A quiet park darkened as daylight disappeared over the horizon. Night had come, and the lamps throughout the park lit along the paved, winding sidewalk as most of the park's population began to dwindle when park-goers returned to their cars. A pair of teenagers walked smiling side by side through that park, the girl wrapping her fingers gently around the boy's calloused fingers as he looked at her, prepared to address his date timidly.

"Thank you again, for agreeing to go out with me tonight."

"Gohan! Stop." She grumbled in annoyance, disappointing him as that lovely smile wiped off her face in exchange for a scowl. "I wanted to go out with you. You don't have to keep thanking me." She grumbled as she lowered her chin, her black wisps of hair falling over her eyes as she kicked at a pebble on the sidewalk and they continued their evening walk through the park. Gohan tightened his grip on her hand, attempting to smile reassuringly at her, though her downward gaze was making that impossible.

"Videl." He said encouragingly as he placed his free hand gently beneath her chin, making her look at him. He initially intended to apologize, but decided against it as he realized that apologetic behavior was just what was irritating her. So he stared speechlessly into her pretty blue eyes, saying with his eyes what he couldn't with his words. She smiled warmly in return, and the young couple continued walking together in blissful silence, past the oak trees and cast iron benches, past the picturesque flower beds wrapped around the bases of those large trees, past another lingering couple crossing their path in the opposite direction along the winding sidewalk.

"What a beautiful night. Isn't it, Videl?" Gohan asked with a small smile as he leaned in closer to his date, releasing his grip on her hand in favor of bringing that arm over her shoulder and pulling her in tightly in a side by side embrace.

"Yeah. Just look at the moon." Videl sighed breathily as she raised her chin for a fuller appreciation of the glowing round orb in the star-sprinkled night sky. When Gohan abruptly stopped walking, disconnecting from Videl as a barely audible strangled choke escaped his lips, Videl stopped and turned her gaze to face him with concern. "What's wrong, Gohan?" She asked as she observed the way he was grimacing with worry and keeping his eyes downcast while his face looked white as a sheet.

Before Gohan could answer, his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. Not moving anything but his hand, Gohan patted his pocket absently as Videl continued observing him with concern. The vibrations continued, drowning out the noises of the singing crickets, droning of passing car traffic and running water from the fountain in the park, as if that vibration was louder than everything else.

"I need to take this." Gohan said as if he expected the call, his gaze fixed straight ahead as he pulled the phone from his pocket and pressed it against his ear.

Videl crossed her arms and tilted her head suspiciously at Gohan's bizarre change in demeanor as a male voice spoke on the other end of the phone, saying words indecipherable to the teenage girl. Gohan nodded, his mouth agape with worry as a bead of sweat skimmed down his temple. Videl realized then that all of his skin was glistening with a perspiring sheen, one which could not have been caused by the slow evening walk they were taking on that comfortably cool night.

"I-I didn't realize it was tonight, Dad." Gohan said slowly with a cautious glance in Videl's direction. She smiled hesitantly back at him, but Gohan only averted his gaze as his father continued speaking to him over the phone. "I wouldn't have gone out tonight if I did!" Gohan suddenly shouted, causing Videl's eyes to widen in alarm at the anxiety-laden tone in her date's voice.

"Gohan, what is going on?" Videl asked, not caring at that point whether she was interrupting Gohan's phone conversation or not.

"Nothing!" Gohan hurriedly exclaimed with a frantic, denying shake of his head. Videl narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Gohan as the voice in the phone began some heated reply. Gohan was obviously anxious about something he was hiding from her, and so was his father on the phone.

"Actually, you know what?" Gohan said to Videl, "I think I'm coming down with something. I might be sick. I'd better get home." Videl glared disapprovingly at Gohan's obvious attempt to ditch their date.

"You were fine a minute ago, Gohan." Videl growled through her teeth, her top lip turning up in a subtle snarl as the romantic feelings from the evening were completely washed out by the predominating anger of rejection.

"It might have seemed that way, but you know, I think that food we ate isn't agree-" Gohan stopped speaking as he violently lurched forward, clasping a hand tightly around his stomach and dropping his cell phone to the sidewalk, which shattered upon impact with the hard concrete. Gohan released a low, pained growl as Videl's eyes shot open with fear. Any anger she felt over his faking was instantly replaced with genuine concern as she placed a hand on his shoulder, intending to comfort Gohan.

