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#1 2009-12-01 09:06:32

Curtis
New member
From: Wichita, ks
Registered: 2009-03-10
Posts: 9
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consumed

CONSUMED

    I met Jesse in Denver, Colorado.  I was in the wrong saloon, kissed the wrong girl, and ended up getting shot one night.  He drug me to the doc’s house and got me all patched up. 
We started ridin’ together after that and I became an outlaw.  I reckoned Jesse had already been an outlaw, but I never bothered to ask.  I guess a guy should learn a thing or two first about who he rides with.  In the springtime of 1892 was when I found out all I needed to know about Jesse, and it was a hard lesson to be learned.
    We left the town of Greensburg, Kansas in a hurry, even though the posse chasin’ us wanted us to stay for five to ten years.  We had been planning to hit their bank on payday, but when we finally did, it went nothing like our plan.  Jesse had caught a bullet in the back and was slumped over.  I had to grab his reins to keep his horse from runnin’ off. 
We rode hard for about an hour when I felt the reins jerk out of my hands.  I turned around and saw Jesse sitting upright with a scowl on his face.  I couldn’t remember ever taking Jesse to a doctor, but he’d been shot more times than I could count.  He would never act afraid or concerned, he would just get mad.
    We kept on riding for another hour before we stopped to give the horses a break.  Jesse jumped off his horse and started cursing and kicking the dirt.  I left him alone for a while, for fear he would take out his venom on me.  He was quite a bit bigger than me, and when he got riled up he was like a lit stick of dynamite. 
    “You okay?” I asked him once he finally calmed down a bit.
    “I hate getting shot,” he shouted as he continued pacing.
    “Most people do.  They prefer the livin’ over the dyin’.”
    “I ain’t afraid of dyin’.  I just don’t like havin’ to dig these dang things out all the time.”
    I snickered and shook my head.  “I don’t think I’ll ever understand you, Jesse.”
    “I’m not sure you want to, Wes,” he replied with a solemn look.  He pulled out his pocketknife and wandered off a bit.  Jesse would make a bit of noise when he dug the slugs out, but at least he was courteous enough not to do it right in front of me.
    I set up a camp and built a fire, and after a bout of yelling and cursing, Jesse joined me.  He grabbed the bedroll off of his saddle and rolled it out beside the fire.  His hands and shirt were soaked with blood, but he didn’t seem to care.  He lay down on his back, folded his hands on his chest, and closed his eyes.
    I poked the fire a bit as I sat and thought about the events of the day.  We had robbed banks, and people had died before, but this time was different.  Jesse had shot the preacher.  Not in self defense, because to my knowledge the preacher didn’t own a gun.  He was just a nice old man who was trying to keep us from killin’ folks.
    I’d been thinking about that ever since we left the town, and it ate at me like a cancer.  I was almost afraid to ask,  “Hey Jesse, why did you shoot that preacher?  He wasn’t threatening you or nothing.  He was just trying to get us to stop being bad men.  That don’t seem like no reason to shoot a man.”
    “He had a big mouth, Wes.  Now leave me alone so I can get some sleep.”
    “You can’t kill a man for having a big mouth, especially a preacher.  Dang Jesse.  Ain’t you even afraid of God?”
    Jesse flashed an evil smile, “You only have to be afraid of God if you think you’ll meet him someday.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?  Everyone has to die someday, Jesse.  It don’t matter how tough you think you are, sooner or later you got to fess up to what you did on earth.”
    “Are you sure about that?” he said with a wicked smile.  “Wouldn’t you rather know you won’t die rather than hope you made the right decisions when you do?”
    I wasn’t sure how to respond.  Of course I didn’t want to die, but how does a guy stay the reaper?  I just stood there staring at Jesse with my mouth open.
    “You don’t have to die, Wes.  Most people just don’t know that they have a choice,” Jesse squinted at the setting sun.  “I can give you that option.  You have till sunset to decide.”
    “What if I don’t want to live forever?” But of course I did.  I just wanted to know what he was going to say.
    “Then you should probably get out of here.  After sunset it’ll be to late,” he said as he laid his head down and closed his eyes.
    Excitement and fear flooded over me because Jesse wasn’t the type to lie.  Not because he felt guilty about lying, I just don’t think he cared what anyone thought.  Something inside me told me to run as fast as I could, but when you live your life as an outlaw you tend to ignore that small voice. 
    I sat there prodding the fire and thinking about the preacher, death, and eternal life.  The last thing the preacher said to me was, “Don’t let the evil consume you.”  I knew what he meant, and I knew I needed to change.  Outlawin’ ain’t a good way of life, and sooner or later you either get shot or hung.  Jesse seemed to think there was a way around that, but I think he was loopy because he lost too much blood. 
    The sun inched down toward the horizon and the air grew cold.  I looked at Jesse as he laid there panting.  I couldn’t tell if he was dying or in pain or what was going on, so I got closer.  I should have left him there and never looked back, but I stayed to make sure he was all right, and I was a bit curious. 
    I leaned over him to get a better look at his wound when his eyes snapped open.
    “Wes,” he yelled.  “I told you to leave.  The sun is setting.  You have no idea what you’ve done.”
    “Just relax,” I tried to calm him.  “I’ll get you to a doctor.  I think you need help.”
    “No,” he yelled as he pushed me.  Now normally when a gun shot victim pushes someone it’s weak, however when Jesse pushed me I flew over the campfire.
    He got up onto all fours and gave me the most evil, bone-chilling look I have ever seen.  “I told you to leave, and now it’s to late.”
    Jesse reared back and screamed into the night.  I heard what sounded like bones breaking.  His ribcage convulsed.
    “Jesse.  What’s wrong?”
