Chapter  2


     There was always a degree of tension between the two of them.  The very thought of a swinging swords at each other was beginning to add fuel to the fire in his chest.  His breathing was starting to get heavier.

     He reached for the weapon and locked stares with his uncle.  The hairs on the back of his neck were bristling and he realized how vulnerable his uncle had just made himself.  All he had to do was push the sword forward and into his chest.  It wouldn't kill him even if he did pierce his heart, but it would seriously maim to the point where Sean could overtake him.

     The moment lingered as they both held onto the sword.  It was a test.  His uncle was trying to see if he could keep control over himself and not act on his violent impulse.  Without looking away, he firmly gripped the sword and pointed it down to his side.

     Gregor turned abruptly almost making Sean jump, ready to attack.  He picked up the second sword without unsheathing it, and with one more glance at his nephew proceeded over to the wooden figures that stood in the corner of the room.  He grabbed the feudal Chinese warrior by the wrist and whispered something in the language of magic.  Sean couldn't make out the precise words but he did recognize the sound when his uncle used it.  The words hummed with the energy of his projected will, and the figure made a cracking noise as it extended its arm straight with its hand open.

     â€œThis wooden golem will be your opponent,â€� his uncle spoke as he removed the sheath and placed the samurai blade into the palm the warrior.  Its hand closed abruptly on the weapon.

     He turned to face his nephew and continued. “I had used the golems in the past throughout the manor for protection.  Once I activated them I left them animated, and much like a battery loses its energy so does the magic instilled into these guardians.  Now, once I put them in motion, they only function for a limited duration of an hour or two.  You know how much I like to keep things of magic even if it doesn't work as originally intended, so I found a new purpose for them… practice dummies.

     â€œI can mentally command these constructs and will be able to fight you indirectly, without the risk of our enmity getting out of hand, although I feel I should still assure you that I am not trying to kill you.  I warn you despite their appearance they can move quickly and their strength is greater than most men.  Don't hold back any killing blows.  These things can take the damage and within a few days fully restore themselves. Are you ready to begin?â€�

     The wooden figure took on a fighting position, sword held over head with the tip of the blade pointed at Sean, and its other arm straight out in front with two fingers extended.  It posed in a perfect fighting stance ready to fight.  He raised his own sword vertically in front of him in a two handed style, and took a wide stance with one foot slightly more forward than the other.

     â€œWhenever you want to begin,â€� he said with a bit of a snarl.

     He could feel some of his animal aggression beginning to surface.  He gritted his teeth and bit down on his rage.  It was always harder to maintain control with his uncle present.  He suspected that this too was part of a test.

     The wooden warrior took the initiative and lunged, swinging the blade in a counterclockwise circle aimed at his shoulder.  Sean blocked easily by moving his blade to the left to deflect the attack, and countered with a quick blow to his opponent’s head, but the warrior was quicker than he anticipated and reversed its grip so the flat of the blade ran down its forearm.  It blocked him and pushed his blade putting him slightly off balance.  It continued with its fluid movement, and its body went into a sharp spin, bringing its weapon around in a downward powerful arc.  It was so fast that he barely had time to bring his own weapon up to block the blow.  When their two swords collided, the shock of the impact sent painful vibrations up his arms.

     The golem grabbed its sword with both hands and stepped forward with a lunge aimed at Sean's center.  He twisted his body and sidestepped inward toward his opponent.  While his blade slid down the other sword he kicked with his left foot at its forward knee.  On a normal person it would've popped their knee out of joint, or at least knock them off balance, but this wasn't a person of flesh that he was fighting.  His foot stung like he had just kicked a solid tree.  It didn't bend unless it wanted to.  Taking advantage of his failed attack, the golem let go of its sword with one hand to strike at his face with backhanded fist.  Sean hooked his foot on the back of its knee so he could lean back far enough to avoid the blow entirely.

