That night, up in the deep blue sky, shined a full moon, that, with its light, was illuminating the streets, and houses across Italy. Around the moon, danced the stars. They danced to the melody that the crickets made with their wings, to attract a mate for the night. Their chirps echoed through the air, making it seem like they were doing it for whoever was awake so that it had something to hear while trying to sleep. But suddenly, a repetitive buzz joined the symphony of the crickets. It came from James's phone.
He sighed, and frustrated, threw his hand toward the night table, where the buzz's origin was; but as he tried to grab the phone, because of how the dim light, he almost dropped it. At that moment, the feeling of shattering his phone's screen made him wake up for an instant, and successfully grab the precious smartphone before it collided with the wooden floor. In the end, he looked at the screen and saw an unknown was calling him. "Who could it be at this late hour? Maybe it's a prank or something. But it's like 4 A.M.". He told to himself, as other thoughts came to his mind.
James: Eh, who cares.
He said, after hanging up the call, and approaching his bed. But as he was about to settle down on the sheets, his phone resumed its buzzing.
James: Alright, alright, what's so important to call at this late hour?!
He thought, frustrated, before turning around and accepting the call.
James: Hello, who's this?
??: Hello, good morning, um is this James, the son of Giulia and Roberto?
James: Yes it is. Who am I talking to?
Mr. Rossi: This is Lorenzo's father. I need to tell you something. I know it's very early, but it's an emergency. Lorenzo has been acting in a strange manner, as he has closed himself in his room and-
James: As if that was the thing to worry about.
Mr. Rossi: Yeah, I know, but when we approached the door to said room, we could hear some faint growls coming from somewhere in there.
When James heard what was happening to his friend, he felt scared. He knew that the serum was stable enough to be used, but was still unsure of how it would've behaved in a human's body. While he thought about all the different mutations that Lorenzo's body could've assumed, he unconsciously let out a: "fuck...", followed by a second or two of silence. Then, pretending to not know what the interlocutor was talking about, he said: "Well, that's rather preoccupying, but why did you call me, specifically?"
Mr. Rossi: it was your friends who insisted on calling you. You see, it all started when Freddy called me to inform me that Lorenzo wanted to sleep at his house. No problem there. But then, after some time, maybe an hour later, I hear someone ringing the door's bell; and guess who it was when I opened the door? Lorenzo! Sweat covered the entirety of his body, as if he had just completed a marathon. He said nothing, and just went straight ahead for his room, locking the door behind himself.
James: And where do I come to play?
Mr. Rossi: We are getting there. So, as he went to his room, I receive another call, but this time it was from Franco. He told me that Lorenzo had just disappeared and wanted to know if he had gone to his house. I confirm that to him, and as I was about to close the call, he added that if Lorenzo started behaving weirdly, I should've called you and then he made me write your number.
James realized he had the opportunity to see how the experiment was going. He felt delighted but also frightened as of what he could've seen in that dimly lit room. But while he thought that, Lorenzo's father asked: "Are you still there? Did we disconnect?" As he had gone silent for some time.
James: Oh, no sir, I'm still here. I will be there in 15 minutes!
Mr. Rossi: Alright, see you then.
James then hung up the call and started taking out the first clothes in his closet. Unfortunately, there wasn't that much of a choice: it was either going outside in pajamas or going with a jeans jacket and a pair of sweatpants; he reluctantly chose the second option.
He then stepped out of his room, down the stairs, and finally went to the entrance. There, before opening the door, James peered at his parents. They were sleeping with their mouths open, laying on the sofas of the living room while the TV was on. An ad was playing on the screen, it was marketing some knife set. A man with a big smile on his face and a tag on his apron saying "Chef Tony", was trying to sell them.
Then, with an indifferent look, he turned to the door, and began opening it as silently as he could. When there was finally a hole big enough for him to traverse, he jumped outside and did the same as before while closing it; but as he was about to make his first step on the gravel path, he realized the slippers on his feet.
James: Damn it!
