• 600 Years Ago…

    The dark witch of the night Isabel stood in front of a human. He lay curled up in a ball in front of her and was quickly losing blood. Night surrounded them with the trees of the forest, like a thick shroud of darkness. She stared down at him and shook her head with a triumphant smile as he pressed as hand to a wound on his chest.
    "Dear me Christopher, it is your poor choices that have brought this terrible fate upon you. You can still pay your debt to me, or your family shall suffer," she said. Christopher coughed up some blood and looked up at her.
    "My wife, my sister, my parents…they're all dead because of you! I'd rather die and join them than be your slave," he hissed. Isabel laughed suddenly, a loud and cruel noise that caused all the birds to fly off in fear.
    "An error of their own, caused by foolishness. Had they not interfered then they would still be here," she said softly. Then she lashed out at him with her staff. He grunted and new pain blossomed in his stomach. "I did not kill them, they killed themselves!"
    Christopher rolled onto his back and half coughed half groaned. He muttered something, meant only for Isabel's ears. Rage crossed her young face and she lashed out, using her magic to force a sharp mound of earth into his back. He cried out in pain and quickly dragged himself out of the way. Huddled under the trunk of a tree, he held himself and breathed heavily. Isabel walked over to him slowly, shadows falling over her face, making her pale eyes stand out even more.
    "I shall give you one more chance. You can either serve me for the rest of your mortal life as you should, or I shall curse you and your beloved son who you begged me to save," she said, her voice made of shadowy whispers. "This curse shall remain in your family for the rest of time. You'd willingly curse your future generations, just to avoid me?"
    Christopher struggled to move away as she slowly got closer. She grabbed the front of his shirt and lifted him off the ground. He struggled to breathe and her hand closed on his throat.
    "How selfish. But I suppose one of these blasted species has to be," she muttered and threw him back into the opening. Christopher rubbed his throat with a bloodied hand. He took a deep breath.
    "I will never serve you. Take my life, take both our lives if you have to. I will NEVER do your dirty work. Hell is a welcomed sight when faced with you," he spat. Isabel sighed.
    "So be it," she said, and raised her staff skyward. Dark clouds began to circle the clearing and lightning struck the tip of the crystal on Isabel's staff.
    "If you are adamant and refuse to pay your debt, then every last blood kin shall be forever held by the reversed curse of the full moon!" she cried. Christopher's strength was slowly fading, but he had just enough to lift his head.
    "Reversed curse?" he croaked. Isabel glanced over her shoulder.
    "Under normal circumstances, those under the influence of the moon would take on the form of a wolf at night. However, this curse means that you shall be a wolf during the day and human at night," she explained, a cruel smile appearing on her face. "It's such a shame. You would have made such a wonderful servant."
    Christopher let his head fall. He was doomed and he knew what.
    "What have I done…" he whispered, closing his eyes but not before a single crystalline tear of regret escaped and fell to the ground.
    "You will never see the sun through your true eyes again!" Isabel laughed as the curse embedded itself in Christopher's soul. And just like that, she was gone.

    A few hours later, Christopher regained consciousness. He was lying on his back and staring at the sky, which was slowly turning to swirls of pink and orange that brought dawn. Thankfully, the bleeding has stopped, but once the first rays of light him hit, it would not matter.
    Slowly he sat up, a hand to his forehead and wishing the world would stop spinning. The events of the previous night replayed in his mind. He sat there for a moment, realising with horror that he had just condemned his entire family. Head in his hands, he cried silently, wondering what his son would think of him if he ever found out the truth as to why he'd become a monster.
    "How could I…what have I done?" he wept. "Oh Daniel, how could I do this to you?"
    Christopher remained there for those last moments, savouring the slow change in warmth that came with the fast approaching sun. The light touched him and for a moment nothing happened. But just as suddenly, his body began to betray him. Bones broke and reformed, muscles lengthened, nails became claws, and a human face extended to a mouth full of razor sharp snapping teeth.
    There once was a man who had given everything to save the life of his beloved son. He had refused to pay the price, but now fate was taking him whether he liked it or not. A large dark grey wolf stood where said human had once bled, dark green eyes the only thing of his previous self that remained. A mournful howl pierced the silent dawn, and Isabel's dark laughter rang through the forest alongside it.