During the Victorian Age in north of Canada, there Howl Woods. It was one of the few lands where the aboriginal people and countrymen from Europe who had settled there lived in peace with each other. Both communities respected and cherished the land as nature made it, but one day, British industrialists were determined to build a city by clearing out most of the woods. However, they never even got started due to a mysterious saboteur or possibly multiple ones destroying the machines and undoing the work that was done. What drove the industrialists away, however, was not sabotaging. It was fear. The workers claimed to have come across a wild beast who was rumored to be half-man and half-beast. 

Some people believed it was just a man or maybe even a band of them donning a costume to scare off the industrialists. 

The locals believed it was some kind of nature spirit. 

To this day, historians cannot confirm what the mysterious entity was, but since then, there have been multiple “wolfman” sightings. 

In a cabin in the woods where a barn, greenhouse, henhouse and beautiful garden were all around it, morning had come with a young boy’s alarm clock ringing at 6:00 AM. He got up rubbing his eyes while his husky dog woke up stretching and yawning audibly. In under ten minutes, he was dressed, cleaned and made his bed nicely before going downstairs to go put on his work boots. 

“Morning, mom.” the boy waved a hand at her while passing by as she cooked breakfast. 

“Good morning, honey. Hey, what did we say about begging, mister?” the woman scolded the dog shaming into walking away sheepishly. 

“Hey, mom, is Harry ok?” he while looking around. 

“He's having an episode this morning. Don’t worry. Dr. Whitehawk is coming over to renew his prescriptions and check him. You just focus on your chores, dear. He’ll join us for breakfast after.” she reassured him. 

“Ok. Come on, Talbot. I’m sure the chickens want breakfast too.” Carl tilted his head to his dog leading the way to the henhouse where he fed the chickens. 

As the birds were distracted by their food, he collected their eggs and brought them to the cabin’s mudroom before heading to the greenhouse to do some pruning, watering and gathering anything worth harvesting. In there, his father had started. 

“Hey, there, Carl. You take care of the tomatoes and cucumbers while I handle the grape vine. I already handled the potatoes.” he instructed while carefully snipping, and next to him were four buckets of large yellow potatoes in the cart “If we have an abundance of cucumbers too, we’re giving some out. Mrs. Cullen always gives us jam and a pie every now and then.” 

“Maybe I should make some pickles for her, dad.” Carl began to prune the cucumber plants while gathering any cucumbers he would find “... Say, dad, what does Harry have, exactly?” 

His father froze for a moment “It’s a... schizophrenia of some kind that’s unique for genetic reasons. It makes him have these moments where he hears, sees or even smells things, and he becomes sensitive. As long as he keeps taking his medicine and does as the doctor says, he’ll be fine.” 

“So he’s going to get better then.” Carl got another bucket for cucumbers. 

“No, son. It’s not that kind of illness. Harry’s always going to be like this, but he is going to adapt to it and have a normal life.” he explained while trying to sound positive. 

Carl paused “... Am I going to wind up ill too and need pills for the rest of my life, dad?” 

His father turned to him with a stoic expression “It is possible because this is a genetic thing meaning it runs in the family, but if you do, thanks to medicine, you’re going to be ok. Anyway, don’t think about that now, Carl. Focus on the now and enjoy it. Say, maybe you should make pickles for everyone.” 

“Ok, dad.” Carl nodded and continued his work. 

After chores were done, the family was at the table eating and conversing. All except for Harry who was a depressed and gaunt-looking teenager. 

“What’s the matter, Harry? Aren’t you hungry?” Carl asked. 

“No. Not really.” he murmured while not making eye contact which made Talbot whimper “Can I be excused please? Thank you.” 

Carl watched Talbot go out to the porch to sit. Later, he helped wash off the vegetables and eggs while sorting them to either be stored or given out. Carl proudly prepared a crate worth of pickles to give out before giving it to his father to put in the cart with the crate of vegetables to give out. 

“I should be back before noon, Katrina. I’ll pass by the Murray’s to pick up a jar of honey too.” he donned his helmet and riding jacket. 

“Alright, Walter. Be careful out there.” she warned him before they kissed. 

“And, Harry, remember every time you don’t feel normal, take a dose. It’s for your own good.” Walter patted his shoulder. 

“Honestly, dad, I feel even less normal every time I take a dose...” Harry shuddered. 

“I know it’s hard, son, but you’ll get used to it.” his father encouraged him before leaving. 

“Bye, dad. I’m going to go take some pictures of the geese nesting near the streams, mom.” Carl called out as he walked into the woods. 

“Alright, just don’t disturb them, Carl.” Katrina called out while seeing him off. 

“I won’t. Later.” Carl walked out into the woods while Talbot laid next to Harry. 

The teenager watched his little brother go while his mother went back inside when suddenly, his eyes pinned and for a moment, everything looked different before going back to normal. He also noticed hearing a woodpecker to his left but could not see it meaning it was very far away. He painted a bit upon realizing that his hypersensitivity was flaring up again. Harry reached into his pocket and opened the pill bottle, but those froze. Instead of taking a dosage, he sneered at the pills and looked over his shoulder to see his mother was inside vacuuming the floor. He took advantage of that by pouring the pills into the grass resentfully. 

As Carl made his way to the stream, he took a moment to take a picture of that woodpecker that Harry must have heard without his knowledge. He looked at the image in the camera with a pleased expression before looking up to see a wolf looking at him. It was only ten feet away. The boy stood as still as a statue as he and the creature looked at each other. At first, he was terrified and bracing for the worst at any moment, but the longer they looked at each other, the less afraid he felt. At one point, the wolf calmly turned towards the right and left. Carl half smiled but then groaned that he missed a chance to take a picture. However, not wanting to push his luck, he decided to let the geese be and return home. 

