The Werewolf

An upcoming story by John Breasly.

Prologue - Tallinn, 1714
Snow falls heavily in the city of Tallinn. Normally alseep in the darkness, the citizens are strangely out of bed, and gathered together in a rather large crowd. Even more odd are the heavy muskets the men carry with them. Strange shouting confuses the young boy, holding loosely to his mother's hand. The flames within the lanterns dance majestically in the blizzard. The small boy finds himself mesmerized by the elquoent flickering.

A sudden roar breaks his concentration. His mother grips his hands tightly. The mayor in the center of the town square screams about something inside the town. The boy looks towards his father, at the edge of the throng. The air is thick with the smell of gunpowder being poured into muskets. Barricades are quickly rolled into place, aimed down a dimly lit streets. The men now wait as the howling gets closer.

Bounding out of the dark comes no evil creature, but rather a beautiful woman. Or she would have been, if half of her face had not been missing. She ran into the square, screaming. Before the feet of the mayor she falls, bleeding heavily. He touches her neck and rises solemnly. High pitch screaming suddenly pierces the silence. A large, humanoid figure stands upon the roof of a building overlooking the barricade. It jumps down into the light, tackling someone and promptly biting out his throat. The boy mesmerized by the lanterns now screams with the rest of the crowd.

As the creature's long, hairy snout rips through the members of the crowd, the boy finds himself recalling stories his mother had told him. Great wolf-like creatures, who are born men but transform in the moonlight. The thought is very perplexing before he returns to reality to find himself running down a darkly lit street with his mother, being followed by the wolf-man. It lunges, and tackles the woman, leaving the boy in the snow to the side. It, just as before, reaches for the throat and bites. The dark eyes then turn on the boy. It bounds towards him as he kicks. He feels a sharp pain in his leg before the wolf-man is knocked away. The men of the town stand over him, beating the creature with the butts of their muskets. Loud shots echo as silver balls rip through the creature's skull. Suddenly, silence. The hair of the monster sheds, and it's muscles shrink. A naked man is lying in the snow, bleeding in far too many places. His body is hoisted away. The boy, shaken and scared, attempts to stand before grabbed by the men of the village, who seem to be angry about his leg.

By the next morning, his father and he are forced to leave Tallinn by way of horse. His father seems to be crying, but it doesn't seem like it is for the same reason as his son.