First Full Moon

The following night he fell asleep easy. He knew not why he slept so easily, only that he fell under to the thought of what Charlie had said to him. His thoughts turned to dreams, or at least he guessed it was a dream for it couldn’t be anything but. He dreamt that he was wandering through the woods, with no fear on his face or in his heart. He wasn’t afraid of the dark because he belonged there.

Joshua was on the prowl, looking for his pray, looking to hunt and kill. He glided between the trees without a sound like a sneaky wild cat about to pounce on his dinner. As he walked he listened for a sound, any sound. Now he heard something, a rustle not too far in the distant. He drew nearer until he could see it far up ahead of his path, Joshua stopped and examined before trying to get closer.

Up ahead was something that made Joshua’s mouth water. It wasn’t an animal as he had hoped; it was something much more delicious and better than some animal. What Joshua saw in the distant was a human being, a female to be exact. Joshua held his nose high in the air and took a sniff, he could tell that she was young, maybe sixteen or seventeen, and her heart was racing because she was most likely lost. Joshua licked his lips in anticipation of her sweet scent, he couldn’t wait to hunt her down and take a bite. Young teen girls were always his favourite.

It was then that he decided he couldn’t wait; he had to have a taste. And then his desire took completely over, Joshua could feel he was about to change. From within he could feel the pain of his bones cracking and snapping as they grew, his arms extended longer and came right down in front of him, his legs grew along with his feet. He now had sharp nails on his toes and fierce claws on his hands. His face was shaped also into a snout with razor sharp teeth and drool was falling from his mouth. He looked disgusting and scaring as he stood, now a creature of the night, a myth that so many believe are only stories. Joshua was now a huge blood thirsty werewolf, covered from head to toe in fur.

Above him he saw the moon shining bright and full, he looked up and howled out loud. It echoed through the trees and only frightened the girl more. Joshua could hear her heartbeat race even faster and he smiled evilly.

He began towards the girl at a marvellous speed with only one thought; he wanted so badly to rip this girl apart. The girl heard shuffling within the woods ahead so she began to run, she headed in the opposite direction at the most fastest pace she could. But she was no match for the blood hungered beast that was Joshua, he was close behind her and before she knew it she was being dragged down to the ground.

Twigs stabbed her in her stomach and claws clung to her back. She screeched in pain, tears wept from her face as she feared for her life. But she didn’t need to fear for long as Joshua growled and snared before sinking his teeth deep within her flesh. She shouted much louder now as she bled out, he cut her open so easily and before long she screamed no more. The girl laid still and dead, no longer a soul in this world. And Joshua howled once more to the moon, he was proud and pleased with himself for his kill.

Joshua woke with his grandmother overhead; she was shaking him forcefully and calling out his name. He couldn’t understand why she was there and why he was sweating quite a bit from his forehead. Joshua looked puzzled and felt confused until it slowly began to come back to him, his dream that he had was something dark and evil. But it wasn’t a dream at all, it was a nightmare, Joshua felt like he was a bad person for even having such a dream.

‘Joshua! You were having a nightmare.’ His grandmother called out. Joshua sat up and acknowledged her, his grandmother began to calm a little now. ‘Are you ok?’

‘I’m fine.’

‘Well you’d better get up anyway...for school.’ His grandmother quickly added as she noticed the look he gave her for suggesting he should get up so early. Joshua watched his grandmother exit his bedroom before he looked to the clock. He seriously considered trying to squeeze in a nap before he had to go to school, but then he figured that he wouldn’t get much more sleep before he really had to get up. So instead Joshua strolled down the stairs in his PJ’s for a big mug of coffee, this is where he found his grandmother. It was like clockwork when it came to mornings, she was always up early even though she didn’t work anymore.

Joshua returned to his room to dress for school. Before long he found himself driving to school with the morning radio on, he hated silence. The morning at school wasn’t very interesting, just the usual routine where he had to sit through his two morning classes not really listening to the teacher. His one teacher always liked to humiliate the students. Joshua was convinced that this teacher especially had it out for him personally; his teacher had singled him out in class to answer a question like he did most days of the week. Joshua of course never knew the answer but tried to guess anyway.

It was lunch time and Joshua now worried about whether or not he would bump into Charlie, the chances were good because he saw her around school all the time. He was fine through the morning since neither of his two classes were with Charlie, but now at lunch time there was a great chance of running into her. If he didn’t see her at lunch time then he most defiantly would in his next lesson which he shared with her.

