Chapter 11: Future Family
John stood at the bottom of the stairs with one hand on each railing, sighing towards the ground. When Jenny was about half way down the steps, he lifted his head. She could see the pained expression in his face. "What's wrong?" Jenny asked. "Jen, I know that what has happened to you over the last few days has been awkward..." "HA! Awkward isn't the word for it Dad. Do you have ANY idea what it feels like to; to turn into that... THING?!" she asked. Her attitude was what John expected, so he let her yell. Her eyes were wide open with anger. She looked so livid that she could probably start a fire right underneath her. John, sensing the loathing emanating off of Jenny, just breathed out hard.
"Well, do you have anything to respond to me with?" She asked him. "No... Jen; I-I don't know how to even begin wondering how you felt last night. I saw the transformation with my own eyes and it looked... Oh God it looked so awful." He said. Jenny could see tears dripping onto the stairway, and her father's hands clenching hard onto the railing. No matter how angry she was, Jenny couldn't help but feel bad for her father. She hated seeing him sad, as it was; he did raise her ever since she could remember. She descended the stairs the rest of the way and grabbed him, pulling him towards her and hugging him hard. John felt warmth pouring off of his daughter, heating up his very soul. He wrapped his arms around her, and as if they both sensed the great sadness within each other; they broke out into a long and hard cry.
They teared up, balling their eyes out into each others shoulders. After what felt like hours had gone by, the two finally let go, staring into each others eyes. John sniffed and wiped his nose on the back of his arm sleeve, then ushered her out into the living room. "What's up Dad?" When Jenny entered it, she could see that her father had been moving furniture around. The couch now resided at the farthest wall from the doorway; in the center of the room stood the carpet but no coffee table. She looked at her father, wearing a questioning face. "You're probably wondering why I moved stuff around." Jenny nodded in return. John grinned, and then cleared his throat.
"I wanted to show you some pictures Jen; things that even I didn't know about." He grabbed her arm, pulling her to the floor. Jenny took a good hard look at her father, noticing that he hadn't been wearing his normal attire. Today he had some old green jogging pants on, a white wife beater and green slippers. His hair was tufted, shooting out at odd ends. "What's todays date?" Jenny asked as she sat down next to John. "It's Monday, July 5th, why?" John replied. Jenny just shook her head, and sat on her knees, watching as John opened up a thick blue leather, covered photo album. On the front were silver letters written in a weird font style which said: The Warburton Family Album.
"Warburton Family Album... huh." Jenny said. She was licking the inside of her mouth, touching her teeth with her tongue. John nodded and cracked the album open, sending dust everywhere. "I'm sorry; this book hasn't been opened in ages. Jenny coughed, waving the dust away from her face. The sun was just now beginning to cast light across the room, creating a sense of life in the house. She smiled, rubbing her arms and watched as John began to talk. "Now, this is your mother, Liana." He pointed at the first picture. It was in a circular frame, with a silver outline. Sitting in the middle of a field, with long golden hair, blue eyes and a perfect face and body was Jenny's mother. "My God, she's beautiful!" Jenny said.
She reached out, to touch the picture and when her fingers came in contact with the shiny plastic, for an instant; Jenny could feel someone. Something other than herself, just floating around her. The presence felt so gentle and kind. The longer that Jenny gazed at her mother, the more powerful the feeling became. Then John pointed out the second picture on the first page with his left hand. It was of a man, who Jenny recognized on one of her mother's pictures upstairs. The bronze skinned man, with dark hair and green eyes. "That, Jenny, is your father; Phillip Warburton." John looked over at Jenny, pushing his glasses up his nose and waiting. "Wow; I mean... He's so; s-so handsome!" Jenny said. She tilted her head, again touching the slippery plastic covering her other father's face.
Again, as soon as she made physical contact with the photo; another presence could be felt. This one wasn't as warm as the first, but it still felt comforting. There was sadness behind it though; as if the presence was depressed. She frowned, while continuing to keep a hold on the picture. "What's up?" John asked. He folded his arms, as he moved to a better position. Jenny just shook her head, and waved him off. She could barely understand the situation either; there was a mixture of happiness and anxiety. Someone was overly upset whilst the other overly joyous. "But, how can you have such an emotion? I mean if you really think about it; happiness and sadness, excitement and depression; how do such emotions coincide with each other?" Jenny asked herself.
She tilted her head a little to the right now, causing her hair to fall over her left eye. "What was that?" John asked her. That's when she jumped back to reality; she completely forgot that her father was there. "Dad, you scared the hell out of me!" John shook his head, rubbing his eyes. Jenny undid her ponytail and grabbed a hold of all her hair, placing it back in the head band. "Well shall we move on to more pictures?" "Of course." John nodded, then flipped the page, revealing a whole new set of photos. The top was a big, eight by six picture which had both, Jenny's mother and father holding hands. They were in their swimming gear, laying on the grass, and watching the sky. "Can I pull it out?" Jenny asked. John waved his hand at her, bowing slightly. "Thanks!" She replied, smirking at him.
