Untitled Story-  By George Cauley (AKA fullmetalnekoboy)

 

Characters:

Ambrose

Angelina

Parents: (Pardon if these are not your names, since I didn’t find them listed)

Evalyn  James

Dreu

Nix

Arianrhod –  Welsh Goddess of the Moon, Karma and Retribution

Mason – Doctor

Alaster – Investigator

 

 

Setting:

 

This takes place in the modern day setting Detailed Here.  I loved this story and felt that I would like to take a stab at completing it or at least bringing another chapter to it.  Though there is a very high chance that it has already been written it might give you a few shits and giggles. 

 

 

Chp. 1

 

         Ambrose stood there, trembling in silence as his parents sat in an amalgamation of horror and pity as his transformation consumed his body.  Their complete silence piercing his fears allowing them to spill forth upon his soul.  This body beginning to visibly shake from the anticipation of their response.  Dreu looking on with a twisted smirk snaking across his lips.  “Finally they will see him for the monster that he is.”  Evalyn stood slowly, her own hand trembling, outstretched as she moved slowly towards Ambrose.  Her other hand gripping the edge of the dinner table tightly to give her assurance and hold her footing.  Slowly creeping towards the hulking figure of the large anthromorph that was once her son only moments ago.  Her fingers reaching out to lightly brush the fur on his chest, not wanting to believe that it was real.  The shifting of his fur causing a shiver to run down his spine, the shake causing her to pull her hand back in fear.  He opened his eyes and gave her a reassuring nod easing her fear.  She reached slowly towards his face to stroke the length of his jaw, the short clean fur soft against her hand as he leaned his cheek against it. 

Tears filling her eyes as she reached out to hug him tightly crying into his chest.  Hysterics being mumbled into his chest as her tears wet his fur.  Lightly he placed his hands on her shoulders letting her cry, James rushing to her side as he continued to stare in horror at what had become of his son.  At first the idea filling his mind that both of his sons were now lost to him.  Instantly discarding this beast in his dining room.  Just then tears began to drop from Ambrose’s chin, streaming from his eyes as he held his mother lightly against him.  A feeling of pity and remorse filling his heart as he realized the pain that he must be feeling.  With all that they had done to him and guilt for what he was about to do.  His own tears filling his eyes he pulled forth the courage to speak to him.  “Ca…  Can you talk?”  “Yes I can speak just fine like this.”  James nodded as he put his hand upon the large paw on his wife’s shoulder. 

“What are you people doing!?”  Dreu shouts as the chair hits the floor behind him, walking around to wear they are standing.  “This is a fucking animal!  Nothing more than a beast that should be killed!!  Do you want this beast bearing your grand children!?”  “Dreu!  Be Silent!”  James moving face to face with Dreu as he closed in.  Dreu clenched the silver knife in his hand, “I will speak loud enough for all of us humans, and it needs to be destroyed!”  “You put that down this instant!” With a quick shove Dreu cast his father to the floor, catching his arm with the edge of the knife.  Quickly he lunged at Ambrose with the knife outstretched.  Ambrose dove to the side holding tightly to his mother in his arms, scrambling to his feet as soon as he hit the ground.  “You WILL die!”  Making another lunge, Ambrose sprung deftly, the attack missing him wide.  “See what you have done Animal!?  Causing our mother to cry, our father to bleed!  For that I will have to kill you!”  Rushing towards him he quickly bounds out of the way of the attack running to his father’s side.  Checking his wound briefly for severity.  Not but a second till Dreu once again makes his attack, James grabbing his leg as he comes near.  “Stop!  Do not do this!”  With a swift kick to the head with his heel, Dreu strikes his father unconscious.  “NO!”  Ambrose manages to snarl.  “What does a beast care of a human?!” 

Evalyn sat in fear as Ambrose began to grow larger both in mass and height, arching over as if entering a battle stance.  With a quick rush he lept forward, effortlessly landing a strike across Dreu’s face.  A deep rake across his cheek and eye, a second strike punching him in the stomach sending him into the wall.  Now rendered unconscious he lay still against the cedar chest bleeding from his wounds.  Evalyn ran to James’ side closely followed by Ambrose kneeling next to him.  “I am alright…  Just a bit of a cut.”  Trying to sit up.  “No James you stay and I will call a doctor!”  “No!   We can’t have an investigation in here under these circumstances.  Call Mason and Alaster, they will know how to keep this under wraps.”  “What do you mean?”  Ambrose says reaching for a cloth napkin from the table, tying it to help the bleeding.  James smirks at him “Well we can’t exactly let your secret get out can we?  Not to mention it would be difficult saying that Dreu attempted to murder a werewolf right?”  “I didn’t think of that…”  Just then a shot of pain went up Ambrose’s side, looking down he noticed a few cuts along his side, the blood staining his fur.  “You should go and take care of that son, as well as leave here for now.  We have footage from camera’s that I can show Alaster as evidence.  But you being here might be difficult to explain…  Or hide for that matter. “  Ambrose nods in agreement, standing up he walks over to his mother and gives her a soft hug.  Avoiding her getting near his wounds before walking towards the back.  Stopping only once to spit on his “brothers” motionless body.  Once out of the house he shifted to full wolf form and ran towards the edge of the town. 

 

 

Chp. 2

 

James dialed Mason’s number on the cell phone.  Mason has been a close friend since his days in college.  Since their pledge days they have kept each others secrets and put great trust in one another.  “I have a bit of a problem here Mason that needs your bit of expertise. “  “Oh?  What did you do now?  Cut your finger off doing something stupid?”  Laughing a little at that comment, “Well not far off the mark…  I do need a few stitches but for not something as laughable…  My eldest tried to murder Ambrose…  In the scuffle my eldest cut me pretty good.”  “Oh shit!  Ill be right there…!” “Wait!  Call Alaster as well…  We can’t call the regular cops on this one, it is rather complicated.” “Ok man…  I don’t know what could be that complicated about this but Ill do it.”

A hour later they are watching the footage from the security tapes of the fight.  Complete disbelief crossing Alaster’s face.  “If I wasn’t seeing this I wouldn’t have believed it…  Even coming from you.”  “I know it is a lot to take in old friend…  But the wounds and this tape confirm it.”  With a nod Alaster walks over to Dreu still unconscious but no longer bleeding.  His face covered in a bandage.  “So where is Ambrose now?”  “I told him to leave and fix himself up…  He was bleeding about as bad as I was.”  “Well it will be best if he isn’t around for a while.  We have enough evidence to plant the whole thing on Dreu.  Attempted murder will put him away for a while.”  At that frank statement James looked around the room to make sure that Evalyn was not there, she wasn’t.  “I knew I could count on you.  I will put the whole thing in your hands.  As well as I would like to change my will immediately.  I do not wish to chance that little shit getting anything from me.”  With a laugh they both nod, “Still the same as you always were…”  They both left pushing the stretcher that held Dreu.  Taunts could be heard from the halls and all the way outside as they read him his rights and lifted him into the waiting ambulance. Alaster spoke to the police outside, smoothing over the situation.  They left convinced of the situation and the evidence they had received.   As James watched them leave he breathed a sigh of relief.  Knowing that at least Ambrose was safe.

