Name: Full Moon Fever
Author: Adrienne L. (Can y'all guess what the L stands for? ^_~)
Disclaimer: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Hogwarts, and all related indicia and copyrighted by J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers Studios. If you sue me, all you will get is my homemade Lupin doll and some gum.
Reproduction: Just ask, I guess.
Synopsis: Adrienne McCorris and Miriam Kimmel idolize Remus Lupin and Sirius Black to the point of wanting to be them. But when that comes true, is it really such a good thing?
~*---*~
Adrienne was a Harry Potter freak. She had a weakness for Remus Lupin in particular. Her instant messenger screen name was Remus4Me, and her Neopets.com name was kiss_me_lupin. Adrienne had a best friend and next-door neighbor by the name of Miriam, and Miriam was equally obsessed with Sirius Black. In fact, her instant messenger name was MyHeartBelongstoBlack, and her Neopets.com handle was padfoot_crazy. The two of them spent hours every day roleplaying as and drawing their infatuations. They also called themselves Remus and Sirius as nickanmes. Yes, indeed, the poor girls were obsessed.
The two girls were also slightly dellusional. Miriam was in the process of convincing the both of them that the world of Harry Potter was real. She was also completely certain she was turning into Sirius, and Adrienne into Lupin; Adrienne desperatly wanted this to be true, but she was slightly more down-to-earth than her friend, so had a hard time believing it. However, her mind was beginning to play tricks on her, and she was dangerously close to believing that maybe, just maybe, Miriam was right, and she was turning into Lupin.
So it was no wonder the two of them were so upset when they heard Adrienne was going on a camping trip with her cousins. Adrienne did not like her cousins; they were clingy, snobby, and worst of all, they thought Harry Potter was a waste of time. And three days in the wilderness meant Adrienne was cut off from all her sources of daily Lupin intake; fanfiction, roleplay boards, and fanart. It also meant Miriam had to go that long without someone to discuss with just how amazing Sirius was. But, there was nothing they could do.
So Adrienne went camping.
~*----*~
July 10th, Thurday. 5:32 A.M.
Blue Waters Lake Campground, lot 13 C.
Adrienne's Tent
"Adrienne! Adrienne! Get up and come see what I found!" Adrienne's youngest cousin, Caresse, pranced into her tent and leaped on Adrienne's stomach. "I found something really, really cool!"
"Oof! Get off me...okay, what is it?" The disgruntled teenager wormed out of her sleeping bag, abandoning all hope of sleeping past six A.M.
"Get dressed and come see!" Adrienne's cousin shrieked, her pale face red with excitement. Grumbling curses, Adrienne dressed quickly and trailed her energetic little relative into the woods. Once they neared a clearing, Caresse turned around and put a finger to her lips in a silencing motion. Adrienne was not aware she had been making any noise in the first place. Nevertheless, she nodded and followed the little blonde girl to what appeared to be a large hole in the ground.
"Wow...a ditch. Real nice, Caresse." Adrienne rolled her eyes, but Caresse just smiled and grabbed her cousin's arm.
"Look closer." She demanded, forcing her cousin forward, towards the hole. Adrienne obliged, and immediatly her face went pale. Deep inside the hole, four gray bundles of thick fur were curled up, whimpering and writhing. Wolf cubs.
"Oh god...Caresse...we have to get out of here." Adrienne stood up immediatly and backed up, her breath coming in panicked gasps now. Caresse giggled and crawled forward into the hole and, to Adrienne's horror, re-appeared with a wiggling and whining wolf pup.
"You idiot! Put that thing down!" Adrienne snatched the puppy from her cousin's arms and bent forward to quickly replace it into it's den. She was stopped short by her cousin's frightened scream. Fearing the worst, Adrienne turned around to find an enormous, red-grey female wolf standing not far away, her hackles raised. Caresse clung to Adrienne, whimpering in fright. Adrienne herself was frozen solid, pinned in place by the mother wolf's spiteful yellow eyes.
"Caresse...slowly back awa--SHIT! RUN!" The wolf dove at Adrienne, who prompty dropped the squealing pup and turned to run. Caresse was right at her side, and the two of them whipped through the woods, dodging trees and jumping over rocks and creeks. But it was hopeless. For one, neither of them were prime athletes, and they were only equipped with two legs, not four. So it wasn't long before the angry creature caught up...and tackled Adrienne. The girl fell to the ground, screaming shrilly the entire way. She struggled blindly, but again, was no match for the beast. Her terrified yells cut off abruptly as the wolf's jaws clamped on her shoulder. Electric daggers of pain shot down her arm and over her chest. Vaguely, as though she was listening through a thick feather pillow, she could hear her cousin screaming and sobbing, and then a deeper voice yelling, followed by gunshots and...oblivion.