    His legs and arms snapped as he fell face first to the ground.  He screamed again but this scream had a low rumble to it.  Foam shot from his mouth.  His skin turned black and grew hair – a lot of hair.  He thrashed and twisted on the ground while the sound of crackling bones filled the air. 
    He grew with every crunch and snap.  “Get out of here, Wes,” he growled.  He was almost unrecognizable at this point.
    I turned and ran as Jesse’s screams melted into a vicious growl.  My muscles burned and my breath was cold as I tried to escape.  Jesse’s screams ended with a bone-chilling howl.  When I looked back, Jesse was gone.  I had no idea what was happening, but I knew I was running for my life. 
As I neared my horse I stopped dead in my tracks.  A huge hairy beast slid to a stop in front of me.  My horse spooked and ran off.  I just stood there staring into those lifeless black eyes. 
    It was nearly a wolf but it stood upright like a man.  Drool dripped from its razor sharp teeth as it eyed me like a juicy steak.  The animal circled me.  I knew somehow that Jesse was inside, but where?
    “Jesse.  It’s me, Wes.”
    The beast growled and continued to pace.  I reached for my gun only to realize that I had left it by my bedroll.  The animal crouched and prepared to lunge.
    “Jesse, I don’t want this.  If this is what you have to offer, I’ll take my chances with death.”
    Either it didn’t hear me or it didn’t care.  With a vicious snarl it jumped and sank its claws into my back and teeth into my shoulder.  I yelled and punched it in the ribs.  I could tell it wasn’t really hurt but it must have been surprised because it turned loose of me.  Once I realized I was free I scrambled for my gun.
    The beast began running at me again.  I was ten feet from my gun.  I turned and kicked it in the nose.  It fumed and snorted as it hit the ground giving me just enough time.  As my hand grabbed the ivory handle of my colt 45, I felt the claws dig into my back.  I turned just enough to get a shot off before I hit the ground and blacked out.
    Visions of brutal murders ran through my unconscious mind.  I saw through the eyes of a killer and watched it tear innocent people to shreds.  A beast that could not satisfy its thirst for blood, hunted and killed in my head.
    I awoke in a dimly lit room lying on a bed.  My wounds were dressed and a doctor’s bag sat on the table next to me.  I scanned the room to see if anyone else was there, but I was alone.  My wounds didn’t hurt quite as bad as I would have expected. 
    The door opened, and an average looking man came in.  He had dark hair and a handle bar mustache.  He didn’t pay much attention to me as he walked across the room and began fiddling with the contents of the bag.
    “How long have I been out?” I asked in a weak, raspy voice.
    He jumped and knocked the bag off the table, “My goodness.  You frightened the stuffins out of me.”  It took him a minute to collect himself.  I tried to laugh, but it hurt too much.  “Well, I’m glad to see that you’re awake, although you may want give a guy a little warning before you scare him like that.”  He looked down and saw his tools strewn across the floor.  “Aww shoot,” he said as he bent down to pick his things up.
    “How long have I been asleep?” I repeated.
    “About two and a half weeks.  Your friend said you were attacked by a wolf.”  He stood up with a broken bottle in his hand.  “That was a brand new bottle,” he said as he stared at the broken shards of glass.
    “What friend?” I asked as the doctor threw the bottle in the trash. 
    “Tall guy, kinda stout, and blonde.  He’s right outside.  Do you want me to send him in?”
     My eyes widened and my heart pounded as I realized who he was talking about, “No, don’t.  He’s not what you think,” my voice was too weak for the doctor to hear.  He opened the door.
    Jesse came in and gave me a friendly, almost brotherly smile.  “How ya feelin’?”
    “What did you do to me?”
    Jesse turned to watch the doctor pull the door closed as he left, “I gave you what you wanted – eternal life.”
    “You put me in a hospital bed.  How is this eternal life?” I spat with all the strength I could muster.
    “This is nothing.  These wounds will heal.  You’ll get better, and at the next full moon you’ll change,” he said with a grin.  I think he may have been expecting a thank you.
    “Change into what, Jesse?  That thing you became?  No thank you.” I screeched.
    His smile faded, “There’s no going back.  The only thing that could have saved you was that preacher I shot. ”A scowl formed on Jesse’s face as he began pacing.  “I told you if you didn’t want it, to get out of there, but you stayed.  This isn’t my fault.”
    Astonished that Jesse accepted no responsibility for what happened, I retorted, “So it’s my fault that you attacked and almost killed me?”
    Jesse’s face turned red and he gritted his teeth as he yelled, “You could have listened to that preacher, but you chose to be an outlaw.  You could have left when I warned you, but you stayed.  How is this anyone else’s fault?”
    “Get out.  Get out of my room.  I never want to see you again,” I screamed with more strength than I thought I had.
    “Fine.  When the full moon rises in a week, you be sure and remember what you said,” he told me as he walked out of my room.
    That was the last time I saw Jesse.  In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have run him off, because a week later the full moon rose and I did change.  My blood boiled and my skin burned.  Bones broke and muscles tore.  My screams of agony melted into a howl of hunger, as I became a beast –half man, and half wolf.  I would never again have a normal life. 
The first couple of times caught me off guard and I slaughtered dozens of people.  Since then I have moved up to the Colorado Mountains and become a recluse.  I mostly kill deer and elk now, but occasionally a misguided hunter crosses my path and dies a gruesome death.
    I have been alive for one hundred and forty seven years, and I regret every minute.  Eternal life didn’t quite turn out the way I had hoped.  I have spent most of my life, without success, trying to find out what Jesse meant when he said the preacher could have saved me – and accidentally killed two in the process.
    If you find yourself in the forests of Colorado at night when the moon is full – run.  Run for your very life, because I’m out there.  I’m waiting and watching for someone worthy of the gift of eternal life – and the curse that consumes that life.

