The Searcher of Souls Part 1

   
     Kate was your everyday female who worked hard at her job and listened to the drama of everyone else's life. She was a friend to many who usually just needed her to listen to their problems and give them some advice. Kate was twenty-six years old, a little big boned for her height, with long blonde hair, and deep brown eyes. She lived alone in her two bedroom apartment which the spare bedroom was for her mother when she came to visit. She worked in an advertising firm which the pay was okay but it did have long hours. She really didn't care for the social nightlife that her friends liked. She only has a drink every now and then but mostly when it is a special occasion.
     Everyday Kate went to work, came home to her fluffy white cat, Pearl, and sat at her desk working on the next day's project. She was no social butterfly but she liked it that way. Her last date was about three weeks ago and it was quick and pleasant, but she wasn't really into the whole dating scene as of yet. She lived a simple life with only a few close friends, her overbearing mother, her fluffy cat Pearl, and an annoying ex-boyfriend who stalks her because she won't take him back.
     Her life might have been simple but she pretty much had a routine that anyone could keep up with. She woke up every morning and headed for the bathroom to shower, get dressed, and put her makeup on. She always just threw her hair into a ponytail and went about her way. She would walk into her kitchen, feed Pearl, and start the coffee maker. While the coffee was brewing Kate would turn on the television and check out the morning news.
     Once the coffee was finished, she would grab a cup, grab her briefcase, and run out the front door. Luckily for her, she only lived a few blocks away from work. As she walked down the street, she would stop at the local news stand for her morning paper. It was such a nice morning on this one particular day that she slowed her pace to work just to take in the fresh morning sunshine. Sipping her coffee, listening to the morning noise of jackhammers and cars, and thinking about her new project she was working on took her mind away just for a few minutes before she witnessed a truly bad pedestrian accident.
     She watched as a pedestrian crossing the street at a crosswalk when suddenly a blue Chevy Nova turned the corner and plowed right into the pedestrian. She watched as the person's frail body flew up into the air and over the Nova's hood. Kate, dropping her coffee, could sense that the person would be badly hurt so she pulled out her cell phone and called the police to report the accident.
     The Chevy Nova stopped and the driver got out to check on the pedestrian, who was laying lifeless on the hood. Kate got a little closer and could see blood running from the person's ears and mouth. It didn't look good for the pedestrian at all. She was an older senior citizen probably in her seventies with a small petite frame. She had white and silver hair and as she lay there on the hood of the car with her eyes open, you could see how sky blue they were.
     Kate got closer and could see that the woman was not breathing and her eyes were in a fixed position to which she looked still as if she were a statue in a wax museum. As Kate stood there staring at this woman with the operator on the phone, she noticed what appeared to be a dark shadow out of the corner of her eye. She looked around in the direction which she saw it and couldn't see anything. By the time she looked back towards the woman she saw this tall dark shadow figure standing right next to the dead woman on the hood of the Chevy Nova.
     She could not see any face and that the shadow appeared to be wearing some type of ritual robe that was hooded covering the face of the visitor. Kate watched as this shadow figure waved its hands over and across the elderly woman's body. After doing this for several minutes, Kate saw this woman's spirit raise up from her body. Kate wiped her eyes to make sure she was seeing thing correctly. The hooded figure looked up in Kate's direction as if he noticed her watching, grabbed the spirits hand who didn't want to go willingly, and then disappeared with it.
     Kate stood there for a few minutes while hearing the ambulance sirens in the background as they came down the road. "Was that who I thought it was?", Kate asked herself. She was not really a religious person and only remember the stories that her mother told her of heaven and hell. Then her older brother who was into the whole heavy metal scene always tried frightening her with a dark spirit known as the grim reaper who took lost souls to hell.
     This figure couldn't have been the grim reaper, he had no sickle in his hand, but she will always remember how he looked at her almost like he would come for her next. She could not see his face well but did notice those eyes that were of flames from hell. They were orangish red and seemed to glow in the darkness that surrounded them. Kate was startled back to reality when a passerby bumped into her, and then she noticed the paramedics trying to revive the old woman. She thought to herself that they would not revive her because she has gone to the other side.
