Wolf of the West

6.

The town would continue to clamor and be in their restless state for the rest of the day. The word of a bloodthirsty animal attacking the sheriff's son seemed to put a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Most animals were put in their stables and shops closed as the sun began to set.
Rudy was among the restless. The boy was irritable without sleep and it only seemed to impact him more and more. Laying in bed after supper, he felt himself begin to finally drift off into a slumber. But as was now routine, his body shivered and jolted awake with a nightmare moments later. This time it made him visibly angry, and he threw his pillow into the floor with an angry grunt. He sat under his sheets for a moment as he tried to collect himself, breathing through his nose. He wished Will was there. Maybe he'd get better rest, or even just have some good company. Nonetheless, the lack of sleep and his shuddering body drove him mad.
The freckled boy slipped out of bed and put on his old boots, wrapping a quilt around himself as he left his room. He slipped down the hall and walked outside through the back door. His blue eyes instinctively squinted at the low sun that slowly began to settle behind the crooks of the canyons in the distance, raising his hand over his eyes to shield his vision. He aimed to sit with his chicken in the barn, and have a full night of sleep. That's what he hoped for, anyways.
Chet had already locked up the coop, forcing Rudy to go into the old wooden shed to collect the old bitty. He scooped his hands underneath her breast and lifted her up into his arms. The hen emitted some clucks and chirps of alarm, which made Rudy mumble, "Shh. It's okay, I gotcha. I just wanna go sit with ya in the barn, Henni." He muttered as he turned back to the door, heading out and closing it behind him with his foot.
Circling back to the large barn doors, he sat the hen down on the floor, to which Henrietta simply walked about, picking and nibbling at the hay that was strewn about the floorboards. Rudy sat the quilt down on the floor and pulled a sack of chickenfeed over to use as a pillow. It didn't take long for the sun to slip into the sky and vanish, darkness enveloping the little town. Rudy sat on the quilt, slowly petting the hen's soft feathers and downy as she sat nestled on his lap.
The lack of sleep made him feel so physically ill, it was ridiculous. Frustrated and ready to go to the doctor, he gently removed the hen from his lap and sat her on the feed (to which she nestled into the burlap as she would his lap). Rudy paced back to the barn door. Leaning against it, he raised his eyes to look at the same mocking stars that stared down at him when he was attacked by the feral creature out in the pasture. But something stood out among the glowing freckles of the sky. His blue eyes locked onto the white, shining moon that seemed to smile down at the town. It was pure peace as he felt the wind ruffle his hair.

Suddenly, something felt wrong.

He couldn't tear his eyes away from the moon. It was much like his nightmares—he couldn't escape it. He couldn't move. His breath hitched in his throat as he felt his eyes begin to burn, watering and flooding over his eyelids with strands of tears. "A—Agh—!" He stammered as he finally managed to tear his eyes off of the moon, pressing his hands to them as the burning seemed to spread and flush throughout his lanky body. "O—Ouch, what the h—hell?" He whimpered as he stepped back inside the barn, stumbling backward as he gasped for air. His body felt like it was on fire, as if it was the worst sunburn his ginger body had ever acquired.
"D—Dad!" His voice cracked as he tried calling out to his father from the barn, feeling a sudden metallic taste flood his mouth. He stumbled over to an old water trough and peered inside. His eyes widened at his own reflection as he took in a gasp, seeing his eyes grow bloodshot and redden throughout his sclera. He frantically pulled up his lip to check his mouth, seeing blood begin to seep out of his gums and in between his teeth.
"Wh—What??" He cried as he frantically tried flushing his mouth out with the water. It was interrupted as he felt a sudden crack in his hands, looking down to see that his fingernails were fading to be a dark brown. His eyes focused on his palms, which were now seeming to bubble and blister. He couldn't understand what was forming, but little did he know that they were darkening into paw pads. His eyebrows twitched and furrowed as he tried to understand what was happening, but the only thing that came out of him was a confused, horrific yell. His hands were cracking and seeming to stretch and reshape, the brown nails growing further and further out until they curled, making him scream and collapse to the hay-covered floor. Instinctively, he begun to tear at his shirt to try and feel the cool night air soothe his burning, feverish skin, but was unable to due to the lack of buttons. He felt his chest tighten and it felt like his skin was shrinking due to something growing inside of him. He had to get home to his father.
Rudy began to drag himself, crying and screaming out, toward the door. He shut his eyes tightly as he stopped moving, the pain overwhelming him as he lay on the floor. "A—AGH! H—HELP!" He wailed as his claws dug into the floor, his body unnoticeably growing in size as his ribs popped and cracked. The only time he even noticed was when he heard the audible rip of his shirt. He forced his eyes open to see his sleeve being ripped off by his enlarging body and the dark ginger fur beginning to grow from it. "PL—PLEASE! WILL!" He gave a desperate wail, crying out for anybody. He hadn't even noticed the slight animalistic warp in his throat which made his voice sound low and gruff. He rolled over onto his belly as he tried to stand, but only lay there as he wailed and cried, the bones and joints in his legs snapping and reshaping. His feet twisted so much, his boots simply broke from the size of his growing paws. His clothes were barely hanging on by the threads.
Rudy's neck and vertebrae popped all the way up his neck, which he realized was growing as well. His teeth were reshaped and practically sticking out of his mouth—especially the two large canines that rested over his top lip. His nose wrinkled in pain and he let out a deep scream when he felt a slight snap through his skull. His long hands shakily raised to try and grab at his head, wailing and crying in audibly as he felt his nose and mouth begin to tear and stretch. Rudy was horrified. Was this another nightmare? Whatever it was, he couldn't process what was happening to his body. He felt himself begin to slip into unconsciousness as his vertebrae began to pop and elongate, a ratty tail growing out of and extending from his tailbone. His face was stretching and his nose and mouth had grown long and reformed, which was the breaking point. Rudy gave into the need for sleep and fell unconscious, his head full of the horribly famailar, flashing nightmares and the inability to be in control of his body. A much angrier being was now in control of his body, one with an empty belly, churning with hunger.
The creature panted heavily as its golden-blue eyes opened, saliva flooding out and mixing with the blood from his gums. A deep snarl rumbled through its throat as it stood to its paws. Its head turned with a snarl to look at the white hen that was now alert and clucking loudly. The wolf lumbered forward with a growl, watching as it ran outside the barn and disappeared behind the door. The creature's focus would have been on the prey, had it not been on the fact that there was an open door. The beast snarled and ran forward out of the door, busting the other one open due to its size as it shot into the moonlight.