Housepets: Curse of the Werenut, Chapter Four
Chapter Four
"He's in the house," Grape explained to the Pomeranian as
they hid behind the next door neighbor's bushes.
"How badly did he hurt Max?" Tarot asked. Grape had explained everything on their way
over.
"I don't think he did any permanent damage, but he
definitely scared him."
"This is worse than I thought," Tarot mused. "I had hoped that Peanut's innocent and naïve
nature would be enough to keep the werewolf at bay."
"So it's true?" Grape asked.
"He really is turning into a werewolf?"
Tarot nodded solemnly.
Grape found that she wasn't as surprised as she would have expected to
be... that, in itself, was a depressing thought.
"What do we do?" she asked.
"The only way to cure a werewolf is to feed it wolfsbane,"
Tarot answered.
"Well, that shouldn't be too hard. Peanut will eat anything if you put it in his
food bowl."
"I'm afraid it won't be that easy. You see, now that Peanut's a werewolf, he'll
have a natural aversion to wolfsbane. If
we want him to eat it, we'll have to force it down his throat."
Grape frowned, and crossed her arms in shame. Noticing this, Tarot placed her paw
consolingly on her shoulder, "You mustn't blame yourself for this, Grape. It's not your fault."
"It IS my fault," the cat argued. "I'm his big sister. It's my job to look out for him."
"There was nothing you could have done," Tarot
insisted. "What chance do you think you
would have had against Pete?"
"I'm a horrible sibling," Grape moaned, putting her face in
her paws.
Tarot's face grew angry, and she planted her fists on her
hips.
"Grape Jelly Sandwich!" she barked. "Listen to yourself! Your best friend and brother is in trouble,
and you'd rather sit here and mope than do anything to help him! Get over yourself and do what needs to be
done! Peanut needs our help, and I can't
save him without you! Now get up and get
inside that house!"
Grape stared at the Pomeranian, her eyes wide with
surprise. She'd never heard Tarot speak
like that before! Startled completely
out of her misery, she nodded.
"What do you need me to do?" she asked.
"Just keep him inside.
The moon is coming up soon, and we can't let him leave the house."
"What about mom and dad?" Grape asked.
"I'm going to call your house and draw them away for the
evening."
"And what are you going to do?"
"Sabrina and I are going to go find some wolfsbane. She knows how to find it better than I
do. We'll be back soon. Just..." she hesitated. "Don't let anything happen."
"I won't," Grape promised.
"Peanut will be safe with me."
"No, I meant don't let anything happen to YOU."
Before Grape could process what she had said, Tarot turned
and ran back towards her house. Grape
looked at her own house and gulped nervously.
This was going to be an interesting night, that was for sure. Bracing herself for the worst, she marched up
to the front door. Before she could open
it, it swung open and her parents came out.
"We're going out for the night, Grape," Mrs. Sandwich said,
not breaking her stride. "You can get
some dinner out of the fridge. Take care
of Peanut while we're gone!"
"I'll try," the cat said, meekly as her parents got into the
car and drove away.
She took a hesitant step into the house, "Peanut?" she
called. There was no answer.
As she made her way through the house, she felt a chill
cascade down her spine. Her every
footstep seemed to echo loudly down the hallway. She reached Peanut's room and tentatively
peeked through the crack in his doorway.
Peanut was standing in the center of his room, looking out
the window. Grape could see that the sun
was beginning to sink below the horizon.
She bit her lip in fear, trying to figure out what to do next.
"Hello, Grape," Peanut said without turning around, his
voice ominously low and completely unemotional.
Grape fought the urge to turn and bolt, "H-hey, Peanut!" she
returned the greeting, trying to sound cheerful. "Mom and Dad are gone for the night. Y-you wanna get some dinner?"
Peanut did not respond.
He didn't even move.
Feeling as if her whole body was about to collapse from
fear, Grape stepped into his room and placed her paw on his shoulder, "Come on,
Peanut!" she encouraged him. "I'll tell
you what, we can break out those steaks Dad told us not to touch! Would that make you happy?"
It took Peanut ten seconds to respond, "Steak? Meat.
Yes. That sounds good."
"All right, now you're talking!" Grape exclaimed, hiding her
fear behind a false smile. "Let's go to
the kitchen!"
Slowly, almost robotically, Peanut turned and followed the
cat out of his room and down the hallway.
Grape looked into his eyes. They
weren't Peanut's eyes, she realized.
These were cold, stony eyes. The
eyes of a wolf. She shuddered, but didn't
say anything.
