Chapter 1: Hunt
As the light from the morning sun hit my eyes, the screams became faded, the names soon became an aftertaste on my tongue, and the faces disappeared with the nightmare. Sleep used to be my favorite thing to do, until the accident happened. Now every night, the terrors of dreams became ceaseless and without mercy, barraging me with feelings of utter shame.
I sat upright in my makeshift bed, the main materials being twigs and moss, the twigs made a frame to hold up my lean figure. As I tried to drown out the poor people in my head, I practically sent my soul out to find something to do. I walked on the cool, dirt floor to leave my small hut, and searched for something, anything, to distract me.
I first took inventory of my small hideaway. The hut I was in for starters, then the food shelter. The food shelter was put partially in the ground to keep any and all meats as cool and dry for as long as possible. I know I'm running low on the essentials, so I'll put that at the top of my checklist.
Next is the fire, though the pit I built was deep and still had hot coals near the bottom, I was running low on firewood, so it would be best if that was a priority on my list as well. Despite there being hot coals, it wouldn't take long for all of it to go out, so I piled the remaining wood on top of the fire and hoped to God that it would keep it alive.
Water wasn't as big of an issue as food, as I built my camp up only a few yards from a creek, giving me a seemingly infinite supply of the element of life. On top of that, there were a few good-sized clay deposits near it, meaning I had containers to put charcoal and water in for later use. I had already made a few pots for instant use, small, large, and just about every size in between. The largest one was used for tanning leather, keeping me from hunting to find a container that will hold some animal hide.
With my checklist in mind, I grabbed my bow and arrows, a stone knife, and put on some leather gear to help camoflauge a bit better so I won't risk being seen by my prey. By the time I find something, I'd have worked up an appetite, so with that objective in mind, I set out to find some hunting grounds.
The sun was gradually getting more intense, which made it harder to focus on the horizon. I found some animal tracks a mile west of my small camp, and tracked it into the butchered forest.
I saw the boar, and pushed my eyes back to the blinding horizon. No doubt it was able to smell me, though it doesn't matter now, all that matters is that I'm the predator, and it's my prey. I notched an arrow into my bow, and took aim at my subject.
I felt the wind to see which way it was blowing, I took notice of the distance, as well. I'm gonna make this first shot my last.
I drew my arrow back and waited a moment to see if the wind had any last minute decisions, and after waiting I tipped my bow up, making sure it will hit my target without fail. I released the arrow after taking more than enough time aiming, watching it sail through the air at explosive speeds.
'Moment of truth,' I thought to myself, despite the arrow moving at near blinding speeds, the seconds couldn't have stretched out longer than they already had. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the arrow struck true, hitting the boar somewhere between it's left hind leg and stomach. With a loud squeal, it attempted to run away, before toppling over in some bushes and desperately wiggling to get away.
I ran at near breakneck speeds to end the poor thing of it's suffering, grabbing my stone knife and readying it to deliver the final blow. When I finally reached it, it wiggled a few inches before stopping altogether, trying to catch its breath and prepare for the inevitable.
"Forgive me," genuity seeped into my apology, or at least a part of me did.
And with a quick and merciless knife thrust to the neck, it bled out to its death, ensuring it's suffering was over and my meal secured. I waited a moment before I hauled it back to camp to make sure it would be dead and no more fear will be struck into its heart.
After the wait, I grabbed its hind legs and dragged it back to camp. My stomach was rumbling more than an earthquake, and it was only getting worse. I had half a mind to let the animal in me tear it apart and eat it raw, but I had to assert my dominance in this new world of mine. So I steeled my nerves, and shuffled my way back to camp.
As I made the final shove to my makeshift home, I began to prep for skinning the boar, as well as finding a clean place to set the fresh meat. I got my trusty stone knife, and cut the boar from neck to testicles. I had a promise to keep, and that it's blood won't be spilled for nothing, I will use every part I can to avoid needless sacrifice.
As I tore the hide from its body, my mouth began to salivate an extraordinary amount, forcing me to stop doing just that and shove down my animalistic and primal urges to tear it apart and devour it raw.
The screams came back like the clapping of thunder.
No.
I have more control than that, even more so after the accident.
I will not let it out. Not now, not ever.
I pushed down my primal urge, and focused on something else. Anything else. I settled for admiration.
The Cherokee were smart to use animal brains to tan leather, something that is key to surviving in the great outdoors. Whether it's to make handles to weapons and tools or clothing, leather is a remarkable thing to be appreciated no matter what you do with it.
