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The shadows are lengthening. The moon is full. It is time.
Marie has made their excuses, though it’s not like their parents would notice they are gone. They can never know about this; they could never understand. In their town, death was the only answer to a bite, a willing sacrifice to the gods to relieve their awful burden forever. It had to be the one closest to them for it to matter. But Marie could never hurt her sister like that, no matter how much the world would brand her as a monster. They don’t know her sister. She isn’t like the others who prowl the night; the only person she would ever hurt is herself.
They were fortunate enough to find this old barn a two months back, abandoned but still in decent shape. It is isolated enough that a scream would go unnoticed, which is a requirement nowadays. They have had a few months of this now and have mostly figured out the process. Or as much as they could without anyone beside the depths of the internet to guide them.
Kali stands before Marie in the centre of the building, shaking a little in her shirt and shorts. The clothing will be in tatters after tonight anyway, but it helps Kali feel just a little more protected. A thin red scar, still in the process of healing, splits her right eyebrow in two. Honestly, Marie would think it looked rather cool if she wasn’t aware of the pain behind it. Kali was lucky so far that it was her only noticeable scar. The rest are easily hidden by long sleeves. They would raise too many questions otherwise.
“Marie, I love you but you don’t have to stay for this part,” Kali says through gritted teeth, clenched against the pain. “I’ll be fine.”
“Fuck no,” replies Marie empathetically. “I’m not leaving you alone with this. We promised, remember?”
Kali snorts despite the agony weaving its way through her cracking bones. “We were five and promised to be best friends together. This hardly counts.”
“It counts to me. I’m not leaving my sister, my best friend, alone when she is in so much pain. What sort of person would that make me?”
“A sane one?”
“Well, it’s not like anyone is completely stable in our family. The only gift we ever got from our parents, really. Look.” Her eyes grow more serious. “You are all there is in this world for me. So what if you go a little furry each month? We will deal with it. Just like we always have. And besides, there is no way I would sleep tonight knowing you were out there. Really, you are doing me a favour.” Her smile doesn’t reach her eyes.
Before Kali can answer, the transformation is upon her. Her back arched and fingers clenched, she can feel every follicle of fur stabbing through her skin. Kali’s jaw lengthens, her teeth pierce her lips, her rib cage expands … She loses track of time after that.
A handful of steps away, Marie stands with hands over her ears, trying and failing to block out the dreadful screams that echo through the barn. The sound haunts her waking dreams. No wonder sleep is now hard to find.
The process seems to stretch on into eternity, Kali contorting in ways that a human body is not meant to. But she isn’t human any more, not according to their village.
Finally, it is done. Curled in a ball, shaking from fear and pain, lies a small grey wolf, a scar still visible above her eye. She pants rapidly, the only sound now in the barn.
Marie takes a step closer, then another step. Soon enough, she is close enough to touch. She lays a gentle hand on the wolf’s snout, stroking the short hairs. “There, we’re all done now, Kali. You can rest for a while. Dawn is a while away yet.”
And so Marie sits by her sister, leaning into the warmth of her fur. Outside, the oncoming storm finally breaks, rain pouring down in a deluge and thunder rumbling in the distance. But inside, none of that matters. They are together and they will get through this. They have to.