~*-----*~
July 11th, Friday. 12:11 P.M.
Desert Samaritan Hospital, Children's Wing.
Room 713
Just like in the movies, Adrienne gradually came to and stared blearily at the while-tiled ceiling. She was aware of a dull, throbbing pain in her right shoulder. She lifted her head and looked around the white, sterile room; it was empty. She felt terribly alone...then, suddenly, like a dam cracking under the pressure of too much water, memories of yesterday flooded into her head. Waking up at the crack of dawn. Finding the wolf pups. Being bitten by their mother. A strategically-placed deer hunter shooting the ferocious animal. Suddenly, Adrienne's face paled. She had been bitten by a wolf. She was a werewolf now.
After a moment of blood-freezing fear, the girl let out a nervous giggle. She was being idiotic; there was no such thing as werewolves, or Animagi, or anything of the sort. She had been about to comtemplate this more, when a doctor with dark brown hair with wings of grey at the temples entered. He was tall, with an aquiline nose, thick brows, and a strict face. He checked his clipboard, then looked at Adrienne.
"Adrienne McCorris, is it? Wolf bite?" Adrienne nodded dully, staring at the doctor. "Well, the bite wasn't that serious, luckily. We gave you some precautionary shots, stitched the wound up and put a bandage over it. You should be fine in two or three weeks. We just want to watch it for one more day to make sure it doesn't become infected, so you can go home tomorrow." The doctor turned on his heel and left, leaving his patient dazed, but relieved.
~*---*~
July 13, Monday. 7:18 P.M.
Sundance Apartments, 4th floor.
Room 113, Kimmel residence.
Ding-dong!
Miriam rushed to her front door and yanked it open to reveal Adrienne in all her brown-haired, freckle-faced glory. Immediatly Miriam stepped outside and hugged the taller Adrienne.
"Remus! Was camping fun?" She asked, grinning and revealing shiny braces with black and silver bands stretched across them. Miriam, aka 'Sirius,' shouldered her brown overnight bag and looked at Adrienne expectantly. Adrienne was wearing a turtleneck sweater, so her bandage wasn't visible. In response to her friend's question, she pulled her thick sweater over her head and stood there in a bikini top, bandage painfully obvious.
"Oh my god!" Miriam shreiked, "What the hell happened?!"
"I got...bit by a wolf." Adrienne closed her eyes, closing her eyes against the hysterical reaction she knew would follow. And she was right.
"Oh...my...god...Omigod omigod omigod. Do you KNOW what this MEANS?" She screamed, grabbing the other girl's uninjured shoulder and shaking it excitedly. "You, Remus, are a Werewolf! What did I tell you? Hm?" Adrienne sighed and shook her head, removing Miriam's hand from her shoulder and holding it firmly.
"Sirius, you know I love you dearly. But sometimes, I think you've gone crazy. I am not a Werewolf. I am not Remus Lupin. You are not an Animagus. You are not Sirius Black." Miriam stuck out her tongue at Adrienne and pulled her hand away.
"Just wait and see, Remus. Just wait and see." She smiled knowingly. "Now, let's get to your house. I can't wait to spend the night."
"Yes'm." Adrienne replied and offered the red-haired girl her hand. Giggling, Miriam accepted the invitation and linked arms with her friend as they walked down the hallway. Behind them, a full moon was appearing in the darkening sky.
~*-----*~
July 13, Monday. 7:23 P.M.
Sundance Apartments, 5th floor.
Room 213, McCorris residence.
Just as the two friends were entering the apartment, Adrienne's parents stepped out of their bedroom, dressed in formal wear. Adrienne's mother was a thin, pretty woman with wavy brown hair and bright green eyes. Her father had raven-black hair and a round, smiling face.
"Addy, dear, your father and I are going out now, don't wait up...we'll probably be back around four or five in the morning." The woman gave her husband a simpering look and giggled. Adrienne shuddered.
"Yes, mom..." She rolled her eyes. Adrienne's mother swooped in and gave both the girls a kiss on the cheek in passing, and then they were alone in the apartment. Within minutes, Adrienne and Miriam were lounging on the couch, watching television, chugging Coke and scarfing popcorn like they had never eaten before. It was a wonder how much teenage girls could eat.
