Willow Creek, Montana, 2007.
I was listening to my iPod while Dad was driving us to a camping ground, not paying attention to him chatting with Mom and my little sister Chloe. This trip was an effort for him to reconnect with us after our family lives had been through a bad patch recently. My dad's work as a CEO had been taking up all of his time and my mother had had an affair as a result. My dad was gone all the time and I was pissed at my mom for what she did so I spent most of my time keeping to myself. I was taken out of my thoughts when my sister tapped me on the shoulder and I took off my headphones so I could hear what she was saying.
"What?" I asked and she frowned at me.
"Dad's trying to talk to you, Matty," Chloe informed me and I looked at my Dad, who was staring at me in the review mirror.
"What's up, Dad?" I questioned.
"I was asking if you were excited about going fishing with me. I was looking forward to it because I was hoping that I could get you away from your headphones for a little while so that we could have a conversation about how things are at school or how things are going with you and Jessica," Dad explained and I shrugged.
"Things are going okay...I actually scored a touchdown during practice and Jess and I are doing alright," I told him while avoiding eye contact with Mom, who looked uncomfortable at the tension between me and her.
"Well, that's great news. I would love to hear more about it when we get some time together," Dad stated with a smile as I looked out the window and watched the trees pass by.
"Sure," I muttered, putting my headphone back on, and time passed by until we eventually arrived at the camping grounds.
Dad pulled into a space in the parking lot and we all got out and grabbed our things as we unloaded the car. Dad took off his ball cap and ran a hand through his short brown hair as he smiled at us.
"Well, time to set up the tents," Dad declared cheerfully after putting his hat back on.
I put my backpack on and we all headed in to our camp site, passing other people at their sites, enjoying themselves chatting, laughing, and having fun, in contrast to my mood, which was unhappy and distant from recent events back home. We found our site and got to work setting up our tents. When I was finished setting mine up, I noticed my Dad seemed to be having trouble with his tent.
"Matt, would you please help me with this?" Dad asked and I went over to hold the fabric steady while he fed the support poles through, then I held the corners in place while he hammered the pegs into the ground to anchor the tent.
"Thanks, Son, I really appreciate that," Dad told me once he was done and I smiled softly in response.
"No problem...I'm just going to head to the lake to watch the view," I informed him as I went to leave.
I passed campsites and people doing their own thing until I arrived at the lake and sat down on the end of the fishing pier. I looked down at my reflection and saw an 18-year-old boy with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a black t-shirt, gray bomber's jacket, blue jeans with a black belt, and red converse sneakers. I started thinking about wanting things to be back to the way they were before but at least my Dad was trying to repair things between my Mom, Chloe, and I since his job as a businessman got in the way and things had turned bad after what my Mom had done.
I heard footsteps approaching and my Dad sat down next to me. The two of us sat staring out at the lake, and he had a look of regret on his face.
"Hey...why don't you tell me how practice went?" Dad offered and I nodded.
"Well, it wasn't a big deal really since all I did was score a touchdown but Jake was ecstatic and wanted to celebrate since he can be a party animal at times," I said.
Dad chuckled. "I like that you can be perceptive about people like that."
I nodded a little bit and shrugged at the compliment as Dad continued, "Maybe that can help you understand a little about your Mom and me. I know things are bad between your Mom and me right now, but I don't want you to hate her because of what had happened. She made a mistake and I just wanted you to know that nobody's perfect...if there's one thing I know is that family's important and that you should always treasure the time you have with them while you still can. Anyway, please try and spend some time with your mother because I don't want things to fall apart because of what had happened," Dad stated while I clenched my fists with a pensive expression.
"How? Every time I look at her, I just feel so pissed that she was unfaithful to you just because you were busy most of the time," I wondered and my Dad laid a hand on my shoulder.
"I'm not saying that it'll be easy, but just try and talk to her because she regrets what had happened and is trying to make up for it...I also wanted to apologize for not spending time with you, your mother, and your sister because of work. I should've made sure I had more free time but I let myself get caught up in my job and it pushed me away from you, your mother, and your sister. I just wanted us to go on this trip because I wanted us to begin to be a family again," Dad admitted and I nodded.
"Thanks, Dad...I know you didn't mean to let your job take up most of your time, and I'll try to talk to Mom even though it'll be hard," I stated as we stood up and Dad smiled gratefully.
