Confrontation: A devastating battle

After having dinner with Sherry, Fran decided to call you, but there was no signal, and she couldn't find a landline in the mansion. She was worried about you, but there was nothing more she could do.

She went back to the living room, where Sherry was looking through a family photo album on the sofa.

"Can I have a look, too?" Fran asked gently.

Sherry looked at Fran for a short moment, and she just nodded without saying a word. So Fran sat down beside her, and quietly looked through it with her.

The photos dated back to when both Sherry and Shannon were kids. They played with toys together, read books with Leonard together, and went to school in a car which Ben was driving together. The happy childhood shared by the two sisters stood in sharp contrast to the loneliness that was consuming Sherry now.

"Hey, Sherry... Uh..." Fran paused for a moment to search for the right words, and then continued, "Maybe you could ask your boyfriend Bruce to come over and keep you company tonight."

Sherry looked a little surprised after hearing what Fran said, as if it had never occurred to her that it was an option. She put down the album and remained quiet for a moment. Then, rather than simply replying to Fran, she decided to ask the question that had been weighing on her all along.

"Miss Evans, may I ask you a question?" She said.

"Of course." Fran just smiled.

"When we first met at the cafe that day, I noticed how natural and happy you were with Mr. Wilson. You truly love each other, right?" Sherry looked at Fran with sorrow and fear mingled in her gaze. "What would you do if you find out that Mr. Wilson has been doing something wrong? I... I don't mean he actually did... I'm just..." She didn't know what to say anymore.

"It's okay. I understand." Fran was surprised at first, but she quickly collected herself after taking a deep breath, "There are a lot of things I want to say, but first of all, I will ask him why he's doing all those things."

"Ask him?" Sherry looked confused.

"Yeah. When you want to be with someone, it's important to get to know each other. If he tells me the reason, I'll tell him that I'm here with him, and I care for him. I'll do my best to stop him from going further down that path, and bear the consequences of his mistakes with him. What matters is that, whatever the outcome may be, we'll face it together." Fran said calmly.

"And what if he doesn't tell you? What if he doesn't listen?" Sherry looked scared, like she was afraid to hear the answer.

"I'll keep trying to make amends." Fran sighed before she continued, "I'll let him see how much harm his actions caused, and also let him know how things could have turned out better."

"How... could you do so much for him?" Sherry didn't understand.

"Because I love him. Simple as that." Fran said proudly.

Sherry lowered her head and kept thinking about what Fran just said. "I never asked... And he never told me what he was thinking... I thought he wanted us both to be happy..." She murmured helplessly.

Fran was about to ask what Sherry meant, but their conversation was interrupted when she heard a strange sound outside. It was like something had hit heavily on the front door. What could that be?

"I'll go check it out." Fran comforted the girl with a smile before she stood up and went out.

Sherry watched Fran leave with a blank expression. She had a bad feeling about what was going on, so she quietly trailed behind Fran.

Fran arrived at the foyer and she was completely shocked. The front door of the mansion was shattered, and a man, naked, covered in blood, was standing right there. Speak of the devil - it was none other than Sherry's boyfriend.

"Bruce? Why are you..." Fran became speechless after she processed what she was seeing. She was no fool. The sight before her was enough to convince her that this man was not what he looked like.

"Miss Evans, I didn't expect to see you here. I'm here to meet Sherry." Bruce gave her a wicked smile while walking forward, "I'm sure she's home, right?"

"What do you want with her?" Fran cautiously stepped back to keep her distance. She was terrified, but she couldn't just run away, otherwise Sherry would be in danger.

"Bruce? What are you doing here?" Sherry came up behind Fran, and she was surprised to see him like this.

"Sherry, no! He's dangerous!" Fran stopped Sherry from going forward and shielded the girl behind her.

"They're coming to get you, Sherry. I can't let them, because you're mine." Bruce smiled calmly.

Suddenly, his skull stretched forward and his face twisted into a wolf-like shape. His bones snapped, shifted, and reformed, while gray fur pushed out of his skin and covered his whole body. A fluffy tail burst from the base of his spine. When it was all done, he let out a horrific growl, with a hungry light flashing in his now golden eyes.

"You're unlucky to be here, Miss Evans." Bruce said with an evil grin on his wolf face.

"Bruce, there is something I want to ask you." Sherry said quietly. She didn't look scared, but confused why her werewolf boyfriend transformed here and now.

"Oh?" He looked curious.

