Chapter 7

Cameron felt bone crunch and tried to ignore the sound as his body kept eating. He’d tried to resist the hunger as long as he could, even tried eating raw steak, but nothing worked. Every day he woke up feeling hungrier and looking hairier, and although he found he could resist his transformation for a while, eventually the hunger would win. When that happened, Cameron took a back seat and the werewolf took the wheel, finding the closest victim and ripping them to shreds. He tried to focus on anything else, like how his breath jetted out of his nostrils and turned to steam in the cool spring air. After he fed he would be human for maybe a few days, but it wasn’t long before the hunger came creeping back.

This was, what? His fourth, fifth feeding? He had been proud of himself for putting himself in bad neighborhoods late at night before the feeding became unbearable so that the victims would at least be people no one cared about. But the homeless wised up within a week and the werewolf had roamed back toward the main part of town when it hadn’t found anyone.

Now Cameron was dining on some poor old lady who’d been walking her dog. He tried to shut his mind against the memory of downing her poor little terrier in two bites before starting to work on her. He couldn’t let this continue anymore, not when he was hurting innocent people.

It was time to get help.

“Help?” he thought as he crunched on a flimsy leg bone, “That old fart fucked me up big time!”

This was no mere accident, this was an old wizard playing with a naive kid like a toy, ruining his life because he just wanted to see what would happen. Ben had suckered him in from the beginning, had let him “bargain” for a dose of pills, knowing full well that Cameron would take them all. He was probably gazing into a crystal ball, watching him eat this poor woman, cackling with glee.

Even though the wolf was still feeding, Cameron let out a roar of rage. He suddenly stopped, never having been able to control his actions while transformed before. He looked around the alley where he’d dragged the body and listened carefully to see if anyone had heard. All he could make out was the sound of two people arguing somewhere off in the distance, maybe a block or two away.

As he calmed down, he felt the wolf start took over again to resume feeding. Cameron concentrated with all his might, trying to leave the bloody corpse, fighting the beast inside him that was licking its chops at what little meat was left. He pulled, starting to back away slowly, but a light gust of wind brought the scent of meat to his snout and he pounced back on the body, finishing it off.

Were he human, he would have cried. He didn’t want to do this, it wasn’t his fault. He’d been following the news as best he could, snatching newspapers out of recycle bins, and he knew the authorities were officially looking for a cougar, but he thought that might be a cover story. They might know exactly what was going on and were covertly seeking him out at this very minute. And they would surely execute him. He was a serial killer now. He had to get to Ben. Ben had to fix him.

Having consumed what little meat was on the lady’s old bones, Cameron was able to turn his head away and he felt himself gain more control over his body. He started to feel full again and he felt his body start to relax, start to transform back to human. He no longer felt pain during his transformations, just the dull ache of his bones stretching and compressing.

Cameron hid in the shadow of a fire escape, waiting to return to human. He breathed heavily, the rasp of his throat loud in his ears. There was no living thing nearby, not even a stray cat. He looked up between the buildings, seeing a few washed-out stars in the sky.

He closed his eyes, waiting for his body to return to normal. These days, normal wasn’t what it used to be. He was always somewhat pumped up, like an athlete. He had used to want to be this way all the time, but it didn’t make him happy now. It was only a sign of what was wrong with him, that in a few short days he’d be tearing into another helpless victim.

Finally he felt his body calm, his stomach full. He would be fine, at least for a little while.

He opened his eyes again. He saw the pile of blood and bones near his feet and his rage at Ben returned. He let out another involuntary yell, but before he could stop himself it had become a roar again. His nose had started lengthening into a snout and his hair grew out suddenly.

He almost roared again in panic. He was really losing control now. He tried to calm himself, tried to breathe slowly. In, out. In, out. It worked a little, and he felt his features start to shrink again. The constant push and pull of his bones was aching. He needed to go to the store now.