"Gohan!"

"Stay away!" Gohan yelled forcefully as he violently shoved Videl off of him. As soon as she lost contact with his body, which she noticed felt burning hot during that brief contact, Gohan stumbled away and sprinted from her.

"Gohan!" Videl yelled angrily as she ran after him. He didn't respond and only continued running faster, inhumanly faster. The only thing that slowed Gohan's progress were his occasional pained lurches, which looked increasingly more painful and intense as they progressed. Even with all that happening, Gohan was able to escape Videl's pursuit. Videl tracked Gohan in the direction in which he had disappeared behind some oak trees, carefully searching between the trees and bushes as she traveled further from the path, into denser and darker park forest.

"Gohan!" She called again, frowning with concern as she lightly folded her arms over her chest and her brows bowed with worry. A loud growl drew her from her worry, followed by a miserable sounding moan, both coming from behind some rustling bushes she could barely make out in the distant shadows. Videl felt herself trembling as she bravely approached those eerie sounds, her blue eyes wide with fear, her pupils dilated as she peered towards the bush to see the form of a man falling to his knees behind it.

As she came closer, she knew it had to be Gohan. When she opened her mouth to call to him again, feeling relieved at finding him, Gohan twisted his back violently and screamed. Videl gasped as she witnessed Gohan growling and writhing in pain, a terror striking her as she raised a palm over her gaping mouth while witnessing his bizarre suffering.

"Gohan?" she hesitantly whispered as she stepped slowly towards him, extending her hand as if to reach out and touch him, though she was still quite a distance away. She halted when he opened his mouth, baring his teeth. She was able to distinguish elongated fangs protruding from his canines while his eyes appeared to glow amber under the shine of the eerie, dim lighting of the night sky.

Her heart pounding rapidly, Videl slowly took a few steps back, without realizing she was doing so. The loud snap of a dry twig beneath her foot made her gasp in surprise as Gohan snapped his head towards the sound. The look in his eyes was a feral, fearsome look that Videl never would have expected to see directed at her from the shy and handsome boy she was dating. Gohan crouched low, his animalistic gaze fixed on her as he readied to pounce. Videl shook her head in disbelief before Gohan released another pained scream, tossing his head back and opening his mouth as he turned to the side and that profile of his pointed fangs terrified Videl even further.

"Videl, run!" Gohan yelled to her at that moment, through obvious strain in the midst of his pained condition. His voice was unrecognizable-deeper, more brutish-as if he was growling the words rather than yelling them. Videl hesitated for only a second, not wanting to desert Gohan in the midst of whatever he was going through. But when he snarled loudly and odd patches of black began visibly sprouting over his skin, and then he contorted again with bone-crunching sounds emanating from his movements, Videl ran without needing to be told twice. She dashed through the denser forest of the park, returning to the walkway and startling when she heard a wolfish howl of ire from behind her.

"Everyone! Get out of here! There's a..." Videl began to yell to the few strangers she passed in the park as she resumed her fearsome run, though she couldn't finish her sentence, because in reality, she didn't know what Gohan was becoming.

All she could think was monster. But she couldn't bring herself to refer to Gohan as a monster. He wasn't a monster. She knew it in her heart, despite what she had witnessed with her own eyes. She rushed into the safety of her car, parked just outside the park, worrying over the strangers who were dismissive of her warning and remained exposed there.

Videl's heart pounded in her chest as she sat in her car. She could feel her temples throbbing with all the adrenaline coursing through her body, both from the run, and from witnessing that frightening sight. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't just desert Gohan, but she couldn't bring herself to return to that scene either.

Videl remembered the earlier call from Gohan's father. He was anxious about something. Maybe he knew what was happening to Gohan. With a nod to herself, Videl pulled out her cell phone and dialed Gohan's home number. She hoped his father would answer. While the phone rang, she warily observed her surroundings outside the car. It was mostly dark. The only areas she could clearly see were the spaces illuminated beneath the path lights with gaps of nearly six feet between each light. She was relieved to see that the park population had mostly cleared out. Maybe no one would be hurt…by Gohan? No, Videl shook her head in instant denial of that thought just as a greeting sounded on the other end of the phone.

