by Jeff Hale
“Not a clue. But we passed a little store with a payphone on the way here, it might still have its phone book attached, we can always check the business section.”
We got lucky. The phone booth still retained a poor, battered copy of the local phone directory and after a few minutes searching, Darien had the address of the one and only Outback Steakhouse the area boasted.
We found the place with only minor problems, and an hour or so later I was back in the car, patting my full tummy and licking the last of the savory meat juices off my lips. I glanced at the napkin in my hand, with a hastily scrawled phone number on it, and gave a depressed sigh. Her name was Brenda, and if I wanted someone to hang out with for the evening, well, she was off work at seven.
“You know, I am perfectly fine being bored in the car on my own. It doesn’t really take two of us to keep an eye on Kat.” There was amusement in Darien’s voice and he plucked the napkin out of my hand to stare at the number.
“I don’t know. She’s pretty and all, but…”
“But, what?”
I sighed. “She’s human.”
“So?”
I shrugged. “Human women are so… fragile.”
“So be careful. There are way more human women out there than non-human, Alex. It’s never seemed to bother you before.”
I felt like I had been put on the spot, and I wasn’t about to tell Darien that other women had started to pale in comparison to the one whose house we were watching. Besides, I needed to get used to the idea of wanting Katelyn and not having her, of going on with the other parts of my life like they were the same. I sure as hell wasn’t going to go without sex for however long it took to not want her instead.
So instead of doing what I really wanted to do, sit and watch the house with Darien, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed the number that was on the napkin. It was quarter after seven, so there was a chance she was still at work, but after a few rings, she answered somewhat warily, not recognizing the number I was calling from.
I told her my name, which she immediately remembered, and her voice perked up. She asked if there was anywhere we could meet since she had roommates, and I gave her the motel address and our room number. She agreed to meet me there, which was naïve of her really since she didn’t know me, but luckily for her my only bad intentions were to get her undressed and horizontal.
Now that I had thought about things a bit, a one night stand had begun to sound very appealing. She said she’d stop and pick up a movie for us to watch and what kind of movies did I like? I told her to get something new that she had heard good things about. I doubted we’d be watching much of it anyway.
Darien just chuckled as he listened to my end of the conversation, already in transit to the motel, which was actually closer to Katelyn’s new house than the old one, only a few blocks away.
The next day, when Katelyn went back to school, left Darien frustrated. He could no longer keep an eye on her for long lengths of time, and wasn’t about to risk hanging around the nearby high school and causing problems.
He had left the motel room early and come back not much later seeming somewhat dejected, telling me that trying to follow her on foot to the school had been an exercise in and of itself since she had ‘felt’ him near at least twice and almost seen him. He resigned himself to only being able to keep an eye on her in the evenings and headed out that night with a look of relief.
I awoke later to the sound of my cell phone vibrating on the night stand. I was lying on my back and Brenda’s blonde head was snuggled on my bare chest, her right arm flung across my belly. I smiled and sighed. The last two evenings had been diverting at the very least.
I reached for the phone and grabbed it just as it began to ring, hitting the answer button and muttering a somewhat surly hello at being disturbed.
“A man showed up just a little bit ago and barged his way in, I think it’s Kat’s step-dad.” Darien’s voice was harsh and tinged with a little worry. “I think… sec… aw, fuck! Get your ass over here!” He must have dropped the phone, because I heard the car door open and was left with myriad other noises.
I rolled out of the bed, grabbing up my jeans and shirt and dragging them on one handed, knowing I full well couldn’t dash out into the night in the buff. Brenda stirred, woken by my quick movements, and sat up, watching me hop around the room as I unsuccessfully failed to locate my boots.
“What’s wrong, Alex?” she asked, her voice slurred with sleep.
I gave up on finding my shoes and headed for the door barefoot. “Emergency, can’t explain, gotta go!”
