1865--Turning by D.M. Turner

Author:D.M. Turner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Campbell Wildlife Preserve werewolf pack
Publisher: Dawn M. Turner
Published: 2016-12-02T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Saturday, July 22, 1865

(Twelve days later)

Shouldn’t he be dead? Or at least getting worse? Instead, he’d never felt better or stronger. Ian had counted the days since the wolf had been visited upon him and waited for death. Nothing had happened. At least, nothing bad. No more hallucinations or delusions about being a wolf. No more agonizing pain tearing his head and body apart.

The fact he didn’t carry so much as a minute scar as evidence of the attack made him wonder if the whole thing had been the result of eating a bad squirrel. Maybe the wolf had never actually attacked, just a bad dream or illness-induced hallucination. He could go home and forget it ever happened.

Reason argued the case, but a couple of developments threw doubt into the mix. His sense of smell had gotten stronger. Scary strong. Also, his hearing had become much more acute. Those had resulted in a greatly heightened awareness of his surroundings and the movements of the creatures he shared the woods with. That had made the hunt for food easier. None of that seemed dangerous though, at least not to humans. Game was another matter, and not a concern.

Restlessness often kept him company, an uneasy churning in his gut that he couldn’t shake. He’d taken to going for long walks when it struck, which seemed to settle it. He never wandered far from camp, afraid he might run into other people.

Another change had occurred that morning. A heavy weight rested over his heart and mind, making him long to curl up in a dark hole and not come out. He’d built up the fire, despite the warmth of the day. Other than making him sweat more, that hadn’t chased away the darkness.

He didn’t feel sick, exactly. More like the depression that had hovered at times during the war when too many days of battle had streamed together with too little sleep in the midst of them. He’d slept fine, though, so that couldn’t be it.

Thoughts of his parents had lurked close. They’d known when he’d leave Louisville to head home and be watching for him. If he never went home, they’d wonder for the rest of their lives what ill had befallen him. A band of pain tightened around his heart, reminiscent of the time he’d gotten a leg caught in barbed wire. He needed to get home.

Ian crouched at the river’s edge for a drink, and a reflection caught his eye. He craned his neck to look up at the sky. The new moon climbed higher into the blue, only a sliver of white crescent visible. Faint whispers drifted earthward. Head cocked, he listened.

Give up. There’s no hope, so why keeping fighting? You’re only prolonging the inevitable. You will die, or you will kill. There are no other choices.

He frowned, and a shiver ran up his spine.

You are a threat to your family. You can never go home again. You have nothing left.

The truth of those words tightened the barbed wire around his heart.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.