It was a stressful job caring for Adam. He’d grown from the sweet and caring little boy she’d gotten to know and love to a monster who fought everyone over everything. But she loved him, he was her little brother after all and she wasn’t going to turn her back on family. Abigail Rietherman might not have had much growing up in life, before she moved in with her busy mother and step-father who barely remembered birthdays and holidays, but family was still as important to her as it had been in her childhood. Adam and Abigail had been complete strangers for six years of his life, meeting at the respective ages of six and ten; they hit it off almost instantly. 

Something had changed in Adam over the years, in particular right after a nasty dispute with an elderly client named Eleanor at her step-father’s company did Adam change. 

He’d become animalistic, going as far as tearing apart his room and biting the housekeepers. Many had left but three remained loyal for their paychecks.

Abigail discarded her glasses on the coffee table before flopping back first into a plush burgundy colored arm chair in the corner of the living room. She rubbed her temples in slow circles as she thought of what she would do for Adam. It was getting to the point that she was considering leaving once he turned eighteen and was able to care for himself. Their mom and Stephen weren’t home enough to care for their son and the staff had left so quickly. There was hope though; Maurice’s daughter was coming to work for them. She was Adam’s age and just maybe he needed someone his age to break through his hard shell. After a little while Abigail left the mansion to go to the store to buy a new living room vase since her brother had smashed the old one a few hours prior.

--

Adam was in a sour mood like he always was. There was a gnawing anger inside of him, as if he were turning into an animal. He had destroyed his room once more; the pictures were torn from the walls and a few new holes were added in their place. His bed had been ripped apart and the pillow stuffing decorated the floor like freshly fallen snow. He was unable to control his anger and little things agitated him but he was increasingly worried that he would become worse. 

Adam didn’t want to hurt those he held dear to him. He feared injuring his sister or the staff and frequently had nightmares about it. Tonight’s rampage had to do with his sister Abigail. His hand ached from hitting the wall, his knuckles were bruised and thankfully the skin wasn’t broken open. The small weight set which consisted of dumbbells ranging from 5 to 35 pounds was still in the corner of his room, partially buried under shredded ben sheets. Not only was Adam acting more and more like a caged animal but he was beginning to grow thicker hair on his arms, legs and chest. Well that wasn’t normal was it? God he was a seventeen year old boy who still didn’t know much about this whole “you went through puberty thing but your body shouldn’t still changing besides a few things” idea that was fed into his mind by school teachers.

He had noticed that the tips of his ears were getting pointy, much like a cat or dog’s ears. Adam kept his hair long enough to hide the slightly pointed tips and he sure as hell wasn’t going to ask his sister if it was normal. As it grew dark outside he was beginning to calm down slightly. Adam could hear fumbling around and knew it must have been the replacement worker that his sister had told him about. Oddly enough his outburst had been about the new worker.