She was very careful at removing the picture so she wouldn't tear it in any way. Her nose was almost brushing the smooth photographic surface, as she tried to get a close up look of her biological parents. They seemed to be very happy in the photo, despite the weird scars that appeared on her father's face. They looked oddly familiar to Jenny, and the longer she examined his face, the more sure she was. "Those scars that he has; I-I have them now too." "I know you do Jen; those are the marks of lycanthropy. That's what happens to those who drastically change like you two did." John said.
Jenny undid her hair again, this time leaving it out and stroked it. She ran her fingers through the silky strands and just poured over the picture. The same familiar and yet odd sensation entered the room, it was the depressing one. After a moment or two passed, Jenny felt something grab onto her right shoulder. She jolted, flipping her head around so she could see what was behind her; nothing. "What was that?" she asked in a worried tone. She jumped up to her feet, jerking her head back and forth as she searched for the thing that touched her. "What was what?" John felt so confused at this point, as he watched Jenny spin around on her feet, trying to find something that wasn't even there. "W-what are you looking for?" John asked. He had a smug grin on his face when he asked.
"Don't laugh at me Dad! I swear to God, I felt something touch my shoulder. And then just disappear; it makes absolutely no damn sense at all." Jenny stated. She felt so confused but sat down regardless. The sun was now higher in the sky, making the room become boiling hot, which could be seen on both Jenny and John. Each of them had sweat formed under their armpits and big stains on the backs. Jenny pulled her shirt away, and let go quickly as she attempted to air out her chest. "I have plenty more to show you Jen, would you... Oh my God." John stopped mid sentence. "Would I... what?" Jenny replied. She saw the horror on her father's face, and tried to catch a glimpse of what he was looking at. He yanked the album away.
"You must not see what I have already seen!" "GIVE THAT TO ME!" Jenny yelled. John shook his head, tears in his eyes once more. "Please don't make me Jenny; it's... it's too horrible!" John yelled. He hugged the album and held onto it for dear life, trying so hard to hide it from Jenny. "Give it to me Dad; I'm a mature girl and I can handle it." She held her right hand out, looking at him with complete annoyance. Her mouth was shut tight, showing the anger that was building inside her. "A-alright; here!" he handed the album over. When Jenny received it, her jaw dropped. The photos were no longer peaceful and full of life.
Instead they were filled with blood, guts, limbs, and just piles of bodies laying all over. One picture consisted of an old shack-like building which had bodies laying at the base a hill. The photo underneath it was of a gigantic, hulking werewolf, with piercing yellow eyes, holding an enormous sword. His eyes were locked onto something but Jenny couldn't see it. She flipped the pages, one after another as she tried to get past all of the gory images. One in particular made her almost throw up all over the carpet. It was of a different werewolf. She was holding some sort of flaming sword, and had been slashing through human beings like they were butter. Their blood covered the ground at the wolve's big feet, which it stomped on. Jenny's face jumped up, down, left and right; practically all over the pages.
"W-what is all of this?!" she yelled. Then one final picture in the album nearly blew her mind. It was of a wave of huge werewolves, standing as far as the eye could see. They all were saluting what appeared to be a scraggly, grey haired, elderly woman whom stood in between the two main werewolves. Those two were distinguishable because of their sheer size compared to the other werewolves. They were at least triple the size of the others, towering over them by feet. All three of them sat upon thrones, while watching the other werewolves kneel before them. Jenny gasped, dropping the album to the floor. She placed her right hand over her heart, clenching her shirt as hard as she possibly could. No words could even describe how awful and grotesque those images were; nor could they even shed any light on what they really were. "I-I don't understand any of this either Jen, these pictures weren't here before... I swear it!" John stated.
He was looking at Jenny with horror and anxiety. Jenny shook her head, grasping her mouth as bile began to rise up her throat. She sprinted from the room, up the stairs, and into the bathroom. Just as the door clicked shut, she heaved into the toilet, puking up all the acid in her stomach. Jenny couldn't stop vomiting and it felt like it was going on for centuries. When the nauseating feeling subsided, her throat burned so red hot that she cried when swallowing saliva. Who would do such things to a family photo album? It's supposed to be personal, and I don't even know how it's possible to take such pictures. What's to come of them? Why do they even exist? For that matter, What do I benefit from seeing them? Jenny thought frantically. Her mind raced with no sign of stopping. She rested her face onto her arms, breathing hard into the toilet bowl. The fumes from her previous sickness began to fill up her nostrils causing acid to boil hot inside her.
One foul heave later, and Jenny was puking again. She held her hair back, trying not to get chunks in it. Another few minutes passed when the feeling once again, left her body. Jenny had both arms grasped onto her belly, as it filled with red hot fire. She winced, squinting both eyes while trying to deal with the pain. "Ugh; what's worse? Lycanthropy or; or t-this?! OOWWW!" She groaned, falling onto her side. The cool tiled floor welcomed Jenny, holding her tight like a mother's embrace. Grimacing, and rocking slightly, she lied her head down; allowing the floor to slowly woo her to sleep. Her hands were twitching whilst grasping onto her belly which was bubbling furiously.