Meanwhile, back at the old house, Mr. and Mrs. Adler were busy moving into their new home. The moving company had already taken care of the big things like the fridge, washing machine and beds, but there was still a house-worth’s of furnishing left to do. Mrs. Adler was hanging up family pictures while Mr. Adler was trying to plug the TV into the Internet modem and cable box. The two then heard a knock on the door. Mr. Adler got up to answer, when he went to open the door he was greeted with something straight out of Red Riding Hood, a tall, elderly wolf woman in stereotypical ‘granny’ clothes stood there holding a cherry pie, “Oh, hello deary. I was just passing by when I heard we had some new neighbors and Ol’ Harriet wanted to make ya’ll a house warming gift.”
Mr. Adler kindly took the pie out of the elderly monsters paws, “T-Thank you Miss Harriet.”
Ms. Harriet waved her paw, “Daw, I hope no one has caused you too much trouble around here. People tend to get jumpy when humans are around. I heard Mr. Panchak really got on your case.”
Mr. Adler shook his head, “Nothing that I can’t handle.”
Ms. Harriet smiled, “Very brave, he can be an intimidating man, but trust me he’s more bark than bite.”
The elderly wolf turned to start stepping off of the porch, “I’m happy to see some fresh faces in our little town. If ya’ can’t tell life around here for folks can get quiet and very monotonous… lonely too. Half of the spice of life is being able to travel, see the world, meet other people. Werewolves don’t really get to do that for… obvious reasons. So it’s kind of like you’re bringing the outside world to us. I’m sure everyone else will be really excited to meet your family.”
By now several hours had passed. Dahlia had gone home and the Adler kids also returned home to have dinner with their family. An awkward air hung over their dinner table, every member of the family both desperately wanted to pretend it was a normal dinner like any other, and the other half wanted to bring up the werewolf-in-the-room… did they really just move into a town populated entirely by werewolves? And monsters are actually REAL? Eventually the five humans did start talking about their predicament but seeing how warm the locals were did put the family at ease. Although there are tons of scary stories and horror movies where the monsters or villains simply butter up their prey or victims just to get them in the perfect spot for a killing blow. Maybe the werewolves were just buttering them up for a five course human family meal? But they all seemed so nice and normal… besides Mr. Panchak.
Speaking of which, the older werewolf stood in his dark living room, staring at a mounted shotgun on the wall with the plaque at the bottom that read ‘Ol’ Reliable, May, 1997.’ As the werewolf man swigged down the last of his beer, two footpaws hovered in mid-air in the window behind him. A large furry form landed just behind the werewolf father as it took off towards the woods. After a few minutes of running, Dahlia had made it to the ‘check point’ she told Rowan and Annalise to meet her. The three teens converged outside of a local hardware store at the edge of town, Dahlia had some cans of beer and bottles of liquor bound in a tied-up flannel shirt that looked like it was size XXL and meant for a body builder… instead it was worn on a young adult werewolf woman’s body. She jostled the beers at the humans as they clanked together, “I promised refreshments.”
Dahlia pulled out two cans, it was some local brew called ‘Appalachian Amazement’. The three teens started their trek into the woods while drinking their beers; for the humans it was dark and hard to see, for the werewolf it was totally clear. About half-way there Rowan tripped and fell, “Geez, you humans are as blind as bats.”
Dahlia bent over and helped Rowan back up, “It’s not our fault our ancestors didn’t hunt at night.”
Dahlia giggled and shrugged, “Makes sense… you were too busy being hunted by us werewolves at night.”
Dahlia gestured for the two to follower her deeper and deeper into the woods. In the distance the sound of pounding, bass-heavy music could be heard, like a droning thud. The heart-beat like thuds slowly took shape into recognizable music and songs the closer they got. Trying to tease her new friends a bit more, Dahlia added, “Ya’ know… if I did want to eat you. This would be the perfect spot to do it. All alone, it’s super dark out and you got nowhere to go.”
This made the siblings freeze up a bit as they continued to walk through the foliage. The August night air was slightly cooler than it was in July, but still humid and muggy, with the constant ringing of crickets in the air. Annalise jumped in with a twinge of worry, “Y-you’re not taking us here to eat us… a-are you?”
