Werewolf Chronicles

by Traci Briery

  There were so many living things to choose from in this great, petrified forest that she decided not to take any of them down yet. This was a great, new, wonderful place for her. She could spend all night just exploring it and never eat anything. Besides, there were so many two-legged things around that there would be no challenge to any hunting. There would be no satisfaction unless she could find a place with many obstacles but hardly any two-legged animals.

  None of the two-leggers could see her yet, or they pretended not to. She slipped in and out of shadows as she sought out more familiar territory. Everything around was already somehow familiar, but not in the way she wished. The two-legged beasts chattered loudly amongst themselves, which began to grate on her nerves. She could silence some, but not all of them, so she chose to seek higher ground, instead.

  One good leap, followed by rapid climbing, brought her to the top of a tall cave. She sensed no other life, then ran to the edge of the cave and looked down. Tiny two-leggers scurried by obliviously. Ignoring them now, she scanned the area but was not high enough to see everything. Far off, though, she spotted some real trees and real bushes, so she leapt across this cave to land on another. She leapt and climbed onto some others, but grew weary of this. Stealth was unnecessary; she could outrun any two-legged beast, so she scrambled down the last cave to land on the ground. A lot of two-leggers saw her now, but a good growl and snarl was enough to make them give her a wide berth. A strange, powerful odor came to her now, and she laughed inwardly after realizing that it was fear.

  She ran past them all and dodged moving metal behemoths that screamed and blared at her as she raced by. Some of them hit each other in their efforts to leave her be. Clumsy beasts, those round-legged things. None of those could catch her, either. One of those might prove to be a difficult kill, though, so she kept that in mind. The other beasts scattered like deer around her. Some of the beasts did not get out of her way; tonight, she shoved them away as opposed to killing them.

  The fun was wearing off quickly. There was too much noise and too many clumsy beasts in this place. She concentrated her efforts on ripping through this mass of bodies and ignoring the chaos until she could reach the tiny forest ahead. She rushed out in front of more of the metal beasts, but one of them did not stop. She did not stop, either, but tensed for a split-second, then leapt high and far to clear the beast, which then smashed into another one. More screams and cries. This was almost too much. Was nothing quiet about this place? The consolation was that the forest was here now, so she wasted no time in losing herself in the bushes. The sounds of chaos continued as before, only a little fainter. Her pulse raced like a triphammer, but there was no time to rest before she had started up the steep hill.

  There were not nearly enough trees, so she had to make do with the bushes. At one point she turned around to see some of the chaos below. Other metal things that howled and had colorful lights raced through the crowds. There was too much happening below to understand any of it, so she turned her back on it quickly and continued on. Sometimes the hill leveled off into that hard, black dirt that covered most of the ground, only to become a hill again when she kept going. Her goal was to reach the top and survey all the land around her before beginning any real hunting.

  After a long time, she reached some huge, flat, white things that stuck straight up from the ground and almost vanished into the night sky. There was still a way to go before reaching the top, but she decided to climb these white things instead. They were held in place by many metal rods, so it was a simple matter to reach the top of one of the things and look at the tiny lights below her. It was a challenge to balance herself, but she managed to keep steady enough to look up at the moon. It was so round and shiny and bright that she heard it calling to her, so she called back again and again. As long as the moon called to her, she answered it, until it told her to find sustenance. She scrambled down her white perch and brought all her senses to bear. There was nothing warm nearby; the hunt had to go on elsewhere. The other side of the hill had to be better than this one, so she went on.

  There were lights far off to one side. A closer inspection revealed another cave, but only one this time. Attempts had been made to hide it, which made it more fun to find. Two-leggers lived in the caves, she was certain. Now to see what kind lived in this one. There was a metal fence all around, and after running around it long enough, she grew impatient and grabbed part of it and pulled it open. It was easy to break, like thread. She took a step inside, then heard the loud barking of two approaching beasts. They were a four-legged kind that reminded her of herself, but they were a threat, so she tore out their throats the moment they got too close. They died quickly and with only a quiet whimper. This had not been much of a hunt, but she considered for a moment, then decided to feed on at least one of the beasts.

