Fangs (chapter 1)

I woke to an overpowering smell, so strong it overwhelmed all my senses, dominating my entire world. I rolled over, fell out of bed onto all fours and retched. Knowing I was going to be sick I tried to stand up. I couldn’t. I had to crawl out of my room to find something to be sick into. Moonlight flooded the landing, the world swam out of focus, dissolving into a silvery blur. The nausea was gone, replaced with a light-headed contentedness. For some time I was hardly conscious of anything except the dreamy mist I was lost in. Gradually the mist faded and reality returned. I could smell that I was lying on grass in the forest some way from the village. It was early dawn. Panic. I had left the safety of the village! I had walked into the forest! The amazing thing was that I hadn’t been eaten. People would be worrying about me by now, although it was only just dawn if I ran I might be able to get home before my absence was noticed. I stood up. Tried to stand up. I couldn’t. Dread crept over me as I realised what should have been obvious from the start. I was no longer human.1

I was now a werewolf. Panic. It was permanent. How would people react when I went home? Could I go home? I thought of what was generally done to monsters in my village. No, I couldn’t go home. Would I ever see my family again? Could I get a message to them? How could my life be so suddenly changed like this? Would my family believe that I wouldn’t hurt anyone? I rejected the idea that they might also fear me. When would… a far worse thought occurred to me. I raised a paw and rubbed it across my face, then smelt my paw. Unfamiliar as I was with the new power of my sense of smell I instinctively recognised it. Human blood!2

Had I actually killed someone? I tried to remember what had happened between leaving my room and waking up on the grass. Nothing, just silvery mists and a happy, dreamy feeling. Maybe I hadn’t killed anyone maybe I had just wounded them. I had a third horrible suspicion; I was feeling full and heavy. I glanced at my bulging stomach. Maybe I had eaten some chickens or something. But if that was true why was there only human blood on my face? I had to admit it, I had eaten someone. I felt sick. I wanted to be sick. Not surprisingly I was sick. A mixture of partially digested flesh, vomit and blood poured onto the ground as I fought to rid myself of my previous meal. Then the smell of it hit me, I would not have been prepared for it had I still been human, I was instantly sick again. Within second I had completely empted my stomach and was retching feebly.3

Finally I got to my feet, all four of them and started to think again. One question demanded immediate attention. Who had I killed? The only way to find out would be to return to the village, it would be very dangerous but I needed to know. Werewolves are able to change form from wolf to human or to somewhere in-between. Could I just change back to a human or was it something I needed to learn? Would I have to get another werewolf to teach me? The idea of going to a monster for help was repulsive. It was going to take a long time for me to get used to the fact that I was one. Hopefully I tried changing to human form. It worked. This was the first thing that had gone right for me today. Loud crunching noised came as my bones ground against each other. After roughly thirty seconds I was completely disguised as a human. Standing up I realised a problem, I was naked. I couldn’t return to the village like this. Even with clothes I would need a very good excuse for being outside the village. Still it was just possible that some of my clothes were nearby, either because when I changed to a wolf I only lost them after leaving the village or because I had had the sense to carry some with me.4

In my human disguise I began spiralling outwards in my search. I wasn’t really hopeful but I could still try. To my surprise I found my clothes quite quickly, even more surprising was the fact that there was another werewolf in wolf form lying beside them. Instinctively I turned to run. I managed to stop myself and forcing back my fear and disgust, slowly turned back to face it. It was watching me with interest. “hello” my voice was small and plainly revealed the fear I was trying to suppress, not that it really mattered, the werewolf’s smell would have already revealed my emotions. Its response was a calm friendly nod and a brief gesture for me to take the clothes. In wolf form it couldn’t communicate. I tried to take clothes while staying as far from the werewolf as possible but at the same time not looking afraid of it. Impossible, the werewolf however got up and stepped back, allowing me to reach the clothes while keeping my distance.5

