"Sure, I'll take all the help I can get" answered Cornelius.

I slept over in a guest room that had a tv and console, which was nice. The next day was mostly spent with the guards testing what I could do and making some plans. They tried seeing how much I could lift but the scales kept breaking after I pushed or pulled too hard. I tried lifting a car but ended up tearing off the bumper since it wasn’t able to hold the rest of the car’s weight. Then they found a forklift that picked up the car and put it into my hands, which didn’t feel that heavy. It felt like I was holding a bag of flour.

Then they got me to karate chop some stuff. I chopped a tree, but it ended up falling onto the mansion and breaking a window. Then they started stacking concrete on top of concrete, which wasn’t that hard to chop. Cornelius tried to do the same but broke his hand which healed pretty quickly.

Soon it was target practice time. They shot me with berf bullets but I just caught them midair, loaded my berf blaster, and shot back at them. Afterwards, they shot arrows so I caught them again midair and threw them like darts at targets, missing here and there. Next they shot me with paintballs which I caught again and just flicked back at them, even hitting Clarence in his helmet. They wanted to try with guns afterwards but I said hell no, I wasn’t gonna risk that. They did the same with Cornelius but he just got hit every time.

Finally I got my own body armor, trading combat boots for gloves since my feet were pretty much hands now after the transformation. Time passed us by in a blink of an eye and day became night. We were all in position as the clock struck midnight, bracing ourselves for what was to come…

***

Thud, thud. The sound of heavy footsteps came from the distance. The chandelier shivered above us, rattling. The steps got louder and louder as they approached.

I looked around, trying to figure out which way it was coming from. “Woah, so your hunch was right, the curse meant something would be hunting you.”

“Yeah," Cornelius replied, tightening his grip on a rifle. “There was usually a lot of damage around the victim. Masks on!”

Everyone put down their visors and took aim as suddenly the front door broke into a million splinters. “Fire!” Everyone shot at where once the door stood, tearing what little remained of it away, leaving the door frame in smithereens. Soon we ran out of ammo, pointing our rifles down and waiting to see if it was gone.

Marcus stepped forward to check the damage when suddenly a great big arm grabbed him and tossed him like he was a doll outside, getting knocked out on impact. A giant figure stepped through the doorway, ducking its head. It must’ve been 8 feet at least, head to toe covered in thick, dark brown fur, sharp claws on its hands. The head of a bear growled at us, one eye glowing a bright blazing red like a traffic light with a star shaped scar around it as if something ripped the eye out from before.

It bounded forward, tossing Clarence into a wall embedding him into it. I tossed my stun grenade at it in hopes of slowing it down but it just kicked it into the crowd of guards to my right. I covered my eyes as it blinded them and then it crashed into them like a bowling ball and pins.

I took out a pistol and shot it point blank when it punched me in my gut, knocking the wind out of my sails and sending me flying across the hallway into a suit of armor. The few men left standing tried shooting it but the thing was bulletproof. Desmond tried tazing him but it just yanked the wires out of itself then wrapped it around Des and pushed the trigger so hard it got stuck, zapping the poor man nonstop.

I laid in agony, wondering how strong it had to be to do this to me. I turned my head over to see it finally reach Cornelius. It grabbed him as Cornelius fired into him, screaming at the top of his lungs, lifting him up then knocking him down into the wooden floor, splintering around him and leaving him embedded into it, his screams suddenly silenced. His windpipe must've been crushed. It started punching his head and kept punching until there was nothing but a bloody mess of brain, bone, and muscle left where his head used to be.

It stood up, looking as if it was proud of its handiwork, and headed towards the rest of us to leave no witnesses behind. It took a step forward and then suddenly face planted into the ground.

I stood up, recovering from my punch to the gut. The bear creature whipped its head back to see what caused it to trip and saw, to its horror, the man he just killed holding his leg with a hand. It looked like it was panicking, tearing that arm off only for the other to grab his other foot. It saw me get up and grab the grandfather clock beside me like it was some cardboard.

“What the hell are you guys!!” it thundered as it tore off Cornelius's other arm as it stood up, only to get hit in the chest with the clock, sending it flying backwards.

I ran over to Desmond, cutting the wire wrapped around him to stop the taser and tossed it aside. I grabbed a sword from a suit of armor that decorated the hall and jumped forward in a single bound, forcing it through the heart of the beast as it laid on the ground, only for it to bend.

I hopped up to the massive chandelier, using the warped sword to cut it off and tossed it onto the bear. I pulled Cornelius out of the wreckage, seeing his arms and head healing, amazed he grabbed the bear while in such a sorry state. I took a second to check in on the others to make sure they were still with us, which luckily they were. Unfortunately, I shouldn't have taken a sec to do that because the chandelier went flying. A furious roar was heard throughout the house as the beast stood up.

It ran towards me. I jumped out of the way this time a second before he could get me, dropped behind him, kicked it in the back, and sent it crashing into a wall with its head getting stuck. I needed a way to get the plan going so while its head was stuck in the wall, I grabbed one of its arms, twisted it in a way it shouldn’t be and then heard a pop. It howled in pain, one arm going limp as the other destroyed the wall. It grabbed me and tossed me out a window. I rolled on the harsh pavement in the driveway, needing a moment to catch my breath, then grabbed my walkie talkie out of my belt and buzzed Maio, “It’s showtime, he should be heading out here any sec!”

I stood up with blood dripping from gashes everywhere as I saw the bear break through the wall, running at full speed towards me as I stood in the planned spot. Come on, come and get me. I could see the lights hitting me in the corner of my eyes before the bear almost reached me, then I ducked down and crashed into its legs, sending him hurtling over me, only for it to get hit by Maio’s car, dragging him forward until it crashed into a tree. I ran to the car, ripping off the crumpled driver’s door and pulled out Maio before the fire started, jumping far as it exploded behind us. The explosives in the trunk really came in handy. I saw the head of the bear fly upwards and then down at my feet, finally realizing what we just battled.