Ravenport: Luna's Awakening

by Alistair Jones

  The bones in her feet legs start to stretch and crackle painfully, her ankles shifting upwards and her feet grow in width and length, bursting out of the confines of her boots like an overcooked potato. Her eyes water as she grunts in pain, gritting her teeth and keeping her breaths short to prevent herself from screaming. Her hands burn with change, her fingernails sharpening themselves to a point and turning black. Her spine heats up as it lengthens into a fifth appendage, jutting a few feet from under her jacket. The muscles in her body constrict to a painful degree, feeling as though they were ripping themselves apart. The legs of her jeans and sleeves of her jacket split wide open, exposing the bare skin to the elements. She mutters, growls and grunts incoherently as she continues to endure the strain, rolling from side to side to ease it the best she could manage.

  The young woman’s head tightens down like a vice as various facial features start to rearrange themselves without her permission. She closes her eyes to help concentrate on keeping quiet, her arms clutching her sides tightly, though doing nothing to halt her convulsions. Luna’s mouth and nose elongate outward, her teeth shifting to follow suit. Her ears pull up a few inches and grow in size, flattening out into erect canine ears. A wave of itchiness and nausea passes over her body as brown fur covers her in head to digitigrade toe, but her curly black hair seemed unphased by the changes.

  After all of that, the changes were a bit more subtle and the pain caused by them ebb away in slow waves. Luna gained some musculature in her arms and legs, causing the sleeves on both her sweater and her jacket to rip at the shoulder. Her upper canines elongate awkwardly out of her new lupine mouth, though none of her other teeth felt any different. She opens her eyes again now that the pressure eases off and pants in relief. She raises a hand up to her eyes, wiping away the tears she’d shed, allowing her to see properly.

  She looks over her hands and at the black claws at the end of them, twisting her wrists as she inspects both sides. She reaches down to pinch at some of the fur in her palm, pulling at it between two fingertips. It doesn’t give very easily, the skin underneath them stretching out to accommodate the strain. She reaches up to grasp at her ears and pulls, only to instantly draw her hand back with a loud whine of pain. Streams of worry drill themselves into her head as she waits with like breath to see if any other changes might occur as suddenly as the previous ones did. Luna’s rapid breathing she’d had throughout the transformation starts to slow and calm, as things seemed to settle down.

  Luna pushes herself to her feet shakily, as her new legs were uncoordinated felt as if they belonged to two separate people. She rotates her arms rapidly until she eventually stabilizes and looks down at her meaty looking feet. Despite only having the remains of her boots on them, the snow didn’t feel cold at all. Gathering her courage, she takes a few steps forward, keeping her arms out to her sides for balance. She stops walking when she starts to pitch forward, grabbing ahold of a familiar tree to keep herself upright. It was then she noticed that the spot that she’d been writhing in before was bare, devoid of any snow. Her clothes were still crisp and dry, previous injuries notwithstanding.

  Luna’s mind starts to race as this all seemed like some sort of weird dream. What the heck did that island have to do with anything? What was that voice from before? What is this form? It seemed like a werewolf. Was it a werewolf? Fur, claws, dog-like ears...All signs seemed to point at that being the logical conclusion. It’s a full moon too, isn’t it? A quick glance up confirms the theory, as it still seemed uncharacteristically large in the sky.

  She pushes off from the tree and looks out into the forest and attempts to cross her arms over one another, but the stiffness of the tight fabric prevents it. Without a second thought, she reaches over to the sleeves of her jacket and grips down, pulling it and the sweater sleeves off. Her arms were bare now, and she goes back to crossing them, looking back towards the direction of the two men who had inspected her while she was playing dead.

  A wave of dread washes over her as the realization that Percy was probably going to run home and if that bear was as good at tracking like most predators were, he was going to lead it right back to Penn and Peggy. While she certainly held no love of either of her foster parents and nothing but angst for Percy, neither one of them deserved to die. She turns in the direction of the house and runs as fast as she could, her new legs seeming to make it easier to move far, far faster than she could before. She was still careful though, as sprinting this way was still new, but when she stopped focusing on her legs and just let her body handle it, it became second nature.

