Crimson and Furs

Cursed

Growl? Rumble?

Mind you that wasn't the sound of some wild animal or the roaring of thunder. Rather it was the grumbling of someone's stomach due to being starved. And this was none other than Daniel.

After spending minutes staring at Carolina in dazed, he snapped out of it after hearing the sound coming out of his own stomach. It was at this point he realized that he was starving.

"Man after having a sumptuous lunch with Felicia I still feel like I just returned from a three-day hunger strike," Daniel frowned as he immediately began cleaning up the mess on the floor. Due to his tidiness OCD he spent so much time cleaning the floor that before he finished, it was 4:30pm.

Caroline meowed as it lay on the ground, curling itself into a ball and closed its eyes. Obviously it was filled from eating the mushrooms and fell asleep immediately.

Daniel yawned hungrily as he walked to the kitchen to find some food to eat. He wasn't hopeful that he would find any food there since his mother would be returning to cook dinner but he had to try his luck any way. His hunger wasn't giving him the time to give up.

He walked towards the cupboard and opened it. His lips immediately curled up into a smile after the seeing the contents within the cupboard. There was a bag of cheese, two bags of dried mushrooms, a fat can of sardine and a large plastic bag containing milk. His eyes watered with greed as his mouth watered for the whole food there. It took him a lot of selfcontrol to resist the greed. In the end he settled for a bag of dried mushrooms.

"And I almost thought I'd die of hunger," Daniel said as he took a large cup, opened the plastic bag containing milk and poured it inside. He then carried the stuff to his room to eat.

As he sat on his bed and wanted to eat, his food rang. He couldn't help but frown as he felt that the whole world was fighting against him, preventing him from eating. He had escaped from Walter for God's sake and needed some time to recover himself!

Not so many people had his phone number so he immediately knew who was calling him. He took out his smartphone from his pocket and saw his mother's name on the caller ID. His assumption had been correct. He quickly picked the call.

"Good afternoon, mum," he greeted with a smile, his right hand slowly opening the bag of dried mushrooms. He couldn't wait to eat.

"Good afternoon, Dan," Mrs. Stark said from the other end. "How are you doing?"

"I'm very fine," Daniel replied. Even though I just escaped from Walter and his bully friends.

Mrs. Stark paused for some moments as if she was thinking about something. Then she said, "Your voice carries that tone when you're lying."

"..."

Daniel was momentarily speechless. When did his mum become a telepath? Luckily for him, Mrs. Stark didn't hap on the matter as she continued:

"I hope you've eaten?"

"Uh, no," Daniel felt he shouldn't lie about this one or his mum was gonna figure out that he was hiding something.

"It's 4:31pm, why haven't you eaten?" Mrs. Stark asked. "Do you want to get hunger pangs?"

"I'm about to eat," Daniel replied.

"I hope you'd enjoy the chicken soup with mushrooms," Mrs. Stark said with a happy voice.

I definitely would have enjoyed it mum, Daniel thought, but Caroline took the initiative to do so.

He glanced at the cat which was still sleeping and smiled warmly. This pet was so adorable even when it was sleeping.

"Uhm, Dan I won't be coming home today," Mrs. Stark said. "I won't be coming home today and tomorrow. I have several things to attend to at the hospital."

Mrs. Stark was a staff nurse so she was almost always at the hospital. Some times she didn't come home for days so Daniel was used to it.

"Noted," Daniel couldn't even hide his joy. No mum at home meant he would be able to do anything! He would be a god today!

"Take care of yourself," Mrs. Stark said.

"Sure mum," Daniel said, "that's what I'm good at."

Mrs. Stark laughed for some moments before saying, "And don't sleep on the social media."

"That's what I plan on doing," Daniel muttered under his breathe. He didn't know whether his mum heard or not. He didn't even care about the matter at all.

"See you on Sunday," Mrs. Stark said.

"Bye mum," Daniel said. Then his mum hung up the call.

"Hehe," he chuckled as he began eating the dried mushrooms while he thought about how he would spend his weekend. The dried mushrooms were crispy and a bit salty, giving him no tasty vibes. They were even inferior to the ones his mum had prepared earlier.

In order to console himself over the loss of such a sumptuous lunch earlier, he drank the cup of milk which seemed a little sour. In no time he finished the dried mushrooms and milk and lay on his bed, preparing to log onto f******k and meet with his buddies at Curious Mythologists. His fingers moved like a blur as he logged onto f******k, clicking on his group chat name. Right now everyone was active as they had all returned from wherever they had gone. Daniel couldn't help but curl up his mouth into a smile as he read through the current conversation. It was about werewolves.

"Uh, what are werewolves?😕?" a girl named Unknown asked. She was 15-year old and was an introvert.

"You don't know about werewolves in this era? That's so dumb😒" Sexy Peacock typed.

"Boobs would be easier to know, @Sexy Peacock👀" Crying God typed.

"This confirms my guess about you being dumb🤨" Sexy Peacock typed.

Daniel didn't know whether to laugh or not after seeing the insult. Actually the perverted Crying God deserved it.

"I asked a question!😕" Unknown asked again as she awaited the answers of the other four members, especially Crimson Wolf. He had always been knowledgeable about stuffs like that.

"They're humans who transform to wolves at full moon🌚" Daniel typed. "This is as a result of a curse which acts during full moon. During that period, they would experience intense pain as they transform and lose their rationality. After transforming into a werewolf, they would lose all form of humanity till the next day when they've transformed back into humans."