     It stepped forward snapping its leg straight trying to bring Sean back up to where it could grapple with him.  He didn't want to feel what kind of strength those wooden arms had, so he let go with his foot to fall into a backward roll.  Before he could fully get his feet under him he thrust his sword up horizontally over his head to block the anticipated downward strike of his opponent.  Once again his arms felt the impact of the weight and strength from the blow.

     It lifted its blade and pulled back to swing at him while he was near to the ground and his mobility compromised.  Quickly, he sprang to his feet and jumped high tucking his legs under him to dodge the low strike.  As he landed the golem was already reversing its attack bringing it back in a downward arc.  Sean thrust his blade out and blocked again.  This time he had given his sword a steeper angle while deflecting the hit and allowed the two blades to meet further away from his body.  This lessened the impact and gave room to absorb the energy of the blow.

     He back pedaled to give himself time to recover and to reassess this magical construct.  The damn thing was more flexible than a wooden man had any right to be and it was solid, probably weighing over three hundred pounds.  It moved with a balanced, crisp speed and each strike was executed nearly perfect, allowing the golem to capitalize on its mass.

     How was he going to beat this thing?

     He still felt the after effects of the throbbing in his arm.  If only he had heeded his uncle's warning of the golem’s strength, he could've avoided the shock to his limb.  Sean only took a second to collect himself and to bring his weapon back up in front of him.

     Both combatants started to circle one another in a side-stepping fashion.  Sean held onto his sword with both hands on the hilt while keeping the blade parallel to his body and in front of his right shoulder.  The golem also imitated the way Sean was holding his weapon.  They both moved in almost perfect unison mirroring the way they held their swords and stepping at the same time.  Slowly the circle they made became smaller as they gradually spiraled closer.

     â€œCome now, Sean!  This is not a human you’re facing.  If you’re going to defeat it you’re going to have to invoke other aspects of your nature.â€�

     As his uncle spoke the golem made a quick feint as if it were going to lunge.  Sean kept his focus sharp and slightly shifted his blade to counter, but he did not commit himself since the golem was only feigning an attack to test his own defenses.

     He didn't like what his uncle was suggesting.  “Invoking other aspects of his nature,â€� meant a partial transformation.  This was something new he and Gregor had only just begun experimenting with a few weeks ago.  The purpose was to help Sean come to terms with his other self and to gradually ease him into a transformation to where he could feel comfortable and not forget who he was.  He was making great progress with it as long as he took plenty of time to calm himself through meditation, but this was a much more aggressive scenario.  He decided to consider, but not act on the advice his uncle gave him.

     Just as they were about to make their second resolution he launched himself into a swift stabbing lunge, timing his attack precisely as the golem crossed its legs and was settling its weight on its feet.  With a skilled response Sean's strike was countered, but he did not relent his offense.  He threw a rapid series of left to right attacks which the golem was finding increasingly more difficult to keep up with due to its compromised footing.  He was able to connect his sword to the golem’s wooden body several times.

     Sean smiled with the success he was having all of a sudden.  He was actually starting to get thrill out of this.

     Suddenly the golem did something unexpected and lowered its defense which allowed Sean to make a very solid hit into the golem’s mid-section just below the ribs.  On a normal flesh and blood opponent such a hit would have been fatal, but in this case the sword became wedged.  It took him two tugs to get the blade unstuck, but by then it was too late.  The golem deliberately pulled its sword back with the tip of it pointing at Sean's stomach and drove him through.

     He looked down in disbelief.  The pain barely even registered.  He was in complete shock.

     Sean stared down at the sword hilt sticking out of his abdomen.  He could only see three inches of the metal blade, but could imagine the rest of it inside him and poking out his back.  Time felt like it had slowed down sparing him briefly from moving forward into agony.

     He didn't know what to think.  His uncle had stabbed him through the use of the golem.  He understood that it was the golem’s hand that had pushed the sword through him, but it was controlled by the mind of his uncle.  Gregor had never inflicted such a painful wound on him before.  In fact, in the past he had always been careful to pull his swings at the last possible second softening any contact with the practice swords.  This… this was completely unexpected.

