by Rod Martinez
“I… I don’t know.” he smiled scratching his arm.
“Well I say he should come over to my house, I have a big breakfast on the stove being cooked, can he?” Alex’s dad smiled.
“Sure, are you up for eating at Alex’s house Dori?”
“Yes mom, sure.”
The kids all ran to the house and sat at the table.
“Man Dorian this is great! They thought... you know they thought you were going to die.”
“I know.” he smiled scratching his arm.
“What’s the matter – have an itch?” Marcie asked.
“Yeah… right here.”
As Alex’s dad pulled out plates and started serving, the kids watched as he pulled his long sleeve up.
Marcie gasped as they saw it... a bite mark.
“What is it, guys?” Dorian asked.
“Dad, be right back, going to wash up… come on Dorian.”
All three kids rushed off to the hallway bathroom and took Dorian’s shirt off. He had what looked like fang marks on the back side of his bicep, dried blood was still there. Marcie quickly got the shirt and soaked it in the sink and started cleaning his arm.
“Where did that come from?” Dorian asked looking through the mirror.”
“Uh, I think that’s what cured you, Dorian.” Alex said looking away.
“Huh?”
Marcie was putting a bandage on it and Alex took his Captain America shirt off and put it on his friend.
“Marcie, after we finish eating, we have to go see our friend.”
DING DONG
“Man who could that be this early in the morning?”
The three friends walked out and went back to the kitchen, his Dad walked in with a guest.
“Uh, hi guys… Dorian! You’re ok!?”
“FabianRoss, where were you last night?”
“Fabian are you eating with us?”
“Uh sure Mr. Davidson, I’ll pass on the bacon though.”
“Ok.”
“Guys you didn’t meet me last night, and I lost my iPad. My Mom’s gonna kill me!”
“Your iPad is in my room at home FabianRoss, I found it on the forest floor last night.”
“Forest? Are you guys playing in those woods again?” Mr. Davidson asked.
“Uh…”
“He was doing research on the stars in there Dad… you know… geek stuff.”
“Oh.”
“In fact Dad, he can probably fix our computer, can’t you Fabian?”
“Sure.”
“Cool,” his Dad said, “… nothing like having a neighborhood geek among you.”
The kids all smiled, and then turned to their dark haired friend.
“Wow Dorian, I can’t believe you’re up and walking... it’s like a miracle or something!”
“Yeah, or something, Fabian.” Alex smirked.
CHAPTER 7:
The Four friends gathered out in the cul-de-sac. After breakfast they got ready to brave the woods again on their bikes after a quick meeting in Alex’s back yard tree house. A surprise visit by the principal of their school, Mr. James, kept them for a bit. He’d heard through the grapevine that Dorian was better and wanted to visit his ailing student. He said Monday would be Dorian Day and the kids would all get pizza for lunch. His wife stayed in the car and after his sort visit, he left them in the tree house and drove away. Alex’s dad had left to a meeting at his job about the development they were planning for the woods. Alex decided it was time they did something about it.
“Ok guys, he said he would help me if I helped him…”
“Whoa, wait a minute Alex,” Dorian said, “… you think a werewolf cured me, by biting my arm?”
“I don’t think he did, I know he did, Dorian.”
“They made a promise to each other.” Marcie smiled.
“Ok so how are we going to stop your Dad’s company from building in there? We’re kids, Alex!”
“I know Fabian, but we have to think of something. That’s why I wanna go back in… talk to him. Maybe he has an idea.”
“Well let’s do this, I want to personally thank the guy, uh... wolf that made me better.”
“Technically,” FabianRoss said as they climbed down the tree house to their bikes, “… since he bit you… doesn’t that make… you a werewolf now?”
“I don’t know, I guess.”
“Great, our best friend the werewolf.” Marcie said getting on her bike.
“Dorian!?”
His mother’s voice. The four kids turned and she was walking out towards them.
“Aw man, now what?”
