This is the longest chapter of Werewolves thus far, and it's a doozy. Quite a bit happens, so I hope you all can find something, ANYTHING, to say about it.

I was going to post this chapter tomorrow, but it was already finished, and I was excited to share it with you guys. So the next chapter will be on Monday. Enjoy!

Current music: Hungry Like the Wolf - Duran Duran

CODY HARVARD, 19

Over the next two months, life seemed to settle into a new rhythm. While it wouldn't be correct to say that I was overall happy with my new situation, adapting to college was in some ways similar to adapting to my own lycanthropy; I could get used to more than I'd thought.

It was during this time that I reflected on just how lonely I'd been that first night. The golden Lycanroc had seemed so welcoming; in a way, it sounded almost as if it had been telling me that there was a place, somewhere, that I belonged.

And belonging was one thing that I desperately wanted.

After a week or two, I came to the conclusion that while my status as a werewolf had been set in stone, the way I dealt with it didn't have to be. I was under no obligation to make myself any more miserable. And so I decided to take a risk.

I began speaking up more in class, participating in the discussions to a greater degree. This was partly due to a desire to improve my participation grade, but also because I wanted to come out of my shell. Over the last five years I'd wrapped myself up in the cocoon of the socially anxious, and I was determined to make like a Butterfree and burst out of it.

My transformation from social outcast to social Butterfree wasn't just demonstrated by my increasing participation in class, however. I also made a point of eating with some of my peers for almost every meal; getting to know more people would definitely give me more staying power socially, whatever that was worth.

It was during one of these meals in late September that the unexpected happened.

I was eating lunch with Max Saint Lawrence one Tuesday when he asked me a rather personal question. I was taken aback, but not particularly offended.

First, it needs to be said that Max and I had, for the most part, reconciled after the earlier argument about my medication. As far as I could tell, he still didn't know that it was wolfsbane, but he wasn't going to press me any further either. And that was just fine with me.

Anyway, we were in the middle of our meal when Max pointed at a nearby table, where a blonde girl with pigtails and blue eyes was eating alone. She was much shorter than either of us; at least, that's what it looked like. It was hard to tell when she was sitting down.

"Have you ever been on a date, Cody?" Max asked me casually, as though he were simply inquiring about my favorite music.

I felt my eyes open widely. "No, why do you ask?"

My roommate shrugged. "I'm just a bit surprised. We're both nineteen, and you've never even asked a girl out, by the sound of it."

"Uh, why is that relevant?"

Max snorted. "Don't you see, Cody? Dating is one of the most important parts of a college student's life. At a minimum, you shouldn't still be single at nineteen. Most people by our age have at least gotten a toe in the water."

I raised an eyebrow. "Why are you pointing at that girl, though? What is it about her?"

"She's Bella Fox, one of the most popular girls at GPU! The fact that you're not even trying to talk to her is just disappointing."

"What if the reason I'm not doing that is because I'm too scared? I'm not a social Butterfree like you. I'd think that would be clear by now."

"Have it your way," Max replied. "But I dare you to at least talk to her, because if you never try, you'll never know. Life is a game of calculated risk, Cody."

Life is a game of calculated risk. I found myself agreeing wholeheartedly with that statement. If I didn't even try to improve my life, even if it was risky, then I'd face the flipside option, eternal loneliness. And, unbeknownst to Max, I'd already experienced enough loneliness for a lifetime.

"I'll do it" I said authoritatively, to show that I meant business, as well as to improve my own confidence. "I'll go ask to talk to her."

"I wish you the best of luck," my roommate replied.

Trying to do so in as inconspicuous of a manner as possible, I stood up from my chair and walked over to the table Bella was eating at. She did not look up from her meal, and it was only once I said, "Hey, may I sit here?" that she even paid attention to me.

Bella gave me a look that, while not exactly a smile, didn't seem irritated by my request to eat with her. She seemed not to have heard Max urging me to sit at her table.

"You may" she told me, her blue eyes sparkling a bit in the light coming from the ceiling.

I saw that there was a Pokeball on the table next to her salad, and I instantly wondered what species she had as her partner. Perhaps it wasn't the most consequential philosophical dilemma; it was just something I wanted to know.