"I'm glad to hear that, so how about we have a game of baseball to pass the time?" Dad offered and I nodded in agreement as we went to get the metal bat and the baseball from our camping site.
I took up a batting stance while Dad got ready, then he tossed the ball at me and I hit it which sent it to the ground nearby and I smiled as he went to get the ball.
"Nice swing, Son," Dad praised me and I blushed.
"Thanks," I muttered as he went to throw the ball again and I hit it.
As the day went by, I was enjoying myself and thinking about how what had happened recently seemed to be like a bad dream and I knew that things would be alright again, even though it would be a struggle to adjust and that it would take a long time for things to be okay again since our lives wouldn't be the same as before. Eventually, as the sun set and it became chilly as night fell, we headed back to our tents to set up a campfire for the evening.
"Well, I sure had fun, didn't you?" Dad asked with a tired grin.
"Hell yeah...Dad, I'm glad that you took us on this trip," I stated and Dad patted my shoulder with his hand.
"I'm happy that you are, so how about we all go hiking tomorrow?" Dad asked and I nodded.
"Sure, and it will get me away from-" I was cut off when I heard growling coming from the nearby forest and we both stopped, looking at each other nervously.
"What the fuck was that? An animal?" I questioned and Dad hurried me along while he seemed to spot something in the nearby bushes.
"I don't know, but we need to go since I think I saw something," Dad declared just as a large furry blur came out of the forest and sent me to the ground as it attacked my Dad.
I hit the ground hard and groaned in pain as I sat up, only to hear the sound of screaming and I was horrified to see my father howling in agony while getting ripped open by a large animal with white fur.
"Dad! Oh my fucking God!" I exclaimed in sheer distress while I quickly stood up with the bat.
"Matthew, run!" Dad screamed in pain and I trembled as I gripped the bat with two hands and charged at the thing to get it off my father, not even thinking about how stupid my decision was.
"Get the hell off him, you bastard!" I roared as I sent the animal off of my father with a well-placed swing into its side.
I stood in front of my injured father and the blood drained from my face when the animal actually stood up on its two hind-paws and I could see it under the moonlight clearly. The animal looked like a wolf with a human muscular torso, powerful arms, humanoid hands with deadly claws and paw-pads but it had digitigrade legs with paws, a tail, and a wolf's head that had glowing red eyes and my father's blood covering its lupine muzzle.
"S-stay back, you fucking monster! I have a bat and I'm not afraid to use it!" I shouted in terror while brandishing the metal bat threateningly.
The monster started rushing at me and I swung at it, but it grabbed the bat and yanked it out of my hands before throwing it away and tackling me to the ground like a bulldozer. I choked from getting the breath knocked out of me and tried to hit its chest with my fists, but it was like hitting a solid brick wall as the monster leaned its head down and sniffed at my face while I whimpered and shouted for anyone to help.
The monster lunged forward and I screamed incoherently in sheer agony as it started tearing at my left shoulder and chest with its teeth and claws, my flesh and clothes ripping apart from the assault and the monster's ears perked up as it lifted its head and howled at the moon. Then, the monster got off of me and took off into the forest, leaving me and my Dad laying on the ground with the grass becoming stained with our blood as my vision became blurry.
I struggled to stay awake as I heard people quickly approaching, and I saw my Mom and Chloe screaming in horror while one of the people in the crowd called for an ambulance. I kept gurgling and choking in pain and I heard the sound of sirens approaching while my Mom was crying and Chloe was still in shock at seeing her father and older brother torn open and bleeding out.
"D-Daddy? Matty?" Chloe whimpered in distress while she knelt down to hold my hand.
"Gary, Matt, please...just hold on. The ambulance just arrived and the paramedics will be here any second. Just hang on," Mom reassured frantically while tears ran down her cheeks.
"Rebecca, honey...it feels like I...like I...it it bad?" Dad gurgled while Mom sat down next to him and held his head.
"It's...oh God...it's-it's not that bad," Mom whimpered and closed her eyes to look away from the carnage.
"S'funny...it feels like it's pretty bad," Dad choked while Mom was sobbing.
"Chloe...I guess I fucked up...Sis. Oh, God...it fucking hurts," I gasped in agony just as I saw the paramedics quickly rushing over with two stretchers.
"Just hang on Matty, you and Dad will be taken to the hospital soon and you'll be better in no time," Chloe assured shakingly while one of the paramedics moved her out of the way so that he could check on me.