  When she arrived at the Oswald home, it very much looked like it did when she left, but a trail of footsteps with drops of blood confirm that at least, somehow, Percy made it home. The bear didn’t seem to be anywhere nearby, but it wouldn’t be hard to track him if those hunter’s clothes weren’t just for show. Luna apprehensively makes her way towards the front door and presses her head against it, listening in. Not hearing anything, she tries to open, only to find the door locked. Nervously and quickly, she reaches into a miraculously still intact pocket and pulls out her house key. As she opens the door and steps inside, she has a sudden thought. Why would the door be locked though? Didn’t they know she was still out there?

  Walking back inside of the house after so much had happened felt strange, as did the sensation that she was undoubtedly taller than she was before. A good half a foot taller, by her judgment. She passes by the now empty living room, the television paused mid-play. The sounds of habitation came from the kitchen at the end of the hallway, with muffled voices speaking out. Luna creeps up next to the closed door and moves it slightly ajar so she could see.

  The Oswald’s kitchen is a classic style of a bygone era, complete with checkerboard floors, contemporary chrome appliances and a pleasant dinner table in a nook off to the side. Luna looks over to the side and spots Percy first, sitting in a chair with a bloodied arm. His jacket was sitting on the table, ripped and torn in several places. Peggy’s standing next to Percy, wrapping gauze around his wound, though judging by the running makeup and her shaking hands, this might take awhile. Penn is stomping around in another part of the kitchen, just out of her line of sight.

  “I’mma kill ‘er. If she ain’t dead, I’mma kill her myself.”

  Peggy pleads while working on her son. “Penn...please! Percy-kins, how do you feel? Do you need some water or something?”

  Percy sits quietly, his skin sheet white and staring blankly in front of him, the occasional shudder reminding himself that he was still alive.

  “I shoulda known to just send her ass out there by herself. Hell, it’d save me the trouble of having to toss her out.” Penn comments, grabbing something out of the fridge. After a second he tosses it, an ice pack hitting the table next to Percy.

  “I’m serious. I’m not taking her to the hospital either. Like I told ‘er. Not spending a dime. She’s got no business trying to steal my boy’s gun.”

  Peggy finally looks up from the wound and turns towards Penn. “It’s going to be fine, it’s going to be okay, we’ll just...we’ll just close up the windows and lock all of the deadbolts and pretend none of this ever happened. We’ll just have a pleasant Christmas. Percykins will take it easy tonight, and then tomorrow we can just have…” Peggy takes a shuddery deep breath. “...a wonderful, wonderful holiday.”

  Percy speaks up, looking towards both of his parents. “D-d-do you think...the bear will come back?”

  Penn snorts. “Nah...it’s probably muchin’ on Luna right now. But to be safe, lemme call animal control real quick.” Penn’s voice draws near. “Won’t take but a second.”

  Penn opens the door while looking back towards his family before running into Luna’s furry stomach. Penn immediately recoils back in horror as he looks up towards the female werewolf, shaking quite literally in his socks. Luna’s expression flattens as she watches him calmly.

  “Hiya.”

  Penn backs up against the wall a
s Luna steps into the kitchen, Percy recoiling back and pushing himself to stand out of shock while Peggy shrieks in terror, knocking over the first aid kit sitting in her lap. Percy retreats behind his mother, chanting in quick tones.

  “No way! No-no-no-no-no! Th-th-this can’t be happening man, what the hell!”

  Luna crosses her arms as the family seems to completely lose itself around her, though her attention is on Penn at the moment, who had reached over to the knife rack and was fiddling with trying to draw a blade. Luna steps over towards him and puts a hand on the wall above him and grabs his other hand, staring at him straight in the face.

  “...Probably munching on me right now huh?” Luna speaks coolly, though her thoughts were anything but.