But even though I had passed Max's challenge, even though I'd done as he had said, I was too afraid to say anything else. A million Butterfree were flapping their wings in my chest, and my face was feeling very warm indeed.

I laughed nervously, and Bella gave me a short glare. It wasn't an angry sort of glare, though; it was more of a confused one. She wasn't accusing me of being antisocial; she might just be pitying me for not having the right social skills to talk to her.

Eventually, she broke the silence. "What's your name, and where are you from?"

She sounded almost as though she were punching me with words. Again, this wasn't done in an accusatory manner, but it certainly wasn't what I would normally be used to.

"I'm Cody, and I'm from the town of Skylock. It's about an hour from here" I replied, choosing my words carefully. I didn't want to sound as though I were leaving anything important out, but it had been a pretty simple question.

"Very well," Bella said, nodding. "You've probably heard of me by now; I have a bit of a reputation around these parts. Name's Bella."

I pointed over at Max. "My friend was just telling me about you. Says you're one of the most popular girls at GPU right now."

Shit, did I just make a big mistake there? Generally one's own popularity is a touchy subject, not without reason.

"Perhaps I am" the blonde girl responded, casting a semi-annoyed glance over at Max. "It seems like everybody wants me to go to the Halloween ball with them; they don't realize that I have a boyfriend already."

In high school, I'd always envied those students who were considered the most popular. Now, however, I wasn't so sure that it was an enviable position to be in.

Bella had just mentioned having a boyfriend, but that relationship had to be fairly strained when there were so many other young men who coveted her. Perhaps fame did have its downsides after all.

"I'm really sorry to hear that, Bella" I said, because really, what else was there to say? "I just hope that you can find a way to balance your social life with your love life."

There. That seems reasonable enough, so perhaps I didn't blow it after all.

The girl shook her head. "It doesn't work that way. My guy is really clingy; he's otherwise a great boyfriend, but he constantly worries that I'm cheating on him. He doesn't seem to trust me very much, and I don't want him to have more reason to be suspicious."

Perhaps I could ask her to leave him for me? I know that I'd treat her better, I wouldn't be so clingy.

Of course, that's what I wanted to tell myself. The reality was, asking her to ditch her current relationship for someone she'd never met would be ludicrous. She'd be furious, and she would have a right to feel that way. Quite frankly, the fact that I'd even consider such a request scared the hell out of me.

Once again, it raised that age-old question: When you're not right in the head, what will you do that you'll later regret?

"Is he really that great a boyfriend if he doesn't trust you?" I asked, figuring that saying something would be better than saying nothing.

"Fair point" Bella replied, shrugging. Only later would I realize that she could have reacted far more aggressively, and I should consider myself lucky that this didn't happen.

After Bella finished eating, she stood up from the table and made her way to the conveyor belt to put her dishes away. And when this happened, I returned to Max's table, where my roommate was eating a slice of cherry pie.

"Well? How do you think it went?" Max asked me as I sat down across from him.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. "Max, I'm not even thinking about getting together with her. You know that. I just don't have the time for a relationship right now."

My roommate raised an eyebrow playfully. "You have more time than you think, Cody. That's pretty much a law of the universe; you can always make free time where you didn't know it existed."

"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works, but okay."

Normally I would have gone up to the counter and gotten some dessert, since Greater Pastoria University's chefs were first-rate in my opinion. However, after talking with Max and Bella, I simply wasn't hungry. And yes, those two things were related.

Although I had no interest in a romantic relationship, I ended up making a few new friends over the next month. Just as I'd guessed, it was a lot easier to be happy away from home when you had people to talk to, when you weren't just stewing in your own loneliness and misery.

Obviously, I still needed to be cautious about what I said. Under no circumstances whatsoever could I let anyone know about my secret, because if it were to slip out, that friendship wouldn't be long for this world.

Perhaps the most surprising development was that I began talking to Bella Fox more frequently. After the awkward first few minutes in the dining hall, I hadn't expected to become close friends.

We still weren't that close, but we did exchange phone numbers so that we could text each other whenever we pleased. On two occasions during the next month, we even ate together in the dining hall.

It was during our first full meal together that she told me about one of her extracurricular activities. This in and of itself was groundbreaking for me, because I hadn't paid much attention to groups and clubs that GPU offered; my main focus was on schoolwork and the secret.

