H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (31 page)

“What is it Josiah?” Lena asked,
concerned.

“Tommy and I were talking and we think it
would be a good idea if everyone was to leave for the next 72
hours.”

“What the hell are you planning to do?” Yari
asked, insulted.

“I plan on doing bonding exercises. The less
distraction that’s here, the more Tommy and I will be able to
connect. It’s going be extremely important for us to do so, if this
is going to work.”

“Josiah, have you ever seen a Carni in its
werewolf state?” Wyatt asked.

“No.” I said.

“It’s the scariest, most intense thing
you’ll ever see,” Lena said, jumping in. “Are you sure you want to
do this alone?”

“It’s the only way it can be done. I’m sure
of it. I believe there’s more to the Carni than meets the eye.”

“What if there’s not? What if they are just
crazed dogs?” Yari said intently.

“Then we’ll know for sure. As long as Tommy
is willing to stand and fight next to us, we owe it to him to see
what he is capable of becoming.”

“What about you, Josiah?” Tommy said. “You
have talents that you haven’t even scratched the surface of.”

“My time will come. I believe it in my core.
This is what we need to do first.”

“We all hope you’re right, Josiah,” Lena
said with an assuring tone.

“I believe that there is a chance there is
something great inside Tommy. The Triat gave me the vision and this
how I’m interpreting it.”

“So, where should we go?” Lena asked

“Go to my house,” I said.

“Do you think it’ll be safe?” Wyatt asked.
“We’re not exactly the most liked group of people in town.”

“I know,” I said, “but I’m sure you’ll be
safe. Neither the Carni or Krull is after you. They are after me.
If you do run into any trouble, just head to the Flatlands. At
least you’ll have friends there.”

“Is that what you want?” Yari looked at
Tommy.

“Yes, it’s what I want,” Tommy answered
back.

“Then it’s a go.” Yari left the room. She
seemed hurt, but this wasn’t her deal. She needed to trust me. Or
at least respect the fact that Tommy trusted me.”

“Here are the keys to my house.” I tossed my
keys to Lena.

“I guess we’re out of here,” Yari walked
over to Tommy and hugged him. She let go and walked over to me. “I
hope you’re right, Josiah. Your instincts have been right on so
far. Please be safe.” Yari leaned in and hugged me tight.

Lena walked over to me also. “You sure about
this?”

“Yeah, this is going to work.” I said. “I
know it.”

Lena brushed the back of her hand on my
cheek. It was a tender gesture, one that gave me goose bumps. “I
guess we’ll see you two in a couple days.”

“I guess so.” With that, all of them left
the room and got ready.

Chapter Eleven

Everyone had left and made their way to my
house. There were about forty minutes until nightfall and then the
full moon would reveal itself in glorious moonrise. Tommy and I
were in the room.

“How do you go to the bathroom if you’re
chained up?” I asked.

“That is what the cardboard is for in the
corner. Most of the time I can make it.”

“Oh, this is going to be fun.” I said.

“Just show me the courtesy of not staring at
my junk when I go.”

“I don’t see that being a problem,
Tommy.”

Tommy paced around the room, stopped and
looked out the window. “I think it’s time to lock me in. So, what’s
the plan, Dr. Phil?”

“Well,” I said, “it is my belief that we
need to bond in stages, or phases, if you will. Tonight, you will
be chained in.”

“You’re planning on unchaining me at some
point?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Josiah, if you’re wrong —”

“I’m not wrong.” I said confidently.

Tommy sighed then stretched as if he was
preparing for a MMA fight. When he was done stretching, he entered
the cage. I watched as a spectator and friend.

“Josiah, you really have no idea what you’re
in for.”

“Nothing surprises me at this point. The
last two months have been insane.”

“How do you plan to tame the wolf?” Tommy
asked.

“In stages,” I repeated again. “We need to
build trust—more trust than we ever had before.”

“Josiah, have you thought about the
possibility that I’m not the wolf the Triat talked about in your
vision? Think about it, I lost to a Mani, even though he did no
magic whatsoever against me. I humiliated my own kind to the point
they left me to die. I will never be forgiven by the Carni. I’m
damaged goods. Why would the Triat choose me?”

