Ch. 1
The Disappearance
Her face glowed a ghostly white with the light of the moon as she watched the car drive away. “No.” she thought, “Not again.” She did nothing though, frozen to the wooden porch step, unable to move with horror at what she had just seen. Later, after almost an hour of staring at the same spot on the driveway she realized he won’t be coming back, not tonight at least. So she turned slowly on her heel and with one last glimpse back she walked into the silent old house. The house that will always be silent until he decides to return, until then, all she can do is wait, and wait, and wait.

Ch. 2
Too Much Time
Her name is Sally VanHorne; she is 25 years old with wavy red hair, freckles, suntanned skin, and emerald green eyes. Now, Sally is almost positive she has found her soul mate but the problem is whenever it’s a full moon he disappears into the night, she doesn’t know why but she does know that he always comes back. Sometimes it takes a day, sometimes it takes a month but she knows he’ll be back. For now all she can do is, as she always does, is to wait, sitting in her favorite chair on the porch reading her books and drawing to occupy herself. Every day she goes out and tends to the garden and every day she eats breakfast, lunch, and dinner alone. The days turned into weeks and the weeks turned into months and the months turned into years! Something was wrong, Sally thought, the longest he’d ever been gone was a month! It had been eight years since he left and Sally had been keeping track of the passing days and couldn’t believe how many years had passed. Sally decided to go out and look for him.

Ch. 3
The Search Is On
Sally couldn’t ask anyone if they had seen him because he hadn’t allowed her to tell anyone they were together. She had to rely on her own knowledge of what he liked to do to find him. First she went to the ocean nearby because she knew he liked to swim. He wasn’t there but she stayed a little longer watching the waves come in and out. When she was done at the ocean she went to the movie theater to see if there were any movies playing that he’d be interested in, there was. Sally bought a ticket and went in, he wasn’t there. She watched the movie anyway and didn’t care if she was wasting time. Afterwards she went to the gym to see if he was there, no such luck. Too bad she couldn’t ask people if they had seen him, if she could it wouldn’t seem as if he had vanished into thin air! “Why did I wait this long to go find him?” she said to herself, “I barely even know any of these people, what happened to the people I know? Although I guess that’s what happens when you don’t leave your house for eight years.” She sighed, “How will I ever find him now?”

Ch. 4
Lost?
By then Sally was just walking aimlessly through the streets, oblivious to her surroundings, lost in her thoughts until she realized nothing looked familiar. “Oh great.” She thought, “Now what am I supposed to do?” she looked around for someone to ask for directions back to Perriville. The only person she saw was a man asleep on a doorstep with an overgrown beard, scraggly hair, and ripped, torn clothing. She walked closer and thought she recognized him as one of Sam’s old friends that used to visit. “Danny?” she asked, reaching out to brush his hair out of his eyes to see if it was really him. Suddenly she heard a voice from behind her that made her jump, “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” “Oh really.” Sally scoffed, “And why not?” “I just wouldn’t.” The voice said. Sally spun around, suddenly angry. “And who are you to say so?” This man who had jet black hair and bright blue eyes straightened his hunched figure out as if with pride and said, “I am Jacob Henry, who’s asking? Wait don’t tell me, could it be... Sally VanHorne?” Sally gasped, “How do you know my name?” “Long story,” He said, “I can’t tell you right now, but you’ll find out soon enough. You should probably go home though, it’s almost dark. I believe it’s gonna be a full moon and you don’t wanna be around Danny here when it’s a full moon...” He trailed off. “Fine!” Sally hissed, “I’ll go home but I’ll be expecting some answers soon!” Sally marched off to start the long walk home with her dignity still intact. Jacob Henry watched her go sadly, shaking his head. “Poor Sam won’t be too happy about this.” He muttered to himself. Then he turned and walked in the opposite direction once again slouching into his walk.

Ch. 5
Arguments
The next morning Danny awoke to people yelling, it was Sam and Jacob. “How could you be so stupid?” Sam was saying. “Me? She’s the one who went out looking for a guy who’s been missing for eight years!” “Yeah.” Sam said, “You want to know why? She loved me and thought I would come back just as I had all the other times and when I didn’t, she freaked out.” “Then go back.” Jacob whispered menacingly. Now it was Danny’s turn, “Would guys both just shut-up! You’re gonna wake up everyone!” “Wake up who bee-brain there’s no one here except us.” Jacob sneered. “Yeah and you already woke me up.” Danny pointed out. “So,” Jacob turned back to Sam, “Are you gonna go back and explain to Sally or shall I?” The three men thought about what Jacob had said in silence. Then Sam broke the silence, “I don’t know, there I said I, maybe I’ll stay a little longer to see if Danny gets better, then I’ll go back.” “Dude it’s been eight years I don’t think I’m gonna— “I said I’ll wait god dammit!” Sam yelled, interrupting.

