"Jesse!"

That gruff powerful voice calling his name was the last thing Jesse heard right when the glass of his bedroom window shattered. Another furry creature with claws, fangs, and pointed ears had joined the fight, and it looked scarier and angrier than anything Jesse had ever seen before.

The new werewolf had black fur and some torn pieces of fabric on his arched back, revealing muscular parts of his abdomen. He landed on all four limbs with ten fingers and ten toes. The muzzle of this raging beast wrinkled into a snarl with drooling teeth. A hint of humanity manifested in the incomplete transformation of his nose and the shape of his glowing gold eyes.

He growled from the deeps of his throat toward Jesse's direction, though he wasn't growling at him but at T-Bone.

The color from Jesse's face drained, and his heart sunk to the pit of his stomach when the big black werewolf jump over, knocking the brown werewolf off of him.

Jesse screamed, covering his head with his now free hands.

The bed trembled when the mighty monsters hit the floor. The two werewolves immediately engaged in a wild battle of life and death, biting an arm, scratching a leg, or delivering vicious claw strikes to the chest.

"Sweet Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!"

Jesse couldn't believe his eyes; two mythical creatures existing and fighting right in front of him, in his own room.

The towering beasts stood on two limbs roaring before they grew into monstrous forms, shredding the rest of their upper clothes and stripping them of the remainder of their human features.

Jesse took cover beside the bed, staring at the dangerous beings severely wounding one another, both covered in glistering stains of blood. Threads of hair flew in the air and pieces of flesh dangled from each beast. And those terrifying sounds they made, those bloodthirsty untamed growls were too much to bear.

It was a deadly encounter. Jesse was sure if he were to get between them, he wouldn't survive, not one single hit.

In this small battlefield, the two wolves moved their fight near Jesse's wardrobe, dooming it to be smashed and broken from the heavy accidental blows. Some clothes tore apart, landing everywhere. One of these garments dropped in front of Jesse.

"Ah, man," Jesse whined. "Not my Armani suit."

"Jesse!" his mom shouted behind the door. "I'm comin', pumpkin! I'm almost there!"

Jesse snapped out of it.

"Ma, No! You best not open that door!"

In this dire situation that could cost him his life, Jesse was occupied with the thought of his mother's safety all the time.

He realized that this was his chance to escape and save his mother from T-Bone's cruel games. He grabbed the nearest undamaged pants and almost instantly he was wearing them, finally getting rid of the bathrobe. However, every time he tried to move towards the door, the beasts unintentionally blocked his way.

"Ah!"

Jesse flinched as the black wolf fell next to him, shaking the ground beneath them. To Jesse's shock, the beast that came to his rescue made eye contact with him; the yellow glow in his furious eyes faded into a gentle shade of gray.

Jesse's breathing slowed down as if those eyes staring at him had a calming friendly effect.

The brief connection was interrupted by a sudden attack from the brown werewolf clawing the other's face. The black werewolf's eyes changed back to yellow as he dug his claws into T-Bone's shoulders and shoved him back, slamming him to the far edge of the room with a throaty roar.

While the black werewolf was cornering T-Bone, he faced Jesse and utter one guttural word:

"Run!"

Jesse's heartbeats spiked again as he got off the floor and sprinted towards the door until he touched it. Once he opened it he found Natalie in front of his feet and her hand was raised as if she was about to turn the knob.

"Mom! I told ya not to open the door!"

"But I-I heard—"

In the midst of her confusion and stammer, Jesse lifted her minus the blanket that used to cover her lower half. Now all her amputated legs from the knees down were exposed under the shorts of her boxer pajama.

"Jesse, what's goin' on?"

Jesse held her close to his bare chest and carried her downstairs before she even got a chance to glance inside. The wild roars thundered behind them.

"Can't talk right now, Ma. We better skedaddle."

Reaching the bottom stairs and running across the living room, Jesse pushed forward through the front gate, almost slipping on the doorstep. Breathless but relentless, he moved on at the same pace and didn't stop until he got to his car.

"Jesse."

He pulled the door open and sat his mother.

"Jesse, wait."

"Not now, Ma!"

He quickly fastened her seatbelt, looking over his shoulder in case anyone followed them.

"I'll explain later." He kissed her forehead. "I promise."

Once they were both fastened in the vehicle, Jesse twisted the keys. As soon as the engine started, he pushed the gas pedal to the floor, drifting down the streets.

Natalie held on to dear life.

"Oh, my Lord! Jesse!!"

"Mom, please. Just hang on."

"It's mornin' rush hours. Watch out for traffic!"

Despite her efforts to reason with him, Jesse never slowed down, even when they entered a crowded intersection, crossing a red light. He occasionally glanced behind him to make sure that no one was on their tail.