"Pulse is erratic..." I faintly heard before I closed my eyes and fell unconscious.
The next thing I knew, I was regaining consciousness and heard the sound of something beeping as I started to wake up. I opened my eyes and saw that I was in a hospital room. Weakly looking around, I saw Chloe with Jess, a girl with red hair, green eyes, and wearing a long-sleeved gray shirt, brown hoodie, black cargo pants, and green sneakers.
I groaned slightly as I adjusted in my bed and they widened their eyes when they saw that I was moving.
"Matt, you're awake," Jess said in relief as she and Chloe went to two chairs next to my bed and sat down.
"Hey, babe...argh...I feel like shit," I grunted while I took her hand and stroked it with a weak smile.
"I'm not surprised since you and Dad were attacked and torn apart by a wild animal. Oh, and your friends are waiting outside so I might as well tell them to come in," Chloe notified me as she went to leave the room.
"Matt...when I heard what had happened, I was terrified that I would lose you. Thank God you survived," Jess stated.
"I'm happy that you are here since I need you right now...how long have I've been out?" I questioned while looking at her.
"You've been out for about a week, but your Dad is still unconscious so I don't know when he's going to wake up," Jess informed me just as my friends Jake, Mike, Luke, and Danny entered the room.
"Well, Matthew Hampton is awake. Shit, how are you feeling man?" Mike asked as he and the others sat in other chairs that were nearby.
"Like someone took a fucking weed whacker to my shoulder and chest...and poured acid onto it to add insult to injury," I described while looking down at my bandaged shoulder and chest.
"Damn man, that's gotta suck. So, I heard that you stood up against the thing that did that to you...dude, you must have some serious balls in order to go up against a wild animal to protect your Dad," Jake said, looking really impressed.
"Well, I wasn't really thinking straight when I fought against it with my bat since I was terrified for my Dad and tried to save him," I admitted sheepishly.
"Look on the bright side, at least you'll have some gnarly scars to show off to your girlfriend since girls dig scars," Luke remarked and I laughed before coughing weakly.
"Oh God man, don't make me laugh because I'm in so much pain," I wheezed just as a doctor entered the room and looked at me.
"You're awake, Mr. Hampton. How are you feeling?" the doctor inquired as she went over to check the IV drip that was to the left of my bed.
"Ugh...I feel like crap," I stated.
"I'm not surprised, considering that your shoulder and chest were in a bad state and that you lost a lot of blood. You're really lucky that you are here right now, Mr. Hampton," the doctor told me.
"Yeah...I must have a guardian angel looking after me. Give it to me straight doctor, how long do I have?" I quipped and the doctor smirked at me in amusement.
"Yes, your friends and girlfriend did warn me about your unique sense of humor. Anyway, you'll be just fine but make sure to take it easy since you need plenty of rest to recover from the trauma you experienced a week ago, which means you need to stay at home and relax," the doctor instructed.
"Did you hear that, man? You get some time off from school...lucky bastard," Danny muttered enviously.
"What about my Dad? How's he doing?" I questioned and the doctor looked sympathetic.
"Your father's going to be okay...but he's in a comatose state due to the trauma he's suffered from so it's unknown when he'll wake up. It could be a day, a week, a month, we don't know...all you and your family can do is wait and pray that he comes back to you," the doctor told me and I looked away to stare at the wall in sorrow.
"Why...why did this happen to us? Dad tried to fix things and this happened? Why does such a cruel thing have to happen to a good man?" I thought with a crestfallen look on my face.
"So...about the animal that attacked you and your Dad, did you see what it was or get a good look at it?" Mike asked curiously.
"Sorry...I didn't get a good look other than the fact that it was big. All I can recall is that something big came rushing out of the forest and the next thing I knew, I was laying on the ground with my Dad and passing out from the pain," I lied since they would think that I was crazy if I told them that my Dad and I were attacked by a monster, though a monster existing wouldn't be too much of a stretch since meta-humans and aliens exist and are beating the shit out of each other every day.
"Well, just to let you know, Fish and Wildlife is currently tracking down the animal and will inform you and your family once it's found," the doctor informed me and I nodded.
"Thank you," I said.
"No problem, just try and get some rest since it's going to be a while until you completely recover from your injuries," the doctor instructed as she left the room.
