"Many years ago, as the full moon shown bright," Nash said with an eerie tone," the inhabitants of Legend's Run heard a horrible howling. The cry of the beast wailed throughout the town. As the howling grew closer, children woke from their sleep, travlers had to control their horses, and homeowners locked their doors. The few brave souls who did venture out to investigate say they witnessed a creature never seen before--a monster standing on two legs, thin as a man, hairy as a dog, with the fangs of a wolf and the eyes of a beast."
"Ooh!" Ivy whimpered, hugging my arm.
Tall tales of werewolves ran rampant for generations in Legend's Run. It might have been because occasionally a wolf was spotted in the outlying wooded areas and in the early days there wasn't much else to do but create outlandish stories of their origin. I was a skeptic on rumors; I had the mindset that I'd have to see it to believe it. To me, there was a big line between fact and fantasy. However, hanging out here in the darkness, anything seemed possible.
"The creature appeared tormented," he continued. "It was ready to attack at any moment." Nash raised his hands as if her were the monster.
Now I clutched Ivy.
"This monstrous creature could rip a giant into tiny pieces. His bite was deadly and he could kill without warning. The townspeople tried in vain to capture and kill the monsters, but he returned, full moon after full moon. The creature couldn't be taken down with a gunshot or the threat of fire, but instead vanished into the woods."
Nash paused. "The townspeople often awoke to find their cattle missing, or in some cases dismembered."
"Gross!" Ivy exclaimed.
Abby let out an audible gasps. "Tell us more!"
"It was only a matter of time, they feared, before the monster would be coming for them.
"The residents spent the nights of the full moon living in terror," he continued, "wondering what--or who--would be the beast's next victim."
"I can't take anymore," Ivy said, covering her ears.
The darkness played with our imaginations. I spotted Dylan and Jake eying the woods as if every tree hid a stalking werewolf.
"Some dismissed the witnesses' accounts as drunken tall tales,"Nash said. "Still others swore these was only one explanation..."
We waited in trembling awe.
"A citizen of Legend's Run had become a werewolf," he concluded in a serious tone.
His words left us silent.
Then he said with a deliberate voice, "But which of their neighbors had been overtaken by the glow of the full moon was never discovered."
"No--" Abby said.
"Still, generations later, underneath a full moon, the werewolf can be seen but has never been captured," Nash instructed. "By day he is an ordinary man, descended from that unlucky citizen of Legend's Run. But by night and under the curse of the moon, his eyes turn red, his muscles bulge, his teeth grow sharp, and he is covered in fur. A half man, half wolf who is tortured by his condition and threatening to anyone in his path."
Then he looked at each of us. "Could the werewolf of Legend's Run have been one of your ancestors?" he wondered out loud.
The firelight cast ominous shadows against Nash's face, distorting his normally perfect features. His nose seemed as long as a warlock's, his ears pointy, his hair savagely spiky. His hazel eyes appeared fiery red.
He glared at us again. "Which one of us could be the Legend's Run werewolf's descendant?"
"Not me!" Abby blurted out.
Just then a grusesome howl was heard off in the distance.
Once in a Full Moon - Ellen Schreiber
