Oh, what a careless girl she must have been; how she must have sinned, to hold the misshapen monster in her arms. Or, perhaps, she had been a victim, and had decided to keep it out of the goodness of her heart. Either way, it was her burden to bear, brought on her by her own poor decisions. This is what some people would think as they passed by her, the girl leaning against the wall, clothed in tattered garments three sizes too big. She held a child in her arms, a dirty, torn blanket enveloping its small form, and a paper bag pulled over its head. A paper bag found in a grimy alley, almost fought over with a rabid animal. This girl was not like them. She was an outcast, detached from their normal lives and ordinary woes. Perhaps this was what distanced them from her. Or, perhaps, it was the foul aura that was being emitted by the child in her arms, a stench to drive away all helping hands.
She had never stopped hating the child, if it was a child at all. It was her own creation, a spawn of the madness that had once been wrapped around her heart and mind. Therefore, it was her child. That madness was now transferred to this child, at the mere price of her life. Line up, line up ladies and gentlemen, to see the wonder that humans have created. Foul-smelling and disgusting to look at, its four arms waved up at her as if it could show affection, as if it wanted to hold onto her. But she knew better. It was nothing but a demon, a leech in her life that she had to take care of only due to the contract binding them.
She had never stopped pitying herself either, for it was only natural. Poor little Adelaide Doe, wandering the earth all alone, and having lost her family at such a young age. One taken away by the hands of fate, before she could even get to know them. Another one pulled away by death's own clutches. The third, what little she had had left, driven away by her own spawn. The same spawn that she held, the one that was now clutching onto her shirt, demanding that it be fed. But she had nothing to give it, just as she had nothing to give to herself. Perhaps they would starve, and Adelaide almost wished that they did. But she knew that the demon would keep on living, and that she would only wither away, unleashing its wrath amongst the mortals. The helpless, helpless humans.
“Mother.“ a voice echoed in her head, and she bared her teeth at the wall across from her, as there was no one else there to receive her ire. “Shut up.“ she hissed, irritation and fear fighting for dominance in her heart. The voice never failed to startle her. “Mother...” it called again, almost sounding like it was begging her. “Shut up! Get out of my head!“ her voice came out in growls and hisses, and she nearly dropped the creature in her arms, just to silence it.
“But you know I can't do that...“ the voice replied, sounding much more intelligent than its first garbled call. It had its own bouts of intelligence sometimes, she could admit, despite Its poor upbringing. She snorted at the thought, perhaps in amusement? As if the little spawn deserved anything better than what she was giving It. It was already feeding off of her soul, although the contract had been unsuccessful, It was still tied to her, as It had explained in its own chopped sentences. And it would be tied to her forever more, always with its calls, always with its sharp nails piercing her skin, drawing red pebbles of blood to the surface.
That didn't stop her from making a contract with another demon, It had assured her hastily one day, as if the mere thought of not signing a contract with one of the beasts would break her fragile little heart. She had gotten the short end of the stick, it seemed. The only thing their messed up contract did was allow the little demon to eat her knowledge. It was a common thing that parents did with their young, those rare few times that a demon was born from two of the other beasts. And it ate her knowledge as if its very existence depended on it. Maybe it did, as it could survive in the world without it, helpless and alone, its mind empty and bare.
She had thought that she could appreciate that, though. After all, if the only thing that the demon required was her limited knowledge, she would gladly give it, if it meant that she didn't have to be tied down by It. Like... The Key bearers. She had heard that name a few times, passed around from one person to another, in whispers not nearly as hushed as they had thought. Sometimes, the most unlikely people would talk about these contractors, the ones that had abandoned their own kind to sign with the enemy. The mere thought of being like them made her shudder.
“But are you not worse?“ the raspy voice reminded her. She felt the coppery taste of blood as she held her lower lip in-between her teeth. Was she? She had, after all, created one of them. Did that make her as worse as the Key bearers, or was her reluctance to take care of her demon separating her from them? She wouldn't know what those people thought of their own demons, of course, so she couldn't be sure. And the very thought was eating at her.