  Penn keeps his gaze on the werewolf’s face, but eventually, he spots Luna’s silver moon pendant, dangling from her neck. He points towards it nervously.

  “L-l-luna? Th-that’s you? What...the hell happened to you?”

  Percy shrinks behind his mother, doing his best attempt at performing a disappearing act.

  “What happened to me?” Said Luna as she leans up a little bit as the question is posed to her. “I don’t know, why don’t you ask your darling precious SON what happened? I’m curious, what did he tell you?”

  Luna turns towards Peggy, who squeaks out another shriek before she reaches back to grab Percy, shielding him from the werewolf.

  “D-d-don’t hurt him! P-p-please don’t hurt him! He’s a good boy!”

  “DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID TO ME!?” Luna roars in response, forcing all three humans to cower. “He shot me in the stomach! He shot me in the stomach and left me for DEAD! And even when I was hurt, you guys weren’t even going to come look for me! You guys were going to let me bleed to death outside because you couldn’t even be bothered to care, it's even a stupid second, about anyone other than yourselves! You guys are SICK.”

  A clicking noise catches Luna’s attention as she turns to face it. Penn has a shotgun leveled at her chest, his finger easing over the trigger. Judging by the amount of blood and the few pieces of snow that still clung to it, it was Percy’s gun that he had wielded outside. Luna’s eyes narrow on the weapon as her claws extend an inch or two out from her fingers.

  “Put the gun down Mr. Oswald. Do you really want to make the same mistake your son made?”

  “S-s-shut up! Shut up you monster! Y-y-you think you can just walk in here and start yelling at my family in my house like that? What kind of f-freak of nature are you? I always knew you were weird! Just some nerdy little weirdo! And now look atcha!”

  Penn grows bold, straightening his stance and keeping his finger over the trigger. “Some big stupid werewolf looking thing! No wonder you were in the system at age two. If I’d have met your mother back then, I’d have told her to get an abortion and save me the trouble!”

  Luna snaps, bringing her hand up to the underside of the shotgun barrel, raising it up and away from her face. Penn fires the gun, sending a pair of slugs into the ceiling of the house, causing both Peggy and Percy to jump in surprise. The loud explosion of the gun stung her highly sensitive ears, but she was too angry to pay it much mind. Luna grabs the end of the barrels with her hand and squeezes them both shut with some effort. Penn quakes as he watches Luna’s strength, pulling the gun away from her when she’s finished with it.

  Penn backs himself into a wall his pupils shrinking as he cowers before the werewolf, his voice shriveling up in horror. But when he looked back at her, he could see tears beading in Luna’s eyes as she didn’t look as intimidating as she did before; she merely looked hurt, her ears sinking to the sides of her head sadly.

  “How can you say that? How can any of you honestly say that to someone and still think of yourselves as good people?”

  Penn slowly stands back up as shame ran its course through him. Percy and Peggy also look on, sheepishly looking at each other before going quiet. An awkward moment passes as the Oswald family...didn’t seem to want to look at the girl they’d raised from near infancy.

  “Awww...that’s cute. You guys are adorable...” A new voice spouts arrogantly from the nearby window.

  Chapter 5

  My Lucky Day

  The voice forces Luna to turn and look towards the source, only to find out that it was the bald man she saw at the clearing earlier in the night, staring in through the window. At just that moment the back door explodes open with the enthralled bear snarling its way in and the shorter of the duo walking in right after it. Percy and Peggy both back away slowly, while Penn had no choice but let the huge creature a walk right by him.

  “Good evening. I’m afraid you’ll have to pardon the intrusion but we’re here on some business.” Dwayne says, walking up next to the bear’s head and patting it softly. Austin comes in a moment later with a huge grin plastered on his face, gesturing towards Luna.

  “Oooh. They’ve got a Terran tainted with them. I think...I think it’s that girl we saw. The dead one?”

  Dwayne turns to look at Luna and nods slowly. “Why yes, I think you are quite right brother. Same blood. Same clothes. Same stench. Though her eyes are different. You picked a terrible night to embrace the gift, Terran.”

