Remembering

The pain came quickly as it always does, flooding my mind with fear. Fear of what will happen, of who it is that will die tonight. Will it be me, will it be my neighbor? The pain continues to grow faster and faster until it feels as if my entire body will shred itself into a million pieces. As my skin begins to tear and my body begins to crumple you can hear the sound of each of the bones as it breaks while I scream in agony. My brother Anthony told me it would be easier if I just accepted it and embraced the transformation. But I can't. I won't! I will fight with all I am to protect those around me. I will protect them from me.

It all started with my grandfather, he was a simple man who worked an old sawmill. He worked all his life to make it to be the Senior Manager of the mill and one day his best friend was injured by one of the large saws. My grandfather did everything that he could to help him, but the advancement of medicine wasn't quite far enough along to save the poor man. And so the man died, or so we all thought.

As it turned out the doctor was a werewolf. She did everything she could as a doctor to save the man to no avail, as the infection of his wounds would soon prevail against the man. The only thing she could think to do was to change him. That night was to be a full moon, knowing that the first transformation would heal his wounds. Only if he could survive the pain of every one of his bones being pulverized and reshaped, the healing process of the transformation would kill any infection in his body and fuse his cells almost immediately. Sure he would have horrible scars from the excessive healing speed but he would live! She took a blood bag she had filled for just such an occasion and gave it to the man through a feeding tube. She knew how disgusting and crazy sounding the idea of drinking the blood would be. So this was the best and really the only course of action.

Now is the test of the man's will. Will he rise tomorrow or die a misshapen corps with dust for bones? The doctor will only know in the morning as she too will turn as the moon rises. The doctor feels the familiar pain as she changes trying to examine her patient as she continues. He squirms like a maggot on a cast iron skillet, screaming in pain as his body is crushed by the power of the moon breaking him down to build his dying body back up into a creature of the night. Finally, the morning came and the doctor woke naked in the forest. she looked around at her surroundings figuring that she was about 3 miles from the hospital. She found that her patient lay about 30 feet from her sleeping happily in a picture of perfect health. She woke him gently and smiled as he began to wonder out loud what kind of stuff he drank last night to make him wake up naked in the middle of the woods with a woman he is sure he has never met. She explained to him who she was and what had happened over the last three days. His face lit up like a Christmas tree when he heard of how his friend John had helped him. Bringing him to her after patching the wounds as best he could, but the stuff the military taught him could only do so much. She told him of how he paid for his care as his insurance had dropped him earlier that day. Last but not least she told him that he was also going to pay for his funeral. At that, he jumped and spun on the woman asking what she meant by his funeral. She explained, "I knew that what I did would result in one of two things, you would die and need a funeral or you would live and become a werewolf. In any circumstance, you need a funeral because if you live your miraculous recovery would raise suspicion. you will have to start over." The man looked at her and said, "I want to tell John, I know that I can trust him and he won't say anything. Trust me." She looked irritatedly at him shaking her head and saying, "Fine, but if he comes after me I will kill him. " They nodded in agreement and set back towards town.

The night of his funeral the man had left a letter at the sawmill for John saying, "Dear John, I have a surprise for you involving the man from the mill. Meet me at the old insane asylum just outside of town. Sincerely, Your friend of the night." John showed up wanting to know what was going on. He wandered around the abandoned building until he heard the sound of a large door closing behind him. He turned quickly to see the cause of the sound. His eyes grew and his chin dropped at the sight of the man before him locking the steel door of a cell between the two of them. John nearly passed out thinking that he was losing his mind over his grief. He shouted out at the man, " You're not real. You can't b..." The man was cut off by his friend who shouted, "It's me, John, it's me. I know it's hard to believe, but it's me." John dropped to his knees crying at the sound of his words and sobbed mumbling threw his tears, "B...b...but hoooow, Marcus how?" Marcus explained that he didn't have much time but would tell him as much as possible. He told him about how the doctor did everything she could, how happy he was for what John had done, and how the doctor only saw one solution. He explained that the good doctor was a werewolf, that she saved his life by turning him, and that he had to leave and start over. John understood but could not believe what he'd just heard. Trying to grasp the idea of what happened. Marcus said, "Whether you believe it or not I am going to show you. Tonight is a full moon and I have locked myself in here to keep you sa..sa...sa... Ahhhhhh!!!" Marcus dropped to his knees and began to scream in pain as his body began to contort itself into many strange shapes as he turned.