     Kate looked down at her watch and noticed that she was late for work so she hurried by the crowd that was surrounding the accident. She was only a block away from work but it seemed to take such a long time getting there. Once she made her way inside the door she was met by her boss who was concerned about her being late because Kate was never late for work. She informed her boss of the accident she saw on the way over and that sufficed her boss who then went on his way back to his office.
     The work environment at her job was fast paced but Kate could not get that image out of her head. Those eyes which seemed to sere their way through her body as it glanced at her. This figure was taller than any man she knew of and it wore such a creepy robe like it was going to perform some ritual right there on the hood of that car. Before she knew it, she found herself sketching the image that she saw standing over that old woman. It was frightening even on paper.
     Kate noticed that her boss was headed in her direction and quickly put the drawing away as to not let anyone see it. She folded it up and slipped it inside her briefcase closing it just as her boss reached her workstation. "Is everything okay, Kate?", her boss asked. "Yes, everything is fine, Mr. Brennan, just getting things set up to work on the new project", Kate replied. "Good, keep up the good work Kate", her boss stated as he walked away. Kate went ahead and began working on her new project as if nothing strange had happened that morning, and by the end of the day, she had turned in her new ad campaign to her boss who was very pleased with her ideas.
     At the end of the day which seemed to go on forever, Kate was finally headed for home. She stopped in at a local cafe for a bite to eat since she didn't feel up to cooking when she got home. While sitting at the cafe table waiting on her food, Kate's phone went off ringing until she finally grabbed it to answer. When she said "hello", there was a creepy, ghostly-like voice on the phone that said, "I'll be seeing you soon" and then hung up. It startled Kate for a minute before she was on the phone calling one of her friends to come meet her.
     Sarah, who was Kate's closest friend showed up at the cafe wanting to know if Kate was okay. She noticed that Kate sounded a little disturbed when she spoke to her on the phone. Kate was happy to see Sarah and gave her a big hug when she walked up. Sarah sat down at the table when the waitress came over asking if she needed anything to which she replied that she would like a diet soda and a side salad. While the waitress was writing that down on her pad, Kate looked at Sarah and asked, "How is that diet working out for you?" Sarah looked at Kate smiling and replied, "How is that outfit working out for you"?
     They both just laughed and it was good for Kate to laugh being what she is going through at the moment. Kate leaned across the table closer to Sarah whispering to her asking about the grim reaper. Sarah looked up from her phone at her best friend asking if she was alright. Kate nodded and then began telling her about the accident she witnessed earlier that morning. She hesitated for a minute before telling Sarah about the shadowy figure that took the old woman's spirit.
     Sarah reached over feeling Kate's forehead asking if she was feverish. She listened as Kate told her everything about that accident and then told her about the creepy phone call just before she called Sarah. Sarah now had a concerned look on her face as her friend seemed distracted while talking with her. Sarah, who was a devout Christian, spoke to Kate about heaven and hell and all the demons walking around, and that she didn't believe in the grim reaper. That was just a made up creation by someone on acid. They both sat there and just laughed at the whole ordeal before the waitress came over with their food.
     They both turned the conversation to something lite-hearted while enjoying their food. Kate was enjoying a grease dripping hamburger which was making Sarah a little queasy due to her being a vegetarian, but Kate couldn't resist a good burger and that cafe made the best. They sat there conversating while eating before leaving the waitress a tip and heading out the door. While standing outside the cafe door, Sarah lit up a cigarette and when she had blown the white smoke from her mouth, Kate's reply was, "You're a vegetarian who smokes?" Sarah looked over at Kate and they both smiled before hugging goodbye to each other.
     Kate went ahead and walked home, but on the way, she saw yet another car accident where the driver lost control and drove right into a telephone pole ejecting him halfway through the windshield. Again, she reached for her phone calling for an ambulance. While she stood there about ten feet from the wrecked vehicle, Kate, again noticed the same black shadowy figure coming from the other side of the car towards the driver. She watched as the tall figure reached in and grabbed the man's spirit like a child snatching a cookie. She could almost hear the driver's spirit crying out to not take him.
