Seventeen (A Tale Of Love, Wealth And Werewolves)

I remember the shrills and oohs, the way little children huddled at my cage not believing their eyes. Adults holding the children back, fearful of what I would do next. I saw Nathan, pride dripping off his body standing by the cage brandishing a shotgun. None of them mattered to me. I laid on the floor in a corner, looking, watching, waiting.

It has been seventeen days since I heard about her. The most torturous seventeen days of my life. I had never expected to see her. When I did, I didn’t expect that she would be drawn to me. When she did, I didn’t expect that fate would step in to.

It all began seventeen years ago. Actually, my life began seventeen years before but my life doesn't matter any-more, only her life does. I’ve missed my chance to live a normal life. I fear I have infected her with my plight.

So seventeen years ago, wild, young and restless, I was fooled by love to believe I could escape my destiny. You see, I am a werewolf. I know what you’re thinking - that I turn man by day and wolf by night. I wonder who propagated such nonsense. I am a wolf for life for the curse knows neither day nor night. I only return to my human form on a full moon. And it was a full moon seventeen days ago that brought me to this cage.

I come from a well to do family - although most people will consider us to be a very wealthy family. But what is wealth if you can’t enjoy it? There is a curse in my family. Our great patriarch made a pact with the devil for wealth. The devil was ready to oblige. His only condition was that in each generation, he pick one of his descendants and turn him or her into a werewolf. If they were to remain that way, my greedy family wouldn't have cared. They consider it a gamble of sorts. The only problem is that on a full moon, the person turns back to a human.

Well, it was my cousin, Salima, who showed the signs of a werewolf. Everyone was relieve; after all they would get to live normal lives. They promised to care for her and all that. But Salima would have none of that. She drove a wooden stake through her heart just before she turned seventeen. She was really mourned. The public did hear about the lady who slipped in the bathroom and died.

Well, life continued for me and I took my chances with Vivian, who I shared with some friends while we were wasted on my seventeen birthday. I woke up the following morning but I couldn’t speak. My father knew. I simply said my goodbyes and walked into the family’s private park. By nightfall, I became who I am. I guess there is no cheating the devil.

Living as a wolf is awesome. Being a werewolf is even better. My family pack is filed with wolves so I’ve always have this connection with them. Wolves have always knew we were all connected. There was once a rumour that we were all werewolves. You will be surprise what money in the right place can do. Of course, it is a lie. Only one of us ever turns to a wolf in any generation - or in my case, two of us.

I enjoy my life as a wolf. I’ve always been wild and voracious. Add that to my constant need for solitude and you have the wolf in the making. If you are wondering why I have so resigned to my fate, remember that nothing can be done about it. I’m not sure about the exact details but about half of my family’s fortune has been spent to break the curse, at least the wolf part. Different experts in various fields have been contacted, consulted and then killed. We can’t have too many people knowing our secret.

Seventeen days ago, the full moon came around and I went to meet my eager family. Of course I couldn’t eat and drink with them, I’m a wolf now, but I enjoyed spending time with them. It was there someone slipped and I learnt I had a daughter. Of course, they didn’t tell me directly. Mother and my younger sister were whispering in the kitchen. Unfortunately, I am not human; I am a wolf with super hearing abilities. I learnt that she (my daughter) was working at the local zoo.

So seventeen days later, an opportunity showed up when Nathan came hunting for the local zoo. I allowed myself to be captured by Nathan. Funny thing is Nathan used to be my friend. He was a few years younger than I was but we were very close. The only thing he didn’t know about me was the most important thing - that I could turn into a wolf. We had gone hunting together many times and I know how he hunts wolves. I didn’t want to be too hurt so I allowed him gain the upper arm. Not too easily though or he might be suspicious, I have a wound in my right forelimb to prove my point.

I sat there for four hours enduring the incessant and ogling from visitors at the zoo. I noticed how disappointed people were when I wouldn't even stand up. They even brought in a goat, hoping to spurn me to action. They didn’t know that I don’t eat goats. I love rabbits, but who would tell them? I only needed to look at my beloved daughter. I knew my family will take care of her, and not in a good way. She was a fool for returning. But who could blame her.

Getting out of the cage was very easy. Animal tranquillizers don’t work on me. I simply had to endure the tickling prickle and then wait for the attendant to open the cage. I didn’t kill her. I only knocked her out.

Leaving the cage was the hard part. After waiting for four hours, I was getting tired already. At nightfall, when it was time to clean up my cage, she came in. The attendant was my daughter. I knew by simply sniffing her body scent. I also scented something else. She was turning. In a matter of days she would become like her father.

I sat there thinking and sulking. I had wished that she would live a normal live, have normal children. Not this. I knew I couldn’t leave her there. If she turned, my family would find out. She would never be safe. So I knocked her out, attacked the other attendants as silently as I could and dragged my daughter with me into the wild.

She sleeps in the corner now.

This is my entry for the Twenty-Four Hour Short Story Contest--A werewolf is capture and displayed at a zoo by @mctiller. I remembered that he once posted a prompt that talked about a wolf that turned to a human only on a full moon (which I didn't apply for) so I decided to incorporate both themes.

Thanks for reading

Blessings

[Image source: Pixabay]