Joshua didn’t feel up to seeing Charlie right now, but that was inedible. The least he could do was to just avoid her as much as he possibly could. As Joshua entered the canteen he immediately saw Charlie, over in the distant standing in line waiting for some food. Joshua stared at her, he hoped she wouldn’t see him and she didn’t for a while. But now she innocently looked over and noticed him still standing in the doorway, he hadn’t moved since. Joshua decided against food, he could always eat later he thought, so he turned and walked away with Charlie watching him disappear.

Joshua spent that lunch time under the tree in the field, away from the school building and away from his thoughts. However the peacefulness wouldn’t last long, his next class was going to be with Charlie. Joshua made his way back to school and through the crowded halls. He reached his classroom and stopped with a sigh before he greeted his teeth and entered. Joshua scanned the classroom quickly and saw that there was no Charlie in the room, she wasn’t sat in her usual seat and she wasn’t sat anywhere else. Joshua thought for a second that maybe she wouldn’t show up; maybe something happened to where she needed to go home or couldn’t attend this particular class. Joshua hoped.

Joshua settled in his seat, his favourite seat that he sat in everyday and which was right at the back of the class. He sat and took out his books; he then looked up and saw Charlie walk into the classroom. He gulped, knowing that the agonising hour of the lesson is just beginning. An hour in which he didn’t want to acknowledge Charlie or even think about her right now, but knowing he would certainly do just that. Trying to look on the bright side of things Joshua thought to himself, at least Charlie’s seat was one at the front row, it means she wouldn’t notice him for most of the lesson.

Although Joshua couldn’t stop thinking about Charlie and not truly understanding why he was angry with her, the class ended much quicker then he thought it would. The rest of that day was easier for him to avoid her and he was much more relaxed by home time.

From then on the next few days were more or less the same, Joshua managed to successfully ignore the fact that she went to the same school. In fact Joshua found it easier than on that first day to completely dodge her every sighting. His week had become much gloomier than the once happy kid he used to be. Joshua’s routine had now simply become go to school, try to avoid Charlie, come home and eat, and then go to bed. He was even starting to feel like an old man because he was feeling so much more tired in the evenings.

.  .  .

Joshua was wandering down his street. It felt like he was almost jogging, he also felt like everything around him was much taller, or maybe he was smaller. No, he knew he wasn’t shrinking but it looked as if he was seeing everything from on his knees. But that couldn’t be right because he was still moving forward at a good speed. Joshua looked around taking in every strange sight.

It was night around him; in fact it felt like it was very late, long past midnight. Joshua continued his journey through town, past the shops and past all old buildings. Everything around him was quiet; it was like he was walking through a dead town, a town that hadn’t been in use for years. Joshua wandered for minutes and then continued for longer, an hour longer. He had crossed the town and was now on the edge of the forest, this is where he stopped for a moment. He stared into the blackness for only seconds and then began to head pass the trees.

As he roamed passed the tree trunks he realised that he wasn’t scared, he didn’t fear the things that he was sure he would find there, but instead he felt confident like he had nothing to fear. Joshua looked around him; he could hear every leaf blow in the wind, every tiny creature crawling on the mud and trees.

The whole scene in the forest was something that belonged to a scary movie. But if this was true then he wouldn’t be the innocent person or people wandering through the trees, he would be the monster watching them as he anticipates how he is going to kill them. Or at least that’s what he felt like. He felt like he was hunting something, looking for a bit of danger, why else would he be there. It felt like it did in his dream the other week. And then Joshua noticed something not too far, a rabbit skimping between the twigs and Joshua felt a sudden erg to chase after it. He stopped and laid low, he waited for the right moment in which he could run and pounce on the pour animal.

Joshua had an evil feeling, he wanted to kill and rip the rabbit apart. He had blood in his eyes just like he did in his dream, right before he changed into a terrifying werewolf. But this time he didn’t change into a werewolf but rather began forward at full speed, the rabbit noticed him coming at it and began to run itself. Joshua chased after the rabbit, both running at incredible speed like they were in a race. This is when Joshua felt something different, he felt like he was running on both his feet and hands, just like a dog. But that was impossible, he hadn’t changed into a werewolf and he wouldn’t be able to run so fast like this. Yet he was. He felt like he was running just like a wild dog, which would explain the need to chase the rabbit, but how could he be an animal?

