Tomorrow's Light
Written by Drew Clements
Conceptualized by Drew Clements and Bryan Hester
(Part Five - VI)

Tomorrow, calm yourself.” Augustus attempted to bring her to her senses.
Tomorrow had pushed herself back against the wall so hard that impact creases began to appear. She obviously did not recognize her strength.
“What are you?” Her voice was filled with terror.
That calm, soothing voice she heard came not from some old man, but a monster. A beast whose head was just two or three inches from touching the seven foot high ceiling in her room. His head was that of a wolf--dark brown fur covered it. Fierce yellow eyes shone out on each side of his long snout. Over the upright-standing wolf creature’s massive body, a purple cloak hid his body.
“You mean, what are we.” He smiled… or at least, that is what she thought he was doing. His words didn’t immediately register.
“What?” She asked, confused; her voice uneasy.
“Look at yourself,” Augustus gestured toward her.
For a moment, she chanced a look down to her body. Beneath the tatters of clothing, thick gray and black-splotched fur covered her. She raised her hands to eye level. The tops of them were covered in the same gray fur, but the palms and fingers were rough and leather-like in texture. At the tips of each finger were long, brown claws.
Tomorrow shut her eyes. All of the air in her lungs disappeared and her heart continued to thump heavily, rapidly. She knew that the only way to get through this was to calm down, yet that wasn’t happening; she gasped for air. None of this was actually happening, was it?
“What happened!?”
“Tomorrow, you and I are,” Augustus paused to find his words. “We are inflicted with lycanthropy.”
“What?” She asked.
Augustus had the answer on the tip of his tongue as he fully expected the follow-up question, “As slang would have it, we’re werewolves.”
He motioned to the other creature behind him. “Khron’s specific form of our condition is gatusthropy; he’s a,” He paused, searching for description, “werecat, of the Cheetah variety. Is that appropriate?”
Tomorrow’s eyes moved to look at the other beast, who had nodded to Augustus’ question. Khron wore a cloak as well; green in color and thrown open, revealing his amazingly muscular body. He was considerably smaller in build than Augustus, sporting lean, highly toned muscles under his short orange and black spotted fur. His head was that of a cheetah, with remarkable gold eyes, lined with black fur. On his left wrist was a large silver bracelet with three bright red rubies that sparkled in the soft light of her room. Around his neck he wore a necklace of ivory saber-shaped teeth from an unknown, unmistakably large creature.
Tomorrow pulled her attention away from the magnificent animal long enough to ask another question. “How did I… turn into this?”
“It was genetically passed down to you.” Augustus answered.
Khron’s ears shot back suddenly. “I think it best that I return to my post.”
“I agree.” Augustus turned his head just enough to nod at his friend.
Khron turned away from them and, ducking to avoid cracking his head against the top of the doorway, exited the room.
“What’s the matter?” Tomorrow asked.
“Nothing to worry about,” He seemed to slyly be avoiding something.
Tomorrow noted his answer and moved on.
“You say it was passed down genetically?”
“Yes, from your father.”
“My father!” Tomorrow rose up quickly. “He was a werewolf too?”
“Yes. He is.” Augustus smiled and also cringed at the use of the term “werewolf.”
Slowly, like an inmate being led to the electric chair, Tomorrow walked to the entrance of her room. She closed the door and backed up a few feet so that she could get a better view of her new body in the mirror on the back of her door.
She now stood at just less than six feet and five inches; a coat of gray and black-splotched fur had completely replaced every inch of normal human skin. Her legs were long and powerful, resembling those of a large, extremely hairy man; through the fur on her arms, well-toned muscles could easily be seen; her massive head sat on an appropriately thick neck.
She opened and closed her mouth, watching the large jaw expose sharp white teeth. Finally her eyes rested on themselves in the mirror and she could see that her right one was a bright green while her left was an amazingly vibrant sky-blue.
“Is?” Her mind finally comprehended his answer. She jerked back to look at him.
“Yes. Is,” Augustus sat on the edge of her bed.
“He’s still alive?”
The wolf’s eyes closed for a second, as if trying to figure out an answer. Finally they opened. “Yes.”
“But he died years ago! Where is he? Why didn’t he come back to see me?” Her questions came all at once.
A dreadful silence filled the room, almost suddenly. No sound could be heard. It was not because of her question either.
“Trouble.” Augustus stood and threw back his cloak. His massive body was packed with muscles to a degree that Tomorrow had never seen before in any living being. A white stripe cut a line up through the dark fur on his chest. Two more white stripes led down the front of his thick-furred human-looking legs until they reached the decidedly non-human feet.
The giant floor-to-ceiling window behind Tomorrow erupted in a flurry of broken glass as something crashed through it and to the floor. Turning, she watched as a creature in a crouched position stood.
“The prizzzze we have been ssssseeking, finally realizzzzed,” Came from its dark, rotten mouth.

 

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