Ch. 6
Confusion
Back at home, Sally couldn’t determine whether what had happened was real or not. She sighed, “Why is my life so complicated?” Then she got out of bed and went about her normal schedule but at the same time debating whether she should go back or not. She reasoned that if she didn’t go now she would talk herself out of it later, but this time she would take the car. She took the keys from the hook on the wall, grabbed her purse, and put on her coat. It had been eight years since she had done so and it felt so strange. She opened the garage door and got in the car quickly trying not to think about it too much, so she couldn’t convince herself not to go. Instead she gave herself a pep-talk as she put her foot on the gas. Sally sped along, not caring when people gawked at the blue Volvo speeding down Rt. 208, all she cared about was finding where she had wandered to last night. She found it; turns out she had wandered to an old abandoned warehouse.

Ch. 7
Emotions Run Deep
As soon as Sam saw the car come into view he cursed under his breath. “What?” asked Jacob, “It’s her.” Whispered Sam as he turned to look (the car had parked.) At the same time Sam spotted her, Sally had seen him and nearly fainted but she kept her head on straight, now she was just angry at him. She slowly got out of the car and slammed the door as hard as she could. “Well, I believe you boys have some explaining to do.” She said folding her arms. “We do, do we?” Jacob retaliated sarcastically. “Cool it Jake, she’s really mad.” Sam whispered harshly. “To hell I’m mad!” Sally screeched, “First, you disappear for eight years, then you act like nothing is going on and when I know something is! And you, she turned to Jacob, you didn’t even tell me you knew Sam! Explain, right now.” She said through gritted teeth. “Okay.” Sam sighed, giving up, “But you might want to sit down first.”

Ch. 8
The Truth Comes Out
“Can I talk to you alone?” Sam asked shyly. “Sure.” Sally agreed skeptically. “Ok, here goes nothing. Well you know I love you right?” “I thought I did.” Sally whispered with her eyes to the ground, “But I barely know who you are anymore.” “Look at me!” Sam said fiercely shaking her, “I only left you because Danny was sick!” “Exactly!” Sally exploded, all her emotions finally coming out, “You cared about your friend more than you did about me!” She started sobbing and tried to shake him off but struggled against his grasp. “I was trying to explain.” He said through gritted teeth from the strain of not letting her go, “I thought you wanted answers.” Sally sighed and looked up at him through her tears, “I do.” “Good, now may I continue?” “Yes.” “Okay, as I was saying, Danny was sick and had been getting worse. It broke my heart to leave you like that...” “But what was he sick with?” Sally asked. “I’ll answer all of your questions when I’m done explaining, and please don’t interrupt me. So, where was I...Oh yes, but every time I saw him, he was worse and there was nothing I could do about it. You see, there is no medicine for this sickness so all I could do was watch as my best friend turned into a monster writhing with pain. I kept searching for someone who could help, and then I found Jacob who had been sick himself but somehow overcame his disease. I thought that maybe he could help Danny do the same, but when I brought him to Danny he said he was “to far into the cycle” whatever that means. I stayed with him anyway hoping against hope he would get better, but he didn’t, I felt terrible that I hadn’t gone for help sooner. Now,” He gulped, “Poor Danny has become a, a, a werewolf!” putting emphasis on his words they heard a low growl escape Danny’s throat from behind them. “Quick, get in the car!” Jacob yelled to Sam and Sally. “There’s nothing else we can do!” “I won’t be leaving you anymore now. If I did I’d risk getting killed by my best friend.” “Then let’s go home.” Sally said sighing with relief at his words but at the same time worried about Danny. As they drove home Sam took one last glimpse of his best friend before he was torn into his wolf form to never be his human self again. He whispered under his breath so no one could hear him “I’m sorry this happened to you man, I’d come back for you if I could.” Then the wolf turned and ran off into the woods just as Sally asked, “How did he become a werewolf anyway?” “That I have absolutely no idea.” Sam said but Jacob grinned, he and Danny will always know the horrible truth.

THE END