Katherine took a sip from her styrofoam cup as she calmly watched the bustle of the crowd in the coffeeshop. The shop was filled with a blend of people, from nine-to-fivers on their laptops to high school teenagers with backpacks and chiming cellphones. Typical Perkins evening, she thought. Her attention was drawn to the door as a middle-aged man with white hair entered the coffeeshop. The raucous chattering in the shop was reduced to a low murmuring as the customers turned their attention to the man. His stance was intimidating. He isn't even tall, Katherine thought as he located and walked towards her. What he lacked in height he made up for in a frightening aura. He reached her table and took a seat without asking for an invitation. She watched him as he placed his hands on the table and folded his fingers. "You're avoiding me." He began "What did I do, Katherine?" His English was thick with a Russian accent, but Katherine could decipher his words due to practice. "Frank, y
Like a fish on a hook, Mike was yanked back to the brink of consciousness. He twisted, trying to take stock of his surroundings while making as little noise as possible. A little shake of the wrists and ankles told him that he was being held down with something, presumably metal clamps since he still had a little wriggle room for his wrists. His behind was extremely sore, which meant he was probably on a hospital bed, not too comfortable, probably covered with sterile sheets. His surest guess was that he was in a sort of hospital or facility, and his being held down was probably down to the fact that he was some sort of lab rat for an experiment. The alcohol had completely worn off, and all the bad choices he'd made the night before was coming back in torrents. Why had he gotten so drunk in the first place? Why had he left his daughter at home unsupervised? And what type of tranquilizer gun in God's green earth caused so much unbearable pain? He opened his eyes. Shafts of artificial
That same rainy night in late April, the whole town of Perkins was deathly silent, save for the overexcited crickets and frogs in the bushes, and perhaps one late night driver or two. The clouds parted to reveal a full moon high in the sky, hanging like a hunter's lantern over the house where Mike Sommers lived with his daughter Lauren. Twelve-year-old Lauren was in her room, reading a book in the warmth and comfort of her bedcovers. "Mr. Phillips took a chalk crayon and wrote on the blackboard above her head," she read in her mind. "Ann Shirley has a very bad temper. Ann Shirley must learn to control her temper,' and then read it out loud so that even the primer class, who couldn't read writing, should understand it." The young girl shifted on her bed and drew the covers closer, "Anne stood there the rest of the afternoon with that legend above her. She did not cry or hang her head. Anger was still too hot in her heart for that and it sustained her amid all her agony of humiliat
Beth Norman sat at her kitchen island, a cup of coffee in her hands, staring but seeing nothing, her feet tapping away. The weather mirrored her mood as it was pouring buckets. Her mind was in an emotional turmoil, her eyes red-rimmed and devoid of tears but her heart was weeping. She had caused an irreparable physical transformation to an innocent man, probably unknowingly caused several other deaths by the hands of the monster she created. She couldn't find peace, no matter how much she tried to think herself out of the situation. Nothing could ever be right with her again.She took a sip of her coffee and scowled. Cold coffee was the nastiest thing ever. With a laborious grunt she got up and shuffled to the sink where she poured the cupful of coffee away and poured another from the coffeepot. Before she could take a sip of the brew, someone knocked at her kitchen door. She scowled again and leaned against the fridge, closing her eyes and wishing the visitor would just go away.Anoth
Lauren was lying face up on a stretcher in Axel's living room, still in her pajamas, IVs and drips running to and from her. Her tiny body was pale and coated in a sheet of cold sweat. Her throat, or what was left of it, was heavily bandaged and soaked through with blood. Tiny, green branched veins showed through her papery eyelids, and the eyeballs underneath them were moving to and fro rapidly. Occasionally her limbs would jerk violently, and she would let out a whimper of pain.Beth watched the little girl from a safe five feet away, too scared to go too close. Gasps of tears escaped her lips as the girl thrashed and turned on the stretcher. Axel appeared behind her. He'd changed from his lab coat into a homely black sweater, and his blonde hair was up in a ponytail. He held a mug of something hot in his hands."Here, drink this," he murmured coaxingly "You'll feel better."She collected the mug from his hands without giving him so much as a glance and took a thirsty gulp. "Dr Makov
The little she-wolf continued to run into the woods, her sight blinded by bloodlust. Her vision was red, with black dots representing distinct objects, like the reddish-black coals of a dying fire. Run! A voice in her head screamed over and over again and she obeyed, racing as though trying to tear herself from her skin. The pain was intense and overwhelming, and all she could think of was the pain and flesh: delicious, intoxicating flesh. She reached a clearing in the woods and stopped, her little wolf heart racing unnaturally. She let loose a scary howl that could be heard from miles away, and staggered as though drunk, the pain wracking her bones. It bent her unyielding body until she was on the floor, whimpering in agony, her sight still tinged with red. Suddenly her head snapped up. She'd heard a sound. It could have been easily missed by a human but her wolf ears had picked it up. Her eyes adjusted and located the source of the sound: it was a massive moose, night-grazing an
The boy looked up at the tall, forbidding Russian facility, a cap and nose mask protecting his face from the howling wind. He sank his hands into the pocket of his leather jacket and walked forward, ignoring the two security guards at the front door. They approached him with their guns outstretched and pushed him back, their faces grim and rigid. "Who do you seek?" One, a bald muscular man growled. "Who's the boss around here?" The boy asked, staring defiantly at both of them. The security guards exchanged amused stares and shifted on their feet. "You want the boss around here?" The second guard asked, thrusting the head of his gun in the boy's chest "Trust me, you'd be better off not knowing who that is." His colleague chuckled and muttered something about puny teenagers. "I heard that." The boy said "And I'm not just a puny teenager. I'm more than that." "Oh, are you now?" The bald guard mocked, then pushed the boy forcefully "Get out of here, kid." The boy smirked and
"Yeah, yeah I know." Sixteen-year-old Lauren said, her phone lodged between her ear and her shoulder "Beth, I'll be back home before seven. It's just a date. Don't make my dinner. Yeah, love you too." She resolved and cut the call, shutting the door of her locker as she did so. She let out a whoosh of breath and laid her forehead on the cool metal of the locker, her dark brown hair shielding her face like a curtain. Tonight was the full moon, and she had to be home before her Change came. She remembered the first Change she had in this new town, four years ago, like it happened yesterday. Beth had locked her up in the attic and made her wait it out. She'd had to stand naked and face the milky moonlight until it happened. Hot currents of pain had ricocheted up and down her limbs, stretching them as far as they could go. Her real canines had fallen out, and new, longer, sharper ones had taken their place. She remembered screaming Beth's name in terror over and over again till she'd los