I grabbed the large pot I had, went down to a nearby creek to fill it up, and warmed it up on the fire. If I filled it up too much, then the consistency would just ruin the hide. I've been doing this for two years, now, and despite it being a learning process, it's still something I've gotten good at, considering I practically had zero experience to begin with.
After setting the clay pot on the fire, I began to work on the skull containing what I needed, and after finding the weaker points of the skull, I grabbed a fist-sized rock and began to hammer until cracks appeared. I continued this action until it started to chip. I got my stone knife again and chiselled at the opened points of the head, until it opened like a watermelon and I got what I needed.
I went back to the fire and tested the temperature, it still needed a while to warm up, so I got a stick and stirred it around, making sure every bit of the water was evenly warm. I did that for five minutes until the water was lukewarm. Finally, it's ready for the tanning.
I tore apart the brains over pot, and began to stir once more, making sure the oils from the brain were evenly spread out. I then placed the hide into the water after taking the pot off of the fire. I set it under the shade of some trees and made a resolve that after cleaning the meat, cooking and then eating it, I would find a safer place to set it.
I grabbed a smaller pot, one that I could fill a few servings of water with, and made my way to the creek yet again. The air smelled of something else, something fresh. I set my bowl down gently and I made my way to my right.. I slowly pulled the shrubbery apart to see what it was.
It was a doe, with her little fawn close behind. Innocent eyes looked up to knowing ones, legs unsure of where to walk. The perfect image of beauty.
It didn't think so, though. It wanted to tear them apart, limb from limb, and feed from their flesh as it gorged itself on their blood. A deep growl and slow, rearranging of bones took place in the span of five seconds as a fight for my body took place.
I took a deep breath, and forced every fiber of my being to fight this off. Flexing my muscles so bones would stay where a human's bones are meant to stay. Finally I won, but this caught the attention of the mother and her child.
I hated to be mean, but before the Beast had half a mind to come back for round two, I let out a bloodcurdling roar to scare them off. The mother reared back a few feet, but didn't run, probably because her fawn didn't concede an inch. Instead, the baby walked closer, ever so slightly, lowering its head and sniffing the ground in the process.
The mother soon followed, only walking fast enough to walk in order with her child, as an attempt to protect said offspring.
My heart fluttered, a feeling I had forgotten since I relocated. It almost hurt, honestly, to see something so innocent showing trust in something so vile. Hell, it did hurt, but not as much as my hands did after snapping and rearranging, nails thickening, growing, and tearing skin apart all in one, painful moment.
The mother and child backed up, but they both showed hesitance, looking back after running ten feet away from me. They kept staring, and staring, and I felt myself getting hungrier and hungrier.
I was just hurting. I held it back as long as I could, and I have no more energy to fight the Beast anymore.
I hurt so much, I just made reasons to stop caring and give in. Give in to the bloodlust, give in to the hunger, give in to the Beast.
I fell to my knees as my spine snapped. My spine snapped more than ten times, bone spurs growing rapidly to elongate my body, the same happened to my legs, only my heels stretched out to be as long as my shins. My arms did the same thing, at least my hands were already fucked.
Muscles started expanding at an exponential rate, layers upon layers of solid muscle building itself up with no struggle was almost as painful as my bones rearranging. It felt like I was on fire, and being put through a fucking cheese-grater. Hair slowly started growing all my new, bulky body as my face grew outwards. My teeth fell out as new, sharp ones took their place.
As I felt my senses become more accurate and the pain started to dull, I heard panting in the distance, followed by heavy footsteps. All of them were running, and the only one that was panting was someone in the lead.
A chase?
It got closer and closer, as my transition was finishing up.
I was able to smell them, the sweat on their foreheads, the blood on their clothes, but none of them had the same scent.
Humans typically have a saltier smell to them, not like the sea, like a salty-sweet one. The two in the back, however, they reeked of sulfur and blood. They smelled evil.
"Listen to me," I pleaded with my demon, "Slaughter those monsters, but please, don't take another human life. You can feed on whatever the hell those things are all you want, I don't care. If you do that, you will get free reign, anywhere you'd like. Anywhere."
My resolve was clear, as my intentions were known, and deep down inside, I felt that - for once - we had an agreement. There was some small ioda of peace inside me, something I never thought would be possible.
The final stage of my transformation hardened my skin and made my new coat of fur full and thick. The pain was finally gone. Only, I have given the Beast full control, and it has given me a front-row seat to the horror show. We took off to the source of the noise, and I can only hope the small pact we made hold up.
Time to rip and tear.
