text: [Themes: horror, horror]
  
  Drew knew what he had to do: he had to get out of town, and he had to get out of town before dark hit. He had a car that he didn't use often, but he didn't want to find out what would happen if he were in the car when darkness hit. Of course, he probably wouldn't remember, but he didn't want to find out, either. He headed for the garage where his car was kept when he wasn't using it.
  He jumped in the car and started it up. He was glad when he checked the gas and saw that he was three-quarters full. He started heading out of town. He went north because, well, he wasn't really sure which way he should go. North seemed like the quickest way out of town. He still had hours before dark, so he should have plenty of time to get way out of town before the sun set. He didn't really have anywhere to go, but he knew there were remote cabins and campgrounds a bit north of the city, and it was off-season, so they were likely to be mostly empty.
  A short distance out of town, the large interstate turned into a more local, two-way highway. It was calming and relaxing for some reason to finally be away from the larger crowds of the city. Drew relaxed a little and realized that he had been clenching the steering wheel with a death grip. He relaxed his hands and took a deep breath. Then his stomach gurgled. He realized that it had been awhile since he had eaten. Well, he wasn't really sure because last night was still a blank. He hadn't eaten at all since he woke up, he did know that. He spotted a small, local-looking gas station coming up on the right side. He was hungry.
  
  > Drew shouldn't take any chances and should head for the cabins as quickly as he can get there.
  Drew sped up and didn't dare stop at the gas station. He didn't know what would happen, but he had a feeling that it would not be good. He couldn't control whatever was happening, so he needed to get away from people. But what would that mean? What would happen when he, well, turned into whatever was going on at night when there were no people around? He guessed he would just have to find out.
  He turned off the highway when he knew the cabins were getting close. It was after the season, so he had a good feeling that many of the cabins would just be empty. He drove around a bit until he found an old, hardly used dirt trail up to a cabin that was on a small hill, but far away from town and the other cabins. As he pulled up, he could see no other cars, so he parked outside, hid the keys under the floor mat, and headed for the cabin.
  Of course the cabin was unlocked. These weren't high security places in town. He walked in and breathed in the smell of old, worn, and tired wood. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad, either. He plopped down on the couch to rest...
  
  He woke up to the light of sunrise coming in through the rear sliding glass door of the cabin. He blinked and already knew that it had happened again. With a sigh he looked down, and yet again he was covered with blood. He stood up and followed the bloody tracks to the door. The door was open because there was the body of a full-grown deer lying in the entranceway. Drew breathed a sigh of relief because it wasn't another human. He said out loud, "I can live with this. At least I'm not killing people."
  Drew spent the days and nights trying to figure out what was going on. It got to the point where he could start feeling the change coming on, but he never remembered anything that happened after he changed. He appeared to have no control over himself, but he usually woke up in or at least just outside the cabin. Somehow his "other" self was able to get him back where he started. But the days were getting longer and he knew that other people were soon going to start coming and visiting the cabins. He couldn't keep this up if other people were around, could he? Maybe he could get more control over it. He really did crave the company of other people – he hadn't talked to another soul in months.
  
  > Drew should stay in the cabin so that he could visit and interact with others who might be able to help him.
  Drew decided to take the bold approach when he heard a car pull up in the driveway late one afternoon. He sat on the couch facing the door and placed four cups of water on the table. The door pushed open and a young woman with long blonde hair walked in. She stopped when she saw Drew, mouth open.
  Before she could scream, Drew said, "No, please, you are welcome here. I'm just here to welcome you." He gestured to the cups of water on the table and continued, "Would you like a drink of water?"
  Two kids came stumbling in after the woman and crashed into her. One looked up and said, "Mom?"
  The woman regained her composure as a man, likely the father, stepped in the door carrying piles of luggage. She said, "I don't know anything about anyone welcoming us to the cabin. We thought it would just be empty when we got here." She turned to her husband.
  He dropped the bags and walked forward, putting his hand out. He said, "Hey there, I'm Tim. Are we in the wrong place?"
  Drew stood up, shook his hand and chuckled, "No, no, I'm just the welcoming committee. I'm just here to make sure you have all you need, then I'll be out of your way."
  At that moment, a smell reached Drew's nose. He looked around and searched for the source. It was blood, he was sure of it. And it was fresh blood. Tim was saying something, but Drew had already tuned him out. He moved towards the woman and realized it was her he could smell. He was suddenly very, very hungry.
  Tim kept droning on, but Drew didn't even hear him anymore. All he could think about was the fresh blood. He took another step towards the woman.
  She pushed her kids back behind her. Then she reached into a bag at her side and pulled something out. Drew stopped in his tracks as she brought out a small twig with green leaves and small, red berries. He recoiled from it as she held it out towards him.
  She said, "Oh, I'm sorry. Do you mind this at all?" She moved towards him with the twig out and he continued to stumble backwards. She smiled quite an evil smile and continued, "I guess you don't like the mistletoe, do you?" She continued to approach him, backing him towards the corner of the living room. "I had heard reports that there was a werewolf up here in the cabins, I'm quite amused to have actually found you. I thought they were just rumors, but obviously not."
  She continued to hold up the twig and Drew could only back away, transfixed by the small branch, the leaves, and the berries. She continued, "Yes, you can't resist, but you can't touch them, can you? I just knew it. But perhaps you didn't suspect that you'd be hunted down up here, did you? You see, there are those of us dedicated to cleaning the world of the disease that you have. And there's just one way to do that."
  Drew didn't even see that she had drawn a dagger, he was so transfixed by the mistletoe. She suddenly slammed it into his chest. He looked down and she said, "A bit of silver to the heart gets rid of the disease every time." Drew looked up at her, opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Everything quickly faded to black...