Bite Down

Bite Down 1

Chapter 1: The Bite

It’s hard to breathe as we drive in the mountains. We’ve been driving almost 20 hours. I hate road trips. The only thing I hate more than road trips though is the cold. And today I’m feeling the burn of both of these.

Dad always drove like a madman but I knew he must of knew these hills because he speeds like he doesn’t have any sense.

“Can you slow down?”

“Damn Nasir, can you man up for once?”

That’s what Dad talks like. He says things like that to me on purpose. Thing is. I was never man enough for him. Growing up everyone said I looked like my mother. I had her features. My body was slim and delicate like hers. My long straight dark brown hair fell down my back in a really feminine way. My dad hates my hair the most of all. When I was young he tried to cut it off and right before he started, I woke up screaming so loud that the neighbors called the cops. My mouth, my lips, the way I talk and hell even my walk was way more feminine than the guys around me.

I always tried to impress my father. I tried to play sports even though I was horrible at them. I dated girls even though I never preferred them.

Even now I was headed to my father’s college…just so that he can be proud of me.

Just so he can look at me as his son.

“I’m sorry I’m not tough. I’m sorry I’m not like Qadir.”

He turns his face, “Don’t mention Qadir.”

“Oh right he’s too precious to mention.”

My father turns to me at that moment moving his whole body towards me. I can see the anger in his eyes. I know the look. My father, Travis Butler was known for his aggression. There were many times me talking back to him ended up with me having a black eye. He turns to me and almost screams in my face.

I withdraw.

“Let me tell you something. When your brother died my world fucking ended. That doesn’t mean I don’t care about you. But you need to be man. You’re 18 now. You’re not a little fucking kid anymore. You hear me! Nasir are you listening to me?”

“POPS!”

My father doesn’t see it. The car swerves. There is something in road. It’s just standing there. My heart races as my father’s car spins! I can see us swerving off the road. My heart races. What the fuck was that in the middle of the road.

We swerve. My life flashes in front of me.

I see a tree as my father stretches his arm across my chest as though that would do anything. He’s hitting on the breaks! We’re swerving. Faster and faster. Harder and harder.

Then all of a sudden we stop—right before we hit an oak tree.

“What---the---fuck---“

“Wolves. There’s a lot of them here. Nasir…Nasir…you better not have fucking just pissed yourself…”

I look down and my face blushes red. He’s right. I did piss myself. As I turn back towards the road I see it. The wolf in the middle of the street. It’s looking over at us still in the middle of the street not aware or not caring that it almost cost me our my life. It’s a black wolf with beautiful blue eyes…so blue that they remind me of ice in a winter’s field.

It stares at me almost seeing that I piss myself. The oddest thing happens then. It growls. It growls and then walks away.

“Uncle Travis!”

I look around. The school is bigger than I thought it was going to be. Who builds a university on top of a mountain? It’s snowing already. This shit is not motherfucking cute. This isn’t the T. I’m over it before I step outside of the car. The snow is already sticking to the ground.

“India how have you been girly?” My dad says.

We are greeted by my cousin. India Butler. She looks a lot like me. She has that long Butler hair. It goes down to her ass in the same way that mines does. Her hair isn’t straight like mine though. It’s a big nappy and wild. As she approaches me I can’t help but to look at it. I want to take a comb and just go to town on it. India has always been like that though. A wild child. She’d probably fight me if I combed her hair and as tough as India was she’d probably win.

“What’s up PUNK! Welcome to Vanderbilt University.”

India punches me. Yeah. And it fucking hurts.

“Ow…what the fuck…”

“Still so fragile, huh cuz?” India asks me.

I role my eyes at her. India and my brother always did the wild crazy shit when they were younger. I always stayed in. When my dad got the job in Los Angeles she’d come and visit. Her and my brother would make my life a living hell. Things definitely didn’t change much I see.

“Hopefully Vanderbilt toughens him up,” my dad tells my cousin.

“He’s in good hands sir,” a boy says at that moment.

