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Rudeus looked at his partner, Bartholomew, in fear as his eyes widened and he took a step back from the glowing scroll they had stolen from the mansion. It meant everything to the two of them, so much so that they had both risked their lives to get it by breaking into a nobleman’s manor. He could feel his old bone’s shaking with fear as Bartholomew, the taller of the two, inched towards Rudeus and the scroll. As soon as his face was illuminated by the soft, white glow of the full moon that shone brightly that knight, Bartholomew began to look more and more inhumane, his fingers lengthening into claws and his nose and mouth lengthening into a snout. Rudeus could only watch as his friend and partner grew taller and taller, until he stood more than a foot over him. Bartholomew’s brown hair began to grow all over his body, the once human looking features becoming wolfish and beast like. His ears narrowed into points and his feet grew out with razor sharp black claws. Ruseus winced as his friend’s clothes began to tear and rip from his much larger body, the size of the shirt and breeches no longer being large enough for the wolf-man. A blood-curdling howl erupted from Bartholomew’s mouth as the last human part of him, his shoes, ripped apart and fell off. What was revealed was something that Rudeus had never seen before, some dark and corrupt, something that looked to be from a myth or a legend. The oversized wolf, his former partner, tilted it’s head in him, his jaws widening into a sneer and a snarl resonated in the wolf-man’s throat.
Rudeus stumbled back once more as Bartholomew neared him, the scroll still laying between the two. His eyes widened farther as Bartholomew reached the scroll and in one swift movement, ripped it into fragments, the glow of it disappearing and fading as each part was torn to shreds. Rudeus’ eyes widened even further as his mouth opened in silent outrage, his brows automatically conveying what his words could not, as Rudeus was completely speechless in fear. Perhaps out of instinct, Rudeus hand clenched into a fist and he raised it high, aiming for the wolf-man’s jaw, but before he could do anything, his former partner let the torn scroll fall to the ground, and it made a sort of sound as the metal it had been wrapped around fell onto the ground where a fairly obscured boulder layed. The wolf-man seemed to be looking at Rudeus smugly, as if daring him to try and punch him. He shut his eyes and did what he thought he could not, his fist swinging in a quick motion towards the wolf-man’s face. But when Rudeus’ fist hit nothing, he opened his eyes slightly to find that the wolf-man was gone from his sight. He breathed a sigh of relief as he realized that perhaps it had all been some sort of walking trance or some sort of sleep-walking situation. He looked around once more, a light smile touching his lips. Then he saw it. Along the tree directly ahead of him, Rudeus could make out what appeared to be claw marks, and these weren’t regular claws marks either. They were long and deep, cutting almost halfway into the tree’s large trunk. His eyes widened further, his heart beating at twice the regular pace. He could feel it pounding through his chest.
Rudeus reached out towards the claw marks, intending to touch them with his hand and feel how deep they truly were as surely the light must’ve been playing tricks with his mind. His hand stopped an inch from reaching the actual tree trunk as he felt a peculiar something fall upon the shoulder of his coat, and then a similar something on his tophat as well. His hands shook and fear was evident on his facial expressions as he reached up and slowly took his top hat off of his head, allowing his slick grey-black hair to come out. He held the top hat directly in front of him and his eyes slowly drifted from the trunk of the tree to the top hat in his hands. What he saw was perhaps the most frightening thing he’d seen in his life, something that would most likely scar him until his upcoming death. It was a patch of drool on the top of his hat and likely on his shoulder as well; a thick, sticky glob of slimy drool. The next thing Rudeus did was likely the most brave act he’d ever done in his life and he hoped, if there were a God, that they would take mercy on his estranged soul and not make him wait too long to go to Heaven, for the fates were close to snapping his string, the twine that was his lifeline thinning out as the seconds passed.
Rudeus nodded his head upwards, literally trembling in fear at this point, any trace of happiness having abandoned his old features. The first thing he saw were two glinting yellow eyes, the eyes shaped in a cat-like manner as the wolf-man looked down at Rudeus from above. And before Rdueus could utter a single curse, the wolf-man was upon his, snout gripped around his neck as Rudeus’ throat was torn from his now limp body. A crimson splash of blood spurted out and hit the wolf-man in the face, dying the dark brown fur red with his former friend’s blood. The wolf-man tore at the man’s body and he dined on the limbs and head until there was nothing left. Slowly the wolf-man stepped back, the once bright light of the now set moon no longer with him. He began to transform back into Bartholomew, the partner of the late Rudeus.
Bartholomew stood there in the middle of the forest, the sun’s bright light now beating down on him from above. Bartholomew shaded his eyes and looked around the area, surveying for his friend. Where was Rudeus?