PROLOGUE: BEAST

1.) I use British English.

2.) There will be both Jamaican and Australian dialects, but don't worry, only for a few chapters and English translations will be in brackets.

3.) Enjoy!

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AUGUST 9TH 2013

The sky was tar-black as the gigantic clouds drifted towards them. Midnight was approaching, and the three girls travelling in the blue 1982 Volvo were more than impatient to get to the safety of Katherine's house. Cassandra tried her best to adhere to the speed limit. The wet and slippery road made it easy for her to keep it under 60mph. She wouldn't want to have an accident where she died and left her evil step-monster to inherit all her father's money. Fuck no! She sighed internally.

“Hurry the bloody root up, mate,” Cheryl huffed. The dyed blue-haired Aussie beauty hissed at Cassandra. (Hurry the fuck up).

“Hey gyal, it look like yuh wah crash and dead up inna dis, yuh try nuh rush me yah man,” Cassandra answered in her native tongue. The born Jamaican beauty snapped right back at Cheryl. (Hey, it seems like you wanna crash and die tonight. Please don't rush me).

“Can you two please speak English? I don't have the fucking time or patience to try and understand all your gibberish,” Katherine rolled her eyes from the back seat of the car. She was tired of her friends speaking in their respective foreign languages. There was nothing more irritating to her, since she didn't understand a fuck either of them just said.

“A nuh fimi fault mek yuh born a boring old Canada, leff mi mek mi chat,” Cassandra sucked on her teeth while keeping her car steady on the road. (It's not my fault you were born in boring old Canada, so don't say a thing when I speak in my mother's tongue). Cassandra continued to drive safely in the dark and cold night. Flaming wisps of lightning flickered across the night's sky, followed by angry sounds of thunder. The first droplets of rain trickled down on the moving vehicle. “Shit!” Cassandra cursed under her breath. This was not good. She bit on her bottom lip nervously as she switched on the wipers. "Come on," she begged as the old, tired things screeched across the windscreen.

"You need to get this old piece of shit fixed,” Cheryl laughed as she plopped her feet on the dashboard.

“How dare you insult my baby like this?” Cassandra smirked as she glanced at Cheryl through her side-eye.

“Seriously Cassie, I need to get home. Why are you driving like a grandma?” Katherine complained.

“Kitty, what's my number one rule for you guys while I'm driving?” Cassandra huffed as she briefly held eye contact with Katherine in the rearview mirror.

“Yeah, yeah. Never tell you how to drive your car,” Katherine repeated rule number one to Cassandra, rolling her eyes dramatically at her friend.

“Babe, I respect your rules and all, but you're going a nice 29mph. The speed limit is 65. Maybe you can push it up to 50,” Cheryl tried to reason with Cassandra.

“Bomboclaat man!" (Fuck it!) Cassandra cussed. "Look like unu wah dead tonight. Alright, mek mi kill unu pussyclaat!" (Look like you guys want to die tonight. Ok, let me kill you fuckers then). Cassandra stepped on the gas, speeding up the Volvo down the narrow, desolate road. The roof of the car danced with spray. The murmuring of the rain could be heard through the window. It sounded like the buzzing of an angry swarm of bees.

“Now this is what I'm talking about,” Cheryl grinned as she held on to the handle above her seat. Cassandra quickened her pace, still adhering to the speed limit. The clouds gathered in the sky. Up to now, the sky had been postcard-perfect, but it was changing. The beautiful starry sky was darkening into gravel-black. Large pillows of cloud were forming, blotting out the twinkling colours of the stars. Then the rainfall became more intense. A wall of rain moved over the car and the drops were drumming against the metal, causing a whirring noise like sand falling on zinc.

“I hate being out in the rain,” Katherine mumbled as she hugged her body for comfort.

“Tell mi bout it. A horny weather dis enuh,” Cassandra chuckled as she remembered her ex-boyfriend back in Jamaica. (Tell me about it. This is definitely horny weather).

Cassandra Cooper was not your typical teenage girl. She was very headstrong and mature for her age. She moved to Canada three years ago after her parents decided that she'd have a much better life in there than in Jamaica. But there seemed to be more cons than pros living in Canada. The biggest con was her stepmother or step-monster, as Cassandra puts it, Belinda.

Belinda never liked Cassandra from the moment she learnt that Conrad, Cassandra's father, had a child from his previous relationship. In fact, back in the day Conrad lived in Jamaica for the better part of a year where he met and fell in love with Cassandra's mother. The two were inseparable until it was time for Conrad to move back to Canada. He begged Nana to go with him, but she refused. She told him she couldn't see herself living anywhere else than on her little island, the land of wood and water.

The mournful howl of a lonely wolf echoed through the already noisy air.

“What the fuck was that?” Katherine asked nervously.

“I don't know, and I don't want to know,” Cassandra answered.

