Dawn to Dark

by Halston James

  Beau cleared his throat. "Rose, Lily. Words cannot describe how grateful we are to you both. We know we owe you an explanation, it will be a long one, and it won't all be easy to explain. To sum up for now, I will say that guy, we really don't know who he was. Well, we tried to help him once, and when an item of his was torn, he lost it. He got so mad that he stalked us for weeks, and one day we woke in the forest, and we were animals. We could only assume it was he that did it. We didn't know how or why. We've spent a very long time here and trying to stay near him to make him reverse whatever he did. People would come and go, but no one drew us to them until you two. He must have noticed, we assumed he was setting you two up to be changed as well, especially after the incident with the shoe. We tried to assist as much as possible and keep you within view, we knew you were in danger. It finally ended. Lily, your courage in that last hour made it possible for us to become who we were once again." A small tear rolled down Beau's face he looked like the relief he was feeling was overwhelming.

  "Well," Lily cleared her throat, "right now, I only have one question. How long ago did you become animals?"

  "What year is it?"

  "2018."

  Beau looked stunned, his jaw had dropped to his chest. Caine whimpered, not unlike a puppy. "We were changed in 1913, how long is that . . . one hundred and five years!" Caine's voice was quiet until the last bit, his light tenor was shaky due to the shock. Rose actually reached out for his hand to try to reassure him. Lily thought of the implications. Her mind was racing, these men were about to enter a completely different universe from the one they’d left, and there was really no way to prepare them. She was trying not to think of the logistics of them having been animals for over a hundred years, she couldn't really get her head around it, and they didn't look a day over twenty. Caine looked a year or two younger. Lily started to panic; what were their views on women? They were in for a massive culture shock also, seriously animals in the forest for so long, how could they adapt? She didn't consider that they would hold onto their culture much after the first dozen or so years.

  "Okay, this is what we will do. Rose and I will go to the store and get you some clothes. You two will shower. When we are back and you are fed and clothed, we will talk more. You need to know a lot about being out in the world today. Tomorrow, we will take you back with us. Mom will get over it, we can try to explain. Were there any missing persons reports about you guys? No wait, we'll ask all that when we get back." Having made up her mind she grabbed her bag and Rose’s hand and stood up, heading for the door. "Um, Lily, maybe you should change first," Rose suggested. Lily looked down and saw the aftermath of her battle and agreed silently, rushing to her room. She quickly changed and brushed her hair, washed her face and again grabbed her sister. "Shower is that way! Figure out how to use it," she practically yelled on her way out. "Come on, Rosie,” she said, “we have to go now if we want to get back before it's too dark."

  6

  Lily and Rose took their time walking to the store. It was a fair hike, and they didn't feel the need to rush; there was nothing to fear, after all. The only urgency being that there were two naked men in their cabin. They were mostly okay with that, discussing what they would do and how their mother may react. She was far from being a prude and always welcoming to their stray friends, still they weren't entirely sure if the phrase 'they followed us home, can we keep them?' would work as well as it had with a puppy they’d once brought home. They also spoke about how the men were going to react to seeing the modern world hundred years or no hundred years. They did, after all, spend that time as animals in a forest.

  Honestly, they were still trying to get over the fact that magic of some sort actually existed. They had two men in their holiday cabin that until an hour or so ago, were essentially a werewolf and some sort of Bear shifter, without the whole voluntary shifting thing. There was a strange creepy guy going about setting people up and stalking them, terrorizing them, and then transforming them, for what? There were way more questions than answers, and it was becoming frustrating. It was also apparent to Rose and Lily that the men didn’t know much more than either of them did. Apart from the fact that decapitating the body and burning the head seemed to have lifted the curse somehow.

  Reaching the area where they parked their car, they decided to drive to the nearby town instead of the local store. There weren’t a lot of options for clothing there, and the proprietors were nosey locals who asked far too many questions. They had a lot of fun in the clothing store, trying to guess the sizes of the men, grabbing a few different options, thanking whoever was in charge that they hadn't spent too much this winter, and the clothes weren't dear. Although the thought of seeing the men in designer clothes made Lily drift off into daydreams for a bit of time until Rose grabbed her arm and dragged her off to another shop. This time it was shoes.

