Horror Tales by Harry Glum Page A

independent woman, bright, a little bit strange according to the standards of their society, but she was all heart. And, of course, she knew how to listen.
    -  Do you think this is insane? - inquired Sharon after confessing to her best friend everything that had happened to little Pete.
    -  No! This does not happen frequently, but I don´t think you´re crazy. It could be a lot of things. You know that I´m acquainted with a lot of people everywhere. I´ll ask around and we will see what they tell me. But you, in the meantime, stay calm. Here´s your friend Liz to fix everything!
    Sharon and Liz went to see different doctors and experts. Dozens of tests were carried out on the baby, but the happy conclusion was that the baby had a rigid health, enviable. Maybe he was a little bit more developed than the usual, but not so much. There was nothing which could explain the guttural sounds or the strange fur. And a lot less that they appeared just some nights...
    But again, exactly four weeks after the last episode, Pete began to breathe like a dangerous animal, and once more his soft thin skin was covered by an even denser coat of what now looked like, without any doubt, the fur of a beast.
    This time it was Liz who was at home to witness the dreadful transformation. At last she was starting to comprehend that all that wasn´t just her imagination.
    -  Now you see - murmured Sharon sobbing- , my baby is like possessed!
    Liz stared at Pete, or at what until that very afternoon had been Pete, who was agitated in his little crib in front of the window. Suddenly, she felt as if an idea was shaking in her head. She had a look out of the window and spoke to herself, convinced, that maybe she had a crazy answer to this.
    -  Take it easy. I´ve got a strange intuition. I know who we should go to see - replied Liz, sure of herself, as it was her habit.
    That very morning, Liz didn´t guide Sharon to a hospital or to an appointment to see a doctor, she took her directly to the University which was located in the outskirts of the city. In a study jammed with books, where mess was the rule, there was an elderly man with a kind face, with hardly any hair left and a completely grey beard, waiting for them.
    -  It´s been a long time without seeing my best student! – the old professor exclaimed, stretching his arms towards Liz­. No sooner had I received your call that I wanted to clean this office, but you know me...
    -  Tom, you´re adorable as always.
    -  But, what is your visit about? - inquired the professor, making a gentle bow at Sharon and little Pete.
    Liz explained to Tom what had been happening to the baby, and about the peculiar intuition she had had that early morning, before going to visit him.
    -  It´s been a long time since I haven´t seen one, but maybe you could be right. May I examine the baby? - the professor inquired, turning to Sharon.
    She gave Pete to that strange man, worried, but trusting in her good friend Liz. The man looked closely at him. He blew through an inaudible whistle, which seemed to unsettle the little one, who broke into tears. Then, in presence of Sharon´s horrified look, he made a small cut with a scalpel at the bottom of his foot.
    -  What are you doing to my baby?
    -  Stay calm Sharon, he knows what he´s doing... - Liz immediately intervened, trying to comfort her friend.
    The elderly professor mixed the child´s blood with some products that he took from a cupboard next to the window in his office, and he waited. A couple of minutes later that melting- pot started to give off a greenish vapour and it continued compressing until it formed a little irregular stone with silver colour.
    -  I´m sorry Ma´am, there´s no doubt: your son is a lycanthrope.

    Sharon didn´t understand what that strange name meant, and continued looking perplexed in the presence of that show which almost looked like magic.
    -  A