Chapter 10

"I had a feeling I'd find you out here when I didn't see you back at the house."

David glanced up from the microscope as Helen entered with a tray with a meatloaf sandwich and sliced fruits. "You missed dinner."

"Yeah, I know. But I'm taking a closer look at Sarah and Lucan's DNA structure. I promised Sarah I would attempt to find a cure."

Helen smiled. "I figured. That's just like my big brother. Always putting everyone ahead of him. Just don't forget about yourself. Any luck?"

David sighed. "Right off the bat, there isn't much I can do without more time, testing, and superior equipment." David put a palm to his cheek and groaned. "Getting Sarah to cooperate for testing is like pulling teeth. I won't always have Lucan to keep her calm. He has his own big issues to deal with."

Helen leaned against the desk and folded her arms. "I peeked out the window earlier. He handled the wolf as if she were his own pet. It was touching, but I nearly had a heart attack when you put your hand in her giant mouth!" Helen scolded.

David grinned. "So did I. But Lucan has an uncanny ability to connect with the animal kingdom. Especially wolves. There is one thing very fascinating."

"Oh? What's that?" Helen pulled up a chair.

"Remember when I first discovered that the people we interviewed at the Culver Institute had unusually elevated levels of an adenine-thymine variance?"

Helen nodded. "Yes, and yours was also particularly high, but not the day of the accident. That's what prompted you to experiment on yourself with gamma radiation, and…" Helen coughed lightly. "Well, the rest is history."

David grunted. His expression tightened when he thought about how Tasha Pines deliberately enabled him to receive an overdose, but he suddenly considered something else. Had Esben known about the DNA abnormality? There hadn't been any specific mention of it in his research papers or other documents. The reports were long gone, so he couldn't double-check, but he had already gone over them thoroughly, to begin with. If that detail had been explicitly mentioned, David would have noticed since it was his breakthrough discovery.

Tasha had grabbed what she could. She probably hadn't been able to copy every document. There had been a note scribbled on one page about Sarah's DNA that the mad scientist had found "particularly interesting."

"Helen, I've just discovered that both Lucan and Sarah have elevated levels of the same adenine-thymine variance! Lucan's levels are moderately above average. Other variances in his molecular and DNA structure blended with regular human factors indicate he is a true hybrid of human and a full mutant. Sarah's DNA structure shows all of the signs of lab genetic alteration and tampering, forcing her to become a… manufactured hybrid."

Helen's jaw dropped. David, "that's amazing!"

He grimaced, disliking how much his words made the girl sound like an altered machine. "The point is," he went on, "Sarah has an unusually high level of adenine-thymine, only fifteen percent less than my own. It may have played a factor with her body accepting Esben's genetic modifications and why she could be … ah, engineered into a mindful werewolf rather than a feral one."

"I guess that shows you have something in common with them. Do you think all the victims Esben experimented on have this variance?"

David switched off the microscope and massaged his eyes and forehead. He needed a break, and his stomach rumbled. Helen giggled.

"I heard that, David. You need to eat something. Dad wouldn't get to bed because he was looking for you too. He said you have to sweep up the barn and finish your homework."

David shook his head and smiled. "Then when I get inside, he will kick me out like he did yesterday. And shout at me to go off and become some quack medicine man. I don't need to keep replaying that old argument. Anyway, … back to my quackery … there appears to be a dormant, mutant gene that supplies this variance," David said, quickly jotting a note in his current journal. "For the moment, I'm calling it the X- Gene."

"Hmm, sounds catchy. Too bad you can't go public with this. I bet it would win you another award. It's been what? 5 years since you've received one with honors?" Helen remarked, slyly grinning. Her older brother always made her proud.

David chuckled. "Perhaps someday, if I ever find a cure for it. But," he went on with increasing animation, "this may have given me a new way to approach my own problem, too. Suppose I can specifically focus on isolating the root cause of this genetic variance and adenine-thymine buildup? In that case, it could be a key to reversing the effects that make the metamorphosis happen."

"Wouldn't it be more effective to find a way to remove it?"