  She had tasted blood before, but never this fresh. Then she heard chattering off toward the cave. It was still far and did not seem to get louder, so she finished with the one beast and left the other one intact. The meat was tough and stringy. Her ears pricked up at the sounds of approaching footsteps. She looked about quickly, then leapt into some bushes and waited. The footsteps grew louder, then stopped; the silence was broken by two two-leggers chattering to themselves. One of them screamed, then screamed again. After some silence, the footsteps came again, but grew fainter as the two-leggers wandered away. They didn't even reach the other beasts. They were not good hunters, then, but she wanted to test their mettle some more. She leapt from the bushes and raced after the two-leggers to leap up and over them just as they whirled around to see her. She spun around to face them and snarled and howled. They both screamed and froze in terror. Their smell of fear was strong enough to rival the earlier crowd's.

  She snarled again and took a step forward in challenge. The two-leggers only screamed again, then ran. To her they were just barely hobbling, so she leapt up and over them again. The male yelled and fell over backward, and his mate fell to his side, where they both clung to each other and screamed. Now weary of this, she made a fist and brought it down over their heads to quiet them. They did, and fell over onto the ground silently. No challenge at all. She bent over to sniff at them. The spark of life remained in them yet, but she neither knew nor cared if it would remain long. The other beasts had been little sustenance, but perhaps these two-leggers would be better.

  She set herself down to sniff at them more, and took one of the male's arms into her claws. Her mouth watered in anticipation of tasting fresher blood, and she brought the arm up to her mouth, then hesitated. She looked at the arm, then brought it to her mouth again, and paused. She looked at the beasts again. They lay side by side as though asleep, but they were not asleep. She sniffed at them again. They had distinctive scents, but there was something similar about them, too, as though they had been mates long enough to exchange their scents. These two-legged ones belonged to each other, somehow. If she tasted one, she would have to taste the other, too, for neither would be whole without the other. She could sense this; she knew this.

  The moon was not calling to her, but she called to it in hopes that it would answer. The world around her made sounds, but the moon was silent. She looked at her claws and remembered very briefly—that they sometimes looked different. Or that they only sometimes looked like they did now. She was naked, but not naked. Not naked the way the hairless two-leggers would be if they took off their colorful skins. For some reason a brief image appeared of herself in a colorful skin, but that quickly disappeared from memory. She could never have been one of those two-legged things. She could walk on her hind legs, but she was not one of them, nor could she have ever been one of them. Yes?

  The mated ones she could leave alive. But if any two-legger attacked her, she would not sit idly by and take it. This did not seem likely, as the two-leggers were so weak and cowardly. They were like little sheep or cows who couldn't protect themselves unless their four-legged beasts were nearby. She set off for the hills again. It was
never very far for her to go before finding another lighted cave. It was becoming something of a bore; was there nothing else that lived here but two-legged screamers and yapping beasts? Perhaps, and perhaps not. This was a huge place that demanded much exploration.

  Chapter Ten

  Phyllis woke up feeling very cold. Her wild and violent dreams from that night left her feeling even more tired. She yawned and tried to stretch, but hit something hard behind her. After opening her eyes, she decided that she was still dreaming, and hit the white board behind her just to be certain. Now her knuckles hurt, and she wasn't any warmer.

  It took a long time for any coherent questions to form in her mind, least of all the answers. Basic questions, such as Why am I naked? Where the hell am I? and How the hell did I get outside where all this grass is? No one and nothing offered any answers for her. Somehow, she was not in bed in her apartment, but had spent the night sleeping in the grass on a hill next to some big white board sticking out of the ground, and she was almost completely naked. There were still some shredded remains of her old sweatsuit and legwarmers, but nothing to cover her top.

