Free Wolf Asylum by Mark Fuson Page A

die?”
    â€œI think so,” Darwin replied keeping the truth to himself. “So, do you want to become a werewolf?”
    â€œLike this? I’m a fucking freak, just kill me,” Teddy said in frustration.
    â€œMaybe I’m not going to give you a say in the matter. I think you could serve a purpose in our community. You could represent the evils of humanity. The disabilities embodied within you would be a constant reminder to our people how cruel humans can be. Only through the gift can those errors be corrected. You could live a normal life with prosthetics, I think it could work.”
    Teddy pleaded, “Darwin, please, just end me. I don’t want to go on living with what I am.”
    â€œWhat you
were
. I don’t think you are the same person you were six months ago.” Darwin looked into Teddy’s watered eyes.
    Teddy was begging now. “If you care at all for me, like I think you do, please just end me.”
    Darwin sat on his stool looking at Teddy’s plea for what it was. Teddy had given himself over to death, freely and with no resistance. Darwin decided he would not drag out the conversation further; the decision was a simple one.
    From the end of the room, Darwin stretched a wire cable from a winch and pulled it towards the gurney, hooking the line to grommets on the thick leather strap that secured the lone arm. With the cord affixed, Darwin unhooked the strap from the table, allowing the arm to freely move around. He then turned his attention to the chest strap which was secured but not tight enough. Darwin wrenched on the strap constricting Teddy’s chest, but he still said nothing.
    Casually Darwin returned to the winch motor and turned it on. The small machine began to hum and the reel began to roll up the slack. Teddy closed his eyes in anticipation of what was to happen with no protest. He merely mouthed the words: “Thank you”.
    The wire became taut and soon the slack in the arm began to dissipate. As the limb became rigid, Teddy’s hand and wrist started to involuntarily point towards the wall. The cartilage and joints popped and contorted but the wire kept pulling. The shoulder and rotator cuff offered the winch some resistance but in quick succession the arm dislocated from its housing. Teddy yelled and cursed in pain but he smiled, as his dues were paid.
    The wire momentarily stopped and the motor struggled. The arm was now erect and the only thing left holding it to Teddy’s body was the failing epidermis. The skin, muscle, veins, bones and joints all collapsed under the relentless pull of the cable. Skin at the shoulder tore away, shredding muscle through the biceps and triceps. Teddy prepared himself for the onslaught of pain he knew was coming. Shock was assured and surprisingly Darwin had opted to forgo the adrenaline shot.
A minor gift
, Teddy thought.
    The flesh of the upper arm peeled and fell apart like a few pounds of ground round but the limb released itself from the body, flopping onto the floor and sliding towards the winch. Darwin walked over and turned off the machine just as the arm was beginning to ascend towards the reel. In the silence of the room, Darwin was greeted with the sounds of Teddy Holmes struggling to deal with his agony in a proud and honorable way. The young man winced and choked, but he had ceased his yelling. The pain he knew—the torture he welcomed—and it was death he still anticipated.
    Darwin looked at the limbless Teddy and felt pity for him. Blood spurted from the latest catastrophic wound but Darwin made no effort to cauterize it. Instead of medical treatment, Darwin went to a drawer and found himself a 24 gauge one inch, 2cc syringe. He removed the sterile packaging and slapped his own forearm, finding a series of veins rise to the surface. With only an educated guess of how to correctly draw blood, Darwin jabbed himself with the needle in the area of the largest vein. When he pulled