Chapter 87 – In Search of a Cure

Delia decided to allow Lucas to attend the prom so he wouldn’t feel like an outcast.  So far, no one at school knew about his ‘affliction’ and it would give her time to talk openly with Valerie.   

Delia needed to let Valerie know she was going to move to Riverview and tell her why – well except for the part that she was now 22 instead of 72. Valerie was no stranger to the supernatural so she would understand. 

As soon as Lucas left, she called Valerie. Valerie unexpectedly brought the whole family with her.  

Delia was thrilled to get so see her granddaughter and reached out to give her a great big hug which Angelica wasn’t so eager to receive. She thought Angelica favored her father much more than Valerie. 

Delia just laughed and let her go find the toy box in the play room.  She promptly found her favorite toy and entertained herself.  

Walter even brought his Cello and practiced while she and Valerie talked. 

“Mom, I know something is up. Spill…” said Valerie as soon as they were alone and out of earshot of the rest of her family.

“It’s Lucas.  I found out what was going on with him.  He has Lycanthropy. I saw it with my own eyes.  He changed Valerie,” explained Delia.

“Ly-what? Are you seriously saying what I think?” she asked incredulously.  

“Yes, Val, your nephew is a werewolf.  Evidently Glen was afflicted and passed it on to Lucas. That is why his eyes were well, different.  According to my research, they don’t fully begin to change until the onset of puberty. That is why we never knew before.”

Valerie gasped, “You SAW him change? My God! Mother! How awful.  So, okay…so… what does this mean exactly?”

“We had an argument.  He became really angry and involuntarily changed right in front of me. I watched him transform. It was quite frightening and I think painful for Lucas. He didn’t understand what was happening to him. I calmed him down and he gradually changed back. I have researched this Valerie and the cure can only be found in Riverview.  I want to move there with Lucas. Once he is cured, he can have a fresh start – and – well - I can stop seeing your sister at the bottom of the pool every time I walk outside.”

“Mom, you could just sell this house and move to a new one here.  Please don’t run.  Promise me, that before you do you let me see if I can snoop around the hospital and find out if there is another way to cure him.”

“Valerie, we don’t have much time. The full moon is tomorrow.”

“What does that mean?” asked Valerie and then as the realization of what Delia just said hit home, she continued “You have GOT to be kidding. He turns when the moon is full and don’t tell me, he howls at it?”

Delia just shook her head yes. “He will turn, not so sure about the howling. I will give you three days Val.  I already have a down payment on a house in Riverview.  I can cure him if you can’t. He will be forced to change again before I can help him and it breaks my heart and scares me. He may not be able to control himself.”

The full realization that they would be gone in 3 days hit Delia and she gave her son-in-law a tearful hug.  She loved him for making her daughter so happy.   

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Delia was nervous. She knew today was the day that Lucas would change. 

She went over to tell him to be sure to come right home after school but Lucas was on the phone.  She waited for him to finish his conversation only hearing one side of it. 

 “Yes, Martin…..okay……right.  That is fine.  See you at school.  Bye.” 

When he hung up, Delia went over to him.

“Was that Martin?” she asked.

“Yes” was all he said not volunteering any additional information about their conversation. 

She felt bad knowing that in two more days they would be leaving and he was finally making friends so she didn’t try to pry further.  She felt like she walked on eggshells around him now not wishing to upset him again. 

“Oh, can you do me a favor and come home right after school today…”

“Sure,” he said before she could finish her sentence and give him a reason to potentially avoid an argument.

Delia was relieved.  “Thanks. See you this afternoon.”

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The hours and minutes dragged on while she waited for Lucas to return from school.  It took everything she had not to jump in the car and go get him. 

When he arrived at home right on time Delia grabbed him in a bear hug she was so happy that he kept his promise and came home without issue.

“MOM!  What?  I need to go get my swimsuit on.  Martin and I are going to take a dip in the pool before starting on our science project,” said Lucas as he wiggled out of her arms.

“Martin?  Martin is here?” asked Delia now in full panic mode.

“He will be here any minute,” replied Lucas as he ran up the stairs. 

Delia was stunned.  It was already getting late.  She didn’t know what ‘time’ the change might occur.  She had to get to Martin and send him home before it was too late. 

