Werewolf I

Where was he? His vision filled with red, overwhelmed by sweet, tasty rage... There was no need to question anything... there was no need to think anything... Just rip to pieces, shred their bodies, snap their bones... they crunch so deliciously when he bit on them...

But it's wrong!

It isn't!

But it is!

No, don't you taste their delicious flesh? Don't you smell their juicy bodies? There are so many, and I am hungry!

But you just bite into each of them, and then go on to the next!

Because I need to taste them all! Each has a different flavor to explore, a different type of blood to drink!

But that's not me!

Just chew on this one for a bit. Oh, his neck is so muscular, and he even slashed my chest open with his sword. They taste even better after a hard-fought battle! Where are the others? I need more of this, more of this taste!

Shouldn't you worry about your wounds? Blood is dripping on the floor.

Stop with your worries, the moon heals all wounds. More importantly, I need more flesh, more sacks of meat, more bones to snap!

You bit them all, don't you smell it? You assaulted everyone in this strange house already.

... Then it's time to go.

The bulky figure lowered its hands, then broke out into a sprint.

The ground vibrated with each of his steps, violently pushing its huge body forward. The castle was big, and when he took too long to find the exit, the figure just jumped out a tree, skillfully landing on all fours.

He ran through the forest, biting into animals, enjoying their screams, enjoying their squirming in his muscular arms.

After a while, he ended up in front of a cave.

The distant smell of blood and... something wafted out from it, so he chose to go inside.

The clouds parted.

A bright disk of a mysterious bluish-white graced the world with its light, supported by little specks of brightness, littered over the darkness above.

He stopped.

Seeing the moon never ceased to amaze the figure.

"Awoooooooooo!"

His howl echoed over the castle grounds, through the forest, and to a village in the distance. A wolf's eyes were sharp, so he saw it.

That's our next stop.

... Didn't you have enough?

Never. He licked his lips, disappearing in the cave. Bring it on, beast!

Marion woke up with the taste of blood in his mouth.

That's never a good sign, he thought, pushing himself into a sitting position. He rubbed his temples, discovering himself to be naked.

He couldn't even blush anymore.

This always happened...

"Where did I fall asleep today... oh." A dead bear laid next to him, it's jaw dislocated and a painful-looking hole in its belly. It had biting marks on its neck and both its front legs were ripped from its body, seemingly thrown away in lusting hunger. "That explains it."

He never remembered much of his nocturnal adventures. Come full moon, the beast just takes over, as it had for years...

Marion rubbed the tears away with his hand.

Where was he now?

He was running through a cage, using his superior dark vision to escape from some angry villagers one moment, and the next, he woke up in a cave with Carl over him and guards arresting them both.

Guards from a noble Viktor...?

He didn't know a noble named Viktor.

Maybe he'd recognize the scenery?

Marion walked back to the entrance.

He smelled the fresh air, the forest, the scent of... dead animals. He gulped, tasting blood in his mouth.

How bad had he rampaged this time?

Was it just animals, or...

Marion didn't want to think about it.

The first thing he saw when he left the cave was the forest, stretching far to the horizon. In the distance, he could make out a town, and in the not-so-great distance, prominently placed on a small mountain, stood...

"Oh, no..."

... the castle Marion remembered as noble Viktor's residence.

He had been sleeping in the prison for a few days now, which meant... he had killed them all. It always got worse when he starved.

It's like his primal instincts take over, and he won't just bite people, but devour them, seek their flesh...

He broke down as the inevitable truth assaulted his mind.

"I... killed them all."

There was still the question of where he was, but that didn't matter. A noble house just died because of him... his family had managed to keep him safe, to lock him into a shed far away from the village every time it happened, but even then, the villagers took the chance when he was alone and not transformed to hunt him down.

Now, he'd have skilled guards, maybe even the royal army at his back...

Marion shook his head.

They didn't know it was him, yet.

Maybe he had a chance...

If he went to that village and gathered information, maybe he could work something out... Judging by how long it took for the full moon to appear in the dungeons, he should have a few weeks before the full moon came back... at least if the lunar cycle was the same around here.

He just needed some clothing... the bear!

Marion trotted back, sloppily working to separate the bear hide from its flesh. It was a daunting task, he didn't even have a knife, but he got it done... somehow.

Chunks of flesh still stuck to the hide, and there were bite marks in it, but he had done a spectacular job at feasting on this thing in his beast form, so it wasn't as difficult as it could have been.

He used a rib as a make-shift knife, even.

It had to work.

For the moment, at least, it had to work.

Suited up like that, Marion confirmed the direction of the village once more, then set out to walk towards it.

He had to be gone a week before he transformed... if not earlier.

If he didn't get as much distance between him and that place, they would all die...

What was his purpose, there?

Did he want to repeat the same mistakes he did when he was with his family?

... his family.

He wanted to see them again.

What he wanted more than anything from this town was the information about where he was. He needed to go back home, where his loved ones were...

Even if the villagers hunted him down, even if he died by their hands...

They had every reason to do so.

He wouldn't resist.

History wouldn't repeat itself.