The boy is standing next to India. He’s a white guy with blonde hair. He’s tall and handsome in his own way but looks kind of geeky. He stares me up and down almost sizing me up. My dad steps in my way. My dad is the complete opposite of me. He’s built like a professional wrestler. In fact a lot of people confuse my dad for the Rock. He’s not black at all though. He’s completely Native American. He never names his tribe but he says that we are somewhat related to the Shawnee. My mother was completely black though but she’s dead now. She died when I was pretty young.

After my brother died it’s just been me and my dad. So I see why he’s so protective of me. He stands in my way blocking the boy as though I’m made of precious glass that this new guy can’t even look at.

“Who the hell are you?” my dad asks.

“Evan,” he replies his voice almost whimpering.

“He’s my boyfriend, Uncle Travis,” India replies, “He works in the welcoming committee. He’s going to be one of Nasir’s roommates.”

My dad shakes my head and looks at the guy a few times, “Did you know my other son? Qadir.”

Evan smiles a little bit, “Not too much. Qadir was a frat boy. He hung with those guys.”

My dad doesn’t seem too impressed by Evan. It takes a lot to impress my dad.

“If anything happens to my son. I’ll hold you responsible. You hear me? You too India….”

I can feel my face blush with red. My dad looks over at me. He doesn’t say do the whimpy father dropping his kid off at school thing. He threatens people, he grunts a hard “bye” and ruffles my hair before hopping in the car and speeding off as though he was in some sort of race. That’s the kind of person my father was. Short. Blunt. And manly as hell.

“Holy shit, I almost pissed myself,” Evan stated, “Your father is fucking scary.”

India looks around and sniffs a little bit, “I could have sworn I smelled piss…”

“These are the dorms,” Evan tells me, “After you get settled in I can take you to go get your schedule. Freshman orientation starts tomorrow.”

I can tell this Evan guy is still scared of my dad as he walks me to the dorms. The dorms aren’t like usual colleges. I hate the fact that I have to go to this school. I wanted to go to UCLA. It’s fucking cold here. It’s beyond fucking cold. India and Evan are walking me to class. Usually parents stick around a little longer but truthfully I’m not too upset that my dad sped off. Knowing my dad he would threaten half the school, get into a fight over nothing and end up shirtless in a beer drinking contest.

“These things looks like cabins,” I tell him.

“They are cabins,” Evan replies, laughing.

“I’m assuming no central heat…”

He laughs a little, “Vanderbilt is a little…old fashioned…”

As he opens the door to the cabin I almost choke. He has to be joking. It’s a log cabin. One of many. The cabin smells like old people. I look around and I’m just shocked. I feel like I stepped into 1887. As we walk in there is a common room and a fireplace. Yes. A fireplace!

“Please tell me that’s not how you get your heat?” I ask him.

Evan laughs and then turns to India, “Your cousin is funny…”

“He’ll learn,” she laughs.

I don’t know what they mean but it scares the fuck out of me. I know the reputation of Vanderbilt. It was a manly man school. It was known for their extreme winter sports teams. Skiing, hockey and other odd shit like that. Half the people who attended were into some extreme sports. That just was never me. My idea of sports was walking runways.

I look around. The sofa is old and dusty. There is an oven off from the common area. There’s no microwaves or anything like that. I feel like I’m in an experiment.

“What do you guys do for food?”

“Hunt,” India replies.

“You’re joking…”

My heart stops. What the fuck?

“Relax, Princess,” India replies, “There is a market. If you don’t want to join the hunting class you can always just go buy food. Your dad left me some money for you. You’ll be fine. Matter of fact I have to go buy you some groceries. I’ll be back.”

“India you are NOT leaving me here alone.”

My heart races. Regardless of how annoying India is she is really the only one I know. This place isn’t home for me. I’m in the woods on the side of huge mountain. There’s no real civilization around for miles. The school is it. I can’t believe I let my father talk me into coming to this hell hole. If Qadir hadn’t have died he could have passed down the family tradition of attending Vanderbilt. I’m just upset that I am the one that has to.

“You’ll be fine.”

She rolls her eyes and closes the door behind her.

When she closest he door the only one that is staring at me is Evan. He’s laughing.