 

Chp. 3

 

Ambrose ran up to Angelina’s house as her dog began to bark.  Having gotten used to the sight of Ambrose’s wolf form he walked over and said his hellos, calming the canine down.  He shifted once more moving to her window and lightly tapping.  Slowly she got out of bed and came to the window.  She opened it quickly and he spilled in onto the floor.  He landed hard as he avoided landing on the side that was bleeding.  “You’re bleeding!!!”  She shouted, running to the bathroom.  She brought a first aid kit, dumping it out on her desk and pulling out the chair.  He sat down as she cleaned his wounds.  “What the hell happened??!”  He told her of the evening events, slowly her blood ran cold.  The mere thought of something such as this happening was terrible, let alone to someone she loved.  She brought out the stitching needle and the thread, Ambrose’s eyes went wide upon seeing them.  “Do you even know how to use those things!?”  “Yes, I took a first aid class about a year ago.  I figured since my loser mother is never around I better know how to fix myself up till I can get to the hospital.”  He winced as the first time the needle went into his flesh.  He grit his teeth as she continued to close his wounds.  She tied bandages around his chest and gave him a large shirt she kept around for when he slept over.  “This should keep you from bleeding all over my sheets.  Just try not to lay on it if you can.”  He smiled and kissed her forehead.  They lay down on the bed; him holding her softly like a child would a stuffed animal.  His energy being spent even changed, the call of sleep pulled him deep into slumber.

 

Chp. 4

 

The sounds of the birds at the window calling Ambrose to consciousness.  Angelina’s was stirring beside him bringing a soft smile to his face.  Checking his shirt to make sure there was no blood he rolled over very gently to hold her.  As he stretched his arm across her waist he noticed the extra hair, the length, the abnormality of his limb.  Fear began to race through his body.  He got up slowly from the bed as to not open his wounds.  Once on his feet he sprinted to the full-length mirror on her closet and was struck by the image he feared would be awaiting him.  Barely fitting the length of the mirror stood a rather feral man.  No longer were just his teeth sharp and his ears pointed, large patches of hair grew where there was once bare skin.  His muscles were much more pronounced, as well as the hunger…  That hunger that used to subside after the night was through was present there at that moment.  “Ambrose…?”  Startled, he turned around quickly to find Angelina standing behind him confused.  Looking him up and down trying to understand what she was seeing.  “What is wrong…?”  “I don’t know…   I woke up and I looked like this…  I don’t know what to do…”  The look of panic filling his eyes as tears welled up below them.  Angelina hobbles over to lightly hug his larger chest, the hairs tickling her nose.   Standing up again he moved to the dresser taking the spare collar that he kept at her house.  “Where are you going?”  He looked over to her the tears still streaming from his eyes, “I am going to find her and get answers, even if I have to beat them out of her!”  “You told me she controlled you before, wont she do it again!?”  “I believe that will not happen this time…”  He said as his body quickly changed to that of the silver wolf.   He leapt out the window, heading towards the forest.   Watching out the window she followed him till he was out of sight, laying back down on her bed, crying into her pillow. 

 

Chp. 5

 

         In the hospital across town, Dreu awoke from his restless sleep with a burning hunger in his stomach.  He could only see from his one eye, only then remembering the events from the previous night.  Mumbling a curse under his breath he slowly began to sit up in his bed realizing then that he was retrained at the wrists and legs.  “What is the meaning of this?  This is an outrage!!”  Alester came through the door, “So sleeping beauty is awake now?”  “What is the meaning of this!?  I will have you arrested for this!”  “Arrested?  HA!”  With that he present his badge and began to read him his rights formally.  “What is this regarding, I have done nothing wrong?!”  “Really now, I call attempted murder of your brother and assault with a deadly weapon charges being filed by your father are enough to put you away for a nice nap.”  “You are making things up!  I did no such thing.”  “Really? “  With that Alaster produced several photographs showing him lunging at a unarmed figure protecting  a woman.  As well as the moment he struck his father with the edge of the knife.  Taking the images back and stuffing them in an envelope he stands up to leave the room.  “You are in custody until the doctor clears you to be transferred to a detention facility.  Since being diagnosed clinically insane you will be moved to a psychiatric ward immediately awaiting your trial date.  Have a nice day sunshine!”   With that he left the room, rather satisfied in sadistic glee.  Screams of anger and terror ringing down the empty hall.  Dreu continued to struggle against his restraints, his anger rising higher, the metal beginning to cut large gashes into his wrists.  The sides of his hospital bed bending slightly before he finally settled down exhausted.  “I will kill that bastard and his little bitch!”  He said under his breath as he blacked out from the exertion. 

 

 

Chp. 6

 

         Ambrose sprinted through the forest,  his nose following the familiar scents, leading him to her.  His mind filled with questions and demands as he ran near blindly through the woods.  He skidded to a halt as he realized that he was once again in the clearing, the opening that she had taken him to mate.  A shiver ran down his spine as his mind recalled the act, being raped by an animal…  A tinge of anger filling his eyes before he quelled it beneath him as he walked forward, scanning the area.  “I know you are here!  There is no use hiding!”  He circled the clearing several times before finally hearing her voice, “Have you returned for more?”  Nix stepping out of the brush a wicked grin crossing her muzzle.  “I think I have had quite enough of you!”  Shrugging her shoulders, “So you say, no matter.  What have you come here for whelp?”  “I think you should know the answer to that question.”  “Should I?”  “You can stop with the cryptic bullshit!  I am in no mood for your games!” 

Furious she roared at him, lunging with her teeth bore.  “Who do you think you are speaking that way to me!?”  Standing to his full height his anger causing once again the transformation he felt at his home only hours before.  His stance readying for her attack.  Stumbling face first into the dirt Nix stopped her assault short, a look of terror filling her eyes.  “What is this!?”  “This is the product if your curse!  See now the creature you have created!”  “I… “  Running forward he gripped her by the throat lifting the large wolf into the air, gasping for air and clawing at him in desperation and fear.  “Your selfish desires have taken everything from my life!  I will never be able to live as a normal human anymore!  At least you could have left me my virginity!  Even that you ripped from my soul.  But a beast like you could never understand that concept could you!?”  His grip growing tighter on her throat. 

