#nancewheelr || .001 werewolf

[thebabysittertm]

Day Nine: a quiet night, the only sound being the call of coyotes/wolves in the woods

ㅤㅤㅤㅤsummoned especially for @nancewheelr

ㅤHawkins on a full moon was a lot more dangerous than most of its residents seemed to understand, but those that did took it very seriously in that 'if you know, you know' kind of way that was even more secretive than the typical small town bullshit. Chief Hopper knew, Joyce Byers knew, a pile of kids and a few teenagers, but that was it unless Steve believed the stories about some lab that Hop and Mrs. Byers said were running experiments on monsters, possibly even creating them. To hear the kids talk about all the 'old legends', Steve was pretty sure that the lab wasn't inventing anything new, but given his own condition lately, it was in his best interest to take the rumors as seriously as the rest of it.

ㅤIt was in his interest because as of last November, Steve was one of the bloodthirsty monsters, though maybe he was light on the 'bloodthirsty' part unless you asked the local rabbits. He was hell on rabbits, and that was not a source of pride, but there were a lot of them, they were fast enough to be a fun chase and they were both big enough to be a good snack for a wolf while being small enough to go unnoticed. Hunters, and more specifically Hopper and the 'Monster Squad' of kids who had somehow figured out werewolves and other monsters previously, would notice if deer were being brought down by a lone animal and only partially eaten, and Steve didn't need that. He also hated the idea of killing a deer that he couldn't possibly eat, though the actual killing was something he tried not to think about much to begin with.

ㅤIf there was one thing that he'd learned from his parents about coping with stressful situations, it was to do his best to maintain appearances and keep moving forward, which didn't exactly give him a lot of time to process what was happening in the moment, but at least it made him efficient. He could freak out about coming back to himself with blood on his skin and in his hair or fur in his teeth when he had time for it, which he could admit had happened a few times over the last few months, but he was falling into a rhythm with the whole thing finally. It wasn't a good time and he felt totally out of touch with himself as a wolf - or maybe just finally able to let go of the unnecessary clutter of being human, which was a thought that was intruding more and more often, but he was growing more confident that if given any option at all, he'd run rather than hurt a person. That was important.

ㅤThat was also what made it alarming coming back to his home through the underbrush of the woods behind his house to the smell of a human, specifically one that had been outside, by the pool house. He'd left the door ajar when he'd gone in there to change shapes earlier the night before, so it was no issue for a wolf to nose his way back into the building for a little bit of cover as the first threat of dawn started on the edge of the horizon and his muscles quivered under the thick fur he wore, but the scent was stronger inside the little building. He froze, golden amber eyes locking on the human girl staring wide-eyed at him from the other side of the room near where he'd left a pile of clothes and an anticipatory shiver running through him with that edge of pain that said the shift was coming whether he liked it or not, but he couldn't stay. This was dangerous.

ㅤThe problem was that he didn't have time to go, either. Dawn was there, the moon fleeing before the sun's light, and he moved to dart for the door again in a last ditch effort to escape her view, but he was struck with agony like a lightning bolt through him and his front feet went out from under him. Conscious thought was not something he kept a good hold on as muscles tore and bones twisted screams from his throat that changed in sound from animal to human, but there was one thing he heard on repeat and probably would hold in his mind for a long time after.

ㅤ"No, no, no, no, no."

ㅤHer voice, her eyes locked on him, and it was only as he neared humanity again that the name returned to him with the full weight of the horror - Nancy. He suffered for only a few moments before he'd shed the wildness of forest and fur for the boy she'd known, but he wasn't sure that his eyes were entirely his when he first looked up at her, terrified and pleading with her not to freak out, even if silently. The amber faded back into the warm hazel brown she knew so well, and the only signs that anything had happened at all were the lack of clothes, the sweat, dirt and a bit of blood.

ㅤ"Nancy, wait, I can explain," he started quickly, voice rough from the experience he'd just endured, but undeniably his.