2. Evening

Belle stood in front of the mirror looking over her outfit whilst putting in some peacock feather earrings, the jaded green complimented the plum purple halter necked dress Anita had picked out for her. After smoothing down the lines and folds in the satin material, she instinctively reached for her perfume but thought better of it, and left it standing on the dresser.

A car horn sounded outside not long after, as Belle looked out the window she saw a British racing green sports car waiting outside the front of her building.

"Your carriage awaits you." Nick mocked giving Belle a low bow as she closed the door to her building.

"Funny." She replied as he held the door open for her.

Some hours later, and well into their second bottle of wine Nick and Belle were just finishing their deserts.

"Oh my god, I cannot eat anymore – I swear." Belle gushed reaching for her glass, leaving half of her toffee pie dessert untouched. "I can however drink some more." She said putting on a childish grin and held her glass aloft.

Nick smiled fishing out the bottle of wine from the cooling bucket and topped up their glasses. "You never could handle your drink." He tutted sarcastically, shaking his head. She gave him a playful swat on the arm and nudged his leg with her foot. They went quiet for a moment, both thinking what to say next.

"So, Nicholas… I was meaning to ask - how did you get my phone number? I'm pretty sure I didn't hand it over." She gave him a stern look raising an eyebrow resting her chin on her hand.

Nick took a sip of his wine after the last bite of his dessert. "Well, there's only so many Photography studio's in New York." He waved a gesture with his hand to emphasize his point.

"You're having a laugh aren't you…? There are thousands!" She stared at him incredulously.

"Well, yes – I suppose there is." He blushed. "I did a little detective work and figured when you said you were on your lunch, you wouldn't be going very far from your office. So I just called a couple of places asking for you."

Belle shook her head disbelievingly as she switched her plate with Nick's. "You need to eat more that what you've had." She said flatly to his look of confusion. "If you don't mind my leftovers… You're forgetting Nicky… I know you."

Flashback

One thing Nick had quite forgotten. On one of his summer breaks he met a young Belle, at the time he was around eighteen and they hit it off from the start. The whole of the holiday they were neigh inseparable both spending their entire vacation in a small coastal town.

"Happy Birthday, Annabelle." Nick praised slurring his words some as he sat on the beach and handed the young Belle a can of beer.

"Thank you Nicolas." She replied in mock seriousness. "And thank you Mister Sorrentino for leaving this beer in the fridge." She saluted, before long falling into a fit of giggles leaning into Nick's shoulder as the sun set in front of them. Sitting in relevant silence apart from the odd giggle and drunken kiss, it began to grow a bit colder in the air.

"C'mon." Nick sighed getting to his feet. "Let's head back to yours." He held out his hand for her as they walked along to a string of beachfront condos.

"Well," Belle chortled throwing the door keys into the corner of the room and kicking her shoes off, stumbling against Nick's chest.

"It's a good thing your parents let you have your own place…" He whispered breathlessly, they're faces just inches apart.

Belle lifted her face up to his, kissing him. "As if they care." She gasped letting go with a shrug and kissed him again, as they stumbled back to the stretched out futon in the middle of the room. The bedding still dishevelled from her previous nights sleep.

After kissing and drinking for another hour, they became rather heated with their gropes. Both having experienced the touch of one another's bodies on previous occasions, it hadn't gotten any farther than seeing each other in their underwear.

Belle tugged off her t-shirt so she lay in jeans and a bra. Momentarily pausing Nick from nuzzling into her neck. He gave her a sly grin pulling off his own shirt, revealing a toned physique underneath. Belle sat up to kiss his chest as she reached around to undo her bra.

He pulled back. "What are you doing?" He asked innocently, eyes wide, sobriety returning.

Belle shrugged as she pulled her bra from her shoulders exposing herself to him. "Getting my birthday present." She looked at him coyly, tracing her fingers up his thigh to the hard mound pressing against his jeans. "C'mon, it's not like you don't want to." She whispered stroking him through the denim.

Panicked he looked at her straight in the eye and asked; "Are you sure..?" She nodded in reply, leaning back slightly to give him a better view.

Looking at a loss of what to do, he tentatively reached out and cupped her breast gingerly, stroking his thumb over her delicate skin.

*******

It was now the early hours of the morning. Belle had fallen asleep against his chest as he draped his arm around her back. Still feeling the high's of what had just occurred - Nick stared happily into space in a daze.

His heightened senses that had developed recently had made his first time experience definitely one to remember, better than he had anticipated. Still tingling in places from where she was placed on him. Gradually the tingling changed.

