaned on the door, panting.

“What was that?” she asked herself.

*********

“Dad, I want to tell you something,” Frank said gently.

Frank’s father was sitting on the sofa, reading some papers, and Frank understood that it was work papers. He was wearing his black spectacles, but he looked above them when he gave his son some attention. There was a fresh cup of coffee on the small table beside the sofa. His father was a morning person, and he always started his day with a cup of coffee.

“You need money?” Frank’s father asked and shook his head impatiently.

“I don’t know how to say this, but I have to tell you something,” Frank said. He then told his father about the dreams he had been having and when they had started. His father listened attentively, and when Frank spoke about changing into a werewolf, his father’s face turned scowl.

“Have you finished?” Frank’s father asked rudely, and he was emotionless.

“The priest said I needed to find my father, where I come from …” Frank said, but his father gushed at him before he could finish.

“Don’t you have better things to do? Go study or something, I need to work. I pay school fees, and you need to pass your final exams,” Frank’s father said, sounding unconcerned. He was avoiding getting another question and having to respond to it.

“But Dad?” Frank said, trying to protest.

Before answering, Frank’s father removed his glasses and stared at him angrily. Frank knew that it was time to go, so he left. He never liked seeing his father’s bad side, and that was why he was always obedient,

“Go and do something valuable and worthy,” Frank’s father shouted, then put his spectacles back on.

After storming off, Frank slammed the door to his room behind him. The window was open, and he saw two yellow glooming eyes in a tree nearby. He quickly closed his eyes and, when he opened them and peered through the window again, the eyes suddenly vanished. He had never seen them in daylight before, and that frightened him even more.

“Is it me? Or …” Frank thought to himself. He couldn’t figure out what had happened.

***

Tell us: Do you think Frank’s father knows what is wrong with him and is hiding it from him, and if so, what do you think Frank should do about it when he finds out?