I was out the door, the asphalt of the parking lot rough under my feet as I ran full out in the direction of Katelyn’s house. Adrenalin kicked in and I felt the air move faster past me, my feet pushing off in bounds as I moved quicker than humanly possible. Then again, I wasn’t human.
EIGHT
Katelyn
I was tired, and marginally bored. It had been a long day at school for me. I felt oddly out of joint there now and found it hard to pay attention when all I wanted to do was… I wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t sitting in a class room.
It was better at home, despite the fact that I was still not finished unpacking. The new house was tiny in comparison to my step-dad’s place—his house had never felt like my house—but it was mine and Mom’s and felt more like home than anything had for quite a while. It only had two bedrooms and one bathroom, but it did have a large living room and kitchen and a separate dining room, as well as a nice backyard with a porch.
Kris was sitting at my desk sorting through pictures while I lounged across the foot of my bed, my cat, Angel, perched comfortably on my butt, and absently flipped through television channels with the remote.
I stopped as something caught my eye and I realized they were reshowing the footage that had been taken of the ghostly Titanic sailing into port. Things of the weird and unexplainable nature had been happening a lot lately across the world, werewolves totally aside, and there had been a huge upsurge in street corner religious nuts preaching that the end of the world was near. The footage of the ghost ship was followed by new stuff that I hadn’t seen yet, that of a clear photo of a large aquatic creature with a distinctly long neck sunning itself on the shores of Loch Ness. I brought Kris’s attention to the news report.
“Oh jeezus, something else? Not that I’m all that surprised, at least not like I would have been a couple of weeks ago. But hey, I mean, we know that werecreatures and vampires exist now, so why not all these other fairy tale legend things?”
She had a point, and one I agreed with so I just nodded and stared at the television, beginning to channel surf once again after the news report was over.
“Hey, what do you want to do with this?”
I looked Kris’s way and she was holding a photo out to me. It was the picture of Aerick and me from the Prom. They had been photographing couples on the way inside and printing them out on the spot. I was wearing the dress that Nina had taken me shopping to pick out: black glittery satin, floor length, with a deep neckline and slits up the sides. Aerick had gotten a black tux with a silver cummerbund and had given me a corsage that was a blue and teal rose. He was smiling down at me in the picture.
I might have told Kris to pack it away if I hadn’t opened an email after I got home from school today that was from Aerick. It contained a picture of roses followed by the words ‘I’m sorry’ in big letters. Now I was royally confused and not quite sure what to do since I had met Darien.
“There’s some thumb tacks on the desk there somewhere, stick it to the wall,” I told Kris, sighing. I still liked Aerick… a lot. I was also confused how I had gone from having no prospects for boyfriends to suddenly having two.
“He sure is drool worthy. I can see why you’d forgive him.”
I nodded and was just about to suggest we search for a movie to watch when there was a loud knock at the front door. I looked at Kris, who shrugged her shoulders at me, wondering
who could be at the door this late. The question was answered a few seconds later when my mother answered the door and I heard my step-dad’s voice. It was muffled, but I knew his angry tones. I shot off the bed, much to the cat’s irritation, and to the door of my room, opening the door and edging out into the small hallway that led to the living room. I motioned for Kris to follow.
“—not coming in, Gary. I have nothing to discuss with you! You’re drunk, now go away!” My mother’s voice was clipped.
I peeked around the wall. The door was open about a foot. I couldn’t see my step-dad because my mom was in the way. Her left hand was white as it gripped the edge of the door.
“You are my wife, goddammit, which means this house is mine too and I will come into my own house if I fucking well please!” Gary’s voice was loud and angry, but not slurred; I would have preferred it if it was slurred. “Came home early when I couldn’t get a hold of you”—Mom had been ignoring his calls—“and your folks said you’d already headed home. Get home and all yer shit is gone. No note, nothin'. Just gone. Didn’t take too much to find ya though. Shoulda known I couldn’t trust a woman. You don’t keep me away from what’s mine!”
