Chapter 10: He Must Be Reborn
Jenny lay, tossing and turning in her bed; her brain buzzed uncontrollably with intense burning and confusion. Her hands held tightly onto her blanket, while sweat poured off of her like a river. Then, her eyes opened and she breathed thick and heavily. Outside her window, she could see rain pouring hard into the alleyway, and slamming into her window like dozens of pebbles. The date was Tuesday July 5th, 2005. She whipped the blanket off of her; noticing that her clothes were completely gone and that her body had noticeable scars all over it. Some looking like claw marks, and others were clean cuts. Her neck throbbed in the back, which she reached for to rub. She winced, pulling her hand away.
It felt like someone was stabbing her hundreds of times with white hot needles. There was a bump, she could tell because she felt it sticking out of her. "Good God, what did I do last night?" Jenny asked herself as she climbed out of bed. She stumbled over to the mirror, so she could get a good look at herself. What stared back at her disturbed her beyond all belief. Her eyes had horrendous bags underneath them and her cheeks were sunken in; making her cheekbones poke out more dominantly. Her canine teeth appeared a bit pointier now though.
When Jenny touched the teeth with her right pointer finger she drew it back fast as it got pricked. Blood immediately formed on the fingertip, running down onto her hand. She rubbed her fingers together, feeling the warm red liquid masking her palms. Something about the blood made Jenny feel so good about herself. Blood in general, for some weird reason, felt like an adrenaline rush to her. She looked back up to gaze at her face once more, this time noticing that her skin had some weird stretch marks on them. Surrounding her mouth and nose was where the most of them hung out. Her hands even had these marks, all over the backs of them and on her fingers. Jenny sat down onto her bed, lifting her feet and gasped as she saw how long the familiar marks were on them. "What the...?" she cried. "I'm a freak!"
Jenny flipped around onto her stomach, and grabbed her sheets so hard that her fingers began ripping through them. "WHY DOES THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME?! WHO WOULD WANT TO HURT SOMEONE LIKE THIS?!" Jenny screamed into her bed. All she wanted to do was rage against the world, and hated every single person that didn't have to deal with what she did. She hated that no one else she knew of shared the same curse; never transforming every full moon.
Jenny pushed herself up, and turned around to sit on her butt. She was so enraged at this point. It started deep down in her stomach and coursed throughout her veins, making her burn red hot. I wish that someone could help me through this. My real Dad isn't here to help me, and my step Dad sure as hell can't help... WHERE DO I GO?! Jenny thought. Feeling as if the rain would help, she got up and walked towards the window, pressing her face against the cool glass.
She closed her eyes, allowing all of her stress to slip away as relaxation swept over her. Placing both of her hands onto the window, Jenny just let her mind float off once more as she tried to attempt to understand exactly what was going on in her life. She wasn't there anymore to say the least; mentally, Jenny was off in another world as far away as she could be from the real reality that was her life now.
* * * *
Hilary was pacing back and forth, holding her head up with her right hand, and talking rapidly to herself. Meanwhile, Harold stood at the cave entrance while staring down at the huge city. He took in all the sights, watching as the sun reflected brightly off of the skyscraper's windows. The sound of cars' horns blowing, broke the silence. "What are you going on about Hilary?" Harold asked, still gazing at the town. "Nothing Harold; I'm just wondering what to do about Phillip. He's been dead for God only knows how long and that girl had already been through her first transformation. Don't you think it's about time he is brought back?" she replied.
Stopping at the end of her sentence, Hilary could feel her right hand burning again. She closed her fingers, holding onto her wrist. Leave me alone! Hilary thought, but whoever it was, continued to control her mind. Harold turned around to look at her, taking in all of her confusion. "I have no idea Hilary, when do you think it's best to do it? I personally don't think Jennifer is even ready to experience such a drastic change. Not even lycanthropy can describe the pain that a woman experiences during birth." Harold replied.
He walked over to Hilary, and stared at her until she replied. Hilary lifted her head, and stared at him intensely. "If she's not ready for that, where and when should she do it? I mean, she's sixteen for God sakes; I think she can handle it..." "NO! Jennifer is not ready for such a change!" He said; his face quickly filling with annoyance. He couldn't help but hate Hilary for what she's done to him, and now she wanted to hurt another innocent person again. "Why does Phil have to come back anyway? He's not even that much of an important asset."
She honestly didn't have a good answer. She really didn't know why Phil had to come back, nor why Jenny had to subjected to such torture. That unknown force continued to fly around inside her, quickly taking over her mind once more. Hilary turned around, pacing the cave once again. In the center of the dark and cold room sat a cauldron, which was hovering over a roaring fire. Inside the cauldron was a deep, dark liquid which remarkably held a bright surface. Hilary placed her right finger into it, rippling the surface of the water and watching as the water swirled around.
It showed a picture of Jenny using the sword of sacrifice, and killing innocent people. The whole scene took place up at the old shack up on the mountaintop, on the other side of the town. "That's it..." The woman said, turning around quickly. "Don't you see Harold?" She asked him. "See what?" Harold replied. Hilary walked over to him, waving her hands with excitement. "That shack up on the mountain is our key to pulling this whole thing off. I know that there are others who have this curse because I had you infect them over the last decade or so." "I'm still not following you." Harold replied.
"Oh my God; listen to me!" She said, grabbing a hold of his face and talking slowly. "That shack can be used as a disguise. We can make it into a lycanthropy school. Meaning we can bring a bunch of kids up there, making them think it's actually a school, and then warp them to join our army's 'cause.'" Hilary said, making quotation marks with her hands. She smiled at him, and continued. "Once they're there, we can gain their trust; Jenny uses the sword, bodda bing we're in!" Hilary said. Harold smiled, "We'll be able to use that sword to transform others instantly... But something confuses me." Hilary let go of him, shaking her head in her hands. "What? What is so confusing?!" she said angrily.