Slowly the world began to fade, the terror of feeling numbness overcome her…  ‘Is this what it feels like to die?’ she thought before hitting the ground hard as he dropped her.  Gasping for air she looked up at his cold gaze, “Why can I not control you ?”  A cold grin crossing his face as he turned back to what could be called his human form.  “So I am now the one who holds the answers?  In the time since you took me, I have come to accept my changes and the wild aspects of nature.   Though I have no love of losing my humanity completely…”  With a snarl twisting his lips, “The final thing I held on to that you have taken from me!”  Looking down at her body she had realized her own change.  “So you also are beginning to lose your ‘Humanity’.”  The sudden realization of what she had done filling her brain.  His hatred and misery slowly shifting to pity as the look filling her face telling a thousand words.  “I had come here with questions and instead have found the answers myself…  This was not merely a curse upon those who hunted your ancestors, but a curse upon those who wished vengeance.”  “How would you know anything about what I have experienced!?” 

Unshaken by the rasp that came from her throat, her weight shifting to her arms finally showing the lengthening of her limbs.  The first real sign of her change to that of a human.  “I could ask you the same.  Do you know what it feels like to have your ability to exist taken?  Do you know how it feels to have an enemy have their way with you?   You don’t do you?  You thought only of a vengeance from an age long before you existed.”  His words piercing her mind and heart like burning blades.  “Now, your blind vengeance will return to you three fold.  You will lose your identity, slowly becoming a Human.  Taking the form of that you hated so dearly.  As well as giving birth to a human girl.”  She leapt at his face, claws outstretched.  He effortlessly caught her wrist and kicked her across the clearing into a tree.  “I do not wish to kill you.  I wish you to learn now the feeling that you forced on my ancestors.  Feel the twisting that caused them to take their lives.  Though not mine through will, I also do not wish to harm my unborn daughter.” 

This causing her to once more come at Ambrose, this time ready for a retaliation.  A retaliation that did not come.  He held her arms in place looking at her face, her muzzle still curled into a snarl.  Her anthromorph body shaking with tension, the tension caused by fear, shame and unbridled hatred.  “As well as I do not wish to kill the very person that may come close to understanding what I am going through.”  Bringing her into a warm embrace, struggling against his grasp, panting loudly.  Eventually releasing his grasp she made a swipe and caught his cheek with her claws.  The small cut healing almost instantly as he watched her run into the trees.  With a heavy sigh he turned and walks back towards Angelina’s house.  His heart heavy with regret that he was no closer to a cure.

 

Chp. 7

 

         Nix stumbled through the brush for several meters before finally coming to a rest by the river.  Her ability to walk having been increasingly difficult since the change.  She at first naively attributed it to some strange side effect to pregnancy.  She slowly drank from the clean stream, trying to gather herself only to fail again and again.  The human’s words echoing again and again in her heart.  She could not call him human any longer, he had become a wolf.  Though now it was she that was the human.  That moment that he held her throat was the first time she had fell from the role of predator, feeling the burning fear of the prey.  The stench of death bearing down on her senses, not knowing what to do.  Her anxiety overcoming her nerves and she blacked out by the river.  Only the sounds of birds and the rush of the stream entering her mind. 

         After several hours she awoke to the sound of footsteps in the brush.  She hopped up on all fours, growling in a threat.  She heard the sounds coming from her throat, hearing them merely as a girl trying best to fake a growl.  Her body almost completely human in the light of the full moon.  “Do not fear my dear, I mean you no harm.”  A woman in feathered robes stepped through the trees towards her.  Though she looked young, her steps showed her age.  Not a single motion wasted as she walked, her robe glittering in the moonlight.  “Who are you?”  “Oh my, names are for children.  They are not important.  It is not the question that you should be asking.”  “What do you want?”  “See that was not hard was it?”  She smiled as she sat down on a rock with a sigh of relief.  “Though you should be asking yourself that question.  Not little old me.”  “I do not have the patience to deal with riddles Human!  Speak or I shall rip out your throat!”  “Oh ho!  I don’t think you are in any position to do that dearie.” 

Realizing once again that she was a human at that moment Nix stood embarrassed as she glared at the strange woman.  “Now sit down and behave!”  With a flick of her hand Nix fell to her knees with a thud, wincing in pain.  “After that young boy came and poured himself out to you I had really hoped you would have understood.  Obviously you are more dense than a human.”  “Did you come here to merely taunt me!?”  With a snap of her fingers, Nix was no longer able to speak.  “Do not interrupt me again!  If you do you may never understand anything.  Do you understand what I am saying to you?”  With a slow nod and a flick of the mysterious woman’s hand her mouth was once again open.  “Do you understand why I gave your blood that curse?”  Nix shook her head.  “You can be quite dense…  “  With a heavy sigh, she continued.  “When your ancestors asked for the curse to be placed on that boy’s family they had cursed themselves.  They wished to violate the natural flow of nature.”  Nix had begun to form a protest but thought better of it, heeding the woman’s threats.  “Good girl…  Now then…  By blindly seeking vengeance without concern of your actions you were sinking deeper and deeper into the curse.  Do you see what I am telling you?”  She sat for a long moment in silence.  Thinking deeply on her words as it dawned on her.  “The curse was not on him…  But on myself… And my lineage…”  “See now, you are not as dense as I thought.  Let us try next for the solution to this whole mess you started.”  She shook her head, “I do not know…  “  “I take that back, you are dense!  He has already done his part of this now you must do yours!”  “You do not suggest that I have to apologize!?”  “I am not suggesting that, I am telling you that you must learn forgiveness.  You must learn the lesson that your ancestors would not accept.  “  With this she stood up and turned to head back into the woods.  Stopping to put a hand on her shoulder.  “If you can not find it in your heart to forgive him for things that he never did, at least try to think of your daughter.”  Before she could answer the woman was gone.  She stood up, looking up at the full moon.  Her hand lightly touching her belly, knowing that a child grew within her.  A child whose future would rest on her decision.  Tears dropped against her breast as the full weight of what she had done covered her heart.  “I am such a fool…”

 

Chp. 8

 

         Mason stared at a large stack of papers that had arrived earlier in the day, finally having a bit of peace to finally sort them.   The police were calling frequently to inquire about his patient.  With the late hour most of the police officers having either gone home or were out doing evening patrol.  “James is going to owe me big time for this one…”  He said as he sipped his now cold mocha.  He opened the grey envelope from the labs, a large stack of analysis sheets.  The police had requested blood work and tests done before taking to the lock-up.  Being seriously injured they didn’t want to risk the spread of infectious diseases if possible.  This partly due to his rather liberal sex life.  Though on the top there was a note from the doctor that did the analysis.  He sat in silence as he read the letter.  The analysis had not discovered any infectious diseases in his blood, but rather a distinct lack of anything.  Not even the common cold could be found anywhere in the samples they had received.  They had seen this before in some rare cases in very young children, but never in someone older than 4 years old.  Only one other case had been reported in the past but was not at liberty to disclose the case.  It ended with a request of further samples in order to retest to be sure the samples were not tampered with or contaminated.  Rather offended by this he stood up from the desk and walked over to the cabinet to retrieve the sample kit.  “Who the fuck do they think they are, I know what the hell I’m doing…”  He grumbled as he grabbed the cart and tossed his tools on them.   “Oh well…  I have to check on ‘his royal highness’ anyway…”  He slammed the door behind him as he walked down the hall.