     The golem started to slide the weapon out of Sean's belly.  Immediately he felt the sickening pain shoot through the core of his body which forced time to jump start again.  He tightened his muscles in his legs forcing himself to stay upright and to resist the urge in his knees to buckle.  He could do nothing as he watched the blood stained blade continue to retract from the wound.

     As soon as it was pulled out and away from him his legs gave way and he folded onto his knees letting his own sword fall to the floor beside him.  He had to remind himself to breathe but when he felt his pain spike he understood why he was holding his breath and winced in reaction.

     The golem took two steps back and took its time to circle around Sean.

     â€œGet up Sean!â€� Gregor commanded. “You have suffered far worse than that fraction of a wound.â€�

     He still couldn't believe his uncle had stabbed him, and now he was callously telling him to brush it off.  What the hell was he trying to do?  Sean slowly raised his head to look at his uncle with an incredulous look.  His uncle just stared back at him, standing in the same spot he had been when this match had begun.  The expression on his face never changed and continued to remain neutral without betraying what he felt or thought.  That withdrawn attitude irritated Sean and he could feel his anger stir within him once more.

     â€œStop fighting like a normal person Sean, for you are anything but that.  Focus on your sword and use what you are to crush your opponent.â€�

     Sean locked gazes with his uncle as he grabbed hold of his sword.  The pain on his face melted away to be replaced with narrow eyes of deadly intent.  He no longer thought about the injury in his middle that was healing itself closed as he slowly stood.  He felt as though he were a snake coiling, preparing itself to spring forward in a deadly attack.  Gregor cracked a sliver of a smile onto his stone cold face, and that small movement set Sean's blood to boiling.

     The golem had strategically placed itself between the two of them with its sword perfectly poised in front and at its center.  He didn't miss a beat in redirecting his prepared attack onto the golem instead, and leaped forward swinging his blade furiously at the wooden model of a samurai.  It expertly blocked and countered with its own attack to which Sean blocked as well.  Sparks flew off the blades of both fighters and the ringing of the swords filled the air.

     Sean was like a demon with his blade, fighting as if he were possessed with only one objective in mind and nothing else mattered.  The speed and strength of his strikes increased as he surged from one attack to the next.  He was so intent on destroying what was in front of him that he didn't even notice how his body was gradually changing.

     His muscles were increasing in bulk and definition, and where ever skin was visible the amount of hair was multiplying at a slow and steady rate.  If he had half a mind to notice he would've also realized how his mouth was starting to puff up and his teeth were becoming sharper.  Even the rounded tops of his ears were beginning to show a bit of a point to them.

     Suddenly the golem swung its sword unexpectedly with the flat edge of its blade striking hard at Sean's wrist.  His hand went numb with the impact and he lost the strength to hold onto his own sword.  For the second time in this fight he dropped his weapon, but he didn't let that minor fact bother him.

     Rather than make any attempt to recover the sword he grabbed a hold of the golem’s wrist and twisted.  He rolled his own body so that his back was up against the golem and it could do nothing to resist the direction Sean was taking its arm.  With his own shoulder pushed up under the golem's upper arm he yanked abruptly downward and a loud crack echoed in the room.  The golem was not in a position to prevent Sean from wrenching down a second and final time, and the arm came off in a splintering shower of wood.

     Without slowing down he continued his relentless attack and swung the now detached arm like a club into the back of the golem’s head.  The thing stumbled forward losing its balance as Sean struck it again and again.  Unable to resist the bombardment the golem fell hard, planting its face into the floor.  It started to push up, but Sean jumped onto its back bringing his full weight to bear, pinning the golem.  Crouching down on its back he swiftly twisted the sword out of the golem's remaining hand and in one fluid motion stood up and hurled the weapon like a short spear straight at his uncle's head.

