Nate was practically skipping, he was so happy. Finally at long last, he was going to get to turn into a werewolf, something he had dreamt and fantasized about for so long. He couldn't help but wonder what he would look like, if it's be like a Lon Chaney Jr. - Wolf Man type look, or like one of the werewolves from the howling, or if he'd be a four legged monstrosity like an American Werewolf in London. Any of the above excited him, just as long as he had fangs and big claws and looked fearsome, that was what mattered.
They walked up to her house, a traditional white colonial home with nice, flowering bushes in the front. Not a place that one would suspect a witch of living, which was part of the point. She unlocked the front door with a flick of her wrist and they walked in. The house was tastefully decorated in a traditional New England style.
"Nice house," said Nate, impressed with the decor.
"Thanks," she replied. "I just finished remodeling it. Come with me."
Nate followed her into her back room, which is where she kept all her magic items, locked behind a thick oak door with a deadbolt lock. Wood shelves lined the walls with ingredients and spell books. She looked over them until she found what she was looking for. Meanwhile, he took in the room. Along another wall was a work table with various ingredients and pieces of parchment, along with a cast iron cauldron sitting over a propane burner. Some things never change, thought Nate.
"Ah, here it is!" exclaimed Kathryn, pulling a book off the shelf.
"You need a spell book? But back in the park you started turning me with a flick of the wrist..." said Nate.
"That? Oh, that was just a bit of glamor. This, this is the real deal," replied Kathryn.
Nate was just barely able to read the cover as she set it down, it read: Book of Monsters. She flipped it open, shuffling through the old, thick pages until she reached the one we were both looking for. At the top of the page, it read simply, "Werewolf".
She quickly scanned the page and then turned back to Nate. You should read this while I gather the ingredients. Nate walked over and leaned against the work table as he read the pages. The book read as such:
"Long thought to be a curse, the gift of lycanthropy allows those who have it to bridge the gap between humanity and nature. This potion, when properly brewed, will cause the person ingesting it to transform from human to werewolf on the night previous, the night of, and the night following the full moon. Furthermore, the ingestor will be able to transform into a werewolf at will. It should be noted the transformation from human to beast is an arduous one and is not for the weak at heart. Once transformed, the one transformed will retain his self, but find himself endowed with great strength and greater senses than they were previously accustomed to. It should not the ingestor will also develop animalistic instincts when transformed, including an insatiable need to feast once transformed. This hunger is usually sated by local wildlife and is not uncommon for ingestors to develop a taste for raw meat."
"Wow, this is really detailed," said Nate, after reading the passage.
"Yes, it is. I added quite a bit of that when I translated it from the ancient languages. Best that those who decide to become werewolves know what they're getting themselves into," replied Kathryn.
"Yeah, that's a good idea," replied Nate.
"Do you still want to proceed?" asked Kathryn.
Nate thought about it for a moment before replying with a definitive, "Yes."
"Excellent," replied Kathryn. "This neighborhood could use a werewolf."
Nate just smiled from ear to ear, watching as Kathryn mixed the potion. His heart started beating faster, not being able to wait for dusk to come an he could transform for the first time. The book had warned that the transformation was not an easy one, but part of him didn't want it to be.
Kathryn called out the ingredients as she added them to the glass, "Extract of wolfsbane...rain water from a wolf's print..."
She mixed the potion vigorously, said a small chant over it and then handed the magenta looking liquid to Nate. He held it in his hand, examining it for a moment before saying, "Bottoms up."
He downed the entire glass in one gulp. It tasted like bad tea as it slid down his throat. He started to wonder what he just did to himself. He looked outside and saw the sun was setting. Either way, he was about to find out.
His heart started beating faster and he began to feel hotter. He wiped the sweat from his brow and started to worry he was having an allergic reaction. He starting to feel a pain in his gut. Nate let out a small groan as he clutched his gut and dropped to his knees.
"I don't feel so good," he muttered.
"The first transformation is always the hardest," replied Kathryn.
"You mean it's working?" asked Nate.
"I would say so," replied Kathryn. "Check yourself out."
Kathryn gestured to the full size mirror in the corner of the room. Nate stumbled over to it, studying his reflection. He ears were looking a bit pointer with some brown fuzz on the tip. He watched as brown fur grew out around his face. He pulled back his lips and saw his teeth had gotten a bit pointier. As he inspected his teeth, he watched in awe as his lips became darker. He also noticed the back of his hands were becoming hairier. His fingernails were longer, coming to a sharp point at the ends.
"Oh my god, this is really happening," muttered Nate. He couldn't help but smile, revealing his growing fangs as he turned to Kathryn. "This is amazing."
Kathryn smiled and watched as the transformation progressed. Nate cried out and dropped to his knees. He watched in the mirror as his entire body swelled. Long strands of brown fur covered his body as his muscles grew and his body fat disappeared, his body rapidly using its stored energy to progress the transformation. The transformation was moving faster now.
"Ow...Owww..." was all Nate could cry out as his large fangs grew out, jutting from his mouth, his words sounding distorted. The room was filled with sounds and cracks as his body continued to transform. He heard the sound of fabric tearing, looking in the mirror to see his shirt rip to shreds and his torso continued to transform.
He pounded his fist on the concrete floor to try and distract from the pain. He felt an increasing pressure in his feet as the grew and reshaped into large digigrade paws, tearing through his sneakers. He didn't even care at this point. He was turning into a werewolf and was going to enjoy every moment of it.
The transformation reached its peak as his face slowly pushed out into a lupine snout and his ears shifted to the top of his head.
"Oh my god," he thought as he opened his eyes and saw himself as a werewolf for the first time. He looked exactly as he always imagined he would as a werewolf and couldn't help but wonder if that was part of the magic. He also noticed that beyond the snout, beyond all the fur, there was still his same blue eyes as if it were a reminder that under all this, he was still himself. He gave a wolfy smile as Kathryn opened the back door.
"Alright, my friend, out you go. It's time for you to go hunt," said Kathryn.
Nate rose to his new legs and ran out the door, one very happy young werewolf.