{Unnatural Selection} (Kris)

[Tahmores Stian]

Despite the cold Tahmores is back ont he beach, hopefully the werewolf who had confronted himself and Morrison that last time he had been here would not appear again. In his wolf form he watches the waves crashing against the sand, the water splashing up and wetting his chest and face, filling his nose with the scents of the sea. The worst of the smells been rotting washed up seaweed.

For a moment he looks up at the moon and smiles a little, as best a werewolf can in their canine form. For so many centuries people had always thought that it was the full moon that brought on the change of a werewolf form man to animal, but the truth is that they simply change at will, usually it is only the newly bitten, and those who survive the bite, who change on the full moon. A starnge conincidence indeed. Shaking his head, amused at his thoughts, Tahmores stands and turns away from the ocean.

Walks away Tahmores picks up the scent of something familiar, a human scent. He raises his head to try to catch more of it. Kris! His co-worker is one the beach. Happy to spend some time with a friend Tahmores quickly runs over to the human, barking happily as he does. He could be mistaken for a rather large dog, usually only those who know what to look for when spotting a werewolf could tell the differnt between a werewolf in beast form and a large dog. Coming up to Kris, Tah' bumps his head against the males legs in greeting and takes to walking along side him. He woud stay in his wolf form all night and walk with Kris.

[Kristian Vulpez]

It had been almost half a month since the fight at the bar and Kris found himself wishing he could be rid of the stitches that he had had to get that night. If it hadn’t been for his friend and fellow co-worker, Tahmores, he might have died that night. Then he wouldn’t have made it home to his son Nicholas. Thankfully, tonight’s shift had gone a lot better than that night had. Good thing to, being Tah was off tonight. After getting off work, Kris figured he’d take a walk on the nearby beach before he headed home.

Why anyone would want to walk on the beach in the middle of winter was anyone’s guess, but Kris found the way the waves crashed against the sands, leaving behind bits of ice that might have been collected in them, and the way the moon shone on the patches of snow that had fallen on the sands earlier that day to be a welcome sight. There were still bits of flurries that blew around in the wind and bits of the snow flurries landed on his jacket.

Standing on the beach, looking out over the water, Kris didn’t see the large dog that was also on the beach. Nor did he know it was even there until it happened to bump its head against his legs. The dog was large enough that it almost knocked him over. Kris petted the dog, being by nature a dog lover. He had two at the house – a Dane and a Basset hound. Even as he started to walk off down the beach, the dog followed. Not that he minded that at all. It was good to have company once in a while. Little did he know what lurked in the shadows of the rock formations on the beach.

[Tahmores Stian]

The walk with Kris is refreshing, a nice change from been alone most of the time. To walk with someone who doesn't know what he is, who isn't scared of what he is, will not run in fear or attack in hatred. Every now and then Tah' would look up at Kris. He had met the man when Kris started working at the bar and instantly taken a liking to him. Perhaps Kris reminded Tahmores of his long dead clan members; the younger brother and best friend who the vampires had so ruthlessly murdered. Whatever the reason the two had become much closer since a fight had broken out in the club where the two worked. Tahmores and Kris had both been stabbed but it was Kris who suffered the most, been human his wound would not heal as fast as the one Tahmores received. That night he showed himself as a werewolf to Kris and found out he had a son.

While walking Tah's ears suddenly perk up, turning from side to side. He can hear things moving on the snow, the soft whispering of voices. He stops and looks around, his wolf eyes seeing in dark than Kris's human eyes. Growling softly Tahmores backs up a little, the fur on the back of his neck standing up on end. In the shadows the surrounding rocks Tah' can see something moving, causiously he walks towards it. Suddenly whatever had been hiding in the shadows rushes out, then another 'something' appears behind the two. Both are humans. Saw Kris walking on his own and thought that they could take him down and rob him. Spinning around quickly Tahmore leaps towards the mugger who had come from behind.

He clamps down on the mans shoulder, twisting his head from side to side to draw blood and tearing skin and muscle.The man screams and falls backwards into the snowy sand. Tahmores steps off the mans dying body and turns around to focus his next attack on the second attacker who had gone come out the rocks and gone for Kris.