"I'm in the GPU choir," Bella told me. "Later this semester, the day after the Halloween dance, there's going to be a concert, and anyone who wants to attend can do so. Are you going to?"

I nodded, but then I remembered something important.

Just as I had done during my high school years, I had been intently watching the lunar calendar so that I knew when I'd have to hole up in the spare dorm, and when I'd have to start taking the medication again. And I recalled that the evening of the Halloween ball, as well as the following evening, were during the full moon phase.

"I can't," I said awkwardly. "I'm sorry to disappoint you."

Bella frowned. "You just nodded, and usually when someone nods, they mean yes. I guess you must be confused about something."

"I'm not," I replied. "Just made a simple mistake, that's all."

"Uh-huh. It's a pretty big mistake to make, Cody. It's not a good idea to throw people off from the message you mean to convey."

I barely avoided rolling my eyes. Did Bella really think it her place to lecture me on social conventions?

Despite this, we managed to end the conversation on a high note, and we remained good friends afterward. It seemed that Bella was more forgiving than the average person, which pleasantly surprised me.

As I got to know her more, I felt even more guilty the next time we ate together. Not only was she a member of the choir, she was extremely passionate about that role, and it broke my heart to tell her once more that I couldn't attend.

Fortunately, she didn't ask me why, but there were still a few terrifying moments where I feared I'd have to come up with some false excuse that might sound ridiculous. That didn't happen, though Bella did look more than a little crestfallen.

By now there was only a week left until the Halloween ball, and that week went by rather quickly. Soon enough, it was time to spend another few days holed up in the apartment, missing out on all the fun.

This all leads to Halloween night, the night that would change the course of my life, and not for the better. If that starry night five years ago had sent me into a downward spiral, this Halloween would be the black hole that was the end of me.

My life would never be the same.

The moment I started taking the wolfsbane for the transformation starting Halloween night, I noticed that something felt "off" about the medicine.

As I've previously stated, wolfsbane has to be refrigerated, or else it will have no effect. If there were any fridges in my residence hall, I was either unaware of them, or else too scared to risk someone else spotting the bottle of burnt orange "goodness" and putting two and two together.

Even under the best of circumstances, wolfsbane doesn't taste very good; indeed, that's a pretty big understatement. However, it tasted that day as though it had been sitting out in the hot sun for hours.

I shuddered seconds after I tipped the cup down my throat. Keeping it down was a struggle, and I even leaned over in anticipation of throwing up. I didn't want to make a mess all over the dorm room's floor.

I did manage to avoid vomiting, but it had been a close call. That was the first red flag that something was seriously wrong.

The afternoon of October 31 rolled around, and I was sitting all alone in my special bedroom. To say the very least, I wasn't happy that day. The thought of all of GPU, or at least a good portion of the student body, having the time of their life at the Halloween party while I had to stay here alone made me feel sick to my stomach.

As the sun went down, I started feeling tiny prickling sensations all over my skin. This was the first sign that I was about to become a Lycanroc again; it was what I'd experienced every lunar month since I was fourteen.

I'd been through this process so many times that it barely registered as painful anymore. The pain was more of an ache than agony, so I resisted the urge to moan as my legs grew shorter (which did feel rather like them being squeezed, and not in a good way.)

My bones restructured themselves, and this is when the transformation started feeling different. It felt like my body was full of very large splinters at first, but then there was a white-hot pain all over the inside of my chest, stomach, limbs, you name it.

I tried to scream, not caring that somebody else might hear me. All that came out was a weak howl.

Suddenly, my vision grew fuzzy, as did the inside of my head. To use one analogy, it wasn't unlike when you stand up too quickly after sitting or lying down for an extended period. In this case, however, it meant something completely different from being dehydrated.

Much like the rest of the physical sensations associated with shape-shifting, this one is hard to describe. Perhaps it isn't even a physical sensation at all, but rather a mental one. I slowly felt myself becoming less...human.

I started to panic. Thanks to the wolfsbane, I'd still had my mental faculties with me when I transformed all those times before. It had kept me from biting others, from unwittingly hurting those I loved.

But something different was happening this time. It was as though the wolfsbane no longer held its power to render me harmless.

