Hitching a ride through Lanier Parish, Eric naps in the passenger seat until the truck rolls up to a roadblock. Deputy LaCroix orders him out of the vehicle, handcuffs him, and—rather than taking him to jail—delivers him straight to the residence of “Big Daddy” Will Fraser.

Big Daddy explains that he has heard about Eric’s travels and the curse he carries. He wants Eric to help him in the only way he believes is left: to make him a werewolf, a transformation he hopes will cure the cancer that is killing him. Eric refuses, warning that becoming a werewolf will only destroy him, not save him. But Big Daddy expected resistance… and has already prepared for it.

At dinner, Emily—Big Daddy’s servant—sets the elegant table while Deputy LaCroix stands watch. Big Daddy belittles her repeatedly, snapping orders and dripping contempt. Eric finally mouths off in her defense, which earns him a pistol to the face. The time has come.

Eric is taken to a reinforced room equipped for one purpose: to extract his blood while the wolf takes control. They inject him with a chemical solution that triggers his transformation instantly, then hurry out and lock the door, waiting for the creature inside to burn itself out and return to human form.

Emily prepares the blood. While they wait for Eric to recover, he pleads with her to escape with him. But she cannot. She is bound not by locks or chains, but by loyalty. Big Daddy raised her from childhood, and though he mistreats her, he is the only family she has ever known.

Once Eric’s blood is ready, Emily injects it into Big Daddy. They watch the clock, waiting for midnight.

And when the hour strikes, a shocking transformation unfolds—one none of them were prepared for.