Grandma's Grave, Part 1 (Were-TF)

“So, this is it, then. This is her grave.”

   It was early evening. I was standing in front of the grave of my grandmother, who had, unfortunately, passed away earlier in the month. Standing next to me was my sister, Erica. She approached the grave, her long, blond hair blowing in the wind. “Grandma…” she sighed, kneeling beside it. “I still can’t believe she’s dead.”

   “Me either,” I said. kneeling next to her. I didn't blame her for feeling upset. When we were kids, we had been very close to our grandma. She had been one of the coolest people we had ever met. When she was younger, she had  gotten really into mystical and supernatural kinds of things. She she even had a collection of objects that she claimed to be “mysterious” in her attic. She was always willing to show them to us, but she never let us touch them. I never knew why, but I always figured it was because they were valuable or something.

   However, one thing that had always fascinated her was werewolves. She was always talking about how intriguing she found the concept of an otherwise ordinary person transforming into a monstrous creature under the full moon. As a child, she had practically been obsessed with them. She even came up with stories about them that she would often tell us. Yes, she was the type of grandmother that told stories, but her stories were very interesting. ranging from the type that would give you nightmares and keep you up all night with fear to the type that would make you feel happy and satisfied, like you just finished a good book or movie. They weren't just about werewolves either; they were about all sorts of werecreatures. Mammals, birds, even some aquatic creatures; all sorts of creatures took some kind of role in her stories. Because of this, I always looked forward to listening to whatever kind of new story she had dreamed up whenever I went to her house.

Needless to say, her death was devastating for the entire family. I could hardly believe it when I heard the news that she had passed away. It was a hard time for all of us, especially for our mom, who had been her daughter.  She eventually made us all come to her house to clean it out. At first, I didn't want to go. I was already upset at Grandma’s death, and I was worried that coming to her house would only make it worse. But mom insisted that we all come along out of respect for Grandma. She also wanted me to do some of the heavy lifting, since I was her only son. Eventually, I gave in and came along with everyone. Maybe it won’t be so bad, I thought. Maybe I’ll even be able to finally check out  those mysterious objects she has!

When we got to her house, I immediately went upstairs to her attic. However, when I got there, I found that all the mysterious objects had mysteriously disappeared. I looked all over the house for them, but couldn't find them anywhere. When I realized that they weren't in the house anymore, I went back outside to find my mom, who was loading some of Grandma’s stuff into her car. “Hey mom,” I said to her. “Do you know what happened to all of those things that Grandma used to keep in her attic?”

“Oh, your Aunt Jenna was here earlier,” my mom answered. “She probably did something with them.”

Of course. As much as we were all devastated by Grandma’s death, our Aunt Jenna had probably been affected the most. After Grandma died, Jenna had practically been cut off from the rest of the family. We had tried to contact her through calling, texting, e-mail….but none of our attempts worked. It wasn't surprising that she was like this. She had been even closer to her mother than me and Erica had been. She didn't have any close family of her own, her husband having died in an accident shortly after they were married. After that happened, she fell into a deep depression that none of us seemed to be able to help her snap out of. The one person who was able to convince her to get on with her life was Grandma. I was surprised she could get her courage up to even come over here.

Anyway, I went into her back into the attic to see if there was anything Jenna had missed. When I got there though, I noticed something sticking out from one of her shelves. It was a note, and it was addressed to me and Erica. “Hey Erica, come check this out!” I yelled.

“What?” yelled Erica, coming up to the attic. Her eyes fell on the note I was holding. “Is that from Grandma?” she asked, her eyes widening.

“Yeah, and it's addressed to us” I said, opening it up. I took out the paper that was inside the letter and started to read through it.

“Well? What does it say?” my sister asked, eagerly looking over my shoulder.

“To my Grandchildren” I read. “If you are reading this right now, it means I have passed away. However, it seems we have unfinished business together. I have kept many things from you, things that I no longer feel I can keep secret. This is why I must ask you to do this for me. Come to my grave on November 6th, 6:30 PM. It is there that all of this will be settled.”

“It is time. You must save our family from what awaits us. Otherwise, we will be forever doomed.”

