Disclaimer: "Total Drama Island" is a show. That's all I got.

The young woman set the multitude of shopping bags down on the floor next to her bed. She tossed her dark hair back in exhaustion. Sure, she loved to shop, but with each daily excursion, the thought dawned on her like a rain cloud: she'd eventually have to return home.

Every time she stepped back into her penthouse, it felt smaller and smaller to her. Was it really worth being married if she did not love her husband? Of course, considering the fortune to which she had access, love hardly mattered.

She sat down at her vanity mirror and checked herself out. She smiled, beaming at the fact that her beauty was all-natural. Still, she longed for the freedom that the night could bring.

Specifically, tomorrow night.

She remembered seeing a package in the living room. Wasting no time, she scrambled and grabbed the rectangular box.

With a tenacity one wouldn't expect from a woman like her, she tore open the packaging, making short work of the box and the packing peanuts.

She glanced down at the item in her hands and smiled widely.

She whipped out her cell phone and hit a button. It helped to have friends on 'redial'.

"Hello?"

"I got it."

"That's great."

"It certainly is", she said, twirling the handle with her free hand. "I cannot wait for tomorrow."

"See you then."

The woman hung up her phone. Another smile curled her scarlet lips.

Anyone who worked in an office would certainly recognize the maze of cubicles that its employees are forced to toil in forty hours a week. A small percentage of them went uncluttered by family photos or third-place bowling trophies.

In that minority, there was a dark-haired young man - modestly handsome, but awkward - who filled out forms on his computer while also talking on the phone, with nary a distraction to offend the eye.

"Thank you for calling AT & Love. This is Trent. How can I help you?"

"Yes, I have a problem", croaked what was obviously an old-lady voice from someone who was neither old nor a lady.

"What is it, ma'am?"

"Well, my grandson is lying in a hospital bed. He's dying from terminal notlaiditus."

A pair of giggling male voices chorused at the end of the sentence. Trent rolled his eyes. Clearly, he was used to such nonsense.

"He spent eighty hours a week working and never had his jimmy waxed."

Trent dropped his finger on the receiver.

"Not hanging up on a customer, are we?"

Trent spun around, finding himself face-to-face with an older man, looking quite sharp with his suit and his mustache.

"Certainly not, Mr. Husk. Just a wrong number. A very wrong number."

At last, 5:00pm rolled around. Trent loved his job, but what he loved significantly more was getting to unwind at home.

"Yo, Trent!"

…if he could just make the elevator. Trent fast-walked toward the crowd of people gathering into the car.

He was sardined along with twelve others inside one car and sighed in relief as the doors closed, no sign of who he was escaping.

The car traveled down six floors before settling on the ground floor. The people scattered into the lobby toward the exit. Trent was among them, eager to enjoy the commute home.

Trent wasn't three steps away from the elevator when a hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"Hey!" The hand belonged to Geoff. A lanky guy with a mop of blonde hair. The top two buttons of his dress shirt were pretty much always undone, except when the boss was around. He was all about having a good time. One got the sense that he worked at AT & Love because he had to get a job of some kind. Sorting mail allowed him the free time he desired to goof off.

"Hey", Trent replied with a lack of eagerness.

"Did you get my call?"

"I got it. It almost got me in trouble."

Trent started toward the exit. Geoff rushed to catch up with him.

"Don't be so uptight. You should go out with us and have some fun."

"I really don't know about that. There's a full moon out tonight. It always brings out the weirdos."

Geoff spun Trent around. "And what are you planning to do? Go home, watch TV, nuke a frozen dinner, surf the web, rub one out and go to bed?"

Trent blew a raspberry. "No", he said, hoping to cover the fact that his co-worker had described his exact post-work routine.

"Then let's go out, fuck shit up!" Geoff threw his hands up to emphasize his point.

"I don't know. I don't want to get in any trouble."

"Fucking shit up is just an expression, Trent."

"I know. It's just that…I'd rather not get the crap kicked out of me."

"Oh, come on. That only happens on ladies night and the girl has to pay. What's the matter? Afraid of a little fun?"

Trent weighed the options in his mind: succumb to the routine or break loose? He shrugged. "Fine."

"Awesome! Meet me at Electro Light's at 8:00."

"Okay." Trent walked off, nervousness growing in him.

"This is gonna be the wildest night of your life!"

