23

very time Nicholas left his cell he was sent to a new room, questioned until his mind went numb, and ultimately waking up back in his cell. And with the start of a new day, he knew more of the same would follow.
Sitting at a new table in another new room, Nicholas saw more of the same equipment from the previous days, added with a few pieces of electronics. A man began pasting monitoring wires to certain places on Nicholas’ skin, including the sides of his head. He was getting use to this part. But it was the questioning he fear.
The woman, Sarah, sat across from him, same folder before her and relaxed demeanor woven throughout her body. To her, this was just another day at the office. Settling on a paper filled with notes she began the session.
“Just like before, I’m going to ask you a series of questions.”
Nicholas felt a pinch on his upper arm and saw the man injecting a syringe. Was this part new? Seeing the empty syringe leave him, the image seemed familiar, and this sent his skin to smolder.
“You spoke of your mother and father yesterday,” said Sarah, gently laying her hands on the table. “You said that you were happy your father was gone.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“I’m sorry you don’t remember, but you did say it, and quite eloquently, I might add. You also said that because of your mother’s death, it allowed you to completely hate your father and to do what was necessary to kill him. You went on to say that now knowing the result, you were also thankful for her death, as well.”
“I would never say that.” Nicholas’ sudden burst of anger sent the heart monitor to beeping faster. The man noted the change on his own paper.
Sarah continued. “Do you think the one responsible killed your mother fast or slow?”
Nicholas felt his vision twisting in on itself and his head swirling in the opposite direction. The man at his side switched on another machine, this one bellowing out a series of drumming and squelches.
“Tell me about her death,” Sarah asked.
With breaths coming quick and shallow, Nicholas fought to answer her. “I don’t… I’m not talking.”
“But you are talking to me. We are having a nice conversation. You were telling me about your mother, and how much you miss her. What happened that day? How did she die?”
Nicholas closed his eyes tight. “She was murdered.”
“Who murdered her?”
“A vampire.”
“What did he do to her?”
“They wouldn’t tell me everything.” He kept his eyes closed and head down as he fought against his answers and the burning within his veins.
“How did you find out?”
“Allen told me. He was the first to find them.”
“What did he say?”
Nicholas squirmed in his chair, the shackles rattling with each movement. “There was… She had been dismembered and gutted like an animal. They had no other choice. They burned her there and buried her bones in the town’s cemetery.”
Sarah paused, watching and waiting as she hoped the imagined vision played over and over in his mind. Finally, she continued. “Do you hate them for not letting you see what happened?”
“I didn’t need to see it. I can already see it.”
“I bet she deserved to die.”
Nicholas forced his shaky eyes onto the woman. “No one deserves that.”
“How very hypocritical. You kill all the time, and yet you have no remorse.”
“That is different.”
“You pass your own judgment onto others. You need to find no remorse within your kills. Your father allowed your mother to be killed. If he loved her so much, he would have suffered through any amount of pain to save her. In the end, he gave up. He allowed that monster to have his fun while he was forced to watch.”
Nicholas lowered his head, eyes closed tight once more. “Stop it.”
“I wonder how he started. Did he disembowel her first before removing her limbs, or did he start slow, torturing her first?”
Every muscle within Nicholas tensed as his mind unwillingly saw the scene she painted for him. The machine bellowing the irritating sounds flooded into his mind, as well, making the imagery more vivid. In his clenched fists, he felt his nails lengthen and dig into his palms. The muscles along his spine also tightened. The pain was like that of the first time his body bent to the weight of the full moon. That first change was the most painful for every werewolf.
“Hopeless,” Sarah whispered, but her voice screamed in Nicholas’ ears. “You were and will always be hopeless. You will never find justice for your mother or the life that was destroyed. You are nothing more than an empty shell. Empty. Everything that once defined you is now gone. You are a void. You are a void that will be filled with your rage. You need this to see that nothing is as perfect as taking hold of someone’s life and making them feel as hopeless as you. Your anger is your weapon—your power.”
Nicholas twisted against his restraints. His jaw tightened amidst the pain of his changing body. His teeth lengthened and bones popped and reformed, the process bulging his skin as it too changed with the surfacing of new hair.
Sarah sat back, pleased at how well things were progressing. There was hope for this one. As she calmly watched the writhing werewolf, she continued to whisper, “You will never allow yourself to be the weaker one. You answer to no one. You will always be the beast incarnate. You are your rage.”