Before Martin arrived, Lucas ran downstairs and busted out the back door.  Delia called out to him and he said, “Martin is waiting in the backyard.”  Delia’s heart sank.  She had hoped to intercept him. 

She ran after Lucas, but it was too late.  Lucas headed straight for Martin with Delia on his heels.  Then he suddenly stopped and screamed. 

 

With Martin watching, Lucas went through the transformation, screaming and all.  Delia quickly put herself between her grandson and his friend hoping that Martin wouldn’t see what Lucas had become. 

Fortunately Lucas had walked back towards the pool and away from Martin.

“Hi Martin, as you see, Lucas isn’t feeling well. Maybe you can come back tomorrow to work on your project,” said Delia with as much poise as she could muster. 

“Mrs. Schlick, Is he, uh okay?” said Martin, his eyes wide.

“Yes, he just needs to rest, now run along. He will call you tomorrow.”  As soon as she finished another howl came from Lucas.

Much to Delia’s relief, Martin turned and bolted as fast as he could.

Delia found Lucas sitting outside after Martin left.  She breathed another sigh of relief.  He seemed to be fairly calm.

She sat down as if everything were quite normal and began to try to talk to her grandson now in full wolf form. 

“What’s wrong with me Mom?  I can’t seem to change back.  I thought you said I was over this!” he accused. “I am hungry. I really need to eat, NOW!”

The moon came out it as it became completely dark and the moon glow seemed to intensify his hunger. 

Lucas got up from the table as Delia just watched helplessly. From her research, she knew he wouldn’t be able to change back to normal until the next morning.  She felt sorry for him. There must be others like him.  For sure there were in Bridgeport.  She had no one to help him through this.

Lucas went straight to the kitchen and raided the refrigerator.   Delia could only watch in horror as he lapped the food from the plate.

When he was finished he jumped up and growled at her for more. 

It was going to be a long night she thought. She had to keep him in the house.  Finally he tired out and went to bed.  However, Delia didn’t get much sleep. 

Tomorrow she would talk to Lucas when he was back to normal and let him know what was really going on. 

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Delia managed to make it through the night in one piece.  Once Lucas finally went to sleep he slept all night and woke up in the morning back to normal. 

Now was as good of a time as any to talk, especially since his classmate had seen him change.  Lucas may not want to go to school and she wouldn’t make him. 

They sat down and Delia began to tell him the story.  “Lucas, you know that I am not really your Mother, right, that I am your grandmother and your mother died when you were but 2 years old?”

“Yes, so what?  As far as I am concerned you are my Mother. What does that have to do with anything?” 

“Your father must have been a Werewolf and passed that on to you.  Victoria, your mother, never would tell us who your father was.” Delia felt bad lying to him about his father, but she didn’t want him to go hunting for Glen to get answers. She certainly wasn’t going to look for him. 

“Are you joking? Werewolf? That is lame. I am not some freak of nature. It is just some sort of allergic reaction or something.  We can ask Aunt Val to find out. She is a doctor.”

“Well, it can be cured.  And I have already asked Aunt Val to help but she doesn’t think she can.”

“Wait, she buys into this werewolf stuff?  But, you said it could be cured. Why can't Valerie do it?  Why not?”

“I already have plans for us to move to Riverview. We can get the cure there.  That is the only place that has it.  And, I don’t think it would be a good idea to stay here any longer since Martin witnessed you changing.  Crazy people might want to hurt you.”

“Well, shit! This just sucks!” said Lucas.

“LUCAS! Your language!” cautioned Delia.

“Sorry, Mom.  But damn….you just told me I am a friggin freak show and I think I am starting to believe you.”

Delia sighed.  “You are NOT a freak Lucas. I am sorry you are going through this. We will fix this.  We are going to see Valerie this afternoon and if she can’t do anything, we are leaving in the morning. 

“Holy shit,” whispered Lucas to himself.

“LUCAS!” yelled Delia. 

“Yeah, yeah...”

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When Valerie got home Delia and Lucas went to her house.  Delia hoped she had a cure.  As soon as they got there she wasted no time asking.

“No, mom, I am so sorry.  What little I could find was all rumor and urban legends.  I guess the supernatural beings are very good at keeping themselves hidden from us ‘regular’ humans."

“Lucas’ friend saw him change," sighed Delia, "We would have had to leave town regardless. Poor Lucas. Lost his mother and father and now he has to deal with being a werewolf.” 

