chapter nine
"prayers by night"

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The Pool  ━━ Hacketts Quarry 2021

THE SILENCE of the night was broken only by the gentle lapping of water against the pool's edge. The group stood motionless, their eyes fixed on the body floating face-down in the blood-tinged water.

Kaitlyn's voice, barely above a whisper, shattered the silence like glass. "Do you think she was one of the hunters in the woods?"

Ryan shook his head firmly, his jaw clenched. "No, she wasn't. I'm sure of it." His eyes never left the body, as if he was trying to piece together a puzzle.

Kaitlyn turned to him, noticing the subtle tremor in his hands, the tightness around his eyes. "Ryan, are you okay? You seem... shaken."

Ryan ran a hand through his hair, his eyes distant and unfocused. "I... I didn't know who she was. The girl in the pool, I mean. But now..." He trailed off, then suddenly straightened, his eyes widening with realization. "Guys, I think I know who she is. It's Chris Hackett's daughter, Kaylee Hackett. She's one of the Hacketts who left the camp, along with her brother Caleb."

Suddenly, Nick's behavior shifted dramatically. He stumbled towards Lilith, his movements jerky and uncoordinated. He pulled her close, burying his face in her hair with an almost predatory intensity. "God, Lilith," he murmured, his voice a low, guttural growl that seemed barely human, "you smell so good.."

Lilith stiffened in his grasp, her eyes wide with alarm. The others watched, frozen in shock at Nick's sudden change.

Kaitlyn stepped forward, her voice firm but tinged with concern. "Nick, calm down. You're acting weird. Let Lilith go."

Nick's head snapped up, his eyes flashing with a feral anger that made Kaitlyn take an involuntary step back. "Don't tell me what to do!" he snarled, baring his teeth in a gesture that seemed more animal than human.

Lilith, startled by Nick's sudden aggression, instinctively pushed against his chest. The force of her shove, combined with Nick's unsteady state, sent him stumbling backwards. Time seemed to slow as Nick's arms windmilled, his feet slipping on the wet poolside tiles. With a splash that seemed deafening in the tense silence, he fell into the pool.

The moment Nick's body hit the water, an agonized scream tore from his throat. It was a sound of pure pain, as if the water was acid burning his skin. "Get me out!" he yelled, thrashing wildly, sending waves of reddened water splashing over the pool's edge. "It burns! Oh god, it burns!"

Ryan rushed to the pool's edge, reaching out to grasp Nick's flailing arm. With a grunt of effort, he pulled Nick from the water, the latter's skin steaming slightly in the cool night air.

As Nick emerged, gasping and shivering violently, Abigail reached out tentatively to touch his arm, then quickly withdrew her hand. "His body..." she said, her voice trembling with a mix of confusion and fear, "it's really cold. Colder than it should be, even after being in the water. It's like... like touching ice."

"We need to get him inside, warm him up," Kaitlyn said, her voice steady despite the fear evident in her eyes. "There's a pool house over there. We can use that."

They made their way to the pool house, supporting Nick between them. His skin felt unnaturally cold against theirs, and occasional tremors wracked his body. Once inside the musty building, they settled Nick near a small space heater, cranking it up to full power.

"What's wrong with him?" Lilith asked, her eyes darting nervously to Nick's hunched form. "People don't just... react like that to water."

"I don't know," Ryan replied, his brow furrowed in concentration. "But whatever it is, it's not normal. It's like his body is rejecting the water somehow."

Dylan chimed in, his voice tight with pain from his injury but determined. "Guys, after everything we've seen tonight... are we sure this is even Nick anymore?"

Lilith then walked over to Nick, cautious of what his behaviour may be.

"Lilith," he called, his head snapping up to fix her. "Do you like me?"

Lilith approached closer, every instinct screaming at her to run. "I... I enjoyed the time we spent together this summer, Nick," she said, trying to keep her voice calm and even.

Nick's face contorted with fury, his features seeming to shift and elongate for a moment before settling back into human form. "That's not what I asked!" he shouted, his body trembling with barely contained rage. The veins in his neck and forehead stood out starkly against his pale skin.