         He showed his badge to the officer posted outside the door and walked in, careful to close the door quietly.  He rolled the cart next to Dreu’s bed and locked the wheels.  Pulling up a chair he set up the bottle and took his blood sample.  Dreu not seeming to even wake with this Mason shrugged and closed the sample.  Next he lifted the bandages on his eye to check the healing progress.  He bit his tongue trying not to shout when he saw that it had already healed considerably.  Stitches already hanging loose from the flesh that was once an eye.  He slowly removed the rest of the gauze and bandages to check his other wounds, all of which were nothing more than scar tissue.  “This is astounding…”  He felt that he needed someone to confirm what he was seeing and picked up the phone beside the bed.  He dialed Alaster’s cell number, feeling that he would be the best person to call first.  He heard a clack on the linoleum behind him and turned.  A large hand gripped him by the throat and lifted him from the ground.  He stared at the person in the dim light of the room, noticing that the person was missing an eye.  His eyes quickly darted over to Dreu’s bed to find it empty with the restraints broken.  “You should be ashamed of yourself…  You people just do not know how to treat a gentleman.”  Mason gasped for air in desperation, “ What are you…?”  “Tsk, what a rude thing to say.  Wait…  You were one of my fathers lap dogs aren’t you?”  A giant grin crossing his face, showing jagged teeth and a smile of a hungry piranha.    Mason clawing at the hand that held him, gasping pleas for help.  “Now now, we can’t have that.”  With a quick flick of his wrist he snapped the man’s neck.  Dropping his body lifeless to the floor.  Mason’s arm catching the cart on the way down causing a loud crash that echoed into the hall.  The guard outside the door came in drawing his gun upon seeing the scene in front of him.  “Down on the ground! “ “I had hoped this wouldn’t become a mess…”  As the large form walked towards the officer, he opened fire.  The three shots catching Dreu in the shoulder and chest, stumbling back with a yelp of pain as he landed on his back.  He sat up slowly, spitting a glob of blood on the wall as the wounds healed.  Closing almost as quickly as he shifted his weight.  “Now that wasn’t called for…”  The officer had turned to a ghost, all the blood draining from his face.  As he rose the pistol to take another shot Dreu made a dash towards the officer, catching his neck with his nails.  When Dreu hit the wall on the other side of the hall the officer’s head rolled beside him.  Frozen in an expression of abject terror.  Hearing the gunshots, several other officers and security personal came into the hall with their guns drawn.  Dreu laughed as a string of thick drool streamed from his mouth.  “Heh heh this should be a pleasant meal…”

 

Chp. 9

 

         Ambrose stopped and sat by the river, just out of sight of any cars that might pass by the road.  Watching the water flow by his feet.  The soft crackle of the water against the rocks easing his mind for the brief moments between questions of what he was going to do next.  He began to sense a presence approaching behind him.  “I don’t know who you are but announce your presence or your neck will be a little drafty.”  “My my, so hostile even the animal wasn’t quite as mean.”  He turned to see a woman in lavish robes come towards him slowly.  He smelled no gunpowder or sense any silver on her, easing down a bit.  She grinned as she came to sit next to him by the river.  “Though you definitely think before you act.  I like that.”  “Well I don’t know you.  With all of the recent events I am not about to go and attack someone and have them turn around and kill me.  Though sometimes that might be a good thing.”  “Oh pish, that is nonsense.  Death is not a good thing no matter what the circumstances are.”  “Well after that thing bit me, I have been slowly losing the things that are important to me…” 

An exasperated look crossing her face, “What have you lost hmm?  You still have your beautiful love, you have gained the love and acceptance of your family.  Many would give anything to have even a taste of such luxury.”  “For how much longer…  How much longer until Angelina can no longer accept me for the man she loves, how much longer till I’m nothing more than the family dog…”  With this statement she could not think of a reply.  She reached out her hand and lightly stroked his shoulder to console him.  “I do not know the answer to that…  You have come to adapt more than I ever thought a human would.  To become the beast but never lose one’s soul to the wild.”  “Heh, fat lot of good it did for me…”  At this she grinned wickedly and patted his shoulder.  “Oh it has done great things that you don’t even fathom dear.” 

He looked to her with a look of total befuddlement.  Not even knowing what question to ask.  “Once again you impress me.  It is rare any being keeps from asking silly, meaningless questions. “  She got to her feet laying down her staff.  She removed her robes laying them down in a neat pile near a tree.  Ambrose resisted a blush before moving back a little as he tensed to run.  “Do not worry pet, I have no intentions of having my way with you as that beast did.”  She walked into the river and laid back, floating out into the stream.  “Don’t you worry about being seen naked in the water?”  “I would think a beautiful woman has less to worry about than a wolf man wouldn’t you think?”  He blushed crimson beneath his fur as he realized that she was right.  “As well that anyone who came by would see neither you nor I.  I have seen to that.” 

He shook his head with a chuckle.  “Just who exactly are you?  Or more importantly, what are you?”  “I am the one that you could say, started this whole mess.”  A flash of anger began to curl his hand to a fist.  “Now now, before you get all flustered listen to me.  It is not like getting angry will do you any good.”  He nodded in agreement, though his hormonal rage being not as quickly discarded.  “Good, You have nothing to be angry with me for.  This whole nuisance could have been solved hundreds of years ago but those foolish wolves had to be so nearsighted.”  “I don’t follow…”  “I’m surprised.  Since you were the one who explained it to that dense fool only a few moments ago.”  He had nearly forgotten the whole encounter, buried in his own self loathing.  “Your involvement in this was nothing more than a way to teach those fools a lesson.  Your ancestor would have paid his debt regardless of what those wolves wished.  Their bloodlust had been so dire that it clouded all faith and logic. “  “Heh, I don’t think they are even capable of logic…” 

She frowned and waved her hand, a hard smack hit Ambrose from behind.  “You should know by now that is a stupid thing to say.”  He laughed, “Yes mother…”  She laughed and shook her head as she floated through the water.  “Though most of you humans tend to not believe we exist, we are always there…  Watching everything you do.  Not just humans, animals, plants, the water I am swimming in…  All of it has life that we watch.  All having a duty to them in one way or another.  I have the wonderful job of making sure that people learn their lesson, weather they like it or not…”  “You sound like you take great pleasure in your job.”  With this she gave him a sad smile, “I only wish to give people the wisdom to live well.  I had made many mistakes before, and I do take great pleasure when I see things work out as well…”  She stepped out of the water and walked up to Ambrose, kneeling in front of him.  “You have made me feel for once, that I may have atoned for my past sins.”  She put her arms around his shoulders and hugged him tightly to her chest.  He lightly put his arms around her waist, feeling the sadness in her.  Her tears touching his fur, rolling down his arm like diamonds in the moonlight.  A warm glow circling the two of them, feeling the familiar pain as his body shifted once again to it’s human form.  The woman bringing her lips to his, kissing him passionately as a storm of light and comfort enveloped them.  Slowly it dissipated, causing him to land with a thud on the earth behind him as the mysterious woman landed on his chest.  She looked up at him as she slowly got to her feet.  “I have given you the answer that you have sought.” 

