Eternal Hearts Ch. 04

During the course of the evening they checked on him a couple of times, just joining him for a couple of minutes to see whether anything was happening, and that he was alright so far, since none of them really knew what to expect. The sisters spent their time in the comfortable open lounge area watching television, the door to the dungeons open so they could hear if he needed anything, though they heard nothing. Seeing the moon starting to light up the lawn and patio outside, they decided something must surely be happening now and headed down to see him.

"Hi we just came to see if..." Kylie started, both of them stopping as they stepped round into the cell area, seeing him hunched on his simple mattress, resting his head on his knees, holding onto the rudimentary bedding and breathing deeply.

"Are you alright?" asked Dannii cautiously, since he hadn't turned yet but was clearly in some kind of distress.

"Yeah..." he said heavily, clearly focussing and holding himself together, giving a slight growl with his next breath, which made the sisters warily approach the cold, unforgiving bars of his prison.

"What's the matter? How's it feel?" Kylie said, looking at him carefully through the bars, looking for any sign of change.

"You must be getting close now, the moon's rising big and bright out there," Dannii said, glancing to Kylie.

"Yeah I fucking am!" he snapped, looking up at them, a strange glint to his eyes, like they were discoloured, both sisters realising it must be part of the change, since this was his first one after all.

"Calm down, just relax," Kylie cooed, waving her hands softly downwards in a soothing manner, not that it helped. If anything it just made things worse.

"Calm down, how can I calm down? I'm about to turn into...into...fuck knows what!" he yelled, losing his temper as he stood up, completely unconcerned at his nudity, though so were the sisters just then, stepping back from the bars a little.

"We're just trying to help you through this," Dannii said coolly, not liking his attitude.

"Trying to help is right. You can help by getting outta here," he snapped sharply, glaring at Dannii, who glared right back, giving a slightly aggressive growl herself and exposing her teeth somewhat.

"Ok ok we're going. Dannii, we're going," Kylie said firmly, grasping her younger sister's arm and looking into her eyes though they didn't turn to her, pulling her towards the door of the dungeons, Dannii not looking away from him for a moment, mumbling under her breath as she was pulled out of the dungeon, Kylie holding onto her and pulling her out and up the stairs to the hallway. He gave a deep sigh and dropped heavily onto the mattress again, curling onto his side and giving a shiver, completely oblivious to the way he'd just treated the two people who had decided to help him.

"Dan calm down, this isn't easy for him," Kylie said, seeing Dannii still seething.

"Maybe not but he could be more grateful, we took him in and look what we get," she said moodily as Kylie pulled her back into the kitchen and practically parked her against a work top, putting the kettle on and setting about making them a cup of tea to calm down.

"I doubt he has any idea he's doing it. You certainly weren't the most polite little creature when you'd just been turned," Kylie said, casting Dannii a glance as she found the milk.

"And I suppose you were?" she said with a scowl, clearly not wanting any more insults.

"No, definitely not, I was a bloodthirsty little bitch, it's just the way it is," Kylie said as she stepped back to pour their hot drinks. Dannii seemed satisfied by this admission, and a little out of ideas as to a comeback, so simply let her simmering temper go off the boil as she shared a mug of tea with her girlfriend and went back to the show they'd been watching.

Around half an hour later, the moon had risen properly into the sky, big and bright over the trees. The sisters were still watching telly, another show on they idly kept up with, giggling over some of the cute guys in it and other stuff, when they heard a low noise. Both of them immediately went still and silent, Kylie quickly muting the TV, their sharpened hearing picking up the sounds far more clearly than any normal human would.

"What was that?" murmured Dannii, both straining to hear. They heard it again, a low, soft call of need, now making it out, "is anybody there? Please?", the confusion and need laced into it in the most profound way.

"It's him, come on," Kylie said, swiftly standing, grasping Dannii's hand and pulling her towards the hall, nipping along it and down the corridor onto the stairs, which quickly got them into the dungeon area, turning round the solid wall to his cell. He was laid on the floor on his front, almost like he was doing a press up, his fingernails digging into the cold floor off his mattress, the grimace of pain evident. He managed to glance up, barely able to think who they were through the deep, bone-aching changes that were sneaking up on him, his skin crawling.

