by M. D. Bowden
The world is not what I thought it was.
NIGHT
Alfie is gone for longer this time. Alfie. My new friend who is a werewolf.
I finish my can and put it down, but I’m still shaking. I rummage around in the tent for some snacks and then, with a big bag of tortilla chips, another drink, and a couple more blankets, I snuggle up closer to the fire and tuck in. The crunching as I eat sounds loud against the quietness of the night. When I’ve eaten enough I feel a bit more grounded and more like myself, although in a very surreal situation. Being outside in the dark makes it feel like it’s the middle of the night, whereas in reality it’s only about six o’ clock – but that’s English winters for you.
I wonder what Alfie is doing in the woods. Hunting maybe? I wonder if he thinks like a human when he’s a wolf.… I’m going to have so many questions to ask when he changes back.
I can hear soft padding paws approaching behind me, and turn to see Alfie-wolf panting towards me. My heart races; even though I do trust him, and he looks friendly – he is enormous. I guess I should have expected him to be a big wolf – but seeing as I didn’t really believe he would change I just didn’t think much about it. And with everything else that’s been going on….
Alfie comes right up to me and this time I don’t flinch. He sits down next to my blanket and I reach out towards him slowly, with his amber eyes watching my hand. He nods his head a little, which I take to mean I should go ahead, so I sink my hands into his fur and then I hug him, wrapping my arms around his warm and gigantic doggy body. He nuzzles my head with his nose. I hold onto him for a while longer and then I let him go and offer him the half eaten bag of tortilla chips, but he shakes his head.
“Guess you’d prefer something meatier. Want something else?” I ask.
He shakes his head again, then gets up. With me down on the ground like this he towers above me. He pads away a bit and then meets my eyes again, and this time his eyes look mischievous, like he’s challenging me to watch him, and then he starts to run in circles around the camp. He is so fast! A blur. I laugh out loud – it’s bloody amazing. And then he runs off out of sight again.
The night passes much like this, Alfie coming and going, me munching on more snacks, and eventually the adrenaline wears off and I get the sleeping bag. I bring it back with me to the fire to keep extra warm and I do drift in and out of sleep a bit, aware of Alfie coming and checking on me, finding the sound of him around me reassuring and thrilling all at once.
I wake to the sound of the tent zip going, not far away, and open my eyes in fright and my body jerks, but it’s still pitch black apart from the fire which is burning low now.
“Shhh, just me Ava.” Alfie’s voice, from a few feet away. Alfie human, not Alfie werewolf. “Just getting some clothes on, you can go back to sleep.”
“I don’t think there’s much chance of that,” I say, and yawn.
Alfie chuckles. “What did you think?”
“A-maz-ing,” I say.
“I told you so,” he says, teasing.
“You did, but … no way could I have really believed it. But I do now – even though I can’t grasp the how of it. I want to ask you a hundred questions.”
“I bet you do,” he says, gently placing more logs on the fire and then coming to my side and lying down next to me.
I rest my head on my hand, propped up while lying on my side, and study him in the fire light. “You look just the same. Like it never happened.”
He shrugs, smiling. “I am the same.”
“How?” I say, my voice filled with awe.
He chuckles softly. “I’ve no idea ‘how’ – it’s a mystery – but it’s a mystery that is very real for me.”
“When you changed what did it feel like? Did it hurt?”
“Nope, it feels like this huge rush – a massive surge of adrenaline – my heart races like mad and I can feel myself changing shape – but it’s almost like a big stretch, and as I stretch the changes just happen.”
“That really is amazing.”
“I know!”
“How many of you are there?”
“In my pack there’s twenty-two of us, which I think is about normal – varies though.”
I gulp. “Wow, twenty-two werewolves. Must be quite something when you all change.”
“It sure is – that’s why we don’t live in the city.”
“I get that now. How common are werewolves?”
He shrugs. “No idea really, but we come across another pack occasionally on a full moon – but when that happens we avoid each other, and then when we’re human again we can’t tell who else is a wolf anyway, not unless we know the truth.”
“Do you have super-strength?”
“Sure I do! I’m strongest as a werewolf though.”
This gets me thinking about the vampire that attacked me, and Trish…. A wave of sadness passes over me.
“I guess this means vampires are real too.”
His face becomes serious. “Yes; that they are.”
I shake my head. It’s too horrible. “So there really are vampires living in Exeter?”
He nods.
“Do you know how many?”
“No, but we have an idea – we think about eight – and we have a good idea of where they’re sleeping in the day, but we’re not one hundred percent sure yet.”
“So you have the numbers – you have a good chance against them, don’t you?”
“We do – we will get them in the end.”
“I hope so.”
“We will.”
“How does your strength compare to a vampire’s? You fought off the guy that attacked me.”
“It varies. Different werewolves have different strengths. Same goes for vampires. Think it helped that I caught that bloodsucker unawares while he was feeding on you; gave me an advantage. Vampires get stronger the older they are. I’m a match for a normal vampire, say if it was turned within the last hundred years. Not the older ones though. But we have the numbers – even if there’s an old vamp down there we can still take it out.”