“Doriancito, tienes una cita con el doctor, vamos.”
“Doctor visit? Aw come on Mom, I’m better, dad said so himself. We have to go do something right now and it’s really important.”
“This is important too, Dori.” she said taking his arm.
“Guys, don’t go without me, we’ll be back. How long Mom?”
“Como dos horas.”
“We’ll be back in two hours. Come on Alex, promise me you won’t go ‘til I get back.”
The three friends looked at each other, nodded.
“Ok Dorian, we’ll wait.”
“Cool, I can do some calculations on my iPad here.”
“Oh brother.”
They all headed back to the tree house.
Miles away at his father’s job, Tony Davidson sat with several men with drawings on a huge board room table.
“Davidson, you’re sure about these calculations?”
“Boss have I ever been wrong?”
“Ok, the developer wants fast work so tonight we’re going to start the bull dozers.”
“Tonight? We always work in the day.”
“Davidson, you handle the calculations, let me handle the work. That’s what I pay you for!”
“But we’ll spend more money on lighting equipment, and…”
“Davidson, you want an early vacation?”
The two men glared back at each other and Tony slammed his fist on the table then stormed out of the room. Deep inside he knew his son would disapprove of this but he had to do his job.
Two hours later, the Volvo parked up the driveway at Dorian’s house. He hopped out of the car and ran to Alex’s tree house.
“Guys! Guys! I’m back. Guys?”
No one was in the tree house.
“I knew it, I knew it! They left without me!”
He kicked the ball in anger and started to turn away, when Marcie walked out of the side door of the house.
“Hey guys, Dorian’s back! So what did the doctor say?”
“He says it was a miracle.”
FabianRoss walked out with his iPad.
“Aw man we were just going to make lunch.”
“We can eat when we come back.” Marcie said.
“Ok let’s go guys. I don’t know if we’ll even find him, but we have to try.”
The four friends pedaled into the woods.
“Stay close, me and Marcie have a trail.”
“Oh I know my way through these woods, Alex!”
“Yeah, that’s why you left your iPad in here, right?”
In no time they reached the ‘Y’ tree and stopped.
“Ok this is where it gets tricky. We turned left that night. Then we saw it and chased it.”
“It?”
“Wolf.”
“Oh.”
They heard a crackling of leaves just to the left of them, and all four turned and saw something run off into the bushes. Alex started pedaling off after it.
“Come on guys!”
Within minutes they were at a fork coming up on them.
“Marcie, you and Fabian go left, me and Dorian are going to go this way. Scream if you see him!”
A few yards up, the rattling bushes was a dead giveaway. Alex and Dorian had gunned off the other way, so Marcie and FabianRoss were right on it’s trail. It stopped at the mulberry bush. The two friends skidded
on the forest ground just feet away from it.
“Don’t move, FabianRoss.”
The two friends stood close together.
“Uh, Mr. Wolf? It’s me Marcie… uh Alex’s friend? Th… thank you for biting... uh, for helping Dorian. He’s much better now. Uh, will you come out? Alex is looking for you.”
The rustle in front of them now changed and was to the left side of them. They both jumped into each other’s arms.
“Alex said he doesn’t eat humans, right?” FabianRoss whispered.
“Gulp, right.”
The two friends froze. They didn’t move.
“Mr. Wolf?”
The rustling started soft, then got louder and they knew he was coming out. Marcie grabbed FabianRoss in a tight hug, prepared a scream.
A grey bunny hopped out of the bush and stared at them, twitching its nose.
“Aww, look Marcie. A bunny.”
“Oh geez. Wild goose chase,” she sighed, “… let’s go.”
Farther away, Alex and Dorian skidded on the forest ground as they found themselves at…
“Lobo Cliff. We’re here!” Alex screamed.
“Wow, what is this place?”
Dorian peered out over the vastness of land below him, and then he turned to Alex.
“Dorian, this is where the wolf lives.”
“So, you’re serious?”