Cheryl's eyes were now peeled as she silently squinted, scrutinizing the road up ahead. She saw nothing, so her head snapped to the side, sizing in the meadow's darkness. The fog was spook-grey. It took a while for Cheryl's eyes to adapt to the darkness. Her pupils expanded as she spotted a figure running through the thick curtains of rain. It was pummelling hard and fast. Cheryl placed her palms against the cold dew-drop glass as she tried her hardest to put a description to the figure she saw through the veil of water. Cassandra and Katherine were caught in a bickering match, completely ignoring the low ramblings of Cheryl's.

“Kitty, the fog is too thick. I'm not going above 50,” Cassandra warned Katherine.

“If you don't hurry up and get me home, I swear to God I will piss in your old piece of car,” Katherine seethed.

“Yuh muss wah me fling yuh outta this. Easy yuh bloodclaat self. We soon reach.” (You don't want me to throw you out my car, so just fucking relax, we'll be there soon). Cassandra didn’t appreciate that her friends didn’t respect her car, plus they both relied on her and her car most of the times to take them to wherever they wanted to go.

“Hey guys, what's that?” Cheryl questioned lowly, a shocked expression painted on her face. The animal ran out in front of the car. By the time Cassandra saw it, it was too late. The Volvo slammed into the creature's body, sending it flying into the air. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The enormous beast crashed over the hood and roof of the car, causing the metal to be crushed in. The animal then landed on the ground with a sickening sound that not even the sounds of the rain could cover.

It lay still behind the Volvo… Broken and bleeding on the road.

“Bomboclaat!” Cassandra moaned as her hand went up to soothe her aching neck. “Are you guys ok?” she questioned.

“Yes, I think so. I'm just a little shaken up. How about you, Cherry?" Katherine answered while she waited for Cheryl to speak, but Cheryl was staring bug-eyed at nothing in particular. Her chest was heaving and mouth was in a perfect oval. Without uttering a peep, she opened her side of the door and ran out into the rain.

“What the hell are you doing?” Cassandra raved, but Cheryl just continued to venture out into the cold, misty night.

“She must have hit her head. You should go after her,” Katherine told Cassandra.

“Why? She is your best friend,” Cassandra reminded Katherine.

Katherine tried to open her car door, but the impact of the accident caused the doors to the back to be dented to the point they wouldn't budge. She crawled over to the front and they both exited the way Cheryl did.

“Rassclaat, look pon mi car! It right off to bloodclaat!” Cassandra's hand went up to her head as she took in the damage her car sustained. (Motherfucker! Look at my car. The damage is too great, there's no fixing this). “My poor car.”

“Really Cassie? You're worried about your car and not that poor dog you hit?” Katherine was stunned. Cassandra was known to be very insensitive sometimes.

“That's one big dog though, it was the size of a horse. Let's go find Cherry,” Cassandra gulped.

Darts of icy rain were still spitting from the sky. Each drop sat on Cheryl's skin like a cold puddle. Hardly focusing on her shivering frame, Cheryl walked over to the creature, whose red eyes strained so intently on the pale skin girl. Its dark red, almost burgundy fur was soaked and matted to its enormous body. She stooped down next to it.

“Well, I'll be damned. Mom 'n dad was Fahkin' right.” (Well, I'll be damned. Mom and dad were fucking right). Cheryl muttered in complete disbelief.

All the tales; the legends; the stories her parents told her about as a child were real. The animal snarled, raising its right paw as it tried to claw Cheryl's face. Its chest rose and fell rapidly as its breath released warm vapour into the cold air. The cracking of bones jolted Cheryl from her thoughts. Her eyes widened once more. Now, instead of a beast, she stared at the frame of a muscular naked man.

“You — you really are a werewolf,” she spoke through trembling teeth. The man glared up at her with his abnormal green-coloured eyes. He could tell she was fascinated, and he hated the way she watched him like he was some zoo animal.

“Cheryl?” Katherine called through the cloud of mist and dancing rain.

“Don't let us leave you,” Cassandra added.

“I'm over here?” She hailed back to them as she peeked over her shoulder in the direction of her friends. She slowly turned her head towards the wounded beast-man again, only to see him sitting upright. Her body froze in place because of the sinister look he had on his face.

“You should have stayed in the car, little girl," he flashed her a wolfish grin. Before Cheryl could blink, he stretched his hand out, with his claws sharpened to dangerous points and then he slashed Cheryl across her neck.

The evil sounds of his cackling echoed around the night as Cheryl fell to the puddled road, clutching her bleeding neck, gurgling on her blood. Her eyes stayed open long enough to see the man once again transform into his big red wolf. Cheryl vowed to herself that if she ever survived, she would hunt down that monster, even if it meant scouring the depths of hell.

She promised herself she will get her revenge; she will kill that beast.