“Hungry...“ the voice muttered, interrupting her thoughts. Ah, so it seemed that it was back to its normal levels of intelligence. What a pleasant thought. “You won't be getting anything, you worthless thing!“ she snapped out loud, looking by all accounts like she had lost her marbles. But, she reluctantly had to agree with It, because she was hungry as well. She could already feel hunger gnawing at her insides, making her stomach ache. When was the last time that she had eaten? She remembered the nice people that had given her the clothes she was wearing, and some bread and soup. They did that for quite a few of the outcasts wandering around the area, mostly homeless children, not unlike herself. But running through the rain just to get to the house on the other side of town just didn't seem so appealing...
With another sigh, although possibly heavier than the first one, she slid down until she was kneeling on the cold ground, resigning herself to her existence.
Horrible. It felt simply horrible. The feeling of every bone cracking, and breaking, overwhelmed him, despite the situation not being so severe. He felt like his skin had been ripped off and then acid had been thrown on him. Perhaps it was an exaggeration, but he could do nothing but exaggerate as he laid on the ground, panting, his breath coming out in quick bursts. He was confused, and scared, scared of the change that had overcome him. He felt so different than usual, so unlike himself, and his heart was beating so unbelievably fast. As he began to come to his senses once again, slowly, second by second, he looked for something to blame. Anything that he could pin the crime on, though he was unsure of what crime he was looking somebody to blame to. When his eyes refocused, they landed on the wolf in front of him. Augustus had heard Lillian’s scream, as the beast had tried to get to her, to claw her throat open, and he felt angry. So incredibly angry.
And he found something to blame.
Growling, though it made his throat feel as if it were on fire, his beady eyes focused on the wolf’s own, filled with rage. His orbs mirrored the wolf’s emotions as well, and he made no attempt to hide it as another growl came from his throat, deeper and more guttural than the first. The monster standing before him was to blame for everything. His sudden transformation, the fearful faces of the twins cowering behind them, and the blood that was steadily trickling from his injured hand. What right did the demonic creature have, to come barging in his home, threatening him and his family with its sharp claws and wide jaws. Despite the pain that he still felt, which was ebbing away into dull pinpricks all over his body, he began to lift himself up to his feet. However, he soon realized that there was more to his new body than he had first anticipated. As he attempted to lift himself up, he felt his new hind legs move, and he suddenly knew that he would have trouble standing up properly. They were nothing like human feet at all. He looked down at his arms, and saw that they resembled a disgusting mix between a wolf’s paws and his own, human hands. It scared him, and he wanted to get rid of them, feeling tainted just by looking at them. He began to notice the fur as well. It came as a shock to him, stupefying him and making him forget about the threat before him for a moment. It was unbelievable, and he found himself the same in appearance as the wolf that was angrily baring its teeth at him.
A whimper left him this time, one scared and confused, and his eyes showed his inner turmoil. What was going on? Why did his body change so drastically? His head was spinning, and he wanted to crawl away to a corner somewhere and curl up in a ball. “W-what...” he said, and when he heard his voice, deep and animalistic, he began to panic. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the twins staring at him in fear, inching away both from him and the real threat. “Don’t... please.” he attempted to calm them, but their eyes only widened, and at that moment, he knew that they couldn’t understand him. Confusion and fear giving way to anger, he refocused on the wolf before him. “You!” he snapped, uncaring of the way that his new teeth clicked together and of the menacing sound that made. He began working on standing up again, but only got up on his four legs, standing like the animal that he had become. But he didn’t let this stop him. Feeling the muscles in his hind legs flex, he pushed off of the ground, lunging at the wolf with the intent to kill. His claws were aiming for the creature’s throat, and his eyes showed his determination.
He was going to take the beast down.