“Yes I’m serious Dorian, you think I’d make this up?”
“Well remember that time in class last year when you told everybody you saw Michael Jackson and Elvis come out of a UFO?”
“Well that was different, I was just kidding, see…”
“Owwwuuuhh!”
Both friends froze. The wolf’s howl cut through the air clear and strong and sent shivers through both of them.
“Uh, I think I wanna go home now, Alex.”
“No, we have to stay… you have to meet him.”
They looked down into the ravine, saw some movement further down but it was the snapped twig sound behind them that caught their attention. Neither of them wanted to turn, because they could hear the breathing, and it got closer.
“Alex..?” Dorian whimpered through clenched teeth.
Alex slowly turned around to see the wolf, standing upright and walking up behind him and his friend.
“Dorian, you can turn around, he won’t hurt you.”
Dorian turned around with his eyes tightly closed.
“Young Garcia,” the voice said, “… you are feeling better, I presume.”
Dorian didn’t say anything; he stood there, eyes closed and holding his breath. Alex nudged him.
“Oh!”
He opened his eyes, the wolf was standing right in his face, eye to eye. His fangs shone in the sun.
“Hay Dios mio, por el amor de Pedro!”
“Don’t fear me Garcia.”
“See? He’s friendly.”
“He, he is? Then why does he have to smile like that?”
“How do you expect a wolf to smile and not show its fangs Dorian? Come on, man, chill out.”
“Can I... uh, can I pet him?”
The wolf rolled his eyes at Alex in disbelief. Alex shrugged his shoulders.
“Uh, sure Dorian, if that makes you feel better.”
“You may, Garcia.”
Dorian stretched out his shaking hand and slowly stroked the wolf’s arm.
“Our deal,” he said to Alex in a quick jerk that caused Dorian to jump, “…as you see I made him better.”
“You bit him!”
“I didn’t tell you how I’d make him better.”
“So is he going to turn into one of you now on a full moon?”
“Full moon? You watch too many movies, Alex.” the wolf said walking over to the cliff of the ravine.”
“Can’t hurt a guy for askin’.”
“So, young Davidson, our deal?”
Our Deal. Alex thought to himself, the wolf cured his best friend but he had no idea how he was going to live up to his side of the bargain.
“I don’t know how to stop them, Wolf.” he shamefully confessed.
“You must think of something fast, they plan on starting today.”
“How do you know?” Dorian asked.
“My Dad went to a meeting today about it… how did you know?”
The wolf turned after studying his terrain.
“You have to stop them.”
“I don’t know how…”
“You promised.”
“I know... but I mean… no one knows you live in here… if they knew you had family, maybe they’d think about it.”
“Family…”
“Can we… meet your family?” Dorian asked.
“Sure, follow me but be careful. We have not much time now.”
Marcie and Fabian rolled up to them on their bikes. Marcie hopped off hers then grabbed Alex’s arm and turned him to her.
“Alex, he wasn’t there… the wolf didn’t even…oh, oh my...”
“O-M-G!” FabianRoss screamed, “… I knew it! I knew there was a werewolf in here! I have to take a picture!”
“Put that iPad down Fabian!”
“Alex, this is the find of a century!”
Marcie and Dorian jumped in front of the Wolf so the picture only showed them and Alex on the side with the woods behind them.
“No FabianRoss, this is private. This is just for us!”
“Besides, he’s going to show us his family, let’s go.”
They left the bikes there and slowly climbed down the ravine. It took a while but the four friends were finally at a plain where there were huts made of mud and grass. FabianRoss, the history and book geek of the bunch, was amazed at how stepping down into this ravine almost seemed like going back in time. There was a water well, farm-like plants with crops growing, the small buildings were all handmade, it was a simple little village.
The wolf led them into the center of the small square which wasn’t bigger than the cul-de-sac where three of the friends lived. A smaller wolf ran up to them.
“Daddy! You brought… guests?”