She walked over to her robes, her hair glittering in the moonlight.  “What answer?”  She grinned and walked over to him, pulling her robes over her shoulders, still exposing her body.  She looked him over with a lusty grin.  “Well lets just say that your lover wont be complaining about what she sees.”  His eyes lit up as he felt his face and mouth, many of the bestial features gone from his body.  Though a few did still remain.  He looked towards her with a confused look, a look of disappointment in his eyes.  Hoping to feel his body completely normal again, back before all of this mess had began.  She leaned over him and traced a finger along his pointed ears and down his chest.  “Don’t look so disappointed pet!”  She purred, “There are a few things that you might not know of your lover’s tastes…” 

She laughed and gave his cheek a soft pat, “Or might have just been too dense to notice.”  She got to her feet and tied her robes about her waist.  “Though I can not completely cure your lycanthropy I can aid you in controlling it.”  “Control?  Will I become a beast again?”  “It depends on what you define as ‘beast’.  Because you have accepted yourself for what you are, your body will forever be able to become a wolf.  That I can not change.  Though you can stay human by the moonlight, be warned that it will come naturally to shift by the moon.”  “So If I sneeze wrong I will become a wolf.”  She laughed loudly at this, he assumed that he must have put a amusing image in her head.  One that made him chuckle when he thought of it.  “Yes, you could say that…  With this blessing I also charge you with a task.  You must as well bestow this upon the wolf.  Nix I believe you named her.  When she is ready to receive it, she will come to you.  Do not worry, she does not know a thing of this arrangement.”  He nodded to her.  “Only with your mutual cooperation will you both be at peace.”  “So…  I will be human again?”  “As I said, you will never lose your lycanthropy…  But you will no longer have to carry it as a curse.  Nix will also no longer have to worry of her little bouts of humanity.”  She let out a mischievous chuckle recalling the encounter earlier. 

He nodded solemnly thinking of having to confronting her again.  “Oh look up dearie, I trust she will be far more agreeable the next time you meet.  You have nothing to worry about there.”  As he stood up on his feet he brushed off his legs, a cold chill running down his spine causing him to shift unconsciously.  This causing her to laugh loudly walking up to pat him on the shoulder, “You will get the hang of it someday.”  She gave him another lusty grin as she looked him over.  She walked back to grab her staff, “Your lover better treat you well or else I might just have to step in…”  Giving him a wink over her shoulder.  With this he blushed deeply causing him to shift into wolf form. 

She began to walk back into the woods, stopping at the edge.  “One more thing…”  “What is it?”  “I would suggest you learn quickly your changes…  There is one other nuisance you will have to deal with.”  “My brother…”  “Yes…  Though he isn’t really your brother anymore.”  His eyes lit up with shock, his mouth forming a question.  “No you did not give him lycanthropy…  He took it from the wound you gave him…”  “Wouldn’t that still be my fault!?”  “No…  You are unable to give lycanthropy…  At least I had made it that way.  Though you have inherited the genes of your forefathers, he inherited their spirit.”  “I do not understand…”  She turned around and faced him, “Those cruel men that Nix spoke of with great hatred, they live in your brother.  When you wounded him without killing him, those spirits took your genes and used them in him.  So he is neither Wolf nor man.  He is a being of pure hate.  You and Nix are the only two that can stop him from his own madness.  I truly am sorry…”  “Do not be…  It was my mistake for not ending his life right there…  I have no love for him as he stopped being my brother long ago.”  A sudden flash of fear flowed over him as realization hit him.  The woman nodded, “You must go to your family and friends.  They will need your help, and you will need Nix.”  Without a hesitation he sprinted out of the clearing.  “Good luck, I hope we can see each other once again…” She said as she disappeared among the trees.

 

Chp. 10

 

         Ambrose sprinted as fast as he could towards Angelina’s house.  He had feared that if there were a first place Dreu would hit, it would be her house.  It did not take long for his fears to be realized.  There were police just leaving the house as he came through the brush.  He backed up taking a place out of sight.  He watched all the rest of the officers get into their squad cars, lighting their sirens and speed off into the distance.  Alaster remaining behind, reentering the house, stepping over the broken doorframe as he pushed the shattered door aside.  Ambrose snuck around in Wolf form around the back of the house changing only when he entered the door.

“What happened here?”  Alaster nearly jumped out of his skin, drawing his gun and falling against the wall.  “Jesus son!  You just about got yourself shot!  What in the hell are you doing here?  Let alone why in blazes are you naked?!”  He looked down and realized that he was wearing nothing but the collar and shook his head.  “Ill explain that later…  I need clothes…”  He walked to Angelina’s room to see it a complete disaster.  Furniture in pieces all across the floor, mixed with the broken glass from the mirror.  He fished a shirt and some pants from the rubble.  “You didn’t tell me, what happened here?” 

Alaster sat down on the bed with a sigh, Pointing to a large message scrawled on the wall in dried blood.  ‘I have your little bitch now…’  The last letter trailing off.  Ambrose clenching his fist tight, Alaster sighed again and shook his head.  “I know I should have locked that boy up bleeding and all…  He even killed one of my best friends as well…”  Ambrose looked over his shoulder with a shocked expression.  “Dreu escaped the County Hospital last night…  During the escape he killed Mason, and 9 police officers.  It was quite a mess…”  He shook his head remembering the sight.  “With a small bit of luck, Mason escaped the mess the best having his neck snapped clean.  The others were eaten…  Their bodies looked like they had been picked by buzzards for weeks.  Being that I got there only moments of the escape he must have worked quick…”  He brought a napkin he was holding on to his mouth.  Since he had seen it he had kept the napkin to avoid vomiting, even at the thought of it.  “Have there been any leads of where he has gone??”  Alaster nodded, “He is hold up in your old home.  Your mother and father had managed to escape before he set up shop.  Your mother got tore up pretty bad but she will be fine.  Not so sure about your girl though.”  With this his eyes went wide, falling silent.