Dahlia turned around and grinned ear-to-ear, letting the moment pause for dramatic effect until she burst out laughing and fell to the ground, “Of course not, what do you take me for, a wild animal? I like my meat cooked, served to me on a plate, and not able to hold a conversation with me, thank you very much.”
Annalise pulled off one of her flip flops and started smacking Dahlia with it, only making the werewolf giggle and flail around on the ground, “You fucking suck Dahlia, you dumb mangy mutt.”
Dahlia continued cackling as she teased back, “Oh, where was that tone when I said I was gonna eat you? That liquid courage kicking in?”
The three continued to walk another five or so minutes until they reached a large clearing with a bonfire in the middle and a bunch of teenage and young adult werewolves around it. There were a bunch of sub-groups of friends all mingling around the fire. The spare couple or two would disappear deep into the woods, obviously hoping to get down and dirty with each other. The music was being played out of two large guitar amps and a sub-woofer, in the clearing it was playing so loud you’d think you were inside of a club. Werewolves danced around, drank beers and took shots, and mingled amongst each other. Although, once the humans arrived, ears started too perk up and everyone froze looking in their direction. It was as if time stopped, but the music kept going. A rap song blasted through the speakers, “Bad bitch, bad bitch, in my fucking ways. I don’t need an AK to make that shit spray. They gonna take me back to my old ways, pop up with that new money miss me with the hate.”
After a solitary moment of a group of about 40-something monsters staring at them, the crowd broke the stare, most going back to mingling with one another, and a select few approaching the three. A muscular, timbre wolf in a football Jersey and basketball shorts approached them, “Hey Dahlia, are these the human neighbors?”
Dahlia grinned and nodded, “They are. Annalise, Roe… this is Hidelski. He’s the town jock.”
Hidelski smirked and shook his head, “So derogatory. Is that what you thought when we were dating in 8th grade?”
Dahlia purred and shot back, “No, I thought you were cute but had a head full of rocks.”
Hidelski held up his paws, “Yeesh, is that so.”
The timber wolf turned his attention to the humans, “So, how are you finding the town?”
Annalise replied, “It’s pretty nice. I never knew monsters existed, but everyone seems cool so far. Definitely going to take some adjusting to, and there’s a lot of hair on the pizzeria benches.”
The two werewolves cackled, Hidelski added, “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. Tends to happen when you have a full coat of fur.”
The four talked for a while, and eventually Hidelski asked if he could introduce Rowan and Annalise to some friends of his. About an hour after they had arrived, Rowan and Annalise were talking up and getting chummy with a bunch of the werewolves at the Howl. By now the two siblings were a few beers in, some of the werewolves were already a few dozen beers in. Due to their larger body mass it took a lot more to get buzzed, let alone drunk when your species weighed above five hundred pounds… and that was how much the skinnier werewolves weighed. By around midnight Annalise was with a group of werewolf athletes, some jocks and cheerleaders; and she couldn’t tell but she thought some of the wolves were getting flirty with her.
One grey wolf named Jet took a swig of his beer and pointed a claw at her, “Ya’ know you’re kinda cute… for a human.”
Annalise took a sip of her beer and grinned up at him, “Oh, you think so? For a human?”
Jet took another swig and smirked, looking away for a moment, “Yeah, yeah… ya’ know… you’re no she-wolf, you’re no Matilda… but you’re alright. Bet you’re soft and squishy and all.”
Annalise cocked an eyebrow, “And who’s this Matilda?”
One werewolf cheerleader pointed to another girl in a group not too far, a towering and muscular wolf girl with blonde fur in jean shorts and a loose fitting Jersey, “That’s Matty. The envy of every girl in town.”
Annalise guffawed and waved her beer can in Matty’s direction, “Oh, come on. She’s nothing. I can be a she-wolf, watch… GRRRRRR.”
Annalise bared her teeth and stuck her fingers in a ‘claw’ position. Jet paused for a second before bursting out into laughter, spilling half his beer, “Yo, that’s good. That’s great. Yo, you’re funny too. I like funny girls.”
Annalise grinned, “Thanks, well I like big, strong guys. But… I draw the line at guys who shed their fur everywhere.”
One girl in their group, a short werewolf girl named Veronica cupped her hands around her muzzle, “Boo, get a room already.” Annalise kept chatting up the wolves and mingling for several hours into the summer night.
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author