“Don’t worry. I felt the same way. I’m not some manly man like the rest of the guys at Vanderbilt either,” Evan replies, “It’ll take time, but you’ll get used to it.”

I’m surprised that Evan actually seems a little normal. I was really expecting something else. He shows me my room. It’s a three bedroom cabin with a common area in the middle. The room isn’t as cold as I think it is but the bed is uncomfortable. I pull out my laptop and realize there’s only one outlet in my room. The annoyance is just crazy.

Evan is a sophomore. He’s from Wisconsin. Truthfully I don’t even know where that is but I smile and pretend like I do. I’m trying to be as nice as possible. I need more friends. He’s a little bit of a nerd and as he talks I can see he’s trying to see if I’m into video games, Game of Thrones and nerdy things like that. I try not to act like I’m some big cool kid or whatever. I mean I hung with celebrities back home.

“It’s cool you’re from LA, yo. My nigga…” Evan smiles.

“What did you just say to me?” I ask him.

He turns red a little bit, “Sorry. This has to be a huge culture shock from you. To come from LA to here?”

I sigh, “Pretty much. Not my thing to come to the mountains of Montana for school. Is this snow ever going to end?”

“It’ll pretty much get worse.”

“Great,” I sigh.

“Listen,” Evan tells me, “We’ll get through it together. Trust me. The first year is always the hardest, but you have a friend. Any family to India is family to me?”

I almost want to smile. I’m not surprised India is dating a softer guy. I can’t imagine her dating a manly man. She is too dominant in my opinion. I’m actually surprised that she isn’t a full out lesbian to be honest. She’s so goddam butch sometimes.

“This place has a shower?” I ask.

“Yeah. One off from the common room. When you get back we’ll go get your schedule.”

I nod.

I’m kind of happy that I met someone who isn’t the typical Vanderbilt guy too. I walk into the living room and when I do I hear something that sounds like moaning. I’m not imagining it. Someone is MOST definitely moaning in the living room.

It’s a girl. She’s is more than moaning. She looks like she’s having the time of her life.

“OH FUCK ME! YES…give me that big dick. DAMN it’s so big!”

I’m shocked and somewhat amused. I can hear her having an orgasm. I’m almost mesmerized by the sounds. Whoever is fucking her is making her climb the walls! I never heard anything like it. If she wasn’t begging for it I would have sworn she was in danger. That’s how loud she’s screaming at that moment.

In the next few minutes I see the door open. I turn. A girl walks out. She’s pretty. Prettier than I thought girls in this part of the US could actually get. She’s a blonde white girl.

I hide in the bathroom at that moment hiding from them. I keep the door open and stare slowly.

“Why can’t I spend the night?” she asks someone.

He shakes his head, “I told you. I don’t do the romance thing…”

She looks so disappointed. I am shocked at how the guy shuts her down like that. She leaves the house almost embarrassed. The door stays open. I think about heading to the shower but I’m just so curious at who was making love to her.

That is when he walks out.

Completely naked!

He is hairy but not extremely hairy and it’s mostly on his chest. His body is something godly. He’s tall. He’s about 6’2”. His muscles fit him. I wonder if he plays football. He has a smooth face and even those doesn’t seem focused on anything there is some focus in his eyes. He walks over to the kitchen. He had dark brown eyes and light tan skin. I have no doubt that he must be Native American. I watch him still mesmerized.

His dick swings between his legs back and forth. I can see why she is moaning. His dick is semi hard at this point but it still has to be about 11 inches. I’m shocked by it. As I look at it my mouth drops open a little bit.

This man literally is the sexiest man I’ve probably ever seen.

He goes to the fridge and drinks milk out of the carton. It drips down his face and a little gets on that sexy body of his. He wipes it off and puts the milk back in the fridge. Definitely something manly and just crazy. Then he goes to the sink.

I watch at that moment as he plays around with his eyes. He takes out what seems like a contact. And I see the strangest thing.

There are these green eyes behind them. Emerald green. The most beautiful shade I’ve ever seen.

Why would he cover such beautiful eyes up?

