by Mac Flynn
The hall erupted in violent shouts. The people jumped to their feet and shook their fists, their faces contorted with anger. They crowded the aisle and pushed into us in their struggle to reach the mayor. She backed up behind the table and beat her gavel, but nobody heeded her yells.
The weight of so many people suffocated me. Orion swept me into his arms and put his shoulder in front of him. He shoved his way through the crowd and we emerged at the doors. Behind us continued the chaos of people pushing and shoving, each trying to get out or in.
Orion set me down. I tried to stand, but my legs felt like jello. The mix of confusion, fear, and the strange ache inside me disturbed my body and mind.
"Can you walk?" Orion asked me. I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Then let me carry you."
I was hardly in a condition to object. He lifted me into his arms and carried me down the sparsely populated hall. The others there headed for the door, and soon we emerged from the pair of front doors. Outside the sky was a silvery gray. A soft snow fell over the world and blanketed the citizens in a peaceful calm.
"I'll take you home with me. The motel isn't exactly cozy," he suggested.
I shivered and pressed close against his warm chest. My voice was low and hoarse. "My things."
"You can get those tomorrow. Right now I bet you don't feel too well," he commented.
The city hall was the large building with the belfry. Orion walked down the steps to the sidewalk. Cars pulled away from the curb and scattered to the four corners of the small town. Orion took a left and carried me down the sidewalk.
"I hope you don't mind a little trudge. I don't exactly live close to city hall," he warned me.
"Do I. . .have a choice?" I pointed out.
He chuckled. "Not much, but it's always nice to have an option."
I thought about that for a moment and scowled. "Put me down."
Orion stopped us around the left-hand corner and half a block down from the fire station. The only company for us was the light from the lamp posts. To our left was an alley that led behind the municipal buildings.
He frowned. "But I thought you said-"
"Just put me down."
Orion set me on my feet. I steadied myself by facing him and placing a hand on his chest. He held my shoulders to steady me and frowned down at me. "I don't think-" Smack.
The sound was my hand meeting his cheek. His head whipped to one side and a red welt appeared on his flesh. He rubbed the injury and winced.
"What was that for?" he asked me.
"For not getting me out of there," I snapped.
He frowned. "I didn't want this for you. I tried to get you out of there before the apple, but the mayor wouldn't agree to it."
"A fat lot of good that did," I growled.
Orion pursed his lips and shook his head. "Listen, we can talk about this-"
"No, we talk about this now," I demanded. "What the hell happened back there? What was so important about that apple?"
He sighed and shrugged. "If you didn't believe me about the werewolf thing then you're not going to believe this."
My eyes narrowed. "What is it?"
"You're not going to-"
"Tell me."
His shoulders sagged and he studied my face for a long moment. "Biting into an apple from the Blessing Tree, the one you saw in the woods, changes a person into a were creature."
I rolled my eyes. "Enough with this werewolf bullshit! I want the truth."
"There is no other truth."
Something in his voice made me pause. His words were calm and even, but there was a depth to them that cut me to my core. I leaned back and looked over his face.
"You're. . .you're serious, aren't you?" I asked him. He gave a nod. "I'm. . .I"m really a werewolf?"
"Yes," he replied.
I frowned and gestured down at myself. "But I don't feel-ouch." The pain in my stomach returned, and with full force. I clutched my stomach and doubled over. "What the hell is this?"
"It's the changes in your body. They start slow at first, but in an hour things are going to get really interesting," he warned me.
My eyes widened and my hands trembled. "Interesting how?"
He sighed and averted his gaze from mine. "You'll change into a werewolf. " A sly smile slipped onto his lips. "A female one, that is."
I had to suppress a snort. "At least I have that going for me, but I think you need to have your hmphph-" The end of my sentence was muffled when Orion put his hand over my mouth.
He swiveled his head from left to right. "Quiet," he hissed.
I yanked his hand off my mouth and glared at him. "Are you trying to hmphph-" the hand was repeated.
"Shut up!" he hissed. His eyes fell on a nearby mouth of an alley. "We're not alone."
I followed his gaze and froze. A pair of glistening eyes stared back at us from the deep shadows of the alley. The headlights of a large truck were switched on and blinded us. The silhouette of a man stepped out of the truck and in front of the lights.
Orion pulled me behind him and blinked against the harsh light. "Who's there?"
The person stalked towards us and moved out of the light. I cringed when he was revealed to be Tom, the burly, unfriendly fellow from the town meeting. His hands were balled into fists at his sides and his lips were curled back in a snarl.
"You made a fool of me back there, Huntley," Tom growled.
Orion glared at our unwelcome companion. "I thought you did pretty well all by yourself."
A deep growl rumbled from his throat. I noticed the man's clothes tightened on his body and tufts of fur poked out from his sleeves and collar. Small stubs of hair sprang from his chin and his combed hair flowed down his back.
"You think you can just get away with doing that to me, and then getting her for yourself?" Tom roared.
Orion stepped back and I scooted back with him. His body tensed, but his voice was firm. "She's not your kind, Tom, now get back-"
Tom lunged at us. Orion pushed me aside and I landed hard on a nearby snowbank. Tom collided with Orion, and the two men tumbled onto the road. They rolled back-over-back with neither gaining the upper hand until they came to the middle of the street. Tom managed to get on top. He grabbed Orion's wrists and pinned his arms on either side of his head. Tom sat on his waist and stuck his face in Orion's face.
To say the battle between men was over wasn't quite true. Tom was now more animal than man. His clothes were ripped and torn, and fur and muscles poked out. The hands that held Orion down were more like thick claws, and his face was elongated by a blackish-brown snout.
Orion struggled to get up, but he was trapped. The sheer weight of the monstrous giant kept him pinned to the road. I scrambled to my feet, my discomfort for the moment forgotten, and looked around for something to distract the monster formerly known as Tom. I spotted a useful tool in all the white stuff around me.
In a thrice I scooped up a bunch of hard snow, with a little added rock from the road, and formed the stuff into a tight ball. I pulled back my arm and aimed.
"Hey, Ugly!" I yelled.
Tom froze and whipped his head to me. He received a face full of hard-packed ice ball. The thing reared back its head and roared in pain and anger. I scooped up another bunch of snow as he abandoned his prey and rushed at me on all fours. I threw the next snowball, but it merely bounced off his shoulder. A quick escape down the street was foiled when my feet slipped on the snow. I crashed onto my side and flipped over in time to watch as Tom barreled down on me.
A shadow flew into the air behind Tom and landed neatly on the overgrown man's back. The shadow was smaller and less hairy. It wore the tattered remains of jeans and a plain shirt, and its yellow eyes glistened in the dark night. The new attacker wrapped its arms around Tom's throat and pulled back. Tom roared and reared up on his hind legs. He flailed and pawed at the shadow, but the shadow dodged and ducked the long, muscular,
hairy arms.
Tom's struggles grew weaker. He tottered from side-to-side before he crashed onto his side on the ground. The behemoth lay still. The shadow stepped off him and turned to me. I got a good look at its long, pointed wolf snout and those jaws full of sharp teeth. Its clawed hands hung at its sides and flexed the strong muscles in those fingers.
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the werewolf. "Fine. I believe you."
CHAPTER 9