"We're here, don't worry," Kylie said, kneeling down and reaching for his hand that he extended towards him, which seemed an effort when gripped in the throes of such deep-seated changes.

"Yeah just breathe deep and calm down, you'll get through this," Dannii said, Kylie glancing up, a little surprised at the compassion and support Dannii showed after her mood just minutes earlier. He didn't reply, still breathing heavily, grunting and growling a little more, Dannii reaching down, seeking Kylie's other hand, clearly wanting to be able to pull her back out the way if, or rather when, something happened.

It happened fast, Dannii giving a slight squeal and yanking Kylie back out the way, falling back on the stone floor with her as he gave a sharp lurch and a cry, arching his back and straining, looking completely tortured before he curled forward, curling up on the floor as he felt a sickening, crunching gristly noise, feeling his spine expand as he gave a loud cry, contorting tightly as he struggled even to draw the tiniest breath. The sisters backed away from the caged as he managed another strained cry of pure agony, watching wide eyed as he changed, which was happening very quickly. Pain shot through his body as he felt his limbs straining, like they were suddenly too short, the joints throbbing excruciatingly as his bones changed, becoming longer, stronger and thicker, making him taller and broader than he already had been. It wasn't just that though, as he felt a surge burst through him and his muscles suddenly felt like they'd been pumped full of air like balloons, straining unbearably against his skin. He let out a long, loud scream at the intolerable pain, feeling like he'd burst when he felt a sudden itching over his skin.

Neither of the sisters spoke as they stared fixated on his metamorphosis, unable to do anything but watch as he writhed in agony on the floor, feeling the creeping across his skin, like it was tightening up, followed by a bristly sensation which rapidly turned to a feeling of millions of tiny needles forcing his way through his skin, forcing another cry from him as he tried to block out the pain, barely aware of anything now as it suddenly felt almost tickly, as a coating of dark hair spread all over his skin, bursting through abruptly and flowed down him to a set length, the pressure feeling relieved, on his skin at least as it changed around his new body, turning to what he now was, a tail extending surprisingly fast from his spine, but was soon overcome by another pain as it was like someone had punched him in the face. Everywhere in the face, as his nose and cheeks hurt unbelievably, straining and stretching with a bone-chilling crunching and squelching sound that reverberated through his skull, his gums hurting and bleeding as his teeth forced through, touched by his already changed tongue, long and soft in his mouth.

He was completely unaware of himself now, turned, feeling the last painful and uncomfortable constrictions and stretches take place and settle down as he gave a last spasm or two, pain fading completely from him, resting a moment before he flipped onto his feet with incredible speed, throwing his head back and letting out a deafening howl before his eyes fixed on the sisters. Without even a sniff his nose told him they were fresh, warm meat, and he hurled himself at the bars to get to them, both sisters scrabbling back to their feet in shock, terrified as he grabbed the bars and heaved, the iron giving a weary groan at the strain, as if it might fail, but held him back all the same. As they clearly resisted him, he gave a snarl and let go, pulling back from the cage and standing up, massive now, the tiny sanguistic siblings staring up at him. Standing about eight feet tall now with shoulders twice as broad as before, his body, which had been fairly toned anyway, was now a rippling mass of taught, powerful muscle under a coating of dark fur, his long snout sniffing ahead of his searching yellow eyes, which were locked on the Minogue sisters.

"I...think we'd better leave him alone for a while..." Kylie said slowly, neither of them taking their eyes from the cage.

"Yeah that sounds a good idea," Dannii said, taking her hand again and briskly pulling her away from the cage, out into the corridor and back to the stairs, hearing him give another growl as they did. Getting onto the stairs, they shut the door and swiftly headed up the stairs to the wide hallway, both breathing a heavy sigh and looking at one another.

"Damn...have you ever seen anything..." Kylie trailed off, looking down at the carpet and shaking her head.