"Mr. Son, it's Videl." She replied with a shaky voice.

"Videl? Aren't you with Gohan?" Gohan's father replied with a worrisome tone. Videl frowned warily.

"I…was. He ran off." Videl intentionally left out the important detail where she had followed Gohan and witnessed him turning into some sort of vicious creature, because she didn't know how she could possibly explain that to his father without sounding crazy. There was a tense beat of silence on the line.

"Does Gohan..." Videl began to question, feeling the need to address the terrifying, vivid images of Gohan burnt into her memory from earlier that evening. She exhaled heavily as Gohan's father patiently waited for her to finish, but she did not know how to articulate her question. "Has he been feeling okay?" She finally asked with careful subtlety. His father sighed.

"He never feels well...when there's a full moon. He wasn't supposed to go out tonight." His father finally admitted. "I'm sorry your date was interrupted." Videl scratched her head in slight confusion.

"Uh...you mean Gohan was grounded?" She asked slowly and cautiously. To her surprise, his father's response was tinged with amusement.

"You could say that." Videl frowned to herself. Mr. Son was speaking cryptically, but Videl suspected that he knew what was happening with Gohan. "You should go home, Videl."

"Go home?" Videl questioned incredulously. It was one thing to be ditched on a date, but another entirely to ditch him when he was suffering with a painful condition.

"Don't worry about Gohan. He always comes home just fine after he's been feeling that way." Mr. Son's calm voice finally had some urgency behind it as he pushed Videl to leave. But she was not going to just abandon him!

"No. I'm sorry, Mr. Son. I think I should look for Gohan and make sure he's alright first." Videl replied as she prepared to hang up her phone, before an urgent yell sounded from it. She curiously placed it to her ear again.

"No! Promise me you'll leave now and stay inside the car until you're home, Videl." Mr. Son's sudden determination and strict tone made Videl gulp in fear. She raised her brows in surprised disbelief.

"O-okay." Videl replied warily, feeling unable to make any other decision after hearing that command. "But," she added, knowing she couldn't leave things that way, "when Gohan does come home, you let him know he'll have to answer to me for abandoning me like that." She said firmly, feeling angry at the situation as she fought to push aside the underlying fear that was still gnawing at her.

As Videl hung up the phone at Gohan's father's agreement, she looked forward through her windshield, towards the scene of the dark and now-deserted park, detecting the quick movement of some sort of animal in the distance. She considered going after Gohan in spite of what she had promised. She still didn't feel right about leaving him. She reached towards her door handle when at her driver's side window, something suddenly lunged right at her with a loud growl, hitting the window with a thump as the car gently rocked from the force of the impact.

Videl screamed and leaned away from the window as she processed the appearance of what was lunging at her, which appeared to be a large, black dog, or perhaps a wolf. It was huge. It had to be a wolf, and it was continuing to snarl and drool as it lunged again and again, baring its sharp, bloodied fangs at her and leaving a glistening smear of deep red across her car window as her car rocked unsteadily from its brute force.

Videl began to hyperventilate as she reached a shaky hand to start her car engine. The thought of that creature succeeding in breaking through her window with the tremendous force of its attacks made Videl dismiss any thoughts she'd had about getting out of that car. She was pulling out of the parking space, and though the creature stayed beside her window, meeting her gaze with amber glowing eyes, it could not keep up when Videl gunned it and sped out of the parking lot with a squeal of her tires.

She finally lost that creature, but worried the whole drive home that it would suddenly appear behind her. Aside from the reappearance of the wolf, all she could think about as she drove was that smear of red on her window. Her eyes were repeatedly drawn to the rearview mirror to check for a chasing beast, and alternatively to the smear on the window, which felt like it was intentionally put there as a warning by that creature.

The implications of why such a hostile animal would be smeared with red had her darkest imagination running wild. She tried to consider that it might have been paint, or maybe the animal was bleeding from a minor injury. But something kept telling her that it was something much more sinister that caused that smear of red, which continued filling her with trepidation even after she arrived home.