I looked up at Erica. “Do you have any idea what she’s talking about?” I asked.

Erica shrugged. “Not a clue” she answered. “It sounds like something straight out of a cliche movie. Do you think we should do it?”

“Well, it’s not like we’re doing anything important that day” I said. “It couldn't hurt to check it out. The date and time sure are specific, though. Why would she want us to visit her grave then? Why wouldn't any other time work?”

“Like I said” said Erica. “I haven’t a clue.”


   Anyway, that’s why we were standing next to our grandmother’s grave that night. The graveyard was only a few blocks away from our house, so we were able to walk there without much trouble. It was getting dark out, and it was becoming very hard to see. Luckily, we had brought a flashlight, so we were able to see what was around us. “Can we start heading back soon?” I asked. “It’s getting realy hard to see out here.”

Erica was still kneeling next to the grave. “Wait….” she said, looking at the ground in front of the grave. “What is this?”

I took a step closer. “What?” I asked.

Erica showed me what was in her hand. It appeared to be a small black crystal, but it almost seemed to be….glowing. “What is that?” I asked.

“I don’t know….” muttered Erica, as she continued to examine the crystal. “It….almost looks like…..one of Grandma’s artifacts.”

“Let me see” I said, grabbing the crystal from her. But the moment I took it from her, it stopped glowing. When I looked down at it again, it appeared to be a normal black rock, nothing more.

Erica noticed it, too. “What did you do to it?” she cried.

“Nothing!” I said. “I just took it and it stopped glowing!”

Erica groaned. “Come on,” she said. “We need to get back home. It really is getting hard to see in this dark.”

“All right” I said, dropping the crystal. “Hey, do you want to take that shortcut through the woods?”

   “The woods?” Erica looked back out into the woods that laid just behind the graveyard. When we were kids, we had discovered a path through the woods that led from the graveyard to our house. We commonly used the paths in the woods to get to other places near our house, including the graveyard. We used to hang out in the graveyard, pretending that ghosts or zombies would come to eat our brains or something like that. We didn’t do that much anymore, but we still had fond memories of it. “I don’t know…” said Erica, looking back. “I think it may be too dark….”

   “Oh, come on” I replied. “We have a flashlight, and besides, it’ll be quicker than any other way home.” I started walking towards the woods. Erica hesitated, then began following me.


   It was much darker in the woods than I expected it to be. Luckily, we had our flashlights, so at least we were able to see. However, all that changed once we reached a clearing. I was about to keep going when my flashlight flickered, then went out. “No, no, no!” I yelled. “Stupid flashlight!”

   Erica groaned. “I told you we shouldn’t have gone this way!” she shouted.

   “Alright, alright, just chill for a second, OK?” I said. I looked up at the sky, and noticed the moon. It was completely full, just coming out from behind a group of clouds. “The moon’s really pretty tonight, don’t you think?” I asked.

   “The moon? How can you think of the moon at a time like…” Erica stopped short. I noticed that she was staring hard at me.

   “....Is there a reason you’re staring at me like that?” I asked her.

   She continued staring, a look of shock and confusion on her face. “Your….ears….” she finally said. “...I think there’s something’s wrong with them.”

   “My ears?” Instinctively, I reached up to touch them. As soon as I felt them, I realized that something wasn’t right with them. They felt like there was...something on them, like fur. Not only that, but they also felt longer, almost pointed. “What the hell?” I said, as I continued feeling them. As I did this, I noticed Erica, who was examining her arm, looking quite freaked out. When I looked at her arm, I immediately saw why. Her arm was being covered in what appeared to be black fur, and it was spreading quickly. As I looked at her other arm, I noticed that the same thing was happening to it. Not only that, but her hands were also growing fur, and her fingernails were growing, lengthening and sharpening, becoming…

   “C-claws? I have…” Erica turned to me, her face stricken with panic. “I have claws!”

   “You have….gah!” I cried, my hands quickly moving to my face, which was beginning to feel very strange. I could feel fur growing all over my face, and my nose and mouth began feeling like they were….pushing out of my skull. Not only that, but my teeth seemed to be growing as well, becoming longer and sharper. It didn't hurt, but it did feel very uncomfortable,and it was more than enough to scare me. When it finished, I realized that I now had what looked like a….wolf snout in front of my face. I reached up to feel my ears again, noticing that they were much longer than they had been, and they were completely covered if fur.