Cameron started down the alley toward the main street, trying to keep calm. He tried not to think about his situation, how fucked he was. Of course, that got him going again and the dull ache of his jaw told him he was failing to keep control. He would have to go down the street partially transformed, there was no other way. The store was only three blocks away, and with everything so empty and quiet he had a good chance of making it.

Benedict was fast asleep. Now that the two love-birds had finally left, he’d been able to get some rest. Ah, to be young again, he’d thought as he’d drifted off. It was soon, though, far too soon, that he was suddenly awoken. One of his basic security spells had detected something abnormal approaching the shop, and it was getting closer.

It was Cameron. Benedict sighed and fished around for his glasses. He jammed them quickly on his nose and put on a robe. He entered his shop and stood behind the counter like he was minding the store. He waited.

Even at his age he could hear the sound of heavy footfalls as Cameron came up the stairs. The sound was much louder than it should be. There was no way that this Cameron was the same boy who had come through his door a few short weeks ago.

Benedict heard the footsteps reach the door, then pause.

The door crashed open with a sound like an explosion. The top hinge broke in half and the door leaned precariously on the remaining bottom one. If Benedict hadn’t cast a few quick protection spells when was getting ready the sound would have woken the dead. Well, not literally.

Through the doorway strode a tall figure. Cameron was larger than Ben had thought he would be, his head stooping slightly so as not to touch the top of the doorway. His eyes seemed to glow yellow in the dim light. His teeth were bared and were dripping red. The fur on his front was matted all over with blood, with small rivers flooding down his muscles.

“YOU OLD FUCKER!” he roared. He lifted his arms, his claws glinting in the light from the street.

Ben’s face fell.

“Oh dear gods,” he sighed. “It is as I feared.”

Cameron smashed a glass cabinet with one arm. The glass cut his paw-like hand, releasing blood that mixed with what was already on him.

“As YOU feared! Look what you’ve done to me! I’m a monster and a murderer!”

“Cameron Barnes, I told you the pills were very powerful. I told you not to take more than four.”

Cameron crossed the shop at great speed, knocking over small tables as he leaped. Before Ben could react, a strong hand was around his neck from across the counter. A claw came into view, dangerously close to his face.

“You did this, you fucker. This is your fault. Fix me. If not...”

Benedict was trembling now. He felt the blood drain from his face. Cameron didn’t seem to have much control over himself and he might just get his throat slit if he wasn’t careful.

“Please, boy, please, I beg you, calm down. I will fix you. Yes, I will fix you.”

Cameron released him slowly, still showing his claws. Benedict looked down at the hand that had smashed the cabinet, noticing the blood that was still flowing.

“You’re bleeding,” he said.

Cameron growled lowly, pulling the hand away and taking a step back.

“This is important,” he tried to explain. “Natural werewolves are self-healing. You appear not to be.”

“What’s the point?!” barked Cameron.

Benedict tried to calm himself. He needed to try to explain.

“This will help me formulate a cure. Cameron, this is extremely complex magic we are dealing with. We will need to be careful. I will help you, I promise. I couldn’t possibly stay in business by leaving my customers unsatisfied, could I?”

“UNSATISFIED??” roared Cameron.

Ben shook his head. He needed to watch his words.

“I’m sorry, I understand this is a horrible side-effect. There’s no need to worry about payment, naturally, I will find a way to cure you. I will work on nothing else until that’s done. But you need to calm down. I can’t possibly work if you’re threatening to eviscerate me at every moment.”

Cameron grumbled something suggesting confusion.

Benedict grimaced. “Eviscerate means, do whatever you did to the person whose blood you’re wearing. Now I need to run some tests back in the lab. I need a small sample of your fur.”

Cameron gripped his arm and ripped a patch of fur off. He barely flinched doing it. His yellow eyes never strayed from Benedict’s face.

“Now, please, wait here while I go. This may take a little while. Please try to remain calm, I’m not going far, I’ll be back soon.”

He turned to leave, but thought of one more thing.