Joshua chased the rabbit down a rabbit hole. He couldn’t reach the rabbit now, but not that he gave up trying. The same as a dog might do also; he would continue to attack the hole, he noticed as he did this that he could see his hands now. However as he looked down he saw that they wasn’t hands at all, they were paws.

Just then Joshua stopped what he was doing. He was no longer thinking about his hands, or paws, anymore. There was something that distracted him from his thoughts, it was a sound and it was coming from behind him. The sound was echoing through the forest from the direction in which Joshua came, right near the edge. Joshua ran back following the noise; as he sped pass the trees he listened to the sounds. It was a human, an older man, maybe in his late twenties.

Joshua started getting really excited, his mouth watered and his thoughts turned back to evil. Like his dream he wanted to cause this person pain, make him bleed like the girl and sink his teeth into his flesh.

He got close now, Joshua slowed down to a stop and now he could see him. He was right; it was a male wandering the woods and looking lost, the best kind. Joshua could hear the guy’s heartbeat, like he did with the girl, and like in his dream Joshua felt powerful and strong. Joshua stepped forward on a twig and it snapped with a loud sound. The man heard this and it only increased his fear, which in return only increased the rush Joshua was feeling.

‘Hello, is anyone there?’ The man said out loud but not really knowing what he would expect. Maybe a hello back perhaps. Joshua licked his lips, this was just a fun game to him, knowing how much fun he had in his last dream he wanted to find out if he could feel the same when he dug his claws into this man. And so began his kill.

Joshua charged at the man growling out loud, the man heard and noticed the creature coming at him and ran. The man didn’t get far before he fumbled over. Joshua gained on him and then pounced. The man turned in time to see the beast come down on top of him; he panicked and raised his arms. As Joshua fell on him he bit into one of his raised arms, his teeth sinking in deep and making the man cry out in pain. The man whimpered and squealed as Joshua tugged on his arm like a chew toy.

Joshua got bored and let go of the man, the man took advantage of this by shuffling backwards on his bum trying to escape. The man then began to turn on all fours and after scrambling to his feet he tried to run again. Joshua however only hoped he would so that he could chase him once more, it didn’t take long before he caught up with him again. Joshua leaped at the man again landing on his back and clawing him to the ground, this gave him the opening to bite into his delicious neck. Blood trickled down his skin and from his arm, big claw marks showed down his back through the ripped clothing.

The man’s heartbeat began to slow; Joshua knew it was coming to an end so he decided to be kind, or as kind as he could in that situation, by digging his claws deeper into the man one last time. And now the man lay still, he was torn up and covered head to toe in blood. Joshua grinned his white and sharp teeth at the man, he felt awakened and excited by the kill. Only now it was over and he wanted more, he wanted to be clawing and biting something else.

.  .  .

Joshua opened his eyes, he was staring up at the ceiling and he felt a little lost. It took him a while before he realised he was in his bedroom, he felt hot and sweat was running down his face. What was even stranger was the fact that he felt a hard surface underneath him; Joshua was lying on his bedroom floor. To add to that he felt a chill run all over his body, when he looked down he saw that he had no blanket on him, more importantly he wasn’t wearing any clothes. Joshua had awoken lying on his bedroom floor and completely naked.

Joshua began to feel alarmed over the matter; this was indeed a strange and unexplainable situation. He was scared, he didn’t know what to think or even what to do about it. Although he truly felt worried deep down inside in the end Joshua passed it off as just something that he did in his sleep, like sleepwalking.

Joshua calmed down after a while and got dressed into his PJ’s, he was absolutely bent on staying home. He really didn’t feel up to going to school today, especially not spending the day trying to avoid Charlie whilst he felt like this. No, instead he would stay in bed all day; he really didn’t feel that great anyway.

His grandmother came in to wake him as she did every school day when he ignored his alarm clock. When Joshua told her he wasn’t feeling too good she of course had to check his temperature. Joshua panicked for a couple of seconds at the thought of his grandmother saying that he didn’t have a temperature and then making him go to school, but then it was all ok when she gasp and told him he had an incredible high temperature. He felt warm but he didn’t think he was that hot.