“You told him?”

“Yes, I had to. He was confused and upset. Maybe you can talk to him. He seemed better knowing that you believed it.”

“Okay, I will but I am not sure what I can do.”

“Just let him know that he is okay and you love him.”

“Hey Lucas, Mom tells me you are moving to Riverview.  They have the plants there that can cure you,” said Valerie.

“Yes, just call me freak-n-stein,” he mumbled.

“You are no freak. Maybe you can get your grandmother,er- mom, to tell you some stories later. There are other supernatural beings and she is actually a very good mystic,” and Valerie gave him a conspiring wink.

“Huh? You believe all this supernatural shit - uh stuff I mean?”

“LUCAS!" she exclaimed at his language. "Yes, I do. But it is our secret. Walter and Angelica cannot know anything. Deal?”

“Deal,” said Lucas.

“Now, let’s eat.  Walter will be up in a bit and will want to play a game of chess with you before you have to go. He will certainly miss you.” 

Angelica had just arrived home from school so they all ate and chatted for awhile. Delia didn’t want to leave. She would miss them dearly. But as she had always done in the past, this was not for her, but for her grandson.  She owed this to her daughter to make sure he was okay and had a good life. 

A few minutes later, Walter came downstairs, still in his PJs.  He had worked the late-late show and didn’t get home until nearly 3:00 am.  Walter had been a father figure for Lucas’ young life so far and they enjoyed sparring over a friendly chess game.  One last game before it was time to go.

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Moving day had arrived. Delia had glass of wine waiting for the taxi to arrive and took one last look around her home in Roaring Heights. She had really hoped this would be a good move for them but it had turned tragic when Victoria drowned. Now it was time to move on. She couldn’t stay no matter what. She had consumed the last vial of Youth Potion and made herself younger than her daughter so she could take care of Victoria's son and now he needed her more than she ever dreamed possible.

The taxi honked and she and Lucas climbed in. Next stop, Riverview.

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Chapter 86– Lucas

As Delia got younger, Lucas was getting older but even as he well into his teenage years, he still loved experimenting with his chemistry set. 

The full moon was fast approaching and so was Lucas’ 16^th birthday. Delia would know for sure if her suspicions about Lucas being a ‘werewolf’ were correct in only two short weeks.  In the meantime she wanted to try and spend as much time as she could with him.

Since he was finally tall enough to ride the roller coaster she promised to take him to the boardwalk so he could ride the really tall one. That weekend the two of them went together.  She knew he probably would have preferred to go with his friend Martin from school, but she just couldn’t risk leaving him alone.

So together they went to the boardwalk and rode the highest roller coasters. Delia laughed because once he got on the ride, all his trash talk went out the window and Lucas held on for dear life.

When they got to the very top, Delia tried to get him to let go and he was having none of it. She showed him how it was done and put her hands up in the air as they zoomed down and the cart flew through the water soaking them both.  

  

Afterwards Lucas schooled her at a game of foosball. Delia was more than happy to let him save face after being such a big baby on the roller coasters. 

It was getting late and they had to leave. But before they left, both of them hopped into the photo booth and took some silly pictures together to commemorate the first roller coaster rides for Lucas.

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After they got home, Lucas wanted to go to Martin's house. He was excited and wanted to talk to his friend about his day. It was too late so Delia said no. Lucas was not happy with that answer and yelled at Delia in true teenage fashion, ‘Mom, I am NOT a baby anymore. Why do you treat me like one.  It isn’t fair! You are SO mean!” 

“Don’t you speak to me like that young man! It is too late and you are not going out! You have school tomorrow!!!” Delia shot back at her grandson, remembering his mother becoming pregnant when she was only 16. The last thing she wanted was for his life to become more complicated than it may already be. “You are only 15 and not yet old enough to be out by yourself and not this late anyway!” 

Lucas started to yell back but his anger overtook him in a way he had never experienced before. He could feel himself getting really hot. Then pain shot through his body as it felt like his skin was melting off and he was stretching if that was possible. He screamed out and crouched to the ground holding his head.

Afraid for him, Delia rushed over to help him. "Lucas, what's going on? What's wrong? she asked. Lucas was unable to respond and only moaned.

