Disclaimer: I own nothing; all characters belong to their respective creators!

Author's note: Not much to say other than a huge thank you to Cryztalline for helping out with this fic.

Enjoy!

I-oOo-I

"Is this it?" The whole coach ride had been an unpleasant one, the road had to be pretty bumpy on the way there since Sam got barely any sleep due to the constant trembling inside the small vehicle.

"It is, you're on your own now though." The driver said, almost ominously.

"Wait, aren't you coming in too?"

The man gave out a chill-inducing chuckle before once again taking the driver seat. "Silly boy, I'm just the driver. I've got no business going inside."

"But-" Sam was cut off by the sound of the whip followed by the horses pulling the coach down the dirt road. Without further to do, Sam walked towards the tall building in front of him. Even with the morning sun up above, which was barely visible on it's own, it was pretty hard to know which way to talk towards, mostly because there was a very thick fog covering the surroundings. After wandering around for a bit, he was finally able to find the proper entrance.

Sam stood for a minute outside to admire the whole establishment before entering. From what he saw from a distance it was a pretty old manor, mostly white but that was probably due to the fog blocking his line of sight. The walls looked worn out but still firm enough while the windows where pretty wretched, apparently due to the humidity. Without thinking twice Sam opened the door, which to his own luck wasn't locked. While he wasn't one to enter a place without knocking first there wasn't really much of a choice, specially considering he was basically hitched there.

The inside of the building looked less inviting and a whole lot bigger than the outside. The floor was covered in an old, dusty carpet that had certainly seen better days. The walls where wrapped in an elegant looking wallpaper but most of its charm had been lost, mostly because they where pretty much nibbled by whichever rodents roamed inside. Lastly, the furniture looked quite fancy, most of the chairs and tables where probably made of good quality wood as well as the shelves. There where also many objects Sam didn't even recognize, coming from a humble place he wasn't really used to this kind of environment.

"Hello?" There was no answer. As luxurious as the place looked it wasn't a very comforting experience, especially since the place looked like it had been abandoned for quite a couple of years, and that was him being optimistic. "Is anybody home?"

The room seemed a lot quieter after Sam spoke, almost as if the silence had eaten even the tiniest piece of sound. He decided to continue walking; at least the sound of his steps would give him company. He noticed a small living room area near by; it looked comfortable enough, specially compared to the uncomfortable experience that had been sleeping on the small coach while riding to his current location. As Sam approached the biggest couch he noticed the enormous fireplace in front of it. What caught his attention was the fact that there was still a bit of smoke coming out of the burnt out wood resting inside the fireplace. While Sam was no expert on furniture nor architecture, he certainly knew his way around lighting up a fire and the fact that there was still smoke coming off some of the wood meant that it had been used recently. There had to be someone inside the house other than him, and that person couldn't have gone far. The thought of not being alone wasn't much comfort now; he felt a chill running down his spine. Sam quickly turned around towards the couch and took a seat. The cushion was quite comfortable and fluffy, that was the first thing inside the house that didn't feel threatening. Sam ran his hand through the rest of the couch, every portion of it was just as soft as the rest so there was no reason for him not to take a small nap on it At least not until a loud crash murdered the silence. Sam quickly turned around and noticed the brass fireplace pokers had fallen out of their stand, odd considering they where perfectly in place a few seconds ago.

"You know it's pretty rude to enter inside a building without knocking the door, right?"

"Whoa, what the-? How did you get here?"

"I was about to ask you the same question." Saying he wasn't scared to death would have been an understatement. Sam was scared to death. Just a few seconds ago the whole place appeared to be abandoned but just now there was another person standing in front of the couch he was about to sleep on. "So? Care to explain?"

"Well I… I really didn't want to-"

"I swear to God, if you're a burglar I'll take matters into my own hands. I don't believe in violence but if you force me into it I won't think twice."

"No please! I was dragged here by some creepy old man, he told me I could get help by coming here, I didn't mean to break into your home."

The other boy gave Sam a look of disbelief. "Wait, an old… Oh!" Sam was quite confused, a minute ago the boy standing in front of him was threatening to hurt him and all of the sudden it appeared as if had just had an epiphany. "Grandpa brought you here?"

"Um… I'm a bit lost, would you mind enlightening me?"

"Oh right, you're probably confused. Here follow me, I think there's some food left on the kitchen. That will probably take care of your hunger for a bit."

Sam did as he said. Now that he had mentioned it Sam noticed he was actually quite hungry, probably a lucky guess from his part. As Sam followed him he was able to analyze him better, he appeared to be around Sam's age if not a couple of months younger. He wasn't as tall as Sam either but he wasn't that short either. When facing him he took a notice of his hazel eyes and his sharp factions, mostly his cheekbones but what he didn't notice was his long, silky, dark brown hair which was tied back in a neat ponytail and extended all the way down to his lower back. He had fair skin, not quite pale but it still lacked a bit of color. Finally, his voice was quite soft and if it hadn't been for the rude awaking, Sam could have sworn it was quite soothing.

They had finally arrived at the kitchen. Everything was white, sans for some black accents in some of the furniture and chairs. As Sam took a seat, his host handed him a plate with some fresh looking fruits. "I'm sorry but I couldn't find anything better, I hope it's good enough."

"It's fine, don't worry. Now care to explain to me what's going on here?"

"Heh, it funny how the roles reversed so quickly. I'm Joseph Hart by the way, pleased to meet you." He said while stretching his hand towards Sam.

"Sam Evans, likewise." He then shook Joseph's hand before grabbing a bite out of the green apple in front of him.

"I don't want to sound nosy but what exactly did Grandpa told you that made you want to come here, Samuel?"

