Werewolf by Night

Third Night

The moment from the manor to the hospital was all a blur. The constant beeping of the heart monitor pierced my ears like scalpels, and the smells oh the smells that I was now picking up. They were enough to make me sick. All of that faded when I finally laid my eyes on the heavily bandaged image of my mother. My heart sank as I collapsed onto my knees. This was my fault. She went out looking for me and she got hurt. If I didn't already despise myself for the past 48 hours I certainly did now. My mind raged against me until I felt something grip my hand. My mother had regained consciousness. I gave a small tear streamed smile to the woman who had raised me. Her lips did their best to smile back. I could smell the blood and the burns that were unseen under the bandages.

"Jack...my sweet sweet...Jackie." My mother whimpered out. I tried to shush her, tell her to save her energy. But she refused my request. "No my baby, my son...I'm so sorry. This is all my fault." My heart grew heavier when she said that.

"How on Earth could this be your fault Mom? If I wasn't out you wouldn't have gone after me and~"

"No no..." She tried to shake her head weakly. "Jack...I never told you...too scared. My fault." I wanted her to explain what she could possibly mean by that. But I was far more concerned for her than myself. That was always the case. "You're...just like your...father...God, forgive me." She never spoke of Dad. No matter how much I had tried to get her to when I was younger. What did she mean that I was just like him. And then it clicked with me. I could feel my chest tighten and my breath become shallow at the idea. My throat began to grow dry.

"Mom...mom...was...is...was Dad a~" I didn't want to say it. I didn't want to face the reality of what I knew deep down I had become. "~Werewolf?" With that word, my mother began to quietly weep. That was all the confirmation that I needed. And it broke my heart that I'd managed to now break her's on top of her body.

"Didn't...believe it...poor baby..." She tried to reach for me as the sound of her heart monitor began to quicken too quickly. Then an alarm was triggered. She was slipping.

"WE NEED HELP IN HERE!" I yelled out. But it was too late. By the time that the nurses had rushed in she was gone. They tried of course to resuscitate her. But it was no use. They called her death. I felt so utterly hollow inside now. In the course of two days I had become a monster, and lost two of the most important people in my life. Now there was only me and Lissa. Oh God, Lissa.

She had gotten the call about Mom and rushed over to be with me. We held each other and cried for a good long while. Once the tears were done and our eyes stung we went to the cafeteria and got really bad coffee. "Where did you go Jack? What happened to you?" She clearly wanted to sound more angry with me. But we both were feeling rather empty at the moment.

"It's...complicated Lissa...something is going on with me. I don't know what to do."

"I just don't get it." Lissa shook her head, and then groaned into the palms of her hands. "The car was supposed to be fixed." Her saying that, sparked a thought in my head. When I left for my birthday celebration with Em. I saw Grant working on Mom's car.

"Lissa, how did the car crash?"

"The police said it was the brakes. They weren't working properly. When she tried to stop she couldn't. Why?" She asked because she saw the storm building within me. I rose up from the table without saying anything to her. I began to walk out of the room. "Jack? Where are you going now Jack?" I didn't reply to her. I couldn't. There was something inside of my, something that I needed to get out.

~O~

The sun was hanging low in the sky when I arrived back at the house. Grant was outside on the stoop, having a beer. The very sight of him infuriated me to no end. My hands balled into fists as I marched up towards him. I could see on his face that he was getting ready to make another smart ass remark. Tell me how pitiful it was that I had been crying or some other bullshit like that. I didn't let him. I let my frist fly, right into that smug prick face of his. He got knocked over but was back up quickly with a spit of blood from his mouth and a crack of his knuckles.

"Its about time Birthday Boy. Been waiting for you to act like a fucking man for too damn long." He said, so utterly pleased with himself. I charged at him, fists flying. Truth of the matter is I don't really know how to fight. I'm a privileged white rich kid who enjoys surfing in his free time. Not boxing. He managed to counter my second punch and knee me in the stomach. On any other occasion that would have knocked the wind out of me. But not tonight. No, no tonight. I growled in pain and tried to use my weight to push him on his back. It didn't work and he hit me square in the nose.

