Lycanthropy: Charlotte's Story Chpt 5

Friday, 9.30pm

Okay, so as you might have guessed, I didn’t get away with it like I planned, but not for the reasons you’re thinking. It all happened like this. Harriet went to bed at around nine o’clock, tired from her day of gardening. She locked me in my room as she always did each night, but I lay awake, fully dressed, on the bed. I was waiting for a phone call, the window was propped open all the way, so inviting.
I gazed around the room as I was waiting, my eyes settling on the cupboard. I got up and crept over to it, opening the door. Immediately I saw the diary I was reading lying on its side on the top shelf, the cover slightly elevated from being held open. Underneath it was the book of poetry I had first seen. I wanted to take both of these books with me. Remembering, I bent down and looked for the other two books that matched the diary. There they were, on the bottom shelf. I slid them out and flicked through the first one. The pages were the same, neatly typed and slightly faded. These were the sequels (if you could call them that) to the first diary I was enjoying so much. I picked up all four books and stuffed them into my bag.
I sat on the bed and thought about everything that had happened since I’d moved here. It had all climaxed over the last week or so.
Even though I did not think of my time here fondly, I still felt that I owed Harriet something. I owed her enough to tell her I was going.
I wrote her a letter and left it on the bed. I explained again that I wasn’t going to stay and have my life planned out for me, that I’d already found someone I wanted to be with and I was leaving. I thanked her for all she’d done for me (that was my manners showing up, I wasn’t feeling entirely grateful considering she’d ambushed me with her friends) and said goodbye.

Lee arrived at about ten-thirty, which was later than I had expected. I heard the car, even though it stopped a long way from the house. I think because I was listening for it nervously, it seemed louder.
I grabbed my bag and headed for the window. As I reached it, I turned and gazed around the room. I had made the bed and cleaned up a bit so it looked the same as it had when I’d arrived.
I nodded in satisfaction and turned back to the window. I carefully lowered my bag to the ground, leaning across the sill with my stomach pressed against the ledge. Then I slowly levered my leg out of the window and swiveled by body so my bum was on the ledge facing outwards. I swung my other leg over the ledge then jumped. I landed clumsily, hurting my ankle, but I didn’t really care. I stood still and listened for signs that Harriet had heard me. Hearing nothing, I crept in the direction of the parked car and imagined what I would say when I saw Lee for the first time in months.
I had reached the car but it was parked at the side of the road, with its headlights off. There was no-one in it. I stopped, confused.
“Charlotte.” A call to my right. I turned and saw him, standing beneath the trees, phone in his hand. He must have been going to call me, I thought.
I stopped to look at him. He looked good, just how I remembered.