Lilith took a step back,  "Nick, please," Lilith said softly, forcing herself to meet his wild gaze. "You're not yourself. Let us help you. We're your friends, remember? We care about you."

With inhuman speed and strength that left everyone gasping, he lunged forward. His hand, now tipped with elongated nails that looked more like claws, closed around Lilith's arm. With a snarl of rage, he hurled her across the room as if she weighed nothing.

Lilith crashed into a rack of pool equipment, the metal shelving clanging loudly as it toppled. Her hand instinctively grasped the first thing it touched – the cold, smooth metal of the shotgun Kaitlyn had been carrying. Without thinking, driven by pure survival instinct, she raised it and fired.

The blast was deafening in the confined space of the pool house. The recoil slammed the gun back into Lilith's shoulder, nearly knocking her off balance. The shot caught Nick square in the chest, the force of it lifting him off his feet and slamming him to the ground.

For a moment, everything was still. Then, Nick began to change.

It started with a series of sickening cracks as his bones began to reshape themselves. His body contorted in ways that should have been impossible, limbs elongating and twisting. Coarse, dark fur sprouted from his skin like fast-growing grass. His face stretched and deformed, his jaw extending into a canine snout filled with razor-sharp teeth.

The group watched in horror, unable to look away from the grotesque transformation. Abigail's scream caught in her throat, coming out as a strangled whimper. Dylan stumbled back, nearly falling in his haste to get away. Ryan stood frozen, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Where Nick had been, there now stood a creature straight out of their worst nightmares – a werewolf. Its yellow eyes gleamed with feral intelligence as it surveyed the room, muscles rippling beneath its fur-covered frame.

With a bone-chilling howl that shook dust from the rafters, the creature that was once Nick coiled its powerful legs and leaped. Glass shattered as it crashed through the window, disappearing into the dark woods beyond.

Lilith's hands shook as she lowered the shotgun, her eyes fixed on the broken window. "Oh god," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "What have I done?"

The shattered glass from the window Nick had crashed through glittered on the floor like a thousand tiny stars. The group stood in stunned silence, their minds struggling to process what they had just witnessed.

Abigail was the first to break the silence, her voice trembling and accusatory. "You... you killed him," she said, staring at Lilith with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Lilith, you killed Nick!"

Lilith flinched at the words, the shotgun suddenly feeling impossibly heavy in her hands. She opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out.

Ryan stepped forward, his face set in a grim expression. "Abi, stop," he said firmly. "Lilith did what she had to do. We all saw what was happening to Nick. He wasn't himself anymore." He turned to Lilith, his eyes softening slightly. "You shouldn't feel guilty about it. You were protecting yourself, protecting all of us."

Kaitlyn nodded in agreement, though her face was pale. "Ryan's right. That... that thing wasn't Nick anymore. God knows what would have happened if Lilith hadn't acted."

Before they could speculate further, a sharp knock at the door made them all jump. A woman's voice, unfamiliar and urgent, called out, "Hello? Is anyone in there?"

The group exchanged wary glances. After everything they'd been through, a stranger's voice was as likely to mean danger as help.

Ryan approached the door cautiously. "Who are you?" he called back, his hand resting on the doorknob but not turning it.

There was a moment of hesitation before the voice responded. "My name is Laura Kearney. I'm supposed to be a counselor here, but... look, it's a long story. I just need to find Chris Hackett. It's important."

The name sparked a memory in Dylan's mind. "Laura Kearney?" he repeated, his eyes widening in recognition. "Guys, that's one of the counselors who never showed up for the summer. Remember? We were told they had to cancel at the last minute."

A murmur of recognition went through the group. They had all heard about the two counselors who were supposed to join them but never arrived.

Dylan turned to Ryan, his voice low but urgent. "We should talk to her. She might know something about what's going on here."

Ryan nodded slowly, his hand still on the doorknob. "Okay," he said, addressing the group. "I'm going to open the door. Everyone stay alert, just in case."

With a deep breath, Ryan turned the knob and pulled the door open.

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