Exposed

Things have gone...wrong.
I can't put it any other way.
It's gone really wrong, and...I have no idea how to fix it. I've never encountered this before.
Because before, I was able to keep my secret.
Before, I wasn't friends with Jake.
Before, he probably wouldn't have tried to follow me.

Yet he did.

I guess now...is the time to tell...well, it. 
The secret. 

It started when I was young,
My dad knew the signs first, and so was able to hide it from my mom,
before I learned how to hide it by myself.

For me, there is a particular time of year, where I need to disappear for a few days.
To get away from people.
For their safety.
Because that one time of year, I can't control it.
In order to do what I can do, I have to lose myself for those few days.

It's a particular time of year,
and so happened to be...during the campout.

I thought I could manage it.
But I didn't count on Jake.

I'd made sure that he was good and distracted by the fire before I slipped away.
I ran through the woods as quickly as I could, because I had to wait til almost the last moment before I could leave.
I needed to get to a clearing,

And I found one.
Just as the moon rose over the mountains.

I stepped into the middle of the clearing, arms out wide, and let...my barriers down.
Allowing my other self to take full control.
It's how it works, how I can stay in control for the rest of the year.
I have to allow three days of his control, his thoughts, his actions.

It was over in the blink of an eye.
I switched forms and mindset.

For all intents and purposes, I was a wild born...

Wolf.

And I needed to hunt. I lifted my head into a howl and let it dwindle as my increased senses caught the scent of prey nearby.
I whirled, my legs aching for a chase and saw, a pale two-legged thing on the edge of the clearing.
Dinner.

I stalked towards it, wishing for it to run, to make this hunt more delectable.
And it followed my will.
Turning and dashing, a panicked cry coming from it's mouth.
Perfect.
I snarled breaking into a run,

It was too easy. This pale hairless thing. It was no elk, or deer with horns to fight with. It had nothing. In fact, it tripped against a rock before I even caught up onto it.
That mistake would be its last.

Before it could get to it's feet I jumped on it, pinning it hard against the rock.

My teeth flashed down towards the exposed neck, just as a tree branch shifted overhead, throwing moonlight onto the head of the two legged creature.

Jake.

It was Jake.

Catchya on the Flip Side.

Danny