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#2 2009-12-01 10:50:33

RX Queen
bored and all erotic
From: Tulsa, OK
Registered: 2009-11-18
Posts: 459
Website

Re: consumed

I. Love. It. This was brilliant. Good job!


It's hard to scream with a throat full of glass

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#3 2009-12-21 14:48:57

Curtis
New member
From: Wichita, ks
Registered: 2009-03-10
Posts: 9
Website

Re: consumed

thank you.  i also have another story posted under the stories tab on the main page of werewolf cafe.

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#4 2010-02-09 14:51:30

Curtis
New member
From: Wichita, ks
Registered: 2009-03-10
Posts: 9
Website

Re: consumed

let me know what you think

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#5 2010-03-18 14:53:09

Curtis
New member
From: Wichita, ks
Registered: 2009-03-10
Posts: 9
Website

Re: consumed

does anyone have a suggestion to make my story better? or do you like it the way it is?

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#6 2011-02-23 18:49:33

mrRW
Member
Registered: 2009-12-01
Posts: 127

Re: consumed

I was reading a story over on DA (Restitution by Goldenwolf) and it made me think back to this piece. 

I guess I am kind of wondering if you feel the piece is set in stone complete or if you perhaps were open to adding a bit more? 

If you feel that the story could be added onto or have another piece that ties in perhaps have your character meet a native american shaman that teaches him control etc.  Would be an interesting way to let the character live on.

Last edited by mrRW (2011-02-24 12:55:30)

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#7 2011-04-01 17:23:03

chas
Member
From: Seattle
Registered: 2011-03-24
Posts: 19

Re: consumed

I enjoyed the story very much.  Keep up the good work

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