"Why... can't you just infect them like you did me? I mean you're magical; you can do whatever the you want." Harold said. "I thought we've been through this Harold. After infecting you that night, I used the last bit of strong magic that I had. I couldn't give the disease to anyone else if even if I wanted to. I don't know why I lost all my power, but I know that the sword can do what I can't. It's a very important object." Hilary started, while breathing fast. "When Jenny is brought up there, after a short while; we will impregnate her with her father's soul. She will give birth to him, and he will be back to help us. With what? I have absolutely no idea! Something in my gut is just telling me that this plan will work."
Harold backed off; his mind raced frantically with so many thoughts. One voice told him that it was a great idea, but it fought hard with another, smaller voice, which told him it was an awful thing to do. He looked pained, turning around to look at the city once again. Cars raced down the road, trying to get to their jobs, others heading home. He felt his wolfish spirit stir inside him, and yet he fought it. "What do you say Harold?" Hilary asked. He sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes as hard as he could. He furled both sets of fingers which dug into his skin; breaking it and making him bleed. "Harold?!" Hilary asked again. "I... I really don't..." he flipped around, locking his eyes onto Hilary's.
His stare felt so piercing and hot that it made Hilary back down a bit. "What's wrong?" she asked. "It feels so wrong Hilary. Why such a young girl? Why does Jennifer have to suffer in such a way?" He sat down, burying his head into his hands. He sobbed hard, causing his body to shake. Even though he had helped Hilary in the past, he didn't want to assist in torture such a young girl. Hilary sat down on her knees, placing both of her hands on her legs, watching as Harold cried.
"She's important to this whole equation Harold. Jennifer will bring back a key person to this plan, making the plan a whole lot easier. She must rebirth him or we might as well pack our bags now." "I know Hilary; why though?" he replied. "Harold if you do not help me, I will kill you. I saved you at the brink of death and I can easily take your life from you right here and now; if that's what you want." Why would I say that? What's happening to me? I never thought this way before! Hilary thought. She started to feel worried as to who or what was controlling her thoughts. She knew it wasn't her own doing.
Harold jerked his head up; anger painting his face. He bent his eyebrows down and scowled at her. "You would wouldn't you?" he said, jumping to his feet. Hilary stood up as well, and nodded. "I have no quarrels with doing that, if you refuse to help me make this army. Lycanthropy is the answer to all worldly sickness; it's needed to make a superior human race. Without it we will all go extinct eventually. We need this and I need your cooperation; you have no say in that matter." With that being said, Hilary walked back over to the cauldron, leaving Harold standing, clenching his fists with anger. On her way over, she kept racking her brain as to why those words were so easy to produce. He wanted to kill Hilary so badly but he couldn't.
Something told him if she died, he would too. "Fine, I... I will help you do this." he told her. He couldn't see it but Hilary had the biggest smile spread across her face. She forced it away and turned around. "Good boy Harold; you will not regret it, I promise." Then she stood next to the cauldron, losing her thoughts as she watched Jenny kill over and over. Harold whipped back around, hating the woman even more now than ever. Sure she saved his life; she didn't have to keep hanging that over his head. He punched the cave wall to his left as hard as he could, making a long crack form and run up to the ceiling.
* * * *
"Are you alright in there Jen?" Phil called through her door. He knocked a few times, while he waited for her reply. Jenny jolted back to reality, as she realized she was laying against the window. "Yup, I'm doing great Dad. why?" she replied. Walking over to the door, Jenny cracked it open and peeked her head out, so he didn't see her naked body. "Well after last night, I'd figure that I'd ask how you were doing today. I can't even imagine how painful that had to be last night." There was concern not only in his voice but on his face as well, even though she could only see the left side of it. "Well, I'm not gonna lie Dad; it sucked; it sucked balls." she told him.
"It probably did, and I'm so sorry." Jenny nodded back. "I'm naked at the moment Dad, I need to get dressed." she told him. "Right, if you want to go get anything just tell me okay?" "Will do!" With that he left, letting her shut her door and find some clothes. When Jenny got over to her dresser, she noticed something that wasn't there before. Her stomach had these weird bumps on it. They were very small but she could definitely see them. They were forming a circle. "What...?" She asked, running her fingers over the bumps.
They felt like hard masses of muscle when she pressed on them. "I-I don't understand." she whispered. Everything that had happened over the course of the last few days just made Jenny question life. She couldn't even begin to understand how any of this was possible and beyond that, why it was even allowed. How could anyone allow such things to even exist in this life. Lycanthropy, transformations, and now these bumps on her belly. Jenny just felt tears running down her cheeks, while she was looking at them. When she looked back up, sure enough, she was crying. She slammed both hands onto her dresser causing grooves to appear under her digging fingers.
Her head buzzed so hard, and heart pumped blood fast into the fogged brain, making her feel dazed. Jenny fought through the dizziness and found some clothes to put on. She decided to wear a hot pink underwear with matching pants, pink socks and shoes, a white bra, and a white shirt with the words: Born to love, stamped on it in pink. Once they were on, Jenny tied her hair up into a pony tail, then decided it was time to go visit her dad downstairs. Nothing could possibly get any stranger in her life, but that wasn't what bothered Jenny the most. What irked her so bad, was the fact that she had no straight answer as to who would do this to innocent people. With hope in her heart that her father could explain more, Jenny left her room, and began thinking of questions while preparing for the worst.