  Hoping to find at least a hint of an answer, Phyllis stepped out from behind the board to find herself near the top of a hill, overlooking what she could only guess to be Hollywood. If so, she must have been on one of the hills, but why? Phyllis sat down long enough to pull off the remains of her legwarmers to cover her top, then stepped slowly away from the board to go around it. There was a long line of huge, white boards standing high, high above her. She went past all of this to step timidly down the hill just far enough to see what she had been sleeping against. She looked up and up to see the giant "Y" that had served as her bedboard for the night. Beside this were two giant "L"s and a "W" and a—

  "What the hell am I doing here?" she said aloud to herself. She had wanted to see the "HOLLYWOOD" sign up close for years now, but not like this. She was supposed to get drunk with a bunch of friends and climb up here and maybe draw pictures on it or something, not wake up half-naked underneath it.

  "My dream," she murmured, then remembered the rest in silence. She had climbed this thing during the dream and yelled in triumph or something. During the dream? Her whole body was filthy. She thought her hands were just dirty, too, until she looked at them more closely, and gasped. This was not dirt; it was dried blood. Phyllis wanted so much to believe that it was hers, but she felt no pain to indicate any wounds. There was something else to the dream—something about attacking an animal.

  Phyllis was too cold and hungry to stay there. It was a long and treacherous way down that hill. Clutching her rags tight to her bosom, she climbed down and ran off toward her apartment building, now that she had a landmark to take directions from. Her one big hope was that it was still very early yet, and few people would be awake and outdoors. The sun appeared to be just above the horizon, so perhaps she would be lucky.

  Every dog that she had the misfortune to pass sounded its vocal alarm. At one point she had half of a block barking at her, but there was nothing to do except run. Her apartment was in Hollywood, but it wasn't that close to the sign. The club was much closer, but it was also on a major street and was not likely to be devoid of onlookers. Phyllis had always been disgusted with the existence of weirdos such as flashers and streakers, and yet here she was doing her best imitation of them. She was hungry, cold, tired, and thirsty, but a growing terror kept her going at full speed for much longer than she had thought possible.

  Tunnel vision had developed during her run. She had heard a police siren, but paid no attention to it and kept running. Then it sounded again, and made her all but jump out of her rags. She stopped long enough to glance over her shoulder to spot the black-and-white that had been following her. It was foolish to think that it was just passing by. Phyllis curled herself up tight and waited for the car to stop, and two officers emerged, trying in vain to conceal their amusement. Both of them adopted their habitual "towering" posture over her, which was not difficult, as Phyllis was not that tall.

  "Hi," she said quickly, and smiled before bending over a little more.

  "Kinda cold out this morning to be dressed like that, wouldn't you say?" one of the officers said.

  "Yeah," Phyllis said quickly, her teeth chattering a little. She stepped from side to side to keep herself moving and thus, warmer. "Yeah, it is cold. Listen, um—"

  "Mind telling us what's the occasion?" the other officer said.

  "Um… um… I wish I knew," Phyllis said. "I'm_I don't remember how I got this way. Uh—d-do you think you guys could give me a ride home? I-I'm pretty close by. I was on my way home, you see."

  "Home from a party, huh?" the first one asked, pulling out his pad and looking her up and down. "Must have been something."

  "I-I don't know what happened," Phyllis said, shivering. "Look, I know it's against the law to be naked and all, but—I'm trying to cover myself up. Couldn't you just take me home? Please? I just want to get home. I don't know what happened… I don't know…"

  The second officer seemed more sympathetic to her situation than his partner. He leaned over to whisper something to him, who nodded and went quickly to the car. The second officer took Phyllis's shoulder firmly, but gently.

  "This way please, ma'am," he said. "We're going to get you a blanket."

  "Oh, thank you," she said. "Thank you, really. I-I woke up on—I don't know what happened. I had these weird dreams last night. Or maybe they weren't. Has that ever happened to you? Where something seemed like a dream, but turned out to be real?"

