{"sf1_id":591853,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Housepets: Curse of the Werenut, Chapter Four","author":"ThisAdamGuy","words":1762,"posted_at":"2013-09-18T05:37:00.000Z","tags":["Butter","Curse","Dragon","Fanfiction","Fantasy","Grape","Grape Jelly","Gryphon","Peanut","Peanut Butter","Werewolf","cats","dogs","housepets","jelly","pets","sandwich"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/591853-housepets-curse-of-the-werenut-chapter-four","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/591853","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=591853\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nChapter Four\n \n\"He's in the house,\" Grape explained to the Pomeranian as\nthey hid behind the next door neighbor's bushes.\n\"How badly did he hurt Max?\" Tarot asked.  Grape had explained everything on their way\nover.\n\"I don't think he did any permanent damage, but he\ndefinitely scared him.\"\n\"This is worse than I thought,\" Tarot mused.  \"I had hoped that Peanut's innocent and naïve\nnature would be enough to keep the werewolf at bay.\"\n\"So it's true?\" Grape asked. \n\"He really is turning into a werewolf?\"\nTarot nodded solemnly. \nGrape found that she wasn't as surprised as she would have expected to\nbe... that, in itself, was a depressing thought.\n\"What do we do?\" she asked.\n\"The only way to cure a werewolf is to feed it wolfsbane,\"\nTarot answered.\n\"Well, that shouldn't be too hard.  Peanut will eat anything if you put it in his\nfood bowl.\"\n\"I'm afraid it won't be that easy.  You see, now that Peanut's a werewolf, he'll\nhave a natural aversion to wolfsbane.  If\nwe want him to eat it, we'll have to force it down his throat.\"\nGrape frowned, and crossed her arms in shame.  Noticing this, Tarot placed her paw\nconsolingly on her shoulder, \"You mustn't blame yourself for this, Grape.  It's not your fault.\"\n\"It IS my fault,\" the cat argued.  \"I'm his big sister.  It's my job to look out for him.\"\n\"There was nothing you could have done,\" Tarot\ninsisted.  \"What chance do you think you\nwould have had against Pete?\"\n\"I'm a horrible sibling,\" Grape moaned, putting her face in\nher paws.\nTarot's face grew angry, and she planted her fists on her\nhips.\n\"Grape Jelly Sandwich!\" she barked.  \"Listen to yourself!  Your best friend and brother is in trouble,\nand you'd rather sit here and mope than do anything to help him!  Get over yourself and do what needs to be\ndone!  Peanut needs our help, and I can't\nsave him without you!  Now get up and get\ninside that house!\"\nGrape stared at the Pomeranian, her eyes wide with\nsurprise.  She'd never heard Tarot speak\nlike that before!  Startled completely\nout of her misery, she nodded.\n\"What do you need me to do?\" she asked.\n\"Just keep him inside. \nThe moon is coming up soon, and we can't let him leave the house.\"\n\"What about mom and dad?\" Grape asked.\n\"I'm going to call your house and draw them away for the\nevening.\"\n\"And what are you going to do?\"\n\"Sabrina and I are going to go find some wolfsbane.  She knows how to find it better than I\ndo.  We'll be back soon.  Just...\" she hesitated.  \"Don't let anything happen.\"\n\"I won't,\" Grape promised. \n\"Peanut will be safe with me.\"\n\"No, I meant don't let anything happen to YOU.\"\nBefore Grape could process what she had said, Tarot turned\nand ran back towards her house.  Grape\nlooked at her own house and gulped nervously. \nThis was going to be an interesting night, that was for sure.  Bracing herself for the worst, she marched up\nto the front door.  Before she could open\nit, it swung open and her parents came out.\n\"We're going out for the night, Grape,\" Mrs. Sandwich said,\nnot breaking her stride.  \"You can get\nsome dinner out of the fridge.  Take care\nof Peanut while we're gone!\"\n\"I'll try,\" the cat said, meekly as her parents got into the\ncar and drove away.\nShe took a hesitant step into the house, \"Peanut?\" she\ncalled.  There was no answer.\nAs she made her way through the house, she felt a chill\ncascade down her spine.  Her every\nfootstep seemed to echo loudly down the hallway.  She reached Peanut's room and tentatively\npeeked through the crack in his doorway.\nPeanut was standing in the center of his room, looking out\nthe window.  Grape could see that the sun\nwas beginning to sink below the horizon. \nShe bit her lip in fear, trying to figure out what to do next.\n\"Hello, Grape,\" Peanut said without turning around, his\nvoice ominously low and completely unemotional.\nGrape fought the urge to turn and bolt, \"H-hey, Peanut!\" she\nreturned the greeting, trying to sound cheerful.  \"Mom and Dad are gone for the night.  Y-you wanna get some dinner?\"\nPeanut did not respond. \nHe didn't even move.\nFeeling as if her whole body was about to collapse from\nfear, Grape stepped into his room and placed her paw on his shoulder, \"Come on,\nPeanut!\" she encouraged him.  \"I'll tell\nyou what, we can break out those steaks Dad told us not to touch!  Would that make you happy?\"\nIt took Peanut ten seconds to respond, \"Steak?  Meat. \nYes.  That sounds good.\"\n\"All right, now you're talking!\" Grape exclaimed, hiding her\nfear behind a false smile.  \"Let's go to\nthe kitchen!\"\nSlowly, almost robotically, Peanut turned and followed the\ncat out of his room and down the hallway. \nGrape looked into his eyes.  