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The wound in my leg had been healing well and surprisingly quickly. I was glad for it because it meant I wouldn't be locked away in my uncle's mansion for very long. I returned to school after only three days and resumed my friendship with Trevor. We both decided it would be better to avoid using that field or shortcut ever again.

Trevor and I were sitting in the cafeteria as usual, enjoying our lunches and chatting away. I had two trays of food in front of me, but since I had inherited my father's appetite, they wouldn't be enough to sate my hunger. My uncle as well seemed to share that trait and it was probably why he had started giving me enough money for two lunches in the first place. Noisy as the cafe was at the beginning of the period, the noise seemed to increase steadily in my ears. It wasn't disruptive at first, but after a while, I was straining to hear Trevor's words from just across the table. He didn't seem bothered by it and that worried me greatly. Eventually Trevor's voice turned into barely audible mumbling under the noise.

"What?" I shouted at him.

The noise lessened a little and I was suddenly aware of the people around me staring. Trevor too was looking at me with a concerned look on his face. My cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but I still couldn't understand what Trevor asked me. A high-pitched whine assaulted me as the other students resumed their noisy banter and I put my hands over my ears. The sound was deafening, even through my palms, and my head spun as I tried to stand to leave the room. My vision warped and blurred as the whining noise intensified and then darkness invaded my sight.

I awoke later in the school nurse's office. My hearing seemed to be back to normal, but I couldn't remember anything after I collapsed. The nurses spoke of a seizure and epilepsy. Trevor told me later that I had gone into convulsions on the floor. After school, my uncle said the diagnosis was ridiculous; that members of our family had no such condition and that it would be impossible for any of us to suffer from it. I asked what he meant, but my inquiry was met with silence and a stern glare. If I was more brave back then, I would have questioned his assertion further even though I know now that what he said was the truth. There was a silver lining to my first "episode." The following day, I was forbidden from eating lunches in the noisy cafeteria. Instead Trevor brought me lunch in the nurse's office and we ate there. I was immensely thankful for the quieter locale and Trevor seemed just as glad to be away from the lunch room. The next day was much less chaotic than the one before and I had started to finally relax after the encounter with the black dog. However, my subconscious wasn't about to let me off the hook that easily. Six nights after being bitten, I had a new dream.

I was surrounded by figures that I couldn't readily identify. They spoke over me in hushed, muffled tones, but I couldn't understand what they said. I had the impression that they were carrying me through the dark in a direction that was completely out of my control. I was passed from murmuring shadow to muttering shade until I saw two shapes different from the rest. Where my initial bearers were nearly indistinguishable shadows made of darkness, these two figures that approached were bathed in bright white light. It surrounded them in a soft glow and licked about them like fire, but their brightness was blinding and I shielded my eyes against it. The shadows tried to keep me from them, wrapping me in darkness while their hissing and gnashing of teeth filled my ears. But the light cut through and I was gathered up in the arms of my mother and father. That same fire light danced around them as they held me, but I did not feel safe with them. My mother's face twisted before me, her mouth growing long fangs as her eyes formed a vicious scowl. My father's teeth curved downward as well and he lunged toward me to feast on my tender flesh.

I opened my eyes as cold sweat ran down my spine. My breath came in ragged gasps as my heart raced in my chest. and I glanced about my room nervously at each shadow in the dark. Shaking myself, I climbed out of bed and quietly crept out of my room and down the hall to the bathroom. It was a small room, with the sink and mirror opposite the door. The bath with a shower sat against the lefthand wall and the toilette was next to the sink on the right. The floor was white tile and a towel hung on a loop to the left of the sink. I turned on the bathroom light and splashed some warm water on my face in an attempt to calm myself. My whole body shivered uncontrollably as if I was standing inside of a freezer. My shaking hands grabbed the towel near the sink and rubbed it against my face. When I lowered the towel and glanced in the mirror however, my reflection was gone and, instead, that large, black dog was staring back at me with its lip curled upward into a snarl. Before I could react, the beast leapt out of the mirror and tackled me to the ground. I felt the door handle crack against the back of my head as I fell and gasped for breath under the animal as it pinned me to the tile. The large dog's claws dug into my skin as its heavy weight flattened me to the floor. I could only watch in horror as the creature ravenously tore out my throat, tendons and sinew snapping between its jaws. I could only gurgle as it moved to my stomach, pulling my entrails upward in a barbaric display of spittle and gore. My blood splattered the walls of the room, dying the white porcelain and tile crimson as I weakly flailed under the black beast. Its red-stained maw crunching my bones and devouring my organs.