[Kristian Vulpez]

Kris stopped walking as he heard the dog start growling. ”What is it, boy?” he asked, just as two or three men came out of the shadows toward him. Kris couldn’t tell how many there were because of it being dark. He saw the dog jump one of them, sending him to the ground screaming bloody murder from bites that looked to be both painful and fatal at the same time. Blood stained the once white snowy sand. While he had been paying attention to that one guy getting nearly eaten by the dog, his buddies had gone around behind him. That’s when he realized that these guys were muggers and he had become there target. Course, Kris never kept much money or the like on him. It was usually just enough to get something to eat at work. He did this to avoid becoming a target like this.

What was it about him that seemed to draw trouble? He wasn’t that skinny looking was he? That must have been the guys’ motive for going after him. That and the fact that he was alone save the dog that was with him. One guy took him by surprise, sneaking up on him from behind. Before Kris could do anything about it, the guy had a blade at his neck and was demanding he call off his dog and give them what they wanted.

[Tahmores Stian]

Blood dripped from his slightly mattered fur. He'd always promised himself he wouldn't intentionally harm a human, but at this moment in time that promise had kind of gone out the window when the muggers had attacked his friend and co-worker. The only one left is the attacker who now had come out the rocks and has a knife against Kris's neck. Lowering himself down to the ground Tahmores slinks around to one side then jumps towards the mugger. He aims for the hand holding the knife, removing a few fingers as well as the knife from the hand.

With a scream the man moves to throw Tahmores off and ends up throwing the werewolf towards Kris. In an attempt to right himself Tah' instinctivly tries to get a grip on somthing, anything. Unfortunatly the thing that he ends up grabbing onto is Kris's shoulder, his teeth sinking deep into the humans skin. Suddenly realising what he has done Tahmores lets go of Kris's shoulder and lands on the bloody sand. Anger wells up inside of his mind and Tahmores once more goes at the mugger whos hand he had bitten.

By the end of it the two muggers lay on the ground bloody and close to death with no chance of survival. Himself covered in blood Tahmores looks at Kriss. The bite of a werewolf will either kill you or turn the victim into a werewolf. For Kris's sake Tahmores can only hope that the latter of the outcomes comes true. He'd rather see his friend become a werewolf than die, he'd never forgive himself for the murder. Walking up to Kris Tahmores whines softly at him, unable to properly tell Kris what has happened to him.

[Kristian Vulpez]

Kris had figured that this guy was about to kill him once he realized he didn’t have what he was asking for and that was what he had resigned himself to when the dog attacked the guy’s hand. Taking the guy’s surprise at the attack to get away, Kris tried to get out of the way of the chomping fangs only to have the guy throw said dog in his direction in an attempt to get him off of his hand. Kris winced as the dog’s fangs caught hold of his own shoulder. Then, as if realizing Kris wasn’t his quarry, the dog let go of him only to turn on the mugger he had been after and finish the job.

After it was all said and done, the muggers lay in bloodied heaps on the ground, one already dead and the other soon to be from the fatal bites he had received. Kris wasn’t hurt that bad but he was still bleeding from the sheer force of the bite. But he didn’t blame the dog. It wasn’t in his nature to blame the animal when it had just been protecting him. Reaching to pet the dog as it came up to him and whined, Kris could have sworn the dog was trying to tell him he was sorry or something. ”It’s ok,” he said, trying to reassure the animal. ”I know you didn’t mean to bite me.” Kris headed home to one get out of the cold and two to bandage the wound he had gotten.

The next day, Kris awoke to a dull pain in his shoulder. Figuring it was just the pain of the dog bite, he got up, showered and dressed, and got Nicholas off to school before he headed into work. His brother or mom would take care of his son today, being he knew he was scheduled with Tahmores tonight and the werewolf wouldn’t be able to keep the kid company. Walking into work, Kris tried to hide the bandages on his shoulder so as not to draw a lot of questions from his boss or co-workers. For the most part, his shirt covered it except when he moved that arm, which he did when he absentmindedly wave hello to Tah as he cane in.

[Tahmores Stian]

Kris may be okay for now but in a month he will be going through a painful and terrifying change. Tah' would have to be there with him, it would only be right since he was the one to give Kris the curse of becoming a werewolf. But despite the guilt Tahmores couldn't bring himself to tell Kris that it was him who was the wolf of the beach. Telling his friend could scare him off of been around Tahmores or other werewolves. Kris will have to know that the bite was from a werewolf. He watches Kris leave the beach, staying where the two muggers lay dead. As soon as Kris is gone Tahmores changes back to his human form and disposes of the bodies.