Joshua was allowed to stay home, which he spent most of that day in bed, but soon he was feeling bored. He had stared at the ceiling for hours, counted the different patterns on his bed covers and whistled to a number of songs playing in his head. And now he didn’t know what else to do. Joshua thought about it hard and then an idea came to him, he wondered why he didn’t think of it sooner. He realised that he was home alone and there was a perfectly good working TV down stairs. How stupid he felt, whistling to songs when he could have been watching his favourite programs.

Joshua sat down on the sofa; or rather he threw himself on the sofa. With a big thump and putting his feet up on the coffee table in front, Joshua proceeded to grab at the remote control and switched on the TV. He flipped through channels one at a time, until he found something that was at least half decent to watch. After nearly an hour Joshua flipped over the channel for something else, but what he got was the news. Joshua was almost about to turn over before he noticed something interesting.

The news channel he was watching was for his local region and whenever he caught his grandmother watching the news it was never talking about anything exciting, mainly because nothing in this town happened. Except for the unexplained car crash at his party, it was just an ordinary and plain small town.

Joshua listened hard to what the woman on the TV screen was saying; it seemed that there had been an attack last night. She started saying how in the early hours this morning, around two o`clock, a man was walking home after being around a friend’s house. He had decided to try and take the short cut through the forest but soon found himself getting lost not too far in; this is when he was attacked by a wild animal.

She said that the investigation was still going on into the exact details of who attacked the man, so far they had said it was possibly a wild dog, or maybe even a wolf that had did it. In fact they would have said that all evidence most defiantly pointed towards a wild wolf, the only reason they may rule that out was because they didn’t believe a wolf would travel so far near the town and on its own. But nevertheless they were taking all precautions.

The reporter continued to speak about the case; she spoke about someone who lived close to that part of the forest who had overheard strange noises and screaming. Overcoming her fear of what she may find her curiosity got the better of her, she found the man’s dead body and no sign of what had done it. Not long after the police and ambulance were involved.

Joshua listened to what the woman said and he found that every single detail sounded so very familiar. Her words and what had happened. It triggered something in Joshua’s mind and then he finally remembered. What the woman had just said was an exact description of Joshua’s dream last night. To be honest Joshua couldn’t find one little thing about her story that wasn’t the same as his dream and that’s what frightened him the most, how was it even possible that she could know his dream, to tell it to the world when she didn’t know he dreamt it. But then Joshua had an even scarier thought, what if it wasn’t a dream, what if it really happened?

Joshua started freaking out, it couldn’t be and he couldn’t have. It was impossible that the extremeness of his dream was true. How could he, someone who wouldn’t even hurt a fly, attack a man like that? And what’s more he wasn’t even himself, he wasn’t human, in his dream he was an animal. So it had to be a dream right?

Joshua puzzled over this for the rest of the day but he never settled on an answer or explanation, he just couldn’t reach a suitable solution that didn’t sound like he was in some fiction novel. Every now and again he would come back to it but all in all he really tried his hardest to avoid the situation on what really was happening. Joshua continued to watch TV throughout the day, when he looked at the clock he realised that he would be just getting home from school now if he had gone.

Soon the phone rang and Joshua took a little while to answer it, being that he was incredibly lazy at times. When he answered he discovered that it was none other than Charlie on the other side of the line. She began quickly by saying that she came in peace, a little joke that actually did make Joshua smile some.

‘What do you want?’ Joshua asked in a low set tone, just above pissed off but enough to let her know he still wasn’t in such a polite mood.

‘I’m sorry, about everything; I really wasn’t trying to invade your privacy...’

‘Is there something you wanted?’

‘Well I noticed you weren’t at school and I wanted to check if you were ok. So, are you, ok I mean?’

‘A little illness isn’t something to worry about.’

‘Of course not, I was just...thinking about you. And the full moon always makes people crazy so I was just checking.’

‘Full moon?’

‘Yeah there was one last night but not that it’s anything about you or what we talked about.’ Joshua managed a small and soft smile at Charlie’s famous ramblings; it almost made him miss her. But right now wasn’t the best of times and there were far more important issues than his friendship with Charlie.

‘I got to go.’

‘Ok...’ Joshua hung up the phone before Charlie had finished saying goodbye. He then tried hard to concentrate on his programs once more. Joshua managed to get through the rest of the day. His grandmother returned home and they sat down for dinner, for the most part he truly forgot about the news report.

