The others went off.
"Let's go, amigo." Travis said, grinning. He raced off down the hallway towards the dark baseman door. Travis stuck his head out, with his copper-wire framed glasses and beard. "Ya comin'? He asked. "Yeah... I'll be there in a... minute." Jesse breathed. Shrugging, Travis disappeared down the stairs. Jesse had started to feel very warm all of a sudden. Breathing in heavily, he put his hand on the wall and shuddered. Sweat beaded on his temples and rolled down his face.
He heard Cassidy's concerned voice coming from the living room. "Jess?" she called. "Are you ok?" "Yeah." He said, not sounding very ok at all. "I just needed to catch... my breath." He shuddered again, and, still feeling warm, stumbled down the hallway towards the stairs.
It was dark in the basement. Adam's parents had put only one bulb down here, and that was by the ancient washing machine. It as cold, too, as it was only half-finished. Jesse and Travis's shoes squeaked on the smooth concrete floor as they searched every nook and cranny.
The rooms were separated by walls made of open wood planks, with insulation stuffed into some of the middles. There were small basement windows in some of the rooms. The stairs went down and lead into a large open area of just concrete floor. Right to the left of the stairs the area went on for a few mere feet before going into a hallway with five rooms leading off into it. On the right, around a corner, was the washer and drier, stacked against the wall. Jesse was searching rhea hallway, while Travis stayed in the open area.
Suddenly, Jesse felt as if he was about to throw up. Retching, he stumbled into an unfinished bathroom and puked into a toilet that wasn't hooked up yet. His vomit pooled on the floor, staining his shoes. "Fuck..." he whispered to the dark. He grasped the sides of the bowl and threw up again, but something about his vomit didn't look right. It was... red. And it had chunks of raw meat in it. His hand felt strange. He tried to move his fingers, but they seemed to be locked together. "What's happening to me..." he moaned. He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the dark ceiling. The longer he looked at it, the more clearer it became.
Jesse was in such a haze if nausea and heat that he didn't notice that light fur was starting to grow all over his body. His hands and feet started to shrink. His arms and legs shortened to the same length. He started to grow larger. By this time, he was completely out of it and lay there in a haze.
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During all this, Travis had been searching the other end of the basement. His flashlight beam dipped and bobbed in the dark, looking for someone (or something) of interest. He turned around a corner and saw the old washer and drier. Pointing his beam up, he saw an old bulb handing by a strip of electrical wire. A beaded chain hung down from the case. "Hey, Jess, I found the bulb! Should I turn it on?" He yelled into the dark basement. No response came. "Jess?" he called again. Shrugging, but feeling uneasy, he pulled the chain. The bulb flicked on for about five seconds, bathing the corner in a sickly yellow light, before it short circuited and went out, plunging the room into dark. "Shit..." Travis whispered. He was still wondering why Jesse hadn't responded to his calls.
Feeling his hand along the wall, he rounded the corner and saw only darkness. Then, lighting flashed and the whole space was illuminated for one brief second from the small basement windows. Travis stifled a scream and pressed himself against the wall. The roomed went dark again.
He had seen a dark shape standing in the middle of the room, about half as high as he was.
"Jess..." he whispered. "Jess, there's something... in here..." He waited for a responding whisper from Jesse, but received none. Gulping and mustering up his courage, he flicked on his flashlight and leapt around the corner, shining the bright beam into the middle of the space. Nothing was there. He
"What the fuck...Jess?" He whispered again. Suddenly, he heard a growling sound behind him. The whole room stood in silence for a moment. Gulping, Travis slowly turned around and flashed the beam behind him.
There, for one moment, in the beam of his flashlight, was the largest wolf Travis had ever seen. It was covered in white fur and was very muscular. It's eyes were a deep red and it's huge tail flicked behind it. But what scared Travis the most was that, stuck to it's fur, were shreds of a shirt and jeans. He dropped his flashlight in shock and it hit the floor with a loud clang and went out.
The Jesse-turned wolf growled again.
Screaming, Travis turned tail and sprinted toward the basement steps. Shadows danced in the dark basement as wolf Jesse bounded after him in hot pursuit.