Electro Light's on a Friday night. One of the hottest hot spots in town. Young people of all ages gathered to drink, hook up or just chill out.

Trent tried his damnedest not to look too out of place, but given the way he nursed the beer that Geoff ordered for him, it was quite a challenge.

Trent cast a glance toward his co-worker. He was in his element. As annoyed as he could be by Geoff's…bohemian attitude toward his job, he couldn't help but envy him a little.

The confidence he expressed as he chucked a quarter into a full glass and then downed it…Trent wished that he could be so magnetic, so confident.

He studied the group of people gathered around Geoff. The only others he recognized were DJ and Harold, both of whom worked at AT & Love (and, likely, were the other voices in the background of the phone call). Good guys, if barely more determined in their work.

The rest, Trent figured, were regulars that Geoff knew very well.

He took another sip from his beer and glanced around. His gaze stopped at the end of the bar.

A woman sat on a stool, idly gazing into the distance. She wore a purple dress that hugged her modest curves. She traced a finger around the rim of her glass. Her hair - dark, but with aquamarine highlights - barely touched her shoulders. She wore a scowl on her face, but Trent thought she'd be even prettier with a smile.

Trent started to get up from his stool. He stopped long enough for the cushion of the seat to re-inflate. He thought back to the many times that a pretty girl caught his eye…and the many slaps he endured in the bargain.

Then again, there was something…mystical about her. He couldn't help but think that, if he didn't act now, the next time he saw her would be walking down the street, arm in arm with another guy.

With a shrug and a sigh, Trent took a huge sip of liquid courage and approached the mystery girl. He sat in the stool next to her.

The girl said nothing as Trent settled in.

"Hello."

The girl took a mild sniff of the air. She sniffed again, but this time, it seemed to strike her as unpleasant. She turned to Trent, a deep fury in her eyes.

"Stay away from me!"

"But-"

The girl pushed him away. She glanced toward the exit. Two women entered the club. Both very pretty. One of them had curly red hair and an unbalanced look in her green eyes. The other had dark skin and short brown hair.

The odd thing was that they sniffed the air around them.

The young woman shoved Trent away and bolted for the ladies' room.

Trent glanced toward Geoff and his fellow revelers. Trent thought to himself, 'what the hell did I do?', followed closely by 'what do I do?' and soon after, 'should I tell them where I'm going?'

He felt something with that girl and if she really wanted nothing to do with him, he felt that he deserved an answer why.

With a downing of the rest of his drink (and a bit of wincing; alcohol had never agreed with him), Trent rushed for the ladies' room.

The ladies' room caught Trent off-guard; it was a lot cleaner than the men's room. Thankfully for him, it was also empty.

He felt a breeze from an open window. He hurried toward the window and peered out. He saw the girl running as fast as she could.

Trent tore himself away and hurried out. Had he not been in such a hurry, he'd have seen what looked like claw marks dug into the pane of the window.

Trent rushed out of Electro Light's faster than Geoff could wonder where he was going. From the ladies' room window, he saw the girl go down the street. Merlin Street.

Trent couldn't help but be nervous. He'd read in the newspapers left on the trains all about what that street contained: murder, prostitution, homeless wanderers, abandoned buildings. And then, there were rumors of wolf howls being heard near there.

Trent shuddered a little as his mind raced with possibilities. Could this girl have been a killer, a hooker, homeless?

As he passed an alley, he thought about what might happen if he caught up with her. Would she be happy to see him? Would they run into more trouble? Would he end up in a bathtub full of ice with a nasty stitch around where his kidney ought to be?

As he got further down the street, he almost swore he heard wolf howls in the distance. He shook his head.

Another wolf howl. That one, Trent was sure he heard. He turned around and stopped in his tracks. That actually sounded pretty close. He ran as fast as he could…

…running right into a ragged-looking homeless man.

The man's features twisted into a scowl. "What do you think you're doing on my turf, eh?"

"Nothing. I was just leaving." Trent backed off carefully. He was out of his element and he knew it, but he didn't wish to provoke the man further.

"Yeah, you'd better!" The homeless man adjusted his tuque and shambled off.

Trent exhaled and continued up the sidewalk. Stopping at the corner of Merlin and Pasquale, he glanced a block ahead and could see nothing but vacant lots on either side of the street.

Trent glanced around him. Had he lost the trail of that mysterious, alluring girl?

