"Why? What's the matter?" Mike asked.
"Full moon," I said. Micky's eyes grew wide. So did Mike's.
"Where is she?" he asked, and no one had to ask who he met.
"On the beach. With Peter. They're heading back," I replied.
Peter was halfway back to the Pad when Nicole caught up with him, breathing hard to catch her breath.
"Peter...Peter, what is it?" she asked, gasping. Peter stopped. He'd forgotten about her.
"The full moon," he said. "Come on, there isn't much time. It could start any second."
"What?" she asked, more confused than before. "Peter, what are you talking about? What could start any second?" But he didn't explain, and was heading off again without a word.
Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. It was sudden. Despite herself, she moaned out in pain and hunched over, surprised more than anything. "Oh, no," she whispered.
"What's the matter?" Peter asked, concerned.
"The...I....I've got to get back to the Pad," she gasped. "Oh, God, please, no."
Peter entered the Pad, Nicole leaning on his arms. Mike saw him first. "Why'd you bring....What's the matter?" he asked, noting that she was in pain. "What happened?"
"I-I don't know. She just keeled over, in pain," Peter said.
"Mike..I...the baby," she gasped.
"Baby?" Mike and Peter echoed together. "What baby?"
"I-I'm pregnant," she said. "I think that maybe I'm loosing the baby."
"You're what?" Peter and Mike chorused. Mike stopped and looked at Peter for a second.
"So that's why you're here," Mike said, keeping his eyes on Peter. "
Yes," she gasped. "But," she paused to moan in pain, "I think I'm loosing it." Her eyes were near tears.
"You're not loosing it," I said. All three pairs of eyes turned to look at me.
"I'm not?" she asked.
"No," I said. "It's worse."
"Worse?" she asked. "How could it be worse?" I shook my head, not wanting to tell her.
"Davy? What's the matter with her?" Mike asked. "You don't have to say out loud if you don't want to," he added.
"She 'as what we 'ave," I said simply, hoping everyone would get the idea. Peter got it first, then Mike, and finally Micky. They gasped.
"How?" Micky asked.
"What difference does it make how?" Mike asked. "She's got it, doesn't she? That's all that matters."
Peter merely buried his face in his hands, holding back the tears as much as he could. "No, not her, too," he muttered.
"What is it?" asked Nicole, who was left in the dark. "What do I have that you all have? Mike? Peter? Explain to me, please," she wailed, close to tears herself. I could understand why even without reading her thoughts. She obviously thought that she had contracted a rare and fatal illness from one of us, and she was going to die.
Mike just looked at her in shock. Then, he looked at the ground. I tried to help him, I could understand his fear and guilt, but he wouldn't let me. I was completely blocked from his mind.
Peter was holding back tears. He was obviously upset, and anyone could see why. He'd just heard two of the most shocking things about the girl he loved in the last ten minutes, and it was a shock to him.
As for Nicole, she was lost and was begging for someone to tell her what it was she had. Mike and Peter were too upset to help her. I looked for Micky, but he'd left. I decided that I'd have to explain to her.
I helped her to the couch and sat down next to her. "It's gonna be alright," I said. "You aren't going to die." She looked at me, relatively calmer, but still unconvinced. "Trust me." She nodded. "I guess I've got to explain, 'ey? Remember when you saw me, well, change..?" I asked. She nodded again, eyes widening.
"Well, I'm not the only one," I said. Her eyes widened even more, and I wondered if her eyes would pop out of their sockets. "The others 'ave this, too, although they only change at certain times."
"Like the full moon?" she asked. "But why did you change in the middle of the month?"
It was a question I had pondered often myself. Though Peter could initiate his own transformation, I was the only one who did it unwillingly at any other time of the month. It was a burden, especially since I wasn't always sure of when I would change and when I wouldn't.
"I don't know," I answered honestly.
"The others are like you?" she asked. I nodded. "They also transform into...mountain lions?"
"No," I said, shaking my head. I explained then, quickly, how Mike and Peter and Micky were all different animals. "I'll explain more later, tomorrow," I said. "It's almost time."
Mike and Peter had been paying attention to my explanation, and stopped to listen. Suddenly, the whole house went silent, as if we were all drawn to something. Then, from upstairs, came the unmistakable roar of the king of the jungle. It was going to be a long night......
The roar was, as usual, loud enough to shake the entire house. It sent a chill down everyone's spines. Then, suddenly, Peter stood up.
"I-I've got to go," he said, and abruptly, and bolted out of the house before anyone could stop him.
"Peter..." Nicole said, but he was already gone. She looked at me.
"Don't worry, he does this all the time. Every month. He needs to be away when it happens," I said. It did nothing to console her.
And all of these emotional shocks were not good at all for Mike, who was unable to hold out any longer. He moaned in pain, clutching his stomach, fighting back to keep from either crying or yelling out in pain. Nicole started to get up to help him, but I grabbed her hand and shook my head.
"He'll be okay. There's nothing you can do for him," I said. She nodded, gravely, but still looked upset.
Surely enough, Mike fell down to the ground shortly afterwards. I knew that there wasn't much time left after that. Immediately, fur popped out all over him. It started slowly, as hair growing on his arms, but grew longer. Then, his back arched and his arms grew longer. Above the bulging skin, his clothes ripped and fell to shreds around him. His face elongated and the fur grew there as well. His eyes were nearly covered, but I could see that he was in great pain from the little bit of his eyes that I could see. They were opened wide, and he seemed to be pleading with me, or with anyone, to make the horrible pain stop. Then he howled, a long, mournful wail that sent shivers running up and down my spine once more.
Nicole sat, enraptured, throughout the entire transformation. She too, saw his eyes and could see that he was in pain. As soon as the transformation had completed, she looked at me questioning.
"It's over," I said. She got up off the couch and knelt down next to him. She held his canine head in her hands and looked into his eyes. I could see that she was close to tears.
"Mike?" she asked, whispering.
"Two down, two to go," I whispered quietly. Just then, there was a whine out the door. "Make that three," I said out loud. Nicole looked at me, curiously. I nodded towards the door. She got up and went over to it, opening. Outside the door stood Peter. Not in human form, but as the short, golden haired canine that was his altered form.
"Peter?" Nicole whispered. I thought, amused, that she was whispering a lot of names lately, and almost smiled at the thought. But then was not the time to smile, because her change was coming on fast.
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