     The instant the sword left the tips of his fingers he regretted it.  Time seemed to stretch out as he watched in slow motion the inevitable.  Tiny bits of what little remained of his own crusted blood fell off the blade as it glided through the air unerringly toward Gregor.  In that moment Sean completely forgot about the anger and fury that had consumed him.  He couldn't breathe as he stood there frozen in horror.

     Finally, the deadly end of the blade reached its destination, less than an inch away from Gregor's right ear, and slid neatly into the wall.  The sword embedded itself almost up to the hilt, and neither one of them moved.  Gregor didn't move a muscle.  He didn't even flinch.  Even the crippled golem had stopped moving and a heavy silence permeated the air.

     Gregor partly smiled and said “You did well.â€�

     The frozen spell was broken and those simple words from his uncle rekindled the fire in Sean's heart.  His eyes narrowed with evident irritation as he continued to speak, nearly oblivious to what was being said.

     â€œIf I had been someone else truly intent on causing you harmâ€�, Gregor continued, “destroying the golem would not have saved you.  It's important to know who your true adversary is and not be distracted by other obstacles.  However, you still need to improve on maintaining control of your transformation.   You need to better manage your stress level and to keep your thoughts clear.â€�

     Sean barely heard the appraisal with the ringing fury that still swelled inside of him.  It was made even worse seeing how his uncle stood there so calm like he wasn't in any kind of danger.  It was likely that even if Sean's aim had been true, he probably would have been able to dodge or deflect the sword.  Uncle Gregor always had a way to protect himself.  He didn't get to be centuries old without being mindful of his surroundings and having the power to keep himself safe.

     It aggravated Sean how casually he took all this and his anger elevated, igniting his instincts to attack the vampire before him.  His nostrils were flaring.  He could feel the pounding of his heart and the rushing of his blood made it hard to hear anything.  The regret he had felt only a moment before died as quickly as it had been born.  All he wanted to do now was to strangle the life out of the creature in front of him.

     It wouldn't have been the first time he and his uncle came to blows.  There had been many times before where Sean could not restrain from throwing himself at his uncle intent on killing him.  Other than the first couple of seconds of those violent incidents Sean could not remember a single thing of what he imagined to be a brutal fight.  It was occasions like that when his werewolf side took over that caused him to have black outs.  He couldn't recall anything that happened from that point on until he could reawaken the next day in his human form.

     With a sharp growl he pulled himself out of the moment, and without thinking charged out of the room.  If something else happened to him before he reached the stairs he doubted he'd be able to stop from engaging his uncle.

     Gregor remained silent and stayed where he was.

     Sean was up the stairs and back into the kitchen before he realized it.  He stormed his way into the dining hall and with hardly a thought grabbed hold of one of the ornate chairs and hurled it across the room as hard as he could.  It smashed against the wall with a loud crash.  The chair exploded into pieces of wood and twisted metal.  He clenched his fists and released a roar of pure frustration.  The scream was part human and part animal and left an eerie echo throughout the room.

     He needed to be out and away from here.  He rushed to the high double doors in the main foyer and shoved them both open.  The oppressive hate that he was drowning in started to lift as he ran out of the house and into the night.  Part of him welcomed the relief and part of him wanted to indulge in the raw energy coursing through out his body.

     He continued to run down the paved driveway and turned onto the first side path that offered itself.  The late spring air blew crisp and cool against his face, and helped to wash him clean of the heated turmoil that was burning in his soul.  A half moon could be seen every now and then drifting in and out from behind the massive overcast that dominated the starless sky.  Occasionally a bright flash of lightening would illuminate the angry storm clouds that promised a relentless rain.  Trees and underbrush were a blur to him and their details hardly mattered.

     He ran, to get away from the manor and to shake off the dark presence enveloping him.  He wanted to be himself again and not at the mercy of his instincts.  He had been able to escape Gregor's challenge without losing himself, but the desire to change into a werewolf still clawed at him.

