Before a Once Upon A Time

Wolf Of Man - Dangerous Habits

Story 3 - Wolf Of Man

Part 2 - Dangerous Habits

Lupe had been a fairly obedient boy his whole life. He had not struggled with or fought convention, or people, or even animals. Animals all seemed to respond to him, to love him as soon as they noticed his presence. People might not love him but he wasn't hated either. He trusted others to help him and they expected nothing from him - and none of the parties involved in this saw anything wrong with it. It seemed natural. Lupe still helped out, making the people think he was a caring and generous boy even though he was only doing the same amount as all the others in the village.

            He cared for everyone and everything and everything and everyone cared about him. He was sweet and thoughtful and maybe not the strongest but he as one of the 'Two Princes' for the girls in the town he lived in. There was only one school, but it was quite large and all the people who attended (Or at least all the girls) agreed that there were two guys who stood apart in remarkability. Lupe, who we've already discussed. Kind and gentle, sweet and caring. The only downfall - it was hard to tell if actually liked someone because he was kind to everyone - some people spitefully said he lead people on and others replied that he lead no one on. It was fairly clear he wasn't interested in anyone, because they could only imagine how much sweeter he would get.

            The other Prince actually was one - or at least as close as you could get to one in this small town. He was the son of the richest man in the town - cute, rich and charming too. He was gorgeous in the eyes of all his admirers - and he was in actuality too. The reason both of them could be so attractive and held above everyone else was well….

 Lupe was to dumb- er sweet to notice any kind of approach, and this other prince (His name is going to be Char, okay?) was so rich that no girl would ever be allowed to pick him - he would pick the girl, no matter how aggressive the girls were. And so they both were held above all the other, 'normal' guys because neither of them could ever be 'courted'.

            *Girls competed on how many times they could talk to the princes - how many times they could touch their hair or stroke their arms. Of course, this was the problem that would cause Lupe's erm...condition. He was too likeable. And too popular. And too, well… touched. He was used to casual contact, otherwise he might have noticed the spell being placed on him and wondered at it. And perhaps, he could have sought help before that night and he wouldn't have become what he did - but that is all speculation. Nothing is set in stone. Perhaps it would have been someone else instead. Or it would have spread through animals. Or he would have survived the first few outbreaks and then been bitten. Who knows? Well, I suppose I could know. But that isn't him on my priority list.

            Lupe was kind and generous in all he did. But it was to hide something - something important and dark and dangerous and sad. He was not the innocent person everyone thought he was - or well, maybe he was but he wasn't as dumb as everyone assumes. Those words tend to go together a lot. Have you noticed? Dumb and sweet. Well. It is not a set in stone type of thing. People can be sweet and not be dumb at all. And people can be very, very dumb and be bullies. Or mean people. Or really mean people. Or really, really mean people.

            Lupe had a hobby, a dangerous hobby. He liked to hunt animals - he never killed them. He just liked to trap them and watch them move around in giant cages he created in the forests surrounding the town. He really liked to watch them and after a certain amount of time he released them again in a very complex system that meant he remained in a safety cage much like the one they had been in and moved a series of pulleys and such to open doors and release them out into the wild. He made sure that they were not acclimated to human contact when he let them go - he had perfected that idea when one of his first catches - a squirrel - had decided to follow him home and now lived in the tree outside his home. The animal had gotten so used to humans that he didn't want to live without them, even if it meant his death to stay. Of course Lupe wouldn't let that happen, but if he was anyone else the squirrel wouldn't have survived, or truthfully, it would never have felt the need to follow him home, so maybe it was even.

             He didn't trap the animals out of spite. He simply liked to watch them move. Their eyes, brilliant colors, the light catching hints of exotic colors in their fur, their movements smooth and abrupt all in one, a hypnotizing dance he was sure had been the death of many a scholar, especially the more dangerous animals and the more stupid scholars. He would often sigh just thinking about the beauty and majesty of the forest's animals. They enticed him in a way he could not explain to any human. They simply wouldn't understand.

            *Or course, this was another reason he was magicked. How could someone resist when he was so obviously enamored with forest life - if you love him, let him go kind of thing. Though, I think they might have been a bit extreme in this instance. I mean, creating a new species of magical creature takes a lot of time and effort and to want to test it out on your love - that takes dedication and confidence. Lots of confidence. Shoot. My mouth again. I really need to just stop including these notes. I just sighed, in case you're wondering. But, since you can't hear it I thought I should inform you. And it was a big sigh too. Very worthy of pity, I would say.  But maybe that's just me. I don't know. It's hard sometimes, being so perfectly understood by some - it means the others have no idea what so ever what you are saying. And that's a little sad. Oh well. Moving on. This story isn't about me, it's about Lupe.

            Char was not as deep as Lupe - he was really just a pretty face and lots of money. And something else. Something Lupe didn't have but could have, in another life.  He killed animals in the forest all time. It was sporting and fun and even popular, once upon a time. But now, in this story’s day and age (Though I can't be sure which one it was. Sorry. My sense of time is greatly broken.), it was greatly frowned upon. Animals were considered sacred and important, much more so than people because there were always so many people and there were so few animals left. Or at least there had been. Most animal populations had recovered after the tragedy. (I also don't know what the tragedy was. Sorry. I just know it was large and important and did a lot of damage to almost all animal populations, including human but more so everything else.) Meat was considered a luxury or a rarity and precious, for special occasions only, well, normally. For everyone except Char. He was a carnivore and a demoniac one at that. He ate like the meat was about to disappear and be gone from the face of the Earth forever. And ever. And like no more could ever be found, collected or killed. Anywhere.

The food quickly disappeared and was replaced by bones and gristle that was fed to his hunting hounds to make them more vicious, lean and strong. And indeed they were the only ones anywhere near the town and so they were the best hunting dogs, and the strongest of all the dogs in town. Dogs elsewhere in town were fed scraps of whatever the normal people where eating, which was a little less healthy for them, even though they had evolved probably beyond the dogs you think of .(Well, that sort of depends on which ones you think of. The fluffy ones with the floppy ears and the soft fur that barked and yipped and made cute noises? Those dogs are close to these but these are a little less evolved. They do not however, have anything to do with the adorable, slimy green dogs with only one eye and the six legs that eat only human flesh. Not those. Not even close to those. Nope.)These evolved dogs were actually adapted in their digestive systems to eat vegetables as well as they ate meat - it had actually become an instinct to eat vegetables first, though their teeth didn't change as quickly as their digestive track so they eat mainly soft bladed things unless there are left over chewed up bits from humans. And dogs no longer ate separate food. The humans simply put their plates on the ground outside and whatever got the food got the food and the dogs seemed to understand the compromise, though no one questioned the fact that animals never seemed to get close to the town.

            *If you guessed that this has something to do with the magic and Lupe then you would be totally right! How do you do that? It's impressive, let me tell you. And....No! I stopped myself from saying that you might recognize why in a few minutes. Darn it! I'm such a clutz....There was another sigh there too. Also deserving of pity...maybe more so than the first. But enough about the dogs. They aren't the important part here - that's Lupe. And Char. And for a moment in a little bit, the dogs. But maybe this could have waited until then, then. Maybe? I don't know. I'm leaving it. It'll make sense later.