My eyes snapped open and I once again sat up in the dark. My stomach lurched upward to my throat and I leapt out of bed, staggering to the trash can near my desk. I vomited into it, the vivid memory of being mauled still running on a loop in my brain. Once my stomach finally stopped retching, I weakly sat on the floor of my room with tears streaming down my face. Eventually, I gathered the courage to leave my room so that I could wash myself. The house was dark and filled with shadows. The moon filtered through the windows occasionally, but that was barely enough light to see by. As I slowly walked toward the bathroom on the third floor of my uncle's house, I began hearing things. They were sounds I had never been able to hear before on the many similar nights when I had awoken in the middle of the night. I was more than twenty feet from the bathroom door, yet I could hear water dripping into the drain. The sound of leaves being pushed about by the wind outside reached me clearly even though the windows were shut tight against the cold air. Once I had washed my face and took a long drink from the faucet to wash the bile from my throat, I left the bathroom and was about to creep back to bed when I heard the sound of distant voices talking in hushed tones. My curiosity won out over my fear and I made my way into the forbidden East wing of the mansion to hear the voices better. I stopped walking mere feet from the entry into the main hall from the East Wing. The voices were clear now. One was my uncle's voice while the other was a voice I didn't recognize. It was deep, like my uncle's, but it carried an authority in its tone that made George Lehr's voice sound mouse-like in comparison. My heart thumped in my chest as I stood, petrified in the darkness. I listened to them talk with breath frozen in my lungs.

"But symptoms are already starting to manifest!" My uncle whined.

"Stop sniveling. Your family was chosen because you were thought to be trustworthy," the unknown voice said. "Your brother proved to be weak and a liar. Traits that I sincerely hope you do not share."

I could hear my uncle sputtering. He was not used to being talked down to.

"Silence!" The unknown voice said.

The sound of an open palm striking flesh reverberated down the halls. I winced.

"Forgive me..." my uncle replied weakly. "It's just that you promised the glamour would hold for another year..."

"We know what we promised," The strange voice said. "Some outside influence must be at work, speeding up the incubation period. We cannot allow the ritual to be complete before the appointed time. If symptoms become more serious, you must terminate the subject. Should it come to that, we will have to begin anew."

"All that work would be for nothing..." my uncle said.

"Yes, but we will carry on as we have for centuries," The voice was somber in tone now as if speaking with great reverence about something holy. "Our ancestors sacrificed much for the sake of this ritual. If it does not go as planned, we will start anew until the ritual is complete. You know this must be done. I pray that you are not lacking in conviction as your brother was."

"N-no, Father," my uncle said meekly. "I will do as you say."

"Good," the strange voice said soothingly.

I didn't want to hear anymore. The words they spoke were strange and foreign. I could only assume they were talking about me. Who else could they be referring to? Was I not my parents' son? Was my uncle speaking to my grandfather? The words died down as my hearing seemed to return to normal. It couldn't be real. The conversation must have been the result of my fear-addled mind. The talk of glamour and rituals was too bizarre. Images of fairies and trolls replacing my parents' real child with me ran rampant through my mind. Trevor was probably right. I had read too many fantasy novels. I tried to convince myself it was all in my imagination and returned to my bed to resume a fitful sleep.

