The Good Intentions of a Cyborg Werewolf

Rampage - XXXII

Erin had never been prone to violence. She rarely raised her voice or threw a punch. Even arguments were not a regular part of her life, in part due to her understanding and supportive parents. When she was in high school post-war sensibilities led to her generation being more critical of the government and geopolitics. Encouraged by her teachers to ask questions and uncover the truth of all matters it was obvious that she would eventually find herself on the path to becoming a journalist. She had a knack for people, growing to understand the liars from those who told the truth. Erin would freelance right out of high school to pay for college, despite her parents generous offer to fund her tuition. Yet Erin didn't want to be handheld. She didn't want to be gifted her career. She nearly invested in a law degree were it not for her dissatisfaction with the judicial system. Instead she pursued the real truth. The unfettered facts and hard evidence. Things that the average person couldn't afford. It jaded her in a way, yet opened her eyes up to the real world. Not everyone who seemed bad was a monster, and not everyone who appeared good had the best intentions. It would be easy to become a cynic with what she had learned and experienced, but Erin never gave up on the decency of humanity. She never gave up on good people doing the right thing even if it would be very, very easy to do so. When she met Kyle, bumbling her way through a story that promised to accelerate her career, Erin found yet another example of the decency of mankind. He was kind, generous, and every bit as driven as her to uncover the truth and protect those who needed it. He was a credit to his badge as well as this city, and everything Erin had hoped for in a partner. He was her rock, and she was his.

Then in just a few seconds it was all ripped away. Like a piece of her was torn out, leaving a gaping, bleeding wound. He was gone. Her love, her life, her future evaporated, consumed by an evil that nearly defied comprehension. Things she never thought were real. It was enough to leave her empty were it not for the new purpose she found. She could never bring Kyle back, but she could avenge him, and she could make sure what happened to him never happened again. That's when Erin noticed a change in herself. She was doing things she'd never done, fighting battles and facing threats no normal person would ever encounter, and deep down something grew. Something new was there, something she kept buried, but in her weaker moments it poked through. A prodding here, a thought there, a little notion that festered and waited.

"Erin," Luke said again, though his voice was distant and hollow. She looked at him, she saw him, but it was fuzzy. He was bright, too bright for the dark alley. Her head hurt even as she closed her eyes. The backs of her eyelids swirled red. Her stomach turned. It felt like it was eating itself. Eating her. Her body hurt all over.

Erin moaned, dropping to her knees, and felt her chest tighten. Her whole body felt tight, like her clothes were strangling her. The silver band on her finger felt like it would cut off the circulation if it didn't burn right through her first. It hurt so much. Her moans grew pained. Guttural. A gurgling in her throat as if she were suddenly drowning yet completely parched. She could hear the fabric of her clothes stretch and tear, along with the cracking of her bones. The pain was unbearable. She felt as though her flesh would tear as well, but instead it deformed along with the rest of her. Her hands elongated, her nails growing to grotesque lengths, hair forming along her skin. Her back felt like it was breaking. Snapping, twisting, until it hunched. Yet despite being on her knees and doubled-over, her head was almost to Luke's level as he watched. His face was unlike anything she'd ever seen before, despite its blurriness, as he watched helplessly with widened eyes and gritted teeth.

Erin screamed. But it wasn't a scream. It was a howl, a growl, a horrible snarling wail in agony and anger, until she threw her head back. The bellow was echoing as she stumbled onto her feet. The creature before him was easily twice Luke's height, swaying as it gripped its head, the only remaining article on its massive hairy body was the ring still burning its finger. It no longer even slightly resembled Erin, its shape and form twisted into a bipedal beast baying for blood.