     While Kate stood there in shock, again the dark figure looked up at her with those fiery eyes and spoke the words from the darkness, "I'll see you soon". It made Kate tremble on the inside hearing those words again just like the phone call. This time Kate wasn't waiting around for the ambulance and quickly walked to her apartment. She did not stop until she was behind her apartment door locked tight. She thought to herself, "Was it talking to me"? She felt a little more relaxed being home and hearing Pearl meowing for food.
     She walked into her kitchen and opened a can of cat food for Pearl and waited while her cat jumped up onto the counter to eat before standing there petting it and telling Pearl how her day went. Once Pearl was finished eating and jumped down off of the counter, Kate went into the living room, turning on the television only to see the news about the pedestrian accident she witnessed earlier that morning. She sat there staring at the television and watching it all the way up until the paramedics got there but did not see the dark figure standing above the old woman.
     "Could she have imagined the whole thing being in shock?", she thought to herself. Kate quickly got up from her chair and went over to her desk sitting down in front of the computer and searched for the term "grim reaper" which pulled up many images that people had drawn or imagined. While skimming the page, she came across the exact replica of the tall dark figure she witnessed. It was him just without the sickle part. Kate sat there staring at this picture before pulling the drawing from her briefcase for comparison. It was an exact match.
     Kate had now convinced herself that what she saw was, in fact, the grim reaper, the searcher of souls. At that moment, Kate heard a knock at her door. When she walked over to open the door, she peered out the eye hole to see who it was. There was no one there or no one that she could see.anyway, so she opened the door slowly. Once she looked outside the door, there in front of her was the dark, shadowy figure she had seen twice today standing at her doorway.
     Kate has turned and slammed the door in fear of what she just saw. Once the door was closed and locked, she turned around to find the dark figure standing inside her apartment and right in front of her. She quickly got her wits together and asked it what it wanted. She watched as it's skeletal hand with melting flesh reached out to her. She stepped back and again asked it what it wanted. The figure spoke out from the darkness saying that it had come for her. At that moment, everything went black.
   
 

The Werewolf Files- Forever Wolf

      After eating my bagel and drinking a couple cups of black coffee, I began staring at those books wondering if I really will find a cure. It's not like I can walk into a hospital or research lab and say"hey, I'm a werewolf, can you cure me?". They would lock me up in a mental institution for that. So, I started by opening the books again and reading more into the history of werewolves and trying to see if I overlooked anything or missed a hidden clue. It was all starting to get monotonous with all this reading and experimenting with blood samples, but there had to be a key somewhere to unlock its secrets.
     I had the day off of work so that I could clean my house, run some errands, and do some more experimenting since I brought home a new microscope to work with. My dining room became a lab for research, and it's where I spend a lot of my time. I am desperate to find this cure and I am very hopeful that I will, but I do have to accept the fact if I don't that I will be forever a werewolf.
     I reached into the desk drawer and pulled out some gloves, an empty vial, a syringe, and tourniquet to draw another blood sample. I have everything here to run some lab tests to examine the blood some more. I took the tourniquet and wrapped it around my upper arm and got it tight. I took the syringe and stuck it into my vein and watched as the dark red blood filled the syringe. After taking the tourniquet off, I pulled out the blood-filled syringe and laid it on the table. I took an alcohol pad wiping my arm where the syringe was inserted and then put a bandage over it.
     I took the syringe and inserted it into the vial filling it with the blood sample before doing some experiments with it. I pulled out the book which showed the different blood cells of the werewolf and another book which showed regular human blood cells. I took my microscope and prepared two slides of blood samples. I took some chemicals I had laying around and added some to each sample. Once I compared them it showed no change except for one which it seemed to make the cell reproduce. Using that chemical would mean becoming more werewolf and that's not what I wanted.
     There was no change in the other sample, so I tried some more chemical compositions to see if there would be any change. Nothing. It seemed like I was hitting a brick wall no matter what I did or tried.  There must be a cure somewhere and I need to find it. I have one month before the next full moon to see what I can discover. From my observations, I can see that the werewolf blood cells dominate the human cells. I am trying every chemical known to man to find what will change the werewolf blood cells, but I keep hitting that wall. Will I ever find the cure I keep asking myself?
