Chapter 2

"Evil is obvious only in retrospect." –Gloria Steinem

The howling was the worst part.

Cameron had accepted the fact that his older brother was a werewolf. Well, he told Pierce that he'd accepted it. But to be honest, the whole thing was too scary for Cameron to get over. Especially that howling…

The sixteen-year-old turned up the volume on the TV and sank even lower into his favorite chair, hoping doing so would block out reality.

It didn't. The growls and sounds of claw striking metal tore through the current sitcom's laugh track like a knife. And every sound tore through Cameron the same way. At least, he told himself, he'd convinced Pierce to chain himself up in the basement instead of running around out there…inside was a much safer place. It always was.

A rather unpleasant cry, louder than the others, drifted up through the floorboards, and Cameron jerked up. Should he go check on Pierce? That sounded painful; but then again, turning into a werewolf probably wasn't the most enjoyable experience. But what if he hurt himself?

There's nothing you can do right now, Cameron told himself. He'd tear you to shreds if you got near him.

That was a weird thought all on its own. Growing up, Cameron and Pierce had always fought in the way that all brothers do, but the image of his brother actually being able—and willing—to kill him was, to say the least, troubling. He'd have to be more careful about ticking Pierce off from now on. He didn't know what could set him off. Other than the full moon, of course.

There was a lot he didn't know about Pierce, now that he thought about it. How did this whole "changing" thing work? What went through his mind when the moon was out? And who had bit him in the first place, anyway?

Cameron guessed that all the answers would come in time, and there was nothing he could do about it now. Maybe there were books about it, but he didn't think the public library would have a copy of "Werewolves for Dummies". He quickly changed the channel, completely ignoring the fact that he should be doing his homework, and hesitated before changing the channel again. The screen blinked and showed him a news report. He nearly switched the station once more, but the giant words "CALIFORNIA DISASTER!" running across the bottom of the screen distracted him. He pushed himself forward in his seat and turned up the volume.

"…taking us live on the scene with Kathy Collins. Kathy?" said an Asian woman at a desk. The scene changed and the comfortable stillness of the newsroom vanished. Now a shaky, dark picture appeared, and a pale reporter fought to remain the focus of the rapidly moving camera. Seriously, it was like the Blair News Reporter Project. "Yes, thank you, Margaret. I'm here just outside of Sunnydale, Cali—" She hesitated, her words catching in her throat. She kept her composure, though, and continued. The camera stilled a little. "I'm here outside of the 'Sunnydale Crater', as the experts are currently calling it. Earlier today, a number of calls from around the state claimed that the phone lines in Sunnydale, California were dead. After some investigation, it was discovered that the town had…had disappeared."

There was disbelief in the reporter's voice. Cameron's eyes widened. Disappeared?

An image of a massive hole in the ground was shown from above, but it wasn't until the reporter continued that Cameron realized how big of a hole it was. "The entire town," the TV voice said, "is missing, and in its place is a gigantic depression, spreading miles in length and depth. No cause or reason is yet known, but the amount of missing people reports is growing. I'm going to try and get an interview with the chief of police, if he'll—oh, sir! Excuse me!"

The doorbell rang, and Cameron jumped in surprise. He didn't get up for a minute; he was staring at the TV screen in disbelief. Sunnydale? That was only a few cities away…

The ringing came again, and in quick succession came heavy pounding on the door. Reluctantly, Cameron stood up, lowering the TV's volume on the way, and made his way to the door, still shocked. The knocking had stopped, and he wondered if whoever it was had left already. Hopefully; he didn't want to deal with anyone right now. People weren't his favorite thing in the world on a usual basis, and the noisemaker in the basement probably wouldn't help anything.

One more bell sounded as Cameron reached for the doorknob. So they weren't going away. Fine. He unlocked and opened the door, letting the warm air seep in through the opening.

Two men stood on the porch, both tall and somehow a little intimidating to Cameron. They looked a little older than Pierce, and Cameron puffed out his chest and stood his full height. They looked like punks. One of them even had chains on his pants. Still having to look up to them, he asked, "Can I help you?"

