8/4/14

I attempted to re-write this chapter three times, hence the three intervals. I kept the overall gist of the original chapter but took out most of the humor to give better details and an explanation on what's going on with Clawd, especially since the story has taken a complete redirection into something a little more serious, I thought it'd be best for everyone to know what was going on.

[INTRO]

The fucking lunar moon.

The Werewolf's changing tide that came once every one hundred years. Unlike most monsters, werewolves weren't immortal, most of them lived for about a thousand or so years, their healing capabilities and durability had limits and despite enhanced strength, they could easily break bones and tear muscles.

The lunar moon was supposedly a blessing; refreshing their bodily systems, taking a few years off of their age, regenerating their lost limbs and healing all wounds.

But for the Wolf family, it was more of a curse. The lunar moon would bring out the monster blood to the forefront, thus making all were-monsters more animalistic. It affected every werewolf differently – Howleen had ravenous desires to tear apart and devour other monsters, Clawdeen had completely transformed into something beastly looking and as for him... Clawd had a hunger to plunder every female that he came in contact with.

But Clawd had control of himself, he was aware. Or so he liked to think.

Though everyone in Monster High would act like regular teenagers, they weren't. Things like tests, prom and PE were second to the functions of their monster instincts. Clawd never forgot what he was or were he came from, before he was the captain of the casketball team (and the best quarterback for the football team, the school has ever seen), He was an animal, a monster.

So he made it a habit to keep himself in check and took his scaritage seriously, studying up on all the facts and need-to-knows; unlike his siblings, whenever strange things started to occur physically or mentally, he was prepared. But little did he know, the lunar moon was something no amount of reading could have prepared him for.

[INTERLUDE]

The effects of the lunar moon lasted for 48 days. Most academies and schools acknowledged the changes and thus, allowed all were creatures to take a month off from school, so long as they continued to keep up with the work. But Clawd didn't feel the need to stay home, home was boring and he sure as heck didn't want to stay in a house full of eight other pups all experiencing drastic hormonal and physical changes.

So he opted for school. Howleen was seemingly able to manage, so he should too, right? But it wasn't until he walked into school that it all hit him, hard. He had to run right out, back to his car and started hyperventilating for an hour. The urge was so strong. "Shit. I should have stayed home like Clawdeen..."

But staying home probably wouldn't have mattered, attending practice and going to work would probably have killed him anyway. So with a few deep breathes and a short prep talk, Clawd left his car and went to the office for a late pass, lucky for him, it was one of the male student helpers who attended to him and with his pass in hand, he raced down the halls to class.

Before he could open the door, he felt his pulse speed up and his fur bristle. Was this really a good idea? Maybe being aware wasn't enough. What if he attacked someone?! His breathing became ragged and his body tensed, his heart was pounding so loud, he was sure every undead being could hear it... fear. For the first time in a long time, Clawd actually felt fear.

"No, none of that. I need to get over this." Forcing himself to calm down, he tossed the door open, slammed his slip on the teacher's desk and plopped down in his seat next to Deuce, he made sure not to make direct eye contact with any of the female students or even the teacher, Mrs. Reaper.

Deuce was a bit shocked by Clawd's hasty entrance, Clawd was never late and never rude, nudging his friend a bit, he asked, "Hey man, you okay?"

No. Clawd nodded his head, "Yeah man, just tired. You can't even begin to imagine living in a house with nine other siblings." Deuce offered an apologetic look, "I feel you man, every time I go over to Cleo, she and Nefera manage to make it enough noise and trouble for a dozen people." Clawd shrugged, "But we only have one more year." "Amen to that!" Deuce smiled and offered a high five.

"Ugh, you're going lose a wisdom tooth for that." Clawd wasn't a fan of lying but he didn't really feel like explaining the whole situation to anyone, not even to his best of friends - Neither of his sisters did either - It wasn't a secret or anything like that, but outsiders just wouldn't understand what was going on; they would try to minimize the effects and danger, but this wasn't any minor thing.

His father had told him, mate-less, it would be hard to be around the opposite sex, unless you were very familiar with them like family. But if you do have a mate, after a few days, you'll have better control being around the opposite sex but when in contact in the slightest with your mate, you will completely lose it.

"Son, I'm going to let you know now, it's best to just keep your distance from the vampire. The longer you're around her, the worse the urges become. Don't think that love will protect you either. You are an animal, and animals go with instincts, not better judgment or feelings. Sticking with her will only tease your body until it can't take it anymore - You will transform into your beast and attack her. Possibly kill her. Take heed to my warning boy, you hear me?"

So instead of wanting to abusively rape woman, it would just be the girl that he was in love with. Clawd groaned and laid his head on his desk, this was all so fucked up. What else could go wrong?.