Then, Delia watched in horror as his features actually began to shift right before her eyes. He grew long canine teeth, claws and became extremely hairy all in the matter of a few minutes while he was screaming the whole time. 

He was transforming into a werewolf before her very eyes. 

When his transformation was complete, Lucas stood up to his full height and leapt at Delia. Delia screamed and yelled his name. “No LUCAS! It’s ME – your MOTHER – don’t you know me? Please, no baby, no!” she sobbed in tears.

When he heard Delia speak, he fell to the ground, confused as to what just happened. Delia knelt over him and spoke quietly and gently rubbed his stomach trying to calm him. She was terrified. It seemed his anger caused his transformation and even Lucas had no control over it. Her contact seemed to sooth him and the anger dissipated.  She let out a huge sigh of relief.  

Delia did not want anyone to know about this. They might try to take him from her and she wouldn't be able to bear the loss. Just when she thought dealing with supernatural beings was over, she was starting all over again. 

Finally Lucas was calm enough to communicate with her.  He slowly got up and Delia continued to calm him. She finally asked if he could ‘change’ back. 

Lucas wasn’t sure what had even happened to him, much less how he could do this thing his mom was asking him to do. He had an urge to to be running outside and he felt strong. He asked Delia what was wrong with him and was shocked at the sound of his voice. It frightened him. 

 

She just kept telling him to relax and think about calming things.  "Take deep breaths, Lucas," she said in a slow quiet voice.

Calming himself seemed to help him feel better. Lucas’ features began to slowly morph back to normal as the hair, teeth and claws seemingly retracted. Soon her grandson was standing in front of her totally confused.

“Mom, what happened to me?  I felt – weird – like my body shifted around and became different.  It hurt for a while then, it was – well – sort of powerful feeling. Please, tell me what happened,” begged Lucas.

“Lucas, I am not sure, but I think you have Lycanthropy,” said Delia.  She couldn’t bring herself to tell him he was a werewolf.

“What? What is that? Can I get antibiotics? It is …curable…right, Mom?

“Don’t worry for now, you will be fine. I think the worst is over. Get ready for bed and I will get dinner ready. See you downstairs in a few minutes.”

Delia decided leftovers would be just as well since it was now so late and she was too distraught to cook. She grabbed some French Toast and left the Egg Rolls for Lucas.  As Delia was getting ready to put it on the table, Victoria’s ghost suddenly appeared and just silently watched as Delia pulled out the leftovers.

Victoria must have sensed what happened with Lucas and wanted to check on him.  When Delia and Lucas sat down to eat, Victoria did the same.  Delia knew Lucas couldn’t see her so she pretended she wasn’t sitting there.  She and Lucas ate supper silently, each lost in their own thoughts.

Lucas wondered what had just happened to him and worried if it would ever happen again while Delia grieved for her dead daughter, destined to be a ghostly teenager forever, having died when she was only 17, not even 2 years older than her son sitting here at the table and how she was going to fix his problem and help him through it in the meantime. 

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The next day Delia high-tailed it back to the consignment store after Lucas left for school.  She didn’t have much time before the full moon and Lucas would possibly change again.  Last time she asked about half-vampires.  Hah!  I was way off track on that one she thought. Now she needed to find out about Lycanthropy.  At least now she had a rapport with the clerk. 

Delia made small talk and consigned some more items.  Finally she got brave enough to broach the subject and whispered, “Do you know much about or have any books on, well, Lycanthropy?”

“You mean werewolves?  Oh yes!  Do you know any?” responded the clerk excitedly.

Delia rolled her eyes. “Oh, no.  I was just doing research for a, umm, a book I am writing. I wanted it to be close to the legends,” stammered Delia.

“Legends? Well, I am not so sure they aren’t real; what do you want to know?” she asked.

Delia thought about it.  “Well, I know they turn at the full moon, but really, that is about all I know.  Can they turn anytime they want, can they be provoked to turn, what do they eat, are they dangerous to loved ones, can they be cured and if so how?” 

“Wow, that is a lot.  I have some books but let me try to answer some of your questions. It seems they can turn back and forth at will, but perhaps that control comes with age and if they get into a fight, they may turn. They eat A LOT and will eat raw meat but aren’t necessarily a danger to those they love. Now, the last question about cures…It isn’t easy, true love always can lead to a cure if their mate wants them to be cured they usually will.  Otherwise, there are strong potions that can cure them.  But only a powerful mystic can create and administer them. I believe one of the ingredients can only be found in Riverview.”

