"Found out a few things?" I asked, feeling uneasy. I didn't like the tone of her voice. "Like what?"
"Like about Dad and Mom...about you and me....about...this," she reached out, grabbing my hand. The static feeling ran through my body harder than ever. I leaped back, unable to really process just how strong that sensation had become. She smiled a bittersweet smile at me and said, "We're not like other people, Connor."
"And neither were Mom and Dad, huh?" I asked.
She shook her head, "Our parents were werepanthers...well, were-black jaguars, but most people would call them panthers. They passed that condition on to us."
I laughed, slightly horrified, "Lauren, you've really gotta be kidding me!"
"Bro, I'm not kidding; not about this," she said, her tone still quite grave and sad. "The reason why you've never met Dad is that male werepanthers usually leave of their own free will once their mates are pregnant. The urge to kill any new males is too strong, and once females reach sexual development, most male werepanthers are overcome by nature and rape their daughters. Dad didn't want that to happen...he left for the good of the family."
"You're fucking sick, Lauren!" I snapped. "This is just some sick fucking joke; I hope you don't actually believe your own shit!" I turned away from her, heading for the door, but was quickly stopped as she laid a hand on my shoulder, nearly sending me to the floor with that infuriatingly pleasurable electric sensation.
"That's the call, bro," she told me, "That sensation you're feeling...that's the call. It's the way those of our kind find each other. You can think I'm full of shit about Dad and Mom, but you can't deny the sensation. You can't deny you feel that!"
I paused, then turned and sat down on the couch, my head in my hands. "Fine...not that I believe you...but...just...fine."
"That's a start," she said, a half smile on her face.
"So...Mom left to avoid raping me too, I suppose?" I asked.
"That, and two females can't live in the house with a developed male. There'd be dominance issues, and she'd run the risk of killing me, or me killing her."
"So...this whole time, you two have been werepanthering out every full moon, huh?" I said, feeling like a total fool, like Lauren was playing a hideously cruel joke at my expense.
She snickered, and for a moment, all the sorrow left her face. "No, it's not like that...the moon's just for werewolves and other less evolved werecreatures. For us it's....orgasms." The word sounded kind of dirty coming out of her mouth. I really didn't ever expect to get any form of sex talk from my sister EVER. This was completely awkward, and I didn't say anything for a few minutes.
"But...ummm," I began, before she cut me off.
"You've been beating off for a few years now, and with no ill effect?" she asked, again smiling, seeming to enjoy the look on my face. "Yeah, I know, Connor. I HAVE known. The curse doesn't take effect until you're sixteen. After that...things get a little hairy, so to speak."
"So you're telling me that if I beat off right now, I'll change?" I asked.
"You ever wonder why Mom and I never brought a guy home?" Lauren said, "You ever notice that every now and then, we disappear for a whole night?"
"Yeah...I just figured that you guys were worried about how I'd react," I said, feeling uneasy.
"Yeah, we were," she said, adding, "Of how you'd react to finding a panther or two stalking through the house."
"Sooo...." I said, as another awkward silence descended between the two of us, "You just change back after awhile, or what?"
"We," she corrected me, "Are stuck in our animal forms until we taste blood, human or animal. You seriously NEVER wondered exactly WHY our fridge has ALWAYS had a tupperware bowl of beef blood in it?"
I shrugged, "I figured Mom and you used it to cook with, Sis. Hell, I can remember seeing you guys cook with it, so no, it never fucking occurred to me that my family was batshit insane!"
"Well...uhh, alright, maybe we DO cook with it, Lord knows, I like the flavor it adds to just about anything...but we're not insane, Connor," Lauren said.
"Oh, of course you're not insane," I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice, "It's perfectly NORMAL for someone to turn into a bloodthirsty predator when they have an orgasm! How FUCKING silly of me!"
"You want proof, don't you?" Lauren asked, her voice soft, and sounding quite sad.