"That's so creepy 😱" Unknown typed. Obviously she was horrified by Crimson Wolf's explanation. The others couldn't help but feel a sense of amusement.

"I think it's time for us to tell this young girl a horror story 👻" Crying God typed immediately.

"@Crying God, don't scare the little girl😒" Evil Buddha finally typed. He was an 18-year old teenager and the most experienced of them all. He also was very funny despite being the oldest here.

"Sorry, Sire👀" Crying God typed.

"Ahem," Daniel typed and then began looking for a coughing emoji. He couldn't find any and continued, "Can't find any coughing emoji so I have to continue. So by the time they transform into humans, they would lose their memories about what transpired in the night. Sometimes, their memories would be hazy as if they were mere dreams."

"Do werewolves exist in real life?🤔" Unknown asked. She was very inquisitive.

Daniel would have said no but then he remembered the event that transpired yesterday. He wanted to share his experience with all of them but thought against it. Who would believe him if he said he was scratched by a werewolf? When he was asked to show them the scratch what would he show them when there was nothing?

"Those stuffs are mere stories to scare children 🤨" Sexy Peacock typed. It was obvious she was scoffing.

"Well I dunno 🤷" Crying God typed. "Well if I encounter one I'd make sure to tell you before I die."

"This is dark 😂" Daniel typed.

"You should stop joking with your life," Sexy Peacock rebuked Crying God.

"Don't scare me, Uncle Crying God 🥺" Unknown typed.

Were introverts this fearful? Daniel couldn't help but ask himself as he waited for Evil Buddha to say his mind. He was the most experienced among them so he should have something very important to say about this.

"Yes," Evil Buddha typed. "Werewolves exist in this world and there are things I would like to share with you about them. Not all though."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Crying God, Sexy Peacock and Unknown sent their messages at the same time. They were very much speechless about the existence of werewolves. They had actually thought they were just myth. Only Daniel didn't type anything as he already knew (though he still doubted himself."

"What's with those ellipses? Should I twerk for you all?🤸" Evil Buddha typed. "@Crimson Wolf, it seems you already know about the existence of werewolves."

"👀"

"🧐"

"🙂"

Crying God, Sexy Peacock and Unknown sent their messages. They all contained surprise, skepticism and delight.

"Uh, I kinda know about the existence," Daniel said. Not wanting to pull any attention onto himself, he replied to Evil Buddha's message: "You can continue, Sir🤝"

He could imagine someone asking him: "Hey, Crimson Wolf, how do you know werewolves exist? We need you to share your experience!"

That seems like Crying God's attitude, Daniel thought.

"In this world, those creatures are called Lycanthropes," Evil Buddha said. "And they evolve into powerful forms with time through rituals."

"👀" Unknown sent an emoji. She was scared.

"Through rituals?" Sexy Peacock asked. Daniel had wanted to ask this question and was relieved another person had asked the question.

"Yeah," Evil Buddha replied. "They have to eat the flesh and blood of higher Lycanthropes to advance to that level."

"Isn't that cannibalistic?😕" Unknown asked.

"I dunno but that's how they advance," Evil Buddha replied. "It's rumoured the essence of Lycanthropes is contained within their flesh and blood. By consuming these, one can directly become a Lycanthrope without going through initiation."

"Initiation?" Daniel asked.

"Yup," Evil Buddha replied. "Most supernatural creatures initiate peeps by biting or scratching. By doing this they leave a mark on you. So if any of this stuff has happened to you, you might as well start planning how to behave like a Lycanthrope 🤸"

"..."

Daniel cringed after reading that statement. Does it mean I've been initiated?

"Uncle Evil Buddha, how do you know all these things🤔" Unknown asked.

"Tsk, personal experience," Evil Buddha said. "Personal experience."

"Are you a Lycanthrope?😱" Unknown asked. Obviously she was flabbergasted.

"You can take it like that, hehe," Evil Buddha said. "But don't tell the cops!😱"

"😂😂😂" Crying God sent laughing emojis.

"You've been silent the whole time🙄" Sexy Peacock typed. "Why are you now laughing?"

"Why are you so concerned about me to notice my silence?" Crying God asked. "Are you so into me?💋"

Daniel chuckled as he did a facepalm.

"Why would I be into someone with such an IQ like you?" Sexy Peacock asked. "A goat's IQ is only slightly better than yours."

At first glance one would think it was a compliment but it was a heavy insult. The whole group chat turned silent after that.

"Hehe," Crying God chuckled after some moments. "Let's continue with our topic."

"Sure," Unknown typed. "Where can we find Lycanthropes?"

"Lycanthropes are in Crimson Woods within Crimson Springs," Evil Buddha said. He had to mention Crimson Springs because he believed not all of them came from the same city. "They are also in Moon City. Several siting of them has been made in the city."

Daniel wanted to type, "I saw the siting too!", but he chose to keep quite.

"I wanna tell you additional stuffs," Evil Buddha typed. Without waiting for any response he continued, "Supernatural beings in this world are called Cursed and they all have ranks which are called Cursed Paths. Lycanthropes and Crimsones are prime examples of Cursed Names while Werewolves and Vampires are examples of Cursed Paths—the lowest levels."

At that time the whole group chat fell silent. Cursed? Cursed Names? Cursed Paths? They couldn't help but feel that at this moment, Evil Buddha was too knowledgeable. Too knowledgeable.