He wedged a shoulder through the door and shoved, knocking my mom off balance so that she fell back into some boxes that still hadn’t been unpacked and were against the wall not far from the door. I heard glass break in one of them as her weight hit it.
Gary finished entering the house and slammed the door behind him. He leaned over my mom and laughed at her as she started to get to her feet, then grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her up. I gasped and ran into the living room.
“Stupid bitch!” Gary screamed at my mother, and a cold chill ran down my spine. “Nobody takes what’s mine!”
He grabbed her arm and pushed her across the room, sending her into a chair and onto the coffee table with enough force that it broke underneath her. I could hear Kris yelling from somewhere in the room, but my attention had focused on Gary and a rage I had never felt before sprang up inside me as I launched myself at him.
“Leave her alone, you fucking prick!” I yelled, leaping onto his back, digging my nails into his shoulders. I had to fight the urge to try to bite him.
He stumbled, off balance, before twisting around to grab me and dump me to the floor. I landed on my back, my head barely missing the edge of the chair.
“Well if it isn’t my little sweetheart!” He put a foot in the middle of my stomach and leaned. I gasped for breath. “You see what your mother was trying to do? Take my things? My furniture, my money, my whores!”
He reached down and put both hands around my neck, choking me until I began to wheeze, before bringing his face close to mine and pressing his lips to mine. I expected to smell alcohol, but I didn’t. Gary wasn’t drunk, he was angry. I’d never seen him this angry, ever. I felt his tongue jabbing at my lips and did my best to keep them closed.
“Get off her!”
He let go of me as my mother shoved at him. I fell back to the floor and rolled to my stomach, gagging. I saw Kris coming into the room, phone in one hand, a hammer in the other. I heard skin connect with skin above me and a muffled scream from my mother before she hit the floor beside me.
“Now, what do you think you’re doing, Krista?” Gary’s voice had a slightly insane sound to it, and I saw Kris back away. I had taken advantage of Kris’s distraction to scoot away from Gary myself.
She suddenly stopped, her eyes going wide, and there was loud crash as something came through the living room window. That something was growling and snarling as it impacted with Gary, sending him over my mom and onto me, and sliding us into the far wall, Kris skittering to the side.
Gary seemed slightly dazed, then focused his anger back on me, his hands going back to my throat. I gasped for air again, my eyes going wide as I saw a huge, dark, wolf-like creature over Gary’s shoulder, fangs bared. It threw itself onto Gary’s back, snapping and yelping. His hands relaxed their grip on my throat and he began to scream when it sank its teeth into his neck, whipping its head back and forth violently. Arterial blood sprayed, drenching my face, and I pushed myself to the side, pulling myself along the floor to my mother as the werewolf took Gary down.
Blood dripped into my mouth, filled my nostrils with its scent. I tasted the coppery tang and something stirred deep within me, something that wanted to claw its way to the surface. Unthinking, I began to crawl toward Gary on hands and knees, drawn by the scene before me. I licked my lips, running my tongue all the way around the outside of my mouth before pulling it back in to savor the taste.
Blood, human blood.
I suddenly felt very ill, nausea rising in my throat, and that wild thing inside me was shoved back down to its hiding place. I began to shake uncontrollably and to cry. The creature raised its bloody muzzle from the remains of my stepfather and stared at me out of familiar eyes. My mother began screaming hysterically next to me, the pitch rising as the werewolf padded towards us, leaving bloody paw-like prints on the floor.
“Aw, fucking hell!” That was Alex’s voice, from the door, and I shuddered in relief. “Fucking bloody fucking hell!”
I watched the werewolf come closer, saw the seamless blend between human and wolf: the shortened muzzle, hands with long sharp claws, short dark hair covering his entire body, ears slightly pointy. It was that thing you see in horror movies, only there was a surreal beauty to it, and it looked at me with Darien’s eyes, and reached for me with a blood covered hand that could only have been Darien’s hand.