It became more of an itch, spreading throughout his joints and then gradually to a slight burning sensation.

"Oh, god – no!" He grunted pushing her off of him as he struggled to get to his feet, all too aware of the symptoms his father had warned him about.

"Nicky..?" Belle asked dozily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Nothing!" He gasped startling her as he tried in vain to pull his jeans on, but his hands were already changing, fingers pulling back into stubs - nails extending into claws. "Go back to sleep." He told her, his voice distorted from the change his back to her.

Belle got to her feet and walked around the bed as she placed her hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong? Why are you leaving?" She asked, but couldn't help but let out a shriek of fear as he turned to face her.

She was struck dumb as he pushed her away shouting something at her, but it was hard to distinguish as something monstrous was happening to Nicks face.

That image would stay with her for the rest of her life. His eyes had stretched to the sides of his face. His nose, mouth, and brow were also distorted – looking like they were being pulled out from his face, a disgusting leer on the mutated mouth.

A scream pierced the air, coming from Belle's mouth, before realising it; she had run out of the condo in her nightdress running as fast as she could from the abomination she left behind.

Meanwhile, whilst on an early morning run with Clay along the beach, Antonio and heard the piercing scream and saw Belle's running form from a distance. Sensing his son was in the midst of his first change, Antonio went looking for Nick, sending Clay after Belle.

Clay tracked Belle down a closed industrial estate, cornering her between two metal containers. "Clayton… Oh thank god! Something happened to Nick." Belle screeched her voice ragged from the amount of running she wasn't used to her nightdress dirtied and ragged.

Clay could smell her fear, teasing his senses like a drug as he picked her up from the floor, yet the scent of the lingering alcohol repulsed him.

She panicked starting to sob as the shock started to ebb away. "It was awful…" She calmed herself somewhat, repeating the last few words to herself in whispers.

As sobriety returned she realised Clay had yet to release his hold on her arm. She tried to pull away, but he held firm, bruising the skin. "What are you doing Clayton, let go of me." She asked as his face contorted into something she barely recognised in him.

He thrust her into the metal container moving his arm up to her throat, cutting off some of her air supply. Her mind swam as she tried to focus on what was happening, silver dots appearing in her vision. "Please, Clay… What are you doing?" She wheezed struggling to speak, putting up a futile fight.

He remained silent. Eyes cold, putting his hand to the side of her head and was just putting the first touch of pressure onto her cheek when he paused, hearing a low thrumming sound at the end of the alley. A dark blur shot across Belle's peripheral vision tearing Clay away from her.

From the force of the blow, she was thrown into one of the containers, hitting her head and dropped to the floor unconscious.

A few moments later, she came too on the ground, coughing as the air rushed back into her lungs. Shaking away the grey dots in her vision from the knock to her head, in front of her stood a large dark brown, almost black dog - its tail flicking from side to side, hackles raised, and head down. It's rear end facing her. It took a moment for her to realise she wasn't hallucinating. Wherever this dog came from, it was standing guard – providing protection from Clay.

Belle saw Clay say some words but the sounds failed to penetrate through the noise of blood rushing in her ears, and something else that thrummed vibrations through her chest.

Growling.

Clay looked from the large dog to her, blood dripping down his arm from a savage bite. It was only then that reality hit.

She heard Clay's voice. "It was for the protection of the pack. You know that." There was a moment of silence except for the snarling of the dog and Belle's frantic breathing.

The growling increased as the dog brought back its lips in a snarl, ears laying flat across the back of its head. A clear sign directed at Clay: Get away from me – or I will kill you.

Clay bared his teeth slightly in submission, dropping his chin to avoid eye contact and slowly started to sidestep his way out of the alley. The dog backed up moving himself closer to Belle, keeping his eyes still on Clay, ears flicking all around for any other sounds.

Once Clay's footsteps could no longer be heard, the dog relaxed and shook itself down with a little snort. He looked up into Belle's eyes as she had squashed herself into a corner against some oil barrels. After a couple of minutes she realised there was a familiarity in the dogs gaze as it held her attention - Nick? Pulling herself upright, she forced herself to take a step closer.

"It is you, isn't it? You're in there..." She whispered looking down at the dog. He dropped his head, curling his tail under him. After a moment he nudged at her hand, and once he realised she wasn't running away was brave enough to give it a couple of licks whimpering in apology.

"Don't worry… I can keep a secret. I don't quite understand what this is…" She said waving a hand over his form. "But my lips are sealed."