Chills slithered down Lana's spine so intensely, vibrations penetrated throughout her being. Strained or not, she knew all too well who that voice belonged to.

It can't be. No way! she thought, cupping her mouth with her dirty paws.

But the voice, nor the eyes could be mistaken. The way the blue gleamed at her was new, but underneath, they were the same familiar eyes - just like Raya's and her own, only softened with age. She had looked into those very eyes many times before.

"Grandma?" Lana choked out in a whisper. But Grandma is dead! Or supposed to be...her ashes are upstairs. She died years ago. There must be some mistake!

Her brain couldn't wrap around what she was seeing. How does one process such an ordeal?

Lana took a timid step forward and the creature's face became fully visible - thanks to the roaring glow of the lanterns. The stains of blood and dirt could not erase the slender nose, the sharp chin, nor the delicate curve of the lips that had always greeted her with a kind, loving smile. A horrid thought became reality as Lana realized that it was, in fact, none other than her dear, previously dead grandmother.

The woman was seated, slouched sideways, her arms bound above her head. Her tiny wrists hung loosely within oversized metal cuffs attached to a chain with thick, rusty links. Her state was...alarming. She was almost wolfed out. A whimper slipped through the hand covering Lana's mouth.

No! Grandmother? A werewolf? Her grey and white coat was thinning; only small, brittle patches remained. Her frame was skinny and brittle. Some of her teeth had fallen out along with the majority of her fingernails. Lana could see some of them on the floor around her. In her poor condition, Grandma was barely managing to breathe. The mere sight was unbearable. Lana's insides seemed to tear clean apart. Her throat tightened and her stomach churned.

"Grandma," Lana cried, "I'm here. What happened to you?"

The poor thing attempted to speak, but no words seemed to oblige her. Breaking eye contact, Grandma's rib-cage expanded one last time before her head fell lifeless. The drum beat inside Lana's ears faltered, then ceased to exist.

Never in her life had Lana felt so frozen and torn. Should she cry? Scream? Run? Be angry? Breathe? Lana's knees give way as she crashed to the ground, wanting to cry, but unable to.

"I can't deal with this insane shit," she spat bitterly.

The cold ground nipped at Lana's legs, but she remained seated, numb and still, gazing at her sweet ol' granny. The woman that had helped Grandpa raise her and Raya as if they were their own children.

Why? she thought. Why would they hide what grandma was? Would we have even believed it? Of course not. Lana answered herself with a snort.

That wolf carcass couldn't be the same body that belonged to the person who gave her baths and brushed her hair. Not the same one whom, on Friday nights, would cozy on the couch with her and Raya, all with their steamy cups of hot cocoa, and watch cartoon re-runs. Not the one that kissed their cheeks every night and read them Thumbelina and Rapunzel before at least five hundred bed times.

Why would Grandpa do this to that person?

Raya held the leather bound book tightly against her chest, hugging it with both arms. Spinning on her heels, she stormed out of the study and flew down the hall and stairs with her long, fiery hair flowing behind her. Her feet pitter-pattered along the way morphing into stomps when she hit the hardwood at the base of the stairs.

"Lana!" she shouted.

All was quiet.

"Lana! Where are you? Lannnna!" she harped, beginning to sound desperate.

Lana's wolf ears twitched, picking up on her sisters irksome freak-out voice ringing through her entire brain.

Bad timing! Lana thought. Ugh, Ray's really going to freak Frito's...especially since she's always been closer to Gran.

Of course, Lana loved Grandma as well, but she was closer to Grandpa. It was even worse for Lana to know that Grandpa had apparently Locked Grandma up down there. Alone...well maybe. Lana took another glance at the pile of bodies.

Ray can't come down here. All of this is too much. She began to panic as she heard Raya call to her again, closer this time. No! You have to be strong. Nobody can move forward if they are dominated by negative emotions! It gets you nowhere!

Lana had learned that lesson harshly in the past. Sitting in jail for something she didn't legit do taught her a thing or two. She toughened her exterior and made her way back to the basement door, giving a short lived glance over her shoulder at her grandmother.

"Lan-na!" Raya had started strong, but when she skidded into the kitchen and saw the forbidden door wide open, the last part came out strangled.

What the hell is Raya going on about? Lana wondered. She never hee-haws like this, gallivanting around the house like a banshee.

Lana picked up pace, and when she stepped out of the open basement door, a wide eyed Raya was looking right at her.

"Is she alive?" Raya asked.

"Wh-what?" Lana replied, caught off guard.

"Did you find her?" Raya asked.

Raya knew? Lana felt like she'd been punched in the gut. Everyone knew but her? "What the effing hell? How could you guys keep this from me?"

"I just found out! I was coming to tell you. It's in here." Raya flipped open the book and shoved the front into Lana's face.

Lana took it and began to read. She saw the bold, capitalized part in Grandpa's writing that he'd gone over at least thrice with his pen: GRANDMA IS ALIVE IN THE BASEMENT. Raya made a move toward the door.

"Raya, no!" Lana said, catching her by the arm. Lana bit her bottom lip and shook her head. "She just died. She's...gone. I found her too late."