  "Crap! How do we guess what size shoe they are?" Rose looked lost. A helpful male approached and asked if he could help. Rose's face lit up, and Lily rolled her eyes. Rose grabbed him, interrogating him about men's height and shoe size. Finally getting two pairs of sneakers each, for the guys, in all different sizes, they figured at least one was bound to fit, and they could return the others. "Did we get socks?" Rose asked

  "Yes, Rose," Lily sighed, she was done and wanted to leave. "Let’s get stuff to make pizza and feed those men. I'll bet they never had pizza before." Rose's face brightened even more than it had before. Lily didn't even know that was possible. "Dessert!" Rose yelled, making Lily flinch. "Ice cream, apple pie, lots of dessert!"

  "Okay," Lily sighed, "just remember, you are carrying the stuff, we have a long walk."

  Rose laughed, "Wheelie Cooler!" Lily gave up, it was like Rose was drunk on excitement. They went and purchased the food and cooler, Lily checked their balance to ensure they had enough money to get fuel for the drive home. Finally satisfied, Rose allowed them to head off.

  Parking the car at the edge of the forest again, they pulled out the cooler and backpacks full of clothes and started to hike back, chatting happily and enjoying the evening. It wasn't dark, just that pleasant sunset-like glow permeating the trees. There was a point on their walk where Lily hesitated, and Rose stopped talking. A feeling was on the periphery of their senses like . . . darkness. Lily laughed, and Rose started chatting again, brushing it off as leftover wariness from all the previous attacks. They walked the last half hour chatting and joking with each other.

  They were still laughing when they arrived, opened the door, and stopped in their tracks. Lily opened her mouth, but Rose got in first. “What the hell happened in here?" Beau and Caine both turned at the same time, sheepish looks on their faces. The house looked like wild animals had been let loose, they had done something, the looks on their faces were priceless, like puppies caught chewing on the shoes of their favorite person.

  Lily commented, "I think I'd rather the wolf and bear. They were cleaner." Rose burst in to gales of laughter, Lily started giggling. Caine and Beau looked wounded.

  Caine opened his mouth "We, uhh, couldn't figure out the shower, so we umm, tried to tidy up for you." The girls pealed out their laughter at that. Lily sat down and started gasping for air, every time she started to breathe a little easier, she would see Rose or the boys’ expressions–even worse, the living area–and she would set off again, her sides started hurting. She decided to walk outside for a few moments to calm down.

  She walked back inside, cleared her throat, and pointed at Beau, "You! Bathroom now!" Her finger pointed at Caine "You, sit. Don't move!" Rose just kept giggling. Lily marched into the bathroom. She showed Beau how to turn on the shower and pointed at the clothes and shoes she had just picked up for him and walked out again. All business, she glared at Rose, who was still trying to calm down. Shaking her head in disgust, she started to tidy up. Looking at the kitchen sink, she wondered how the hell they managed to get what looked like half a tree branch in there, and there also seemed to be a piece of steak skewered on a
barbecue fork attached to the branch. She wasn't even going to ask. Nope, not gonna. She just focused on cleaning until she heard the shower turn off.

  "Lily!" she heard Beau call out.

  Wracking her brain, she struggled to figure out why he was calling. "Please tell me you have a towel on?" she called back, sending Rose in to giggles again. Opening the bathroom door she said, "What's the problem?"

  Beau was holding the bag of clothes. He had pulled out a couple of items and looked completely baffled, "How does this stuff work?" he asked, Lily had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing again. "Okay, out with me in the living room. Buttons I assume you know. I'm going to show both of you, so I only have to do this once." She very briskly took them through an explanation of modern clothing, Velcro, zips, denim, hoodies, and sneakers. Then she showed Beau to one of the two bedrooms she and Rose hadn't used since the animals showed up and ordered him to change. She pointed to Caine and said, "Your turn, shower. Rose show him how to turn it on, I'm cleaning." Rose giggled naughtily making Lily roll her eyes again and sigh heavily. Lily returned to her cleaning, so she could cook.