This time I did fall back. The meathead stood over me laughing as he delivered a kick to my ribs, and then stomped down on my stomach. "Mommy's not around to protect you anymore Sunshine." Another kick. "Is that it? That all you got?" Grant reached down, pulling me up by the collar of my shirt. "You really know how to disappoint. Bet that's what your girlfriend tells you too. Ain't she missing?" He pulled back his arm and quickly launched it forward towards my face again. The sound of breaking bone pierced both our ears.

His smug expression was replaced with one of confusion. His fist did make contact, but not with my face like he wanted. I caught his fist in the palm of my body. The rage within me burned like a wildfire. I closed my hand around his fist, and could feel his bones crack under the pressure. He tried to pull away but I wouldn't let go. My nails dug into his flesh and blood began to pool out around them. "What the fuck is this?" He demanded to know. Another fist was thrown but this time it was mind, right into his jaw. There was something wrong with my fist though. It was covered in thick brown hair. It was happening again. And this time, I wasn't afraid.

Third Night

Grant scrambled up to his feet, holding his broken hand. The pathetic image mage me so very very happy. I looked down at my hands that were no longer mine. The fingers were longer and ended in sharp points that glistened in the light of the full moon. My breathing was heavier, more animalistic now. I could see the fear running through his eyes and oh was it satisfying. Ever since I was big enough to take a punch, Grant had been letting me have it. Always in a place that Mom wouldn't see. And Philip would always cover for his damnable brute. But not anymore. Never ever again!

The claws on my right hand swiped down, leaving bloody scratches down his face. He howled in pain, clutching at his injuries like the prey he was. He turned to try and run as best he could. As best as I could tell I had scratched out one of his eyes. I stood there, watching him try and run. He didn't know that he was making this more fun for me. I couldn't have asked for a better present.

He managed to stumble his way back inside. I ripped the hinges off the door like they were made of paper and stalked closer to him. In his panic he had fallen down and was now crawling on the floor. He was either crying, screaming, gurgling, or a combination of the three. It sounded like the most beautiful song I had ever heard at that moment. I scratched down his back, leaving more bloody marks on him before grabbing the back of his collar and lifting him up just as he had done with me not ten minutes earlier.

I looked him in the eyes, I wanted him to see that it was ME the kid that he had tortured in ways that went beyond the beatings that was going to kill him. I stuck my claws into the stomach of the evil man. He cried out even as blood filled up his lungs. I then stuck my other hand in after it. With one good tug I felt flesh rip from bone and being showered with the blood and entrails of my tortmenter he had killed. His two halves came down onto the marble floor with meaty slaps. I leto ut a yell that rang out through the empty halls of the manor. And I left.

~O~

The sun hit my eyes and stung so horribly. I once more awoke to being caked in dried up blood. Only this time I remembered everything that had happened so very clearly. I grinned darkly at just how good that felt. It was wiped away when my mind cleared and I thought about the consequences of my actions. I had killed the man who had taken my mother from me, sure. But what was I going to do now? I couldn't go home now. No, there was too much death surrounding me now. My girlfriend, my mother, the groundskeeper. It would all be pointed back at me. I had ruined any chance I had to pick up the pieces and go back to my normal life.

I rose up and stared out over the horizon. I saw the manor far away. But not far enough. I looked down at my hands and clenched them. How selfish could I be? Now I had to go. I knew I had to. I didn't have a choice in the matter after that. And because of that, my sister Lissa would lose more than I could. She'll have lost mom and her brother lost. Oh my sweet Lissa. I hope one day you can forgive me.

I wiped the tears from my eyes and moved deeper into the woods behind me. To go and live like the animal that I had become.