Raya yelped, a pained look on her face. She slipped out of Lana's hand and took off, as though she were a bullet.

By the time Lana caught up with her, Raya was laying on the ground with her head in old wolf-Gran's lap, crying her head off.

"Come on, Raya, we can't do this," Lana said kindly.

"I thought...but...I feel like I lost her all over again, Lana," she sobbed.

"Me, too."

"Look at her," Raya sniffled, raising up and pushing the old wolf-lady's dirty hair back from her face. "Why would he bind her like this?"

"Ray...I don't know if you noticed, but she's kind of, sort of a werewolf..."

"I can see that. But that's no reason. She's no more a monster than we are," Raya snapped. "The poor dear." She patted Grandma's hair while using her other hand to wipe her nose.

Lana wasn't moved by Raya's snappy attitude. She understood exactly how she felt.

"I guess we'll find out exactly what's going on," Lana said, waving their grandpa's journal in the air. "Come on. Let's get her out of here. We'll clean her up and give her a decent burial."

Raya nodded in agreement, wiping her teary face. A moment was spared for the little girl in her that loved her grandma, but now, she had to be grown Raya and take on responsibility. After inspecting the shackles, Raya figured she'd find the key mixed somewhere in Grandpa's set, so she retrieved them. Thank God she had Lana there with her, lending her strength, or she'd have lost it again when the body morphed back into the full form of their darling Grandma. She managed to hold it together, taking the shackles off. Grandma slumped over, expelling the remaining air from her lungs. The girls took Grandma up to the first floor bathroom. There, they cleaned her up and dried her. Raya picked her pretty rose printed dress and put it on her.

Raya's stomach grumbled the whole time, and she even heard Lana's join in in a chorus of hunger, but the girls were too focused on their task to give in to it.

After Grandma was buried under the rose bush outside, the girl's silently cleaned the kitchen. Only once they'd both had their second showers for the night, and were settled into the fluffy, flowery living-room couch, did they speak.

"Are you ready for this?" Lana asked, holding up the leather-bound journal.

"Why not? How can it get worse?" Raya asked. She kept seeing that awful, underground room in her mind's eye. It did get worse, she knew, because they still hadn't gotten rid of the unknown bodies down there, nor had they inspected the other parts of the basement...she wasn't even sure if she wanted to now. What kind of sick shit was their grandpa into? How could she know him for so long and not know about this?

"We should eat something," Lana said, trying to stay positive in the situation.

"We should," Raya agreed. She snatched up Grandpa's keys. "Come on. I'll drive, you read."

The garage was exactly how Grandpa left it, minus the Stingray that Lana owned and left in New York. Raya slipped behind the steering wheel of the big blue truck inside while Lana climbed in the passenger seat. If the house had smelled like Grandpa, the truck was like bathing in his scent. It stabbed Lana like a dagger through the heart, but she maintained her composure.

"From the beginning, then," she said, opening the book.

"My Darling Girls,

I had hoped fate would not come to this, but If you've got your pretty manicured fingers on this journal, I presume that I am no longer with you. It takes a lot to kill this old fart, mind you, but for all of my skills, I am still more or less human. Yet, I am a human with shattering secrets. Forgive me, my loves, for not teaching you sooner. I could have saved you this shock, but I wanted nothing more than for you to live a normal life without knowing the terrors of the other world- Well, too late, Gramps, we kinda got smacked in the supernatural noggin with it already."

"Just read, Lana."

"Okay, damn. What I am about to tell you is going to seem impossible and preposterous, you may even question my sanity, however it is the honest truth. First of all, GRANDMA IS ALIVE IN THE BASEMENT. Please take caution when you venture below. Be warned that she does not look like the same Grandma you know and love, but I assure you, she is in there still. Before you continue on your path of enlightenment through my words, feed her and care for her as best you can without releasing her- It skips here and the rest of the page is blank." Lana flipped the page. "Here we go. I'm sure after seeing Grandma, you have many questions. I trust she is well and cared for..." Lana's voice cracked, but she cleared her throat and continued. "It is time to explain myself. As you saw, Grandma isn't entirely human. All of those stories you've heard about creatures of the night, they are true, my darlings. Not exactly in Hollywood, but in legend. The stories of the boogeymen I told you? They are true accounts of myself slaying actual monsters- No fucking shit?"

"Lana," Raya growled as she pulled up to the Impala on the edge of the property.

"Okay! Crap. I am-"

"No, I mean, look what they did to my car!" Raya had just shifted the truck into park and flung open the door.

Bright red painted letters littered the side of her shiny, grey car in words that said things like, "Mutt," and, "Mongrel." Raya and Lana had flown through the windshield, but the other windows had been vandalized as surely as the paint job. The tires were obviously slashed.

"Are we dealing with juvenile delinquents, or are we dealing with some were-cat bitches?" Raya snarled.

"Well, they're gone now. Chased them off myself," someone said.

Raya's attention snapped to the speaker so fast that she nearly gave herself whiplash. It was a man. He looked familiar to Raya, but she couldn't place him. He was tall, dirty blonde hair hung in his eyes, and he wore a grin that was too friendly.

"Who the fuck are you?" the sisters asked.