As A Werewolf In The Apocalypse

{Wake up and feast, my new warrior.}

Hearing the distorted voice again, my consciousness suddenly returns, and I become fully awake.

Looking up at the sky, my vision sharpens, and I can see far beyond the clouds, deep into the void of space.

"Beautiful," I say, standing up, and notice that steam rises from my body. Glancing at the bite wound on my side, I see that it heals so rapidly that it emits this steam.

{Feast on them and give me their souls as a sacrifice…} I hear the voice again and suddenly catch the iron scent of blood inside the house. Entranced, I walk toward it.

Stopping at the back door, I see my bloodied reflection grinning back at me with golden, glowing eyes.

{Become mine, and devour this world,} my reflection says in the distorted voice, while a strange warmth engulfs me, like when my mother would hold me in her arms when I was small…

"Yes, I will feast… sacrifice souls and devour…"

Hearing this, my reflection grimaces as its golden eyes shift to an icy blue.

"I will feast on your creations, sacrifice their souls to you, and then I will devour you!" I scream, slamming my fist into the reflection, shattering the voice in my head into a thousand pieces.

The smell of something slimy and rotten wafts through the air as I step inside the house. "And I'll start with them…"

"Aug! Aug!"

Through the broken front door, I see ten goblins standing there, likely searching for me this whole time.

The creatures glance at one another as I approach and back away as my body crackles under the strain of the thing trying to break free within me.

Raising my hand, I watch dark claws burst from my nails, and I can't help but laugh at the irony. I've become the very creature that killed my family.

"Aug?" squeaks the nearest goblin, uncertain whether I am friend or foe.

I make it clear. In a flash, I dash toward it, my surroundings blurring for a split second before my new eyes adjust to the speed.

"Auug---" Its scream is cut short as I appear before it and sever its head from its shoulders with my claws.

Seeing its greenish blood on my claws, I can't resist tasting it as the other creatures scatter in terror.

"Tastes as rotten as their stench," I mutter, watching my skin crack open to reveal dark, grayish fur beneath. Feeling the creature within me want to devour these little bastards, I let it take over.

The transformation is instantaneous and painless, it was like my other half simply broke free from under my human skin.

"Graaar!!!" I roar at them while my vision gets even sharper and focuses on the creatures, who suddenly run like in slow motion.

This gave me all the time in the world to hunt them down, so I used the situation to process my new form and get used to my even more enhanced senses. 

My dark gray fur covered my whole muscular but at the same time athletic body. I grew about one foot and was now at least 7 feet (ca. 213 cm) tall as the other werewolf, and even so, my body felt like I was always like that.

Not even the snout in my point of view felt abnormal... Along with the wolf feet, ears on my head, and the tail that became like another limb. To make it short, it felt like I was born that way.

With this, I will end them all...

Dashing forward, I ran on all fours and reached the first goblin that tried to flee into an alley. I bit down on it with my new fangs, tearing it in two, before moving to the next one and grabbing it, and slamming it into his nearby friend.

I heard a satisfying crackling before moving on to the others, who seemed to have realized it was useless to run. So they shakily pointed their knives and wooden clubs at me.

Strange… With every kill, I feel my body growing slowly stronger…

"Au? Aug!" They screeched at me as if asking what I was doing. But a glance from me silenced them, and I saw them freeze in place.

When I arrived in front of them, one of the braver goblins stabbed its knife into my stomach, seemingly pleased that he managed to do so. 

What he didn't know, though, was that it didn't even sting…

So, I bit down on him, chewing with a crunch on his head before swallowing it. It still tasted rotten, but not as bad as I thought… It seems the stomach of my werewolf form can devour anything…

"Auugg---" I silenced the others while swiping at them with my claws, and soon only pieces of them remained.

Flicking the knife away, which was still stuck in my stomach, I felt a strange energy wash over me. It seems that I get stronger with every kill…

I calmed down as my body adjusted to the new strength, then walked back toward the house. I still had one thing to do.

When I reached the broken-down house, I felt my point of view shift, as if I had shrunk. Looking down, I saw the werewolf body disappearing as if made of dust, and soon I was back in my human form, completely dressed in my jeans, shirt, and motorcycle jacket.

Even though after the fight with the werewolf, I wouldn't call them clothes anymore… They were torn and covered in blood. Well, at least I don't have to strip down every time I transform…

Grabbing my shirt, I noticed the hole from the goblin's stab, but there was no wound. It seems that damage still transfers to my clothes even in my wolf form. But I can live with that.

I tossed away my torn jacket and walked inside the house, while feeling my chest tighten, making it difficult to breathe. When I entered the living room, I had to support myself on the wall after seeing the massacre inside once again.

The werewolf came through the window and immediately attacked Dad, who was always sitting by it. I ripped off the window cover and used it to cover his torn-apart body.

He was a stubborn middle-aged man who only talked about work and how he hated the government's handling of weapons, but he still raised me into the man I was now.

I then picked up both halves of Mom and laid them gently next to him before covering her up, too. She was always on my side, even slapping Dad when he said I was no longer his son after I joined the army.

My vision blurs again as I stand up and look toward Mia and her boyfriend. Dave seems to be the second one attacked by the werewolf, since he's lying close to Dad.

Mia was right behind him, so it seems he tried to shield her, but the creature simply ripped off his head and tossed it aside. Like I said, he was a good guy…

Placing his head back on his body, I cover him too before swallowing the lump in my throat. The last one lying there, with a clawed-open stomach, was my little sister. She was just three years younger than me and worked as a nurse at the local hospital.

She was even more rebellious than I was when we were younger, and I never thought she would finish college, but she did. Not only that, but she even calmed down after getting together with Dave.

I try to pick her up to place her with the others when a small picture falls from her hand. Grabbing it, I feel tears flowing down my face as I see an ultrasound picture of the baby she was expecting with Dave.

So that's the surprise they wanted to tell me… I place the picture in my pocket, pick her up, and move her to the others.

There were no helicopters from the army in the air, no sirens from the police or other rescue services.

No working phones or electronics either, which made me doubt I could even call the morgue. I wouldn't allow the monsters to violate their bodies further, so I took them all outside into the garden. Then built a wooden platform from the wood Dad didn't have time to chop down before placing them on it.

Afterward, walked into the garage, grabbed a full fuel canister that stood on Dad's pickup, and poured it over the construction and the bodies.

"I swear to you, whoever is responsible for all this will pay for it tenfold…" I said it like a prayer and threw a match I found in the kitchen onto the construction, igniting it instantly.

I waited until nothing was left but ash and bones and buried it all deep in the ground. Then I walked away and shifted into my werewolf form.

Whoever did this… will pay.