‘Don’t go out tonight.’ My father had warned me on the morning of the 31st. It was a full moon. He knew it was a full moon. I knew it was a full moon. Despite that, I still chose to ignore his seemingly empty threat and went out trick or-treating with my friends. I snuck out of the house, going out of my bedroom window the moment I heard the TV turn on downstairs. A quickly made my way down the wall and headed down the street to where I had planned to meet up with my friends.
On my way down I felt pain shoot through my body like a hot iron and I head to a shaded area, letting my body shift, the sounds of cracking and howling filling the air. Then it just stops and I get back out. My body is larger, my back hunched, my body more wolf-ish than it normally is, fully shifted. My thin pupils look around, my nose smelling a small hint of blood, both fake and real, hanging in the air as I go to my friends who are standing outside of a house.
“Cool costume.” One of my friends, the red head called Lily, asked with a kind voice. She was dressed as a vampire, complete with a realistic wig and a set of fake fangs. A give her a smile, showing my long and pointed fangs. I chuckle slightly, shaking my head but not telling her a word, instead letting us knock from door to door, our buckets steadily get more filled with more sugary treats and goodies.
Ultimately, the night had begun well enough. We were all having fun. Then, while wandering down our second street, the moon up high, my control slipped and the great night became the bad night. I felt my mind slip, my instincts becoming more and more pronounced. I look at my friends, quickly telling them I need to go before running through the gardens to make it back home.
I don’t make it back home.
One of the neighbour hood watch was watching one of their windows, theirs hands on their phone, ready to call the police the moment something bad happened. So… when she saw a wolf bolting down the road her finger pressed quickly on the call button.
Mere minutes later, an animal control van pulls up outside her house, their poles hang tightly in their leather grips, the metal loop dangling like a noose. Slowly, they make their way over to where I had stopped.
I’m stumbling, shaking my head. My paws gripping at my ears as I try and keep myself in some form of control. I look over at them, my pupils thin as I snarl. One of the officers holds up their hands in a pacifying manner, making shushing sounds, her fingers twitching slightly as she holds the pole. I come slightly closer to her, standing shakingly on my hind legs, hunched over. The man automatically raises a small pistol-looking weapon at me, it pointed at my chest.
I shake my head before trying to speak, but all that comes out is gurgled words from my transformed throat. I snuff, my nails and fangs fully out before I run at the woman. I hear a ‘pfft’ and something sharp sinking into my chest before my eyes swim, the ground coming up to meet me.
The world was hazy, glitchy as it comes back into focus. There’s a jacket laid over my chest, my legs sprawled out on the chair I’m sitting on. “Lycanthrope?” I soft feminine voice asks. “That’s what you were trying to say, wasn’t it?”I open my eyes slightly, looking over at the woman in front of me. I look around, recognising it as the animal control office. In my embarrassment all I can do is give a small nod. “Well, your dad’s coming.”
I groan, laying my head back, closing my eyes, drawing a hand over my face. I moan before swearing to myself that I’m definitely not doing this again. Halloween may be crazy… but full moons are worse.