"Jesse."

"Just a lil' further."

"Honey, I know you're scared, but please slow down."

He suddenly steered the wheel to the left, joining the highway.

They hardly missed a fully loaded truck.

Natalie screamed and closed her eyes.

"Almost there."

"Where are we goin'?"

"Emma's place. Tell me when you see the exit."

"You mean that one?"

Jesse took a sharp right turn.

Angry drivers reacted to his reckless driving by long honks.

Tires squealed, brakes screeched, and then the inevitable happened.

In the blink of an eye, a white van crashed into the rear right side of the car, smashing it inward with a terrifying deafening bang.

The blow shook the whole car like an earthquake. Gravity briefly ceased to exit, throwing the passengers of the navy blue Jaguar in midair before the airbags pushed them back, hitting them square in the nose. Windows shattered and floated in front of Jesse and Natalie's eyes.

The sports car spun out of control until it bumped into another vehicle. It rolled over and over again, crushing metal and breaking every glass.

When it stopped, Jesse felt dizzy and heavy in the head. Everything began to fade into dark spots until it was all black. The only thing tying him to the world was the sound of the faraway sirens.

The sirens became louder and louder, slowly bringing Jesse back.

Flashing red lights blurred his vision.

He blinked a few times and found himself in the backseat with a seatbelt strapped on. In the front was his mom and dad, unconscious. To his left he caught a glimpse of two other passengers through the corner of his eyes, too afraid to look at them.

Jesse's face crumbled as he wept without a sound until he let it all out in quiet heartbreaking bursts.

He remembered this moment in his life.

He lived it when he was ten years old.

It was the day he lost his dad and his little sister.

"Mom," little Jesse cried. "Mom, please wake up."

Jesse shut his eyes closed, tears cleansing the red splatter off his cheeks, breaths hitching in his tiny chest.

"Mom, I'm scared," he squeaked. "Please, I need you to wake up."

"Jesse," Natalie finally responded but with a hoarse whisper. "Don't worry, pumpkin. Mommy's here."

Jesse gasped, relieved to hear his mother's voice.

"Help is on the way, darlin'. Don't chu worry about a thing."

In the background, Jesse could hear his mother secretly trying to wake his dad.

"Charles, honey, wake up." She groaned as she tried pushing the hood that was crushing her lower body. "Charles, I-I can't move my legs."

The pain was coming back to Jesse all at once. Bruised and sore all over.

Something heavy pressed on his thighs. It felt so real.

Jesse hesitantly lowered his watery eyes to a horrifying image—a little girl's decapitated head on his lap staring straight at him with wide honey eyes, streaks of blood painting her pale face.

"Mom!" Jesse moaned, clasping his head with his hands. "Mom, Dena's dead!"

"What? No, don't chu say such a thing."

Natalie couldn't see what was happening in the backseat, so she stayed hopeful that her little daughter was just unconscious.

"She's not dead, pumpkin. She's just restin'."

"No, mom. She's dead. She's dead. Dena's dead."

"Stop it!"

Natalie temporarily lost her temper. She couldn't bear hearing the word 'dead,' not when it was involving one of her loved ones.

"Look! Do you hear that? The ambulance is almost here. They'll fix her."

"But Mom." Jesse's voice decreased to a mere whisper. "They can't." Jesse was trembling terrified when he decided to check in on the passengers to his left. "They can't fix her."

He saw an unconscious little Gray with a face smeared with blood... and a headless little sister.

"She has no head."

Several blaring sirens and flashes of red and blue lights brought Jesse back to reality with a heavy long gasp. He rolled his head back and tapped his bleeding nose. The throbbing pain made him drowsy and on the verge of fainting again.

His chest was bruised badly and a cut across his arm may require stitches.

"No."

Jesse ignored his injuries and gazed at his motionless dear mother. He patted her on the cheek a few times.

"Mom. Wake up. Mom. Mom."

There were no signs of serious injuries on her body this time, but her head was bleeding.

"No, no, no, no."

He unlocked his seatbelt and dragged himself out of the car. He limped to his mother's side as fast as he could and opened her door, glass shards piercing his feet.

"Mom." His fingers felt her neck and detected a faint pulse fading that scared him to death. "Mom, can you hear me?" Tears welled up in heavenly blue eyes. "Mom, say somethin' please."

He shook her, but Natalie was unresponsive.

"No, no, please, don't. Mom, please don't leave me."

Jesse dropped sobbing on her lap.

"Mom, I love you. Please, don't die."

As the crowd gathered around the scene of the accident, chattering and whispering, Jesse wailed at the top of his lungs:

"Mom!"

Oh, my heart :'(

Poor Jesse can't seem to get a break.