“Down there?”
“Tunnels under the city. That’s where we suspect the whole coven of bloodsuckers are hiding out in the day.” Alfie squeezes his eyes shut and does an enormous yawn. “You may be psyched but I’m knackered, think your questions will have to wait,” he says, and yawns again.
“Sorry! Sleep.”
I give him a couple of covers from my blanket bundle, he closes his eyes, and just like that, his breathing becomes slow and rhythmic and he’s lost to the world. His face looks even younger relaxed and sleeping. I can’t believe he was running around as a wolf, and now he’s here, next to me. My mind is reeling. But slowly I calm again and this time I fall into a deep sleep at Alfie’s side.
I wake up again hours later feeling gentle drizzle on my face. I open my eyes to a very grey late morning and look over at Alfie; he is fast asleep on his back with his mouth open – not his most attractive look, but there’s something endearing about it nevertheless. I make the most of the fact he’s still sleeping to clear my eyes of sleep dust and run my fingers through my hair to try and make myself not look like a complete state – hard without a mirror to aid me. I sneak off into the bushes to do my business and when I return Alfie is sitting up with his hair sticking up all over the place.
“Morning,” I say.
He grunts.
I open the tent and get out a big two litre bottle of water and have a drink, then toss it to Alfie. He accepts with a nod then drinks half the bottle down in just a few gulps.
“I’m famished,” he says. “Any food left?”
“Hey, not a complete pig here, there’s loads left! What would you like?”
“Biscuits.”
I chuck him a pack and he devours them while I nibble on some more tortilla chips. I watch as he gets up and stretches.
“Back in a moment,” he mumbles, and shuffles off out of sight to pee. When he comes
back he eats lots more food before I get the chance to ask more questions.
“Tell me more about werewolves and vampires,” I say.
“What do you want to know?”
“Everything.”
“Hmmm, not sure what to say really that you don’t know.”
“What’s it like when you’re a wolf?”
“It’s awesome, I have so much energy – I just run around like crazy.”
“Do you hunt?”
“Yep, sure.”
“Do you remember being a wolf after?”
“Yep again.”
“So what did you hunt last night?”
“I caught a couple of foxes.”
“And you ate them?” I say, kind of cringing.
“I did! It’s not the same when you’re a wolf – seems completely natural.”
“Really?”
“Sure does.”
“What about vampires – do they really live forever?”
“Well, they would do if we didn’t kill them.”
“Have you killed any?”
“I’ve killed five altogether, over the years.”
“Any of them in Exeter?”
He shakes his head. “My pack have though. Two down.”
“Do you have to invite vampires into your home for them to enter?”
“Yep, that’s right.”
“So … what do you do at night … wander around looking for vampires to kill?”
“Basically, yes. We all go out, split up to cover more ground. Some of us, ’specially newbies, stick in pairs. We’re all looking out for any sign of vampire action, and any we see we try and take pics of so we can all become familiar with what they look like – and follow them if we get the chance – to try and find out where they go.”
“Is there a big plan, or do you plan to take them on individually?”
“We want to find out exactly where they’re hiding out in the day so we can go down as a group and take them all on. Reckon that’s how we’ll get rid of them fastest. Until then we’ll just try and save as many lives as we can and kill any we get a chance to.”
“Are you going out looking for vampires tonight?”
“Yep, every night I’m not a wolf.”
“Can I go with you?”
He looks in my eyes, searching me. “Why?”
“After what happened to me … what happened to Trish … and has happened to other people in the city…. I want to help.”
“You won’t be able to fight them. They are too strong.”
“Are you saying I’m a weakling?”
He laughs darkly. “No, but vampires and werewolves … our strength doesn’t compare to humans. It’s off the scale.”
I think quickly. “I can help in other ways. I can keep an eye out. I saw the guy who attacked me – I’d recognise him again. I also saw the guy who Trish was with – I don’t know if it was him who … did it … killed her … or if it was someone else … but I can look out for him and if we see him we could follow him and find out.”
“I guess that makes sense. It would be dangerous though.”
“I’d be with you.”
He pushes me playfully. “Very touching,” he says, and laughs.
“I’m serious – you saved my life! I feel safe with you.”
He puts one arm around me and pulls me against him, then kisses my cheek.
“Ok, sure, why not,” he says.
“Yes!”
HUNT
After we packed up the camp he took me back with him to his base; it is a cluster of chalets on a hill, surrounded by woodland. Most of the others were asleep, or out, but I did meet a few werewolves – they are all enormous, like Alfie, and were friendly but not overly so. I got the impression they didn’t approve of Alfie bringing me back, so we stayed out of their way and he made me a pasta lunch in his little chalet. Now we’re back at mine and having dinner in front of the TV.
“Look,” I say, after swallowing a mouthful of food, “I know that I won’t be able to fight a vampire – I remember how strong the one that attacked me was – but do all the standard movie vampire killing methods work?”
