"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
Lauren hopped down from the bathroom window on the first floor and landed on her feet, unscathed. She crouched and waited in the bushes, hoping no one saw her make that brave leap. Slowly she counted to twenty, stood and walked slowly out of the bushes. She made her way to the parking lot where her bicycle was parked, unchained it and tore out of the parking lot. She could feel her phone vibrating in the pocket of her hoodie but she ignored it. Her thoughts were with the caged werewolf at the station and how she could free it. In a matter of minutes she arrived at the station and saw a group of policemen gathered at the entrance, sipping coffee from mugs and talking. She approached them with what she thought was an innocent school-girl expression and cleared her throat. "Yes, miss?" A dark-skinned one asked. "Good morning, officers. I heard a wolf was captured last night? I was wondering if I could be allowed to take a look at it." The dark-skinned policeman looked at his co
Axel watched as Beth paced the kitchenette of her house, barely minding the cup of brew in her hands as its content spilled with every pace. Her bathrobe swished as it scraped the floor, her reddish hair cascading down her back like a fiery waterfall. At intervals she would roll her eyes and mutter murderously. "Stop it." He said "You're driving me nuts." She let out a groan and slammed the cup on the kitchen island. "No. Lauren is driving both of us nuts!" "Not me." Axel quipped. "I am perfectly calm. And I think you should take a break." He added. "Besides, what if she's just out with friends, doing normal human stuff? She's a teenager, you know. Try to calm down." Beth gritted her teeth, her hair like strands of flames "I am calm. This is me being calm." Axel smiled to himself as he watched her resume her pacing. He couldn't help but admit—to himself of course—that Beth was one attractive woman when she got all worked up like this. He remembered four years ago when he'd c
Lauren woke suddenly to the loud snores of someone else in the cabin. She groaned and turned, but her movements were restricted by the sleeping bag she was in. The sleeping bag itself was in near tatters, long tears running up and down the body. She rubbed her eyes and rolled out of the sleeping bag. The corners of her vision was blood-red and blurry, like her memories of the previous night. She turned around, looking for the other werewolf, and found him lying on the other end of the cabin, half out of his sleeping bag and snoring thoroughly, his arms flinged every which way. She groaned again and shuffled to the door, opened it and went outside. The morning was full of floating mist and the croaks of frogs, the trees whispering as the soft breeze went through their branches. She breathed in and closed her eyes, letting the breeze caress her, washing away the lingering soreness from the full moon. Last night had been thoroughly eventful. After her fight with Beth she had barely ma
Katherine was sitting cross-legged on the bed with a book in her laps. She looked up as her guard let the doctor in, the metal grate clanging behind him, her serene expression changing to one of distaste at the sight of his old face and white hair. Unusually for a prisoner, she was well taken care of. Her cell was clean and free of clutter, albeit sparse and quite ugly. Her lush brown hair was well combed and fell down her back in spirals. She was dresses in a white pair of trousers, white flannel shirt and an intrepid pair of white shoes. Dr Makovsky stopped before her, his expression bland, save for a noncommittal smile. He looked around at her cell and remarked. "Your wallpaper needs to be changed. It is quite—boring, is it not?" "I agree. Same as every other thing in this room, including my clothes. But then you have never liked flashy things, have you?" She replied and smiled at him with a hint of repulsion. "You know me too well, Kat dear. Little wonder we get along so well
Mike Sommers stared at the gloomy twenty-foot tall Russian facility from the safety of Scott's car. A ball of sadness and guilt formed in his throat as he wringed the soda can in his hand, his heart aching for his daughter. God, his daughter. Everytime he thought about her he remembered the look of fright on her little face as he had done the irreparable physical damage to her that fateful night. He hadn't remembered much, in fact he had remembered next to nothing from that first night, but the frightened look on Lauren's face still followed him around and haunted his waking moments till this day. "Have you seen enough?" Scott asked from the driver's seat, his hands on the wheel. "No. Let's wait a little more." Mike replied as he pushed his hair from his eyes and drank deeply from the can in his hand. He'd grown his hair out, from his characteristic policeman crew cut to a fuzzy hipster-like haircut. His previously clean-shaven jaw sported a full beard now. He looked older, leaner
Dr Makovsky stood behind the see-through screen, his expression bored as he watched a lab assistant infuse his serum into a screaming girl. He looked as he always had: his white hair and moustache giving him an eerie Einstein look. He wore a crisp waistcoat under a starched-white lab coat and his hands were deep in its pockets. "Nothing as feral as I would like" He said. His voice rose above the screams of the girl and the assistant looked up. "Should we give them more doses, then?" The assistant asked. "Yes." He replied and turned to another doctor beside him "Two shots would do, yes Axel?" Axel gave a small jump, like he was startled from deep thoughts. "Yes? Yes, doctor." He murmured and turned to the screen, flinching as the screams of the girl permeated the room. "You look ready to drop dead." The doctor noted, patting Axel on the shoulder "Why don't you take a break?" Axel's eyes moved to the hand on his shoulder, then up at Dr Makovsky's face. Their eyes locked and t
Lauren was beginning to hate running, solely because of the way Aidan did it. He ran like he was in a race with the wind. Lauren , even with her heightened senses and more precise speed, could barely match up to his agility. The wind blew her hair into her face and she shouted for Aidan to stop. But he either didn't hear her or didn't care: he continued to race and laugh as he did so. Lauren looked around; she recognized the tall, sparse trees. They were heading towards her cabin, within a walking distance of her pack's lair.Soon Aidan stopped before the cabin and waited for her to catch up. She was barely out of breath as she reached his side and frowned, folding her hands. "Next time," she said "Give me a heads up.""Yes ma'am." Aidan made a mocking bow and circled the cabin to the back. Lauren followed him, arms still folded, and stopped when he did. He was staring at the ground. Lauren copied him, eyes scanning the ground."What are we supposed to be staring at?" She asked. "Wo