"No, it's too deeply fused with Sarah's DNA and molecular structure. And the same goes for mine. At this point, it has nothing to do with the genetic alterations that have already been made. It would be like trying to close a gate after the horses have already escaped." David stroked his chin thoughtfully, trying to recall the details in Esben's papers.

"But there is something else, too," he added thoughtfully.

"What is it?" Helen asked.

"I recall reading in Esben's notes that the initial introduction of the artificially modified venom into Sarah's body may have had diverse effects because her nervous system and brain structure were unusual."

Helen stared at him, thoughtfully. "Well, we all have our suspicions that Sarah might be a high-functioning autistic person."

"I think Tasha may have suspected it, too. Or she knew it. It didn't come up in any of the papers I saw."

"Tasha Pines? You mean that woman who introduced you to Sarah?"

"Yeah." David grimaced at the mention of her name. "Either way, it seems like the X-Gene combined with these variations in her nervous system have adapted more readily to the genetically engineered venom. It's why she can transform at will and retain her human identity."

"This is all very interesting," Helen said with a frown, having caught the look in his eye when he mentioned Tasha. "By the way, whatever happened to Tasha after you fled that diner in Texas?"

David shook his head. "All I know is that she took off in a car with her son before I transformed. I haven't seen or heard anything about her since. I can only assume she got away."

"I recall meeting her briefly once or twice," Helen mused.

She didn't mention that one of the times had been at his and Elaina's funeral. There had been an odd look in the woman's eyes, and Tasha wouldn't look at David's gravesite. She hung close to that creep Esben, the man who behaved less like he was at a funeral and more like a celebration.

Helen remembered resisting the urge to slap the man at least once.

"Tasha was partially responsible for what happened to Sarah, isn't she?"

Helen pressed, still sensing that she missed something about David and Tasha, even if she wasn't sure what she was pushing for. David's gaze turned uncharacteristically dark whenever her name was mentioned, but it would disappear the next instant.

"Yes, among other things."

Helen's brow furrowed. "David, talk to me. We always shared secrets. What did she do?" She touched his arm gently.

After a drawn-out breath, David finally looked her in the eye. "Tasha admitted to me that she removed the 'Out of Order' sign from the Gamma-Ray machine, so I wouldn't know it needed calibration. Esben put her up to it. He wanted to kill me for getting him dismissed from the Institute for his unethical research and experiments."

Helen's face had paled, and her grip tightened around David's arms. "You're serious," she whispered, her throat thickened with sadness. "No … Oh, David …"

"Instead, I became the Hulk," David said.

"That is absolutely horrible, David! What kind of small crazy world this is that you had to meet her again and get chained up with mad scientists, werewolves, and hunters and …" Sharp emotions played across Helen's face. The horror that someone could harm her big brother, one of the kindest men she'd ever known, relief that it hadn't killed him, and anger that it left David with a dangerous mutation that kept him always on the run and afraid. Helen suddenly desired to grab Tasha by the throat and throttle her. David knew his sister's sense of justice and temper riled, and he quickly hugged her.

"It's over with, Helen. Nothing to do now but move forward and work toward a cure."

"I'm so sorry." Helen hugged him teary-eyed, and they held each other for a long moment.

There wasn't anything more either of them could say. As much as Helen longed to see David cured, merely wishing didn't make it so.

"Get some rest after you eat," Helen suggested, stroking his shoulder.

David sat down and took a bite of the sandwich to please her. "Mom always made the best meatloaf and gravy. This tastes just like hers."

Helen blushed. "I kept her recipe scrapbook. She was still working hard on it when she died. I finished the book for her with the recipe cards she left behind. I try to make meals dad is most familiar with."

"You're always very thoughtful, Helen. I'll be in soon. I want to finish my examinations while I still have access to this equipment," David said as he stifled a yawn but quickly began adding more notes and calculations in his journal.

"I'll leave you to your work," Helen said. "Don't stay up too late, alright?"

"Oh, I'll only be up for a while," David answered distractedly.