Joshua was back in bed after the sky tucked in for the night, he was snuggled up in his blankets and then it hit him. Soon everything that day had come rushing back to him. He remembered his dream and what he heard on the news, and now he had to lie awake in bed staring at the ceiling for the next few hours.

Hours surely passed by with Joshua not being able to sleep, he would lay there with the thoughts of him killing this man repeating in his head over and over and over. He still didn’t understand how it could be real, how it happened, and he still wasn’t 100% sure that it really did happen.

.  .  .

The forest was a terrifying place. Even in the day light and with a big group of people the forest could make you very nervous, it was simply a place of evil. At least that’s what most people first think of it, that there is something evil or dangerous lurking in the shadows. And nearly every time, they would be right. Another fact would be that although the forest can be dangerous, most of the seriously dangerous animals lie some much deeper in. So many people get easily lost within these woods, more so when it’s dark.

Joshua found himself wandering the outskirts of the forest once more, it was very late and dark; Joshua was pitter-pattering through the trees just as he had done the previous night. He looked down at his feet and noticed that it looked like he had paws again. He felt strange just as he had done when he attacked the man. He still worried whether or not it was a dream. Both then and now felt different from his first dream a week ago. The first time he had felt like a mythical werewolf beast, but last night and now he just felt more like himself, just in a different form.

Joshua took steps forward like he was all powerful and owned the forest, he felt confident when he roamed the forest last night and he felt the same again tonight. He wanted something else to chase because he wanted to feel that same excitement. Joshua began lurking again; being quiet and hoping that he would find some small animal. Like last night all of Joshua’s senses were enhanced, he could hear even the tiniest of creatures crawling underneath him and could see things from far in the distant.

Joshua had almost given up his hunt for the night, he was starting to feel really bored not having anything to chase, until he heard certain footsteps. They were the footsteps of a young woman, about in her early twenties Joshua guessed. She was at times shuffling her feet and snapping twigs as she hurried through the forest. Unlike the man she didn’t seem like she was scared of the woods, she didn’t seem lost or worried. Maybe she knew the forest well; maybe it was because she was keeping to the vaguely drawn out path that ran through the edge of the woods.

Joshua had felt very lucky to have found another pray roaming the forest two nights in a row. He was also very grateful as thoughts now wandered his brain of playing with her fear, hunting her for longer this time and then causing her unbearable pain before putting her out of her misery and killing her. Whatever Joshua’s plans were, he couldn’t wait to bite into her soft skin.

Joshua began to creep closer to the girl; before he got too close he had an idea to start his fun. Joshua looked to the dark sky above, stars stretched out for miles, he howled as loud as he could. Howling for some unknown reason always got people terrified; maybe it was because they use it too often in films similar to this situation. Either way, because the howling came from so close to the girl it made her jump. The girl panicked a little and her heart began pumping faster. Joshua still however had a long way to go to completely scare this girl, so edging nearer he began to breath heavy followed by a growl. This really got the girls heart beating fast and now she feared for whatever it was that stalked her through the shadows.

The young woman picked up her pace, her shifty eyes scanned the area constantly hoping that she never saw what she thought it might be. Joshua continued to play with her mind. He ran at a quick speed passed the bushes and around them, the scattering sound only made the girl jump more. He then continued to circle her which had made her stop still, at this point she really began to freak out and even fear for her life, which is just what Joshua intended. He had achieved in frightening the girl so now it was time for the big reveal.

‘Who...who’s there?’ The girl spoke. It was a similar question as when the man had spoken, only the girl trembled when she asked more than the man did. Joshua greened to himself, he was enjoying every second. It was now time to step out of the shadows Joshua thought, and that is what he did. Joshua slowly moved towards the girl and the darkness gradually slipped of his fur like it was a blanket falling off of him.

The girl gasped loudly and jumped back at a sight of this fierce and dangerous animal that none would expect to be walking these parts of the forest; the girl was now staring into the eyes of a wild wolf. She looked the wolf over, its fur was shaggy but a deep shiny black colour and the wolf was almost beautiful the girl thought.

Joshua showed the girl his teeth and it had made the girl gasp some more. However she wasn’t running, most likely from being too fearful, but Joshua wanted to chase her. Joshua growled louder and stepped forward and snapped his snout a couple of times, this made the girl jump back and fall to the floor. She wasted no time in clambering to her feet and began running for her life, it had worked Joshua thought. He waited a while watching her try and run over logs and brambles and then he began to run after her at a slow pace.