I walked down beneath the trees and threw my arms around him and clung on tightly. At first he was reluctant, shocked, then he hugged me back. We stumbled back against a nearby tree where we leaned, locked together. He smelled and felt just like I remembered his body soft and welcoming. I leant up and touched my lips to his. At first he did not kiss me back, he leant away, but I persisted and he gave in. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close, kissing me gently. But it didn’t last- he pushed me away, wiping at his mouth.
“Don’t, Charlotte.”
I stared at him. “What?”
He gave a great sigh then looked around.
“Can we walk?”
Unsuspicious and carefree, I motioned behind me to where I knew the hidden path opposite my bedroom window would be waiting and he nodded, making his way toward it. I followed him, holding his hand in mine.
I was delirious with happiness, and although I wanted to leave straight away, I didn’t really mind if we took a quick romantic detour.
He led the way, through the trees and undergrowth, following the path gingerly. After a few minutes, the trees spread out and the ground became spongy with excess moisture. I could hear the soft gurgling of running water- there must be a stream or something nearby.
He spotted a clearing filled with springy green grass surrounded by big beautiful trees. I led me into the circle and sat me down on the grass- I was grateful for the summer heat then, the grass was soft and dry. I sighed happily as he sat down beside me.
“You’re so beautiful.” He whispered, smiling at me strangely. I smiled back at him, moving closer to sit in his lap.
“I missed you so much when you went away. I felt lost.” He said, gazing at me.
“I’m here, now.” I said, kissing his forehead.
He didn’t answer for awhile. His hand was tracing circles on my back. I tilted his face up towards me.
I leaned to kiss him, smiling slightly. He leaned away, looking troubled. I pouted at him.
“Why won’t you kiss me?”
He looked at me for a long time, then his face relaxed into a smile. He grabbed me by the waist and kissed me thoroughly.
“I never could resist you, you know.” He whistled. “Sitting in the front of my class, in that cute little skirt, you drove me crazy.”
I took his hand in mine and smiled down at him, reliving the past.
He let me hold onto it while he turned and said, “But we need to talk.”
I just gazed at him, waiting, trying to think of what he would tell me.
“I can’t take you back with me.”
The impact of his words took a little while to reach me. I wasn’t leaving. I had to stay.
“Why not?” I whispered my eyes wide with shock. What was he talking about?
“I don’t think it’s a good idea if we keep seeing each other.”
Another shock. I stared at him, and it all fell into place. Not answering my calls, and being distant when he did. Waiting so long to come and see me. I said nothing, but I could feel the tears beginning to form behind my eyes.
“I just don’t think it’s the right time for us. You’ve obviously made yourself comfortable down here, and I’m still happy where I am.”
“Comfortable…” I mumbled.
He touched my face gently. “I think it’s the best thing for both of us right now.”
“I don’t understand. How can this be what’s best for us?” my voice was raised.
He bit his lip, watching my face.
I went on. “I’m completely miserable out here- I need you! You said, once things had calmed down, that you’d come and get me and that we’d leave and rent somewhere together.”
He nodded, that is what he’d said.
“I just don’t think it’s the right time.”
“How can it not be the right time?” I was so frustrated, so confused that my voice was slowly rising and this last question came out in a shrill squeak.