     I was getting a little overwhelmed after trying different things for several hours and figured I needed a break. I got up from the table and headed into the kitchen to make a bite to eat. I made a quick sandwich, grabbed a bag of potato chips, a drink, and headed back into the dining room. I looked over the table and had a mess of everything and nowhere to set my lunch down, so I went into the living room to eat. While I sat on the couch eating my lunch, I pondered over a few things and tried to think if I missed anything. All these calculations going through my mind was making my lunch a little less meaningful to my stomach.
     I got through my lunch and just sat there on the couch. I was so distracted by this whole werewolf thing that I haven't checked my mail lately, bought any groceries, or even went out on a date in months. My whole life has been consumed by being a werewolf every full moon. The very thought of getting close to anyone scares me to death because I can't share this with anyone or they would have me committed to a hospital or worse yet a research lab doing experiments on me. That is not how I want to live life, being someone's science project.
     I need to figure this out or make the necessary implementations that I will need being a werewolf. Do I stock my deep freezer with raw meat, save up money to buy a new outfit or two every month since I will destroy one or two, or do I just give in and accept the fact that I may be a carnivorous beast that has to hide away from the public eye? I really have so many options here. Oh, I feel like a good massage since last night made my whole body ache. I think I will go get one in fact. That might help relieve some stress and give me a fresh mind to think about the situation.
     I got my dining room table cleaned up and organized, got dressed in some casual wear like a sweat suit, and headed out the door. I knew a place that I usually frequent where the staff is fabulous and I can get a very good deep massage. I also know the owner who I exchange a good massage for passes to the zoo for her grandchildren. I think it's an honest deal. Her grandchildren are happy at the zoo which relieves her stress on the weekends and I get my stress reliever while someone is working my body over.
     Anyway, I drove to downtown and found their office open and the parking lot almost empty. I pulled into the parking lot, got out, locked my car doors, and headed inside. The staff already knows me and what I like, so they escorted me to a room and I got prepared for my massage which entailed me getting undressed and putting on one of their white robes which were so warm and comfy.
     I sat in that room for about ten minutes before the masseuse came in to work my body over. I took my arms out of the robe and wrapped the remainder of the robe around my waist before climbing up on the table. I laid down on my stomach and got comfortable before she even touched me. I lay there listening to her prepare her hands with oils and lotions before coming over to the table. She started rubbing my temples first to relax me and then I laid my head down with my face looking through the hole in the table as her hands began to work their magic. I could feel every tense muscle just release as she massaged them. She took her time and really dug in deep while informing me that she could feel the tightness and tension in my muscles.
     All I could tell her was that I had a hard week at work. Which it was strenuous at work for me because of being so clouded with thoughts of the impending full moon all while taking care of my animals. They are important to me and I love each and every one of them. I could not see myself hurting them or letting anyone else hurt them for that matter. I chose this profession and for good reasons. At least now the wolves in their habitat are okay with me. They don't see me as a threat anymore. I still love them like I always have.
     The masseuse was getting deeper into my lower back muscles and it was feeling so damn good. I felt like saying "Calgon take me away, and my masseuse with me". She just laughed and kept working those muscles. As she pushed on my back I could feel each one of my vertebrae pop and it sent tingles down my whole body. When she was done, it felt like I couldn't move because my body was so relaxed. She ended up helping me off the table so I could get dressed.
     Once I was dressed, she escorted me back out to the front where I could take care of my bill for services. I also turned to her and handed her a twenty dollar tip for doing such a good job. She smiled and told me thank you before heading back into the hallway and disappearing. I stood there and talked with the owner for a bit before heading home. I grabbed some lotion she recommended that I could use on my body after a hot shower that would do wonders for my stress. I told her thank you before walking out the door.
     I got back into my car and headed first, to the grocery store to pick up some food, then to the post office to check my mailbox before going back home. When I got to the grocery store, this parking lot was full of cars and I knew shopping will be a bit difficult. I like to get in, get my things, and get out. I guess that won't happen today. I parked my car, got out, and started walking to the store entrance.