"So...come to terms with the fact you're a werewolf yet?"
"What? Oh...tch, you never give up, do you?"
"No, milady, I do not. But only when I know it's true."
"Okay, quiet now. I want to see what Monica does. I'd be pissed at Rachel, if I were her." Adrienne giggled and crammed more of the salty, fattening snack food into her mouth. They spent the next few hours of their night watching television shows, and engaging in the occasional popcorn fight.
~*-----*~
July 13, Monday. 11:31 P.M.
Sundance Apartments, 5th floor.
Room 13, Adrienne's room.
Adrienne was very proud of her room. It told a lot about who she was; in short, a Remus Lupin stalker. There were sketches, articles, photographs and printed pictures pinned up all over her walls, all relating to Lupin or the actor that was to play him in the fourth movie (though Adrienne was terribly disappointed in the actor they had chosen to portray her hero, her dedication to Moony had not wavered in the least). On a shelf she had a set of homemade Marauder dolls snuggled amongst her collection of wolf plushies. Lupin, naturally, had a the place of honor in the very center of the stuffed toys.
Miriam and Adrienne staggered into the small room and clumsily set up Miriam's sleeping bag. Then both of them crashed onto their respective places of slumber, and immediatly dropped off to sleep. But not before Miriam had the chance to whisper, 'Werewolf,' to Adrienne.
It wasn't even thirty minutes later that Adrienne awoke in agony. At first she thought it was her shoulder acting up, as she had fogotten to take her pain relievers; but then she realized the pain was spread all over her body. She groaned and flipped on her bedside lamp, and immediatly, her groan turned into a shreik or terror, and that terror was well-founded. Thick grey fur was sprouting all over her forearms, and her perfectly-manicured fingernails were growing into long, curved yellow claws.
"Remus? Wh-what is it?" Miriam sat up and looked around owlishly, her eyes squinted against the sudden light. Her mouth stretched open in a silent scream as she saw her friend's face lengthening into a snout that sprouted razor-sharp fangs. Adrienne swung to face her friend, yellow eyes wild. She wondered distantly why her friend smelled so good...
Miriam screamed and scrambled for the door, but her sleeping bag entangled her leg and Adrienne got there first. Her flannel pajamas had burst at the seam and were now hanging in tatters from her large, heavily muscled body. The werewolf Adrienne recieved a thrill of predatory pleasure as the scent of Miriam's fear reached her nose. The tiny part of her that was still human screamed frantically, begging and pleading for it to stop. But instict won out, and Adrienne leaped at her friend, her mouth open and her eager fangs dripping with strings of warm saliva.
Luckily, Miriam was a very quick thinker. Her shaky fingers closed around Adrienne's bedside lamp. She swung it and connected with the wolf's shaggy head. Unluckily for Miriam, that bathed the room in total darkness. Adrienne sensed the tables had turned in her favor, and she lifted her head to let out an inhuman howl. Miriam shuddered and climbed onto Adrienne's rumpled bed, pressing herself against the wall.
For almost fifteen minutes, Adrienne paced back and forth in front of the bed, simply enoying her friend's delicious terror. She let out the occasional growl or snuffle, just to keep the girl on her toes; not that she needed it. At last, Adrienne's stomach told her it was time to stop playing games. She leaped up onto the bed swiftly and snapped at Miriam's leg, but the red-headed girl drew away just in time. In the process, she felt something cold and metal pressed into her back through her thin nightgown. The window handle. With one fluid movement, Miriam threw the window open and climbed out onto the sill. Her curly auburn hair was plastered to her pale face with sweat, and her breath came in ragged gasps. With a gulp, she looked down at the dirty, weed-strewn ground far below. No, she was never going to survive a jump like that.
A dark shape leaped gracefully onto the sill beside her and advanced with frightening grace and confidence. Panicked, Miriam glanced around, and her brown eyes settled on the drain pipe. It was rusted and looked about to crumble but it was her only hope. She latched onto it and shimmied up the metal pipe, wincing when she heard the sound of flesh on brick as Adrienne landed where she had just been standing.
Too late, Miriam realized she was trapped. She sprinted to the other side of the roof, bare feet slapping the concrete, and the warm summer breeze ruffling her nightgown. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and she could see the hunched silhoette of her former best friend creeping towards her. Tears squeezed into her eyes as she realized she was probably going to die at the hands of the girl she had been friends with since age three.