They\nweren't Peanut's eyes, she realized. \nThese were cold, stony eyes.  The\neyes of a wolf.  She shuddered, but didn't\nsay anything.\nWhen they made it to the kitchen, Grape opened up the\nrefrigerator and pulled the package of steaks out, \"What should we do with\nthem?\" she asked.  \"Grill them?  Maybe we could...\"\nBefore she could finish, Peanut's paw flew out and pushed\nher aside.  She collided with the cabinet\nand sank to the floor with a groan of pain. \nNothing was broken, she hadn't hit anything hard enough for that, but it\nstill hurt.  She gingerly got back to her\nfeet and watched as Peanut tore open the packaging and began mauling the thick slabs\nof beef.  He tore into them with wild\nabandon, stuffing entire steaks into his mouth at a time.  Blood drizzled down from the corner of his mouth.\n\"You... you like them?\" Grape asked, hoping she had placated\nhim.\nPeanut turned and glared at her with animalistic\nhatred.  A low, guttural snarl rose from\nhis throat, and the fur on his back stood straight.  Grape froze with terror.  This was not Peanut she was looking at.  It was... something else.  When the cat made no move to steal its food,\nthe thing that looked like Peanut returned to its meal, devouring every steak\nwithin a couple of minutes.  Throwing the\nempty package to the floor, he leaned his head back and howled.  Grape clamped her hands over her ears to\nblock out the sound.\nAnd then it happened. \nA beam of moonlight came through the kitchen window and struck Peanut\nsquare in the chest.  Even though it was\njust a ray of light, Peanut doubled over in pain, as if the moon itself had\npunched him.  A pitiful whine came from\nhim, and he fell to all fours.  He looked\nup, and for one single moment, Grape could see the real Peanut in his eyes,\nscared and begging her for help.  Then he\nshook his head, as if trying to rid it of unwanted thoughts, and Peanut was\ngone.\nPeanut's body convulsed on the kitchen floor.  If anyone had looked through the window, it would\nhave looked as if the poor dog were having a seizure.  Then, before Grape's eyes, it throbbed.  All of it, at the same moment, grew larger\nfor moment before shrinking back to its normal size.  It happened again, as if Peanut's muscles\nwere growing on their own accord.  With a\nsickening jolt, Grape realized that was EXACTLY what was happening.  Peanut's body continued to pulse, growing\nslightly larger each time.  His heart was\nbeating loud enough for Grape to plainly hear it.    A feral growl came out of Peanut's throat,\nand he extended his arm just in time for Grape to see it become rippled with\nrock-hard biceps, and his fingers become tipped with razor sharp claws.\n\"Peanut,\" she found herself whimpering, \"please stop!\"\nPeanut's fur grew shaggier, though it remained the same\ncolor, until it was a thick as a wolf's pelt. \nHis spine stretched with a sickening crack, giving him more than two\nadditional feet in height.  His mouth\nstretched open as his every one of his teeth extended into horrific looking\nfangs.  With one final pulse, his body\ngrew to its true size, and the transformation stopped.\nFor a moment, all was still. \nThe werewolf simply lay there on the floor, unmoving.  Grape stood with her back pressed against the\nkitchen wall, putting as much distance between herself and this... this THING as\nshe could.  Then, just as Grape had begun\nto think it would stay there all night, there werewolf picked itself up from\nthe floor.  It towered high above her,\nits head almost touching the ceiling.  It\nsniffed the air for a moment, completely unaware of her presence.  Then it turned to look at her.\n\"P-P-Peanut?\" Grape dared to ask, her voice barely a\nwhisper.\nWithout a warning, the werewolf bared its teeth and lunged\nat her!  Only Grape's catlike reflexes\nsaved her from being mauled on the spot. \nShe leaped into the air just as the wolf came at her and landed on its\nback.  The wolf stood up straight in surprise,\nand Grape slid down its back and landed neatly on the floor before taking off\nand running down the hallway.\nKeep him inside, and don't get killed.  Those had been Tarot's instructions.  But how in the world was she going to stay\nalive if she was stuck inside the house with it?  Grape dashed up the stairs as quickly as she\ncould, intending to lock herself into her parents' room.  Halfway up, though, she noticed something.\nThe werewolf wasn't chasing her.\nCRASH!\nGrape's heart sank into her stomach as she realized what she\nhad just heard.  The werewolf hadn't come\nafter her.  It had broken down the front\ndoor.  Her whole body went cold as she\nraced back down the stairs and down the hallway, skidding to a stop in front of\nwhat was left of the front door.  The\nentire thing had been reduced to splinters, and the last she saw of Peanut was\na dark, hulking shadow running into the distance.  Within moments, it was gone.\nHer breathing ragged, Grape fell to her knees.  She shivered uncontrollably.  He was gone. \nPeanut was gone.  She'd promised\nto take care of him, and she'd failed! \nWhat was she going to do?  What was\ngoing to happen to Peanut?\nAs these thoughts raced through her head, Grape couldn't\nkeep herself under control anymore.  With\nan anguished sob, she put her face in her hands and began to cry.\n"}