Chapter Six
Transformation
On the long walk home I contemplated what Charlotte had told me. I was now a werewolf. If it was true, it would explain everything I have been going through. But she must be mad. There was no such thing as werewolves, other than fables told around a campfire in order to put fear in peoples' hearts. However, if they were only a myth, what had killed Lucy then? It was obvious at the time that it was more than just a wolf. But now as I recall that evening, my mind must have been playing tricks on me, and Charlotte was delusional.
It was a nice warm day and the breeze felt cool against my hot skin. I was so preoccupied with my thoughts I hadn’t noticed that I was sweating, even though the breeze was cool. My skin felt burning hot and I was sweating profusely. A sharp pain in my stomach made me run the rest of the way home so I could get there quickly and lay down.
I arrived home just after noon. The house was empty. My mother was hanging clothes out on the line with Jane, and the girls were playing in the yard.
I stumbled into my room and fell onto my bed, doubling over in pain. My stomach felt like something was clawing at it from the inside. I removed my clothes and threw them onto the floor.
Hopefully after some rest, I would feel normal again. Except when I tried to sleep, I couldn't, the pain was so excruciating that sleep would not come. I tossed and turned for a long time, until the throbbing ache subsided enough for me to finally drift off.
I woke some time later in a pool of sweat.
Looking at my pocket watch that had fallen to the floor, I saw that it was six o’clock. Which meant I had slept for five hours.
Even though my body ached all over, I managed to slowly stand up and take the few painful steps over to the mirror on the wall.
I jumped back, terrified at my reflection. It was still me looking back. My sand colored hair was messy from sleeping. Dark circles under my eyes made my skin appear pale and sickly, and my face glistened with sweat. But all of this was not my concern. My eyes, normally a dark blue, were now yellow-- the eyes of a wolf.
I rubbed them roughly hoping to clear them, but when I gazed back at my reflection, nothing had changed.
“Nathaniel, are you finally up? You slept so long I thought you might be dead.” I heard my mother yell from the other side of the door. The doorknob turned as she started to open it. I rushed over and held it closed. “Don’t come in Mother, I’m not dressed. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Still, she pushed on the door. “Nathaniel, I’ve seen you in your underclothes before. I just want to see if you’re okay. When I was in here earlier you looked flushed and feverish. I want to check your temperature.”
“I’m fine Mother.” I continued to hold the door until she finally gave up and walked away. I went back over to the mirror and to my relief my eyes were back to their normal blue. What was happening to me?
I sat down on the bed, dazed. It was true, I was a werewolf. I could no longer deny it.
The pain in my stomach returned, but now it was worse. My skin was literally crawling. Glancing down at my arms, I could see tiny hairs growing. I panicked. I didn’t want my family to see me change, so I dressed quickly in the now wrinkled grey trousers, and an equally wrinkled white shirt that I had tossed on the floor, and rushed outside.
It was still early for my meeting with Charlotte so I ran as far away from my home as possible. I didn’t want her anywhere near my family. I leaned against a pine tree and slid to the ground to wait for her. As I was hugging my knees, listening to the sounds of the forest, I heard a branch snap behind me.
Charlotte strolled over and stood in front of me. “Well, you don’t look so good after all. So much for handling it on your own,” she said smiling, obviously enjoying my agony.
“Just kill me,” I growled with my head hanging in my hands. The pain was so excruciating, I could barely get the words out.
Charlotte knelt down in front of me onto a pile of pine needles. “I told you, it’s not easy to die after you’ve been bitten, you heal very quickly. And besides, now that I have you, I’m not willing to give you up.”
She sat down beside me, and held my hand. I would have shaken it off if I had the strength. “It will be over soon. When the sun goes down and the moon's glow touches us, we will both turn. It will not be as bad the next time, I promise.” She almost sounded sweet, holding my hand and trying to make it easier for me. Then I remembered it was her fault I was in this predicament.
I stayed silent. Trying to speak was too painful. Every inch of my body was burning with pain. I was sweating profusely, and the hair continued to grow all over my skin.
We sat together on the ground waiting for the sun to go down. Charlotte prattled on about her life in the late seventeen hundreds when she was turned, but I barely listened. Until she spoke her last words. "I did enjoy watching you from the bushes the day you buried your girl. Did I scare you?"
The memory of that day came back to me. "That was you in the woods?" I managed to gasp through the pain. When she nodded, I asked, "Were you in wolf form?"
She tipped her head, her eyes twinkled with laughter. "Yes, why?"
Her answer shocked me. "I th…thought…you could only change once… a month." I couldn't manage another word, I almost collapsed with exhaustion.
