Beastly

Sarah knew he wasn't human after watching how he handled her brother's men back there but she had never seen or watched anyone change into what she was seeing before her eyes.

The man named John Crowe broke his back in half, not by his own doing per se, and changed into something novel.

This transformation didn't turn him into a wolf with fore legs and hind legs. But into one that stood tall before her very own eyes. His blue eyes shown brighter after the transformation, like crystals, and she found herself being magneted to them.

"John?" she said, when his screams had died down. His face was wider now, like that of a wolf. But it still retained those manly features. He was half man and half beast all rolled into one.

"What the hell is that? My god," Old Mikey gasped in surprise. He was still sitting atop the carriage and hadn't even thought of coming down.

John just stared at her, his face devoid of anything other than pain. But it was slowly seeping away from him, like water from dry land.

I took a step towards him.

Old Mikey cautioned, "Don't get any closer to him, Sarah. Get back!"

But I didn't listen. I approached him slowly, my hands held out. Just so I could show that I didn't mean any harm. Animals were like that, so the show of hands was necessary.

"Sarah.." Old Mikey warned, and he began to come down.

"It's okay, John. We're here."

John huffed and grunted. He looked at himself. Hands and fingers longer than normal, and claws extended. His upper half was ripped, chest solid and looking as strong as ever, and he did look almost the same way some hours back.

His legs were longer, giving him a taller height, and those feet made large impressions on the earth.

Then his eyes fell on me, and his brows furrowed.

Old Mikey appeared my side, almost out of breath, as if he had been running a marathon. He had his gun in both hands.

"We don't need that, Mikey," I told him.

"Why? You ever seen something like this? Can't be sure what it could do."

"He won't hurt us."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

I gave him a look and said, "Don't be ridiculous, Mikey. We helped him back there with doctor David and we are giving him a place to stay." I looked back at John. "We are not your enemy, John, okay? We are here to help you. To keep you safe."

I could not blame the man who stood beside me. He had taken to hunting wolves that terrorized Black Hollow so he wasn't about to put away his gun. Kept the other end of the barrel aimed at John Crowe.

So John saw the gun and the animal instinct in him told the man that he should attack, or flee. But John wasn't one who ran, opined the human trait.

He grunted, growled, and roared. It wasn't an howl. It was nothing close to an howl. Almost felt like a lion trying to roar for the first time and not getting it right. Either way, Sarah and Old Mikey got the message.

Sarah, who was faster and more lithe, pushed Old Mikey to the left and propelled herself in the opposite direction.

John bounded towards them, and slashed at Old Mikey. He got the gun, completely slicing it in half before the man could get a shot off. Seeing as it was enough for him, John leaped and bounded towards the forest that was on the other side of the property.

Sarah got to her feet at once. "I have to follow him."

"Don't be stupid, girl," Old Mikey said.

"I'm not. You can hardly run fast and I can defend myself."

"Oh, can you?" he asked. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

"My brother might be an ass most times, but he taught me how to fight. So that's enough for me now."

"I'll be right behind you," Old Mikey said. One look at his gun, and he sighed. "I just have to get another gun."

"Don't bring that along, for your own safety. Animals don't react well to weapons."

"Damn, he was fast. And strong. What the hell is he?"

Sarah said nothing else and ran after John. She honed into her senses and could hear his feet bounding from tree to tree. The man didn't even need to use the ground to travel. He was riding the wind instead.

She pumped more energy into her arms, trying to increase her speed, hoping that John would slow down at some point. The fear of losing him to her brother began to bother her so much.

There was something about the man that wasn't quite right. He was a stranger but how did her brother know who he was and what purpose he would serve? Wasn't that too much of a coincidence?

And how could he turn halfway and still stand on both feet, instead of taking the shape of a full wolf?

Sarah wanted to know what the man was. It was clear that John Crowe would play an important role very soon. And if her brother wanted to kill him for a ritual, then he was overplaying his hands.

Sarah wouldn't let him do that to John.

She noticed that he had stopped. Few moments later, she caught up with him. He was standing at the edge of a ravine. Not looking down but looking across it. Like he was still trying to make up his mind if he should jump or not.

Sarah stopped, gave him a running breadth and approached from his left flank, hands held out.

"John, I need you to listen to me. I am Sarah, and I'm your friend. We just left the doctor's place and I was taking you to a house where you'd be safe from those who want to harm you."

John looked at me, finally. Then pointed over the ravine. I looked. "What?" I asked.

It was dark. He kept pointing. I took some steps towards him, and peered in the direction of his hand.

That was...