Blizzard

chapter 16

While Shelby was waiting for Father Faber and Thom to join her in the 'purification' room, she migrated to the paintings on the wall to her right. They were of the same style as all the other paintings she'd seen in churches, but what set them apart from those was what was painted on them. On one of the paintings on her right, she could see something that she could only guess was some kind of demon ripping a human–with a dramatically agonized expression–apart. Next to it was one she recognized. It portrayed Jesus Christ being tempted by the Devil. It had to be a copy though. There was no way this remote, forsaken church was housing the original painting. On the other wall, was one that she supposed was meant to portray what she was. The creature had a wolf's head, 'hands' and 'feet', but the rest of his body was entirely human. In the one next to it, was a wolf, stood upright and clothed. He looked like he was about to run away from the other person in the painting. The small, metal placard underneath it said 'Lycaon and Zeus'.

'Lycaon'. She recognized that name from the historical tales they'd been telling her. According to the myth, he was the first lycanthrope to exist. Lycaon had been a king of Arcadia, a region in Greece. He had been turned by Zeus, whom he'd infuriated by serving him the flesh of his youngest son and eating it alongside his family. Zeus had also turned his fifty or so other sons, and had brought the murdered son back to life out of pity. It wasn't exactly the happiest of the stories she'd been told, but it was one that drew her interest. Lycaon had been turned by a God as punishment, just like her father claimed she had been. If he ever heard the story, he'd probably use it to fortify his reasoning, that it only proved his point.

Fr. Faber had also talked about the emergence of lycanthropes in early Nordic folklore. The Saga of the Volsungs told the story of a father and son who discovered wolf pelts that had the power to turn people into wolves for ten days. The father-son duo donned the pelts, transformed into wolves and went on a killing rampage in the forest.

However different all the stories they'd told her were, there was one thing they all had in common. Lycanthropes were always the villains, offenders, the forthbringers of evil, sinners.

"Are you ready?" Fr. Faber asked from behind her.

Shelby turned around. Even though she hadn't turned abruptly at all, her head still felt slightly dizzy from the movement. The priest was standing in the doorway. She hadn't heard him come in. She hadn't really been paying attention, she surely would have heard him if she hadn't been so caught up in her thoughts.

"Yes." Shelby smiled, "Of course." She didn't need to fake it anymore, she felt at ease here in this room, having already spent so many hours in it.

Today was the fourth day. So far, the days she'd spent at the church had consisted of almost the exact same routine as the first. First, they would take her to the exam room for a physical examination, then they would spend until noon in the 'purification' room, after which they'd tell her more about werewolves and other creatures of the dark like vampires, whom had apparently almost been hunted to the verge of extinction by the Church but in recent years had slowly been making a comeback. However, she had already been aware of their existence.

Since yesterday, they spent most of the afternoon in the 'purification' room too. They had provided her with spare gowns–fortunately, seeing as Shelby had ripped apart the ones she had worn the first two times when trying to get out of them. The time Shelby had been subjected to spending in the metal tub with holy water had been increased. The burning sensation was worse each time, but somehow also felt further away, making the extra time spent in the tub not really something she felt like she needed to protest, or even dread, anymore. Shelby had come to realize that she had greatly misjudged the whole thing. It wasn't actually that bad. This trip had started out as a horrifying experience, but really, it was basically just a weird spa getaway.