  The sound of a foot scuffing the floor made her turn around. She hadn’t expected Rose to come back this quickly. She instinctively put her hand up to her chest in a startled manner. He was breathtaking. His reddish/brown, almost chestnut-colored hair was long and thick. His eyes like melted chocolate and full of concern made her knees go weak. “I apologize, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  Lily smiled, a little dazed, realizing the effect of her body language at that moment. She was thankful he couldn’t read her mind. “No, I'm actually a little surprised at how well the clothes fit. Any trouble with the shoes?”

  Smiling, Beau shook his head and performed a very manly twirl showing off the clothes. “I even managed my own laces.”

  Lily blushed realizing she had no idea what was available in 1913 technology-wise. Of course, they’d have shoelaces. “Looking good.” Lily looked him up and down slowly. He was wearing jeans, and a dark-grey hoodie with the words ‘Don’t Blink’ on it. She had picked them out on purpose referencing the conversation she had overheard about them not being human when they were looked at. It reminded her of the TV show where the statues were only statues when stared at; if you blinked you were a goner. Speaking of goner, she was in deep here. “I have to finish here, Beau, I need to start cooking soon.”

  “Of course, Lily.” The edges of his lips quirked up, “I like hearing you say my name.” He paused, and Lily swallowed hard, “Can I help?”

  Rose stormed into the room, a scowl on her face. “Don’t you boys think you have helped enough for one day?” she asked picking up items and slamming them down into their proper places.

  “What has Caine done now?” Beau demanded. Rose mumbled under her breath. “I’m sorry Rose I didn’t quite hear you, what did he do?”

  “Ugh, nothing, okay? I tried to kiss him in the bathroom, and he rejected me!” Lily started giggling. “Shut up, Lil! I screwed up. Now he thinks I'm some sort of harlot.”

  Beau cleared his throat suspiciously several times before he could speak. “I’m sure that’s not the case, Rose. Ladies in our time were completely different. However, not so innocent as you would believe. Maybe Caine just wanted to be clean? I have not felt this wonderful in, well, a hundred years.” Rose grunted, somewhat mollified

  “I just feel like an idiot.” She smiled a little sheepishly at Beau and Lily. “But no one ever said I was the brains of the family.” Lily laughed out loud at that. “I’m going outside for a bit, I need to think.” Rose stated

  “You just don’t wanna help clean!” Lily accused, laughing. Rose stuck out her tongue and put up her middle finger for good measure, spoiling the vitriol of the gesture by laughing. She walked out and closed the door.

  7

  Lily had started preparing the pizzas when Caine finally came out of the bathroom fully clothed and clean. She gave out a low whistle. "You boys sure scrub up good." Caine smiled and looked around.

  "Outside." Beau caught the worry on his face. "She went outside." Nodding his head Caine headed in that direction. "Can I help, Lily?" Beau asked, "I'd like to learn."

  Lily smiled and handed Beau the knife. "Start chopping." He grinned and grabbed an onion.

  The front door opened with a bang, and a startled Lily turned to see her mother at the door. She did not look pleased. Ignoring Beau, she charged straight to Lily. "Is this why you want to stay? You want to shack up with men? I thought I taught you girls better than this." Lily backed up at her mother's onslaught, more relieved that their mum hadn’t arrived an hour or so earlier. "I thought I'd surprise the two of you and spend the last couple days with you, but obviously, that's not a happy thing for you." She looked so angry, tears welled up in her eyes.

  "Mom, stop, it's not like that." Lily wasn't sure how much to tell her mom. "They were being attacked and chased. We just helped them out. They haven't had much contact with people and well, we couldn't just leave them!" Even to her own ears the explanation sounded inadequate. "Nothing is going on, I promise you. Nothing."

  "Ma'am–" Beau began. Lily frantically shook her head at him, but it was too late, her mother rounded on him.

  "Don't you dare stand there and try using polite talk and manners. You and that other guy are taking advantage of my daughters, and I won't have it! I'm getting the police!" Lily started walking over to her mother, pizza forgotten. Her mother glared at her and turned to the door, "I'm getting your sister, and we're leaving!" Grabbing the door frame, she turned as though in pain.