      He couldn’t deny how he enjoyed the sensation of power he had when he transformed.  It was like being supercharged with raw power.  He could go anywhere and do anything.  He felt unstoppable.

     There was also fear.  He was afraid of not having conscious control of such strength.  He could easily kill or destroy just about anything in that other form, and he didn’t know himself well enough to trust what he would do.

     If he wanted he could change now, and be relatively safe from causing harm to himself or anyone else.  His uncle had even told him that he had to be willing to let go sometimes, and allow himself to become a werewolf.  Releasing the beast from within from time to time was supposed to be healthy and normal, or so claimed Gregor, but Sean didn't think there was anything normal about it.

     Other animals could smell, or sense, that he was a predator and immediately became uneasy around his presence.  Most people might be fooled by his human face, but on the rare occasion where he did interact with another person they still picked up on something that made them feel uneasy.  For Sean it served as constant reminder that he had become a creature outside the normal realm of reality, and he would never have a regular life.

     He slowed his pace and hung his head lower as some despair crept in around the edges of his rage.  He respected and even loved his uncle as though he was a father, but there was no ignoring the fact he was a vampire.  Their opposing natures would always be a constant conflict no matter what they did.

     It was difficult to accept this life.  He had lost his childhood memories, and had to struggle with understanding who he was now.  Sometimes he imagined having amnesia might not be such a bad thing.  At least he didn't have the experience of a normal life clashing with the one he was living now.  So whatever "normal" was, it was, in truth, an imagined concept.  Whatever life he might have had with his birth parents was gone.  Now he had to live as a prisoner behind magical fortifications to stay hidden from the monster that made him, deprived of an ordinary life, and devoid of contact with others he could relate to.

     There were less than a handful of people that he associated with on a regular basis, none of which were close to his age.  The age gap only further decreased what little he had in common with any of them.  He found his thoughts drifting, and he considered what he knew about the few people that lived here with him.

     There was Daniel Rosenblatt and his wife Rebecca that were loyal servants of Gregor, and whom lived at the manor too.  Officially Daniel was the butler and Rebecca was the cook, but they both did many odd jobs around the place.  They were an elderly couple in their early seventies who his uncle had employed almost twenty years ago.  Daniel had just been laid off from his job when the factory he worked for revolutionized and replaced many of their employees with machines.  The couple inquired about the job offer his uncle had.  After he interviewed them and checked their backgrounds they were hired.  Gradually, Gregor carefully made them aware of the supernatural world and made known what he was.  His uncle had proved himself to be a respectable, good man, and surprisingly the Rosenblatts had no trouble accepting him for what he was.

     The only other person who he had any regular contact with was Carols.  Sean didn't know much about him since he didn't like to talk about himself.  Sean knew that he was an ex-marine who was down on his luck before he came here.  The man was the big, strong, silent type and was very professional when it came to his uncle.  His primary job was security and he performed the duties of a bodyguard.  However, with modern technology and magic combining to guard the property, there wasn't much he had to do in the way of protecting, so he used his spare time to tend the gardens and maintain the grounds.  Sometimes Sean helped him and he would learn a thing or two. 

     There was also Anna, the only person Gregor had sired.  She was originally a seventeen-year-old that had a terminal sickness before his uncle turned her.  He raised her as if she were his own daughter and allowed her to live the life that she would have otherwise been denied.  He taught her how to maintain her discipline, and not allow her vampiric thirst for blood to rule her life like so many others.  He also taught her to value life and to not squander the gift he had given her.  It was one of the things his uncle seemed to be excellent at doing, to challenge and inspire people to be there best.  Anna was currently traveling, and taking her time to experience the world.

     When it became evident that Sean was becoming a werewolf his uncle had advised her not to come home unannounced and to keep her distance.  She was fascinated Gregor would even attempt to care for a person bitten by a werewolf, and was very interested in how things would turn out.  She maintained constant contact with Sean throughout the years using the phone, letters and emails.  She would tell him in detail where she was and what she was doing and send him pictures of her adventures.  It was one of the few things he looked forward to every few days, as though it were a temporary reprieve from his isolation.