The next day, I slept through most of school. Trevor was apparently out sick so I didn't have anyone who could keep me awake. When the end of the day bell finally rang, I practically ran out of the building toward the street where my uncle was usually waiting for me. There was no sign of his black sports car anywhere. I waited there, watching the throng of other students brush passed me. I felt so alone in that moment; so abandoned. My stomach grumbled as I stood there on the empty sidewalk. It wasn't terribly far to my uncle's house; maybe a half hour walk from Trevor's. I set out marching through the crunching leaves and chilly October air. I had waited so long for my uncle that the sun was already starting to sink low in the sky. Families were mostly inside, eating dinner by now so the streets were practically empty. I could smell some of the cooking from outside of the homes and my stomach squirmed in protest. I finally reached Trevor's house and knocked on the door. There was no answer. I had been hoping that one of his parents could drive me to my uncle's, but it seemed as though no one was home. I sighed and turned away from the house, continuing my walk. My route took me beyond suburbia and into the less densely populated part of the town. This was where the more wealthy people lived and there was much unused land in between their properties. After several minutes, the sound of softly crunching leaves reached my ears. It was coming from the woods to my right. I didn't look. I was too afraid to look. Instead, I quickened my pace, not quite breaking into a run, but moving faster than I had been. The crunching sound stayed with me, keeping pace with no sign of difficulty. My heart thudded in my chest and I started to sweat. A low rumbling of thunder sounded over the trees above and that was all the encouragement I needed to break into a full on sprint down the road. I sucked in the cold air and it stung my lungs. My backpack bumped against me with every step, but I forced myself to push harder. The crunching leaves on my right were louder now and they seemed to be getting closer. I risked a glance and my fears were confirmed at the sight of a large grey wolf bearing down on me through the trees. I had nowhere to go. No stream to leap over. No fence to climb. I did the only thing I could think of in that fear induced moment and jumped to grab the lowest branch of a nearby tree. I pulled my legs up just in time as the wolf bit a hole in my backpack. Thunder rumbled above as it jumped again, tearing my bag wide open and sending the contents spilling out over its head. I managed to pull myself up over the branch while the animal was distracted by my books and papers. There was no food, though and it was only moments before the creature resumed leaping toward me against the base of the tree. I climbed to a higher branch to make sure I was out of its reach.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled, but I didn't expect it to work.

My heart raced in my chest as I realized I was trapped in the tree.

"Someone help me!" I shrieked into the woods.

The wolf's barking and the thunder above were the only answers I received. I sat on the branch, leaning up against the trunk of the tree. The beast knew I had nowhere to go and it started to pace around the base of the tree, still barking every so often. My heart gradually slowed back to normal speed. I had very little hope that I would be rescued, but some part of me imagined my uncle's car appearing on the road to shoot this animal dead. It was strange to think of my uncle that way, but desperate times...

Suddenly, the large black dog I had seen five days ago came barreling out of the underbrush. The grey wolf yelped in surprise at the intrusion and leapt backward out of range of the black dog's snapping jaws. The two beasts squared off, pacing around the tree, each emitting a low growl. Thunder ripped the sky open as the black dog pounced toward the grey wolf. The wolf howled in agony as the black dog's teeth sunk into its leg. The wolf's jaws closed around the dog's ear and the beast pulled away instinctively, tearing off the tip of its ear in the process. The wolf, however was not in the mood to fight and quickly limped away from the tree and down the road. The black dog then looked up at me and stared. It was no longer the snarling and barking beast I had seen in the field. It just sat there, watching me.

"Go away!" I cried.

"No."

The response sent chills down my spine. I looked around for the speaker, but all I could see beneath me was the black dog.

"W-what...?" I stammered.

"Mal...colm," the dog said. "Malcolm... not prey."

Words appeared difficult for the creature to say. We watched each other in silence for God knows how long. Eventually, the black beast looked around cautiously and seemed to sigh.

"Let me... show you," it said.

I stared down at the creature as it started to change. The dog's snout and ears shortened into a human-like face, black hair fell about it's head on either side as the fur slowly grew shorter. Bones snapped and re-aligned into human limbs. Claws receded into finger and toenails. Fangs flattened into human teeth. The legs of the beast straightened and its tail shrank back up into its spine. The fur remaining on its body disappeared, leaving behind fine, human body hair. The beast finally stood upright and I could tell without a doubt now that he was male. I gaped, wide-eyed at the sight. The piercing green eyes of the wolfdog remained, but I could not mistake the face. Jonas Marsh, the home school tutor that I had been missing ever since I began living with my uncle, had just transformed from wolf to man before my very eyes. His grizzled features and naked body betrayed a life outside of society, but it was definitely him. Blood trickled from his still wounded ear, but he ignored it, holding out his hand toward me.

"Mal, please come down," he said. "I'm trying to help you."

"S-stay away!" I replied.

I didn't know what to think. My mind was a whirlwind of emotions and memories. I was starting to confuse all of my nightmares with reality. The branch under me seemed to warp and twist as I grew faint. I looked down at my former tutor and the ground rushed up to greet my falling body.