Chapter 5: The Morning After
The morning light sliced through the treetops like a scalpel, and Tyler's first breath tasted like blood and moss.
He jolted awake on a bed of damp leaves, heartbeat thundering in his ears. The forest was silent now, eerily so, as if even the birds were still hiding from what he'd become.
His body ached—deep, animal aches that pulsed with every breath. His skin was smeared with dirt and dried blood, most of it his. His hands, no longer claws, the looked good as new but still somehow felt raw. Every muscle twitched like it remembered being something else.
Then the system chimed in.
[System Message: Full Moon Cycle Completed]
[You Survived Your First Transformation]
[System Syncing…]
Rewards Unlocked:
Strength: +1
Endurance: +1
Stamina: +1
Status Update:
Energy Low – MEAT REQUIRED
Next Full Moon: 29 Days, 18 Hours, 47 Minutes
Tyler groaned. "Yeah… meat sounds about right. Do I eat my steaks on the raw side now?"
He sat up slowly, feeling as if his skin was new and stiff as if he was feeling it for the first time but had no visible injuries, just a bit stiff as if he were training at the gym. The forest spun a little before settling. The cold clung to his bare skin— whatever remained of his clothes was shredded and long gone. His breath fogged in the air. He needed to move. Shelter. Clothing. Food.
A glimmer of memory returned—Selene's eyes, golden and burning with purpose. The silver blade. The gunshots. Her voice: You're new.
He'd almost killed her. No—he could've killed her.
But something in him… stopped.
That thought lingered as he moved through the forest barefoot. He found a near by fresh water stream, he nealed down rinced his hands and face and drank some water. After a few minutes of trying to get some of the blood and dirt off he walked for a long stretch, he followed a game trail until he came upon an old hunting cabin, half-swallowed by ivy and time.
The door creaked open. Inside: dust, cobwebs, mold. But also—salvation. A beat-up flannel shirt two sizes too big hung on a nail by the door. Under a bench, he found a pair of jeans, stained but whole, and worn-out work boots that pinched slightly but did the job. A rusted tin lantern sat in the corner, long dead, and beside it—an empty whiskey bottle with a faded label.
He chuckled, low and bitter. "Thanks, Old Forest Hermit."
As he tugged on the shirt, a breeze stirred the air and carried with it the scent of pine—and the faintest hint of memory.
He stepped outside and looked at the treeline. Something about this place... felt familiar.
A flash: Tyler, maybe twelve, crouched beside Mason and their father, all holding hunting rifles. Their dad, grizzled and quiet, pointing out deer trails and warning them about overreaching shots.
"This looks similar to where he took us that one winter," Tyler whispered, scanning the rocks, the ridges, the distant hills. "The old trail curves around them heading north, this all feels familiar…"
The familiarity clicked. He knew these woods.
Grateful for the small miracle, Tyler followed the remembered path, letting his feet guide him past overgrown logging roads and dry creekbeds. The sun was cresting high when he finally saw the rusted towers of their family's auto salvage shop through the trees.
He slipped through the back fence like a ghost.
The place was still locked up, no one was maning the nightshift since this all started, Uncle Rick suggestered asking one of the machanics Ben to take ove the nightshifts for the time being. The main garage bay hadn't opened yet. He walked over to the old payphone mounted outside the office and, with shaking hands, dialed Mason's number from memory.
"Come on, come on…"
The line clicked. "Hello?"
"It's me," Tyler said, his voice rasping like gravel. "I need you at the yard. Now."
"Jesus, Tyler!" Mason's voice rose. "Are you okay? Where the hell have you been? I thought you—"
"I don't have time to explain. Just get here."
There was a pause. "Okay. I'm coming."
Tyler hung up and slumped onto an overturned tire. He rubbed his face with dirty hands and tried not to think about the look in the hunters eyes when he ran.
Did she chase him all the way? Was she still out there?
He closed his eyes.
He could still hear her voice: You're a monster. And I hunt monsters.
But she hadn't killed him. Just like he hadn't killed her