Adrienne pounced once more and knocked Miriam onto her back, claws digging through her clothes and piercing her soft skin. A surge of ecstasy washed over Adrienne as the sharp, coppery scent of blood invaded her nose, and she was momentarily distracted as she bent her head and lapped up her friend's blood with a soft pink tongue. Miriam used this to her advantage to get her feet beneath her and launch forward and knock the werewolf onto her back. She scrambled away instantly and jumped onto the thick stone railing of the building. Again, she grew dizzy at the six-story drop that greeted her, but then something more promising caught her eye. Across the narrow, garbage-strewn alley was the roof to another building; it was only five stories high, but Miriam was sure she could make it...and even if she didn't, it would be better than dying without trying to save herself.
With a determined cry, she launched into mid-air. For a moment, she thought she wasn't going to make it; then her hands and knees made contact with the peeling cement on the next building over. She had no time to nurse her wounds, for the werewolf was hot on her tail. She sprinted across the dark roof, though her heart and her knees begged for mercy. Her hopes lifted slightly as something familiar came into view...a fire escape. The frightened girl flew down the five flights of wrought-iron stairs, spurred by the rattling sound of Adrienne following her.
Through the dark, empty streets Adrienne chased Miriam. But as we all know, wolves posess more endurance than humans, and Miriam soon collapsed beneath a street light. She lay there as though she were dead, and she knew in moments she would be. She closed her eyes as Adrienne's grey head loomed above her. The werewolf gave a triumphant howl over her prey, then moved in for the kill.
But the killing blow never came.
At the last second, Adrienne's fur sucked back into her skin, her long muzzle flattened into a sweaty, freckled face and her her vicious claws melted into slender, pale hands. Adrienne, stark naked and shivering, fell to the side and vomited, though the tang of blood still lingered in her mouth. Panting furiously, Miriam sat up and stared at her friend for a long moment.
"Well, Remus, it looks like you finally got your wish..." She commented, completely serious. Adrienne groaned and closed her eyes, coming to one solid decision.
She definatly did not want to be Remus Lupin.
~*----*~
El Fin...?
Author: Adrienne L. (Can y'all guess what the L stands for? ^_~)
Disclaimer: Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Hogwarts, and all related indicia and copyrighted by J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers Studios. If you sue me, all you will get is my homemade Lupin doll and some gum.
Reproduction: Just ask, I guess.
Synopsis: Adrienne McCorris and Miriam Kimmel idolize Remus Lupin and Sirius Black to the point of wanting to be them. But when that comes true, is it really such a good thing?
~*---*~
Adrienne was a Harry Potter freak. She had a weakness for Remus Lupin in particular. Her instant messenger screen name was Remus4Me, and her Neopets.com name was kiss_me_lupin. Adrienne had a best friend and next-door neighbor by the name of Miriam, and Miriam was equally obsessed with Sirius Black. In fact, her instant messenger name was MyHeartBelongstoBlack, and her Neopets.com handle was padfoot_crazy. The two of them spent hours every day roleplaying as and drawing their infatuations. They also called themselves Remus and Sirius as nickanmes. Yes, indeed, the poor girls were obsessed.
The two girls were also slightly dellusional. Miriam was in the process of convincing the both of them that the world of Harry Potter was real. She was also completely certain she was turning into Sirius, and Adrienne into Lupin; Adrienne desperatly wanted this to be true, but she was slightly more down-to-earth than her friend, so had a hard time believing it. However, her mind was beginning to play tricks on her, and she was dangerously close to believing that maybe, just maybe, Miriam was right, and she was turning into Lupin.
So it was no wonder the two of them were so upset when they heard Adrienne was going on a camping trip with her cousins. Adrienne did not like her cousins; they were clingy, snobby, and worst of all, they thought Harry Potter was a waste of time. And three days in the wilderness meant Adrienne was cut off from all her sources of daily Lupin intake; fanfiction, roleplay boards, and fanart. It also meant Miriam had to go that long without someone to discuss with just how amazing Sirius was. But, there was nothing they could do.
So Adrienne went camping.
~*----*~
July 10th, Thurday. 5:32 A.M.
Blue Waters Lake Campground, lot 13 C.
Adrienne's Tent
"Adrienne! Adrienne! Get up and come see what I found!" Adrienne's youngest cousin, Caresse, pranced into her tent and leaped on Adrienne's stomach. "I found something really, really cool!"