Soon Joshua picked up his pace and began running faster; he made terrifying noises to let the girl know that he was close behind. He could almost taste the fear coming from her and he loved it. Joshua got closer inch by inch until he was practically breathing down her neck; the girl felt his warm breath from behind and then she felt Joshua jump onto her back. Her scream echoed throughout the forest as she fell down, her face slid along the ground and along the twigs that were scattered around. The girl now had blood all down her face and she was in pain. Joshua backed off a little leaving the girl alone, she turned around still on the floor and watched the wolf walking around her.

Joshua stared at the helpless girl as he paced up and down, never taking his eyes of her; Joshua wanted to give it time to frighten the girl some more. And then Joshua stopped, the girl knew that this would be it, that she was about to die. And then the wolf attacked. She screamed again as the wolf dug his teeth into her leg; it was awfully painful as she felt the wolf’s sharp teeth rip through her skin. She bled some more but it didn’t stop there, the girl then felt more pain.

The wolf bit at her arm next, he then clawed her back, and finally he kept clawing at her face and body until she would bleed out. There were deep cuts all over the woman’s body, some were only little cuts and other ones were deep enough to keep bleeding. The young woman was absolutely sure she was going to die and felt it pointless to keep trying to fight of the mean wolf; she was in so much pain that she now prayed for death.

Joshua also thought that she was going to die. But just then Joshua felt a blow to his head making him whine in pain and forcing him off the girl. Joshua didn’t know what had hit him but it made him feel dizzy and he could feel himself about to pass out. Before he did, through hazy vision, he saw some sort of man standing in front of him looking down. The man was half naked wearing a kind of tribal clothing around his hips, covering his private area and a single piece of fabric around his chest. In his hands he held a stick, one in which matched his clothes, and then the last thing Joshua saw was that very stick colliding with his face.

.  .  .

It was morning and the last day of April. Joshua woke up a little sore; before he even opened his eyes he could feel that something wasn’t right. He felt something hard and pointy underneath him and he felt completely naked. He slowly opened his eyes giving him time to wake up, as he sat he proved himself right. Looking down he was indeed naked and more to the point he was lying on the ground in the middle of the woods.

Joshua didn’t know what to think; he stood and brushed off the few twigs that clung to his skin and then looked around. He recognised the woods; he wasn’t too far in, maybe just on the edge of the forest.

Joshua thought it was strange that he had woke up in the woods, even more strange that he was naked. And to add to the strangeness, he wasn’t even cold. Joshua looked up to the tiny bit of sky he could see through the trees and tried to guess what the time would be; now he worried about how he would get home. As Joshua wondered whether he could get home undetected and naked, another thought entered his mind, he remembered his dream last night.

Joshua went over every detail of his dream, only this time he wasn’t too sure if it really was a dream. With what had happened the previous night and again last night Joshua was so confused and worried for what was happening to him. His brain ached at the thought so he cleared his mind of all his troubles, even if it was for the time being.

Joshua came to the edge of the forest; he decided it would be best to follow the woods around as much as he could until he reached the Hotel. He then continued following it right around the town until he was closest to home. He could now take the long road that led into the streets, from then he would have to quickly walk through the few streets until he arrived at his own road. Usually it would be quicker to cross through the town centre but he couldn’t risk running into the few people that might be around at this early hour. As luck may have it Joshua managed to miss bumping into one single person, he noticed the sun was still very low so it may be still quite early in the morning.

Joshua finally made it back home; he dashed up stairs being quiet so as not to wake his grandmother. Again he thought how chilly it should be outside, especially when totally naked, but all the while he kept warm as if he wore a fur coat. Joshua got dressed in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. As he slid the t-shirt over his head he saw out of his bedroom window someone outside.

This person was a man who was standing not too far from his house; he was just standing still staring back at him, dressed in tribal clothes. Joshua pondered that this man who was staring at him looked familiar. And then he realised that the man looked exactly the same as the man he saw in his dream, the same one who had hit him unconscious.

What was he doing here? Everything Joshua had feared was true, the innocent man and the young woman. It wasn’t a dream at all, it must have been real.

Joshua wasted no time and descended the stairs quick, jumping the last few steps and heading for the door. But standing in the doorway of the living room was his grandmother awaiting him dressed in her robe. It was his grandmother who spoke first.

‘We need to talk.’