It hurt.

Her body was breaking itself apart, burning from the inside out as her organs realigned themselves, remaking itself anew. Every single bone of her body was breaking excruciatingly slow as Kat gasped for air, as she begged for it all to stop with tears in her eyes.

It hurt so much.

Claws stretched from underneath her skin, blood dripping from her ripped fingers, the wounds stitching themselves almost instantly. Her breathing was ragged and her heart beat uncontrollably, so hard it bruised her aching ribs.

She was terrified.

Black fur steadily took over her body and Kat tentatively touched it, felt the roughness of it on her fingertips and screamed in frustration and pain. Her body was expanding, muscles growing and destroying the clothes she was wearing, leaving them in tatters all around her. Her jaw dislocated and morphed, long and sharp fangs replacing her teeth.

It was all too much.

Too sudden.

She wasn’t prepared for any of it.

Abruptly the pain stopped and it all went black.

                                                                    XXX

Time had passed, another full moon come and gone, the pain appeared to have subsided the second time around, perhaps one day the transformation would be painless - Kat seriously doubted that, but a girl could dream.

It was complicated, coming to terms with the realization monsters were real, that the stuff of nightmares and horror movies roamed the world and humankind had no idea. Such things were told as stories and legends, no one truly believing such things existed, a figment of imagination to scare children into being well-behaved and more careful. They had no idea how scary the darkness actually was, in the comfort of their houses, beneath their comfortable blankets. And now Kat was part of that world, living in that very same darkness full of things more terrifying than a werewolf could ever be.

Kat wasn’t human anymore, even if she looked it most of the time. A werewolf, through and through, stronger and hungrier, less connected to humanity and its rules. Sometimes a fleeting feeling of guilt possessed her, but it was gone the next moment. Humans were her source of food now, even if at the start she had abhorred the idea, it was her reality and she wasn’t going vegan any time soon.

She fought to survive, to live. Any show of weakness would be her death and Kat clinged to her life with nails and teeth, refusing to let it go no matter what.

A knock on her door interrupted her reading - after all, every chance Kat got she spent researching all and everything supernatural - and she got up from her cozy couch to open the door. Without even a greeting the other girl waltzed in as if she owned the place, and plopped down on her spot. Kat didn’t mind it much, even though the wolf within howled that it was her place - apparently wolves were very territorial -, because if it wasn’t for Lyn she might have gone crazy or most probably died.

Lyn had taken upon herself to help Kat when she was newly turned, explaining what werewolves were, what the movies got right and wrong. Eventually, Lyn had revealed she was a vampire, and that the only reason she was helping her was out of pure boredom - Kat was thankful. Lyn taught her to love the taste of the hunt instead of despising what she had become. How she could fight and protect herself against those stronger and more agile than her. In a way she was her mentor, and along the way she had somehow become her friend.

“I’m bored.” the red-haired woman complained.

“You’re always bored.” Kat answered exasperated, her green eyes rolling as she took the seat next to Lyn.

“It’s a full moon tonight.” Lyn sing-songed excitedly, a grin pulling at her plump lips.

“I’ve noticed. My skin has been itching the whole day and my self-control has been seriously lacking.”

“You need more training, until you can take over your wolf and are able to control yourself even when transformed.”

“I know.” Kat sighed tiredly.

“Well…how about I go hunt with you tonight? I’ll help.” Lyn whispered, caressing Kat’s black hair.

Kat slapped her hand away making Lyn pout in response.

“Oh come on. We make a great team! I promise I’ll behave, and I’ll even clean after you.” she begged, knowing Kat’s answer didn’t matter, she was going either way. Living for a long time became boring and werewolves were such an entertaining creatures, she just couldn’t help herself. For her, boredom was death.

“Fine. As if I had any choice in the matter.”

Smiling, Lyn patted her head, “Smart girl.”

Kat let her do it this time, the wolf scratching her insides obviously enjoyed being touched.

“The sun’s going down and the moon is coming out to play. Let’s get ready for some fun.”