Here comes the second story in Spooktober2! Thank you, Luiz4200 for reviewing!

Reply: Yeah, that's true. I guess I just have it out for Danny and his friends at Halloween though.

Disclaimer: I do not own it. I just write about it.


The Cub

It was 4:30 A.M. and Maddie couldn't sleep. She had this strange feeling that something was wrong. Slipping out of her bedroom, she quietly checked Danny's crib. Finding nothing wrong with her baby, she went to Jazz's room to check on her little daughter. But both children were sleeping soundly.

She decided to go downstairs and check to make sure all the doors were locked. They were. The house was perfectly safe.

She checked the thermostat. Oh! That's what the matter was. It was too hot! 'Hasn't Jack ever heard of conserving energy in the winter?' she wondered. She turned the thermostat down. 'It's going to take a while for the house to cool down,' she realized. 'I guess I'll go outside for some fresh air.'

Pausing only to grab a coat, she opened the door and sat down on the door step. She sighed as the chilled wind tossed her hair around. She looked into the cloudy sky. The moon was full and bright. But Maddie still had the feeling that something was wrong. She started a fit of shivers that had nothing to do with the cold.

Then she heard something. There was a crunching sound, like someone was sprinting through the snow. It was running parallel to the house, close to the wall. Maddie turned, and saw not a person, but a large canine.

Maddie jumped up and tried to get inside and lock the beast out, but it beat her inside. It ran straight to the kitchen. Maddie followed, flipping the lights on as she ran. In the new light, the beast looked like more like a wolf, only its ears were all wrong, more like a primate's.

It jumped up, its front paws attacking the fridge and freezer. Whatever the beast was, it was leaving dents. Maddie gasped. "No. Get away from there!" Looking around, she grabbed the broom, and started swinging it at the wolf beast.

The beast started growling, and bit the broom. The broom snapped in half, leaving Maddie in a panic. The beast lunged at Maddie, but she sidestepped at the last minute. The beast continued running, going up the stairs. "NO!" Maddie shrieked.

Her shrieking woke up one of the babies, and he started wailing. "DANNY!" Maddie shouted. The shrieking had also attracted the attention of the wolf beast. It took off toward the babies' room. "NO! JACK! GET DANNY!"

Jack, being a heavy sleeper, did not wake up, and did not get Danny. The beast ran through the open door and jumped into Danny's crib. Maddie couldn't see what the beast was doing to her infant son, but she knew she had to stop it, before it killed Danny. "NO!" she screamed, and grabbed the closest thing to her hand, which happened to be a silver watch, to throw.

The silver watch flew at the wolf beast. The beast leapt out of Danny's crib, and came, snarling, at Maddie. She ran down the stairs and toward the front door. The beast was following her. When the creature saw it had her trapped, it prepared to pounce. But Maddie was ready for it. She held the door wide open, and the wolf creature went flying through the door. Maddie slammed it quickly, and fumbled with the lock and the deadbolt.

She heard snarling, and the sound of claws scratching at the door. Then, a howl tore from the beast, and all went silent. Maddie stood there, breathing heavily for only a few moments, then rushed to get the first aid kit. She went up stairs to examine Danny.

Danny was still bawling when she took him in her arms. Seeing her infant son's injuries, she was relieved to hear him still bawling. There were injuries running up his throat, coming awfully close to his vocal chords. . . .

Danny squirmed in her arms as she rubbed a cleansing pad over the area. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I know it stings, but I have to do this." She finished up and applied bandages. "It's all over now," she cooed, holding him close. "It's okay, Danny. Mommy's here."

But even as she held him, she noticed another wound that she had not seen before. He had been bitten in the ear.

___

It had been about a month, and the Fentons stills weren't sure what had attacked that night. The local wildlife experts had told them that there weren't any animals, domestic or wild, in the area that fit the description. No one could identify the animal from the prints made in the snow, by the dents made in the fridge, or by Danny's injuries. Most people were of the impression that when Maddie had found her baby injured, she had taken the opportunity to claim that a monster had attacked her home. The whole investigation had been called off, with the authorities believing that the Fentons were just being the loons everyone knew them as.

It was twenty-eight days since the attack that night. It was dusk, and Danny was starting to scream. Maddie picked up her baby boy, and held him to her. "You're getting cranky Danny," she said softly. "I think it's bedtime soon."

Danny just started tossing in reply, as if in pain. His cries were getting louder, and more insistent. "Danny?" Maddie asked, worried. His face, arms, and everything were getting a little fuzzy. Fur started growing. His mouth and nose were changing. "DANNY?"

Within a matter of minutes, Maddie was no longer holding a human baby in her arms, but a cub version of the wolf creature that had attacked. Now Maddie knew what had attacked that night, and it scared her more than she would've ever imagined possible. It was a werewolf! Danny had been bitten by a werewolf! Her Danny, her baby boy, was now a werewolf. Tears flooding from her eyes, she called, "Jack?" She held her werewolf son in her arms, and sobbed.

Her son had been attacked by a werewolf, and she had been the one to let it in. Poor Danny, defenseless during the attack, now had to deal with the bite for the rest of his life. "Danny . . . " his mother sobbed. "I'm so sorry." Maddie carefully hugged Danny, and thought of what she would have to do because of it. She was determined to keep him. Werewolf or not, he was her son.