Oh my god, Oh my god, Oh my god
These thoughts went through Caleb's head over and over again as he tried to calm himself.
He was shaking in every part of his body, he could barely stand up straight.
His mother....
"I have to fix this..." he whispered to himself
The car keys were in the kitchen, he had to get them. It was as simple as that.
"OK," he said to himself as he took one last deep breath. "I'll get the key, and I get out."
The simplicity of this task calmed his terrified nerves, and he carefully opened the door and crept inside...
He heard the sound of gnawing, like an animal eating a carcass.
"Oh mom..." his thoughts wondered,
No, he thought, Stay FOCUSED.
As he crept across the wall, the gnawing noises got louder and louder, until he reached the kitchen corner.
Stay focused, he thought, Stay focused
Caleb could see the keys, just beyond the corner, but based on the shadow he saw and the gnawing, that thing was just across the room.
Stay focused, he thought, get the key
He slowly inched his head around the corner, surveying piece by piece the damage the creature had caused.
It had found the refrigerator.
Food littered the kitchen floor. His view was mostly blocked by the fridge door that had been swung open, but he could just make out the thing's shadow.
Focus, he reminded himself, you know what you have to do
He slowly inched out his hand and put his finger around the key.
He slowly, slowly inched it across the counter top, careful of any noise he might be making, but the gnawing noises covered everything else up(or so he thought)
Almost there, almost there....
His hand slipped at the last moment and he knocked the key, and one of the cooking pans off the counter. It hit the ground with a deafening CLANG!
No....
The creature that was once his mother suddenly stopped gnawing and pulled itself out of the fridge, looking Caleb straight in the eye.
No....
It came out completely and shut the door with it's clawed hand. As it did this Caleb saw it clearly for the first time. It was enormous, at least 7'4 but he wasn't sure because it seemed to be slightly crouched position. Hunting probably, Caleb thought grimly. He didn't care to look at anything else except for it's face, which was almost completely wolf, covered in light brown fur, and still with those glistening golden eye's....
No....
All the thoughts he had been suppressing, all the emotion of the past 10 minutes that he had tried to repress, came crashing into his mind as he thought of the events that had occurred. I did this, he thought, I turned my mother into a monster...
No...
Tears came flowing down his face and a cry of regret, pain, pity, and remorse came out of his mouth in a choking sob.
My mom, the one person who has loved me my whole life, is going to tear me apart, and It's all...my....fault.
No....
It was closer now, and through tear stained eyes he saw it fully stand and it's enormous hind paws.
Not like this....
"IT'S MY FAULT!!", he sobbed uncontrollably, as he leaned his head against the counter.
He couldn't move, couldn't stop, could barely breathe through his own cries
This is it...This is how it ends...I'm....
"Caleb?" said a familiar voice.
What.....Who could be...?
He found the strength to wipe the tears from his eye's and look up once again, into the eye's of the beast.
"Oh Caleb," it said, in a deep but still very familiar soothing voice, "It's ok."
The beast...no....Caleb's mother bent down and gently wrapped her son in a huge, warm embrace
Caleb could feel his skyrocketing heart rate begin to slow down
"M-m-mom?" he whispered, soft as a butterfly's wing beat.