Abigail Moore

Abigail's life was fairly typical in her early years. Mom, dad, two younger brothers, and a fair bit of moving around as her parents jobs fluctuated. From cities, to 'burbs, to cities, to back to the 'burbs again, Lexi didn't mind the rural areas even if they were a little "Hicksville". She and her peers mostly said things like that to sound cooler, more elite than they were. By the time she was hitting her teens, they were living in a small town of about ten-thousand. The sleepy kind of place immune to quick change and where everyone knew everyone else's business. The sort of town where kids stayed out until the street lights came on.

Having two brothers made Abigail into a more rough-and-tumble personality. She took to sports in High School, doing track and softball. She started working at a local greasy spoon when she was fifteen, along with some of her friends. She dated infrequently growing up, but never had a "serious" boyfriend. Abigail harbored dreams of escaping the town and "making it" in the city. By the time she was approaching adulthood, she still didn't have much idea of what form that'd manifest in. She debated the military, debated college, but ultimately just didn't really know.

Things took a turn a few months before Abigail was to graduate High School. It was early Spring, cool but not hot yet, and some people she knew were having a party outside. They were next to a wooded area, some of the guys ended up telling scary stories about local haunted spots, which culminated in a group of them going into the woods. They brought their alcohol with them and carried the party on as they got further away from the main group. As they went on, an uneasiness crept into the party. Abigail remembered the woods being eerily quiet; no bugs, no animals, no wind, nothing.

She was about to suggest they head back when something came out of the brush and grabbed one of the guys. She heard screams, then a large animal snarling. Everyone bolted in different directions, including Abigail. She tripped in the dark, twisting her ankle, and then the animal was on her. She felt its teeth sink into her shoulder and then felt herself being shaken violently. It bit her a second time, at which point Abigail kicked out with her feet, and was able to begin running away once more. She escaped back to the main group.

There was a debate over what to do. Abigail was bleeding badly and clearly needed a hospital. One of the more sober teens drove her several towns over to get looked at. Her parents were notified and they gave her a thorough chewing out upon arrival, about being reckless and having no business being in the woods at night. It came out that one of the teens was still missing and her dad made her tell him where the party had been. The Sheriff responded out there and began looking, as well as arrested a large group for underage drinking. They found the missing boy's remains after a short search; he'd been mauled and partially eaten by some kind of large animal.

Abigail ended up getting stitches, antibiotics, and an overnight stay at the hospital. Her parents were livid; all her privileges were revoked . Worse, the boy's death was presumed to be from a bear, and a professional tracker was called in to look for it. Abigail was interviewed by the police more than once and told them what she knew, which was woefully little. Her classmates were mad at her for narcing them out, blaming Abigail for opening her mouth. She became a popular topic of online bullying and for the same in-person at school. Maybe people were sad, scared, or angry about their friend's death, but Abigail became the target of their fears. Friendships evaporated and she received hidden glances and whispers everywhere she went. Her brothers became her only friends, which strengthened their bond.

Walking home from work about a month later, Abigail blacked out. She woke up the next morning in the woods, naked and with blood all over her hands and mouth. She managed to make it home without being seen, "borrowing" some clothes off a line in a backyard on the way, and got herself washed up. She blacked out again the next night, then the night after that. Each time, she'd wake up somewhere different, with no memory of how she'd gotten there, what had happened, or why she was bloody.

The "bear" was never found but the body of a drifter was, behind the library, adjacent to the woods. He'd also been brutally attacked by an animal. The town instituted a curfew and additional hunters responded to the area, but the attacks ceased and the trail went cold. Though nothing suggested Abigail was involved, it turned people's memories back to the party. A reward for the animal was offered and others reports of missing pets and slaughtered livestock came in.

Abigail thought she was going insane; her blackouts were becoming a regular problem, though she didn't confide it in her parents. She did tell her brothers but they were as stumped as she was. One night, while doing the dishes, Abigail accidently cut her hand. She watched as the skin re-knit itself in front of her eye, tendrils of flesh reaching across the red gap to pull themselves back together without a scar. She did it again, intentionally this time, and the same thing happened. She did it a third time for her brothers, who thought it was alternately scary and cool.

Eventually she began to correlate events in her mind. Her blackouts happened almost every month, without fail. She'd always wake up naked and bloody. The night the drifter had died, and the nights in which dead animals had been reported, had all coincided with her episodes. Was she somehow responsible? If so, Abigail feared she was very dangerous. She confided these fears to her siblings, who agreed to help her investigate.

There was an old quarry at the edge of town, a mining operation that had gone bust decades ago, and it was a popular teen hangout on the weekends but mostly abandoned otherwise. Abigail and her brothers snuck out and went down into the pit, her siblings bringing some bike lock chains with them. They laughed nervously as they chained Abigail to an old tractor at the bottom, then set up a camera to observe her while she was there. Abigail demanded they leave her and go a safe distance somewhere else. They did so reluctantly, returning to the top of the quarry where they could watch from a distance.

The full moon rose and Abigail blacked out. That was the night she and her siblings learned what she'd become. She knew that she'd Change again the following night and there'd be no way to control it. Abigail saw only one option to keep her family safe; she'd have to leave. It was only a matter of time before she'd hurt or kill one of them, or someone else.

Abigail packed up a backpack's worth of clothing and possessions. She cleaned out her bank account. News was already breaking about a livestock mutilation not far from the quarry, and Abigail knew it had been her. She didn't say anything to her parents, just bid her brothers goodbye, and went as far out into the middle of nowhere as she could. When the Change took her, she reasoned, she'd be isolated enough to not hurt anyone. Blind panic, fear, and flight was all she could think of.

She didn't go home after that. She kept on walking after the full moon passed. A passing truck driver stopped for her held up thumb, and gave her a ride out on the county highway. Abigail was reported missing when she never returned. She sent her brothers a message, letting them know she was okay, then ditched her phone so it couldn't be used to track her.

Abigail ended up on the other side of the country, at first resolving to live in isolation. This proved to be impossible. She couldn't just go cold turkey from the world, and found herself in some ways even more social than she'd been before. Abigail realized it was almost like a compulsion, a desire to feel like she was a part of something... or the Wolf's way of making sure she remained near potential food sources.

It hasn't been an easy road. It's dangerous alone, especially as a young woman. Both Abigail and her would-be murderer learned the hard way that it wasn't just the full moon which could prompt the Change. One dimly lit truck stop later, and a knife between the ribs from her potential killer, saw the Wolf emerge at what could have been a fatal injury. That guy wouldn't bother anyone else again, ever.

Abigail is often angry about her Curse. Her life ripped away, her reputation gone, that she has to hide from her loved ones, it all grates. She stays in casual contact with her brothers but not even they know for sure where she is. They understand, in varying degrees, but her absence is painful to them. Abigail realizes they could "out" her as a werewolf and is terrified of the idea. There's nothing she can do about that though, not unless she was willing to hurt her brothers, and she isn't.

She seeks the purpose behind her Curse. A random, freak occurrence or was there a bigger meaning? If werewolves are real, what about other monsters? Would they be friends or foes? The open road lies ahead, and hopefully, some resolution as well. Abigail has lost a lot of her former optimism. She doesn't see any way this ultimately ends happy as opposed to in violence. The Wolf won't allow anything less. Worse, with the passing of a few years now, she's almost beginning to enjoy that side of her. To even (subconsciously) look forward to those sessions of freedom the Wolf allows from rational thought. If that doesn't make her a monster, Abigail isn't sure what would.