Sherry clenched her fists, gathering the courage to ask the question. "Shannon... Was that you who kidnapped her?" She stared at her werewolf boyfriend seriously.

"Haha..." Bruce laughed aloud, "I thought with that stupid brain of yours you would never figure it out."

Oh my God... Fran gasped in horror.

"Why..." Sherry looked sad as she kept staring at Bruce.

"You really think I love you? Your mother was the reason my mother was killed. I want vengeance, and you're just a means to an end, Sherry." He laughed with arrogant pride, "Your disgusting father and that evil butler are dead! And I must say, your naive stupidity has been a great help."

"No..." Sherry's eyes widened as she couldn't believe what she heard, and Bruce was about to take this chance to attack her.

"Sherry, run!"

Fran immediately grabbed the girl's hand, turned around, and tried to run away. But it was too late. Before she could even take a single step, Bruce was already behind her, raising his huge claws, ready to attack.

However, that didn't hit her. Fran realized that Sherry had flung her hand aside, seized Bruce's claws, and stopped the attack. Fran was speechless and stood there still, as she was astonished by how strong Sherry was.

"You can't hurt her! I'm not letting you!" Sherry let out a low and sad growl as she stared at Bruce, but there was also a hint of resolve in her tone.

Sherry pushed Bruce away the moment her body began to grow in size and her clothes burst at the seams. Her skull rapidly contorted and reshaped with sickening cracks. Black fur sprouted from beneath her skin while her slender hands twisted into sharp claws, and a massive tail tore out from the base of her spine. In mere seconds, she has become a full-on werewolf. Her eyes turned a brilliant yellow before she threw back her head and let out a deafening roar.

The black werewolf... is Sherry... Fran was frightened and she fell on the ground, staring at the two beasts.

"Don't you think it's too late now? Everyone you love died because of you!" Bruce laughed evilly as he was about to strike again.

It was at this moment that a silver bolt shot through the air and hit his back. Unfortunately, his skin was so thick that the bolt didn't go through. He screamed painfully from the burning wound as he pulled the bolt out, and turned around to look at the door.

"Fran, you're okay! Wait... That's..." You arrived in time. But when you saw the female black werewolf, you almost froze, because it was exactly the same one that attacked you on that fateful night. Why is it here? Who is it? You panicked, and you weren't sure if it was with Bruce.

"James!" Fran yelled from across the foyer, "That's Sherry!"

"What?" You were even more surprised.

"They're here not because they care about you, Sherry, but because they want to use you to make the cure. To them, you're just a monster like me!" Bruce laughed at Sherry.

Valerie dropped her crossbow and her bolt case, and quickly transformed into her lycanthrope form. As a turned werewolf, she couldn't transform into a full-on werewolf when there wasn't a full moon, but still, she could fight better this way. Sherry has also pulled herself together and was ready to fight. The white lycanthrope, the black werewolf, and the gray werewolf clashed in the middle of the foyer, with howls and growls echoing in the mansion.

"Fran! Get out of here!" You shouted anxiously.

Fran nodded as she got up and immediately ran back into the hallway. You watched the chaotic battle unfolding in the middle of the foyer. You knew that you had to set aside your feelings for the black werewolf and focus on Bruce. As long as he lived, there was no future for all of you.

You picked up Valerie's crossbow, reloaded it with a silver bolt, and aimed at Bruce. You tried to give them some support, but Bruce was too fast for you to hit. Valerie was outmatched in strength, and Sherry didn't know how to fight at all. On top of that, they barely coordinated with each other. So even though it was two against one, they still didn't have the upper hand.

Fran went to the kitchen. I have to do something to help them, she thought. She was going to grab a fruit knife, but her eyes fell on the high-proof gin she had used to mix cocktails that night. An idea came to her mind.

Back in the foyer, as Valerie's stamina drained away, the tide of victory gradually turned in Bruce's favor. He seized the one chance to land a deep cut on Valerie's throat before kicking her away, and swiftly turned around to drive his claw into Sherry's chest. Sherry screamed in pain and struggled with all her strength, but she couldn't break free. Bruce then mercilessly bit her neck and tore a huge chunk of meat off her before he threw her across the room. He let out a victorious howl.

You now knew what May meant when she said a pure werewolf was strong. You underestimated your enemy, and now you had to pay the price.

But when you were about to lose hope, Fran came back, with a makeshift Molotov cocktail in her hand.

"Take this!" She threw the burning bottle at the werewolf.