Around the other side of the lake, a wolf lay on the soft moss that ran to the water’s edge. He was a large animal, black and powerfully built though right now he was relaxed and content.
He had watched quietly as the tall man had led the young girl along the path, finally settling her down in the velvety darkness beneath the trees. Humans moved so slowly.
A low growl rumbled in his chest.
Humans didn’t come down to his lake often, and it displeased him when they did. He thought of it as his quiet place, devoid of human activity.
He lost interest when they started to kiss, fondling each other. He turned his hearing to pick up more human-made sounds, further up the path. Boring.
He gazed around, and took a half-hearted snap at a frog to his left. It gave a disgruntled croak and jumped into the water, gliding to safety.
It was when he heard the lovers’ argument across the water that he raised his head with interest.

It wasn’t only the wolf who witnessed the couple beneath the trees. The watchers were there too, hidden further up the path.
In this instance, they had seen the girl fall from her bedroom window and walk to meet the stranger. They had not been told about the man who took the girl in his arms as she arrived.
They were worried.
They had followed when the man had forcefully pulled the girl into the cover of the trees and hidden themselves along the path, guns at the ready.
Unbeknown to them, the wolf across the lake lay listening to their every move.

I could feel stinging tears behind my eyes.
“Please take me with you.” I whispered. I couldn’t stay here. Not now. Not now that I knew what they had in store for me.
He gave a deep sigh. “I can’t.”
I gazed up at him, feeling hopeless and rejected.
“Why?”
“I met someone- someone else. I’m sorry.”
My hand gave an involuntary twitch and he flinched like I was going to hit him. I wish I had. I stared at him in shock. He reached out and I shied away from his hand, feeling betrayed and confused. He’d just kissed me, I thought.
I felt like I might pass out. I sat back down, my hands gripping the grass to keep me steady. He knelt beside me and reached out lamely to stroke my hair.
“Please don’t.” I said, turning my head away. I felt his hand on my hair.
“I said don’t touch me!” I screamed at him, the tears finally spilling over.
He took his hand away.
I stared past him, and I suddenly realized he wasn’t mine anymore. He hadn’t been for a long time. He wasn’t my leading man- it was no longer Lee on the horse. Talott talott.
“How long?” I asked, wondering how easily he had forgotten me.
“I got lonely, Charlotte, without you there.”
“How long?” I asked again, through gritted teeth.
His voice was quiet. “Just after you left.”
Lonely. I knew that word so well. I knew that emotion inside out. I stayed in my room, my only contact with people being with the one person who was now trying to marry me off to a complete stranger. I didn’t think he had the right to say he was lonely when he was surrounded by people, surrounded by laughter and friends.
“You’d like her. She’s a teacher, too.”
I didn’t even hear his words, though if I had, I think I would have hit him this time, they were so ridiculous. I was still stuck on his use of the word “lonely”. He didn’t have a clue.
“We’re just too different, Charlotte. I mean, our ages.. It was a silly idea to get started in the first place.”
“You came here to break it off with me?”
He nodded lamely. I looked at him accusingly.
“But you just kissed me! You were just telling me how much you’d missed me.”
“I’m so sorry.”
My tears were flowing hot and heavy. I had lost everything, again. I had lost Lee for the second time. And for the first time, I had lost hope. I wasn’t escaping. The shattered possibilities crashed down upon me and I crumbled under their weight. It had been the only way out- the only way… Without him, how would I do it? Could I resist them all just by saying no? I didn’t think so. I would have to leave to save my life, to live the way I wanted.
“I really needed you today.” I said, hoping to portray the trouble I was in.
Lee gave an impatient sigh like he thought I was being childish.
I hate him.
“I think I want you to leave.”
He nodded and stood. I didn’t feel strong enough to stand up and so I stayed where I was. He said nothing more but turned and walked up the path to his car. I was hoping to never see him again as I collapsed against the grass and cried myself to sleep.

The wolf watched with increasing interest as the man and girl fought, her raised voice reaching him easily across the water.
He stood up and shook the kinks out of his muscles, trotting around the water towards the couple. As he reached the clearing, he lowered himself and stayed hidden from view.
Remembering, he focused his vision toward the path, searching. From his new vantage point, he could see the path clearly and, more importantly, who was hidden along it.
There were two of them, both young, the automatic weapons glistening in their hot little hands. He could hear their pulses racing, their eyes glued to the humans in the clearing before him. Puzzled, he turned his gaze back to the couple.
The girl was sitting, crying. She looked like most girls he had seen, though he could not see her face clearly from this angle. The man was the picture of middle age with a receding hairline and a slack jaw, but other than that, he too looked normal.
Abruptly, the man left. The girl lay down and went to sleep. He could smell her salty tears. Normally, he would have jumped at such easy prey. But the girl was lifeless, defeated already, and the idea brought him no joy.
Motion to his left redirected his interest. The snipers on the path were crawling slowly toward the girl. They were about one hundred meters from the clearing where she lay. He couldn’t figure it out. He took another long stare at her. The wind had shifted and he could not catch her scent… who was she?
He weighed the odds and made a decision. Carefully he rose and slunk behind the snipers. Watching them where they would never see him, he rose his nose to the moon and howled. It was a warning howl, the notes beginning low and then sliding up the scale to a high pitched wail.
As predicted, the snipers whipped around, throwing themselves to the floor as they did so. They began to belly crawl toward the sound, and he watched with smugness as they began pointing to the clump of bushes twenty metres to his right. Humans were stupid. Still, they were closer to him than most people ever got and he grudgingly respected them for that.
Silently and with the speed of lightning, he bolted back to the clearing where the sleeping girl lay, curled tightly despite the heat. He took hold of the material at the back of her neck and began to drag her hurriedly up the path. His speed was such that they were half way up the path when she began to stir.

