Bride of the Wolf

Chapter XIV: Two-Minute Ritual

Chapter XIV: Two-Minute Ritual

"Larry, you're bleeding!" Gwen shouted.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Larry told her. "I think the bullet stopped when it shattered my shoulder bone."

"I have to get you to the hospital," said Gwen.

"No," Larry replied, finally giving up on ever getting his seatbelt done up. He looked like he could barely remain conscious but he told her, "Get me to the carnival. It's my one chance. Please Gwen."

Gwen wasn't sure, but she nodded in reply. With her foot to the floor, Gwen raced out of town and down the highway to the gypsy camp.

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Gwen was pulling into the parking area when Larry suddenly screamed out in pain.

"What is it?" Gwen cried out.

Larry watched as his hair grew down over his face. Pushing it away with his fingers he saw his nails growing before his eyes.

"It's the moon!" Larry told her through teeth gritted against the pain.

"Oh no," Gwen said. "Hold it together, Larry! Focus your mind; stay in control!"

Gwen drove right up to the path and brought the car to a full stop. Leaping from the driver's seat she ran around to the other side, opening the door for Larry to step out. But as his feet hit the ground he doubled over in agony once more. Larry's shoulders tightened, squeezed, twisted. As he continued to apply pressure to his bullet wound he felt something press into his hand. Larry was surprised to find that the bullet was forced out of the wound and dropped into his palm.

Gwen lifted Larry to his feet. "Come on!" she cried, but they had only gone a couple of steps when Larry turned around and returned to the car.

Reaching inside, Larry came out with his cane. Then with Gwen's assistance he fought through the pain and hobbled down the path to the carnival. Halfway down the path Larry found his bullet wound healed, his twisted ankle restored. Soon all of his injuries had mended. He was once again the beautiful Larissa, fully turned, and ran as fast as any woman ever could to Zolfina's wagon with Gwen close behind.

"You are late!" admonished Zolfina. The old gypsy was standing at the entrance to her wagon with a short, round man in black robes who was holding a Holy Bible. The man looked appalled at Larry. Larry figured he must be quite a sight, a woman running out of the woods covered in blood.

"Who is this?" asked Larry, slightly winded. He slid his narrow wrists out of the handcuffs. This seemed to just solidify the man's opinion of Larry as some sort of horror show.

"He is a Roman Catholic priest," Zolfina told him, pressing a bunch of flowers into Larry's hands.

"But I'm Presbyterian," said Larry. He threw the handcuffs on the ground. Looking at the flowers he asked, "What are these?"

"Wolfsbane," Zolfina replied. "No more questions; all will be clear. Hurry, everyone into the wagon!"

Larry entered the wagon first, finding Marko already inside. As all the others poured in, he and Marko were forced to the back, with Marko actually pressed into the cage.

"Begin!" Zolfina commanded the priest.

The priest looked startled, but quickly flipped through his Bible and read, "Pater noster, qui es in caelis..."

Suddenly Marko doubled over in pain, clutching his sides. Larry tried to help him remain standing as Marko sank to his knees.

"...sanctificetur nomen tuum."

"Skip this part!" commanded Zolfina as she watched Marko tear at his clothing. "Skip to the end!"

The priest nodded. Pulling out a vial of holy water he placed some on his finger, then drew a cross on Larry's forehead. Bending down to Marko he reached forward, but was startled to find a mouth full of sharp teeth snapping back at him. The priest fell back, then scrambled past all the women in the room to exit the wagon at a run.

Everyone was stunned. Larry watched as Marko used all his strength of will to hold himself together, just long enough to snap one shackle onto his wrist as it changed to a paw. He attempted to do the other but couldn't, and so Larry did it for him. He stood and stepped back, closing the door to the cage.

Marko was fully a beast. He pulled at his shackled hands, and bit at his clothing, snarling and growling. Larry pulled the curtain and the three women backed away, leaving the wagon.

Zolfina looked around. Not finding her priest anywhere she remarked, "I should not have paid him in advance."

"What do we do now?" asked Gwen.

"Nothing," answered Zolfina. "It is over. There is nothing more to be done."

Larry looked at the cane in his hand. He threw the wolfsbane bouquet on the ground and stepped up to the door of the wagon.

"You're wrong," he said with determination to the other women. "There's one more thing to be done. That, 'thing' in there killed Steve, my best friend. And it's doomed me to this half-life forever. I'm going to end this, once and for all!"

Larry entered the wagon, brandishing the silver cane up high.

Aren't you going to stop her?" asked Gwen when Zolfina didn't move. "She's going to kill Marko!"

"No, I will not stop her," said the gypsy, a tear rolling down her cheek. "Larry Talbot is right. This must end, tonight."

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Inside the wagon, Larry/Larissa prepared himself. He raised the cane high over his head like a club. Marko was caged and chained, he knew. But the growls coming from the cage were terrifying and so he approached cautiously. Larry reached out, and pulled back the curtain.

The beast leapt, barking madly. Even though the bars kept him safe Larry fell back anyway, sprawling on the floor and dropping the cane.

Larry recovered the cane from where it landed and stood once again. The beast roared and leapt, but Larry couldn't be shaken. He approached the cage with the cane above his head and...

The beast stopped growling and became very quiet. It looked at Larry, and Larry looked at it. The wolf sat back, then put its head down on its paws. All the time it kept watching Larry, no longer with hate or pain or anger, but with something else. Resignation, perhaps?

Larry approached cautiously, the cane still raised, but the beast didn't jump, didn't move. It just let out a soft whimper as it watched him approach.

It would be so easy to kill it like this. It didn't move. It didn't fight back. It just lay there, and watched. The beast that was Marko, Zolfina's grandson. Turned when he was just a boy. A boy who had never done any harm, who deserved to grow and play and live the same as anyone else. Except instead, this was what life gave him.

Larry/Larissa lowered the cane. He set it aside, and approached the cage. The beast continued to watch him, whimpering softly but never moving. Even when Larry was almost nose-to-nose with it through the bars, the beast simply watched him with its large, sad eyes.

Larry held a hand up to the bars, and the beast sniffed, then licked it. Larry reached into the cage and put his hand on top of the beast's head, stroking its fur. He scratched its ears. The beast responded by licking Larry's chin through the bars.

Larry settled himself into a seated position on the floor. He leaned up against the cage, adjusting himself until he was comfortable with one arm stretched through the bars and over the beast as if it were a family pet. He rested his head against the bars. Exhausted, he soon fell asleep.

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A/N: So is that it? They missed their opportunity, the ritual wasn't performed, nothing can be done, everyone is resigned to their fate? If you believe so then you don't know this author! Tune in next week for Chapter 15, "A New Hope"!