I exhale a little bit, stunned by him.

“Whose there?”

He hears it. Impossible.

He turns to the bathroom door where I’m standing. I have no choice now. He knows I’m there. I struggle to maintain myself and fix my hair as I walk out of the bathroom.

“Sorry…” I reply walking out.

“You get an eyeful?” he asked.

I see him pop back in his contact. He stares over at me. His eyes are brown again. He doesn’t seem to hide his nudity or care that I’m looking at him. He’s confident. He knows he looks good. I struggle not to stare down at the anaconda between his legs. It’s hard not to.

“I didn’t mean to---“

He interrupts me, “Freshman?”

“ER---yeah…”

“Well you don’t know the rules around here. It’s about to be dark soon. Girls aren’t allowed in the boys’ dorm after dark.”

Fuck. Not again. This happens all the time.

“I’m a guy.”

He stares me up and down. Then he laughs. His chest struggles. He is probably looking at my skinny body and long hair. He’s probably looking at my smooth face.

“Oh shit. Seriously?” he asks.

I roll my eyes a little bit annoyed that he would actually laugh at me, “Last time I checked my balls I’m pretty sure they were both still there.”

“I’m sorry it’s just the hair and the…I’m sorry. Holy fuck. Um…I’m Walid.”

He walks over to me. He is still butt naked. I don’t even think he notices at this point. He smells like sex when he gets close. I have no doubt he didn’t wash his hands but I don’t want to be rude so I shake them anyway.

“Um…I’m… …”

“What?”

“You’re kind of naked,” I tell him.

He shrugs at that moment, “So?”

This guy gives no fucks. I’m struggling not to catch a hard on just by looking at him. I’m focusing on everything but this sexy Adonis Native American statue in front of me. The walls of the cabin. The flickering fire place. My hormones are going crazy.

“Nothing. Erm…nothing…”

“Well…”

“Well what?”

“Are you going to tell me your name or not weirdo?” he asks and smiles.

“Nasir. Nasir Butler,” I reply.

The smile fades. There is this recognition in his eyes. I’m not sure what that’s about but the smile is dead as quickly as it came. All of a sudden he doesn’t seem like the overly friendly guy that I just met a few minutes ago. The smile is replaced by a serious scowl.

He turns and walks away. It’s so strange. I’m trying to wonder why but I’m distracted by his strong muscular bubble butt as he walks away from me.

“It’s a full moon tonight,” he tells me, “Better go handle your business. Don’t want to be caught up in all of that.”

It’s such a weird thing to say and he walks away as though he said the most important thing in the world.

Such a strange…guy…

I get my schedule with Evan later that day. English and Math are only normal classes. The other classes are very “Vanderbilt” oriented. Survival skills 1.0. Hunting. Physical Education. Snowboarding. I shake my head. This is definitely shit that my brother would have gotten into when he came here. Vanderbilt is a bigger school than I thought. The freshman class is about 100 students and luckily I have Evan with me to guide me through the chaos of getting schedules.

I walk with Evan back to the dorm.

“Tomorrow’s orientation. You’ll be fine,” he says.

I can tell that he can read my mind. I’m uncomfortable with all of this. It’s not hard to tell. I’m overwhelmed.

“I’m giving this thing one semester and I’m transferring.”

“Why even come here in the first place?” he asks, “Your brother died here. I’d be super scared to come here. Wasn’t he like attacked?”

I nod, “Yeah. Killed by a wild animal.”

Evan shakes his head, “You’ll see a lot of those. That’s why I stay in my room. Tomb Raider is the only wild life exposure I need.”

Evan laughs and I have to admit I laugh with him. We get back to the dorm. As we get back to the dorm I see Walid. He isn’t alone. He has a jacket on that matches the jacket of another guy. The other guy is almost just as handsome as Walid. They have on jackets with matching greek letters on it. The two of them have girls with them. I notice the girl Walid has with him isn’t the same girl from before. She’s just as pretty but she’s a black girl.

Walid and the others walk past me. They act like they don’t even see Evan and I as they walk right past us not even speaking.