What happened next is difficult to describe, simply because my mind started getting rather fuzzy. While I was aware of my surroundings, and of what was happening, it was as though I were viewing these events from outside my own body.

There was a certain feeling of detachment as I felt myself stand up on four legs. I knew that I wasn't supposed to leave my apartment, but the thought of doing so was so enticing that I just couldn't help myself.

Still, I managed to resist the urge for a couple of hours. I'd figured out how to work the TV in the apartment, so I ended up watching the news on said TV. I would do whatever it took to distract myself from my greatest desire.

No, it's not your greatest desire! It's the one thing you fear the most!

At least, that's what I would have been telling myself had I still been capable of rational thought. On some level, I knew that the desire wasn't my own; it had been instilled in me by that were-Lycanroc. The same one who had infected me five years prior.

The talking heads on Vulpix News kept going on and on about Halloween safety tips for trick-or-treaters. I couldn't bring myself to care too deeply about them, since I hadn't participated in that activity for some years. Still, if nothing else, it was a diversion, and it kept me from acting upon my primal instincts.

I switched the channel to Cartoon Network. Much like with Vulpix News, it wasn't my cup of tea, but I would watch anything at that point to pass the time.

On this channel, they were airing a Halloween special for Pokelife, a cartoon about a bunch of Pokemon who fought off an invading army in their village in the mountains of Sinnoh. The reason the show was called that, quite frankly, evaded me, but I didn't question it.

Look at how brave those Geodudes are. If I were in that village, I'd be running for the hills!

Of course, it was a work of fiction; anyone with half a brain would be well aware of that. Nobody would be that courageous in real life, to be able to risk their life to protect those they cared about.

All of a sudden, back in the real world, my mouth had begun watering. It was hardly noticeable at first, but soon I was drooling so much that I could barely swallow.

Don't panic. Don't do anything rash either. Remember the promise you made yourself all those years ago? You'd better keep it, because you don't even want to THINK about what happens if you don't.

That was the tiny voice of reason and rationality still present in my brain. It was barely audible over the endless chorus of voices egging me on, telling me that I needed to look for what I wanted. But it was enough to make me stay rooted to the spot, planting my paws firmly on the ground so that I didn't move an inch.

The impulse grew more and more powerful with every passing minute. There was soon a pool of saliva all over the floor. It became clear that I wouldn't be able to resist much longer.

My last rational thoughts before my Lycanroc instincts took over?

I need to refrigerate the wolfsbane next time. I don't care how many people find out I'm a were-Lycanroc, because if I get through tonight without biting someone, I'll be one of the luckiest people in the universe. Of course, both fortune and misfortune will have mingled within me. Oh no…

It was as if the flame of reasonable thought had just been snuffed out. Just like candlelight, when the fire goes out, there's nothing else left. And when you're a werewolf, when that fire's gone, so are you.

After that, everything felt a bit more hazy, and the drooling greatly intensified.

Make no mistake about it; there wasn't necessarily malice in my mind. I wasn't thinking, I must taste human flesh because I want others to suffer just like me! Rather, my mindset was more akin to, Is it that bad if I bite someone? Is it?

There was that tiny smidgen of humanity within me still, the urge to consider not acting like a rabid, wild animal. But it was being smothered, crushed like someone's breath underneath a pillow.

I sprang to my feet and broke through the still-closed door. Had I been thinking rationally, I obviously wouldn't have done something like that when I still had to return to the apartment later that night. (Although I didn't know this at the time, I would not actually be returning to it.)

I harbored no regard for property damage, no consideration of anything standing in my way. I was a mon on a mission.

Even though it was now completely dark outside, and had been for some time, I could still find my way around the neighborhood with ease. As a Pokemon, especially one of my species, my night vision was far more advanced than that of a human.

With superhuman speed, I dashed towards the main square. There were a few people on the trails who saw me, and, while they locked rather alarmed at the sight of a dark red blur in the night, they cleared the way. (Knowing what I know now, it's very possible that one of them pressed one of the buttons that summoned campus police. How do I know this? Read on to find out.)

The common green in the middle of campus was completely deserted except for one figure. She was reading a book by the light of one of the giant lamps set around the green; indeed, she was leaning against said lamp.

