Ellem looked glumly at his town from his perch atop of an especially large boulder. His eyes sharpened and focused in on a small crowd of people leaving his bar. Among them was Clark Kent.
Clark Kent, Ellem could tell, was no ordinary boy. He had not succeeded in manipulating him, but that was probably simply because he hadn't had the time. His plan had been faulty from the start, but it was the best he could do while keeping the guise of an ordinary human.
By now, Ellem suspected that his true identity had already been revealed to the town. There was no reason to keep his double persona alive. He closed his eyes and focused on the image of a wolf until it was burned into his mind. He imagined the snout on the wolf (his nose grew longer). He imagined the fangs that the wolf bared (his teeth grew sharper). He imagined the pointy ears picking up any slight rustle of movement in the bushes (his ears migrated to the top of his hand and to the form of pointy wolf-ears).
In less than ten seconds, Ellem was a wolf.
In the case of Ellem, one could be a werewolf at their leisure. They could switch between forms whenever they wanted at no expense to their soul or health. But, there was one "rule" (if it could be called that): the wolf side of the mortal, in this case, Ellem, could never taste human blood without self-assuming damnation and forever taking on the form of a wolf.
All it took was one bite. One bite from some drunk, or some rich snob that angered him in the line for the hot dog stand, or some floozy that got smart with him; it didn't matter. Should he sink his canine claws into them, that would be an act of declaring damnation and the curse would be complete. He would be damned. He would be a wolf. And the devil would have his soul.
Lance had not believed in this. He thought that there was some scientific explanation for his transformations, or otherwise some miracle that gave him a sense of power and control that could not be abused since it was part of he who he was. Then, that one fateful night...
"Aw, mum, do I have to?" pleaded Ellem. "None of the other kids drag around their eight-year old brother with them!"
His mother was half-listening and half-brushing the hairs off of Ellem's coat before ushering him out the door to go to the movies. "Now, Ellem, you know that you're responsible for your brother. I bet that makes you feel grown up, doesn't it? Having a responsibility?"
Ellem muttered, "Responsibilities are for sissies."
"Young man, everyone has responsibilities and you just happen to be fortunate enough to have one of the more important ones. Now, behave yourself, or you'll be going to Aunt Margery's instead!"
From behind Ellem's brother came Lance, galloping down the stairs two steps at a time, a big grin on his face. His mother smiled, "All ready now, Lance?"
"Yes!" answered Lance, cute as a button.
His mother smiled, "And what movie are you and Ellem going to go see?"
Ellem groaned, "The War of the Worlds, mum, I told you!"
"Hush!" scolded Mother. "I was asking Lance. Lance, is that what you two are going to go see?"
Lance nodded madly, gaining a chuckle from Mother. But her face grew serious, "Now, remember what we talked about."
Lance nodded again. "No transforing!"
Mother chuckled. "Transforming, Lance. Now, you and Ellem run along now."
Lance hugged and kissed Mother on the cheek, then sped out the door eagerly. Ellem groaned one last time as he was hugged by his mother and then slumped out the door. Waiting for him at the bottom of the steps outside was Lance, ready to hit the street.
The walk took about ten minutes before they saw the looming movie theater shining brightly in the night, nestled among other darkened buildings. This was the only safe place in the entire neighborhood. Tonight, it wasn't so safe.
Underneath the gigantic sign displaying the playing movies, Ellem's fifteen-year old friends were waving happily at them – well, at him. They had not yet seen Lance, but when they did, the smiles faded and the hands returned to their sides. The biggest boy of the group of friends, James, walked up to them. "Ellem, what's this twerp doing here?"
"He's my little brother. I have to take care of him tonight while my folks... um... are sick. He's alright."
James grabbed Ellem by his coat and slammed him against the wall of an alley out of Lance's hearing range. "No, he's not. How do we know he's not going to go off and squeal?"
"We dump him at the theater thinking that's where we're going, then we go off and smoke. He never has to see us," reasoned Ellem. "Let go of me."
