CHAPTER 3
MICHAEL
He decided to go out for a jog that Saturday evening but failed to check the weather report. Twenty minutes into his run it started pouring. His hair and clothes were soaked within seconds. Michael ran under the shelter of a canopy of a store that looked like it was closed for renovations.
He looked down at his sneakers. He lifted one foot and water was dripping out from it. Drenched, great, he thought. Thankfully it was the middle of summer, not that you could tell with such a dark sky, but he wasn't freezing from the rain. He looked around and across the street. There weren't many people around but the unlucky ones were running around trying to find a dry spot.
One person stood out though. There was a figure, dressed in a black trench coat and a hood, directly across the street facing his direction. The figure just stood there, unmoved by the weather surrounding it. Something about that gave Michael the chills. He decided he had to start heading home before he caught a cold or something.
Michael turned and forgot about the figure. He started jogging back up the street. There were less and less people. They were probably all indoors now watching him run and thinking he was crazy. Michael looked into a coffee shop window to see if he was right.
In a second he was flat on his back. He shook his head. He felt as if he hit a brick wall. Michael looked up to see what he ran into. There was a man. He was dressed in a trench coat but there was no hood. He was just as soaked as Michael but he didn't seem to notice or really care. Long strands of wet, dark, wavy hair shielded the man's face, but there was something about his eyes. Something… inhuman.
Michael rushed to get back on his feet when a strong hand wrapped around his arm and helped him up.
"Here, here let me help you." The man spoke in a coaxing voice. "I really am so sorry for getting in your way, that was rude of me."
Michael pulled away from the man once he was on his feet.
"Yeah… its fine." Michael continued around the man. He thought he was finally free of all the strange figures. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the dark trench coat wearing figure across the street again. This time he was crossing over to Michael's side.
"Oh, I'm not done with you yet… Michael Corvin." Michael spun around to see the man standing right behind again. How did he know his name? Michael thought for just a moment. But the next thought was… run.
Michael bolted and didn't look back. His thoughts were racing. Could he make it back home? Does he go to the police? Who was that man?
He didn't see the giant dark figure rushing toward him, but he felt the impact. The figure with the trench coat slammed into his side and Michael flew into an alleyway, hitting a dumpster and then rolling onto some piled bags of garbage. It took a moment for Michael to catch his breath. His swiped his hair away from his eyes to see the man and the figure coming toward him. The figure removed his hood revealing a large dark skinned man…or Michael wasn't sure because his eyes were pitch black and he was bearing a large set of animal like teeth.
What the hell?
"My dear, dear Michael. You don't have to be frightened. We're on the right side here."
"H-how do you know my name? What are you?" Michael breathed out.
"You'll soon find out." The man smiled. "Oh, and lucky for you, I'm an honest man…"
"I don't understand…" Michael shook his head.
"This is going to hurt." Before Michael could react the man leapt onto him. The last thing Michael saw was his pitch black eyes. The last thing he felt was an unbearable ripping pain in his shoulder.
He remembered that he had become conscious again and heard something about lycans and vampires; he fell asleep again. Then he woke up to the sharp pain of a needle in his arm. He remembered feeling the urge to rip the head off of whoever was sticking him but he was restrained. And then the last memory was the longest… the transition. Nothing Michael had ever felt before this compared to this pain. He felt the ribs stretching and retracting, trying to find a perfect size. His gums were on fire and his face ached. He felt himself changing but he wasn't sure what he was changing into.
It wasn't until years later that Michael finally decided he wasn't a vampire… but maybe a lycan? He noticed with every full moon he felt much stronger than just any night. And he could survive without ever have the urge to drink someone's blood. But he wasn't really sure what he was. It was never explained to him and he hadn't seen those men since.
All Michael knew now was how good it felt. Once he was able to control his transitions, it got easier. And it felt freeing. He would find a quite place in the park and change. There weren't so many animals around, but it was fun chase down a raccoon every now and then. Sometimes he would travel upstate for some real food, and there was more space to run and more trees so he wouldn't likely be seen.
Here in New York and in Central Park Michael was sure he might have been seen before, but people see so many weird things no one would have known what they saw for sure.
Thankful that it was still winter Michael had left the hospital and it was already dark outside. While everyone else was bundled up, he wore a jacket. His body temperature seemed to have risen ever since the day he first changed.
He headed into the park. The further he went in, the less people he saw. He finally came to one of the hidden trails that led to a path under his favorite bridge. Under the bridge was damp and reeked of piss. Every time he came here he was expecting to find a bum or a dead body. But so far he was lucky every time. He was able to transform undisturbed.
He peeked out from under the bridge at the moon. A smile spread across his face. It was time. Michael took of his jacket first and then his pants. He folded up all of clothes and put them in a plastic bag.
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes they were pitch black. He looked down at his hands and watched, as they grew longer, bigger, and hairier. He felt himself growing a little taller; the ground was moving farther away from him. He threw his head back as he felt his face and jaw changing.
He let out a long howl that echoed off the walls…