Helen shook her head and went back inside, making a note to check on Sarah and see how Lucan and Dad were doing before heading back to her house.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Tasha and Dylan stood outside of a small, abandoned cabin they'd found in the middle of the woods. They didn't plan to remain in this area long, but they needed a shelter … especially this night – the night of the full moon.

"We need to hurry. This took too long!" Dylan said as he hefted a set of heavy steel chains. They were expensive and hard to find until they stopped at a car junkyard. He hoped they'd do the trick even though they weren't anywhere near as strong as adamantium. Neither of them knew where they could readily obtain enough of that mysterious, precious metal.

"Come on, Tasha, I'll need your help here."

They approached a vast, thick oak tree that they had already chosen the previous day. Its roots ran deep and secured in the ground. The trunk was coarse, thick, and sturdy, and its branches splayed high above their heads, like spindly fingers attempting to reach for the moon itself and pluck it out of the sky.

If only it could, Dylan thought as he positioned himself against the tree trunk. He pressed his back against it and tried to ignore the rough bark edges scraping his bare skin. Pretty soon, he'd have a tougher hide, and he wouldn't feel a thing.

Dylan opted against ruining a shirt, but Tasha insisted the pants stay on. Even if they tore, the waist size in his wolf form didn't change much. She remembered David's Hulk, his jeans tore up his knees, and though his waist expanded and his buttons popped, the tightness of the pants around his bulky green legs kept them in place. It had been different with Sarah, she had told Dylan.

Sarah's wolf had somewhat clumsier proportions and Sarah, as a human, was a petite waif. The clothing would never fit the creature. Sarah needed extra guidance and rules, and they were on the run. Her mindfulness as a wolf made it much easier for her to comply with Tasha, who didn't have the money to keep replenishing Sarah's clothes every time she carelessly burst out of them.

With Dylan, Tasha had reminded him about the old Lon Chaney movies where the classy wolfman wore button-down shirts and charcoal slacks. It was the biggest laugh Hunter had in a long time. The moments when Tasha let down her stoic guard, she had a profoundly humorous side he slowly became privy to. The classic Universal Monsters were some of Hunter's favorite films growing up, and now he practically was one. But the safe movie wolfman would merely claw or strangle a person once then hide behind a bush. Hunter's condition proved much worse.

They managed to wrap the chains securely around him. The weighted links clinked noisily. Tasha had measured enough length to bind him and the trunk's full diameter three times, around his waist, chest, and shoulders.

Dylan glanced toward the cabin as Tasha helped him finish locking the ends of the links in place with 2 huge and durable padlocks. Peter's solemn little face peered from the window. The boy had seen too much this past year, and he knew what came next.

"If I manage to break free, I hope I'm far enough away from Peter." Concern laced Dylan's tone, and fear welled in his blue eyes.

Tasha stared carefully at him, touched by his worry. "It's too late to pick another spot now," she pointed out, eyeing the sky. "We already scoured the entire area. This tree is the only one that looks like it could … hold you." She gulped.

Hunter grunted and held out his arms as if he were about to fly, and Tasha understood. They'd agreed to secure his wrists to the low-hanging branches. Tasha had to stand upon a risen root on her tiptoes to wrap a smaller steel chain around his wrists. She stepped down and faced him.

Tasha gazed boldly at Dylan's face, and she noticed the barest changes. His eyes emitted a gold shine. He tensed as every muscle in his body prepared. Tasha saw the moon rise just above their heads, perfectly positioned over the tree's ominous limbs like a beautiful orb prompting his transformation.

"I'll see you soon, Dylan." Tasha kissed him gently on the mouth. Hunter savored it but then had to hold back as he felt the change taking hold.

Tasha quickly pulled away from him as his beard stubble and smooth skin roughened and hair sprouted over his face. Hunter thrashed hard against the tree, knocking his head back as he suffered through the extreme pain of his bones and muscles cracking and expanding. He shouted and trembled until long howls burst from his widened mouth.

Tasha felt awful. She wanted to embrace him … do anything to quell the change. She stumbled backward as a snout with a black nose erupted slowly from his face. Sharp teeth and fangs pierced through his bloodied gums. His ears jutted up into curved points, and his skin darkened while dark silvery-brown fur rippled over his body. Dylan's pants stretched and ripped down the seams leaving just enough to the imagination. The chains squeezed his body and tightened. The binding infuriated him, but they held.