“Yes… lunch guests…” he said to the little one.
“Lunch? Uh… you’re sure they don’t eat humans, right Alex?” Dorian whispered.
“I can hear you... and no we do not eat humans. Believe it or not… we’re vegetarians.”
His wife walked out with a huge salad bowl and more vegetables, and tons of mushrooms on top.
“Santiago, you brought guests?” she asked in a smile.
The gang was still in awe of what they saw, two grown wolves and a child wolf… well they looked like wolves, but they were standing on their hind legs, just like they were. Speaking the same language they spoke and they were so pleasant. To Alex it was almost like a dream.
“You’re welcomed to stay for dinner,” she smiled, “…but the only meat we eat is the fish we catch in the stream.”
“And sometimes an occasional chicken.” the wolf said turning to Dorian.
“Wow! I can come and hang out with you guys then, you eat what I eat!” FabianRoss chuckled.
“This is the boy I uh… saved, dear.”
He patted Dorian on the arm.
“Uh do you guys always look like this? Always in wolf form?”
“Marcie?! That’s rude!”
“No it isn’t, I’m just curious.”
“Daddy, did you have to bite him?”
“He needed my blood, he desperately needed my cells to rejuvenate his weak blood.”
“How… how did he taste, Daddy?”
Alex sat at the table in a smile also wanting to know.
“Well, no offense, but er, you … taste like chicken.”
The four friends burst out in laughter.
After lunch, he walked them throughout the village, showing them how long they had been there, the well, the stream, the fireplace outdoors, the hammocks. It seemed like a paradise to the kids.
“My ancestor was t
he first of his kind. He lived here in the woods alone, then found his mate. They started our family and we have been here for generations. We have a longer life span than you do, and have dwelled in these woods for years, uninterrupted, until they started to build. When the founder of this town found our home, he chased my ancestor through the woods, cornered him and shot him.”
“Whoa, did he have silver bullets?”
“Ha, no that is another Hollywood invention. Regular bullets can kill us. It was a musket bullet that killed my forefather.”
“Wow, that’s sad.” Marcie shrugged.
“How many of you are there?”
Dorian’s question seemed legitimate, but the three wolves turned looking at each other, then the child walked up and patted Dorian on the back.
“We’re the last ones left… well except for my uncle, and he hardly never is here anymore. Last time I saw him I was… uh… Daddy how old am I again?”
“You’re thirty seven, Honey.”
“Wow that’s old! But she still sounds like a kid!” Marcie said.
“We don’t age like you do,” the wolf smiled, “…you see, I am one hundred and three. In your human years, I’d be about forty seven.”
“Wow.”
“We cause no trouble, we don’t creep into farms and kill your animals, we just want to reside in our home in peace. But this new age of building... we are being forced out. This is why we need your help Alex Davidson.”
“Come on, Alex, we have to do something!”
“I know Dorian, I just don’t know what to do.”
They sat down and ate dinner with the family. And they were surprised how smoked fish and salad tasted together.
“This is good grub, Mrs. Wolf.” FabianRoss said scarfing it down.
Within a few minutes they had finished and the wolf got up, pointed up the ravine.
“It is time… you should go.”
Marcie hugged the mom and daughter and started up, and one by one, the gang started climbing back up, it was getting dark. He led the way.
“We have to think of something; we can’t let them ruin their home guys.”
“We know FabianRoss.”
The four friends bounced glances off each other as they reached the last step and crossed up over the fallen tree. They got to the ridge and stood with him looking back into the ravine.
“You really have a nice home and family, Wolf.” FabianRoss smiled.
“My family…”
FabianRoss had his iPad on, he was trying to make sure he had the coordinates so they’d never forget how to get back to the ravine. His app allowed him to see live footage from a satellite in space. He bookmarked his spot.
“…my family, Davidson they are all I have left…”
CRASH!
They turned when they heard sound approaching from behind.
“Alex, guys! I think they’re coming with bulldozers!”
