Moonlit Nightmare

Clouds reached across the night sky. Just like huge skeleton hands, as they grabbed and covered up the full moon. It was if someone had kept flipping off and on a light switch. Just as one cloud would reveal the moon, another would just take it's place. A young man stood down below on the balcony of a small log cabin. It was the only building for hundreds of miles of wilderness.He stands there and watches his breath escape from him, rising up into the cold night air. The flickering light of the moon cast an eerie glow upon the snow. It seems that the young man was waiting for something. He knew it was going happen, just like all the other nights, rather or not he wanted it to. Each time the flickering moon light hit his skin, it made it tingle. Making it feel as if thousands of ants were crawling on him. He was glad that it was a cloudy night, for he could wait a little longer to be human still.

Then a gust of wind comes from no where, signaling that a storm maybe coming in. It swept away all the clouds, like a broom swept away dust bunnies. It seemed now that the moon shone brighter than before. It cast a sickly glow upon everything below. Now he knew it was inevitable, as the last twinge of hope faded from him as he watched the last lingering cloud get whisked away.This time when the moon light hit him, it was a different reaction. It didn't feel like ants crawling on him any more. It felt like his skin was on fire, that someone had doused him in gasoline and light a match. As his skin began to burn even hotter, he strips himself of his clothes. After all they would just get torn to shreds anyway. He could feel his heart begin to race and hear it thumping hard inside of his mind as adrenaline began to pump through his system.

Then it started, at first nothing happened and there was a long silence. As time had stopped completely. Then came the sounds of his bones snapping and cracking, sounding just like someone breaking a large bundle of sticks. He bones along with his muscles began to contort and twist themselves as they started to shift- shift into making his new form. He didn't know rather to laugh or to cry. Sometimes it felt good just to let go and let it take over, other times it didn't. A slight pain was shooting through his entire body as his entire skeletal and muscular system continued to rearrange itself still. But the pain was something he was used to. While this was happening, sharp fangs and claws began to protrude from his lips and finger tips. Coarse hair began to cover his entire body, soon it would be over and done with. One last shudder of his muscles and his new for was complete. His senses also changed with this form as well. They were so high and alert that nothing went unoticed.

And the only reason he was in this form was to hunt and feed the blood lust. A blood lust that laid dormant all month. He then takes off, leaping from the balcony, heading into the woods- looking for prey. Marcy sat next to her husband, Jim, as they traveled along a path through the woods. Tonight seemed like a perfect night for them to be alone together. They decided to go on a romantic horse drawn sleigh ride for two. It had been awhile since they were able to spend a night like this together. They were about half way down the path when the horses stopped dead in their tracks. It seemed like that were glued in place.

"C'mon! Giddy up!" Jim says as he snapped the reigns.

The horses ignored him and didn't budge from their spot. They might have even seemed more frantic than before. "Maybe they sense something," Marcy says.

Jim nods and tries another attempt to get the horses start moving again, this time he snapped the reigns a little harder. "They probably sense a winter storm coming in." he says as he tries again.

When snapping the reigns didn't seem to work, he tried using the whip on them. "C'mon! Giddy up! Move!" he says as he snaps the whip on the horses' rears, they still didn't want to move. He finally got them to move, but only a little bit. He snaps the reigns again, but this time the horses began to get even more frantic and began to panic. They began to neigh and whinny panicky as they began to buck and kick-trying to get away. Soon they break free from the sleigh and flee for their lives. Jim instinctively grabs his gun. Which was lying at the bottom of the sleigh.

"What could have made them want to get away so badly?" Marcy asks.

"Probably a Mountain Lion, but I'm not sure. You stay here, I'm going to check things out." Jim says as he jumps out of the sleigh, cocking his gun.

Marcy watches as he disappears into the darkness of the woods. An eerie silence then falls upon the land. It seemed to be silent for several minutes, before she heard the sound of gun fire followed by the sounds of her husband's screams of terror. She gets out of the sleigh, worried that what ever wild animal that scared the horses, injured her husband. She then goes toward where she heard his scream come from. She knew it was a stupid move but she wanted to make sure her husband was ok.

