The first morning of the full moon came, not that Jeff cared or knew anything about his new 3 night per month cycle. The Chronivac had been forgotten as homework and school or friend activities had taken priority. The strange illness and its side effects hadn't returned, and he didn't remember being attacked in the first place. All in all he was just a kid living his life, or so he thought.
Jeff was starting to notice that junk food had all but disappeared from the house, but there was always two or three different kinds of ready to heat and eat meals so his increased appetite was noted, but not obvious. Rather than munching on chips, crackers, or cookies, he'd eat a small meal.
His expanded vision range had become normal to his brain, but it was only apparent when he was looking at a photo or screen of something he knew looked different in person. He hadn't yet given it enough attention to put it into words as his own thoughts sounded crazy even to him. His hearing had developed but as a teen he spent most of his time trying to drown the world out and the expansion of his hearing range and sensitivity only resulted in lowering the volume on his headphones a click or two. His sense of smell expanded. He can detect more odor, though isn't aware of it since his brain is trying to learn what these smells mean, and his former rudimentary sense of smell was getting him by. His sense of taste has also expanded and a whole part of his brain has been rewired to love raw meat, though he hasn't tried it and doesn't know that yet.
Jeff's sleep schedule was as far from normal as could be. He might sleep after school and be up for a day, or break his sleep into two, three, or four naps. When he his awake or for how long is anyone's guess. His mother was about to raise alarm to his doctor but the Chronivac instilled in his parents the idea that kids, teens especially, need all the sleep they can get, and this it actually a great thing. Along with this was the idea that its only natural for Jeff to want to be out doing things when he's up, granting him exceptional freedom and leeway from normal curfew.
That day started like many others. Jeff awoke at 3 and was unable to get back to sleep since he came home from school, ate, did homework and was asleep by 6. His workouts had expanded into cardio over the last two weeks since he had noticed his face getting a little rounder after his appetite increased, and not wanting to wake his family, he started the day with a jog in his local park.
By 5 he had stretched, jogged, walked, jogged again, stretched some more, and watched the twilight of night give way to brightening sky. Not quite day break but the birds were beginning to wake up and scream, like they do. Heading home, he was walking inside half an hour before he had to wake up for school, and now fully awake... He pounded a protein shake, the powder and shaker bottle was a gift from his dad as a show of support for his workout interest, and then took a long shower.
The school day was normal but despite his full 9 hours of sleep, by 2, he was barely able to keep his eyes open. Big meals can put him to sleep but today he didn't have much of an appetite. As soon as he got home he went straight to bed awakening around 8:30.
Jeff was displeased with this, despite his parents' easy going nature tied to his sleep schedule, the only thing they cared about was him doing his homework and being awake at school, "Performing at his job." as they liked to call it, starting his day when most would be going to bed makes things hard for him.
Despite this, he still didn't have an appetite and was feeling strangely on edge. 'A jog will help burn some of this extra energy, then I can maybe eat something, I need to do my homework, and hopefully I can get more sleep by 2 or 3am...'
Jeff threw on running shorts, and a t-shirt and headed to the park. He got to the corner closest to his house and hopped the fence, he began his stretches and a minute later he was off. The park was large, it had a small pond in the center and the jogging path was 1.5 miles when you made a full circuit. As he reached the far corner from where he entered he was passing by the park district's main office and a voice called to him.
"Hey, what are you doing?" the voice demanded.
Jeff looked around to see a person in a cop like uniform stamp out a cigarette and start walking toward him from the side of the office building which brushes up against the trail at this point as the main starting point. Stopping abruptly, Jeff immediately began to overheat with no airflow. "I'm jogging, if you don't mind, I'll be continuing now." Jeff pulled his shirt off, finding it unbearably hot.
"I actually do mind, the park closes at dusk, which is now. which means you need to leave..." the man looked muscular and was around 8 inches taller than Jeff, he seemed to be a younger adult, possibly mid to late 20's.
Irritated but accommodating Jeff replied. "Alright, I'll leave, but my exit is on that side of the park, so you pick, I can go this way or that way to get there... or just swim through the pond in the center." pointing diagonally across the park and giving the options of continuing or backtracking along the path.
The security guard picked up on Jeff's irritation and responded in kind, "No, the exit is right there," he pulled out his flashlight and shined it in Jeff's face, a car pulled out and the cop followed with the flashlight. "See, they get the idea, you need to get in your car and leave."
Jeff felt incensed and disrespected. What isn't this guy getting? "Dude! I live over there, I entered over there, I don't have a car. I walked along the back streets of my subdivision and the seldom used roads to get here. If I leave the park via the main entrance on the highway, I have to walk on the road, at night, with cars going 50 miles an hour instead of 25... what part of forcing me off the walking path makes you think you are upholding public safety?"