     The Rosenblatts were much older than he, Carlos wasn't a socialite, Anna was thousands of miles away, and he and Gregor could never become to close because of what they were.  There was no one else in his life that was of his age or could relate with him.  The rampant emotions that had engulfed him before had completely left him now and a mantle of gloom had settled around his shoulders.

     He felt depressingly alone.

     A rain drop hit the back of his neck, and little specks of water appeared on the dry dirt and leaves all around him.  It started to lightly drizzle and the slow moving clouds promised to hang around for a while.  He thought it was poetic how the weather seemed to reflect his mood.

     Sean had stopped in a small clearing where the ground sloped up toward some thicker woods.  He turned around and looked back in the direction he had come from.  A flash of lightening silhouetted the large manor that had been his home for the past few years.  Sean thought of his uncle, and what he knew of his life before he joined him in this secret world of the supernatural.

     Gregor had been as straight forward as possible about what it was like for him to become a vampire in hopes that it would help Sean through his own strenuous beginning.  His uncle had not always accepted what he was and in fact had a darker time of it than Sean had.  His sire was a cruel and dominating vampire that only wanted to keep his prodigy as slaves or soldiers loyal to the death.  He only taught Gregor what was necessary for him to know in order to better serve, and he used pain and fear as vices to control those he lorded over.  Eventually Gregor rebelled and escaped, killing the monster that had called himself his maker.  He only knew the essentials of how to take care of himself as a vampire, and for many years struggled on his own while he learned the intricacies of the life he had been forced into.

     He had difficulty mastering his hunger for blood, but in time he learned to dedicate himself to something greater.  He chose to surround himself with books, art, and people of influence, and to take an active role in the world of humanity.  He felt it was far better to drink deeply from the cup of life and take risks as opposed to living forever, hiding in the darkness, protecting his immortality.  It was this passion for life that gave him a powerful focus to control his bestial appetite.  Of course he still felt the inevitable pull to drink blood, and he still indulged in it.  It was a necessary sin that his kind had to partake, but at least in his case he had become the master of his own hunger, and not the other way around.

     Sean admired his uncle's dedication of continual self improvement, and how Anna had devoted herself to a very similar path.  He strived to capture for himself the passion that they had empowered themselves with, and the different ways they applied their knowledge to improve the world around them.  He wished that he could follow in Anna's footsteps by traveling the world and living a life he chose, but he couldn't do so in safety.  The werewolf responsible for biting him was still out there, somewhere, hunting for him.  Gregor constantly reminded Sean that it was dangerous for him to go just anywhere, and it was in his best interest to stay at the manor.

     Sean couldn't remember any details about the monster that had destroyed his life.  All his memories were erased up until the day he awoke in his uncle's manor.  He relied mostly on Gregor's recollection of that terrible night and the watered down memories he telepathically shared with him.


     Sean and his mother were the only direct descendants of his bloodline, and that reason alone gave him an invested interest in keeping an eye on them, albeit distantly.  On a few occasions he'd even take the evening to check on them in person, and it just so happened he was there that night.

     Just before he was about to leave there was an unusual presence in the air.  Something unnatural.  Before he had a chance to consider it the most massive nightmare of a creature he had ever seen appeared out of nowhere and tore into the second floor of the house as if it were made of paper where young Sean's bedroom was.  The sheer size and power of the creature left Gregor in shock and incapable of taking immediate action, but it was more than that.  The thing exuded a wrongness about it, defiling and infecting the area all around, and it left Gregor paralyzed with fear, a sensation he was not at all used to.

     It all became worse when the colossal beast held young Sean aloft near its eyes and a bright green light erupted between the two of them.  Reality felt like it was warping, ripping apart, making him feel sick and twisted inside.  By the time he had regained his senses the night was filled with gun fire and explosions, and the air was filled with the scent of blood and death.  It was a miracle he hadn't been caught up in all the collateral damage scattered about.