He kicked up some dirt in frustration and let out a muttered grunt. Maybe, this was a fool's errand.

Trent turned back around, his hands in his pockets. What a waste of a night. He stalked back the way he came.

The full moon shined down on him, as if to mock him for his foolish pursuits.

He glanced idly down an alley and saw a brief flash. It was the girl. Before he could yell to her, his voice caught in his throat at the sight:

Wolves. Two honest-to-God, snarling, covered in hair, comma-hungry-like-the wolves.

Trent ran as fast as his legs would carry him down the alley, knocking past empty boxes and assorted bits of refuse.

As he rounded the corner onto Koll Street, Trent found that the wolves disappeared. Did they vanish into thin air? Did they know they were being followed?

He peered ahead and saw the girl duck into a building just up the street. To Trent's surprise, the building looked uninhabitable, like it should've been torn down years ago.

Still, he did see the girl go in. Trent threw the door open and went inside.

The girl walked down a long hallway, looking very ashamed with herself. Trent glanced at her from the other end.

"Hello!", he called out to her.

The girl turned around. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to see you again." Trent ran up to the girl, who turned her back on him.

"You made a real mistake coming here."

"What do you mean?"

"You-" The girl turned to her left. Footsteps…more than one set…rapidly approaching. "You need to leave now." The girl stomped away.

Trent grabbed her arm. "But-"

"I said 'now'!", she demanded, an otherworldly growl in her voice.

The girl slipped her arm out of his grasp and ran upstairs. Before he could protest, he saw the door open.

Trent slipped through an open door in the hallway and closed it behind him.

Four women walked in, one after the other. A dark-haired woman with Asian features took the lead. Right behind her was a blue-eyed blonde with a bubbly demeanor. The dark-skinned brunette from the bar followed behind them. She ran a hand through her brown hair. Bringing up the rear was her compatriot, the redhead with an odd glint in her eyes.

Trent slowly stepped out of the room and gently closed the door behind him. He tiptoed toward the stairwell.

He glanced up and heard a door close some five floors up. Trent was amazed that anyone could've scaled the stairs in what must've been about 30 seconds.

Trent glanced through the window of the door. He saw the girl of his dreams distinctly uncomfortable amongst the other women, who looked happy. He could swear that he saw the brunette give his girl a reassuring smile.

Trent's eyes widened as he saw the girls strip off their clothes. He had to admit that, even though he was a little uneasy at the show of immodesty, they all had nice bodies.

The light of the full moon shined through a window. The girls all seemed to be drawn to the light like moths to a flame.

The dark-haired girl started to change first. She wore a big smile as her face stretched into a muzzle, her nose darkening as it extended. Her gums bled as her teeth grew into flesh-rending fangs. Her ears became pointed and moved atop her head.

Her hands and feet stretched out into paws, from which claws grew. Fur covered her whole body, which gained musculature. Her eyes glowed a creepy blood red. The most disturbing aspect was the fact that, despite the twisting and cracking of her bones throughout, her smile never wavered…almost like the change was arousing to her.

Topping the transformation off was a tail that snaked out at the base of her spine. The only remnant of her humanity was her dark hair, which gave her a strangely attractive quality.

The other girls followed suit. Each of them groaned a little as their bodies shifted, bones cracking, fur growing, muscles filling out.

The transformations finished. The girls - now bipedal werewolves - wagged their tails and howled in elation…

All except for Trent's would-be date. She stood with her arms folded.

A bell tolled in the distance. The wolves turned toward her. The dark-haired girl gave her an oddly human look of disapproval.

Her muzzle shrank into her head, giving her back her human face.

"Gwen, it's all of us, or none of us."

Trent mouthed the word 'Gwen' to himself.

Gwen rolled her eyes. "Fine", she moaned. Trent watched as this girl - Gwen - got down on all fours.

A groan emanated from her throat. A muzzle grew from her mouth, stretching her face. Her ears twitched as they lengthened and pointed.

She dug her developing claws into the floor. Her arms and legs cracked as they grew out. Her hands and feet became paws. Dark fur sprouted in waves on her body. A tail snaked out from the base of her spine.

She raised her head. Her scream of pain turned into a howl.

The dark-haired wolf, having regained its full lupine appearance, nodded. "GOOD", it growled.

The pack howled in unison.