"Nothing even close..." Dannii murmured, both of them mulling over the unimaginable transformation they'd just witnessed. Tottering back to the lounge area, they slumped down on the comfortable furniture, both sitting in silence for a few minutes as they tried to take it in, both running over it in their minds, the way he'd sprouted his thick covering of hair, or the way he'd just stretched and bulged in front of them. However what struck both of them most was his screams of pain, which far surpassed anything they'd had to put up with. After a few more minutes they got talking again, going over the same things more than once as they talked about him, what to do with him and so forth, but eventually decided they'd feed him the steak they'd brought upstairs earlier. They collected it from the kitchen fridge and then headed back down the stairs in the side corridor from the hallway, slowly opening the door and peering into the dungeon area as if he'd be standing there waiting for them, which he wasn't.

They could hear him in his cell, breathing quite heavily just round the stone wall separating them, hearing a change in it as they entered, knowing he was aware of their presence, not that that surprised them at all. Stepping round the corner, he was waiting in his cell, the iron bars still holding just fine with him just behind, eyes already searing into them as they stood, but quickly drawn to the thick steak Kylie was holding, its enticing aroma capturing his attention. He let out a low growl, his tongue just lolling a little.

"Um...hi. We brought you something to eat, thought you might be hungry..." Kylie said a little lamely, her nerves and uncertainty showing.

"Kylie, he doesn't understand," Dannii said a little scornfully, though she was no barrel of bravery at that moment.

"He might, we don't know," Kylie retorted, then carefully approached the bars, immediately recoiling as he also approached them, eager for the meal she was offering. Eyeing him carefully, she slipped forward out of Dannii's clutches, who again held her hand to be able to draw her back out of trouble, just getting close enough to the bars with the thick cut of meat. Whilst he stood near to the bars, he didn't make any movement besides eyeing them and breathing, which was a good start. Kylie didn't quite know how she was going to give it to him, but she didn't think she'd be trying to hand feed him any time soon, so stayed out of reach. Swinging the heavy steak a couple of times, she turned it and threw it between the bars, right at him. It never even touched the ground as he moved with amazing speed and grabbed the raw, juicy steak, stepping back and hunching to devour it. Dannii pulled Kylie back to safety as he tore at it with his impressive jaws and new, sharp teeth, tearing out a big chunk and chewing it noisily, Dannii wearing a slightly disgusted face as he demolished the meat, looking up at them almost accusingly as they watched him eat.

"Hopefully that'll settle him down a bit," Dannii murmured, easing Kylie back towards the entrance.

"Yeah, keep him calm," Kylie replied idly, both still watching him, though Kylie's eyes flitted down, taking him all in, noticing quite a substantial bulge at his crotch, though more out of mere fascination as this incredible creature than anything else, not the least bit interested in anything like that, at least not then as they worked to understand him first.

"Let's go and have another cuppa huh?" Dannii cooed in her ear, still guiding her back slowly as he worked at the large steak, which wasn't so large anymore.

"Yeah, yeah let's go," Kylie agreed, tearing her eyes from the grim spectacle and turning up the stairs, Dannii following with a last glare to him feeding in his prison. Again they closed the door and headed back upstairs, getting the kettle on for another hot mug of tea to help maintain normality as both of them ended up where they had been before, just thinking about him in an endless circle. Neither had any idea what to expect, whether he'd settle down or become more aggressive and energetic, exactly what they didn't need. And neither of them had the faintest idea how long it might take to happen after eating, so they just had to guess and wait it out a little while. They had the telly on but neither of them was really watching it as they drank their tea, thinking deeply to themselves or talking it over.

"Well, he certainly seems containable..." Kylie said, pointing out that hewassecured after all.

"Yeah, for now, but is this just the beginning? Like us, he'll get stronger as he gets more...developed shall we say," Dannii countered, which was a fair point.

"Don't know really, all we can do it go and read some more of those books I guess," Kylie said, the most practical thing they'd come up with since it'd all begun. Although it was a bit of a walk, once they'd finished their tea they stood up and joined hands once more and headed back up the majestic stairs to the top floor and the library. Walking through the darkened corridors was quite eerie, even though there were lights it didn't quite chase away the complete feeling around them, though they were sure it was nothing. Back in the library again, they settled down with the werewolf books, now with a more specific research aim, which was the development of werewolves after their first turning and what their moods were like, hoping to find a clue as to whether food would placate or enrage him.