“You might never be forgiven by the Carni,
but there is no way in hell that you’re damaged goods. Look at you;
you’re built like a pit bull. I know in my heart that the Triat
looks fondly on you. The Triat knows you are a good man and full of
character. You need to trust me and believe in me. Together, we
will change everything.” I then gave Tommy a comforting nod.

Tommy nodded back. “I trust you, Josiah.
What’s the game plan?”

“Let’s chain you up first.” I went in and
helped Tommy chain himself. We wrapped the chains around his ankles
and wrists, and then fastened all four clamps. We put additional
chains around his chest and groin. We gave a little pull on the
chains to allow him to do small amounts of walking. When we were
done, I walked out the door and locked the cage.

I turned around and looked at my friend. It
was odd seeing him chained in as if he was about to pull off a
Houdini-type escape artist trick.

“Okay, Tom,” I said. “I’m going to give you
two kinds of emotional indicators. The idea here is to get you to
connect with me emotionally. The first wave will be verbal. I will
give you commands as the ‘alpha male’, and you will need to submit
to me. You will need to do all my commands. Once we have that
mastered, we will do tactile. Through my touch, you will learn to
trust me, as well as submit to me. Tonight we will focus on the
verbal, and tomorrow we will concentrate on the touching.”

Tommy nodded. “What about the third
night?”

“I’m going to play it by ear.”

“Play it by ear? What if none of this
works?”

“You have my word, Tommy. I will not harm
you, no matter what happens.”

“Josiah, if at any point—I turn on you—and
you need to attack me to save your life, you’re going to have to do
it.”

I looked at Tommy dead in the eyes. “It
won’t come to that. I promise.”

“Are you in there tight?” I asked.

“As tight as it can be. We have about 25
minutes, so we better get started!”

“Okay, Tommy. You need to forget that I’m
Josiah. You need to look at me like I’m your master. You need to
take on the role of a typical dog who listens to the commands of
his owner.”

Tommy looked at me perplexed. “Okay, then
what?”

“You’ll need to obey my commands, no matter
how lame they seem to you, or how silly you feel.”

Tommy chuckled. “All right, let’s do
it.”

I took a deep breath and so did Tommy. I
took a moment and just trusted the silence and then I began.
“Tommy!” I shouted.

Tommy looked at me a bit startled and then
lowered his head to show me that I was the one in control.

“Tommy,” I yelled again. “Look me in the
eyes!”

Tommy eyes slowly raised and met mine. “Good
boy,” I said. Tommy smirked.

“Tommy,” I pleaded, “please take this
seriously. Concentrate on my command and just let everything go.”
Tommy nodded his head.

“Sit!” I commanded him. Tommy hesitated at
first and then obeyed. He sat on the ground.

“Good boy! Now stand!” I said with
authority. Tommy stood up.

“I want you to sit and stand three times.”
Tommy shuffled his feet.

“Do it now.” I commanded. Tommy obeyed and
stood and sat three times.

“Good boy,” I said. “Now, howl!” Tommy
howled.

It sounded almost as if he was whistling at
a girl on the street from a construction site. But it sounded
good.

We proceeded to a number of commands:
showing me five fingers, answering ‘yes’ and ‘no’ questions by
showing paws, sitting in the east and west corners of the cage.

The sun began to set and Tommy began to itch
wildly.

“I guess this is it,” I said.

“Josiah, be careful and don’t move too
quickly. Be absolutely sure you have my trust.”

I watched on as the full moon became more
visible. Then something started happening to Tommy’s entire body. I
was extremely curious how the transformation looked. From the south
window of Tommy’s room he had a perfect view of the moon.

The moon was slowly developing into giant
full moon. Right when the moon hit full view, Tommy began howling.
He hadn’t changed yet physically, but the transformation had begun.
I watched and studied what was to happen next. Tommy dropped to all
fours and let out another frightening howl! I watched as gray hair
protruded out of his skin. The gray hairs flowed out of his face,
arms, head and ears. He still had his jean shorts on, and luckily,
those bad boys didn’t fall off. That was going to be a problem when
it was time for him to relieve himself. His hair was a beautiful,
silver mane. His nose now began to elongate and his ears began to
rise. Within seconds, Tommy had become a full blown werewolf.

