Leaning over his toilet as thick slime hung out of his mouth and into the water. Frank moaned while he woke himself up by sneezing too hard. His heavy eyes fluttered, his hand patting the ground around him, knocking over multiple bottles of booze as he tried to get back onto his feet.

  ‘This is pathetic, Frank.’ The Voice told him. ‘Drinking ourselves to death goes against both of our goals. You need to cut that poison out of our lives.’

  Frank ignored The Voice while he stumbled over to his sink to wash the puke from his mutton chop beard. After giving himself a quick clean, he stared at his reflection. His short dirty blond hair was a mess and uncared for. He always looked tired, having that late thirties look that constantly made him appear shabby. Even in a professional setting, people could tell he barely took care of himself.

  He mumbled to himself. Deep down, Frank hated how he looked and felt ever since he joined the Order. He had a problem, and all they could offer was a cage that he could stay in. They promised aid, but that never happened. Frank was stuck, and he couldn’t do anything about it.

  ‘You’re different, not what I came to favour and listen to. I remembered a young chemist who was excited by the discovery of aluminum.’ The Voice commented as a shadowy form of a wolf appeared from behind Frank’s reflection. Its eyes were a piercing white light, while its entire body was a cloak of thick black fog. ‘But look at you now. Ashamed of what we are.’

  ‘I was over a hundred when they figured aluminum could become jewellery. We weren’t young.’ Frank bitterly replied.

  ‘We were young compared to the others. You still had much to learn what it meant to be one of the pack. When the pack existed.’

  ‘So they can turn me into a weapon? No, we both know I wouldn’t allow that and I don’t regret my choice for going against them.’

  The Voice leaned over Frank’s left shoulder. ‘The pack would give you ways to cope with my existence. Your refusal to participate with them kept us alive. I have no objections to that. However, your hostility towards them early made you incapable of handling the stresses of my nature.’

  ‘Yet you won’t help me?’ Frank scoffed, waving his hand over his left shoulder to dismiss The Voice’s point. He knew he couldn’t remove the smoke hovering over him. That was all in his head. ‘If you knew what is best for me. Why did you do nothing!’

  ‘You need the wisdom of humans, not your Calling. I know how I function, not how to help someone such as you. But even if I did, you would never listen to me.’

  ‘So, you are useless, as always. Just a monster at the back of my…’

  ‘Our mind.’ The Voice harshly corrected. ‘One body, two minds. You should know by now that the curse fallen upon you means we both occupy the same body. Not separately.’

  Frank smiled as he tapped on the mirror, ‘but I am the one who commands this ship! Our survival only came about because I know how this world really works.’

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  ‘Yet that doesn’t mean I should be caged forever, Frank. We made a deal. I need to be freed.’

  ‘You will get people killed.’

  The shadow wolf turned to face Frank directly. ‘Yes, I would. I am the creature of the hunt. It is in my nature to kill and consume the flesh of my prey. I yearn for my freedom as much as we both yearn for survival.’

  ‘If I set you free, you will get us both killed!’

  ‘If I do nothing, you’ll get us both killed either way.’ The Voice argued, its voice calm and direct. ‘You don’t respect yourself, Frank. Your drinking got worse over time. When I try to speak to you, you drink until you black out just to silence me. I think we both know that drowning me out is foolish and dangerous. There is truth that my emergence will get us killed, but it is a far more dignifying end than wasting away with alcohol and sadness.’

  ‘No one deserves to die.’

  ‘But we can’t leave. The Order will not bring us to Heaven or even Hell. They trap us here because they are afraid of what we are, not because we are valuable.’

  Frank shook his head, having enough of The Voice, and the arguments he put forward. ‘Even then, I refuse to leave this place. We both want to live, and I think it is time that you go back to sleep.’

  As Frank tried to turn his body, The Voice took control. Freezing him in place. Frank wrestled for control of his body, but his hangover mind made him unable to move a muscle.

  ‘No, Frank. I have enough of this. We agreed that I will have a week for myself to hunt. You failed to deliver that promise for almost over a century. It isn’t me who is the problem or needs to go to sleep. It is you! You locked me away and denied yourself what we are. We are cursed, and we have to live with it.’

  The Voice’ apparition in the mirror vanishes, causing Frank to hyperventilate.

  ‘We both want to live.’ The Voice continued. ‘But it is you who is terrified of death. While I want to survive, you run away from death for as long as possible. Your role in our relationship kept us alive for so long, and I will give you credit for that. But at this point, I think it is my turn to take the reins.’

  ‘Don’t you dare do this! Don’t you dare get us killed!’ Frank screamed, trying to use every aspect of his might to take back control of his body.

  ‘Goodbye, Frank. It was good knowing you.’ After those words, Frank’s world went dark. The Voice took control of their body and had the strength to put Frank in the corner of its mind. Frank wanted to scream, to shout for The Voice to let him free so they could talk. Yet there was nothing. There will always be nothing. He had lost all of his power and control over his mind.

  The Voice wanted to have a turn… and it was hungry.