She hesitated in her driveway, turning off her car and viewing the front door of her safe home, where her father was likely already sleeping soundly and she should have been returning with a goodnight kiss from Gohan. As it was, she was sitting in her car, debating whether she had the nerve to get out.

Every time she decided it was time to go inside, the image of that snarling wolf lunging at her window flashed across her mind, and she could not bring herself to open that door. After many failed attempts, Videl settled on staring at the house, hoping someone would arrive to relieve her from her fear. That someone never came, and Videl finally fell asleep in the driver's seat of her car, in the driveway, only feet from her front door.

Videl was startled from her rest hours later, when a thud sounded against her window. She woke with a gasp. Eyes wide and heart pounding immediately, Videl turned towards the car window. She exhaled heavily in relief at the sight of her boyfriend, shirtless and lowering his fist slowly from the window as he frowned worriedly at her.

"Gohan!" Videl reprimanded him as she rolled down the window.

"Sorry I scared you." Gohan said from the other side of the window with a slight smile.

"Gohan! Where have you been? What are you doing out there?" Videl scolded crossly as she glared at her boyfriend. Gohan smiled meekly in apology as he opened the car door, letting Videl step out and join him outside. Videl tilted her head and narrowed her eyes as she brought her face close to Gohan's and noticed a trace of red along Gohan's lip. "Gohan?" She questioned in awe as she reached for the red smear, brushing it with her thumb and presenting it for Gohan in a wordless request for explanation.

"Oh. I…" Gohan trailed off and shrugged artlessly, "I was sick?" He questioned more than answered. Videl narrowed her eyes at Gohan.

"Where is your shirt?" Videl asked as she crossed her arms and frowned disbelievingly at Gohan.

"Well, it was gross from getting sick. I had to get rid of it." Gohan explained guilelessly. Videl looked down at the ground and up at Gohan again, her accusing glare remaining after seeing Gohan's bare, dirtied feet below them.

"And your shoes? Did you get sick on them, too?" Videl asked sarcastically as Gohan warily rubbed the back of his neck and frowned at Videl.

"Look, Videl. I know you're angry." Gohan admitted guiltily. Videl huffed in irritated agreement as she realized his pants weren't even the same pair he'd been wearing earlier. But she was not going to question his appearance further.

"Do you have any idea what happened to me after you left?" Videl asked, her hard demeanor softening as she recalled frightening memories of the previous night. "I was chased by a…by a…a wolf!" Videl yelled irately, her eyes brimming with tears as she recalled the image of the creature stalking her, which was much more sinister than a mere wolf, but what else to call it, she had no idea. Gohan frowned deeply with a look of guilt and remorse, before he wrapped Videl soothingly in his arms.

"I'm so sorry, Videl. Are you okay?" He asked with such deep concern that Videl lost all will to be angry with him any longer. The comfort he was offering was what she needed at the moment. Videl released a shaky sigh, nuzzling into the comfort of Gohan's warm chest as he enveloped his arms snugly around her back and her head.

"Oh, Gohan." Videl sighed wearily, the night's events and lack of decent sleep wearing her down after the catastrophic evening she'd just had. Videl rubbed her hands along Gohan's arms, then up his back, caressing one along the back of his neck and through his silky black hair. She quirked a brow and slightly stiffened from her relaxed demeanor as she felt a clump of the softness from Gohan's hair come off between her fingers when she removed her hand. Videl lowered her hand to look at what she now held, which appeared to be not hair, but black, silky fur.

Gohan released his tight hold on Videl to see what had attracted her interest. Upon seeing the fur at which Videl was staring, and then meeting her astounded gaze, Gohan frowned remorsefully. She didn't want to believe it, but she had been fervently in denial of everything she'd witnessed all through the night. She no longer had the energy to deny that all the bizarre things she'd witnessed were related to Gohan's secretiveness.

Videl looked at Gohan, her eyes communicating her thoughts, and he met her gaze with deep fear recognizable in his black-eyed gaze. When Gohan contritely nodded his silent confession, Videl took a wary step back as she finally admitted to herself that the boy she was falling for was not a boy at all, at least not on nights when the moon was full.