The Evil Eyes That Follow

     It was a cool breezy day in November when four college students decided to take a camping trip to get away from all the stress of everyday life. There was Kendra, Steven, Allison, and of course Darryl, the geek from school. Everyone kept in touch and met at the local coffee shop to make the plans and preparations. Everyone was on board and contributed to a part of the planning and who was going to bring what.
     They decided that they would use Steven's four wheel drive Chevy truck as transportation and that he would make the arrangements to pick everyone up that morning to leave. It was a difficult decision as to where they wanted to camp with the choices being at a California beach or stay within their state of Oregon and camp in the woods.
     It came down to a vote and with three choosing to camp in the woods, Kendra was the only one who wanted the beach scene. So, it was now time to figure out what part of the state they wanted to go. As they discussed it, Darryl came up with a location that had a folklore behind it. There was supposedly this location where people have gone missing to never be found again, and that people were afraid to go around.
     This did peak everyone's interest and it was set in stone that this would be the place of adventure and fun that they chose. It was also made known that because of the folklore behind this location that everyone made a note to bring and carry a compass so that no one would get lost. It was sure to be the camping experience of a lifetime.
     Once everyone knew what they were doing, they dispersed to their own homes to prepare for the next morning. Steven made sure that he filled the gas tank and took another five-gallon gas can full with them. Everyone packed their sleeping bags and tents, snacks and drinks, and the girls even made sure that food for cooking was taken.
     Everyone went to bed early that night to wake up to a full day of adventure and fun. The sun was shining and it was not that humid so that everyone could enjoy the day. Early that morning, Steven was packing his things into the back of the truck before locking up his house and heading out to pick up everyone else.
     His first stop was to pick up Kendra. She was sitting outside with her stuff waiting on him and they quickly got her things into the truck. Once they were back on the road again, they were headed to Allison's house, who was still dragging and carrying her stuff outside. By the time they got her stuff packed into the truck there wasn't much room left and hoped that Darryl wasn't bringing a whole lot of his stuff being how geeky he was.
     When they pulled up to Darryl's house, he was sitting on what looked to be a suitcase. They were only going camping, what would he need a suitcase for? When Steven got out to help him put his stuff in the truck, he asked Darryl why a suitcase? Darryl told him that he knew there was limited space in the truck so he packed all his gadgets and stuff in a suitcase which wouldn't take up so much room. Steven laughed and told him "good thinking".
     They were finally off to their camping location which would be about a four-hour drive. The girls admired the landscape while the guys were cutting up telling jokes. The conversation came up about the location they were headed for and Darryl had done some research on the folklore attached to it.
     He pulled out newspaper clippings of all the people who went missing in these woods. He read out loud how everyone who went into the woods never returned. Law enforcement stated how they only found their camping equipment and back packs but never any remains of bodies and such. It boggled their mind and even posted signs telling campers to beware.
     After reading the clippings, the girls showed some concern about where they were going but Darryl informed them that he was prepared for almost anything like having a compass, a map of the area, and anything else they might need. He was very well prepared and that made the girls a little more at ease.
     Along the way, they spotted a small store and decided to stop for a restroom break and some snacks. While the girls visited the restroom, Steven asked the clerk about the area they were headed to and the clerk had a weird look on his face before telling them that he wouldn't advise them to go camping there that many people have gone missing.
     Darryl informed him that they were prepared for anything and should be okay. The girls finally came out of the restroom and grabbed some snacks which they took to the counter to pay for. The guys headed outside to the truck while the clerk warned the girls about the woods they were going to. They just shrugged it off, paid for their stuff, and headed back outside.
     They all piled back into the truck and began their trip back on the road. It seemed like it took forever before they reached their destination and found a spot off the side of the road to park. As they got out of the truck, they took a good look around at their surroundings. The woods were dense but beautiful. There were tall green trees and the faint sounds of birds chirping from inside.
     They gathered their things and put their backpacks on and headed for the path that led into the woods. As they entered the woods, they began hearing strange noises of all different animals and critters. They walked for about an hour into the woods before finding a space to make camp.
     As they got their tents up, the girls began gathering wood for the fire and for cooking. The sun was beginning to set so they got a roaring fire started and then sat around it eating snacks that they brought along. Darryl also brought along some of his devices like something that would keep animals and critters away.
     As it got darker, they sat around telling stories of legends they had heard before. The forest began to come alive around them with different noises and it made the girls a little uncomfortable. Both guys tried to reassure them that nothing was going to get them.