Tommy’s head was down and I was certain that
the beast had no idea I was accompanying him in the room. He would
very soon; when that happened, he would want to take off my
head.

I watched and what I witnessed was very
trivial. Tommy was the same height and was slightly bigger in body
mass. For the first time, I got a glimpse of his eyes. They were
the color of the sun—bright yellow. He turned his large body around
and laid flat on the ground, staring at the back wall. He was
completely calm. This wasn’t the first response I anticipated him
having. I thought he would be a crazed junkyard dog salivating for
a killing spree. Instead, he was lying on the floor like a golden
retriever on a hot summer’s night.

Then something unusual started happening.
Tommy started to whimper and he began to whine like a sad puppy. He
was still unaware that I was in the room. I remained extremely
quiet as I watched further. I wasn’t ready to let this werewolf
know I was present.

Tommy got to his feet. I thought he was
going to turn around and notice me. I anticipated the worst as I
held my breath. But the werewolf didn’t turn around; instead he
walked over to the south window and stared at the full moon. Then,
he howled a heartbreaking cry unlike anything I’d ever heard. It
had a symphonic tone in its misery.

As I listened, I realized it was no longer a
howl, but a full-blown cry. My best friend in the whole world was
crying at the moon and it broke my heart. It was disturbing to
listen to and it was really getting to me. I had to leave the room.
I quietly backed up my feet and left. I went into the living room
and sat in the big chair.

I sat there and listened to Tommy cry into
the night. He did this for hours, three to be exact. I wondered if
this was some kind of ritual—where werewolves go through some kind
of grief period—at the beginning of their werewolf cycle.

I sat about 15 feet away from him in the
other room, completely perplexed and dumbfounded the entire time.
Then suddenly, he stopped.

The next thing that happened was even more
bizarre than the crying. He fell asleep. I could hear the giant dog
snoring.

This was not how I thought this night was
going to start. Tommy slept for a good hour. We were now four hours
into Tommy’s werewolf transformation and I had no clue what to make
of it.

I dozed off myself. I was sitting in a big,
comfy chair. Tommy’s snore had put me in a sleepy, hypnotic state.
I was suddenly startled out of my slumber by a deafening, crazed,
growl. This wasn’t any growl. This was the growl of a fucking
werewolf.

Tommy was no longer sleeping. He was now a
beast, a killer, something that wanted nothing more than to tear a
Mani from limb to limb.

I took about ten deep breaths and got up out
of my chair and crept over to the room. I slowly stuck my head in
the door. Tommy saw me and immediately went absolutely ape-shit. I
could hear the chains scraping against the bars of the cage. He
zeroed in on me with his fierce, yellow demonic eyes. I nearly peed
my pants. This was not my friend. This rabid beast had one goal;
kill anything in its way.

I needed for this beast to get used to the
sight of me. He needed to know I wasn’t here to harm him. I needed
to stay in the room no matter how intense it got. Eventually, just
like all living things, he would tire out. So that’s what I did – I
stayed in the room.

This werewolf screamed bloody murder at me
as it snarled, growled, and even bit the air in my direction. I
calmly and lovingly looked at him and didn’t say a single word.

I just gave him a caring, empathetic smile.
Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, the overgrown canine
finally shut up. I was still looking at him. The wolf stared back
at me confused; about every ten seconds he would do a small little
grunt. He looked at me as if I was prey, determining which level of
ferocity he would engage me in.

I figured this was the moment where the
alpha is decided in the animal kingdom. I had to act now. I had to
be larger than life. I had to make him submit to my commands.
Hopefully, he will recall something we had done earlier when he
submitted to me in his Carni form. I stood up and yelled “TOMMY!
SUBMIT!”

Tommy lunged in my direction and was pulled
back by the chains. The odd part about it, he did this without
making a sound. I took that as a sign of weakness. “TOMMY!” I
yelled even louder. “YOU NEED TO SUBMIT! This time he growled—not
an attacking growl, but a growl to let me know that he was still
there and he would defend himself if need be. This was good. He was
no longer on the offense. He was now playing defense.