The Werewolf and The Full Moon

Imagine for just a moment. Imagine what it would be, to be a Werewolf...

Imagine yourself standing in a field. It’s dark, the wind is blowing lightly, and moonlight is spilling out over the grass. Clouds hide the moon... for now. In the distance, there is a howl.It is much larger and louder than a dog’s, or even a wolf’s. This howl sends a shiver down your spine. You stomach tingles with excitement, and fear. You’d like to believe that you’re not afraid, deep down you know you are. You’re frightened at this horrible sound. You quickly try to force it out of your mind. You try to think of something else. Anything else... but you can’t. Again, you hear it, closer now. The fear returns. The excitement returns.

This time it’s lodged in your mind, replaying the horrible disturbance of the quiet, again and again. Your breathing starts to pick up, without your permission. The grass around you is rather tall, but still below waist level. You’d see something if it would approach, something as big as this sounded. You keep telling yourself you’d see it. You start to turn slow circles, looking around, training your eyes on everything, trying to see anything moving. Of course, everything’s moving from the tenacious wind.

The wind starts to pick up even more. They grass sways and dances, loud rustling negating any sound that might fall upon your ears. Something though, gliding through the night like a shadow, you barely see with the edge of your vision. It glided from the far plain to the grass. Opposite where you heard the sound, but this was more tangible. You saw this.

The clouds escape the moon, and the silvery light pours down onto the entire plain. At least you have some light. You keep your eyes moving slow, trying to follow whatever path this blur took. Quickly, you spin on your heel, trying to catch it sneaking up on you. Nothing behind you, though. Through the dark of the night, through the cold, soul piercing wind, you feel a heat on the back of your neck. Heat... pushed on you against the force of the wind.

Your body starts to tremble, ever so gently. You tell yourself you’re not afraid. Your eyes move to their corners, not wanting to turn, but not able to stop it. Your body slowly turns, but as you do, you know you’ve made a mistake. One large hand wraps on your shoulder, claws digging into your flesh, and on the other shoulder, is the most horrid, macabre feeling you’ve ever felt. A sickly heat, liquid, and then finally, four piercings into your shoulder. You hardly make a sound. You merely stare ahead into the night, your mind coated in the thin glaze of a trance, keeping you from struggling. You can feel heat on your shoulder, running down your back. Suddenly, the hand disappears from your shoulder, the teeth retract from their hold on you, and as soon as it happens, you fall powerless.

You land on your knees first, then your hands, holding yourself up, barely. You feel as if you’re in a trance. You can feel your shoulder pulse with pain, but now it seems like such a faded, distant memory. You fall onto your good shoulder, then roll onto your back. The trance won’t let you go.

You watch the dim outline of the full moon, as the clouds slowly slide past it. As the moon grows more contrast against the sky, your breathing picks up in pace. Your heart starts to beat faster; your eyes grow more attentive. Your mind, itself, feels as if it sharpens. Your trance, though, grows deeper. You have no will to move.

Finally, the clouds escape the moon, and the silver light falls upon you again. What protected you in the novel past now makes your flesh sting, in the weakest, yet strangest way.

Your whole body feels... strange. Your breaths deepen; your eyes fixate on the moon. You couldn’t look away if you wanted to. Your body starts to burn. Your skin stings and your veins feel as if fire were running rampant inside them.

You clench your teeth together, breathing in sharply as the burning grows worse. Your fingers on your hands spread out, and it starts. Your knuckles snap and expand; your fingers grow longer, wider. Your fingernails crack and break in half, and long, sharp claws extend from your fingertips.

Your feet expand. They grow longer, and slightly wider. Your feet burst from the fronts of your shoes, and claws split the nails and escape on your toes, too. Thick pads, of somewhat dead flesh form on your hands and feet.

Your chest feels tight, and your body shakes. You let out small whimpers of pain as it takes place. You feel your abdomen pull in, and your chest stick out, tightening and reshaping. Now you’re yelling in pain. Pain courses down your legs. Your shinbones shorten. You start to get up, but fail, and fall on your hands and knees again. You yell at the ground, trying to find some verbal sanctuary from the pain.

Your back snaps, and your shoulders expand, making you lean forward at a curved angle. You grit your teeth again, and try to breathe, but the pain is forcing the air from your lungs. Your pants waist feels... tight. Tight at first... but continually growing tighter. The button snaps and flies off, but gives you a small breath as it does. Pain courses up your arms, into your shoulders, chest, back, up your neck, everywhere. You try to close your eyes, but you can’t.

You look down at your hands, and watch them. Slowly, the pores on your skin open, and from each one, black hair starts to sprout, then up your arms and shoulders.

You breathe faster, and spit a taste out of your mouth. Your mouth opens more as you try to breathe, but the pain is incredible. Your gums in your mouth bleed. Your teeth stretch and sharpen, filling your mouth uncomfortably. Your lips close around your teeth, but now your entire face hurts. You groan and grunt in pain as you face seems to... stretch. Your nose and mouth become part of one stretched piece of your face. A snout, or muzzle, almost. You can see it with your eyes. Your ears stretch back, and curve. The sound of the wind grows louder.

Your breathing is shuddering, your mind on a track. Your body feels as if your muscles are being inflated. All over your body, you grow stronger. The hair thickens into fur; your own hair on your head grows down past your eyes. Your hands now look like paws, but you still have your opposable thumbs. You turn your head to the side, and your neck pops. The pain starts to leave you, you think. But something new arises, and grows by the moment...

You stare at the moon. Again, you’re held in its trance. You’re oblivious to any other changes happening at that moment. Your eyes are still fixated on the moon. You try to keep your nerve, your personality, but it’s hard. Your instincts had a finger hold on you before, now they have a tight collar. On the air, you smell blood. A sharp, pleasing scent. In your mouth, a taste. Sapid... pleasing... bracing... it makes your adrenaline pump faster, your heartbeat like a jackhammer. You can’t fight it, not anymore, whatever it is, is growing too strong for you.

You take a deep breath in, and with every bit of your will fighting it, with every bit of your body urging it, you howl into the night...