  “Terran...what? What do you guys even want?” Luna says, stepping in front of Penn’s slowly retreating form.

  Dwayne smiles smugly. “Well you see, we were out doing our Master’s bidding when suddenly, two children decided to lay their eyes upon things that need not be seen by the likes of filth, such as yourselves. Our new pet needed some nourishment, and while she was quite successful in maiming one of the children, the other one decided to shoot at her quite viciously.” He points to a few bullet wounds present in the bear’s fur, though only one of them was still actively bleeding.

  Dwayne continues. “And that simply won’t do. We’re here to extend to you wonderful chance to learn some proper manners for your betters...and clean up whatever mess we make.”

  Austin cracks his knuckles to accentuate the point, a flickering white and blue flame engulfing his hand.

  Penn, who had slowly been backing away all this time, finally loses his composure, panicking and darting towards the hallway door in a rush. Austin smiles and easily takes aim, tossing a basketball-sized ball of flame directly at Penn, striking him in the head. Penn screams and holds his hands up over his scalp, trying to put the fire out, but the immolation would not cease. Luna gasps as she watches Penn convulse and twist in agony, the attack hitting him mid-stride. Penn slams into the ground limply as Peggy shrieks again, holding a hand out to her fallen husband. Percy stands perfectly still as he watches the blue flames eventually die out after a few seconds, leaving his father’s head surprisingly unburned. Percy thought for a moment that his dad might have survived the attack, but as soon as the flames cleared off of his face, the truth was laid bare. Penn’s pupils were non-existent, leaving his eyeballs blank and featureless. His mouth hung open, and smoke poured out from between his teeth and his mouth.

  “Oh my god. Oh my god! Oh my god, Penn! Sweetie, wake up!” Peggy cried, starting to scramble to the fallen man’s side.

  Austin starts to take aim at Peggy as she rushes forward, but Luna reacts first, punching Austin directly in the face and sending the fireball flying up into the ceiling. The blue fire disperses, but in its place, a familiar orange fire starts licking at the roof of the room. Austin is sent across the kitchen, rolling to his feet and wiping a small bit of blood from his face in a practiced manner.

  “Oooh...someone’s got a nice jab there. Care to try that again, princess?”

  Dwayne turns towards his friend and shakes his head. “I think I have a better idea. Get the others. I’ll handle the Terran.”

  He leans over and whispers into the bear’s ear in the same manner he had before.

  “Kill Terran...Eat.”

  The bear reacts immediately, charging towards a surprised Luna. She saw Austin advance towards both grieving Peggy and the frozen Percy and wanted to he
lp but the bear slams into Luna’s torso, sending them both into the hallway and shattering the door between the two into splinters. Luna digs her feet into the floor and grabs the bear’s head, her clawed toes tearing into the lush carpet to slow the creature. It took a significant amount of effort, but she halts the ursine, straining all of her muscles to hold the bear from pushing her through the front door. The sounds of the struggle from the kitchen were quite violent, with the sounds of a heavy tussle and the shattering of glass and ceramic.

  Unable to make any more progress, the ursine reaches down and bites Luna in the thigh, easily puncturing it and forcing a howl of pain from the werewolf. She returns the favor by savagely slashing the creature across the face and nose, which prompts it to toss Luna, back first, through a solid wall and into the living room. She keeps upright even with the bite and lands with a slide on her feet, though her back slams into the glass panel TV, shattering it beyond any recognition.

  The pain was immense coming from Luna’s leg, but her adrenaline flowing through her now. The bear charges again, but this time the werewolf is ready, driving her fist forward in a right hook that picked the bear’s upper body off of the ground for a moment and forcing it to slow down. The ursine takes a moment to stand up now, roaring at Luna and swiping a heavy paw towards her face. The werewolf brings her hands up to block, and whereas a few short hours ago the blow would have broken bones, here she absorbs the momentum of the attack entirely. It certainly did still hurt, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t take again.