As usual they found conflicting reports, since most of the books seemed to be based on the mythology and legend of werewolves and lacked good solid first-hand contact. However, a few did have some good personal accounts and delivered mostly consistent information that suggested, like most creatures, that food was a top priority and he should calm down, at least somewhat, if he was well fed. Having found out what they initially came for, and a few other less relevant facts, they headed back downstairs and decided they should check him first, warily descending the stairs to the dungeons again and looking round into his cell. Even in the small area he was pacing, immediately looking up to them as they arrived, giving a slight growl. The bone from the meat was picked clean, and bitten in two, on the floor of the cell.

"Perhaps best we get him something else to eat huh?" Dannii murmured as they saw his still aggressive stance, clearly looking at them with a less than friendly air.

"Yeah, might be an idea," Kylie replied, both of them pulling back and slinking away without hesitation, heading straight over the hall and along a bit to head down to the fridges. Only a few moments later they were out again with two thick steaks, bigger than the first one, deciding that feeding him up plenty certainly couldn't hurt his demeanour. They immediately headed straight back down to the dungeons and round to his cage, where he was waiting at the bars, sniffing heavily at their offerings, having smelt them coming from the hallway with the fresh meat. Eyeing him carefully, Dannii stepped forward, her slender arm outstretched and holding the thick steak, watching him to see how he reacted, which was different to how it had been at least. He was definitely calmer, but showed more control, as if he understood they were being nice to him. However it soon reverted as he snarled and tried to snatch it, Dannii recoiling and then positively hurling the meat through the bars at him.

"Not much respect is there," she snapped, looking moody as he grabbed the meat and once again started to devour it with no regard for mess or noise, Dannii sneering a little at the display.

"Not yet," Kylie said simply, edging closer as he gorged and throwing her own steak through the bars at his feet. His eyes flitted to it but he didn't look up, and they once again withdrew, heading back out and closing the door to the stairs. It was getting reasonably late now, pushing on eleven thirty pm as they settled on the sofa once more, idly watching TV as they gave him time to feed and with luck settle down a bit. Sitting on the sofa, Dannii let tiredness overwhelm her and dozed off, sinking down into the sofa cushions and resting her head softly against Kylie's shoulder. Kylie just continued to idly watch the TV, and take in a brief, well-known look down Dannii's top when she glanced at the clock and noticed it'd been the better part of an hour since they'd fed him again, and they should take a look at him. Glancing at her pretty younger sister, she decided not to wake her and carefully slipped off the settee, leaving Dannii snoozing lightly as she padded back to the corridor, down the stairs and through the door to the dungeons.

Slowly approaching, she leaned round the wall to see what was going on, having not even heard so much as breathing on her way down. He was standing, back from the bars, looking curiously around his cell, examining it for something. Perhaps looking for a way to escape, though the only way that would happen would be through the bars, which so far held firm without worry. His gaze immediately switched to her as she stepped into view in her cropped trousers and snug vest top, having never changed after he'd arrived so dramatically at the mansion. He moved forward, but slowly, carefully, as if he didn't want to startle her, not that he could really since she knew what to expect from him. Stepping a little closer herself, but still out of reach of him, she waited to see what he'd do, seeing him sniffing the air deeply, as if able to pick something specific out, but what she had no idea.

He came right to the bars and pushed his nose through a little, Kylie leaning back warily, looking into his eyes, which now seemed far more curious and warm than they had earlier when he was clearly in a far more primal state. However she wasn't a fool and didn't expect him to suddenly be what he wasn't, and it was clear he didn't have any particular control over his new self, which was entirely understandable. Glancing down him, she could see he was relaxed, catching sight of his long, plush tail hanging down towards the floor between his legs, which was just curling and wagging slightly, making her arch an eyebrow. She didn't want to liken him to a dog, he was far more than that, but was there a chance it indicated similar, that he was happy to see her? She thought for a minute, when he hadn't done anything to threaten her as they stood there, standing back up straight and then very carefully and slowly raising her hand towards him.