Once I had the clothes I realised that they really were mine. I stared first at the clothes then at the werewolf it shock. How had it got my clothes? Clothes that should have been in a draw in my room. Could it have got into my room? A faint crunching noise cut through my thoughts, I looked up to see the last traces of the wolf become human. “Wondering how I got them?” I nodded “Wondering how you became a werewolf too I imagine. My fault. I managed to get into your village last night. Picked a window at random and found you asleep. Was going to eat you, then I heard someone wandering about outside. Decided it was more fun to go after them instead. But I’d already licked you, Lycanthropy infects from saliva. Half an hour later you were fully changed and dreaming, so I took some clothes for you. I’m Sralk” I compared his story with what I already knew. Anger rolled over me, building into fury and hatred I could hear myself shouting at Sralk; he had ruined my life, separated me from my family, turned me into a monster, it was his fault I had killed someone.6

Eventually I stopped, Sralk waited a few seconds to see if I was going to continue then nodded cheerfully “You’re right. I shouldn’t have licked you then not eaten you. I presumed you wouldn’t mind.”7

“Wouldn’t mind?” I echoed.8

“Well, you're safer now; nothing’s going to eat you. You're stronger and faster, you're senses have improved. I didn’t consider that you would have to leave you're home or even that you wouldn’t want to. Sorry” I slowly considered this. There were advantages to being a werewolf, smell was the biggest, even in human form I could still smell enough to build up a rough picture of my surroundings and as a wolf my sense of smell was indescribable.9

“Sralk, No-one in my village knows what I am, is there anything that could give me away?” I asked.10

“That depends on how careful you are. If you are seen by moonlight then most humans will realise something is wrong. You’d have to hide your abilities of course but the hardest thing will be food. You can't eat human food in any form only meat. Raw preferably. And try not to get too hungry at night or you might start dreaming again” dreaming, I presumed was the silvery haze I had experienced, my life wasn’t completely ruined. I could go home, pretend I was still human, I would never be able to forget that I had killed someone even though it was not my fault.11

I started getting dressed then paused realising something I should have noticed earlier “you said you didn’t kill me because you thought it would be more fun to chase someone you hear outside. Who was it?”12

Sralk shrugged “I didn’t stop to talk”13

“Did they get away?” I asked hopefully, Sralk grinned and shook his head. I couldn’t believe he could look so happy about what he had done. I started shouting at him again, he just grinned more. Furious though I was I didn’t quite dare to go too close to him; instead I turned round and headed towards my village.14

Two guards stood outside the gate to the village, on seeing me they drew their swords and demanded that I left immediately. This didn’t worry me it was part of a code designed to keep away monsters capable of disguising themselves as humans. As I approached they levelled their swords at me and demanded again that I left, quietly to avoid being overheard I muttered the password and the guards stepped back to let me past. Although I had done this many times before I felt a wave of relief as I stepped through the gates, I was now exactly the sort of thing that the system was designed to stop.15

I arrived home without meeting anyone however the moment I stepped into the house I was instantly surrounded by people. For several minuets everyone was trying to talk to me, ask me questions, scold me for disappearing or comfort me. I made no attempt to answer, it was impossible over the noise. After a few minutes my dad managed to bring everything back under control. “Where were you?” was asked. I had already decided how to answer these questions. I told them that I had been dragged out of bed and knocked unconscious by a werewolf; I had woken up outside the village and had managed to escape from the werewolf. I left out any detail and wasn’t asked for any. I was told that the werewolf had killed our neighbour, Farl, and a girl called Rel I felt a mixture of feelings at the news relief at the knowledge of all the people who were fine but also horror; Sralk had almost certainly killed our neighbour which meant that I had killed Rel. She hadn’t been a close friend, she was a calm, quiet girl who tended to fade into the background when anyone else was around, and even at events like her birthday it was still possible to not notice her. She was the last who deserved something like this. I realised I had spoken to her yesterday evening, hours before her death. Images rose up, Rel sitting in a corner reading, Rel holding a lizard she had found, then, lined in silver Rel in her room, screaming at me. I retched, I still could not be sick. I fell to the floor and passed out.16