“That guy is a fuckin’ weirdo…”

“You’ve met Walid?” Evan asks.

“Yeah. Earlier he was just walking around completely naked in the cabin,” I tell Evan.

Evan laughs, “Yeah. Get used to that. That’s Walid. Makes you feel a little less than a man huh? That goddam third leg he has. He waves it around like a goddam flag. It’s super annoying.”

Truth was if he was my roommate I definitely wouldn’t mind that…

I just smile at Evan though and lie, “Yeah, super annoying.”

“Him and the rest of his frat think they run Vanderbilt.”

“He said something weird…something about a full moon.”

Evan shakes his head, “Ah bullshit. There are urban myths. I didn’t think Walid believed in that kind of stuff.”

I want to ask Evan what kind of urban myths but I don’t. Vanderbilt definitely seems a lot stranger than I think.

The day passes and I fall asleep after talking to Evan for hours and learning more about his background. He’s a cooler person than I think and honestly by the end of the day I’m not as depressed as I think I would have been. At least I’m able to make one friend even though his idea of conversation is talking about his weird little hobbies.

At least I’m not alone.

He goes to sleep leaving to his room. I am laying in my bed staring at the ceiling and wondering just what the hell I’ve gotten myself into coming to Vanderbilt. There were wild animals here. There were extreme sports. There were a million ways to get injured. This just wasn’t me.

I keep hearing my father’s voice in my head.

“You need to become a man one day or another,” he’d tell me.

It sticks in my head. I have to let my feminine ways go at some point. I have to become more manly. My body is slim…shaped like a freaking girl. I get up thinking about this and look at my body in the mirror. Slim…skinny…pathetic. Those are the only things that come to mind. Back in the day my brother used to joke and say how I’d make an excellent Tranny. He was probably right.

As I stare in the mirror I hear the weirdest sound. Whimpers…

Almost…like an animal.

It’s the middle of the night. I try to ignore the sounds but they get louder and louder outside of my cabin door. It’s such a strange sound…almost like a calling. Almost like a dog who needs more water or something like that.

I find myself getting up at that moment and walking out into the cold. It’s snowing out. I don’t have a huge jacket besides my dad’s old one that he gave to me and it fits so huge. It’s embarrassing to wear really even if it was in the middle of the night. I struggle in the cold. Flurries sprinkle in the air. I look up. Walid was right…it is a full moon out.

Whimpers.

I turn to my right. The dorms were full of students during the daytime but this time of night there is barely anyone out.

“Hello?” I call out.

The whimpers get louder and louder.

I find myself following them to the back of the dorm. The dorms of Vanderbilt are lined up huts. If you follow the line all the way down you get to the school buildings that are made of old fashioned stone. There are couple large buildings and they all look like Catholic churches really. In the darkness it really seems as though I’ve stepped back in time to a different time.

I follow the sound of the whimpers. Slowly. I turn the corner and then I see it.

A wolf.

It’s the EXACT same black wolf with beautiful blue eyes. It’s the same one that was in the middle of the street when I was driving up with my father to Vanderbilt. It’s staring at me. I stop in my footprints as it stares at me. I can hardly breathe.

I am stuck in place. It doesn’t move.

My heart races. I put one foot behind me. This isn’t happening. This wolf isn’t on campus! This was not fucking happening to me.

I want to scream but I don’t want to alarm the wolf. I take a slight step back and watch as the wolf takes a step as well towards me.

It watches me. Gazing at me. For the second time today I want to piss myself.

“Good dog…” I say.

I don’t why I say that but it seems to calm the wolf down a little bit. That is when I turn. I have to do it. I have to make a run for it.

I turn and I start running as fast as I can.

I don’t get far. I can hear the wolf after me! It chases me down. It lunges at me!

It bites me…right in the ass!

I don’t know what happens after that. I fall over. I expect my life to be over. I expect it to maul my face off. I expect to end up like my brother Qadir.

That isn’t the case though.

I turn and the wolf is gone.

The bite on my ass burns. It’s torn flesh but I’m alive. I’m alive and It’s over!

At least I think it is. Little do I know that that moment was going to change my life…forever…

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