I screeched, pushing myself up and scooting across the floor until I hit something solid that turned out to be Alex’s legs. I knew this only because I turned and buried my face against his knees and I could smell him through the denim. I could still smell the blood as well, that sweet metallic trace to the air—and it smelled good.
The realization made the nausea rise again. I heard the confused whine behind me from Darien as he realized I had withdrawn from him. I had no clue where Kris was although I could hear her crying from somewhere. The wail of sirens getting closer sent alarm through me.
“I can’t, Alex, I can’t! Oh, God, I know it sounds bad, but I can’t deal with him like that, not right now! Not in that, that… form.”
I felt Alex’s arms go around me and a growl from Darien. My mother gasped and moved behind Alex and I felt a hand in my hair, as though trying to soothe me. A claw scraped my scalp and I shuddered. I reached back tentatively, felt the hand move from my hair to brush my palm, and I yanked my hand back.
“I’m sorry, Darien, I’m so sorry.” I whispered it, but I knew he could hear me. Lights flashed, red and blue, from the street outside. “You need to get him out of here, Alex, now!”
Alex moved, telling Darien they had to leave. Darien made protesting noises, and I heard a single guttural word behind me, my name, before they disappeared out the back door.
____________________
I couldn’t seem to convince the police that the blood wasn’t mine, that we were okay. Not that they would think we were all okay anyhow. Mom was babbling to one of the officers about wolves and demons, although fortunately for her, the set of paw-like prints left in the blood seemed to back up her statement. With all the strange things happening around the world lately, they police weren’t quite as ready to dump her in a loony bin as they might have been this time last year.
They shipped us off in an ambulance, just to be on the safe side. Kris called her mom to let her know that she was all right and what had happened while she rode in the ambulance with us. The police had thought she was my sister so hadn’t argued when she had hopped in next to us.
They told us that they would be putting out a search for vicious dogs in the area. Between the bloody prints and the state of Gary’s body, the authorities were sure that none of those in the house had had anything do with Gary’s death, although they were not totally convinced that we hadn’t owned some huge guard dog that had taken offense to its
mistress being manhandled by her husband.
My mother stuck to her story that we had no such dog, and that some wild monster had broken through the living room window and we were lucky we weren’t all dead. I knew that one day I would have to have a little chat with my mother, let her know that shifters existed and that some of them were perfectly fine. Especially since it was Darien that had killed Gary.
I couldn’t get the visions out of my head, those ones of Darien in a killing rage, in that frightening half-beast form, blood that wasn’t his own covering him. My own reaction to the blood bothered me more though, as well as my own desire to do violence to my step-dad. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be a shifter if I was going to be fighting that kind of blood lust all the time.
I spent an uneasy night in the hospital, my dreams filled with vague images of bloodshed and brutality. Kris spent the night in my room, once again keeping a watchful eye on me as I slept. They wanted to keep both my mom and me for observation. Other than a few bruises and scrapes, we were both fine. Once the doctors had ascertained that neither of us had any bite marks on us, they took their nasty little needles with rabies vaccinations and put them away. Kris and I were the only ones that knew that that wolf would never have laid a paw on me to injure me, let alone a tooth.
The nurse had just gone to get discharge papers for me the next morning when there was a soft knock on the door, followed by a familiar head poking its way in. Alex gave me a questioning look and I nodded at him to let him know it was all right to come in. He smiled at Kris, then came over and sat on the foot of the bed. He pinched my toes through the thin blanket.
“How is he?” Despite my reaction to Darien the previous night, I knew that the only reason he had done what he had was because of me, and I knew that my pulling away from him had probably hurt him.
Alex shrugged. “He’s depressed, thinks he’s alienated you entirely. I’m not sure he remembers what it was like the first time he saw someone in Aspect form. Hell, maybe he never had a bad reaction to it, he was born a shifter and raised knowing what he was and with other shifters.” He looked up, his eyes meeting mine. “But I remember what it was like. Takes some getting used to.”