 

Chp. 11

 

         Nix came through the woods coming up by the fence to the house he knew of as Ambrose’s second home.  Tracing his scent to this place.  Though the closer she came to it she smelled a foul scent.  Like nothing she had ever smelled before.  A stench so foul that even the smell of rotting flesh could not be compared to it.  She crept around to the back door covering her nose as she went.  When she got to the open door she could control it no longer and vomited fiercely outside the door.  She dropped to her knees gasping for air.  After several pitiful attempts to stand again, she pulled herself to her feet and entered the house.  She followed the voices she heard coming from a room at the other side of the house. 

She fell naked through the doorway to the room unable to move any longer and vomited on the floor.  Alaster jumping again smashing against the headboard of the bed.  His gun falling with a thud to the floor.  “Fuck!  Don’t you people ever announce your presence!”  He looked down to see that she too had been naked, “Or know how to wear clothes! Shit!”  Ambrose ran to Angelina’s small bathroom and dumped the contents of the trashcan on the floor and rushed it to give to her.  She took the can and heaved into it for minutes on end before finally catching her breath.  “I’m sure…  This was not a p..  Pleasant greeting.”  “Who the hell is she kid!?”  Ambrose looked over at Alaster not knowing how to explain it.  “Well…  She is the one that made me into what I am you could say.”  “So this is the bitch that bit ya huh?” 

With that word Nix began to stand but quickly was met with another bout of nausea and promptly vomited again into the can.  “Yes you could say that.  Though probably for your own sake I wouldn’t use comments like that. “  “Ok ok, I got it.  Though I would imagine you have to have a lot of guts to come here wouldn’t ya?”  “I had made my peace with her…”  “Wasn’t talking about you kid, wouldn’t your girl put a bullet in her?”  “I’m sure she would want to…  Not that it would have mattered much.”  He looked down to her and kneeled, “Though why are you here?”  She looked up at him between breaths, “Can we please leave here, the stench is … urh… making me sick.”  Having noticed it too when he entered, Ambrose nodded and put one of her arms over his shoulder and helped her out of the house and into Alaster’s car. 

He grabbed a few of Angelina’s exercise clothes before leaving.  “So where to?  And please make sure she doesn’t barf on the seats.”  “Take us to the locked area behind the park. “  “You can’t…”  “I know, but it is the only place that no one will find us.”  With that Alaster nodded and put the car into gear.  It only took a few moments to arrive at the spot.  Ambrose got out of the car and with a quick swipe broke the lock on the gate, pulling it wide so that Alaster could drive in.  He pulled the gate shut behind them and pulled the lock and chain around the best he could and followed the car down toward the river. 

Before the car was even stopped Nix rolled out of the car, hitting the ground hard.  She crawled desperately towards the river and flopped into the water with a loud splash.  “Jesus woman, you are going to get yourself killed doing that.”  “Don’t worry, she will be ok.”  “If you say so kid.  What was her problem back at that house anyway?”  “The smell…”  “I didn’t smell anything except sweat and mildew.”  “My brother is no longer human…”  “Tell me something I don’t know kid.”  “Will you let me finish!?  He is no longer human, and to us with a very sensitive sense of smell, we smell a foul odor from where he has been.  Being mostly wolf, she smelled it worse than I did.”  He looked over to see her floating in the water, stopping for brief times to shake out her hair and wiping off her skin.  “She’s a wolf?  Man…  If I knew wolves were hotties like that I might consider adopting a dog!”  Ambrose gave him a disgusted look at that comment.  “She isn’t your type, trust me.”  “I’m sure, though I’m sure you could have a fun time with that…” 

Ambrose punched Alaster in the gut lifting him off the ground a little.  Coughing and gasping for air Alaster collapsed to his knees.  “Sorry… I .. Said that…”  Ambrose left him on the ground as he walked to the riverbank stopping at the waters edge.  “One thing about this wretched human body, it is much easier to clean…”  “Why did you come Nix?”  “You know I really am not fond of that name…”  “I am not really concerned, it is your fault for never giving me your name.”  She strolled out of the water and shook out her hair like a dog drying off.  

She walked up to Ambrose and looked him in the eyes.  “I…  wanted to apologize…”  Ambrose stood mildly stunned at what he was hearing.  “I thought only of my own grief and did not think that a fil… A human was capable of the same emotions…”  He stood still as she continued to talk.  “I have taken many things from you, and now your mate is in danger due to my carelessness.  Though we have come from different places I do know how you feel…  “  She stared into his eyes, hers filling with tears and a creeping look of fear.  “I offer my life to you as penitence for my mistakes…  “  She closed her eyes tight, figuring that with all of her sins that he would undoubtedly kill her right there. 

Though inside of him Ambrose felt his muscles tense, he remembered the woman’s words  the night before.  He realized then what she spoke of and smiled to himself.  He laid his hand on her shoulder and gave it a soft pat.  “I will not take your life.  It will do no service to me, or anyone for you to die.  “  She looked up at him slightly confused.  At that moment, she realized what the woman has spoke of to her…  He was not the human she had come to loath.  Beyond that, she had realized inside herself how much she envied Angelina.  The one creature on this earth that could understand her completely had his heart held by another.  She dove at him and kissed him clumsily as she had no idea how such an action is supposed to work.  He fell down on the dirt flailing as she continued to kiss him, refusing to let him go. 

Alaster came walking  up beside the two with a laugh, “Wow, why can’t I get them crawling all over me?  Naked to boot!”  Ambrose flipped him off as he continued to pry Nix from him.  Finally succeeding he stood up and brushed himself off.  “What the hell was that for?”  “I thought that was what you did when you wished to express lust.”  He blushed at her very frank statement and chuckled having not a clue how to respond to that.  “Well…  That’s one reason.  Though I am taken and my lust goes to her. “  She nodded standing back up herself.  “I know you have a mate…  That was why I took the opportunity.  In a pathetic hope that I might sway you to be mine instead.”  He was rather angered by this statement, though he did understand where she was coming from.  As well as understand what the woman had said. 

He nodded to himself and leaned down and kissed her warmly on the lips.  Alaster turned around with a cough walking back towards the car mumbling some envious comments under his breath.  She embraced him warmly as they stood there, the warm glow wrapping them in its comforts.  As Ambrose broke the kiss the light had faded.  Nix began to collapse, catching her in his arms he picked her up and took her to the back seat of the car and laid her inside.  “Damn, you must be one hell of a kisser Casanova!”  “Shut it!  She fainted is all.”  Nix opened her eyes slowly and looked at Ambrose, “What happened…?”   He smiled and recounted the previous nights encounter with the mysterious woman.  Nix was shocked for a moment then took comfort in the fact that he had also seen her.  “You and I both have no need to worry of a curse any longer…  We are both free.” 

She looked down at her body, still very human.  “Then why am I still …  This?”  “We will always be able to change, just at our own will.  As well you have no need to fear of staying alive for another generation or longer.”  With this she laid her hands upon her chest and smiled.  She had longed for more nights than she could count to hear those words.  Those exact words.  Then the thought came back to her, “What was that thing that left the horrid stench in that house?”  Pulling him back to reality he noticed that a couple hours had now passed.  “That was left by my brother. “   “Your ‘brother’!?  I have never known of a sibling that emitted such a foul odor!” 