"Oof! Get off me...okay, what is it?" The disgruntled teenager wormed out of her sleeping bag, abandoning all hope of sleeping past six A.M.
"Get dressed and come see!" Adrienne's cousin shrieked, her pale face red with excitement. Grumbling curses, Adrienne dressed quickly and trailed her energetic little relative into the woods. Once they neared a clearing, Caresse turned around and put a finger to her lips in a silencing motion. Adrienne was not aware she had been making any noise in the first place. Nevertheless, she nodded and followed the little blonde girl to what appeared to be a large hole in the ground.
"Wow...a ditch. Real nice, Caresse." Adrienne rolled her eyes, but Caresse just smiled and grabbed her cousin's arm.
"Look closer." She demanded, forcing her cousin forward, towards the hole. Adrienne obliged, and immediatly her face went pale. Deep inside the hole, four gray bundles of thick fur were curled up, whimpering and writhing. Wolf cubs.
"Oh god...Caresse...we have to get out of here." Adrienne stood up immediatly and backed up, her breath coming in panicked gasps now. Caresse giggled and crawled forward into the hole and, to Adrienne's horror, re-appeared with a wiggling and whining wolf pup.
"You idiot! Put that thing down!" Adrienne snatched the puppy from her cousin's arms and bent forward to quickly replace it into it's den. She was stopped short by her cousin's frightened scream. Fearing the worst, Adrienne turned around to find an enormous, red-grey female wolf standing not far away, her hackles raised. Caresse clung to Adrienne, whimpering in fright. Adrienne herself was frozen solid, pinned in place by the mother wolf's spiteful yellow eyes.
"Caresse...slowly back awa--SHIT! RUN!" The wolf dove at Adrienne, who prompty dropped the squealing pup and turned to run. Caresse was right at her side, and the two of them whipped through the woods, dodging trees and jumping over rocks and creeks. But it was hopeless. For one, neither of them were prime athletes, and they were only equipped with two legs, not four. So it wasn't long before the angry creature caught up...and tackled Adrienne. The girl fell to the ground, screaming shrilly the entire way. She struggled blindly, but again, was no match for the beast. Her terrified yells cut off abruptly as the wolf's jaws clamped on her shoulder. Electric daggers of pain shot down her arm and over her chest. Vaguely, as though she was listening through a thick feather pillow, she could hear her cousin screaming and sobbing, and then a deeper voice yelling, followed by gunshots and...oblivion.
~*-----*~
July 11th, Friday. 12:11 P.M.
Desert Samaritan Hospital, Children's Wing.
Room 713
Just like in the movies, Adrienne gradually came to and stared blearily at the while-tiled ceiling. She was aware of a dull, throbbing pain in her right shoulder. She lifted her head and looked around the white, sterile room; it was empty. She felt terribly alone...then, suddenly, like a dam cracking under the pressure of too much water, memories of yesterday flooded into her head. Waking up at the crack of dawn. Finding the wolf pups. Being bitten by their mother. A strategically-placed deer hunter shooting the ferocious animal. Suddenly, Adrienne's face paled. She had been bitten by a wolf. She was a werewolf now.
After a moment of blood-freezing fear, the girl let out a nervous giggle. She was being idiotic; there was no such thing as werewolves, or Animagi, or anything of the sort. She had been about to comtemplate this more, when a doctor with dark brown hair with wings of grey at the temples entered. He was tall, with an aquiline nose, thick brows, and a strict face. He checked his clipboard, then looked at Adrienne.
"Adrienne McCorris, is it? Wolf bite?" Adrienne nodded dully, staring at the doctor. "Well, the bite wasn't that serious, luckily. We gave you some precautionary shots, stitched the wound up and put a bandage over it. You should be fine in two or three weeks. We just want to watch it for one more day to make sure it doesn't become infected, so you can go home tomorrow." The doctor turned on his heel and left, leaving his patient dazed, but relieved.
~*---*~
July 13, Monday. 7:18 P.M.
Sundance Apartments, 4th floor.
Room 113, Kimmel residence.
Ding-dong!
Miriam rushed to her front door and yanked it open to reveal Adrienne in all her brown-haired, freckle-faced glory. Immediatly Miriam stepped outside and hugged the taller Adrienne.
