Cursed

I guess it would be fair to say Gerard's date with Lindsey was a huge success. After that party they pretty much became inseparable. They saw each other most evenings and skipped class together to sneak off wherever they went. Mom was thrilled that Gerard had gotten himself “such a pretty little girlfriend”. When I say they were inseparable, I mean they were inseparable as in it would have taken a surgeon to get their tongues out of the others mouth. Gerard was called a creep and Lindsey was called a slut but not one ounce of fuck was given by either of them.

The next weird thing was that suddenly Gerard was regarded as sex on legs. He oozed confidence, no longer dressing in his oversized hoodies and coats. He wore his jeans slung low on his hips, he brushed his hair from his face, he walked with a rhythmic ease – appeal without the effort. It was weird. Was this guy really my brother? From the sidelines, I'd watch female jaws drop as he glided down the hall. There was a trail of hot pheromones and longing left behind him, wherever he went.

But not all was well.

“Jesus, Mikey,” Gerard protested “Can't you fucking knock!”

He was stood in front of the den's bathroom mirror with shaving cream spread over his chest. I raised an eyebrow. He scowled at me and turned away again, looking back into the mirror and tugging the razor over his skin. Even from where I was standing I could see he was pushing it into his skin.

“What are you doing?” I demanded “Stop that, you're cutting yourself!”

“I have to,” He insisted, turning so I could see.

More grey hairs, like the ones from his wound, were beginning to sprout from his chest. He did not look pleased. It was the first time I'd gotten a good look at him in a few days. His wound was gone but there were still fine hairs sprouting from his shoulder. Indeed grey hairs were growing in little tufts all over his body. Even streaks of his chestnut hair were turning white.

I stared wide-eyed and open-mouthed. Completely at a loss and totally shocked. Something was most definitely wrong. He couldn't deny it now.

“This was full when I started,” He spoke, lifting the can of shaving cream and shaking it. It sounded almost empty.

He looked desperate. Pleading eyes going over me. I shook my head. I wasn't quite at the stage of shaving like a “grown up”. I had a pitiful little electric razor to get rid of the bum fluff I called stubble.

“You know I don't have any,” I replied.

“Well can't you get me some?” He demanded “I'm seeing Lindsey tonight, I can't be hairy!”

“Get it yourself, lazy ass.”

“Fuck you!” He snarled “You know I'd get some for you, if you needed it!”

I snorted with laughter. “No you wouldn't, you'd tell me the exact same thing I'm telling you,” I replied, omniscient “But seriously, do you still think everything's fine?”

“What do you mean?” He questioned, tugging the razor over his skin without shaving cream. Little scarlet drops of blood were forming. It took him a moment but then he realised what I was getting at. “Oh my God, you're not still going on about that?”

I shook my head in disbelief. “You always blow off anything you don't get.”

“I do get what's going on!” He insisted “I'm growing up and I've got weird-ass hormones. But the only monster I see is one with little green eyes.”

This was typical Gerard. If he didn't want to hear or believe something, he'd hurl insults or try and avoid the subject as best as he could. All I wanted was to help him but now he was making me angry.

“So it was a great big hormone that did that to you?”

“Well it wasn't what you think because they don't exist!”

Clearly this wasn't one I was winning. I turned on my heel and stormed out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind me. Steam was coming out of my ears, I was so hot-headed. Something was wrong with Gerard – he knew it – but he wasn't accepting it. I'd have to find out for myself.

Mom was in the kitchen, baking. As I tried to sweep past, she caught my arm. I pulled my arm free, fiercely. She insisted that we needed to talk and pulled me to the kitchen table. I sat grumpily while she clattered about, making a coffee for me.

As she slid the coffee in front of me, she reached out and took my hand. I stared down awkwardly while she squeezed. I kept my hand limp. Gerard would've snatched his hand away from her by now but I didn't share his hostility, just awkwardness.

“Mikey, this is a very exciting time for your brother,” She said softly “Confusing. He's got a girlfriend, he's got to try to fit in, making new friends. Don't feel like you're being left behind, sweetheart. Your time's coming too. Before you know it, you'll have a wonderful girl and lots of new friends too.”

What bullshit. “Yeah, whatever,” I said, getting up “Can I go now?”

“But, sweetie-”

“I have homework,” I called quickly, fleeing the room.

I rushed upstairs and booted up the family computer. Once it opened up, I pulled up the internet and Googled “Lycanthrope”. The first few pages were bullshit Wikipedia and blogs but then I struck gold. Some crackpot discredited Professor out in Vancouver had been studying evolutionary biology and theorised that it was entirely possible for lyncanthropes to exist. He'd spoken to people claiming to have eyewitness accounts. He had whole papers about it.

...we can assume the transformation is a slow process, between one full moon and the next. This would be a permanent change unlike in the fiction of film or literature. The individual will begin to change from the inside out, almost like a viral infection, until they are finally changed and lose all humanity.

These changes that would occur over the next few weeks would be changes in temperment – such as irritability or heightened aggression levels- physical pain as they begin to undergo the transformation, changes to the pigmentation of skin, hair and eye colour, an increased sexual appetite and unexplained hair growth. As time goes by and the next full moon comes closer, teeth could grow sharper, claws may develop and changes to facial structure until they finally begin to make the final stretch of transformation into something believed only possible in horror stories...

I gasped to myself. The early signs certainly seemed familiar. Gerard had been more irritable and aggressive than usual and he certainly was never that hairy before. I'd have to keep a close eye on him in case he was trying to hide anything.

“What are you doing?” His eerie voice demanded behind me.

I jumped and closed the window quickly. “Nothing,” I gabbled “Just homework research.”

Gerard frowned down at me disbelievingly and swept past towards our bedroom. I frowned and pulled my school calender out of my bag, keeping an eye on our shut door. According to my diary the next full moon was October 31st. I circled it with red pen and began crossing out the days gone. I had to find a cure – I had to find that guy from school and see what he knew.