He stared at her for a moment, searching for the right words to say what he knew to be true.  “He…  He is the wretched soul you sought in your quest.”  Her eyes went wide as those words pierced her.  Simultaneously she considered just how much of a mistake she made by cursing Ambrose, and deep within her, she reveled in the thought that she might have the chance to avenge her ancestors.  “He has captured Angelina and is probably planning on killing her, and me.”  She gave a wicked grin as she sat up.  “You need not say anything more Human.  You have just filled my soul with more happiness than I thought possible.  I will help you retrieve your mate as well as take revenge for my ancestors suffering.”  She placed her hand on his shoulder and grinned in approval.  Alaster came walking up behind them.  “Now that you two are making all nicely nice can you please get her to put on some blasted clothes?  I’m starting to get made worked up here!”  Ambrose laughed and handed Nix the spandex pants and top that he grabbed.  “You might want to put these on.”  She held them up by her fingers,  “What are these?”  “They are clothes.”  “I’m not going to wear this filth!”  “Yeah well I’m sure it would be better than the idea of that sleaze ball walking around wanting to mate you.”  “I heard that!”, Alaster shouted from the trees where he was using them as a restroom.  She looked over his shoulder and shivered, “You have a point Human…  That is quite a repulsive thought.”  She tried very clumsily to put the pants on, slipping them over her arms.  “I knew I despised these things as soon as I saw them.”  Ambrose laughed and helped her into the clothing.  Fitting her rather snugly, Angelina being a bit smaller than Nix.  “These are very uncomfortable but I guess it is what is needed…  Thank you Human.”  “My name is Ambrose.”  With this she smiled and nodded.  “It is approaching nightfall and this is the last phase of the full moon.  We only have one chance at this.  We had better get going.”  Ambrose nodded and called Alaster over,  “We better get going before it gets dark.”  “Don’t have to tell me twice kid, where are we going?”  “First…  Do you have any sharp silverware at home?”  “I think the wife left a few things behind, what did you have in mind?”  They drove off planning their attack, racing the falling sun.

 

 

Chp. 12

 

         Angelina slowly opened her eyes.  Her eyes closed and bleary with sweat and grime.  She knew not what had happened over the last few hours.  The only things that entered into her mind were the loud noises raging through her house and seeing a large object attack her.  The lump on her head beginning to make itself known to her when she thought.  She reached to wipe her eyes to discover that her hands and ankles were bound by something.  It felt sticky and stretchy at the same time. 

“So the bitch awakens!”  Her eyes searched around in the darkness for the source of the voice.  She felt a claw rake across her throat.  “It is no use looking for me wench…  Your eyes wont find me.”  Small drops off drool running off her shoulder with his words.  The thought went through her mind that it may have been Ambrose.  Maybe he had gone crazy, but Ambrose didn’t sound like that.  Even when he was a in wolf form.  A scent caught her nose and she felt vomit well up in her throat.  She fought hard to keep it down as she held her breath.  “So you can smell me huh?  You have been around my little brother too long…  You should have been mine from the start…”

Her eyes shot open wide as she heard those words.  His tongue drug along the curve of her throat.  The hot sticky drool dripping down her neck caused her to finally vomit hard.   Laughter echoed in the otherwise empty room.  Only the faint glow of the pulled shades outlined in the darkness.  She noticed the strength of the odor coming from her right and she spit a mouth full of the foul bile in that direction.  The loud roar causing a cruel chuckle.  She felt his grip close around her throat and she spat again.  “You will pay for that!”  He roared.

 

 

 

Final Battle

 

         They pulled up and got out of the car.  Alaster flashed his badge and the officers backed away as they approached the house.  Ambrose looked to Nix and nodded.  “So you guys going to be alright?  Sure you don’t need any of my boys doing up with you?”  Ambrose nodded, “As Nix said earlier, If any of your officers go in he will smell them coming.  And their lives will be in danger.”   Nix looked over coldly, “And all we need is to feed him again…”   Alaster shivered and shrugged.  “Alright it is your call.”  He pulled out his gun and shot the doorknob and kicked the door.  “Good luck you two.”  Ambrose and Nix ran into the dark house.

         The climbed the stairs quickly, shifting to their wolf forms they split at the top.  Ambrose leapt and knocked open the attic entrance and Nix ran into it.  He closed the stairway behind him with a sigh.  His heavy heart beating faster as he could feel his brothers presence down the long hallway.  He ran down the hall quickly and as noisy as he could to the doorway to the dining hall.  Hiding the sounds of Nix’s steps above. 

         Ambrose kicked the door open with all fours and skidded into the room, shifting as he slid.  His eyes noticed the lamp to his left and switched it on in time to witness the scene before him.  The demon that once was his brother turned and looked at him.  His face no longer human, but a distorted bit of flesh, teeth, and drool.  His jaw hanging down to his chest, lined with hundreds of razor sharp teeth.  His mouth curled into what could he could best approximate a smile.  “So… My dear little brother decides to finally show up and join the party!”  He let go of Angelina’s neck, giving her a small slap before walking towards Ambrose. 

         “Come do save your bitch eh?  You couldn’t just run off with the other dogs could you.”  Ambrose held still watching Dreu move. Trying desperately to study his movements.  Dreu’s muscles no longer existing did not move and flex in a predictable way.  His body long and spider-like, his arms and legs long and thin, his body short.  “You couldn’t just let me be could you?  I was happy in my place at the top, the top dog so to speak.  But you just had to take everything away.  EVERYTHING!!”  Dreu punched the wall causing a tremor down to the framework of the house. 

Nix forced herself not to sneeze as a large cloud of dust swarmed around her from above.  She crept slowly but surely across the floor listening to the voices below.  She had approximated where Angelina had been from where the first voice came from.  She found that spot and stood motionless waiting for Ambrose’s signal.

Dreu walked closer still chuckling to himself as he did.  “It is funny to know that our family has had these things for so long…  Every time one of us rises to the top of the food chain we are smashed down.  All by women.”  His eyes glowed with a burning hatred.  “By these little whores our whole family has suffered!”  Nix trembled, as she wanted to take an attack, the floor shaking. Dreu turned to Ambrose and looked him in his eyes, and spit.  A glob of thick acidic drool hitting his shoulder burning away some of his fur before he wiped it to the floor.  “Why do you have to go and defend them?  What is it you see in this thing that makes her worth it?  They are nothing more than dolls for us to use and then throw away!  That is there place!”  Ambrose’s hand trembled with anger.  Dreu walked closer and Ambrose finally let out a roar and leapt at him at full speed.