“Most of them – not holy water though – that would be awesome. No, but stake through the heart, beheading, and sending them to a flamy death – they will all do it.”
“What about sunlight?”
“Nope, but bloodsuckers do hate the sun – burns them, but when they get back in the shade they just heal right up. They do hide out in the daytime, so you’re safe going out alone when it’s still light out.”
I nod. “So ... hmmm … what about a werewolf bite?”
“Yeah, that will kill them, slow and messy though … they could kill more people before they actually bite it themselves.”
We finish eating – Alfie eats three times the amount I do – and clear up, then get ready to head out.
Before we leave I say, “Do you have the pics on your phone of the vampires you told me about?”
“Err, yeah, sure do. Guess it would be a good idea to show you.”
He takes his phone out of his back pocket and passes it to me. I look closely at the first shot – it’s pretty blurry and from a distance; it’s a woman with long dark hair, quite like mine. I think she is taking a swing at a big guy – a werewolf I presume – but her arm is moving so fast the camera hasn’t registered it. I can’t really see her face clearly although I think she has a pointy chin. She looks tiny compared with the wolf guy, but she’s probably about average height. It might be hard to recognise her just from looking at this; I hadn’t thought about how hard it would be to get these pictures.
“Yeah, that one was snapped by Lil, and Stew is fighting. They thought they had her, but even though it was the two of them she still got away – she was a trickster.”
I flick to the next picture; this one is quite a lot clearer – it’s shot in a club and it looks like the vampire was taken by surprise as he is wide-eyed. He is good looking with close cut brown hair and chocolatey brown eyes with lush lashes.
“That one was taken by Jimmy who had seen him attacking someone before. He saved the life of the girl, but the vamp got away.”
“Jimmy didn’t get him this time? When he was so close?”
“Nope, he couldn’t take him on around all those people – too dangerous – the vamp might have taken someone hostage. He followed the bloodsucker when he left but he got away easily. The picture has helped though; someone else spotted him and followed him since then, and saw him going underground when dawn was approaching – that’s why we think they’re hiding out in the tunnels. Still need to get a better idea of where though if we’re to have any chance of a successful ambush – the underground tunnel system here is awesome.”
“Are all vampires good-looking?” I ask, and blush.
“Think he’s good-looking, do you?” Alfie says, teasing me.
“Well – he is! There’s no point denying it!”
He shrugs. “Yeah, guess they are. Not only that though, apparently they seem extra good-lookin’ if they’re putting their charms on you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Err … victims I’ve talked to – ones who have survived, obviously – have said the connection felt amazing before they got bitten – like they really liked them a whole lot more than is normal. It’s not always like that though – sometimes vampires just go in for the kill and don’t bother to charm their victims.”
“Huh,” I say.
“Also, another factor which leads to bloodsuckers being hot is they normally only change people they fall for – and I suppose they are pretty soulless and go for looks rather than personality.”
“Vampires fall for people? Does that mean they have emotions and stuff?”
He shrugs. “I guess they have some; not enough to give them a conscience though – if they change someone they are really killing them and turning them into murderers.”
I flick to the next picture; it’s another d
istant one, but I recognise the guy as soon as I see him; my heart nearly stops, and I feel the blood leave my face.
“What is it?” Alfie says.
“It’s him – the guy who Trish was with … before … before …”
Alfie takes the phone back and has a closer look. “I’m sorry Ava,” he says, and puts his arm around my shoulders and pulls me against him. “You don’t have to come tonight you know.”
“No!” I say, breaking out of his hug. “I do have to – I’ll be alright! I just miss her so much.” Tears leak out of my eyes and I push them away angrily. “I’ll help you keep an eye out for that bastard so you can end him.”
Alfie nods, but he looks a bit wary.
“I will be fine,” I say. “I promise. Are there any more pictures?”
“Just one more,” he says, and passes me back his phone.
I take a look. It’s not very clear as it’s taken through a glass window and there are two people in the photo who are snogging.
“It’s the guy that’s the vamp,” Alfie says.
I look more closely at the man in the photo. He’s smooching with his eyes closed so I can’t really tell what he’d look like straight on. He looks very young though – maybe just eighteen as his skin looks very smooth and his features are rounded. He seems quite tall and has dark messy hair. Even though I can’t see his face well I can tell that he’s also good-looking. Maybe I should just assume that any good-looking guy I see is a vampire….
But what about Alfie? He’s very good-looking too … but he is a werewolf … also a supernatural being. I can’t ask him the same question I asked about vampires … I would just go too red, and it would be telling him I find him good-looking, which would make him think I fancy him; and I’m not sure that I do.
The guy I met in the club flashes into my mind; I fancied him so much; it felt like our connection was amazing. I don’t know why I don’t feel that way about Alfie; he is very good-looking, and really nice, and fun. Maybe I do fancy him a bit, just not as much as the other guy. When I’m with Alfie I feel protected, I like the way he looks at me, and he did look super-hot when he stripped off before changing into a werewolf. I can feel the colour coming back into my cheeks.