"Pierce home?" said the one closest to the door. He had spiky black hair and shockingly bright blue eyes, and there was something off about the way he held himself. As Cameron glanced at the other guy, he determined that these weren't people he or Pierce should be hanging around.

Looking back at Blue-Eyes, he shook his head. "Oh, no, he's out tonight."

"Is he?" the guy replied, his eyebrows arched. "Didn't think he would be."

"Yeah, well…he is. Sorry," Cameron lied and backed his way toward the comfort of indoors.

Before he closed the door, he glanced up to see both sets of eyes staring at him, and then Cameron was blocked from the outside world again. That was it. Neither had stopped looking at him the entire time. That's why they seemed so creepy…Had they blinked? He wasn't sure, but he told himself he was turning into a conspiracy theorist and to stop it.

He held the doorknob a few seconds, processing. He'd never seen these guys before, and he was pretty sure Pierce would have told him if he'd made new friends. Of course, the way Pierce had been acting lately, who knew what he would do? Even when he wasn't a monster, he acted harsher than he ever had before. Grumpy on steroids.

He began to walk back to the couch, but froze when he passed by the huge window at the front of the house. He could still see the two guys on the porch. He attempted to be stealthy as he moved back behind the curtains and peered through the glass. The two of them were leaned toward each other, talking. Cameron seriously started to consider calling the cops on them. Or maybe he could sic Pierce on them…

That wasn't funny. He scolded himself the instant the thought passed his mind, and shook his head. When he looked back out, he was relieved to see that they were leaving, heading down the walkway.

The two of them stopped as soon as they reached the sidewalk, and Cameron nearly lost sight of them. He poked his head farther out from the curtain and saw them both look up into the night sky.

The other guy, who had longish brown hair, pointed up, and the two kept talking. Cameron wished he could hear them, and he completely stuck his head out in front of the window, trying his best to see what they were pointing at. He could see the silver haze from the moon, and a few stars here and there, but his view was limited by the porch roof.

His eyes darted back as the guys started moving again. They were walking away, crossing the street at an angle. Cameron leaned back a little, his nerves settling.

Just as the two went out of sight, he saw Blue-Eyes turning his head. There was only a second of wondering what he was looking at before their eyes met, and in that moment Cameron's heart missed a beat.

He jumped back and pressed himself against the wall. Taking in a few breaths, he told himself that he was overreacting. They were just two guys, the worst they could be was a bad influence on Pierce.

He told himself hesitantly that he had a good job in sending them away and looked carefully back out the window.

No one, nowhere. They were gone.

Cameron stared out the window until a sudden upset howl made him stand straight, and he cringed, imagining what Pierce was going through. He again wanted to go check on him, but the images of sharp claws and fangs dripping blood and full-body fur and those piercing golden eyes that could rip apart his soul scared him into keeping the basement door shut and locked tight. He walked back to his chair and sat down, but couldn't get comfortable and stood back up, clicking off the TV as he went. A disturbed restlessness came over him as he wandered the Brody household, and try as he did he couldn't get himself to eat or read or do homework. He'd even forgotten about the gaping hole being reported on the news. So he did the only thing he could do; he went to his room, climbed into bed, and started dozing.

He could see the full moon through his window, looming over him in the sky, taunting him with its glow. And on the moon he thought he could see those depthless blue eyes staring at him.

And before he fell asleep, Cameron could hear the moon. He heard it whisper, I've got him, Cameron. He's mine now, and I'm not giving him back.

Cameron closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, the cruel voice echoing in his mind.

I've got him, Cameron.

He's mine.

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Everyone, meet the OC. He likes long soothing bubble baths, long walks on the beach, and...wait. No he doesn't. That would probably lead to a Mary Sue, and hopefully I'll be avoiding that with all these characters. Anyway, here's hoping I can get chapter 3 written - it's where I got frozen up last time I tried this out. Enjoy!