“Thank you so much,” said Delia and hastily added with a nervous laugh, “I wasn’t planning to make a cure, but I will take the books.”

Delia paid for the books and went home. She went straight to the computer and began researching. She knew what she had to do. There was no way she was going to let well enough alone. She would research the recipe for the cure and find a place to live.  Riverview she thought now I know where we will be moving. Then she thought a Mystic - well evidently I must be a powerful one. I was able to cure myself and my daughters of vampirism and it worked fine, this should too. Riverview, here we come.

  

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Chapter 85 - Decisions

Concern for Lucas’ ever changing eyes led Delia to begin to researching Vampirism on the computer. She was hoping to find out if someone could be a hybrid for lack of a better term and what that might mean.  Everything she could find, which was precious little, indicated you were or you weren’t – there was no such thing as partial vampire. 

Frustrated with the lack of information on the ‘Information Superhighway’ she decided to run to the elixir store while Lucas was at school.  She met with the clerk and consigned a few items to get to know her a little before daring to ask about vampirism.

They chatted for a bit and Delia began to ask leading questions.  When she felt comfortable enough she began to ask about books on Vampirism.

She said they didn’t have much but would try to answer any questions. Well, here goes nothing thought Delia. “Have you ever heard of someone being half-vampire/half-human?”

“Oh, no ma’am! If you are cursed, you are cursed. There is no partial curse. I have never heard of such a thing.”

Delia bought the books they had and left still confused at what might be wrong with Lucas’ eyes.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------When she arrived at home, she was horrified at what she saw.  Lucas was standing on the chair leaning over his food and lapping it up like a dog.  She was so shocked she just left the room without saying anything.  This was not normal behavior.  She was more worried than ever that Lucas had some type of mental illness brought on by all that had happened.

The first thing she did was to call Valerie and asked her to come over.  Valerie worked at the hospital and she needed to talk to someone. In all her many, many years she had never witnessed anything so strange and wanted Valerie’s input before she addressed it with Lucas.

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Valerie came over after work the next day.  She and Delia went into the sitting room to talk.  She had already poured some wine because she figured she might need it.

Delia began,“Valerie, I am so afraid something is seriously wrong with Lucas. He eats ALL the time, but he is a growing boy so I am not so worried about that.  But, when I came home yesterday, I was horrified at what I saw." Delia proceeded to tell her how he was eating. "The way he was lapping up his food and grunting was disturbing.”

“Well, maybe he was just playing around. Boys – sheesh- I don’t know, I never had any brothers, but they can be gross sometimes,” reasoned Valerie. “Has he done anything else that has you worried?”

“I thought I heard him howling the other day. Maybe he needs a pet – I don’t know what this fixation is with dogs,” said Delia, “I am just afraid it is some kind of an emotional issue.  Poor guy losing his mother at such a young age and having no father, just a grandmother that spoils him rotten.”

“Mom, don’t blame yourself. You have been an excellent mother to him so far and you will be for a long time to come.

“That’s just it Valerie. I am not getting younger! What’s going to happen when I am gone?”

“Mom, don’t talk like that. You will be here and even if, God forbid you aren’t, then you know that Walter and I would take him in a heartbeat. He and Walter are two peas in a pod.”

“This is good pie Momma! I was hungry!” exclaimed Lucas as he walked in and sat down with Delia and Valerie.

Valerie laughed and got up and hugged her mother. “See,” she whispered, “totally normal boy. But if you want, we can see about getting him in with a therapist. Don’t say anything to him yet. Just be there for him if he needs to talk and let me know if you see anymore strange behavior. Now, I gotta go take care of my two babies!”

“Thanks,” said Delia, “You always make me feel better.”

Then Lucas piped in, “I’m gonna go make Stink Juice Aunt Val, wanna come watch?” 

“Sure, little man, show me what you got! Then I have to go,” replied Valerie and followed him into the play room. 

Sure enough he got right down to business. Valerie saw absolutely nothing wrong with Lucas – maybe the glow in his eyes was a little strange, but was that really abnormal? Mom’s imagination just works overtime she thought, but given what she’s been through, it’s no wonder. She is probably the one that needs to see a shrink, not Lucas!

