Night Of The Wolf

The full moon was rising. A girl, not more than twenty, was watching the moon from the window. She could taste the sweet pain of the Transformation. The door behind her opened and in the dark room, an obscure figure entered. He stood behind her. She held her hand up and locked fingers with his.

- Are you ready? - he asked.
- Not more than I am at every full moon from four years till now.
Nia turned her stare away from the moon and looked at him. His eyes flashed in fierce and a smile came on his face. She smiled and looked at the moon again. Tuomas lit a cigarette.
- Your last before the Transformation?
Tuomas just nodded.
Pain pierced Nia. She squeezed his hand and wriggled. If someone could see her now, he would maybe think she's dying. But Nia was, in fact, born anew. Tuomas put out his cigarette and bent over Nia. He was studying the Transformation with interest, watching as if it was the first time he ever saw something like that, while he himself was used to it. He was used to agony and pain when the human in him was dying and the wolf was awaking. Nia lifter her head and looked at him with her last strength:
- To live is to love the pain...
- Pain is temporary, Nia.
She smiled a bitter smile, then every muscle of her body went slack. Her skin became white and Nia was looking like a dead man. She was lying there, breathless, cold and pale... just lying.
Tuomas let her hand go. He locked the door and by the time he got back where Nia was, he felt the well-known pain. He smiled and thought "Here we go..."
He fell on his knees. Wriggled. Minutes later his body was next to Nia's. They were lying - cold, indifferent to the world around them, their empty glass stares were roaming somewhere out, probably in the moon.

***

They awoke in ten minutes. Tuomas blinked a few times to the moon light and his eyes became yellow and fierce.
- Nia...
She turned her face to Tuomas. She grinned and her jaw became longer, looking like a muzzle. Her eyes became the same as his. She felt her hands and feet turning into paws. She looked at Tuomas and saw the same happening with him.
- Tuomas... it's time.
For every human being, those words would've sounded more like a quiet howl of a lone wolf. But they were just that - children of the night, victims of the moon, Reborn.
They jumped on their feet and found their way out of the house into the boundless forest. Here and there under the trees there was a moonlit clearing. They looked at each other. They lifted their heads up, to the sky, to their curse and destiny and howled.
More howls answered and seconds later more Reborn came from the shadows. Every one of them was different - Nia was the only black wolf, Tuomas the only white. The first that came to them were a wolf in rusty color and one in gray.
Nia looked at Tuomas. They knew. It was time. The Night of the Wolf. The Night of the Reborn. Their night. Now or never. Nia howled to the moon once more and led the two wolves into the forest. Tuomas waited a few more wolves and led his pack in a different direction.
Reborn ruled tonight. The moon drained them, but it also gave them strength. She made them suffer, but to be happy too. She made them forget themselves, but remember who they are too.

***

Nia was running through the forest. She felt the wind in her fur, the soil and leaves under her paws... she felt the power of the moon. She knew that in some other part of the forest Tuomas felt the same. This was one of the few things that connected them - their love for the moon, for the Reborn, for the nature. This and the strength to help each other when they needed it. Nia didn't know for how long she was running, but when she looked up to howl at the moon, she saw the sky was growing lighter. She knew it was time to go home.

***

Tuomas was home for a long time. he was wondering where Nia is. She never came late. He was pacing the room, making circles nervously. He felt her scent and went in that direction. His white fur was gleaming in the silver moon light and Tuomas looked like a ghost, headed to the shadows, just to vanish in them. He was heading to Nia.
He found her on the floor, wounded.
- Can you heal the pain when you call my name? - she was transforming to a human again and held out a half-human hand to Tuomas.
He looked at her wound. Deep, deadly. He howled in pain then lowered his head to Nia's and whimpered, as if whispering:
- I'll be there, even when you bleed. In the Night of the Wolf. See the moon, see the stars... in the Night of the Wolf. They are ours, Nia. I won't leave you.

***

Hours later Nia regained consciousness. She could clearly remember being wounded. Deadly wounded. Tuomas took care of her. She went out of the bed. Tuomas was there, the same place she saw him before they both went in the forest - leaning on the back of the chair, his stare wondering somewhere outside.
- In this crazy world you proved that you are mine. Proved that I can count on you.
- I'll be there, even when you bleed Nia. In the Night of the Wolf. Always.

18.05.07 - 02.07.07
Replica