"Shit man, hope you're back on your feet because I can't wait for the gang to be complete again. Things have been a little dull ever since you wound up here so I hope you recover, Dude," Jake declared as he and the others left, prompting me to raise a hand in response.
I looked out the window and saw people going about their daily lives in the streets of New York City, hoping that my dad would wake up and that we could spend more time together like before.
After a week had passed since I woke up, I was given the all-clear to leave the hospital under the recommendation that I don't do anything strenuous for a while. I had agreed and it was time for me to get out of this bed that I had been laying in for the past two weeks.
"Alright Matthew, are you ready to leave?" the doctor asked.
"I've been ready to go for a while now," I remarked and I removed the blanket covering me.
"Alright, just let me help you get out of bed so that you don't fall over by accident," the doctor offered as I carefully sat up, but I strangely felt no pain and decided to get up myself.
Before the doctor could protest, I stood up on my own and didn't fall over...in fact, I felt good...better than I have ever felt before and that caused me to carefully unwrap the bandages to see my injuries. Both the doctor and I were stunned when we saw that my injuries were completely healed up, not even scars were on me and I was trying to wrap my head around how my injuries healed up so fast since it would take a month for them to heal up and scar over.
"What the fuck?" I breathed out in disbelief as I felt the areas where I was severely injured.
"Well...this is something I wasn't expecting, though you appear to be okay so I suppose you can leave on your own but I'd still recommend taking it easy just in case," the doctor told me.
I nodded and went over to grab a fresh pair of clothes that were left behind, and I went into the bathroom to take off my robe and I was taken aback when I saw that I was built with toned muscle as I got dressed in a long-sleeved red shirt, blue hoodie, black cargo pants, and white sneakers. I left the bathroom and the doctor had me sign paperwork like my contact information, address, and other things until I left the room and went to the waiting room.
I saw my mother, sister, and Jess waiting for me and they all stood up to greet me.
"Matt, are you ready to get out of this place?" Mom asked.
"Yeah," I replied and we all left the hospital.
Jess went home in her car while the rest of us drove back to our family's estate, which was a mansion surrounded by a large metal fence. We eventually arrived back home and the front gates opened as we drove up to the house. We pulled up to the front steps and got out while our butler Dunford came out to greet us.
"Welcome home, Matthew. It's so nice to see that you have recovered," Dunford stated with a friendly smile.
"It's good to be home Dunford, and it is great to see you again," I told him as we shook hands.
"I'm glad to hear that. Do you need help getting your things to your room?" Dunford asked and I shook my head.
"No thank you, but thanks for the offer," I said as I took out a suitcase of my things that were brought with me when I was taken to the hospital.
I made sure to not strain myself, just in case, as we all entered the house. I brought my things to my room, left my suitcase next to the door and went to lay down on my bed.
"That's better...nice to lay in a bed that isn't a little lumpy," I thought as I sighed, but I frowned at the events my Dad and I went through.
I didn't know how it was possible, but that monster was most certainly a werewolf and I knew from the horror films that you can become a werewolf due to viral infection by a bite. Was it possible that my Dad and I are werewolves? I didn't know what to think and it was all too confusing to wrap my head around it all, though the only thing I could do is watch out for the full moon just in case I was a werewolf so that I don't transform and go on a rampage.
"Ugh...what the hell has my life turned into?" I thought with a sigh as I thought about how my life was going to turn out from all of this.
A/N I'm just cranking out stories left and right, aren't I? Welcome to my first Astounding Wolf-Man fic and if you don't know what that is, it is a supernatural superhero comic book series that was created by Robert Kirkman himself so you know it would be interesting if it was made by the Walking Dead creator.
Anyway, the story is that the CEO of a company was attacked by a werewolf and became a superhero called the Astounding Wolf-Man, but it takes a very darker tone as the story goes on and I'm not spoiling anything to those who haven't read the series yet.
In this story, it describes how the son of a businessman had his life turned upside down and struggles to juggle the lives of a superhero and growing up in a world of meta-humans and aliens as a high school student who's trying to find his purpose in life.
One more thing, this story will be a crossover with the Marvel Cinematic Universe so expect my character to make an appearance in some of the movies and netflix tv shows like Daredevil or The Punisher cause I can't wait to write down Frank Castle and Matt teaming up to cause some serious damage against their enemies.
If you like the start of this new story so far, let me know and stay tuned.