Opening his eyes and yawning, a young boy of five got out of his bed. Looking at his clock, Humphrey noticed that it was eleven thirty, far past his bedtime. Wondering what had woken him, he started to make his way down the steps and heard sounds from the main floor. His parents were talking quietly, but what caught his attention was something else, something that sounded like the tinkling of broken glass. It didn't sound like his parents had noticed; so, he decided he should go tell them and bounced his way down the last few steps on the stairs. Walking into the kitchen where his mother and father were talking at the table, he yawned sleepily again before starting to speak. "I think I heard something..." another yawn interrupted his speaking, "something that sounded like breaking glass. From by the back door." he told them.
Humphrey's father gave him a sceptical look, almost sure his son had imagined whatever he'd heard. He was about to say something to tell his son not to worry and go back to bed, but his wife tugged on his arm and whispered quietly. "Just go check it out and come back darling, Humphrey will feel better if you do." Nodding, he kissed her on the cheek and headed towards the back door, certain that it was going to be a wasted trip. However, when he got there he found that the large window behind the couch had been broken, the curtains slashed by what looked like claws. Clearly something had gotten inside the house, and he wished he had his shotgun in his hands. "Something's broken the back window and slashed the curtains. Now Humphrey, I want you to go back upstairs and lock your door. Don't come back down until morning, son. Your mother and I will handle this." he told the boy, giving him a hug and kissing him on the forehead.
Yawning again, the five year old hugged him back and nodded. He was certain his father could handle whatever had happened no problem. "Good night dad, mum." Turning around, he began to head towards the steps and his bed again, eager to resume his deep sleep. To his surprise though, he heard something moving down the hall behind him. Looking back, he tried to see through the dark hallway and thought he caught a glimpse of something large, walking on all fours. Scared, he ran to the steps and peeked between the spaces between his fingers. Whatever he had seen had moved into a different area of the house, but he was too frightened to go to sleep now.
While this was happening, Humphrey's father had retrieved his shotgun and loaded it before beginning to search the house for whatever had broken in. His wife had her wand out and at the ready, a second line of defense in case something happened. Walking into the living room, he checked once more and found nothing. "I suppose I should check by the front door." he said to himself, turning around to head that way. To his surprise, when he turned around he saw something that he thought was just a fanciful tale standing before him. Though he didn't want to admit it, what he saw was clearly a werewolf. Janine had told him such things existed, but until now he had not truly believed her. Trying to find his voice, he managed a hoarse croak. "W-w-werewolf!" Cocking his shotgun, moving the ammunition into the chamber, he leveled it at the monster. Before he could fire though, the beast moved, quick as lightning. It lashed out with what had once been hands, striking the weapon from his grasp. The man backed away slowly, before turning and running into the kitchen. "There's a....a werewolf in the house." he told his spouse.
Humphrey had seen the entire thing, peeking from the stairs, his breath coming in short gasps because of his terror. He watched as the werewolf headed towards the kitchen, intent on catching its prey. Despite the fact moving closer to that monster terrified him, he had to tell his parents it was coming after them. Running quickly into the kitchen, fueled by a terror-filled adrenaline, he tugged on his mother's sleeve. "I saw it coming towards the kitchen." he told her, his voice full of fear. The mother's head whipped down and let out a gasp. "Humphrey! Get in bed this instant, and lock your door!" she yelled at him, scared at what might happen if he stayed down here. Never having heard his mother yell like that before, he stumbled backwards, and that was when he saw the werewolf enter the kitchen. All he could do was raise his finger and point, too scared to even speak. He wanted to obey his mother and go to bed, but his legs felt anchored to the ground and refused to move.
Turning towards what her son was pointing at, Janine saw the werewolf for herself. Drawing her wand, she sent a stunning spell at it. The spell made contact, but wasn't powerful enough to do any damage and it simply shook it off before leaping and attacking Mr. Williams. Claws tore at his clothes and left deep scratches before his teeth started to tear and rend as it bit down on his shoulder. It kept biting down, then tore its head from side to side until the man's shoulder came loose, the limb crashing to the floor as it let go. His scream tore from his lungs before he passed out from the pain of it. Quickly the werewolf finished the job, biting down on his neck and causing enough damage that even Humphrey knew his father wouldn't survive it. Still unable to move, the boy watched the whole thing, tears streaming down his face as tremors shook the little body.
Raising her wand, the mother directed it at the woodblock that held her cutting knives, hurling them through the air at the monster who'd killed her husband. Two of the knives struck true, sticking into its chest, while the others missed their marks. A howl came from the werewolf, before he knocked them free with a sweep of his arm. Advancing quickly, it bounded forward and attacked, teeth lunging straight for the throat this time. There was nothing Janine could do as the sharp canines clicked together, tearing through the flesh of her neck in the process. Continuing to tear at it for a few seconds, the werewolf slowly rose from its latest kill. Now all that was left for him was the boy, who it slowly began to walk towards.
As the monster who'd killed his parents approached, Humphrey was finally released from whatever spell of fear had kept him there. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he tore for the stairs as quickly as he could. Though he moved quickly, the werewolf moved quicker as it leaped forward, knocking him down onto the ground. It attacked, teeth biting down onto his chest once. The boy screamed even louder as he felt the sharp teeth pierce his flesh, certain he would soon be following his parents into the afterlife. The werewolf pulled back before biting down onto the right side of his hip, doing more damage. Humphrey was already starting to lose a lot of blood, and his vision began to swim, casting a haze over everything. He barely even felt the last bite on his left thigh. Just as the werewolf raised its jaws to finish off the boy, headlights flashed across the room, one of the neighbors had heard the commotion. Snarling, the beast left him there, bounding back through the window he'd broken earlier and back into the night.
Their neighbor from across the street, a witch by the name of Stephanie unlocked the door with a quick Alohomora charm. She rushed into the room, and found Humphrey lying bleeding on the floor. Noticing that his parents were already beyond saving, she quickly apparated to St. Mungo's and took him in to get care. Humphrey only saw the face of his neighbor before slipping into unconsciousness, not sure what she was doing there. Why would she come to a werewolf had been? It didn't make sense to him with his mind so cloudy.
Humphrey woke up with a start, sweat soaking his shirt and sheets and gasping for breath. That dream had been his most vivid of the incident in a long time, and slow tremors shook his body. Tears started to fall down his cheeks as he wept for the loss of his parents, the parents he still missed terribly and always would. He did his best to cry silently so as not to walk his dorm mate, not wanting anyone to see him like this. Eventually the tears stopped, and Humphrey felt raw from all the emotions that had been running through him. Laying his head back down onto the pillow, he mouthed a silent prayer that the dreaded dreams wouldn't return tonight. Slowly, he drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