James gave him a cold stare, then let go of Ellem's coat. "Yeah. Yeah, all right, fine. But if we get caught – by anyone – we're pinning the blame on you."
Ellem chuckled. In his wolf form, he would have no trouble fighting anyone off; he wasn't scared of his mother's warnings.
So the plan was carried out. Ellem led Lance inside to the theater playing "War of the Worlds", told him that he was going to get popcorn, and went straight out of the building to his waiting friends, none of them very happy.
"I told you it would work," smiled Ellem.
"Yeah, Einstein, you just solved global warming. Brilliant," muttered Sammy sarcastically.
"Shut it, Sam, or you don't get your part of the weed," warned James.
They walked down the street and climbed over a fence into a junkyard, where they made their way furthest back and took out the stash of marijuana that they intended to smoke. After a few puffs, everyone was high.
"Man, your brother's slow. I can't believe he fell for it!" laughed James once they were very high. "I-I-I bet he's crying right now in that dark movie theater! 'Waa... where's my brother?'"
Ellem wanted to punch James; he really did. But his mind was too blurry for him to think clearly. And besides, it was kind of funny.
None of them noticed the figure leaping from junk pile to junk pile, surveying the situation. The figure wasn't big, but he was hairy, and possessed extremely sharp claws and fangs.
He leapt! Down to the ground, right in the middle of the puff-fest. He whirled around, counting how many people he would have to deal with, and then he saw Ellem. "Ellem! It's me, Lance!"
All of Ellem's friends glared at Ellem, who looked in horror at Lance. The distraction proved effective for James, who pulled out a switchblade and charged Lance, stabbing him in the stomach.
Lance roared so loud that the junk piles began to shudder. He pulled back his arm and smacked James so hard he went flying into one of the piles.
Other of his friends pulled out switchblades, kitchen knives, or whatever they could find on the ground that they could use as a weapon, like glass shards. Seeing that they clearly wanted to fight, Lance went into action.
He leapt out of the circle and landed neatly behind a girl named Jade, swiped the knife out of her hand and gently knocked her out. He then proceeded to the next teenager, who showed off his Tae Kwon Do skills. Lance charged him, pushing him into an upright metal pipe. The pipe was sharpened at the end and stabbed him, causing geysers of blood to fill the air.
James got up from the junk pile and groaned, clutching his head. Once everything stopped swimming around him, he took in his surroundings.
Lance was on a rampage. He severed the arm off of one teenager, and cracked the neck of another. One of his last victims had his heart ripped out by his sharp claws.
Ellem pleaded, "Lance, what are you doing??"
"These are bad guys, Ellem! I'm protecting you!" explained Lance.
Ellem could take it no further. He closed his eyes and took the form of a wolf, twice as big as Lance. James just watched as this happened.
Ellem tackled Lance, pinning him to the ground, but Lance used his momentum to his advantage and hurled Ellem off of him. Lance grabbed the pipe that impaled one poor teenager, ripped the boy off, and smacked Ellem with the pipe.
Lance turned his head just enough to catch James out of the corner of his eye. He moved his body to face him and charged him. This time, he didn't stop at that. He opened his jaws and bit into James' neck. James screamed in anguish and died.
Ellem watched in horror as all of this happened. Lance's body was covered with blood. The blood on his fur then took the form of a blanket – a blanket that began to choke him and smother him. A tense two minutes later, the blanket faded.
And Lance was forever a wolf.
Lance had disappeared into the night after that. Ellem decided that Lance must have gotten worried after waiting for Ellem to return and transformed into a wolf, which could have tracked him down much faster.
His mother had been very disappointed and very angry with Ellem. But all that was in the past. There was a war to fight now.
With his exceptional eyes, Ellem noticed several wolves closing on the group of troops, Lionel, and Clark. None of them noticed the wolves.
Ellem gave out a roar, calling all of the wolves at his disposal to attention, and ordered them to attack everyone and everything in the town in order to wipe out the opposing clan.
Then, before going down to the town himself, Ellem returned to his human state. He'd avoided eternal damnation this long and, damn it, he wasn't going to sell his soul just yet. He pulled out a revolver from a hole that he'd dug earlier. He loaded it. And then he went down to the town.