"Remus! Was camping fun?" She asked, grinning and revealing shiny braces with black and silver bands stretched across them. Miriam, aka 'Sirius,' shouldered her brown overnight bag and looked at Adrienne expectantly. Adrienne was wearing a turtleneck sweater, so her bandage wasn't visible. In response to her friend's question, she pulled her thick sweater over her head and stood there in a bikini top, bandage painfully obvious.
"Oh my god!" Miriam shreiked, "What the hell happened?!"
"I got...bit by a wolf." Adrienne closed her eyes, closing her eyes against the hysterical reaction she knew would follow. And she was right.
"Oh...my...god...Omigod omigod omigod. Do you KNOW what this MEANS?" She screamed, grabbing the other girl's uninjured shoulder and shaking it excitedly. "You, Remus, are a Werewolf! What did I tell you? Hm?" Adrienne sighed and shook her head, removing Miriam's hand from her shoulder and holding it firmly.
"Sirius, you know I love you dearly. But sometimes, I think you've gone crazy. I am not a Werewolf. I am not Remus Lupin. You are not an Animagus. You are not Sirius Black." Miriam stuck out her tongue at Adrienne and pulled her hand away.
"Just wait and see, Remus. Just wait and see." She smiled knowingly. "Now, let's get to your house. I can't wait to spend the night."
"Yes'm." Adrienne replied and offered the red-haired girl her hand. Giggling, Miriam accepted the invitation and linked arms with her friend as they walked down the hallway. Behind them, a full moon was appearing in the darkening sky.
~*-----*~
July 13, Monday. 7:23 P.M.
Sundance Apartments, 5th floor.
Room 213, McCorris residence.
Just as the two friends were entering the apartment, Adrienne's parents stepped out of their bedroom, dressed in formal wear. Adrienne's mother was a thin, pretty woman with wavy brown hair and bright green eyes. Her father had raven-black hair and a round, smiling face.
"Addy, dear, your father and I are going out now, don't wait up...we'll probably be back around four or five in the morning." The woman gave her husband a simpering look and giggled. Adrienne shuddered.
"Yes, mom..." She rolled her eyes. Adrienne's mother swooped in and gave both the girls a kiss on the cheek in passing, and then they were alone in the apartment. Within minutes, Adrienne and Miriam were lounging on the couch, watching television, chugging Coke and scarfing popcorn like they had never eaten before. It was a wonder how much teenage girls could eat.
"So...come to terms with the fact you're a werewolf yet?"
"What? Oh...tch, you never give up, do you?"
"No, milady, I do not. But only when I know it's true."
"Okay, quiet now. I want to see what Monica does. I'd be pissed at Rachel, if I were her." Adrienne giggled and crammed more of the salty, fattening snack food into her mouth. They spent the next few hours of their night watching television shows, and engaging in the occasional popcorn fight.
~*-----*~
July 13, Monday. 11:31 P.M.
Sundance Apartments, 5th floor.
Room 13, Adrienne's room.
Adrienne was very proud of her room. It told a lot about who she was; in short, a Remus Lupin stalker. There were sketches, articles, photographs and printed pictures pinned up all over her walls, all relating to Lupin or the actor that was to play him in the fourth movie (though Adrienne was terribly disappointed in the actor they had chosen to portray her hero, her dedication to Moony had not wavered in the least). On a shelf she had a set of homemade Marauder dolls snuggled amongst her collection of wolf plushies. Lupin, naturally, had a the place of honor in the very center of the stuffed toys.
Miriam and Adrienne staggered into the small room and clumsily set up Miriam's sleeping bag. Then both of them crashed onto their respective places of slumber, and immediatly dropped off to sleep. But not before Miriam had the chance to whisper, 'Werewolf,' to Adrienne.
It wasn't even thirty minutes later that Adrienne awoke in agony. At first she thought it was her shoulder acting up, as she had fogotten to take her pain relievers; but then she realized the pain was spread all over her body. She groaned and flipped on her bedside lamp, and immediatly, her groan turned into a shreik or terror, and that terror was well-founded. Thick grey fur was sprouting all over her forearms, and her perfectly-manicured fingernails were growing into long, curved yellow claws.
"Remus? Wh-what is it?" Miriam sat up and looked around owlishly, her eyes squinted against the sudden light. Her mouth stretched open in a silent scream as she saw her friend's face lengthening into a snout that sprouted razor-sharp fangs. Adrienne swung to face her friend, yellow eyes wild. She wondered distantly why her friend smelled so good...
