Werewolf - Prologue

by ~Tisketh24

Prologue
Brother’s Bite

I was eight years old when it happened.  It was late winter so the bitter cold outside had meant I had to spend most of the day inside.  My brother, Nate, had spent the past two weeks in bed sick but since the doctors had said whatever was wrong with him wasn’t contagious mom and dad thought it was okay for me to keep him company.  Normally he would be the one that took me out to play in the snow but he hadn’t been able to because he wasn’t well.  So between his long naps and moments of chills or hot sweats I’d do my best to cheer him up and I would bring him drinks and food.
It seemed odd even back then that I was taking care of my brother who’s nine years older than me when normally it was the other way around.
As it reached night fall Nate had gotten worse and was in a pretty bad state hallucinating and running a burning fever.  Mom saw that it was scaring me and so sent me away and had Dad make sure I didn’t go wandering back into Nate’s room.
By ten o’clock I was falling asleep on the sofa with my head leaning against my Dad’s arm.  I felt him lift me and carry me to my room.  Their worry over Nate was making them take their jobs as parents very seriously and though at the time I felt like they were treating me like a little kid I didn’t say anything because I knew it was all upsetting them.
After he had covered me with my duvet I was asleep almost instantly and I wish I could say it was a peaceful sleep but it was anything but.  I still remember the nightmares about all the awful things that might happen to Nate.  One went as far as to show myself in a cemetery, standing amongst the graves crying out so loudly that it hurt my throat and my eyes felt sore from the crying but no one ever heard me.  Not even my mom and dad came.
I was awoken rather suddenly in the middle of the night though whether it was due to some terrifying part of my dreams or some external stimulant I guess I’ll never know.  Panic set in as I realised my door was closed and I was in the dark – I had always been a little afraid of the dark.
“Mom!  Dad!”  I yelled and waited for the usual thuds of Dad’s feet as he got out of bed.  He was always the one that got up.  Too protective of his family he said.
After a few moments of nothing happening I called out again and waited but still nothing happened so I slowly climbed out of bed and cautiously made my way to the door.  As quietly as I could I opened the door and peered into the hall.  The landing light was off so I was reluctant to step out.
“Dad…?”  I asked rather sheepishly and in complete confusion.  Looking across the hall I saw that Nate’s door was wide open so I tiptoed over the hallway and entered.  “Nate are you…” My sentence was ended by my own sharp intake of breath as I gasped in shock and horror.  My eyes fell on to Nate’s bed where my mother lay face down; the sheets that were illuminated by the bedside lamp were covered in blood.  Even to an eight year old it was obvious that it was blood.  I screamed, my eyes filling with tears.
“Max!” It was my Dad’s deep voice but instead of the usual cool, calm deep tones it was full of fear.  His feet padded down the hallway and he appeared behind me in his underwear with his dressing gown flailing open behind him as he ran.  He grabbed me, pulling me away from the doorway turning me around and hugged me to him burying my head in his chest.  “Oh Max, you shouldn’t have seen that.”  I looked up and saw that my Dad’s eyes were all red and – at the time I thought – veiny.  “We have to get out of here.”  He scooped me up there and then in my P.J’s and turned to head down the hall.  “Where’s your brother?”
“I don’t know.  He wasn’t in his room.”
Only a few steps down the hall and dad stopped.  I could hear something rumbling at the end of the hallway but didn’t dare turn to look.  My Dad’s grip around me tightened as he tried to pull me even closer to him.  Then the rumbling turned into a growl.  A loud, long growl and all that was running through my head was that some monster had killed my mom.
My Dad lowered me to the ground slowly.  “Max, go back to your room.  Go now.  Run and don’t come out until I come get you.”
“But Dad…”
“Go Max!”
I didn’t hesitated again, my own bare feet slapped against the floor as I headed down the hall, not looking back until I reached my bedroom door, when I turned the door handle I looked back to where my Dad was in a stand off with the monster.  I could see it down the far end of the hall.  It looked like a dog with a long slender snout and large fangs, which it was baring at my Dad in a snarl.  Saliva was dripping from its mouth but that wasn’t everything.  It’s muzzle was covered in red and I knew it had definitely killed my mother.  It howled suddenly and so I bolted into my room, closed the door behind me and threw myself under my bed.  I heard my Dad yell out so I clamped my hands over my ears and closed my eyes tightly shut.  I have no idea how long I stayed there like that.
When I eventually opened my eyes and moved my hands I remember the deathly quiet.  My first thought was, why hasn’t my Dad come for me yet?  I contemplated waiting for him under my bed but was too scared to stay on my own any longer.  So I slid out from under my bed and slowly stepped over to the door.  I leaned my head against it and listened.  Was there something there?  I couldn’t tell. It sounded like someone was breathing quite heavily on the other side but I couldn’t be sure.  I reached for the handle and turned it opening the door just a fraction.  I caught sight of the blood smeared on the walls but then my view was filled with the image of the huge dog as it threw itself at the gap I’d made.  I tried to close the door but wasn’t quick enough and the muzzle was through.  I tried to run but there was nowhere to run to and soon I found myself cornered, the dog approaching me slowly as if contemplating whether to eat me fast or save me.
It reached a few feet away from where I sat cowering in the corner and without any warning it pounced at me, it’s powerful jaws wide open.  I raised my arm instinctively to defend myself and the jaws clamped down on my forearm, the sharp teeth sinking into my tender flesh.  I remember crying out, just like in my dream and thinking no one is going to hear me.  I called for my Mom.  I called for my Dad.  Though I knew deep down that neither of them was going to come for me.  Finally I called out for my big brother who had always taken care of me.  
The wild dog stopped pulling my arm around, it’s teeth still sinking into my flesh, and it looked at me.  Those eyes looked at me and there was some familiarity in them.  Like I knew those deep, blue eyes.  I had never seen a dog with eyes like that before.  It didn’t occur to me at the time but they were too human.  Releasing my arm, the dog stepped forward and licked my face but I cried out again in fear and pushed myself against the wall harder.  The dog seemed to take in my whole body and licked again but when I screamed for a second time it darted out of the room leaving me alone.

A few hours later and the house was buzzing with activity.  One of the neighbours had been woken by the commotion and called the police but they hadn’t been able to get there in time to save my parents.  From the outset the police said it was some kind of wild animal attack though what animal they couldn’t say.  The bite marks and the paw prints smeared in the blood all spoke of some kind of large dog.
I remember the young police officer that was set to watch me.  He told me he was new in town and did his best to console me.  But all I did was sit quietly in the back seat of his police car staring out of the window up to our house..  That is until his radio crackled.  I didn’t listen to what was said, I was too distraught but when he turned to me he smiled.  “They’ve found your brother.  Seems he made it to the basement without being hurt.”  I started crying again though this time it was out of happiness, knowing I wasn’t as alone as I thought..
They found Nate on the stairs of the basement; he was naked and covered in blood, which they later discovered was mom and dad’s.  They assumed it had gotten on him as he made his way to the basement trying to escape the wild animal.  They didn’t have a clue what had really happened.
It was about a week later, after a few days in care, when we were taken to a place called Dawn Croft and introduced to a man named Leon Molten.  Apparently he was going to be the one who would take care of us, adopting us both.  We were told he was some kind of distant relative of mom’s but Nate was sure it wasn’t true.  He kept saying the only family we had was each other.  He wasn’t entirely right but he wasn’t wrong either.  Mom didn’t have any distant relatives for us to go to.  Of course it wasn’t until after we met Leon that we found out exactly how and why he had lied about who he was.