Clark Kent, Ellem could tell, was no ordinary boy. He had not succeeded in manipulating him, but that was probably simply because he hadn't had the time. His plan had been faulty from the start, but it was the best he could do while keeping the guise of an ordinary human.
By now, Ellem suspected that his true identity had already been revealed to the town. There was no reason to keep his double persona alive. He closed his eyes and focused on the image of a wolf until it was burned into his mind. He imagined the snout on the wolf (his nose grew longer). He imagined the fangs that the wolf bared (his teeth grew sharper). He imagined the pointy ears picking up any slight rustle of movement in the bushes (his ears migrated to the top of his hand and to the form of pointy wolf-ears).
In less than ten seconds, Ellem was a wolf.
In the case of Ellem, one could be a werewolf at their leisure. They could switch between forms whenever they wanted at no expense to their soul or health. But, there was one "rule" (if it could be called that): the wolf side of the mortal, in this case, Ellem, could never taste human blood without self-assuming damnation and forever taking on the form of a wolf.
All it took was one bite. One bite from some drunk, or some rich snob that angered him in the line for the hot dog stand, or some floozy that got smart with him; it didn't matter. Should he sink his canine claws into them, that would be an act of declaring damnation and the curse would be complete. He would be damned. He would be a wolf. And the devil would have his soul.
Lance had not believed in this. He thought that there was some scientific explanation for his transformations, or otherwise some miracle that gave him a sense of power and control that could not be abused since it was part of he who he was. Then, that one fateful night...
"Aw, mum, do I have to?" pleaded Ellem. "None of the other kids drag around their eight-year old brother with them!"
His mother was half-listening and half-brushing the hairs off of Ellem's coat before ushering him out the door to go to the movies. "Now, Ellem, you know that you're responsible for your brother. I bet that makes you feel grown up, doesn't it? Having a responsibility?"
Ellem muttered, "Responsibilities are for sissies."
"Young man, everyone has responsibilities and you just happen to be fortunate enough to have one of the more important ones. Now, behave yourself, or you'll be going to Aunt Margery's instead!"
From behind Ellem's brother came Lance, galloping down the stairs two steps at a time, a big grin on his face. His mother smiled, "All ready now, Lance?"
"Yes!" answered Lance, cute as a button.
His mother smiled, "And what movie are you and Ellem going to go see?"
Ellem groaned, "The War of the Worlds, mum, I told you!"
"Hush!" scolded Mother. "I was asking Lance. Lance, is that what you two are going to go see?"
Lance nodded madly, gaining a chuckle from Mother. But her face grew serious, "Now, remember what we talked about."
Lance nodded again. "No transforing!"
Mother chuckled. "Transforming, Lance. Now, you and Ellem run along now."
Lance hugged and kissed Mother on the cheek, then sped out the door eagerly. Ellem groaned one last time as he was hugged by his mother and then slumped out the door. Waiting for him at the bottom of the steps outside was Lance, ready to hit the street.
The walk took about ten minutes before they saw the looming movie theater shining brightly in the night, nestled among other darkened buildings. This was the only safe place in the entire neighborhood. Tonight, it wasn't so safe.
Underneath the gigantic sign displaying the playing movies, Ellem's fifteen-year old friends were waving happily at them – well, at him. They had not yet seen Lance, but when they did, the smiles faded and the hands returned to their sides. The biggest boy of the group of friends, James, walked up to them. "Ellem, what's this twerp doing here?"
"He's my little brother. I have to take care of him tonight while my folks... um... are sick. He's alright."
James grabbed Ellem by his coat and slammed him against the wall of an alley out of Lance's hearing range. "No, he's not. How do we know he's not going to go off and squeal?"
"We dump him at the theater thinking that's where we're going, then we go off and smoke. He never has to see us," reasoned Ellem. "Let go of me."
James gave him a cold stare, then let go of Ellem's coat. "Yeah. Yeah, all right, fine. But if we get caught – by anyone – we're pinning the blame on you."