Nix punched through the thick wood above causing a cloud of dust to rain down on Angelina as she fell.  She tore the strands that held her in place and lifted Angelina under her arm.  Laying her down in a closet pantry closing the door behind her.  Watching the fight at a distance as her muscles tensed.

Ambrose caught Dreu’s arm and pulled sliding against the wall.  Dreu’s arm stretching like rubber, his hand wrapping around and slamming Ambrose’s head to the wall.  Dreu moved behind him quickly, Ambrose stepping back leveling his shoulder to Dreu’s chest.  Dreu slid to the other side of the room where he saw Nix standing there ready.  He leapt to all fours and crawled with lightening speed at her along the wall.  She sprinted towards the other side, leaping over the tattered dining table.  Dreu leapt from wall to ceiling, dropping down in surprise.  Ambrose kicking him hard to the floor from behind.  Nix ran to his side as Dreu righted himself and launched another assault.  He threw a punch at Ambrose as he ran, Ambrose caught the arm as Nix spun and slashed it clean from him.  Dreu recoiled in pain just short of the pair.  He stared wide-eyed as black blood drained from the open wound like a river.  In a rage he ran towards them in a flash, his claws outstretched.  Nix ducked and caught his leg ripping it free from the hip as though it was merely human flesh. 

Dreu struggled to right himself as he fell but landed with a loud thud.  He stared wide-eyed as he watched the black bile flow from his wounds.  “I was supposed to be invulnerable!?”  Nix laughed and kicked his severed leg away.  “Once we worked together to wound you once, your precious life that you stole couldn’t keep up.”  He clawed in anger at the floor trying to get at her as she spoke, Ambrose kicking him hard through the table.  His body slowly returning to that of a human.  Ambrose leapt at his throat and slammed him against the wreckage.  “You will pay for all that you have done with your life Dreu…”  Dreu choked as he grabbed at Ambrose’s wrist.  “I…  Already have…”  He gasped as he went pale.  No longer black, his blood ran red as it flowed out of his body. 

Ambrose stood and rushed to the closet that Angelina was in and tore the door from its hinges and tossed it to the other side of the room.  He lifted her unconscious body into his arms and held her tightly.  Shaking as he whispered pleas for her to wake up.  “Do not worry she is alive.  I can see her pulse.”  Nix said from the other side of the room.  Focused on something else.  “Though I think we are not out of trouble yet.”  Ambrose set her down and turned around to find a large black figure growing from the floor.  Every drop of the bile pulling up into the creature.   He could not figure where the heads and arms were coming from or whose they were.  It was a mass of human and wolf-like limbs and heads.  There was one that began to stand out as the mass absorbed Dreu’s blood with it.  “I guess that is what he meant by paying with his life.”  Ambrose looked in the pile of rubble and grabbed his trophy sword from its stand.  He ripped the last of the leather sheath from the blade and tossed it aside.  Nix gave him a amused smile.  “You are going to use that… Toy?”  Ambrose smiled, “I’m a bit better with this than claws.”  She nodded and looked at the beast, Dreu’s now formed head growling as it lumbered towards them.  “Shall we?”  Nix said as she readied her claws, light glinting off them as they formed like steel. 

Ambrose did not wait for a signal and leapt towards the creature’s flank sword outstretched.  He dodged one hand deftly, clawing the arm free as he ducked.  He did not see the other arm come from his side and punch him back across the floor.  Nix used this distraction to leap on the creatures back ripping at one of the heads before being picked up and tossed towards the wall.  Ambrose got up to his feet, “This isn’t working!”  Nix stood, her back cracking back into place. “I would think that foolish attack of yours would have been a good indication.  We have to coordinate!”  Ambrose circled the creature as Nix did, “So what do we do?”  “Now!”  Nix lunged again at a head at it’s back, Ambrose launched himself at one at its side slicing it free.  It landed and splashed into more of the black bile.  The creature roared in pain, Nix used the moment to claw away her target.  It spun in pain and knocked her away again.  As it spun Ambrose saw a large throbbing mass where the head had been and threw his sword into it.  The blade piercing it through with ease.  The creature spun around and cried loudly as it began to pulse.   It’s black skin expanding larger and larger.  Not liking the look of it he grabbed Angelina and moved towards the door.  Nix lay unconscious on the floor, grabbing her as well he ran out the back at full speed.  He could feel the stairs under him tremble as the creature lumbered to the door as it swelled in size.  He kicked the door down and leapt over the fence.  He did not look back as he heard the explosion behind him.   Pieces of the house falling behind him.   He just kept running. 

 

 

Epilogue

 

         That day he did eventually stop.  He stopped by the river deep in the woods, the place he had met the mysterious woman.  He laid them both down at the bank of the river and promptly collapsed breathing heavily.   “Good job human.”  He heard the sound of applause and then the woman standing over him.  “And nothing more than a couple bruises and a few bumps to the noggin for any of you.  I’m impressed.”  Ambrose was too exhausted to say anything or fight so he just raised his hand and gave her the finger.  “Now now, that isn’t nice.  You should be happy that it is all over now.”  “What are you babbling about now wench.”  Nix slowly crawled to her feet.  “What was that wolf?  You wish to stay a human…?”  That sent a chill down her spine, Ambrose laughed.  He looked over at Angelina who began to stir a little.  “Will she be ok?”  “Oh yes, she is quite alright.  Your brother was right when he said that a little of you two rubbed off on her.”  Ambrose raised an eyebrow.  “This is magic after all.”  She winked at him and nodded to her.  “She isn’t like you two but she is a little more than normal.”  The woman poked Nix in the side lightly with her stick.  “You should expect to deal with the same from that little monster inside you too.  Be warned.”  Nix growled at her but dared not do anything, she just looked down at her bare stomach and tattered clothing.  “So…  Now that this is all over.  Are you going to leave for good wolf?”  Nix looked up at her confused.  “Are you going to disappear and never deal with humans again?”  She looked down and to Ambrose.  “It is what you wanted right?”  Ambrose looked at her.  “No…  I will stay.  I hope that I can raise this child to never repeat what has happened in the past…”  With this the woman nodded and looked to Ambrose.  “It looks like you won hero.  Enjoy it!”  She gave them a wink and walked into the woods, never to be heard from again.  Nix looked over at Ambrose and blushed.  Ambrose looked at her oddly,  “What?  What’s wrong?”  “Well…  How am I going to live like a human?  Its foreign to me.”  Ambrose chuckled, “Don’t worry, we will think of something…”

 

         With this they had their happily ever after.  Not without a few bumps in the road.  Angelina didn’t like the idea of Nix living with them one bit.  But after a bit of convincing she gave in.  Nix apologized for all of the trouble she caused and knew not to trifle with her new roommate.  Angelina learned quickly the abilities that had rubbed off on her over time and how to harness them.  Ambrose and Angelina were married not long after, with his parents blessing.  That was an adventure in itself.  But that is a story for another day.