I woke in my bed, pain ground in my stomach. Glancing out the window I saw it was mid-day. I remembered what Sralk had said. If I got too hungry I would start ‘Dreaming’ again. I got up to get some food, almost stepping on a tray beside my bed. On it was an apple, some boiled potatoes, some chicken and a glass of milk. I grabbed the apple and took a bite. It was probably the worst thing I had ever tasted; sour, cloying juice filled my mouth and shreds of flavourless papery skin jammed between me teeth. Spitting the mouthful out again I remembered that Sralk had also told me I could only eat meat, reluctantly I picked up the chicken. Of all the things I could eat, meat was the one thing I didn’t want to try. It wasn’t very nice, dry and virtually tasteless. I ate it all in seconds then drank the milk. I was still hungry, ravenous. I realised that it would be almost impossible to find enough to eat without someone realising what I was. I would have to leave. At this point someone knocked at the door to my room. I got up and opened the door; Madar head of the guards was standing outside.17

I knew I was in trouble, Madar was responsible for keeping monsters out of the village. “You said you were taken out of the village by one of the werewolves that got in last night.” I nodded, then paused; everyone else had referred to the werewolf, did he know there were two? Did he suspect or know I was one of them? Could there have been more than two? Had Sralk been alone when he got in or not?18

“One of the werewolves?” I asked him.19

He shrugged “I know there was at least one, I can’t assume it was alone. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” I realised I was looking terrified, I also realised that this was exactly how I should look at the suggestion that more than one werewolf had entered the village. Now I thought about it this was exactly the sort of thing Madar was likely to say, he was known for his paranoia, and never jumped to a conclusion. His next words however were not reassuring “I came because from being in contact with a werewolf it is possible to become one. I need to test if you have lycanthropy”20

“If I have is, there a cure?” I asked. He nodded but I could smell that he was lying, there was no cure and if he knew what I was he wouldn’t hesitate to kill me. He glanced at the tray lying on the floor. “You only ate the chicken” he noted. 21

I moved faster than he could have expected. I covered his mouth with one hand and slammed his head against the brick wall. There was a loud crack. Madar fell to the floor, I had failed to knock him out however and he was still struggling. Tightening me hold on his mouth with one hand I began to strangle him with the other. He thrashed harder, lashing out he caught me across my head. Dazed I almost lost my grip. I couldn’t let go of him even for a second. As rolled across the floor I got a chance to bite at him. My human teeth were too short and blunt, but I managed to draw blood. Finally a pleasant taste although I was in no position to enjoy it. Madar was going to break free, I could feel my grip slipping. Worse he had managed to draw a dagger from his belt. He slashed wildly at me. I winced as the blade whirled past my eye then I felt it slice deep into my cheek. Letting go of his throat I caught his hand as he slashed at me again. I twisted his arm away from me and the dagger slid into his neck.22

I stood up. Blood was everywhere coating the room and me. My stomach growled as the smell of it washed over me. I carefully licked the blood from my fingers. Sharp, rich and salty. I dropped on all fours. Saliva was running freely down my chin. I turned back to a wolf.23

Five minutes later I changed into my human form. I wiped the blood off my hands and face onto my bed, I would not be sleeping in it again, and went downstairs. I did feel guilty about killing Madar but it was kill or be killed and I had tried to knock him out instead. Mostly I was worried about how much I had enjoyed killing. I wouldn’t kill anyone if I could help it but I had still enjoyed it. That I had started eating him didn’t bother me a bit; he was dead, I was hungry, the more I ate the longer it would be till I needed to eat again. I walked out into the street, no-one noticed me. I tried not to notice them, it wasn’t easy, with every step there necks flashed invitingly. I wasn’t particularly tempted as I was no longer hungry, but I still noticed.24

I was so distracted, I didn’t notice my brother coming towards me “I thought you were in bed” he called out, “Madar wanted to talk to you. Did you see him?” I flinched, I loved my brother and hated to think how he would feel when he found out what I had done.25

“yes, he just wanted to know if I could tell him anything about the werewolf”. The road divided, I headed towards the village gates, and my brother went the other way. “See you tonight.” I called, hating myself for the fact that the last thing I would ever say to him was a lie. I caught one last flash of his smile then he was gone. Silent tears ran down my face. The surrounding world became a blurry haze of shifting colours. I didn’t use smell to find my way; I knew every street by memory. I stumbled out though the main gates and headed into the forest. One of the guards called after me but I ignored him.26

After a while of wandering aimlessly between the trees I heard voices in the distance. What remained of Madar’s body had been found on my floor. I was being hunted. It didn’t worry me I was deep in the forest and I knew no-one dare follow so far. I continued deeper and after a while the voices faded away.