   Meanwhile, the changes continued, and they were showing no signs of stopping. Now my legs were being covered in fur, and now I could see that the fur was white. As the fur spread, I could feel my legs growing stronger and more muscular. I began to feel more powerful, like I could run forever if I wanted to. However, my thoughts were interrupted by feeling of pressure in my shoes. Too late, I realized what was going to happen, and that there was no way to stop it. Sure enough, my shoes were quickly torn apart by my feet, which had grown significantly and now looked more like paws. Even my toenails had grown and sharpened, now looking like claws. I quickly realized that I was going to lose my balance, so I immediately tried to re-position myself by attempting to stand on the balls of my feet. I found that it worked rather well, so I remained in that position.

   I looked over at Erica, and noticed that she had gone through something similar. Her legs were also covered in fur, though the fur on her legs was black, and her feet had become paws similar to mine. Her legs didn't seem as strong as mine, but they seemed more...agile, more flexible. However, it looked like she was more concerned with something else, as her hands were now on her backside, and she was looking even more panicked than before. I heard something rip, and the next thing I knew, something had appeared behind her. It was a tail, long and slender, covered in black fur. “A t-tail?” she cried. “Okay...you have got to be kidding me! This can’t possibly be real!”

   “I’m pretty sure it’s real, Erica.” I said grimly. Suddenly, I heard something else rip behind me, and realized that I was so focused on what was happening to Erica that I had forgotten about myself. Sure enough, when I looked behind me, I saw that I also had a tail. However, my tail was shorter and wider than Erica’s, and it was covered in white fur. As I examined it, I saw that my arms were growing white fur as well, and I they were becoming more muscular, like my legs had earlier. I saw that my fingernails were growing and sharpening as well, becoming claws like Erica’s had.

   While this was happening, I heard Erica groaning. I looked at her and saw that she was covering her face with her clawed hands, and that her ears were growing, being covered in the same black fur that covered the rest of her body. When she removed her hands, I saw that her face had completely changed. It was covered in black fur, and it had stretched out to look like a cat’s muzzle. She kind of looked familiar, almost like...Wait a minute…

   I looked at my own body. Covered in white fur, the claws, the tail….I immediately realized what had happened.

   “Erica...we’re….we’re werecreatures.”

   She looked at me, a look of fear in her cat eyes. “W-werecreatures? You mean like..”

   “The ones in Grandma’s stories, yeah.” I said. “It looks like I became a white werewolf, and you became a black werecat. But...why? Why did this happen?”

   “Allow me to explain”

   I quickly spun around. “Who’s there?” I yelled. I found myself face to face with…a weretiger? Startled, I quickly stepped back, while looking over the creature in front of me. Orange and black striped fur covered its body, its arms and legs looked strong and powerful, it had sharp claws on both its hands and feet, and it had a feline muzzle, complete with sharp-looking fangs. There was no mistaking it: I was clearly looking at a female weretiger. “Who are you?” I yelled. “Why are you here?”

   The weretiger looked at me with what appeared to be confusion. “You don’t recognize me?” she asked.

   Recognize her, I thought. No, of course not. I've never met any weretigers before! But that's when I noticed that both her physical appearance and voice seemed awfully familiar.  And then it hit me.

   “N-no” I stammered, backing away even more. “That's...not...possible…”

   “Are…are you…” Erica stammered, having clearly realized the same thing. “Aunt...Jenna?”

   The weretiger smiled. “And here I was, thinking you wouldn't recognize me!” she laughed. “Thank God you did, or I would have been truly upset!”

   “But...” Erica said, the fear having still not left her face. “You’re...you’re a…”

   “Werecreature?” Jenna asked. “Yes, I am. We all are, in fact.” She looked at the two of us. Clearly, we still looked confused. She sighed. “I suppose you want me to explain all of this to you” she said. “Very well. Let me start from the very beginning…”


To Be Continued...