She sighed, shaking her head. "My handsome young wolf has so much to learn." She patted my head and I cringed at her touch. "You're right, you will change once a month, no one can escape the pull of the full moon. But if you wish, you can turn on other days. I will teach you. The more you turn, the less painful it is to change."
Who would want to be a wolf more than they had to be?
As she was speaking the sun began to go down, and I started to panic. On one hand the pain was so strong I hoped the moon would come out soon to end my agony. On the other, I feared the unknown. I would turn into a wolf, a monster. Would I want to kill like Charlotte?
The sun finally went down. The only light was the full moon shining bright above us. Charlotte stood up, and started to undress, I averted my eyes. A gentleman never degraded a lady by gawking at her. My father had always taught me to be respectful toward women--no matter who she was.
“It’s okay, you can look. If we’re to travel together, you’re going to see my body quite often.” She folded her dress and corset neatly, laying them on top of a tree stump.
“I… am… not… going to…travel with you,” I panted, breathlessly, gritting my teeth.
“You’d better get undressed, or you’ll rip your clothes.”
“I can … barely move,” I moaned, after a failed attempt at unbuttoning my shirt.
“Yes of course, I’ll help you then. Don’t worry I’ll close my eyes,” she said with a wide grin and a laugh, clearly amused by my suffering. She bent down and pulled off my pants. The shirt and underclothes were next. I felt bashful sitting in front of her naked.
“Ughhh…” I doubled over onto all fours, barely noticing the pine needles and thorns' that dug into my palms. The pain was excruciating. My limbs snapped and bent. I screamed out in agony.
Charlotte leaned over me. “It's okay, don’t fight it. It hurts less if you relax.” She rubbed my back to soothe me, and once again I was confused by her kindness.
I looked down at my arms. They no longer looked human, covered in fur. My hands morphed into claws, and I could feel my teeth changing and sharpening. And then it all happened quickly, every inch of my human body was now a wolf. I tried to speak but it came out in a growl. I felt weak and out of breath, my body suddenly exhausted after what it had gone through. But thankfully the pain had dissipated.
I glanced over and saw Charlotte in the midst of her transformation, I turned away. It was very disturbing to watch.
My hearing was heightened. I could hear animals scurrying around and despite my fatigue I had the strongest urge to chase them. It took
all I had, to stay where I was, and wait for Charlotte to finish changing.
When she was fully turned, she stood in front of me and grinned. Her coat was a reddish brown color. I looked down and saw that mine was the color of sand. Apparently a werewolf's fur reflected their human counterpart's hair color.
She nudged me playfully with her muzzle and then suddenly took off running. I stayed where I was, feeling very strange. She turned her head and halted when she saw that I hadn’t moved. She trotted back to me and huffed, nodding her head in the direction where she had run. She wanted me to follow her, but just because we were now the same species, didn't change what she did. I was now like her, but I didn't feel any different. I had no urge to kill.
I shook my head.
She rolled her eyes then moved behind me, shoving me from behind, trying to get me to go. But I stood my ground. I felt a sharp pain as her teeth chomped down on my left hind leg.
I swiveled around and growled at her fiercely. She smiled again and took off running. This time I followed.
At first I felt awkward, almost stumbling a few times, not used to running on four legs. Then I relaxed and enjoyed the feeling of pure joy, the feeling of just running on instinct, leaping over logs, brush, and fallen branches. I felt as though I was soaring through the air.
I caught up to her and ran by her side, then feeling the power in my legs, I pushed harder. She growled behind me, and I felt her teeth in my leg again. Apparently she didn’t like the fact that I was faster than she was. She made a huffing sound that sounded like a laugh as I yelped and fell back.
We ran for miles, finally stopping by a stream to take a drink. I lay down beside the water feeling tired after the long run. Charlotte lay next to me and closed her eyes, with her head resting on her front paws.
Her eyes suddenly popped opened and she sniffed the air. I could smell something as well. She started creeping with her nose to the ground following the scent.
She pounced on something I couldn’t see. When she came over to me, she was carrying a white rabbit in her mouth. She dropped it at my feet and took off again in pursuit of another scent. A few minutes later she returned with another rabbit. This time she kept it for herself. She tore into it, devouring all of it but the fur and bones. She grunted at me and nodded for me to dig in. I tried to resist, but the scent was too alluring and I had to admit, I was hungry. I hadn’t eaten all day. I tore into the rabbit, instinct taking over, and gobbled it up. When I was finished, I wanted more. Charlotte must have agreed because she put her nose on the ground and began to hunt.
I caught my own rabbit, a fact I was quite proud of. And together we brought down a deer. I was stuffed. I couldn’t put anything else in my stomach.
We went back to the stream to wash down our meal and clean ourselves, before falling asleep in the grass next to the water.