Ellem chuckled. In his wolf form, he would have no trouble fighting anyone off; he wasn't scared of his mother's warnings.
So the plan was carried out. Ellem led Lance inside to the theater playing "War of the Worlds", told him that he was going to get popcorn, and went straight out of the building to his waiting friends, none of them very happy.
"I told you it would work," smiled Ellem.
"Yeah, Einstein, you just solved global warming. Brilliant," muttered Sammy sarcastically.
"Shut it, Sam, or you don't get your part of the weed," warned James.
They walked down the street and climbed over a fence into a junkyard, where they made their way furthest back and took out the stash of marijuana that they intended to smoke. After a few puffs, everyone was high.
"Man, your brother's slow. I can't believe he fell for it!" laughed James once they were very high. "I-I-I bet he's crying right now in that dark movie theater! 'Waa... where's my brother?'"
Ellem wanted to punch James; he really did. But his mind was too blurry for him to think clearly. And besides, it was kind of funny.
None of them noticed the figure leaping from junk pile to junk pile, surveying the situation. The figure wasn't big, but he was hairy, and possessed extremely sharp claws and fangs.
He leapt! Down to the ground, right in the middle of the puff-fest. He whirled around, counting how many people he would have to deal with, and then he saw Ellem. "Ellem! It's me, Lance!"
All of Ellem's friends glared at Ellem, who looked in horror at Lance. The distraction proved effective for James, who pulled out a switchblade and charged Lance, stabbing him in the stomach.
Lance roared so loud that the junk piles began to shudder. He pulled back his arm and smacked James so hard he went flying into one of the piles.
Other of his friends pulled out switchblades, kitchen knives, or whatever they could find on the ground that they could use as a weapon, like glass shards. Seeing that they clearly wanted to fight, Lance went into action.
He leapt out of the circle and landed neatly behind a girl named Jade, swiped the knife out of her hand and gently knocked her out. He then proceeded to the next teenager, who showed off his Tae Kwon Do skills. Lance charged him, pushing him into an upright metal pipe. The pipe was sharpened at the end and stabbed him, causing geysers of blood to fill the air.
James got up from the junk pile and groaned, clutching his head. Once everything stopped swimming around him, he took in his surroundings.
Lance was on a rampage. He severed the arm off of one teenager, and cracked the neck of another. One of his last victims had his heart ripped out by his sharp claws.
Ellem pleaded, "Lance, what are you doing??"
"These are bad guys, Ellem! I'm protecting you!" explained Lance.
Ellem could take it no further. He closed his eyes and took the form of a wolf, twice as big as Lance. James just watched as this happened.
Ellem tackled Lance, pinning him to the ground, but Lance used his momentum to his advantage and hurled Ellem off of him. Lance grabbed the pipe that impaled one poor teenager, ripped the boy off, and smacked Ellem with the pipe.
Lance turned his head just enough to catch James out of the corner of his eye. He moved his body to face him and charged him. This time, he didn't stop at that. He opened his jaws and bit into James' neck. James screamed in anguish and died.
Ellem watched in horror as all of this happened. Lance's body was covered with blood. The blood on his fur then took the form of a blanket – a blanket that began to choke him and smother him. A tense two minutes later, the blanket faded.
And Lance was forever a wolf.
Lance had disappeared into the night after that. Ellem decided that Lance must have gotten worried after waiting for Ellem to return and transformed into a wolf, which could have tracked him down much faster.
His mother had been very disappointed and very angry with Ellem. But all that was in the past. There was a war to fight now.
With his exceptional eyes, Ellem noticed several wolves closing on the group of troops, Lionel, and Clark. None of them noticed the wolves.
Ellem gave out a roar, calling all of the wolves at his disposal to attention, and ordered them to attack everyone and everything in the town in order to wipe out the opposing clan.
Then, before going down to the town himself, Ellem returned to his human state. He'd avoided eternal damnation this long and, damn it, he wasn't going to sell his soul just yet. He pulled out a revolver from a hole that he'd dug earlier. He loaded it. And then he went down to the town.