Miriam screamed and scrambled for the door, but her sleeping bag entangled her leg and Adrienne got there first. Her flannel pajamas had burst at the seam and were now hanging in tatters from her large, heavily muscled body. The werewolf Adrienne recieved a thrill of predatory pleasure as the scent of Miriam's fear reached her nose. The tiny part of her that was still human screamed frantically, begging and pleading for it to stop. But instict won out, and Adrienne leaped at her friend, her mouth open and her eager fangs dripping with strings of warm saliva.
Luckily, Miriam was a very quick thinker. Her shaky fingers closed around Adrienne's bedside lamp. She swung it and connected with the wolf's shaggy head. Unluckily for Miriam, that bathed the room in total darkness. Adrienne sensed the tables had turned in her favor, and she lifted her head to let out an inhuman howl. Miriam shuddered and climbed onto Adrienne's rumpled bed, pressing herself against the wall.
For almost fifteen minutes, Adrienne paced back and forth in front of the bed, simply enoying her friend's delicious terror. She let out the occasional growl or snuffle, just to keep the girl on her toes; not that she needed it. At last, Adrienne's stomach told her it was time to stop playing games. She leaped up onto the bed swiftly and snapped at Miriam's leg, but the red-headed girl drew away just in time. In the process, she felt something cold and metal pressed into her back through her thin nightgown. The window handle. With one fluid movement, Miriam threw the window open and climbed out onto the sill. Her curly auburn hair was plastered to her pale face with sweat, and her breath came in ragged gasps. With a gulp, she looked down at the dirty, weed-strewn ground far below. No, she was never going to survive a jump like that.
A dark shape leaped gracefully onto the sill beside her and advanced with frightening grace and confidence. Panicked, Miriam glanced around, and her brown eyes settled on the drain pipe. It was rusted and looked about to crumble but it was her only hope. She latched onto it and shimmied up the metal pipe, wincing when she heard the sound of flesh on brick as Adrienne landed where she had just been standing.
Too late, Miriam realized she was trapped. She sprinted to the other side of the roof, bare feet slapping the concrete, and the warm summer breeze ruffling her nightgown. Her eyes had adjusted to the dark, and she could see the hunched silhoette of her former best friend creeping towards her. Tears squeezed into her eyes as she realized she was probably going to die at the hands of the girl she had been friends with since age three.
Adrienne pounced once more and knocked Miriam onto her back, claws digging through her clothes and piercing her soft skin. A surge of ecstasy washed over Adrienne as the sharp, coppery scent of blood invaded her nose, and she was momentarily distracted as she bent her head and lapped up her friend's blood with a soft pink tongue. Miriam used this to her advantage to get her feet beneath her and launch forward and knock the werewolf onto her back. She scrambled away instantly and jumped onto the thick stone railing of the building. Again, she grew dizzy at the six-story drop that greeted her, but then something more promising caught her eye. Across the narrow, garbage-strewn alley was the roof to another building; it was only five stories high, but Miriam was sure she could make it...and even if she didn't, it would be better than dying without trying to save herself.
With a determined cry, she launched into mid-air. For a moment, she thought she wasn't going to make it; then her hands and knees made contact with the peeling cement on the next building over. She had no time to nurse her wounds, for the werewolf was hot on her tail. She sprinted across the dark roof, though her heart and her knees begged for mercy. Her hopes lifted slightly as something familiar came into view...a fire escape. The frightened girl flew down the five flights of wrought-iron stairs, spurred by the rattling sound of Adrienne following her.
Through the dark, empty streets Adrienne chased Miriam. But as we all know, wolves posess more endurance than humans, and Miriam soon collapsed beneath a street light. She lay there as though she were dead, and she knew in moments she would be. She closed her eyes as Adrienne's grey head loomed above her. The werewolf gave a triumphant howl over her prey, then moved in for the kill.
But the killing blow never came.
At the last second, Adrienne's fur sucked back into her skin, her long muzzle flattened into a sweaty, freckled face and her her vicious claws melted into slender, pale hands. Adrienne, stark naked and shivering, fell to the side and vomited, though the tang of blood still lingered in her mouth. Panting furiously, Miriam sat up and stared at her friend for a long moment.
"Well, Remus, it looks like you finally got your wish..." She commented, completely serious. Adrienne groaned and closed her eyes, coming to one solid decision.
She definatly did not want to be Remus Lupin.
~*----*~
El Fin...?