James, undaunted, continued his walk, putting a step after the other, with his destination being the big metallic gate at the bottom of the garden. As he traversed the backyard, he could sense the smell of the grass and the coldness of the moonlight. A slight cool breeze made the blades of grass behave like a green sea, with its waves that sometimes overwhelm cargo ships while traveling. Once at the gate, James tried inserting the code on the keypad, but then remembered that the security system was still on, so he backtracked his hand from touching it, and instead put his left thumb on the surface of the gate. The gate opened.
As the gate opened, the moonlight reflected off its golden surface, making it stand out in that empty grass field.
Then, after assuring that the gate had closed, he began a paced walk to Lorenzo's house. After 10 minutes of admiring the homes of his neighborhood, he faced it. That house stood out against the repetitiveness of the block. In front of him there was a two-storey house, made entirely in white concrete, with a flat roof that was accessible from a stair inside the home. Some hedges surrounded its perimeter, with James facing its gate. From the windows beside the door, he could see two silhouettes, one walking through the house back and forth, and one sitting on something. The walking figure stopped its march, and began approaching the wall right next to the door, and the moment it disappeared behind the door, the gate opened with a slight creaking accompanying its motion.
While James was in the middle of crossing the pebble corridor, the main door, the one where the figure disappeared behind, opened. Behind it, there was a tall skinny man, with a pajama with blue stripes covering it. Its face wasn't accessible to James's sight, as the man still lurked in the shadows of the night, that obscured everything going from its face to its waist. As James approached the man, he saw he had a cup of something in his right hand, while with the other, he held still the door.
Mr. Rossi: Hello James, come in, it's cold outside.
James: Thank you Mr. Rossi.
On James's right there was a room, with light gray walls adorned with portraits of white roses in depicted in different scenarios. Mr. Rossi closed the door and gestured for him to sit on one of the chairs surrounding a glass table. James obeyed and sat on one. There, he, along with James, discussed about what to do with Lorenzo; as Mr. Rossi pitched ideas of how to deal with the situation, James avoided mentioning the happenings of the day before, as doing that would've got him into trouble. After a while of listening to Rossi's ideas, James stood up and began speaking.
James: How about I just go check in on him?
Mr. Rossi: But Lorenzo locked the door. How are you going to get in there?
James: You own the house and you have a copy of the keys of the rooms?
Mr. Rossi: I actually did once. They broke last week, while I was cutting the grass and-
James: That's bad news.
James then started thinking. How would've he gain access to Lorenzo's room without its keys? From the window, of course! So, as he told his idea to Rossi, he didn't even have the time to finish exposing it, that Rossi began walking outside to grab a ladder from the tool closet in the garden, and position it in front of the window of Lorenzo's room. James said nothing and followed him as he took the ladder; then he began climbing it. Halfway to the window, James stopped to admire the view. From up there, he could see the entire neighborhood, and if he squeezed his eyes, he could see the sea. When he reached the top of the ladder, he grabbed the outer side of the window and pulled it upside.
James: I'm in!
He shouted while whispering, as he entered the inscrutable room. Once in, James turned to the window and put out his right hand with the thumb up, to signal his success to Mr. Rossi. Darkness submerged the room. Inside, James could only make the outlines of the objects; making it difficult for him to navigate it without bumping into something and hurting himself.
James: "I'm not hearing any of the growls that Mr. Rossi told me. Lorenzo must be sleeping, or maybe it was just his imagination".
James thought, while he groped the walls in search of the light switch; but after some time he stopped and went to grab his phone from a pocket of his sweatpants. He harpooned his legs for a while, but didn't find the entrances of the pockets, and puffed because of it. Frustrated, James continued his search for a source of light, but after some time, he stopped.
James: Alright, I'm not doing this anymore. Where's the goddamn door?!
As he turned around back and forth in search of a viable exit, a pair of red eyes emerged from the void of the room, making James turn his attention to them. Coming from the eyes was a wolf like growl that resounded in the room. James strayed back a little. Sweat poured on his face. The room was a like a hoven. No exits were visibly available to him. The window was out of the discussion, as fast movements would've set the creature on him. Suddenly, he felt a buzz on his pectoral. "Right!" He shouted; then grabbed his phone from the pocket on his Jeans shirt, turning on the light and finally pointing at the origin of the horrific sound.