Tasha froze, glaring at the terrifying yet magnificent sight. She hadn't seen Dylan like this since back in Texas. She recalled Esben's final orders, to lead this beast toward the diner in a car so that Esben could attempt to take Subject Seven. Tasha could've killed Esben herself for forcing her to do that. She and Peter might have died that night.

Tasha had fled the scene quickly with Peter, never learning of Esben's fate. She escaped to Canada, planning to change her identity and live a quiet life. Due to her own carelessness, Esben's spies discovered her when she had gotten too curious.

Tasha attempted too much contact with a former colleague, someone she thought she could trust. She learned the stomach-churning details of how Hunter turned on Esben and that Seven had escaped with David Banner. It had relieved her to know that Esben was dead, and while part of her felt bad for how he died, Tasha mostly felt relief and that he thoroughly deserved what he got. Tasha still desired to know that David got away safely after all she'd done to him and dragged him into. He would probably never trust her again, and Tasha wouldn't blame him. A new adversary was on her back, and she wondered if she and Peter would ever be safe.

Tasha had come almost full circle now with the one person who served as her protector. He was the only hope she and Peter had to stay safe and free; the same man who became a ferocious wolf had chewed their boss to a pulp and would easily do the same to them now if he got free.

The werewolf snarled and strained against the chains, but the links held firm. The branches groaned and strained but showed no signs of giving way soon. The wolf howled loudly, furious, then tried to gnaw a tree branch off in an attempt to free one clawed hand. Venom dripped from his fangs, mixed with tree bark and splinters as his teeth gnashed and scraped across the wood.

Tasha jumped to her feet as self-preservation kicked in. Her motherly instincts quickened her race into the cabin. Peter ran from the window and shivered under his blankets just before Tasha entered the shack and slammed the door. He heard his mother's voice and his little racing heart slowed.

"Peter! Quick, we have to go now! I am so sorry for waiting this long."

Sensing his mother's distress, he leaped from the bed and balled up his blanket. He slipped into his sneakers and snatched his pillow for some kind of fluffy protection. Tasha ran to the cabin corner where his makeshift bed and temporary play area had been set up and shoved his clothes and strewn toys in a knapsack. Peter cradled his favorite Teddy in his arms behind the pillow. If it had running water and electricity, the rustic home in the woods could've been livable.

Hunter's angry howls echoed in the night, and other wild animals and birds stirred uncharacteristically from the terrifying invader. The forest bristled to life as creatures instinctively bolted into whatever hiding spots they could find, and birds flapped higher than ever before into the trees to avoid the monster. Peter gasped and clung to Tasha.

"Mama, he's coming! He's going to eat us!" He cried.

"It's okay, Baby, no, he won't, I promise. Hunter won't do that. He cares about us …" Tasha insisted as she gathered her son into her arms and sprinted out the back door.

She winced and held Peter more closely as she heard another wild howl and rattle from chains that sounded too loose. More animals screeched. Tasha hummed a lullaby, which seemed to soothe her son and her own nerves.

She dashed into the rental car, feeling a sense of deja vu. She would once again hope to outrun Hunter's wolf as she had in Texas. Tasha tossed the knapsack onto the back seat alongside an emergency suitcase and three water gallons and immediately strapped Peter in the passenger seat. Tasha literally burned rubber as she quickly drove the car down a long, unpaved rural dirt road into town.

When Tasha reached the giant "Welcome to Newfort" sign that announced new arrivals to the town, she looked out the window to see if anything large, dark, and mangy was on her tail. She wanted to make doubly-sure she wasn't leading the creature into town.

If Hunter's wolf decided to follow her into town, there wasn't much she could do. Tasha lowered her head against the steering wheel and gulped down tears. It would still be her fault because the wolf would have followed her and Peter's scent. Briefly, Tasha wished she knew where to call David Banner, even though he wouldn't be thrilled to hear from her. Even if David's beastly side was nearly as dangerous and unpredictable as a natural werewolf in the full moon, at least he was immune to werewolf venom, and he could possibly help them.