  Lily felt it then, that malevolent horrible feeling, frightening her to the core. "Beau!" she screamed, but he was already moving to the door.

  He grabbed Lily's mother and threw her inside, turning to face her, "Stay inside." He growled so menacingly, she nodded.

  Lily followed, "Rose is there!" He nodded, looking at Lily's mom one more time before turning and walking out the door, Lily on his heels.

  It felt as though they had walked into a war zone. Rose was standing in front of Caine, who appeared to be contorted in pain, a black cloud surrounded them both. It was difficult to see through, but they could make out that much. "Caine!" Beau roared and started to race toward the cloud. Lily quickly grabbed him and yanked him back. "Beau, no! We don't know how to fight it."

  Beau struggled for a moment and stopped. He collapsed, feeling defeated, staring at his brother with tears in his eyes. "But we killed him, Lily, we killed him!"

  Lily considered quickly, "Maybe we had it wrong, Beau. Maybe that man wasn't controlling it, maybe it was controlling him." Beau just nodded. Lily looked at her sister helplessly. She was standing above Caine, who was now on the ground, his body contorting in agony. Rose was shouting something and gesturing at Lily, but Lily couldn't hear her. It was like a blanket of white noise was surrounding them. She started crying. Rose was always the strong one, and though she was in peril, her first thought was the protection of others. Lily heard a gasp behind her and turned around. Their mother was at her shoulder, having ignored Beau at the thought of her daughters being in danger. She had her hand to her mouth, her other hand reaching out toward where Rose stood. "I'm sorry, Mama, I'm truly sorry. There isn't anything we can do. This is why we wanted to stay. Beau was a bear and Caine a wolf, we rescued them, or so we thought. Seems not." Her mother just shook her head in horror.

  A howl was heard, and they looked over, Caine's head was contorting, his mouth elongating to a muzzle, fur sprouting over his body. Beau was crying openly for his brother. Lily screamed. She was looking at Rose who had doubled over, her body contorted and obviously wracked with pain. The blackness had intensified and seemed to be concentrating on her as Caine's transformation was completing. Lily and her mother looked on in horror, helpless to stop what was happening. Rose screamed and continued to scream as her legs appeared to break, and her head began to change shape. Bright-red fur was sprouting over her body. Lily turned to her mother
and buried her head in her shoulder, hugging her tight. Her mother was whimpering, not noticing her daughter’s need for comfort as she watched her other daughter become something inhuman in front of her eyes.

  The black cloud dissipated, and in the spot where Rose and Caine had been, were two wolves, one dark and one russet. The dark wolf was standing over the red one whining and licking her fur. She was laying on the ground panting heavily, showing no signs of wanting to stand. Beau rushed over to them, followed closely by Lily, their mother trailed closely behind. Beau fell to his knees in front of Caine and threw his arms around his brother, crying into his fur. Lily stopped short of Rose and slowly fell to the ground as though her legs could no longer hold her up. She reached out slowly and hesitantly put her hands on the wolf’s head, Rose looked back at her, green eyes expressive and full of sadness, she whimpered and shifted slightly to lay her head in Lily's lap.

  "Rose?" their mother trembled, "Lily, is that Rose?" she asked as though she didn't see it happen in front of her own eyes. Rose lifted her head and looked at her mother as if only just realizing she was there. She growled and whimpered and licked her mother's outstretched hand. The hand spasmed and clenched to a fist, then relaxed completely. "Oh, Rose!" she cried and also dropped to the ground, throwing her arms around the wolf’s neck. "Lily, what do we do? Lily?"

  Lily looked at her mother, shaking her head, tears spilling from her eyes. "Mom, I don't know. Caine and Beau have been animals since 1913, I don't think there is anything we can do. We killed the man who did this to them. I don't know how to fix it this time." She sobbed and turned to Beau who seemed to be in his own world of hurt. She reached out to him and pulled him to her, trying to comfort him while still very much aware of her own grief.