"Jim?" She calls out-but there was no answer. She then travels on ward, unsure of where she was going.

"Jim?" She tries calling out again, but there was still no answer.

"Jim, where are..." was all she could get out before she trips over something. She looks to see what had tripped her, it was a large branch of a tree. She then gets up and goes to walk again, that's when an intense pain began to shoot through her leg. Great, my ankle is either broken or sprained. She thinks.

She then senses a presence behind her. It's probably Jim, I hope he's ok. She thinks as she turns around. All she sees is the hairy face of a beast. She was frozen, unable to move at all. As if her body had turned to stone. She and the beast locked eyes. They began to stare at each other. Then with a growl, the beast came after her. She lets out a scream and limps away the best she could. But she knew it was futile to try and get away, she knew she was going to die.

It seemed the beast was toying with her, it watched at she began to limp away. It slowly followed after her. Marcy had only stopped for a moment, trying to catch her breath, she hadn't traveled far. She had almost reached a very large tree, if she could reach it, she would make an attempt to climb it. She turned to see that the beast was still on her tail. She then begins to limp away some more. It seemed like every thing was running in slow motion, it seemed like she would never make it to the tree in time. Almost there, just a little further. I can do it! She thinks.

She just about reached the tree's trunk, when she turned to see if the beast was still following her. It was right behind her, readying itself to pounce on her, she moves back a little, her hand on the trunk of the tree. She watches as the beast jumps into the air, closing her eyes she lets out one last scream and waits for death.

Marcy then opens her eyes with a gasp. She found herself in a room, neatly tucked into a bed. Where am I? She thinks. Then the images of what happen the night before flashed before he face. Oh God! Jim! And... and that monster...no it couldn't be! Could it? A werewolf? She thinks as she shakes her head. The door creaking open makes her gasp again. She looks over to see a young man, about seventeen, standing next to her bed. "I found you in the woods. You were bit by some wild animal." he says. Of course he would have found her and of course he would know that, after all he was the one who bit her.

Marcy just nods, "Where am I?" She asks.

"My place, a cabin in the woods. And my name is Daniel by the way. But anyways, here is your food." is all he says and leaves after placing a tray of food next to her bed.

Marcy watches him go, unsure if she should trust him. She looks down at her covered body and uncovers slightly to see that he ankle had been bandaged up. She then decides to eat. Again sleep takes over her. She awakes the next day, feeling rather odd. It seemed that he senses were in high gear and she couldn't think straight.

Daniel comes into the room to check on her. "What's wrong with me?" She asks.

"What do you mean?"

"How come things are...how come I can see things more clearly and hear way beyond that of human hearing?" She asks.

Daniel only smiles, then it turns into an evil smirk as he began to laugh. Of course it was a horrible cackle of evil laughter. "Because you are cursed." he says.

"Cursed?! Cursed with what?"

"The curse of the werewolf. You were bitten by one."

"And how do you know this?"

"Because I was the one who bit you!" he says with more evil laughter.

"NO!" was the only thing she could shout. Then she sits up in a hospital bed. She blinks and looks around the room. It was just a dream. She thinks as she she sighs with relief. A nurse then comes into the room to check on her. "Nurse, where am I? And where is my husband?" She asks.

The nurse looks at her. "You are at St. Margret's Hospital. And I'm sorry ma'am, but your husband didn't make it." she says and then leaves the room.

So the accident really did happen. And Jim...oh my God! But what kind of beast attacked us? It had to be a bear. But Jim...my poor husband. She thinks as she begins to cry. A few days later she is released from the hospital. A week after, she attends her husbands funeral. Two more weeks pass, going by normally. But she was having trouble adjusting to being without her husband.

On the last night of the month, she begins to get ready for bed like always. The moon shone through the curtains and touched her skin- causing it to start to burn. Why is my skin burning? She thinks. Then with a scream of pain, she falls to the floor on all fours. She could feel her skeleton and muscles begin to rearrange themselves. Her mind begins to race. What's going on with me? Then the memory of the dream she had in the hospital pops into her mind. Curse of the werewolf was what echoed in her mind. Wait...then that means...it must not have been a dream...