As she drove to the edge of town, she wondered if Dr. Banner could find a cure for Dylan. Though he made it clear that he had enough trouble trying to cure himself. Plus, David had Sarah latching onto him and hoping for one too. How much could he do without full access to the lab and medical resources he used at the Culver Institute.

Tasha noticed her son bristle in his disturbed sleep and whimper for her. Tasha wondered about Peter's future. Would he see werewolves lurking around every corner and haunting his dreams? She would have to start saving for therapy. Peter's distress was also her fault, and she was prepared to take the blame years down the line.

It's okay, Peter, Mommy's here," she gently caressed her son's head, encouraging him to rest until they reached their motel where they had already booked a room. Tasha strummed her fingers and softly sang, "Whos afraid of the big, bad wolf? From Disney's old Three Little Pigs cartoon. It was an odd comfort and gave her a pang of courage.

Tasha saw the homespun sign that indicated she was leaving Newport, and she began the drive down a long, winding path that would lead to the next town. She and Dylan had agreed they should travel two towns away just to be safe; there was no telling what the wolf might do. The black wolf would probably bust out of the chains eventually, and there was a chance he'd try to track the scent of any fresh trails immediately around him. Tasha imagined him tearing up the cottage and what would've happened if she and Peter stayed behind. A blinding light and a loud horn broke her insidious thoughts, and she swerved to avoid a small truck. She couldn't stop to catch her bearings. Any second, the beast might come charging from the woods and onto the roof of her car.

Tasha had used many pine fresheners and dabbed expensive perfume on herself, hoping to mask her and Peter's scent. She knew better. The wolves were not smelling surface odors. They were out for sweat and blood, and with her sudden and intense attraction to Hunter recently, the wolf would be drawn to her pheromones.

It wasn't long before she saw the next sign, welcoming her into a smaller and cozier town called Dartmouth. She arrived at the motel and pulled into the parking lot.

Tasha carried Peter and all their belongings and checked in. The kindly motel owner sent his assistant to send up her suitcase and knapsack. She gave him a generous tip, and he gratefully insisted she ring for anything she needed. Tasha aimed to wash Peter with a warm bath in the morning, but she dressed him in his jammies and tucked him in with his favorite toy for now.

She felt relieved that Peter was a sound sleeper. The bed was soft and comfortable. Now that some of her adrenaline and worried-mother-mode faded, her eyelids drooped as the warm blankets beckoned to her. As the image of Hunter's transformation flashed before her, she shot her head up and rubbed her eyes.

Not yet, she told herself firmly. Tasha rummaged through her purse and the suitcase. And found the small notebook she needed. Tasha double-checked the date and time, then marked information. Tasha had been in such a hurry to get away that she'd forgotten to check her watch, but she could make a rough estimation. She would do better in the future to catalog the exact time.

Tasha was still a scientist and needed to chart her own notes on Hunter's transformation specifics. She had witnessed so many mutations over the years that she nearly forgot how abnormal and seemingly impossible it was that such creatures should exist. Despite how smoothly Sarah transitioned, Hunter's was the most natural and awe-inspiring to look at. The distinct cracking of his bones and stretching of his limbs unnerved her, and she pitied him. Keeping this notebook would helpfully predict future wolf-outs, mostly since natural werewolves followed the moon cycles.

Following the full moon's three day cycle, Tasha planned to stay in the motel for three nights, then return to the cabin. She and Dylan had agreed that would be enough time for him to fully return to his senses. Dylan had remarked that although the moon looked full to the naked eye for three days, that fullness only lasted an instant. The wolf effects slowly wore off during the preceding days, but they couldn't trust he'd be in any semblance of control.

Tasha put the notebook away. She went to the bathroom and left the door open as she took a brief hot shower to scrub out the smell of the dank forest and sweat from the last few days. Tasha put on clean, comfortable street clothes in case they had to make a run for it. She curled up on the end of Peter's bed and drifted off into a nightmare-fueled sleep.