The Frontier

The kitchen wasn't a room in itself and Stacy could make a dash to jump through the space between the counter below and the cabinet above but Carl saw that she was frozen by fear. So he shrieked in an attempt to distract them.

His voice half broke as he cried out, and when he inhaled and the intruders turned to him he could smell the vile stench they carried with them.

The beasts both ignored him and tried to make their way into the tiny kitchen. Both were at least four times Carl's size and it was a struggle making it past the counters. Carl realized he was out of options so he grabbed a standing lamp and charged at them causing sparks to fly as the copper cable plugged into the outlet snapped. Then he swung wildly, breaking the wooden pole in half as the marble stand impacted one beast against its head.

It let out an evil growl as it swiped its claw at Carl who had stepped back after the bludgeon. The beast turned even more, getting itself stuck in the tangle of limbs the two creatures had made in an attempt to reach their prey.

Carl hoisted the broken lamp as a spear and charged forward impacting the beast. It howled in agony as blood was drawn but, much to Carl's dismay, the sharp wood hadn't even pierced its flesh, only torn its skin a little.

With renewed hatred the beast struggled forward, finally freeing itself and colliding with Carl. He managed to duck under its jaws and was lucky to escape the engagement with only a deep gash on his back. The beast swiped at Carl again, this time adding four deep lacerations. Carl stumbled forward taking a knee and gasping in pain.

He tried to take note of his options.

The beast behind him had taken a step closer and the beast in the kitchen was at most a few seconds away from Stacy. Carl realised he couldn't get to her if he was the fastest man alive, and even then, what could he do. Prolong her life with a mere minute or two as the beast finished him off first?

Carl took a deep breath excepting his fate. An agonising sadness swallowed him as he realised that he had likely caused Stacy's death.

There was a sudden loud crash as the window panes opposite the kitchen, at the fireplace, burst open. A third beast entered the cottage sowing chaos as he went. He tackled the beast that was about the finish off Carl, throwing him through the front door in one fluid motion, and then smashed into the kitchen to prevent the second from taking his quarry.

The two beasts collided like two rabid dogs fighting. Carl watched in amazement as the awesome creatures tore through the walls in heated combat. He realised that he had a small window to save Stacy and as such, he charged forward dodging tooth and claw to make it into the kitchen. Stacy was paralysed by fear and there were tears in her eyes.

Carl lifted her up and cradled her in his arms as he ran in the direction of the closest escape. Soon they had made their way across a field of glass and out into the cold. When her bare feet made contact with the snow Stacy came to before clinging to Carl as she broke down into a mess of tears.

"We're alright, we'll be alright!" he tried reassuring her as he realised how bad of an idea it was to be out in the frigid morning cold with only a fur blanket on. There was an agonising howl as one of the beasts was severely wounded.

"We don't have time," he looked around panicked as he tried to think of some sort of follow up course of action. He guided her into a small space in the wood-frame foundation of the house.

"Stay here! I'll lead them away and come back for you," with that he made his way along the cottage wall until he saw the first beast make its way back into the building. He sprinted to the four-wheeler that stood in her driveway next to a luxury sedan and he started it up. Revving the engine loudly he sped off.

A second later, the two beasts that were working together emerged. One was limping covered in blood and the other was fresh for a chase. It got on all fours and followed after Carl with unbelievable speed. Carl had barely made it a hundred feet before the beast lunged at him, snapping its jaws shut on his shoulder before flinging him aside and sending the four-wheeler into the distance.

Carl smashed into a tree and could feel, and hear, bones breaking. His sight was blurred by blood leaking from a wound on his forehead but even through the blood he could see the beast approach to finish him off. He wiped the blood from his eyes to see if there was some lucky mean for him to escape or a weapon nearby. There were none.

Desperation grew and he could almost see his short life flashing before his eyes. This gave way to hopelessness and he breathed out accepting his fate. Then he heard Stacy scream. He looked to the side to see a dark figure clawing into the woodwork to reach her.

Carl panicked crawling in her direction on battered limbs only to have a heavy foot pin him in place. The creature's claws dug into Carl's lower back as Carl squirmed to reach Stacy, who was too far out of his reach.

The monster leaned into biting down on the area between his shoulder and his neck. Carl could feel the artery pop as the pressure was released when the vein was cut. His eyes went dark as his body went numb. The lycanthrope dropped him advancing slowly towards the shrieking girl wrapped in fur.

When he reached her he swung a mighty claw at his partner before tackling him to the ground and performing a similar execution on him as he had on the human he had just encountered. He released a celebratory howl afterwards before turning his attention to Stacy. She was as far back as she could have been and it only took her a moment to realise that it wasn't far enough as the beast slowly started creeping in under the building himself.

Stacy looked to where Carl was laying painting the snow red, and she let out a whimper of both despair and of fear. A claw swiped at her and a bare foot kicked out before retracting. The beast growled savagely as pain stung its eye and for a moment it was stalled as it touched its eye in an attempt to lessen the pain. Then it redoubled its efforts. Stacy shrieked once again as its movements were more savage now. Then she heard a sound that she associated with a moose running by her house. Only the heavy footsteps she was hearing pummelled into the lycanthrope at a speed that left her astonished. The werewolf was pulled back by its hind legs before being thrown aside.

Stacy was in tears and in too much shock to do anything but observe. She could see the monster being tackled and thrown around by what seemed to be a man. Most of it was a blur to her but there were times she could make out parts of him. She had pieced together that he had broad shoulders with strokes of black and purple marring his skin.

Then the werewolf struck back tackling him into the wall above the entrance to where Stacy was hiding. She saw muscles not massive but well tones and cut with the strokes of black being outlined by strokes of glowing purple.

The creature clawed at the man and it was a second or two before a 'thwack' rung through the air. The monster collapsed aside its jaw swinging loosely on its way down. Stacy held her breath expecting the man to enter; instead he knelt over the beast continuing to beat it. Blow after blow fell on the beast and Stacy stayed static.

Then she looked to her side and noticed Carl wasn't lying in the pool of blood anymore. She crawled out of the woodworks and towards who she assumed to be Carl. When she placed a hand on his shoulder he turned bloodied fist swinging and stopping short of impacting her.

Her knees buckled and she collapsed, instinct took over and Carl caught her. His eyes seemed distant though, as if he was being sedated.

"Carl... I'm so glad you're safe!" she wept letting him hold her. Carl's eyes were glowing purple as his stripes did and they widened and adjusted the longer they stood there until he found his voice again.

"Stacy?" his voice was deep and the tone was different in the sense that it was layered and the sound soothed her. She took a step back and she saw that the black lines were fading. He lost some muscle tone but maintained enough of it to look much more intimidating than before. After the brief transformation he took a knee heaving completely exhausted. She knelt in front of him to make sure he was alright, placing a gentle albeit shaky hand on his shoulder.

"We need to get into town... it isn't safe here," he helped her into the house so that she wouldn't get cut on the glass then set her down at her closet door. Carl stared at her getting dressed and he could feel himself hunger for her loins in a way that people hunger for air after holding their breath under water. He wondered if it was the cost of his transformation - was this what Danielle had meant when she said he'd lose control?

Then he felt his body move as if uninstructed he twisted Stacy towards him placing a kiss on her lips as they collided with the closest. For a moment his insane hunger drifted off. She seemed stunned by the kiss, almost mesmerised as if she needed it as much as he had. He took a step back clearing his throat before telling her that they need to hurry up.

Soon they were out the door and heading for the town.