When they made it to the kitchen, Grape opened up the
refrigerator and pulled the package of steaks out, "What should we do with
them?" she asked. "Grill them? Maybe we could..."
Before she could finish, Peanut's paw flew out and pushed
her aside. She collided with the cabinet
and sank to the floor with a groan of pain.
Nothing was broken, she hadn't hit anything hard enough for that, but it
still hurt. She gingerly got back to her
feet and watched as Peanut tore open the packaging and began mauling the thick slabs
of beef. He tore into them with wild
abandon, stuffing entire steaks into his mouth at a time. Blood drizzled down from the corner of his mouth.
"You... you like them?" Grape asked, hoping she had placated
him.
Peanut turned and glared at her with animalistic
hatred. A low, guttural snarl rose from
his throat, and the fur on his back stood straight. Grape froze with terror. This was not Peanut she was looking at. It was... something else. When the cat made no move to steal its food,
the thing that looked like Peanut returned to its meal, devouring every steak
within a couple of minutes. Throwing the
empty package to the floor, he leaned his head back and howled. Grape clamped her hands over her ears to
block out the sound.
And then it happened.
A beam of moonlight came through the kitchen window and struck Peanut
square in the chest. Even though it was
just a ray of light, Peanut doubled over in pain, as if the moon itself had
punched him. A pitiful whine came from
him, and he fell to all fours. He looked
up, and for one single moment, Grape could see the real Peanut in his eyes,
scared and begging her for help. Then he
shook his head, as if trying to rid it of unwanted thoughts, and Peanut was
gone.
Peanut's body convulsed on the kitchen floor. If anyone had looked through the window, it would
have looked as if the poor dog were having a seizure. Then, before Grape's eyes, it throbbed. All of it, at the same moment, grew larger
for moment before shrinking back to its normal size. It happened again, as if Peanut's muscles
were growing on their own accord. With a
sickening jolt, Grape realized that was EXACTLY what was happening. Peanut's body continued to pulse, growing
slightly larger each time. His heart was
beating loud enough for Grape to plainly hear it. A feral growl came out of Peanut's throat,
and he extended his arm just in time for Grape to see it become rippled with
rock-hard biceps, and his fingers become tipped with razor sharp claws.
"Peanut," she found herself whimpering, "please stop!"
Peanut's fur grew shaggier, though it remained the same
color, until it was a thick as a wolf's pelt.
His spine stretched with a sickening crack, giving him more than two
additional feet in height. His mouth
stretched open as his every one of his teeth extended into horrific looking
fangs. With one final pulse, his body
grew to its true size, and the transformation stopped.
For a moment, all was still.
The werewolf simply lay there on the floor, unmoving. Grape stood with her back pressed against the
kitchen wall, putting as much distance between herself and this... this THING as
she could. Then, just as Grape had begun
to think it would stay there all night, there werewolf picked itself up from
the floor. It towered high above her,
its head almost touching the ceiling. It
sniffed the air for a moment, completely unaware of her presence. Then it turned to look at her.
"P-P-Peanut?" Grape dared to ask, her voice barely a
whisper.
Without a warning, the werewolf bared its teeth and lunged
at her! Only Grape's catlike reflexes
saved her from being mauled on the spot.
She leaped into the air just as the wolf came at her and landed on its
back. The wolf stood up straight in surprise,
and Grape slid down its back and landed neatly on the floor before taking off
and running down the hallway.
Keep him inside, and don't get killed. Those had been Tarot's instructions. But how in the world was she going to stay
alive if she was stuck inside the house with it? Grape dashed up the stairs as quickly as she
could, intending to lock herself into her parents' room. Halfway up, though, she noticed something.
The werewolf wasn't chasing her.
CRASH!
Grape's heart sank into her stomach as she realized what she
had just heard. The werewolf hadn't come
after her. It had broken down the front
door. Her whole body went cold as she
raced back down the stairs and down the hallway, skidding to a stop in front of
what was left of the front door. The
entire thing had been reduced to splinters, and the last she saw of Peanut was
a dark, hulking shadow running into the distance. Within moments, it was gone.
Her breathing ragged, Grape fell to her knees. She shivered uncontrollably. He was gone.
Peanut was gone. She'd promised
to take care of him, and she'd failed!
What was she going to do? What was
going to happen to Peanut?
As these thoughts raced through her head, Grape couldn't
keep herself under control anymore. With
an anguished sob, she put her face in her hands and began to cry.