"Sounds like you should have come earlier in the day, but now, you need to leave."
Jeff was seeing red. "Fucking, Catch me." Jeff spat with as much venom as he could and bolted. Much to his amazement the guy kept up for the first hundred feet due to being taller, but Jeff slowly pulled ahead. Darkness was falling quickly and the path wound into the quaint forested area. Jeff had a decent lead but could hear the panting of the officer and hear him muttering curses every footfall... 'Good!' Jeff thought, 'Serves him right for trying to put me in danger! He's a threat to our community.'
The last of the daylight retreated against the horizon though Jeff took no notice, his night vision had been enhanced weeks ago. His adrenaline was going, he couldn't believe he actually told off and challenged an authority figure! So unlike him! This was a high stakes game of tag and it was terrifying and... fun? He knew he was in the right, even if he does get caught he could still... "Aghhh!" Shooting pains struck every muscle at once like a whole body cramp. Jeff collapsed and rolled into the chain link fence.
"This is why the park closes at Dusk, idiot! The paths aren't safe in the dark. Did you trip?" The Guard's tone was one of irritation and disinterest. Jeff could hear the man slow down, he was panting, the metal clang of handcuffs, the flashlight beam coming closer...
Jeff's panic was rising. Pain struck again and again. "Aghhhh, Somethings wrong!" If Jeff could open his eyes for more than a quarter of a second he would see his arms and legs had elongated as bone slipped against bone to extend like an adjustable dog gate. If Jeff could keep his eyes open longer, he would see the thick guard hairs and fur beginning to cover his elongated hands and feet, and he might notice the claws and paw pads forming.
The intense pain and arriving security guard left Jeff only with the sense of being in danger. His skull was deforming his brain, changing how it worked, how he thought. The guard was almost here, the man with light threatens... That was what the wolf (Jeff's brain without a functional prefrontal cortex) woke up to.
The last thing Curtis wanted was some punk kid interrupting his break, then telling him off when he said the park was closing, then tripping and hurting himself after making him run. This was all 2 hours before his shift changed, and he would have to fill out all the paperwork... full fucking moons...
He dropped his pace to a steady walk, no sense in running and tripping over the same thing that got the kid... He raised his flashlight expecting to see the cocky kid blubbering over a scraped knee and bloodied palm or elbow. He saw Jeff's form tangled against the fence but as soon as the flashlight illuminated the young man Curtis' understanding of what was happening backpedaled.
Writhing on the ground was a seemingly half shaved canine-like abomination, but as Curtis watched in horrified fascination he realized its arms and legs were actively growing fur, its face was deforming and extending out and it was wearing the kids red running shorts. The shoes had already fallen off and the ankle socks looked like little booties. Covering its right... forepaw? was the wadded up shirt the punk had just stripped off. Crazy considering the 50 degree mid fall temperatures. In disbelief Curtis knew this was the same kid who was just calling out in pain... "Can you understand me?" he found himself asking while reaching for his taser.
The creature wiggled around and as its face/muzzle finished forming fur Curtis found himself staring at a bipedal wolf with human stature and size, it now stood the same height as him and looked twice as muscular, though his training on K-9 threats reminded him that fur can be fluffy and size can be a mislead. Though this knowledge did nothing to abate his growing terror.
'The light has a threat attached to it.' was the deformed understanding that made it from Jeff to the wolf. He stood but the light followed his eyes to blind him, a clear sign of aggression and the creature said something, giving its position away. He released a low growl as he wiped the coverings from his feet and dropped what was in his hand.
The wolf understood basic concepts from Jeff, this was his space and the aggressor was trying to take this space away from him. The aggressor was retreating and making noises to summon its pack, swift action must be taken. The light stood its ground not retreating, not stopping its aggressive behavior. In a flash the wolf bolted into the trees, circled around, and raked the left arm of the aggressor.
Jeff awoke to the pre dawn calls of birds. He was disoriented, barefoot, and shirtless. A quick glance around and he realized he was on the hammock in the back yard. There was a pungent odor in the air, like someone just pissed everywhere but somehow he felt safer and proud(?) with the odor around him. His thoughts were all a jumble, he remembered planning on taking a jog, eating, doing homework, and getting some more sleep but doesn't remember anything since making those plans...
That's not true, he remembers feeling scared, triumphant, full, safe, and then possessive. Fractured memories of images pushed their way into his head, but it didn't make sense. Was it a dream, was he imagining things? The ideas that tried to surface, its as though they were encoded completely differently and all that made any sense was the emotion. 'Tree scared, or forest danger, or tree threat light...' it was nonsensical but felt true and real, it must have been a dream...
At the very least, he knew he ate and got some sleep, 'God I need to shit. I feel like I ate a horse.'