"Clawd Wolf!"

Looking up, he saw Mrs. Reaper standing over him, a scowl on her face. "It's one thing to be late, but nearly tossing the door off its hinges, slamming your tardy pass on my desk without acknowledgment and now sleeping in class... Even if you are one of my best students, such acts will not be tolerated." She placed a stack of papers on his desk, "Pop quiz on biteology and chemistry!"

Clawd's jaw dropped, "But... But this is a math class!"

"Well then, good luck."

Again, so fucked up.

[CHAPTER]

It now a little over a week into the lunar phase and just as his father had told him, he was becoming less and less anxious around the female student body and administration. He felt much more at ease, and more himself. His father had again told him to stay away from Draculaura, but the way things were going, he was sure that he could handle himself.

The first time he encountered her was during lunch. She was already seated at a table with Lagoona, Frankie and the others. Spotting him in the lunch line, she waved at him and pointed to the empty spot next to her. He gave her a thumbs up and headed over after receiving the disaster they called "Monday Madness".

As soon as he took a seat, Frankie made a face, "I can't believe you're actually going to eat the Monday murder meal", "Uhhhhh." Ghoulia chimed in.

"I agree with Ghoulia", said Lagoona, "Whatever that is, it's definitely not food, mate."

Clawd rolled his eyes, "Oh come one, and it's not that bad." Operetta took up her fork and poked the food on his plate, whatever it was, it shivered and growled. "Not even the creatures in the catacombs would eat that."

"I will never understand why you don't just pack a lunch." Draculaura said, already cutting her tuna sandwich in half and offering him one of her fruit cups.

"With all the people in my house, you're lucky to even have a crumb from an empty chip bag, much less pack an entire lunch", he took a hefty bite of his Monday Madness, "Besides, they wouldn't serve death on a plate in a school."

Everyone at the table held their breathes, waiting to see what would happen. Clawd deliberately took his time chewing and swallowed loudly, for all to hear. Then his eyes got wide and he started gagging.

Draculaura gasped, "Oh my ghoul, Clawd!" Clawd laughed loudly then, "Oh wow, man. You should see your faces!" he laughed again, "You guys worry way too much."

Draculaura slapped his arm, "That wasn't funny Clawd." He kissed the top of her forehead, "I was just –"

Then he felt it. A tingling, numbing sensation from the back of his head that was starting to spread all over. He tried to move his hand to touch his head, but he couldn't. He tried again, with the other arm. "Okay, this is weird". Attempting to get up, he found that his legs weren't responding either".

Fretting a bit, he tried to speak, but nothing would come out. "What in the hell? Why can't I control my body?" He felt a prick in his chest, that grew to a quiver and then before he could even blink, he began to shake, hard, until he was on the floor, spazzing around.

"Oh fuck!" Operetta yelled out, "The food really is poison!"

Draculaura scrambled from her seat and bent down to him, "Clawd? Clawd! What's wrong?"

He wasn't sure himself, his whole body felt like it was on fire. There was a sharp, painful jab in his stomach that seemed too seemed to get worse and worse. Unsure of what was going on, he started to panic, "What's happening to me?"...

"Clawd, love, please talk to me. Are you okay?" Draculaura was on the brim of tears, cradling him in her arms. Clawd tried sitting up, "I-", he stopped. As he looked up at her, he felt the pain intensify, but in a different way. It hurt still, but there was something else there, something he couldn't identity.

Suddenly there was a rush in his ears, drowning out the sounds around him, but he could hear it loud and clear "Take her". His vision got blurry then, everyone and everything seemed to have faded into the background, all he could see, and all he could feel was her. "No, no... NO!"

Throwing her back with more force than he intended, he quickly got up and headed to the front of the cafeteria, towards the exit. He didn't know how he did it without noticing, or without even breaking a sweat, but he had ran all the way home. Not bothering to give it a second thought, he banged the door till one of his brothers opened the door and dragged himself to his bedroom, locking the door behind him.

Being the third eldest, he had snagged what used to be Clawdia's and then Beo's old room, with its own bathroom attached to it. Walking into it, he flipped the switch and jumped at his own reflection. His yellow eyes had dilated and were now on the verge of turning red, his fangs and claws were extended, and his fur stood on edge, pointy and his face... Oh my God, his face was curled into some kind of demonic snarl, he couldn't even tell if this was the face of a werewolf or some chaotic being beyond this world. He rubbed his face, trying to mold it back to the way it was before, but the face stood like a mask.

"What is happening to me?" Clawd thought back to his father's warning, of him saying that he could very likely kill Draculaura. "What if I hadn't left the cafeteria...? Would I really have hurt her?" He didn't want to believe it, but his reflection told him otherwise.