     As the night wore on, it was getting late and everyone agreed it was time to get some sleep. So, the girls climbed into their tent while the guys put things away and then headed into their own tents. As the girls laid in their tent, they started hearing more noises which made them tenser but they remembered what the guys said and they both laid down to sleep.
     Later on into the night, Darryl was awakened by a loud noise and decided to take a look. It sounded really close and he figured while he was out looking around that he would relieve himself also. He walked outside and off into the forest to locate a spot to relieve himself.
     While he was standing there, he heard a noise that caught his attention. When he looked up, there was a pair of eyes off in the distance that was indescribable. They were staring at him and it startled him at first and the noise seems to come from where the eyes were at. Darryl thought that it was just a forest animal and paid it no mind.
     After he finished relieving himself, he zipped up and began walking back towards camp. As he walked he noticed the eyes were following him. They almost seemed like they were glowing and had an evil appearance to them but he could not see any body to go with them. It was a little frightening to Darryl so he hurried to return to camp.
     There was just one thing that Darryl forgot and that was he forgot to bring a compass or anything that would direct him back to camp and it is so dark and dense he couldn't find his way back. He was out in the middle of a dark forest with a pair of evil eyes following him. He was so fixed on them that he forgot to watch where he was going.
     It was about thirty minutes later when Steven woke up to find that Darryl was missing and became concerned. He woke up the girls and they all became concerned but were afraid to leave the camp site. They began hollering for Darryl but had gotten no response. They started to worry at this point.
     That's when they heard Darryl yelling out in fear. They yelled back for him and all of them started running out into the woods in the direction of Darryl's yelling. They went a good distance out into the woods and lost track of where the camp was for them to return. They ran out there looking for their friend in case he needed help but found nothing.
     They stood together realizing that they were now lost and still did not find Darryl. It wasn't until Kendra felt a drop on her shoulder and when she looked at it there was a blood drop on her arm and then another. They all looked up and in the tree hanging directly above was the remains of Darryl.
     Well, only half of him was there, it was as if he had been chewed in two pieces except the other half was nowhere to be found. The girls both let out a blood-curdling scream while Steven turned to vomit. Their friend was hanging in a tree with half of his body gone and his intestines hanging out. They tried to get their thoughts together to figure out who or what could have done this.
     Then, nearby they heard a noise like they have never heard before and when they looked in the direction of the noise, there were those evil eyes glaring back at them. They could not see a body with them but that was enough to frighten everyone where they all took off running. They tried to stay together but each one looking back to see if they were being followed they lost each other.
     Kendra noticed she was alone and tried calling out for the others and got no response. She kept looking around for those evil looking eyes to see if they were following her. When she turned around she felt something as cold as ice and very sharp go through her and thought it was just a cold chill until she fell to the ground and noticed she had been sliced in half mid waist. She laid there with blood gurgling out of her mouth as she was aspirating it and looked down to see to see her bloody organs falling from her body and oozing out onto the ground. It didn't take long before she had taken her last breath and was gone.
     Steven stopped and began calling out for the girls and then in the distance he heard Allison screaming. He tried running in her direction and finally found her scared and not having her mind about her. They were together and safe and began walking through the woods hoping to find his truck or their campsite where they thought they would be safe.
     They walked for about twenty minutes and stopped to rest and did not see those eyes around them. Steven asked Allison if she was alright and she couldn't stop looking around for those evil eyes and panicking. She started to babble about how they weren't going to make it out of those woods and Steven did everything he could to try and calm her down but it was no use she was in full panic mode.
     Then they heard a noise close by and there were those eyes again and Allison in full panic mode began running and Steven took off to follow her. As they were running, the woods were becoming denser and Allison has tripped on a branch laying on the ground falling on her face. When Steven stopped to help her all of a sudden out of nowhere Allison was beheaded right in front of him. Her head flying right into Steven's arms to which he yelled out dropping it very quickly and then running for his life.
     The eyes followed him and tormented him as if playing with him like a toy. As he ran, he too tripped over something and when he noticed what it was, there lay Kendra's dead, cut in half body. He again yelled out and backed away from it. Then those eyes came closer and before he knew it, his abdomen was sliced open and all of his entrails came gushing out and he took his hands and tried to stuff them back inside but it was doing no good. His hands covered in blood and his yelling was doing nothing for his situation.
     He looked up and those eyes were staring at him and that was the last thing he saw before falling over and taking his last breath of life. The next day, the sun shined brightly through the trees as if nothing ever happened and all of the bodies have disappeared without a trace.
     After several days, law enforcement made a sweep of the woods and all that was found was the campsite with a burned out campfire and all their belongings. No one ever survived to tell the tale of the evil eyes that follow.

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?