The Bonds of Lycanthropy

Chapter 7: The Will To Kill His Own

Alexander couldn't remember what on earth had happened.

He blinked rapidly and looked around him, then gasped as he found John and Lafayette pale and bleeding on the ground near him. Lafayette was clutching his leg and trying desperately to reach for the pistol that was so far out of reach and... Utterly demolished. Alexander gasped and recoiled from John, who he was sure he was just about to devour a moment ago, judging from how, when he awoke from the trance, he was gripping his friend's throat so tightly that his claws almost pierced straight through it.

He stared at his claws, which had blood splattered all over it. Alexander shook his head slowly, then took several retreating steps backwards.

When John and Lafayette could only moan weakly in response, Alexander gave a shuddering gasp and dashed back into the woods.

He ran as fast as he possibly could. After a few minutes, he felt his side was screaming in protest, but he couldn't stop. He couldn't. He couldn't—

Alexander stopped in his tracks and stared down at the dark, sprawled out figure laying in front of him.

Alexander stared at it in horror, but after a few minutes his curiosity soon got the better of him, and he slowly crawled forward. When it did not move nor make a sound, Alexander crept close enough to prod it, then leapt back.

Nothing.

Alexander frowned at it and went forward once again. He sniffed the air, and it smelt like.. blood. And not like John or Lafayette's blood, but like.. Someone else's.

Alexander stepped closer and peered down at it. When his vision adjusted, he found himself yelling in shock and scrambling backwards.

It was the doctor. The doctor Alexander had been waiting the whole day for.

Dr. West...

.. Dead.

Alexander stared at Dr. West's pale face and glassy eyes, transfixed, then reached over and gently pulled his eyelids closed. He looked down at his chest, which had four marks of several slashes from a knife.

Alexander shook his head slowly. He knew immediately who had done this. The Redcoats.

They are smart, aren't they? Of course they killed him. He would have found out easily what I've become.

While Alexander pondered over this newfound revelation, an overwhelming sense of vertigo came over him, and—

He was struggling furiously in the binds that were keeping him tightly tied against the tree. He saw the Redcoat with the thick black mixture come over to him. Another nearby soldier forced Alexander's Jaws open, and the first Redcoat poured all of the bowl's contents down his throat.

A nauseating feeling immediately exploded within him, and he cried out, his vision blurring and his throat burning. White spots danced across his vision as a voice said, "It's working."

"Give him the wolf's blood." Another voice commanded. Alexander felt his shoulder being gripped tightly, and a needle poked straight through his skin and injected him.

Alexander roared in agony, the wolf's blood immediately interacting with the chemicals.

His blood was boiling. He was thrashing about in pain, but the ropes held him. He could feel the Redcoats trying to keep him still, but his body's convulsions refused to stop...

Then he broke free of the ropes. All the Redcoats yelled as Alexander collapsed to the ground, writhing painfully. Then his body began to transform, and he screamed, and his scream grew in a crescendo, and the moment it reached its peak, it was a howl. The howl of a wolf. The howl of a werewolf.

Then the Redcoats caught him in more ropes and smashed the butt of a gun onto his head, and he fell to the ground. The last thing he heard was, "Let them come for him..."

"He won't have a choice. The entire army will be dead in no time. Dead or transformed, we will win. He doesn't even have to be transformed for him to spread the disease with his bite."

Alexander was shot out of his memories as quickly as he was shot in. A high pitched ringing in his ears sounded, and he whimpered and pressed his hands down onto them. His breathing was loud in his ears as he let the air in his lungs in and out rapidly.

Footsteps. Behind him. Alexander glanced quickly behind him to see John and Lafayette, somehow up, following him.

Alexander dashed off. The two stopped suddenly, and Alexander realized that they must have seen the body. He crouched inside a large bush and watched through the leaves as they bent down to prod the body tentatively. Then they cried out as they realized who it was.

"Oh, no.." Lafayette breathed, reaching out to feel for a pulse. He gave a shuddering exhale and sat down. "This cannot be happening." He ran his hand over his face and stared at the peculiar slashes across his chest. "Who would do such a thing?"

John was staring down at the lifeless corpse with a scowl. "The monster.." He breathed.

"What?" Lafayette asked.

"It.. It must have killed him." John finished silently. "That stupid creature killed our only means of medication! He didn't even get to get into one year of his new child's life!"

Alexander suddenly felt extreme guilt overwhelm him. Why? He hadn't killed the man. But John made it sound like it was true, so much that he almost believed him. Alex stared at his friend's face. He had never seen John so angry... And determined. Determined to kill—

His own friend.

Alexander slunk farther into the bushes and trembled, his breathing erratic. He needed to run. He needed to get away. But if he moved, they would find him for sure, then that would be the end of it.

"How do you know?" Lafayette questioned, completely oblivious to Alexander's terrified thoughts.

John bent down beside him and indicated at the slash marks. "Don't those look like the monster's claws marks? They're the same size, and the depth matches the length of his claws." Then John gently lifted Dr. West's head up. He nodded at his neck and muttered, "And those are definitely bite marks."

Lafayette let out a slow breath. "We've got a rogue killer on our hands then, don't we?"

"I suppose so," John said darkly, straightening himself and clutching his arm while grimacing.

Lafayette stood up and staggered forward. John caught him and cried out.

"Sorry," Lafayette whispered, getting off of him and steadying himself while holding onto the branch of a nearby tree. "Now, we have to bring the body back to camp.."

"And find Alexander." John finished, bending down and grabbing at Dr. West's legs.

Lafayette nodded. "And find Alexander." He agreed. They lifted the body together and slowly headed back towards camp.

Alexander, still crouched in the bushes, exhaled slowly in relief. Then he thought about everything they had discussed. But there was one thing that stood out.

There were "bite marks"? Alexander hadn't noticed that, but then again, he hadn't had the time to observe that well. Alexander pondered over what horrible things the Redcoats could have done to kill him that way.

Then it dawned on him. The Redcoats had framed him, hadn't they? They wanted to get rid of Dr. West whilst simultaneously framing Alexander himself for a murder he didn't commit! It was all a plot to turn them against him and get him to go feral and kill them all!

Alexander clutched his head and whimpered. He could distantly hear John and Lafayette calling his name. He terribly wanted to run back to them desperately and tell them everything, but he couldn't go to them. Not now. Not like this.