  "Yes, ma'am," the officer said. "More than you might think." He led her to his partner, who had produced a thick blanket from the trunk. His partner shut the trunk, then went to the front seat to grab the radio. He spoke in code to headquarters while the second officer opened the back door for Phyllis. She sat inside quickly, then had the feeling that she might have made a mistake. It was illegal to run around naked, so were they taking her home or arresting her? She tried to comprehend the conversation on the radio, but again, it was mostly in code. Police had their own language, too, after all.

  Neither officer said any more to her until they both sat in the front seats again. The second officer turned his head a little toward her.

  "You say you had some bad dreams, huh?" he asked.

  "Um… well, they were weird ones," she said.

  "Do you remember what happened to your clothes?"

  She looked at the rags that covered her, then shook her head.

  "I think they were torn off of me," she said. "I don't remember what happened."

  "Ma'am…" the second officer began, "we can take you home if it's what you want. But if something happened to you last night…"

  "No," she said quickly. "That is… what you think happened, didn't. I mean, the thing that this looks like_with my clothes torn and all, I mean—it isn't what happened. I'm okay. Really, I'm okay. I want to go home."

  "We're going to have to have directions, then," the first officer said.

  "Oh. Oh, yeah," Phyllis said, and gave them her address.

  Phyllis had some difficulty convincing them that she had not been drinking or shooting up, nor could she remember any violence having been committed against her. The ride back was thankfully short, and the officers escorted her to her apartment door, which was locked. Phyllis considered pounding on the door as opposed to simply tapping, but decided to avoid doing anything that might appear suspicious.

  After some time Phyllis saw the peephole darken momentarily, then heard bolts being undone. Roxanne opened the door and stood there sleepily. She cocked an eyebrow at her disheveled roommate, who pushed past her immediately to head for her room, leaving Roxanne to stare at the two officers.

  "Sorry to disturb you, ma'am. May we come in a moment?" the second one said. Roxanne seemed to wake up for the first time, and widened her eyes, then looked back at the door to Phyllis's room.

  "Um…" she said, "um, yeah. Okay." She stepped aside to allow the of
ficers inside.

  "We're sorry to wake you, ma'am," the first one said. "Does this woman live here?"

  "Who? Her?" Roxanne asked, nodding her head toward the room. "Phyllis! What—! Um, yeah, she lives here. We're roommates. What happened to you? Phyllis?"

  Phyllis bustled from her room, now dressed in a robe. She went to her roommate and hugged her tightly.

  "Thank God you're here," she whispered. "Um," she said to the officers, "thanks so much for taking me home. I'm okay now."

  "Ma'am… did something happen to you?" the second officer asked. "Were you attacked by someone?"

  "No," she said. "Um… I know it looks like… somebody did something to me, but—really, I'm okay. Thank you so much for taking me home."

  "No problem."

  "Are you sure about this, ma'am?"

  "Yeah, I'm sure," Phyllis said. "Really, I'm okay."

  The officers hovered about for a moment before be-grudgingly accepting her word. They turned to leave, only the second officer stayed long enough to quietly ask her to call the station if she had anything to say. Phyllis thanked them both again and shut the door behind them.

  "What is this?" Roxanne asked. "Were you arrested? Where were you last night?"

  "It's okay now," Phyllis said. "Really, I'm okay."

  "Why did cops have to take you home, then?"

  "I didn't have any clothes on, that's why. Um… sorry about waking you, but—

  "What time is it?"

  "I dunno," Phyllis said. "Five-thirty or something."

  "Is it? God, I should have been up by now, anyway," Roxanne said. "You did me a favor. But… was I still sleeping, or did you show up without any clothes on?"

  "That's what I just told you."

  "Huh? Oh," Roxanne said, rubbing her face. "Oh, yeah. Will you tell me why you showed up with no clothes on, then?"