***

The day has been fairly quiet so far, but with the night quickly approaching more people will fill the bar. The thoughts of the previous night are still fresh in his mind, he's washed his mouth out multiple times to get rid of the taste of the blood of the muggers and Kris. But the faint taste of it is still in his mouth.

He returns the wave to Kris when he walks into work, for a moment seeing the bandages around his shoulder. "Hey man. You're shoulder okay? Saw you have some bandages around it".

[Kristian Vulpez]

"Hey man. Your shoulder okay? Saw you have some bandages around it," Tah asked him when he came in. ”Yea, just a dog bite,” Kris replied, hanging up his jacket. ”Nothing big.” Kris was still under the delusion that it had been a dog that had bitten him, if even by accident, and not a werewolf. He certainly didn’t know that it had been his friend that had done it either. To him it was no big deal. The dog had saved him from whatever fate that the muggers had had in mind for him and that was good enough for him. ”Ran into a couple muggers last night on the beach. Dog fought them and I guess I was just in the way of one he was after,” he explained in case Tah asked how he had even ended up in a predicament that got him bitten in the first place. ”Quite possibly saved my life last night too,” he added as he started about doing the work that had been assigned to him for that shift.

A little later, Kris took a chance to check on his son while he was on break. Of course his mom made a big fuss over him being at work after what had happened the night before but he just ignored it. She’d get over it. After telling Nicholas good night and hanging up, he took a quick cigarette break, trying to ignore the cold chill in the air.

[Tahmores Stian]

”Ran into a couple muggers last night on the beach. Dog fought them and I guess I was just in the way of one he was after"

"Yeah lucky you that the dog was there. Strange that a stray dog would help out a random person they see out in the open. Well just hope that it's not injected or anything or doesn't get infected. Last thing you need is to be put off work cause of a dog bite. You been to a hospital or anything for it?". But he lets it drop as Kris starts his shift for the night and it starts to get too busy for any breaks to talk about it more.

Tah' is given a break the same time as Kris and goes to talk to him outside. "Hey. Look I've got something to tell ya. I think the bite on your shoulder might have been given to you by a werewolf. There's a scent that comes with been one, every creature has one. I can smell it on you. If it's true then you're going to become a wolf". "There isn't anything you can do to stop the change. Now I could be wrong but if it's true then I'm more than happy to be there with you when you change".

[Kristian Vulpez]

"Yeah lucky you that the dog was there. Strange that a stray dog would help out a random person they see out in the open. Well just hope that it's not injected or anything or doesn't get infected. Last thing you need is to be put off work cause of a dog bite. You been to a hospital or anything for it?" Tah asked him. ”Didn’t really see a point in it,” Kris replied. ”It wasn’t too bad a bite that I needed more stitches. Lord knows I got enough of them from that bar fight.” Things picked up after that so they didn’t have much time to really talk.

Then they both got the same break. Going outside, Tah continued the conversation they were having. "Hey. Look I've got something to tell ya. I think the bite on your shoulder might have been given to you by a werewolf. There's a scent that comes with being one, every creature has one. I can smell it on you. If it's true then you're going to become a wolf. There isn't anything you can do to stop the change. Now I could be wrong but if it's true then I'm more than happy to be there with you when you change." Ok, now there was something that Kris hadn’t been expecting his buddy to say. ”I think I’d be able to tell the difference between a dog and a wolf, Tah,” Kris replied. Part of him was hoping that his friend was wrong about it being a wolf that had bitten him. But then there was another part that figured it wouldn’t be so bad being a wolf. ”Saying it was a wolf, how would we even know if I would change at all?” he asked.

[Tahmores Stian]

”I think I’d be able to tell the difference between a dog and a wolf, Tah"

"It was during the night. We can look very similar to large dogs in poorly lit areas, but that smell is certainly there, perhaps you've just been around work too much and have picked up the scent of us raggity bunch that work here". Trying to make light of the serious situation. He has to admit it would be nice to have Kris become a werewolf, another one of his kind to work at the bar. There are already around ten wolves working there, another wouldn't hurt one bit. Problem is a young wolf in a bar where tempers can run high making the youngsters prone to changing due to high emotions.