     Once inside, I grabbed a shopping cart and headed over towards the produce section for some ruffage in my diet. I got over by the produce and my stomach started gurgling and I thought to myself that I need to stockpile meat for my freezer, so I skipped the produce and headed over to the meat section and began picking out large choice meat and throwing it into my cart. I filled half of the cart with meat before going after my bagels.
     Once I was done shopping I headed over to the checkout line and paid for my groceries. A helpful bag boy pushed my cart full of groceries out to my car and I couldn't help noticing the faint smell of his cologne. I guess you could say it was the wolf senses. Anyway, we got my groceries in the car and then I headed home. It was going to be a long day of research and I will need food to sustain my nourishment.
     I was able to get everything into the house and put away before grabbing a bagel and some fresh coffee. I sat down at the table looking up at my calendar on the wall counting the days before the next full moon. I had precisely seven days until the dog in me raised its ugly head.
     I opened the books to where I left off and began analyzing everything and doing some rechecking on my figures. None of it made any sense. It was like werewolf blood was alien and that nothing manmade would kill it. I have tried everything I can think of that doesn't involve me getting radiation sickness. It was all boiling down to me remaining a werewolf if I didn't come up with any options. I did, in fact, look at it like it was only one night out of every month that I had to dust myself for fleas and get a nail job. So that made it look a little more on the bright side.
     I looked over everything for the next seven days and came up with nothing to fix my problem. I even went down to see my wolves in their habitat and spent some time with them contemplating how to reassure myself it was going to be okay. Once the day came for me to lock away, I made provisions to my permanent fixture downstairs by setting up some fresh raw meat for the night and double checking my chains and locks.
     I was worried though about if my werewolf side would get stronger over time the more I change. I went back to the books to do some reading up on that before heading back out to the hardware store and buying thicker and heavier chains. I needed to keep myself well hid from everyone when I transformed, so definitely thicker chains.
     I spent the day reading and double checking things but kept hitting a road block on everything. It just seemed hopeless and that I will be a werewolf for the rest of my life. As the day went by, I filled my stomach with food and placed water downstairs for hydration after the change was over. I noticed that the last time I woke up with such a dry mouth and felt severe thirst.
     I managed to glance out my window and noticed the sun setting and that it was almost time. I got everything locked up and one last bite to eat before heading down to the basement. I turned the light on and proceeded to get myself chained up and had everything I needed to get through this night. So, I sat on the floor and waited it out like I looked forward to it or something.
     Then, as I looked towards the window, I could feel the light of the moon touching my face, and then it began. I could feel my skin start to crawl and then stretch. I raised my hand and watched as my fingers started to distort, and then my nails started to look like claws as they grew from my fingers. I could feel my face as it stretched into a dog's snout, and the hair on my body became more pronounced like I was being covered in a bear rug. My spine began transforming and it became so painful that I could scream. It was happening and I couldn't  stop it. The only thing that went through my mind was that I would be forever wolf.



 

The Werewolf Files- Finding the Cure

     My face felt warm with the rays of sunshine beaming through my living room window as I woke up to finding myself hanging halfway off of the couch. I picked myself up and headed for the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. After setting up the coffee maker, I headed for the bathroom to wash my face and hands to help me wake up. Today was my day off and I was pretty tired from the whole week I had. Today was a new day and I get to spend the whole day reading my books and attempting to find a cure for what ails me. After washing my face and looking at myself in the mirror, one could wonder why someone with such an attractive face could possibly turn into a werewolf. That is just the ego side of me talking and playing jokes on myself. I personally look beat in the mirror so who was I fooling.
     I heard the coffee maker stop brewing and headed back into the kitchen which was bright with the morning sun and poured myself a nice tall cup of java. I grabbed my coffee and a bagel and headed for the dining room table where I left all my books last night. I was even smart enough to leave a marker where I left off. I sat down and got comfortable placing my bagel on one side of the table and brought the book closer to me while sipping on my coffee. I glanced over at my notes and saw the chicken scratch I had left the night before. It was time to get back into the books to see what I can find to rid myself of this werewolf problem.