Is that her?

That small question ran through my hurried mind, and there was a tiny germ of fear inside. Was I about to do something I'd later deeply regret? Had I lost control over myself?

As it would turn out, the answer to both of those questions, as well as the short three-word one, was "yes."

There's still time to back out of this, Cody! You don't have to ruin her life as well; in fact, you really shouldn't. Turning someone else into a werewolf isn't worth it just for a bit of meat!

In this detached state of mind, I had no concept of right or wrong. The thought of what I was quite possibly about to do barely even registered as "bad." It was just something that had to be done.

I approached the young woman sitting underneath the lamp, baring my fangs as I did so. Bella seemed completely engrossed in her book, and so she did not notice me.

My heart raced, causing my head to throb, and my sweat glands were working overtime, as were my adrenal glands. I was vaguely aware that I'd broken a claw on my back left leg, but I was completely immune to the pain.

Must...taste...flesh…

But hold on, Cody, do you really need to? Think about what I said!

The first internal voice, the one championing my primal instincts, was roaring like the audience at a rock concert. It wanted me to act upon my desire for meat by biting Bella's arm, and it was very vocal about this.

The other voice was more like a whimper. It didn't want to have to fight too hard to stop me from lunging at the girl; unfortunately for that voice, however, it really should have been fighting harder. Much harder.

Suddenly, Bella noticed me. She slammed down her book and pointed at me with fear evident in her wild eyes.

"You! That thing who's stalking me! Don't you dare consider it!"

Even in this state, I can't overemphasize just how insulting it is to be spoken to like a Lillipup who's just had an accident on the carpet. Red-hot anger rose within me, and I breathed deeply, exhaling hot air from my body into the cold air of Pastoria City.

My vision tinged with red, not unlike it had that night when I was first bitten. However, this time it was for a completely different reason.

I had gone berserk, and there were a few moments when I seemed to lose consciousness entirely. I didn't "black out"; I guess you could say that I "redded out." But there's no need to get into semantics here, so I'll just keep telling what happened.

By the time I came to my senses, the girl in front of me was bleeding from a wound on her left arm and staring at me with a murderous expression.

Bella reached into her pocket with her good arm and pulled out a Pokeball. "Azure, take care of this guy!" she exclaimed.

In a flash of cyan light, a tall bipedal Pokemon, with fur in the colors of blue and beige, materialized in front of me. I recognized the species right away.

It was a female Lucario, and she was already aiming an Aura Sphere at me. And then I started panicking, because I didn't have any battling skills; I had simply never gotten any practice.

"If you dare to attack my owner, there will be hell to pay!" the Lucario lady yelled at me, releasing the Aura Sphere. I was too frozen in shock to get out of the way, so the sphere hit me squarely in the chest.

Had I been human, the sphere would have caused some serious damage. As it was, it knocked the wind out of me. However, I was able to get up within seconds.

Wow, Pokemon bodies must really be more resilient than human bodies. I've been told that all the time, but I never thought I'd actually experience it for myself.

The female Lucario, whose name seemed to be Azure (since that's what Bella had called her) spread her arms out like wings. A glowing bone staff appeared in between them, a Bone Rush.

I heard sirens in the distance, which I found myself hoping were from an ambulance. If they were from the police, I had a minute, tops, to get out of there before I was caught. Actually, I was probably screwed either way from that standpoint.

Azure the Lucario had been too loud. It would take no time at all for the authorities to locate my position, so I decided to just go for broke.

I ran. I ran so far away…

...only to come face-to-face with an officer from University Police. I tried to steer myself out of his way, but we ended up colliding head-on.

Both of us fell painfully to the ground, with the policeman uttering a few choice words. He was the first to stand up, though, and he pointed directly at me in a disgusted fashion. You need to remember that all of this happened very fast; this was the second time in as many minutes that someone addressed me this way.

"Trying to run away, weren't you?" the cop said threateningly, brandishing a pair of golden shackles. They seemed to be some sort of handcuffs made specifically for Pokemon, not that this was the most important thing.

When I didn't respond, the cop sneered.

"Well, when you fight the law, the law always wins. I don't know who you are, or where you came from, but you're in a heap of trouble, boy."