     Quickly he ascertained his surroundings taking it all in with supernatural speed.  The giant werewolf was in the distance maliciously killing Veil agents, and more of them laid about dead or dying, torn apart and beyond saving.  Even Sean's parents were dead, but that part of the memory was blurred out by his uncle, something he absolutely refused to show him.

     Much to Gregor's surprise he did find his nephew barely alive lying in a bed of crushed flowers.  Without wasting another moment, he grabbed the boy and ran.  There was sanctuary not too far he originally intended on using that evening, but in light of the horrible attack it was far better to put as much distance between themselves and whatever intentions the corrupted werewolf had.

     It wasn't long before the thing was on their trail hunting for the sole survivors of its attack and the rest of night was a frightening life and death game of cat and mouse.  Gregor barely escaped with enough time to find shelter from the sun before collapsing from exhaustion.

     The next evening when Gregor awoke he fully expected to find a corpse lying near him, but to his surprise his nephew was still alive.  His breathing was shallow, and his heart was struggling to pump blood through his mangled body, but somehow that twelve-year-old boy still had life left in him.  He didn't believe Sean could possibly survive another hour, and there was only one thing he could do to keep him from dying, and that was to turn him right then and there.

     In retrospect, perhaps he wasn't thinking clearly.  He had after all depleted his reserves and was in dire need of blood, and despite his discipline he was still susceptible to his hunger.  The other thought driving his decision was simply how he could not allow this innocent child to die.  He hoped for forgiveness before he gently bit his neck, but the instant blood touched his tongue Gregor ripped his head away spitting vehemently.  Sean’s blood tasted like poison.

     That was when Gregor realized why Sean had survived.  He had been bitten by the werewolf, and that was the reason his arm was missing.  Despite the grievous injuries Gregor knew that given enough time Sean would fully recover and become a werewolf himself.

     With disregard to his nephews impending change he vowed he'd take Sean in and look after him, despite being aware of how their different natures would inevitably clash.  Gregor chose to overlook the mortal enemy soon to be born, and saw an injured child who had just lost his family, and now had no one.

     From that point on Sean had to live his life in hiding and under the protection of his uncle.  There were a handful of occasions when they had left the manor and twice when the monstrous beast that had bit him found them, threatening their lives and causing much death and destruction in pursuit of Sean.  For some reason, neither of them could fathom, it was still hunting for him, but as long as he stayed at the manor within the protective wards, he remained undetected.

     There weren't many things his uncle was afraid of, but that werewolf had certainly been one of them and he had no desire of ever coming into a direct confrontation with the thing.  Sean also fully understood Gregor had no intentions of allowing him the chance of encountering that beast either.

     Sean feared the werewolf too, but couldn't stand to be trapped here any longer.  He felt like a hostage to his own fate.  If he left, he'd be in danger, and vulnerable to that giant monster.  On the other hand, if he stayed here any longer something would just break inside him.  He felt deprived of human contact and it was taking a toll on him.  He also had to endure the constant hatred he felt for his uncle that went against all reason.  That sensation alone smothered his sensibility denying him the chance to be himself.  There was also the wolf in him that cried out constantly to be able to run free of this place.  It was too much to bear.  He couldn't stay here any longer.  He had to leave, because if he didn't he'd go insane.

     Right there and then he knew exactly what he had to do.

     He started to walk back toward the manor with determination in his stride.  He understood the risk he was going to take.  He might die, but better that than to let himself go crazy by staying here.  He knew how his uncle would argue against his decided course, and how he would likely point out all the reasons as to why this was the wrong thing to do.

     Why did he even have to bother telling him?  He could simply skip going to his uncle and just leave in the morning, right after Gregor fell asleep.  Sean didn't really want to think about his decision.  He wanted to act now while his commitment was solid.  He'd start by packing and decide later how he would deal with his uncle.