Modern Guiné.

Despite the newness of the run-down city, olden rules and beliefs still hang around, clouding the minds of the citizens. The young were the easiest to shape, so school's preached their ideas and hid them in television shows and textbooks. Even innocent novels tried to sway developing minds.

On the outskirts of Guiné were their "enemies". Some were enslaved, others in hiding. They were the lycanthropes, the Moon's Children. Shunned and locked away from the rest of the world, the werewolves were treated like complete shit. To the humans who ran the town, they were.

They taught their young lies, just as the humans did. Neither side was honest. Neither side ever had been.

Jerome had never believed his parents when they told him humans were bad news. They wanted to vanquish what was different; it was in their nature to do so. He saw it different than any other shifter. The humans were just a pet that got out of hand and was never trained. They were the dog who yanked their leash away and did what was in their nature: tear everything apart. Not once had he seen humans as bad people.

Mitch was normal. He had been taught that the werewolves were bad, and to shun them. Of course, he'd never met one, but that would change soon. In senior year, humans were introduced to a chained werewolf. That was one of the Offerings, usually a lycanthrope teen that was never normal.

For a week now, Jerome's mother had been acting odd. She always clung to him, kissed him goodnight each and every evening (something she hadn't done for years), and begged him not to leave the house. Eventually, he found the letter.

He was to be this year's Offering.

Shivering, he tucked it back away. Around here, banished to the outskirts, it wasn't called an Offering. It was called a Sacrifice.

····

Mitch walked into the gym, a couple of his friends on either side. There was a brick pillar in the middle of the room, chains surrounding it. The science teacher, a stout woman with long blonde hair, was crouched over something on the other side. Excited, Mitch tore away and raced over.

A tall, thin boy was chained at the wrists, ankles, torso, and waist. His hands were wrapped around the pillar, his hazel eyes wide with fear. Fangs poked his lips, glistening with blood, probably his own.

"This is it?" Mitch snapped, disgusted.

"Watch. If you stay after school until the sun goes down, you can watch him change," Mrs. Reele said.

"We don't want to shift," the boy snarled n fighting his binds. "It hurts like a motherfucker."

"Ooh, you have a foul mouth, wolfy. What's your name?" Mitch taunted, kneeling down.

"Jerome." The boy spat out his own name like it was poison. "My name is Jerome."

····

Night fell, casting shadows through the gym. Only Mitch and his friend Mat remained, along with the teacher. The moon rose, and a whimper escaped Jerome's lips. Mitch looked up, smirking as pain flashed in the werewolf's eyes.

"Feel our pain. This is what you get for trying to slaughter us all! It's the pain of those you ripped apart."

"We didn't fight any of you," Jerome groaned, his eyes shutting. Mat shifted his weight, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

"You lie," Mitch snapped, and slowly, Mat got up.

"I'm going to leave," Mat muttered, standing up. Mitch shrugged and didn't pay attention as Mat disappeared behind the pillar. Jerome yelped in pain, his eyes flashing open. They widened, pupils stretching. His jaw began to stretch, and he screamed.

And Mitch watched, grinning like a maniac.

The chains rattled, and started to fall loose. Jerome fought at them, and Mitch jumped, sprinting over to where they were tied.

Mat was standing there, trying to free the changing beast.

"Help me!"

"Help you fix it?" Mitch asked, smirking, and Mat stopped dead.

"This isn't right. You can't just keep a creature chained up, put it through agony, and kill it at the end."

"They kill them?" Mitch murmured, horrified. Mat rolled his eyes.

"Of course they do. You didn't know that? What did you think they did? Put them in a field with rainbows and flowers? And apparently it's okay to torture them--" He was cut off by a guttural scream. "--but it's not okay to put them out of their misery, because that makes sense."

Mitch didn't reply. Instead, he just tore at the chains like Mat was doing.

Eventually, they'd loosened most of them, and the only sounds they heard anymore was the teacher screaming.

She deserves it. So do I.

Mitch grit his teeth, and stepped away. The shadow of a fairly large wolf was cast over the ground, and the thing stalked over. Easily, it came up to Mitch's waist.

Him. It's Jerome. He's just in a different form.

The wolf walked right up, lifting its muzzle and sniffing Mitch's hand. Mitch expected Jerome to lunge at him, knock him to the ground, murder him.

But he didn't.

He kept walking, and did the same for Mat. Then, Jerome walked away, tail tucked, head down.

That was the last time Mitch saw him.

In person, at least.

Jerome ended the unfairness between the two species. He was renowned in this life, and would be for years.

And though Mitch had wanted to torture him, he had also saved his life.