"Well about a month after been bitten by a werewolf you'll change. For some reason all newly bitten werewolves change on the first full moon, though we do not change during the times of the full moon but whenever we please. Besides the pain that the bite causes you'll start to feel feel a little ill as the full moon comes closer, maybe even become a little bit more... forwards and agressive. But I was a born werewolf so I don't really know what those who are bitten go through".

[Kristian Vulpez]

"It was during the night. We can look very similar to large dogs in poorly lit areas, but that smell is certainly there, perhaps you've just been around work too much and have picked up the scent of us raggity bunch that work here.” Ok, so Tah had him there. At night, a wolf wouldn’t look much different from a large husky or German Shepard. ”You make it sound like I already have the nose of a wolf,” Kris joked.

"Well about a month after been bitten by a werewolf you'll change. For some reason all newly bitten werewolves change on the first full moon, though we do not change during the times of the full moon but whenever we please. Besides the pain that the bite causes you'll start to feel a little ill as the full moon comes closer, maybe even become a little bit more... forwards and aggressive. But I was a born werewolf so I don't really know what those who are bitten go through.” Tah added. ”Ok, if I start acting aggressive we’ll know something’s up,” Kris said. He was one of the more laid back guys that worked at the bar. He only got defensive if you got up in his face. ”I have to be the mellowest guy here.”

[Tahmores Stian]

"Oh, one thing Kris. When it comes to the night that you chnage, it's best that your son is not in the house. I mean, you'll be in a lot of pain and will scream. It is not something you want your son to hear". Giving Kris a pat on the shoulder Tahmores turns and walks back into the bar and back to work.

Skip to about a month later

The time for Kris's change has come and Tahmores can only hope that the change doesn't kill his friend, he'd never forgive himself and always carry the blame of murdering Kris, leaving his son without a father. Though the full moon as no pull on the change of a werewolf Tahmores can't help but feel the need to change, to rid his thought of these terribly human thoughts and replace them with the natural animal instinct of the wolf just to escape all the thoughts and worries running through his head.

He has walked to Kris's house and stop a few houses down from it, takes out his mobile and calls Kris. "Hey Kris. You're probably not feeling the best at the moment. I'm near your house so I can be at your place real quick. Just leave the door open and I'll meet you inside. Best that you get yourself into a room where there is little you can break".

[Kristian Vulpez]

"Oh, one thing Kris. When it comes to the night that you change, it's best that your son is not in the house. I mean, you'll be in a lot of pain and will scream. It is not something you want your son to hear." Tah patted Kris’ shoulder before going back into work. Kris finished his cigarette before heading back in himself.

Month later

Kris lay on the couch in his living room, watching T.V. He hadn’t felt well all day, even feeling nauseous at times. Thank god he was off tonight. He couldn’t afford to call into work sick. Nicholas was spending the weekend with his grandparents so that gave Kris the time he would need for the change. He still doubted that it was really a werewolf bite he had sustained nearly a month ago but the way he felt he couldn’t rule out the possibility of a change. Just then his cell rang. He answered with a tired sounding hello. "Hey Kris. You're probably not feeling the best at the moment.” Boy was that an understatement. ”I'm near your house so I can be at your place real quick. Just leave the door open and I'll meet you inside. Best that you get yourself into a room where there is little you can break." Tah’s voice said over the phone. ”What’s that going to help?” Kris asked. Course that was his room.

Getting up, he unlocked the door before returning to sit on the couch. Even sitting up he felt horrible. All he could do was wait for Tah to get there.

[Tahmores Stian]

”What’s that going to help?”

"It'll stop you from injuring yourself and wrecking the place. It's why most werewolves go outdoors when they want to change. Even after your first change it will hurt every time you change from human to wolf. Been out in the open just feel more... natural. A wolf is meant to be outside in the woods or open fields, not locked up in a house. I think it's better that you go through the change indoors for your first time though... mainly because been outside the screaming that you'll do could draw some unwanted attention. It has been known that vampires and humans will attack wolves going through their changes".

Tahmores is wating at the door when Kris unlocks and opens it and gives him a weak smile. "I'll be here to talk to you while you're going through everything. When you're done and in your wolf form I will change also and when you've gotten a hold of the basics we'll go outside". He follows Kris to the couch. "I'm sorry you have to go through this. But it's better to go through it with someone that you know than by yourself".