     After reading so many pages and taking notes, I did find that being bitten by a werewolf was to place a curse on the victim. It also states that since it is known to be a curse, the only way to break the curse is to find and kill the werewolf that took a bite out of you. That should be fairly easy, not. All I know is that I was bitten by a werewolf, but I do not know who the werewolf was as a human. So, that won't help me at all. I had no choice but to keep reading and hopefully find something out dealing with the blood side of it. Maybe there was a serum that could be synthesized to cure it from inside the blood? I don't know, it just seems so impossible for this to happen and especially to me. Someone who deals with animals on an everyday basis just happened to be bitten by another animal and is now cursed for all eternity. That would just have to be my luck.
     I got so engrossed in the reading that my head was starting to hurt. It was taking in too much information at once, so I pushed the books away and got up for another cup of coffee before starting again. This time I cradled my cup of coffee in my hands as I leaned against the kitchen counter. I stood against the counter but my eyes were still focused on the stack of books sitting on top of my dining room table. This was beginning to consume me because I wanted so much to find a cure for this werewolf thing. I shrugged it off and headed back to the table to begin reading again. I came across sections of the books that referred to the blood-borne infection and it made me search harder to see if any progress or clues were given to remedy this situation.
     Everything just broke down the blood into samples and elements and how many ribosomes there was inside one tiny blood cell. It was becoming scientific, which is where I shine being a biologist, but there has to be something I'm missing. I spent about two hours looking through these samples in the books to see if they would tell me anything, but I kept coming up with nothing. I then began writing out formulas to break the sample down to see is a serum could be synthesized to cure the infection. I came up with a few different scenarios that could be tried but was not promising anything. I scooped up the books I needed and grabbed my purse before heading out the door and driving to the lab at the zoo.
     Once I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed that half of everyone had already left for the day which was perfect because I would need some privacy to conduct my experiments. I parked the car and grabbed everything I needed and headed for the lab. While I was walking down the hallway towards the lab, my assistant was coming out and getting ready to lock up so I had to stop her. I called out to her and somewhat startled her, but informed her not to lock up because I had some tests to run and would be here late. She agreed and left the door opened and said her goodnight before leaving. I walked into the lab and set my stuff down on the table before going into the chemical room to grab what I needed to perform these experiments.
     After I gathered everything, I took it back into the lab and grabbed some test tubes and beakers to begin some experimenting. I grabbed a tourniquet and wrapped it around my upper arm, then I made a fist a few times before taking a good sample tube of my blood with a syringe. I wanted to make sure there was enough for a few experiments so I wouldn't have to put so many holes in my arms. I don't tolerate pain very well. I placed the sample tube of blood in a test tube holder while I bandaged my arm up and put the tourniquet and other stuff away. I first reached into a drawer and pulled out a fresh syringe as to not contaminate the blood. I took the syringe and pushed it inside the sample tube filling the syringe with one-half of a milliliter of my blood. I put a drop onto the microscope slide and looked at it visually under the microscope to be able to see details and make notes. I then took the rest of the blood in the syringe and placed inside another blood vial before putting it into the centrifuge to separate the blood components.
     I needed to break the blood up to see any key factors that might not show up in regular human blood. After the centrifuge was done I took the sample and split up all the components onto different microscope slides to examine. Everything seemed to look normal until I got to one slide where there was an abnormality. I took the sample and put it into another machine to get the DNA sequence and once that was done, I found the abnormality that was in my blood from the werewolf bite. Its factor was not of a human origin. I looked up and gave my head a good scratch before looking back at the sample. There had to be a way for me to isolate this abnormality and eventually eradicate it from my blood.
     I began testing the sample with different chemicals to see if any of them would attack or kill it. I found nothing. I tried every different compound I could and it made no difference. Here I was in this lad until the wee hours of the morning trying to find the cure for what has happened to me and keep coming up with nothing. Something is just not right here. There has to be some chemical combination that would kill this blood abnormality but I wasn't finding it. This whole ordeal is like something sour you ate that keeps the sour taste on your tongue for a while. This is just ridiculous.