"Well, he told me I was like him and that people like us needed to stick together. He also told me that by coming with him I could get help to control my… condition."

Joseph nodded slowly while listening to Sam's explanation. "Hmm, interesting. Care telling me what's this condition of yours?"

"I um… I'd rather not talk about it."

"Come on Samuel, you won't be able to get help if you don't come to terms with you situation. Besides we don't judge people based on their disabilities over here, to be honest we actually help people embrace it."

Joseph seemed honest about everything he said, besides he was right, how could he get help if he didn't provide any information. "Well I don't know the exact term for it but, um, well I turn into… something else when there's a full moon in the sky."

"And by something else you mean…?"

Damn it, Sam hated acknowledging it and with Joseph not getting what he meant he was forced into saying it. "By something else I mean… half man, half wolf. I'm able to see and remember everything I do but I'm not able to control my actions."

"Lycanthropy."

"Excuse me?"

Joseph quickly walked towards one of the counters. He grabbed a glass and started pouring water in it. "Lycanthropy's the term you where looking for. It's a pretty rare case among people who come here but we've had a couple of people like you before." He then placed the glass of water next to Sam's plate. "But don't worry, they've learned to control their condition and you will as well."

"Thanks I guess. But now that you mention it, what's this place exactly? The only other person I've seen around here is you and we didn't even meet the conventional way."

"Oh, well that's probably because this is not actually the main building. This is, well was, my parent's home. Ever since mother passed away, father took it to his own hands to keep the house from staying as it used to before she parted. That meant changing the sanatorium to another building."

"Wait, sanatorium? I thought it was an academy of sorts." Sam asked, a bit shaken by Joseph's explanation.

"Well, it is an academy in a way but it's mostly a sanatorium. It takes more people who need medical treatment due to their condition taking over before they could seek help. The academy portion is exclusive to those who just need help controlling their condition, just like you."

"Oh well, thanks for letting me know. By the way, I'm sorry to hear about your mother's passing."

"I appreciate your condolences but she's not completely gone." Sam raised an eyebrow in amazement while drinking his glass of water. "As long as the memory of her is alive in our minds she's never truly gone."

"Well that's true."

"Besides when that's not enough we can always visit her."

Sam once again was perplexed by Joseph's statement. "Um, what do you mean visit her?"

"According to dad, every night where a new moon fills the sky, the souls of the deceased wake up and walk among the living."

"How does he know that?" Sam asked, skeptical towards Joseph's sentence.

"To be honest, I didn't believe anything of that. Neither did mom nor dad. I, as well as them, am a pretty religious person but I believe God gives everyone a second chance and death isn't really the end of the road."

"Well… I am as well and that's pretty positive thinking but why take it as a fact that souls come back once ever new moon?"

"Well, mostly because I talked with dad's last new moon and there's where he told me everything."

Sam's eyes widened as soon as he hear Joseph say that. "W-wait, your dad's also… gone?"

Joseph nodded; he appeared strangely calm about it. "Yes, a few months after mother's death, dad wasn't able to live knowing he could had prevented it so while treating one of the patients he accidentally stabbed himself with the surgical knife. Twice."

Sam's eyes widened as he heard Joseph's anecdote. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that he said is so calmly or the story itself but something made him feel uneasy once again. "Didn't you… feel bad about it or something?"

"I did, or at least that's what Mister St. James tells me I did. My memories about it are pretty blurry." Sam wondered how could someone forget such an important portion of their life just like that. Joseph seemed like a nice person but there was also something pretty odd about him. "Well anyways, I'm sorry if I bored you with that story. If you're done eating we should head towards the sanatorium's main building as soon as possible."

"Sure, let's go." Sam was pretty shaken by everything that was going one and it was probably the fear acting rather than him, as he knew that if he had been in the same situation but with a different attitude he wouldn't have followed Joseph once again. As they made their way through the halls of the manor, Sam noticed a huge painting with three people in it, he was able to recognize that once of them was Joseph, the other two older ones where probably his late parents. "Is that you?"

Joseph turned around; he then gave the painting a warm smile. It was the first time since the first time they met that Sam saw Joseph give out such a honest smile, it almost made him forget he seemed almost inhuman a couple of minutes ago. "Yes, its me with my family. They where really nice people, you know. A shame they had to leave the realm of the living so soon." Joseph's smile quickly faded away as they stood in front of the painting for a few minutes. Sam even noticed a small tear rolling down Joseph's left cheek but he quickly wiped it out as he continued walking, to which Sam followed. A few halls later, Joseph led Sam to a door similar to the one on the entrance. Joseph opened it and both of the walked outside to what appeared to be the manor's back garden. "We're almost there."

"Where exactly is the main building?"

Joseph pointed towards a distant, yet noticeable, dark colored, tower like, building. The fog made it harder to see but it was still viewable. Sam noticed that the backyard appeared a lot marshier than the main entrance and the humidity felt a lot harsher there than before.

"Give me a second, this weather's really the worst part of this place." Joseph said as he untied his hair out of the ponytail. "By the way, I would recommend you to take that hood off, unless you don't mind the sweating."

"Oh right. Thanks." Sam said as he untied the caped hood his mother gave him to cover himself from the cold the night before. "You must get pretty hot around here with all that hair."

"Sometimes, but I got used to it pretty quickly." Joseph replied as he began tying his luscious locks once gain, but this time in a braid. "Still it's not like I have a choice."

"Um… I don't want to sound like an jerk but it's as simple as just cutting it off."

Joseph just chuckled as he finished tying his braid. "Heh, you still have a lot to learn Samuel. But it'll all come in its due time. Now follow me, we still have a quite a long way to go."