Into the Silver Cage

“Ugh…” Gabe garbled out, the drugs in his system finally lifting from his blood, allowing him to wake up. Slowly, far too slowly, he felt himself moving once more. His eyes opened and he saw a hollowed out… basement, with pipes covered in rust, the sound of rushing water and- “Are those scratches?” He managed to slur out, his tongue still rudely pliant.

Thick deep scratches, gouges really, lay on the walls, the concrete floor, and even the ceiling. If he looked close enough, he saw something else, a familiar rusty color.

“Blood…”

“I am sorry.” He almost jumped, but the manacles on his wrists kept him in place. Turning as much as he could, sitting up, he saw a silver cage, beautifully crafted, with a leaf pattern on the edges and along the tightly woven coils. Inside was a man, stunning in his beauty, with soft gray eyes, shoulder length graying hair, and a familiar face covered in deep scars. “The lady that kidnapped me, you’re family?”

He sighed, deeply defeated. “Lydia, my mother. She cannot accept that I am a monster, cursed to bestial form. She insists on ensuring my survival, no matter the cost to others. I will not ask you to forgive her, nor myself. You deserve better, they all do.”

“They?” Gabe squeaked out, unable to stop his fear.

The caged man looked at him with genuine apology, power and fury bristling along his skin as his canines lengthened into inhuman size. “Those she has forced me to devour since I was thirteen, when my curse first manifested.” He shivered, shaking with self loathing. “I did not know what was going on, I only knew she led me to a shack every full moon and made me drink something foul that left me exhausted, I thought I was just sleeping at first. I swear to you, I did not know. I only knew that I woke up full, naked and sore.

I was naive, but not dull. I bought a camera and hid it, I was sixteen you see and rebellious. She was furious when I confronted her, revealing that I knew what I was and that she had been forcing me to kill others to survive. I wanted to die, rather than continue as I was. She drugged me, locked me away in this house lined with silver. I cannot leave it, silver burns me, repels me. I am stuck here, as is my prey. That is you…”

“Why me?” Gabe cried. “I am no one, alone and-” He stopped. “That is why I am here… no one would miss me. Fuck…”

“I truly am sorry. Lydia leaves no chances, not even a way to end my own life. No rope, no knives, nothing. Not that it would matter, part of my curse as a wolf is to be bound to survive, the curse forces me to endure. I try to stay here, in this cage, but the curse lures me out to feed… to satiate the curse’s malice.”

Shifting Gabe stood, walking over to the other man. “I should hate you, but I cannot. You… if what you say is true, then you are as much of a victim as I am. As those you have eaten. I cannot fault you for trying to survive, if the curse is forcing your hand.”

Something shifted in the other man’s face, a rare hope and pain filling his expression. “My name is Loren.”

“Gabe. Maybe, if we must end up as prey and predator, we can at least be kind to each other. I would rather you be my friend than a total stranger.”

Actual tears crossed down Loren’s face, a beautiful smile coming right after. “I would like that as well. Most people attack me or just panic, not that I blame them at all.”

They shared a smile, shocking Gabe with how oddly comfortable he felt at present.

‘What is wrong with me, why am I feeling so… at ease?’