Dear Diary

Dear Diary. Those are the words on my cover.

I am in the hands of a young woman named Shannon Kemp, though I am not hers. I didn't end up in Shannon's hands accidentally. I was taken. Well, I don't want to say taken; it makes it sound like I was kidnapped. Kidnapping has sinister undertones. There was nothing sinister about Shannon's acquisition.

I kinda sound like a cop, right? Well, there's a bit of a reason for that. I actually belong to a cop. Not just any cop, the department's captain, Annie Kopeland. She's very familiar to the entire town, but she is especially familiar to Shannon, as Annie is her stepmother, the second wife of Shannon's father, Adrian Kemp. Shannon lost her mother, Brenda Doughty, when Shannon was 12 years of age, and it was two years later that Adrian and Annie became husband and wife. Shannon originally was happy that her father found someone, and she had another mother figure, but once they said "I do" to each other, that changed.

Annie suddenly became dictatorial and nasty to Shannon; often making threats to send Shannon to boarding school if she didn't follow her rules, even going as far as using her badge in an attempt to control her. There were also the late nights out, usually two or three nights per month. Adrian didn't know if Annie was seeing someone else or not, but he did notice that Annie's demeanor towards Shannon become more and more hostile, almost to the point of jealousy. After 10 years of marriage, a divorce was inevitable, but both Adrian and Shannon figured that Annie would use her power to make herself look like a saint.

So where do I come in? Shannon found me two days ago while she was searching the house, mainly for anything that could be used to help her father. She actually opened me up; after all, she figured that her soon-to-be ex-stepmother had some secrets. Annie definitely did have some secrets, but Shannon wasn't expecting what she found on my pages.

"I feel so strange. Could this have been from that attack last night? I don't know what's happening to me, or what that was that attacked me. It couldn't have been a dog; it was too large. The timing of this sucks! I just met this great guy: Adrian."

I remember that entry. 13 years, yet it seemed like yesterday. Shannon turned a few pages ahead to an entry dated a few months later.

"It's been three months since it happened. I'm still reliving the first time. Luckily no one saw me. I'm still amazed. I had claws! Sharp teeth! I felt the full moon calling for me, and I proudly answered!"

"What?!" exclaimed Shannon. "Annie's...a werewolf?!" If I could, I'd scream a resounding "Yes!" at Shannon, but I simply allowed her to read more of that same page.

"It's done. Brenda is no longer a problem. I loved tearing her apart. I'm only sorry that brat of hers wasn't there, but once I marry Adrian, I'll get rid of her in my own way."

Somehow, I could feel Shannon's pain. Her stepmother was not only a vicious werewolf, but she killed Brenda and had been making Shannon's life hell just for resembling her. Shannon took the diary to her place for safekeeping.

As for Annie...

"Where's your daughter?!"

"What do you want with Shannon?" asked Adrian.

"She took something of mine!" snarled Annie.

"What do you think she took?" asked Adrian.

"It's personal!" shouted Annie.

"Look, if you won't tell me, then I can't help you," said Adrian. "You don't even know that Shannon even took it, whatever it is."

"Of course you take her side," Annie muttered under her breath before she left the house in an angry huff. Afterwards, Adrian heard his cell phone ringing and quickly answered upon seeing who it was.

"Shannon?" asked Adrian. "Where are you?"

"I can't really explain, Dad," answered Shannon, who was holding me in her arms. "You have to see it to believe me. I left something for you. Bring it to me; we'll both need it." Shannon gave her location to her father, and gave him the directions, but unbeknownst to both of them, Annie had been watching Shannon on her phone, which was connected to a security camera. She knew this place and so did I: it was her private cabin, where Annie frequents during full moons.

I knew Annie wasn't one to waste time. I knew she'd be at the cabin in a rush, and with the full moon close to being on the horizon. I could only hope that Adrian would make it on time as well, as right on cue, Annie made her way inside.

"Shannon?" Annie asked in a coy manner. "Where are you? Don't make this difficult for yourself, I know you're here." The cabin was a large one with various rooms, with Shannon hiding in one such room that had photos of herself and her parents, which showed that Annie had an insane obsession with Adrian.

"I knew I should have eliminated you when I had the chance," Annie snarled, as the full moon rose. "After all, I didn't hesitate when I tore your mother to shreds." Shannon heard Annie's maniacal laughter following her statement, which made her seethe with fury. I could definitely feel her pain as well, but what I also felt was a sense of dread, as it was at that moment that Annie's transformation began. She gave a sadistic, yellow-eyed gleam as her claws emerged, and it was followed by her clothes becoming torn and tattered by her enlarged, fur covered body,

"You can't hide from me, Shannon!" Annie snarled with fang-filled glee after completing her transformation and using her heightened senses to track her stepdaughter to the very room she was hiding in, where she saw Shannon clutching me in her arms.

"Give me that now!" shouted Annie, who lunged at Shannon, only for Shannon to duck and escape to the living room, though Annie was still close behind her. Shannon found herself tackled by her evil stepmother, who later clutched Shannon's throat and pinned her to the wall.

"You...killed my mom," uttered Shannon.

"And I enjoyed every second of it!" Annie exclaimed as she was set on raising her claws to finish off Shannon. However, the sinister she-wolf heard the sound of a gun cocking, which shocked Annie, as there was no way her department knew about this location.

"Adrian?"

As Annie deduced, Adrian had appeared with the gun, with Shannon happy to see her father, as well as the fact that she had the gun, as she left it for him to use. Adrian also saw me laying on the floor and read my pages; every word was shocking to him. His emotions ranged from shock to sadness, and now...anger.

"You...you're a total monster in more ways than one!" Adrian shouted as he raised his gun. "Take your hands off my daughter!"

"Adrian, I did this for us!" shouted Annie. "I wanted you, I loved you, and I knew you loved me too! I took care of one obstacle! Now, all I have to do is get rid of the obstacle's little brat!" Before Annie could use her claws to shred Shannon's throat, Adrian fired his shot as his deranged she-wolf wife, dropping Annie to the floor and releasing her hold on Shannon. Annie gasped for breath as she slowly reverted to her human form, and also reached out for Adrian, who ignored Annie's attempt and watched as she took her last breath. Adrian hugged Shannon, who thanked him for saving her, only for Adrian to state that Shannon had saved him.

As for me, well, I'm not just a diary anymore. To Adrian and Shannon, I'm a lifesaver, though I wouldn't go that far. It still amazes me. I once served as nothing more than a keeper of an evil stepmother's horrifying secrets. Since then, I've ended up exposing those secrets, and while a town was rocked, a father and daughter are closer than they already are. They've given me a lot of credit, but again, they did it all together. I was just a small part in this saga.