     After spending all night and half of the morning trying to figure this out, my assistant walked in to find me hunched over my lab table asleep. She reached for my shoulder waking me and asking if everything was okay? I told her everything was as it should be while grasping at everything to hide it from her. I boxed up everything, books, samples, I mean everything that I was working with and told her good night before leaving the lab. I made it out to the car and managed to get everything into the trunk of my car and closing it before hearing the sounds of my children calling me. I felt so bad that I was here all night and not once did I go say hello to anyone.
     I closed the trunk and headed back to the zoo to say good morning to all my children. I stepped back into the lab and grabbed my clipboard and some goodies for my pockets before heading out to the habitats. I made my rounds and gave out some treats and loved them before moving on to the next one. They were just so happy to see me and I could tell when they miss me. Once I was at the wolf habitat, I leaned down by the bars and everyone came over to greet me. I stuck out my hand for everyone to smell and give my hand a good licking while I spoke to them like they would understand. I miss them every time I get a day off, but sometimes I just need a break.
     Once I made my rounds and said hello to everyone, I headed back towards the lab to drop off the clipboard before heading for my car. I was exhausted and beat up. I needed to be at home in my robe and slippers lounging around the house, but I knew this was not going to happen. I needed to finish my experimenting to find the cure to this werewolfism that has demanded my life.
     Once I got home, I brought the box from my trunk inside the house and placed it on the table. I just stood there looking at everything before I looked up and noticed that I was running short on time because there was a full moon tomorrow night. I needed some answers and quickly. I began taking everything out of the box and placing it on the table. Soon my dining room looked like a lab with all the beakers and test tubes set up. Before I went back to experimenting, I took a walk downstairs to my basement to check on my new device to keep me restrained should I not find a cure before tomorrow night. I checked all the chains and locks and everything seemed to be in order.
     I made sure there was a bucket nearby should I have to use the restroom while chained and some water to keep me from dehydration. It was my safe haven just in case. After checking, I made my way back upstairs to finish with my experimenting. One after another I came up with no results. I couldn't find anything that would kill the abnormality in my blood. I even went as far as trying silver nitrate with the werewolf myth of killing one with a silver bullet and still nothing worked. I was at my wit's end trying to figure it out, so I decided to take a break from it for a few days so I could come back to it with fresh eyes and mind. I left everything the way it was and walked away from the table and took myself to the couch in the living room and lounged back watching television until falling asleep.
     When I woke up the next morning, no matter how hard it was, I had to walk by the table that held the key to my humanity. I went into the kitchen for my coffee and then to the bathroom to wash up. I did whatever I could to keep away from the table to give my mind a break. I took a shower and got myself into something comfortable so that I would be ready for tonight. Once I had everything set up and ready, I took a short walk before the moon was to show it's face. After walking for about forty-five minutes I headed back home to get situated. I had about an hour before sunset and didn't want any foul ups. I went to the bathroom before heading down to the basement and getting into my chains. I brought a snack with me if I get hungry, started chaining myself up, and with a broom stick close by, I threw the keys about six feet away from my reach. I sat down against the concrete pillar and waited. The only thoughts running through my head at that moment was that I wished this night would be over with.
     There I sat until the nausea feeling hit my stomach and then the pain set in from my body changing. It felt like my skin was crawling for which it really was. I looked down and saw the hair growing on my arms and watched as my fingers stretched and distorted. The long sharp claws that grew right in front of my eyes. I started to panic but there was nothing I could do. I was changing uncontrollably. At that point, I think I blacked out because I woke up the next morning lying on my basement floor still chained and my clothes tattered. My hair was a mess and I could see scratches on my body that were self-inflicted. Once I was awake enough, I reached out and grabbed the broom handle, using it to reach for the keys. It took a few minutes but I finally got the keys and unlocked myself from my chains.
     I picked myself up and managed to get back upstairs and change clothes. I had no recollection of what happened last night once I blacked out. I do remember the crawling skin and growing claws but nothing more. After changing and washing my face, I returned to the kitchen for some strong coffee and a bagel. My neck was sore and when I looked into the bathroom mirror, I saw where I had strained my neck with the chains but they held. I sat at the table and stared at the books wondering if I will ever find a cure, or will those chains in the basement become a permanent fixture?