Heavy with emotions, he stripped down and took the coldest shower of his life. "But... But nothing happened. We talked, I ate a heart attack on a plate… And I kissed her forehead. Was that all it took for him to turn into... this? Sighing, he began to lather his body, allowing the scent of eucalyptus to calm himself down. By the time he finally stepped out the tub, he was sure he had raised the water bill up a notch.

Stepping in front of the mirror, he stared at himself as he shook himself dry. He was back to normal but, "What do I do now?" He probably wouldn't even stay near her long enough to explain the situation. "There's no way I'm going to hang around Ula D anymore, but how do I get her to stay away?" thinking for a few minutes, he nodded to himself, "Well... You were a star track runner back in middle school..."

So from that day on, he did what any young guy who was a wolf and had a sickening defect during the wolf tide would do – He avoided her. A small benefit of the lunar moon was that it also acted as a full moon, enhancing his skills, which made ducking, hiding, running and jumping a lot easier on him.

But the weird thing was, Draculaura always seemed to keep up. The girl who failed P.E, was the size of a leprechaun in heels and had the reflexes of a snail was always one step ahead of him. Swift, quiet and precise... Things monsters would never use in reference to his girlfriend.

"When did Draculaura become a hunter?"

It was now four days since the cafeteria incident and Clawd had begun to hide out in the school's library during lunch, it was the only safe place. His sister's friends, including Draculaura, rarely ever came here – Well, minus Ghoulia of course. For added protection he made sure to stay in the sections that most ghouls would never touch – The history of knitting, the autobiography of biographies, the reproduction system of humans, the 50 Shades of Grey series, you know, the trash.

He was attempting to do some homework when the faint smell of lilacs caught his nose. Jumping to attention, he ducked under the rows of books and peeked over, looking for anything pink and fluffy.

"I hope it's not me you're on the lookout for Ivaylo", Clawd almost knocked over the book shelf. "How did she manage to sneak up on me?!" It was one thing to actually catch him off his guard, but to move so fast that he couldn't even smell your scent was next to impossible. Wolf's had the best sense of smell of all creatures, add the heightened effects of the moon, he should have known where she was the minute she left the cafeteria.

He looked up and made the mistake of making eye contact, he felt his blood rush and his breathing becoming ragged. Slowly, he picked himself off the floor, backing away a bit, his eyes never leaving hers.

Draculaura stood rigid in her spot, glaring up at him, "Ivaylo, explain yourself."

Shit. She was using the middle name...

Clawd gave a weak laugh, "What exactly do you want me to explain?" Draculaura intensified her glare, "Ivaylo." Clawd groaned, "Alright, alright. I've been avoiding you... Well, technically I've been avoiding almost everyone but especially you. Sorry."

Walking closer to him, she cupped his face in her hands, brushing her fingers along his cheek, "Why are you avoiding me?" She stared him in the eye, willing him to speak, "And I want the truth, dragul meu".

Clawd jerked back away from her, stumbling over his bag on the floor. His hands that were already sweaty had become drenched, his heart was pounding a mile a second and he felt like throwing up. He needed to get away from her, fast. Inching forward, he picked his book-pack from the floor and swung it on his back. Tearing his gaze from her, he walked past her and headed towards the exit.

"Keep calm. Deep breathes, in and out, in and out. Don't look back. It's for the best Clawd."

Draculaura stood wide-eyed at his retreating back. "What's going on? Did I do something wrong?" She felt sad, confused and... Angry. With strength she didn't know she had, she grabbed him and pulled him back, tossing him into a book shelf that nearly toppled over. "Don't walk away from me!"

Instincts kicking in, Clawd jumped back up, growling and allowing his claws and fangs to extend. It wasn't until he felt himself getting hard, that he snapped back to normal. "No, no, no, no!"

Draculaura misunderstanding, hissed and extended her own claws- If he was going to show that he was ready for a fight, she would pretend that she was too. "But what is going on with my Clawd?"

They stood in a long, intense staring match before Draculaura's shoulders drop, fangs retreating and tears forming in her eyes. "If you really don't want to be with me, I wish you'd just tell me instead of running. And now you... You bared your fangs at me... You're making my heart hurt."

Clawd winced, he hated seeing her cry, "Ula, it's not... I just... I'm sorry." Draculaura didn't say anything as she turned and walked away.

"Clawd Ivaylo Wolf, what have you gotten yourself into?" he sighed, "But at least things wouldn't be getting any worse, right?" Then he paused, feeling the ground underneath him. Huh, that's weird, for a minute, it seemed as though the library floor was shaking...

I wonder what that could mean...