“I guess Harry went back inside.” Carl saw his brother was not on the porch anymore, but Talbot was still there asleep “Mom, you’re not going to believe what I saw.” 

Later that day, Carl was oil painting while listening to the radio which crackled news of yet another “wolfman” sighting. This made the boy roll his eyes and smirk before his father came in looking like he had rolled in the dirt. 

“Dad, what happened?!” he ran to him. 

“Are you alright?!” Katrina rushed over. 

“I’m fine. The only casualty was half the stuff in the cart. Some maniac in a convertible took up the road and the bike lane. I jumped into the ditch to save myself. I didn’t get the guy’s license plate though. He was too fast.” Walter removed his helmet and began to dust himself off. 

“I hope the jerk crashes into a tree or drives off a cliff!” Carl scoffed angrily. 

“Carl!” Katrina gasped. 

“Carl, that’s not the right attitude to have.” Walter lectured. 

“But you almost died, dad.” the boy protested. 

“Son, no matter how justified you are at being mad, you can’t lose your cool. It doesn’t solve the problem, and it doesn’t help.” Walter then heard the doorbell ring “That must be Dr. Whitehawk.” 

He opened the door for his friend and the family doctor “Hello, Walter. Oh my, should I check you out too.” 

“I’m passed the age of needing to have my booboos checked out, smart guy. Just check out, Harry. He really need you, Bill. Harry! The doc’s here!” he called from the stairs. 

“He’s not outside?” Katrina’s smile faded. 

“I didn't see him anywhere when I was coming in.” Dr. Whitehawk shook his head. 

“I didn’t see him either when I came back.” Carl added. 

“Then he is absolutely in his room. Probably has his headphones on. One minute.” Walter went upstairs repeating Harry’s name. 

“Teenagers. Not looking forward to that part stage.” shook his head chuckling “But seriously, how is he aside from his episode last night?” 

“Harry’s not in his room!” Walter called while rushing back down. 

“Maybe he went to the bathroom, dad.” Carl suggested. 

“I checked there just now. He’s nowhere on the second floor. Are you sure he’s not outside?” Carl came back down. 

“Let me check. Harry? Harry?!” Katrina went out to the porch and called out with Dr. Whitehawk assisting. 

It was then that the doctor stepped on something that made an on crunching sound and looked down to see the pills in the grass “Katrina.” he picked them up and showed them to her. 

“Are those... Oh no! Harry...” Katrina went pale. 

“Aw, damn, Harry!” Water stomped his foot in frustration. 

“Dad, I checked the greenhouse and the barn, but I still haven’t found Harry. Are those his pills?” Carl came over and saw them. 

Walter looked out into the woods with a serious expression before going up to one bush and noticed the shred of Harry’s hoodie “Doc, you’re coming with me to go look for him. Katrina, you stay here with Carl.” 

“What happened to Harry, dad? Is he having another episode?” Carl was now scared. 

“I’ll explain later, Carl. You stay home, ok? I’ll find Harry and bring him back home safely.” his father insisted. 

“O-Ok.” Carl nodded and went inside with his mother who put on a brave face. 

“Walter, you do realize what this means. The pills will be useless now.” Bill informed him quietly. 

Walter’s face sunk “I know... I really hoped it wouldn’t come to this... Talbot! Come on, boy! You’re coming too! Let’s go find Harry!” 

The two men and the dog set out into the woods. However, even once it became dark out, they had not returned and Harry did not come back on his own. Katrina was on the phone talking to friends in the area if they had seen any trace of the teenager, but so far, nobody had. Carl was up in his room looking out the window with his camera to see if maybe he could catch a look at anything. Just as he was adjusting to see better in the dark, he saw something dart in the shadow of the barn. He hurriedly tried to take another look, but when the figure moved again, it was too fast. Carl managed to snap a picture of it though. Upon looking at the photograph, it had come out very blurry, but he made out that it was humanoid and the clothes looked very familiar. 

“Harry!” he looked out the window again with his camera and noticed someone was inside the treehouse. It was hunched over so he could only the top of the person’s head, but he instantly recognized the hair despite it being so messy now. It was definitely his older brother. 

“Mom! Harry came back! He’s in the treehouse! Let’s go get him!” Carl called out from the stairs. 

“Thank goodness! Carl, stay in your room! Remember, is not well right now and doesn’t have his pills! Your father will bring him inside when he comes back!” his mother called out. 

“But he’s right there and I think he’s hurt!” the boy insisted. 

“Do as I say, young man! I’m going to call your father now on his walkie talkie!” she commanded him before going to the kitchen to do so. 

Carl took advantage of this by sneaking down the stairs and heading for the mudroom to go put on his shoes. He then quietly went out the door and rushed towards the treehouse. 

“Harry? It’s ok! It’s just me! Are you ok? Why did you run away?” Carl called up the tree. 

“S-Stay away!” Harry shouted with his voice sounding off. 

This did not deter Carl who responded by climbing up the treehouse ladder “Harry, you sound good. You should come inside and-” 

Upon reaching the top, Carl got so shocked that he lost his footing and fell. It was in that moment that he, now as an adult in his own luxury penthouse apartment in the busy city, woke up in his den. He had fallen asleep while listening to the news. He checked the time on his cellphone and noticed a message from his wife Veronica stating that she would be coming home with a cab tomorrow afternoon from the airport. He wiped his eyes and walked down the hall checking on his sleeping nine-year-old daughter before walking back to get some tea. As the machine prepared his cup instantly, he checked out the photos on the wall and kept his gaze on his childhood family photo. 

Specifically, he was looking at Harry as he was before his schizophrenia took hold of him “What happened to you, Harry?”