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The months went by and turned into years and nothing really changed. Delia saw nothing else unusual about Lucas behavior and began to think it is was just a childish activity.

Then one night Delia’s dead daughter’s ghost came to visit. This was the first time since Victoria passed almost 13 years ago that she showed herself.  It was a shock to see her and quite sad as her ghost was dripping wet, a clear reminder of why she wasn’t here with her today.  

Victoria just looked at her mother and smiled.  Maybe she doesn’t blame for her death thought Delia. She had always thought she did because she never showed herself before now, unlike the ghosts of her dead husbands.
  

Finally Victoria broke the silence and spoke in the ethereal voice of ghosts, “Now I know what you are, we all do, you and Lucas are products of the supernatural. He changes with the full moon. Please, take care of my baby.”

“Victoria, please, what do you mean he changes? You are scaring me,” said Delia.

“I love you mom,” was all she said and disappeared in a moist blue mist.

Delia went to bed thinking about what her daughter had said. “He changes.”  What does that mean?  She had no idea. Ghosts…they certainly have a mind of their own. Maybe Victoria’s spirit knows I am worried about Lucas and there really is something wrong with him so she materialized for a short period of time to warn me. It had to be a warning thought Delia.

Since she couldn't sleep, she decided the only thing she knew to do with this little bit of information was to go back to the stupid internet and see what little she could find about changing with the full moon. Before she even started typing she got shivers up her spine. Howling, full moon, changing. NO WAY! That is a myth.  But then so were vampires and witches. 

Delia began to type in the search engine and then when the results came up she clicked on a link and began to read. The results were as she expected. It is very likely that her grandson has Lycanthropy - he is a werewolf. She was devastated.

She searched further to find out how this could be possible. According to one site, there were only a few ways someone could become infected. A person could be born with this affliction if at least one of their parents was a werewolf; there were rare potions only able to be created by a person with mystical powers that if drank or poured onto a person could induce Lycanthropy; or one could be bitten by a werewolf and thus become infected. To those born with the curse, the wolf begins to manifest itself at around 8-10 years of age, just before the onset of puberty. Lucas was almost 12. 

Delia was so upset.  Now she needed to try to find out what this means for poor Lucas. She had more questions than she had answers.  Glen must have been a werewolf. That was the only way. She would know for sure during the next full moon. Delia shut off the computer and went to bed. 

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The next morning Delia looked at herself in the mirror. She looked and felt so tired. Of course, she was getting older. This had been on her mind a lot the past few years. Her hair was gray and she was wrinkled and droopy.  If truth be told, she probably could use a cane to get around easier. Her back ached and it was all she could do to deal with her day-to-day activities. All she really wanted to do was sit in the rocker and take naps. She was even letting her precious garden die; not bothering to replant each season. How could she help Lucas through this if she weren't around? She had to be there for him. There was no option. She owed it to Victoria. 

After taking a good look in the mirror, she knew what she was going to do. Use the last remaining youth potion.  She needed to do it before Lucas was old enough to notice that she was suddenly much younger and certainly before it was too late and she had a heart attack or stroke.

The next morning after Lucas was off to school, she got the last bottle of potion from the locked storage cabinet.  She sat it on the dining room table and got a glass from the kitchen.  Delia poured the potion into the glass and added some juice to make it go down easier.  She was frightened but she had done this countless times before and it worked.  She really was ready to begin to feel better. She didn’t know when she began to feel slow down, it just crept up on her. But she supposed that was how it was supposed to happen.

Okay she thought it’s now or never and swallowed the potion in one huge gulp.

The transformation started. She felt warm and tingly and the aches and pains seemed to disappear. She stood straighter and her skin felt soft and smooth. She looked at her hands and knew it was successful.

In the space of an hour she went from elderly to young.

But to verify it she ran to the full length mirror down the hall. Delia had indeed reversed the aging process once more.

Now she just had one obstacle; her daughter and Walter. Maybe she could tell them she had work done.  Hah, she thought, they might fall for it – but only for a couple of years at best and Lucas would be a teenager by then. I will know way before then if he is indeed a werewolf and together, Lucas and I will deal with it. And if not, then no harm, no foul. 

Delia really knew the consequences of using an aging potion; she and Lucas must leave Roaring Heights in the very near future.   

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