I kept to the outskirts of the city since not everyone would be glad to see me drinking in the public. I got to a part of the city I didn't know too well. Several small houses were built close together on an empty street. A man was walking towards me and as I lifted the bottle to my lips, he bumped into my shoulder. Vodka spilled on my chest. He didn't even apologize, he just swore softly in my direction and glared at me. Brown eyes, short brown hair. He smelled so much of Old Spice it made my nose tingle. I resisted the urge to punch him in the sharply cut chin or his oversized nose. I sneezed, and when I inhaled again, I caught his peculiar smell. It was somehow familiar to me.

"Hey!" I shouted and crossed the gap that formed between us.

"Fuck off." He spat at me. I grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. Yeah, I definitely already smelled him somewhere. ”Are you deaf?"

Suddenly I remembered… The old woman from the hospital who was attacked. I could smell this guy’s scent on her. Even the scent of a dog was on him… But no scent of evil.

“Leave me alone !” He pushed me and my half-empty bottle shattered on the sidewalk. And the Beast didn't like that very much. The world went into sharp focus as my fangs lengthened in anticipation of blood. Oh, you had picked the wrong day to cross my path.

"What the---" He didn't have a chance to finish. I grabbed his arm and dragged him to a nearby forest so fast the world blurred around me. The man didn’t even have time to start screaming. I wasn’t even sure how I managed that. Oh, it felt as if liquid fire flowed through my veins, and my whole body begged for the shift. I punched him in the face when he took a breath to scream then kicked him in the stomach. Blood ran from his nose as he bent over to hold his stomach, throwing up on the grass.

"Do you enjoy robbing helpless old women?" I growled in a rough, quiet voice. The Beast’s voice. I took off my jacket, T-shirt, and pants. The man stared at me in disbelief. The shock robbed him of all words. My body spasmend and convulsed. I leaned forward and landed on all fours. I welcomed the shift with open arms, and every crack of the bone was more like ecstasy than pain. I wanted it. I wanted to forget it all and leave everything to the Beast. In less than three minutes the shift was done. And the man stared.

"Oh my God! I am sorry! I didn't mean to rob her! I had to! God forgive me!” The man cried and the smell of urine filled the surroundings, mixing with his terror. The Beast stared at the man hungrily. Oh, the pain of betrayal was like a thorn in his heart. Dale was his! And yet the Beast was only the means to an end for him… Why should he be nice to this man? The world was cruel and he was just flesh. Evil or not, the Beast didn't care.

"Please! I don't want to die! Please!” the man whimpered. Disgusted, the monster rose and pinned the man to the ground with a single leap. Hatred for the whole world drove him on. The forest was quiet, withdrawn. The Maker, too. And Dale? All that was left of him was emptiness. Maybe he should have followed his Maker. The White Demon offered him a new life… No obligations, no pain… The man on the ground jerked around wildly, crying hysterically. And the Beast sank his teeth into the soft flesh of his throat. Hot blood filled him with throbbing excitement, and the Beast felt power like never before. Life flowed from the poor man directly into him, and the Beast wanted more. He felt stronger, more alive, even after the man's heart stopped beating. The Beast enjoyed his prey until there was barely anything left… The warm weight in his stomach was better than anything he had ever eaten. His body throbbed with adrenaline, and the Beast left the bones and ran deeper into the forest. Full of excitement and hunger…

The Beast opened his eyes and stared at the moth that flew just above his snout. It had been dark outside for some time now. The Beast spent the day running through the forest killing any living thing it could find. Now all the creatures avoided him in a berth it seemed. So what was he supposed to do now? He ran over mountains and rivers, over highways and farms, running past several cities. He ran away from all the problems and emotions that bothered him. Then he stopped and slept a little.

He expected to be human when he woke up, but no. The Beast rose to all fours and stretched his stiff paws. He could still feel the tingling of power in his body, but now guilt was starting to prod at his mind. However, the Beast was more immune to this emotion than the human crouching in the corner of their shared body. Nearby he could hear another highway. The monster decided to follow it for a while, he had nothing better to do. There weren't many cars here… Only one or two here and there, of course the Beast clung to the shadows, even though the forest didn't hide him as much as it could.

Everything seemed distant to the Beast… The forest, the moon, the wind, the sounds of people, cars, and cities, they were all millions of miles away… He felt nothing. The excitement of the hunt lasted only a moment and was followed by bitter emptiness.

The Beast was approaching another city… The first building appeared in front of it. Stardust motel, the sign said. It didn't mean much to the Beast. However, for some reason the long line of rooms attracted him. Something told him to come closer. He walked around the building and watched the back windows of the rooms from the shadows of the forest. One was open and a person was leaning out of it. A very familiar person. His brown hair was now adorned by a single neon blue strand that framed the right side of his face. It slightly covered one eye of deep blue. He held a cigarette in his hand. Henry…