John backed away slightly at the sight. When it was finally done and his friend stood behind the steel door a seven and a half foot tall wolf standing on his hind legs with fur the color of the pitch from the depths of hell, and glowing green eyes John laughed in amazement wondering how this could be. Marcus was unmoving and silent save for his intense, heavy breathing as drool dripped from his three-inch k-nines. Amongst the silence, there was a sound of laughter as John stepped toward the door asking if Marcus could hear him. As he got closer to the door a large claw shot out between the bars of the door at what seemed the speed of light, swinging for John. John jumped out of the way barely in the nick of time receiving a large gash across his left shoulder and down his chest from the attack. He landed on the ground backing away from the door and stared in horror as the beast that stood in his friend's place began biting and tearing at the door. Marcus viciously tore at the door biting through the steel, tearing a gaping hole in the door, and jumping through it to attack John. As Marcus flew through the door he was caught by the steel bars now sharply slicing down his chest and into his stomach letting loose a fountain of blood. He landed with a thud on top of John who struggled to lift him off drowning in the blood pouring out of Marcus. Marcus survived but was injured beyond his ability to maintain consciousness. John swallowed mouthful after mouthful of blood trying to escape the ginormous beast that lay unconscious on top of him. Finally, he made it out from under Marcus and passed out next to the beast.

When the morning came the healing process of transformation healed Marcus and when he saw his friend on the ground, the hole in the door, and the gash on John's chest and shoulder as he lay in a pool of blood. He ran fearing he had killed his best friend until he heard a muffled cough come from John. He stopped and went back to carry him to the hospital. He explained the scene he saw when he woke up to the doctor and how he couldn't let him die. The doctor examined John and cared for him stitching his cuts and dressing his wounds. She told him that his left lung had been punctured and he had been drowning in his own blood, but she was able to stop the bleeding and drain the lung. She said, "I have done everything I can to help, he will need some time to heal but he should make a full recovery.

A couple of weeks later John was well recovered. The stitches were healing nicely, and he was regaining strength again. He asked the doc, "What happened to Marcus?" She explained, "Marcus had to go, he couldn't stay to watch you heal." John understood this and decided not to pry. John was released from the hospital after being told that the police were informed that he had been attacked by what appeared to be a bear, and was told to stick to the story. So John continued his life as close to as normal as possible, until the next full moon...

John was closing up the mill when all of a sudden he felt an itch in his throat as it became very dry, and then an intense heat hit as he crumpled to the ground feeling his bones begin to break. It started in his hands, feeling his fingers snap and twist into strange contorted positions, his hands crunching, his arms popping like popcorn in hot oil. then all at once the rest of his body crushed itself. The next thing he knew was he was waking up about a mile from the sawmill with a deer dead next to him looking like it had been put into a meat grinder. He went to the doctor explaining and desperately begging her to change him back. Though she said that there was nothing she could do. She explained, "You must have ingested some of Marcus's blood somehow in the attack. The only thing I can tell you is that your descendants will be werewolves as well. If you can continually give each generation the blood of the previous one before they reach the age of 13 eventually far enough down the line they will be strong enough to control what they do when they turn as if they never had.

My father took blood from my grandfather and my brother Anthony took his blood. I have done the same hoping for this promise that still hasn't come to pass. Sure the change was easier after I took dad's blood and I even began to remember what would happen when I turned, but so far I still can't control it. My name is Bethany and I am a third-generation werewolf. My brother doesn't mind, but he hasn't ever accidentally killed someone, watched them die, tasted their blood in his mouth, felt the warm stickiness of their blood run down your throat as you are sent into a feeding frenzy. It was the first time that I turned after receiving dad's blood. and it was also my first kill. I remember everything. The look on the farmer's face as he saw me coming out of the pin where his cattle grazed. I had intended to eat a cow but then heard the door of his house open and I stopped and looked his way. I was screaming at myself to turn back on the cows and take one of them and not this pore man, but I couldn't stop myself. I launched over the fence and headed straight for the man as fast as I could, he gasped as he fell back in fear. Then my teeth sank deep into his body biting him clean in half. I could feel his bones crunch as I bit down, feel his warm blood flow down my face and into my mouth. I could taste his blood but somehow it was sweet like molasses. I could feel the excitement as I ate in ecstasy. When morning came I ran to my father to tell him what happened, crying the whole way.