It shouldn't have hit Bruce, because he was so fast that he could have easily dodged it. But Valerie came back right at that moment and grabbed him from behind, holding him still for a brief second and allowing the Molotov cocktail to land on his head, setting both of them on fire.

"Oh God..." Fran gasped in horror when she saw the scene.

With an agonized scream, Bruce tore himself free of Valerie. Even as flames consumed him, he lunged at Fran in a frenzy, with his claws unsheathed. Fran failed to dodge the attack completely. Bruce swiped at her, with his claws leaving three bloody gashes across her shoulder, and the sheer force of the blow sending her flying. Fran was slammed into the wall behind her and she lost consciousness.

"Fran! No!" You cried out aloud, but you knew what had to be done. You put up the crossbow again, and fired the last silver bolt at Bruce.

With his skin and fur burned away by the Molotov cocktail, Bruce's chest now lay bare, and the silver bolt went through this time. His heart began to burn.

"Mother..." After letting out a despairing growl, this gray werewolf shot you an incredulous look, then collapsed and went still while reverting to his human form. A red mist rose from his corpse and disappeared.

"Fran... Oh my God..." You didn't care about anything else more than Fran as you ran towards her. But when you saw the scratch on her arm, you felt heartrending. "No, no, no..." You carefully cleaned the blood while sobbing. Fran has been infected, and just like you, she couldn't be simply cured with monkshood solution.

Nathan arrived at the mansion as soon as possible, but all he saw was Valerie lying on the ground and being burned into a charred mess, Bruce already dead, and you crying beside Fran.

"Valerie! Please, hang in there!" He quickly went to check on Valerie, but she couldn't speak anymore. She pointed to the corner of the foyer before she drew her last breath and passed away. He was overwhelmed with grief in that moment, but he had no time to mourn. Following the direction Valerie pointed, he saw a black werewolf, badly wounded, lying in the corner against the wall.

"Jamesf! Come here!" Nathan yelled at you as he rushed toward Sherry.

"Dr. Jones..." You wiped away your tears, carried Fran with you, and quickly ran over there.

"What the hell is going on here?" Having confirmed that this pure werewolf was no longer a threat to him, Nathan asked you while he was searching for something in his backpack.

"This... is Sherry..." You placed the unconscious Fran by the wall and said.

"What?" Nathan was shocked as he paused for a moment, but there was one thing he had to do.

Sherry was gasping for air. Her heart had been pierced, and a large chunk of flesh had been bitten out of her neck. She was still alive only because she was trying her best to maintain her werewolf form to help regenerate, but she wouldn't last long. The wounds were fatal.

"We don't have much time." Nathan took out a syringe, stabbed it into Sherry's stomach, and began to draw the special pheromone from her werewolf bladder.

Sherry twitched in pain and let out low growls. In her final moments, she turned to you with her eyes full of apology. You noticed that there were drops of tears dripping down from her eyes. A few seconds later, she closed her eyes and stopped breathing. Her body quickly reverted to her human form, and Nathan could extract the pheromone no more.

"At least... there is enough to synthesize one dose of the cure." Nathan smiled faintly when he looked at the pheromone in the syringe.

"Only... one dose?" Your voice was trembling.

Nathan was confused, and he turned around. But when he saw the scratch on Fran's right arm, he immediately understood the cruel reality of the situation:

Only one of you could be cured.

He didn't say a word, simply took the syringes of monkshood solution and pharmaceutical instruments out of his backpack, and began to synthesize the cure.

In the end, you didn't know much. Why did Sherry attack you that night? Who infected Shannon? Why did Sherry want you to investigate Shannon? What did Bruce want? Where was the mayor? With almost everyone involved dead, most of the mysteries were left unsolved. You had a rough idea, but it didn't matter anymore.

"Here. It should work." Nathan handed you a syringe of the cure, made of five-times concentrated monkshood solution and werewolf hormones.

"Thank you, Dr. Jones." You gratefully accepted it.

"I'm sorry. I have to..." He left you alone with Fran and went to kneel at Valerie's side. There and now, he could finally weep.

You came to Fran's side and gently stroked her fringe before you held her up. You checked her forehead and noticed that she was already having a fever.

You took a deep breath and injected her with the cure. Fran began to tremble all over, with cold sweat breaking out on her forehead, but she soon calmed. Her breathing became steady, and her fever gradually subsided. The cure worked. She was alright now. You looked at the sleeping beauty before you and smiled with relief.

But your smile quickly faded, for the question you could no longer avoid now demanded an answer.