I was being attacked. I could vaguely feel hot breath on my throat, and my arms were dragging in the dirt, being scraped and scratched. I could not see what had me. It was shaking me and pulling me and twisting me up a slope. I recognized the path. It was taking me up toward the house. Was it Lee?
As I became more disoriented, I became frightened. I used my hands to beat whatever it was that had a hold of me. It had little effect- if any, I felt we were now travelling faster than before.
We’d reached the road. Even with the added light, I still couldn’t see who it was. I rolled over a bit and got a glimpse of the house. It was dark and silent, the picture of sleep. We’d used a different path though, the house was very far away.
It was then that the shots started, echoing cracks through the night air.
I screamed.
I was being dragged and then suddenly I wasn’t. I fell to the ground heavily and found myself staring up at the sky, full of stars. I threw my gaze to the left and saw the house again, a small black blot on the landscape.
Not missing another moment, I struggled to get up and began to run. It occurred to me that I wasn’t safe in full view on the road. I swung left and ran into the trees where I could still see the house. I ran for a full five minutes flat out until I reached my window.
I flew over that sill, and clattered to the floor inside not caring how much noise I made. I scrambled back up and slammed the window closed, breathing hard. I had a stitch.
I collapsed to the floor and sat there, trying to figure out what had happened.
After just a minute, the door crashed open and Harriet stood there, wild eyed.
“I heard shots.” She whispered. She frowned. “Why are you dressed?”
I glanced at the clock. It was almost three o’clock in the morning. I went to open my mouth, but couldn’t be bothered. I didn’t have a decent excuse ready anyway. I turned back to the window as Harriet hurried around the bed to look out of it.
We couldn’t see anything, just the path off to one side, and bush everywhere else. Harriet grabbed my hand and pulled me up, leading me out toward the kitchen. She didn’t turn the lights on. She sat me at the table and grabbed the phone.
I heard the muffled sound of someone on the line but wasn’t listening to Harriet. Then there was another shot. Crack.
She hung up and threw a glance toward the front door. No doubt she was wondering if she’d locked it before going to bed. But she was meticulous about the security of the house, and I had no doubt that it was tightly barred. She made a move toward it, then stopped herself. I touched her lightly on the arm.
“It’s locked. Don’t worry.”
She nodded. She drew in a shaky breath and moved toward the kitchen and took a seat at the kitchen table. I followed suit, taking the chair opposite her.
I looked down as I asked her, “Do you know who’s out there?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know what’s going on.”
I frowned. It hadn’t really answered my question.
We sat in silence, waiting and wondering what would happen next. About an hour had past when there was a quiet tap on the front door.
Harriet sat bolt upright, listening. I turned toward the door myself, my heart beating frantically.
Another tap.
My grand-mother stood slowly, still listening.
Tap.
She took a step toward the door.
And then… “Harriet?”
She let out a gush of air in a sigh of relief and hurried to the door, unbolting it.
I stood up, pushing the chair aside as I tried to see who it was. What if she was letting the wrong person in? I couldn’t see. I felt like hiding under the table. My hands went shaky again as I waited.
It was Niko and Penny. Once the door was unlocked, Niko thrust it open and slammed his tall frame inside, looking around wildly. He looked down at Harriet, aghast.
“It’s Charlotte… we can’t find her.” He looked distraught. Penny beside him, was flushed and panting.
Harriet shook her head and swallowed. “No, no. Niko she’s here she’s fine.”
He looked around again. Saw me standing in the kitchen gazing at him with wide eyes. I was almost glad to see him.
He closed his eyes. “Oh thank God.”
They stumbled inside and Harriet locked up again. Niko was staring at me strangely. Penny showed the most life I’d seen in her yet. She took one look at me and hurried around the table.
“God, look at you. You look like you’re about to pass out. Harriet, have you got any flannels?”
She hurried away while Penny sat me down. She looked at me seriously.
“We thought we’d really lost you there.”
I shook my head slightly. Obviously I was still here.
Niko was staring at me again. He looked troubled. “What were you doing outside?”
I hadn’t wanted to answer this question. I stayed quiet. I didn’t know what to say. The truth was too shameful.
“Who was the man you were with? Do you know him?”
I looked up in surprise, then I narrowed my eyes.
“Were you following me?”
“Yes.”
I blinked. “Why?”
“In case you did something like you did tonight. Charlotte, what were you doing out there?”
I looked away, breathing hard. Anger was replacing my fear. They’d been watching me.
“Charlotte, this is important. Did you know that guy?”
“Yes.”
Niko closed his eyes. He let out a sigh of relief.
“Who is he?”
I gritted my teeth. “Nobody.”
He stared at me.
Harriet returned, holding a flannel soaked in cold water. She handed it to me. I just held it in my hand, resting on my knee.
Penny got up and took the flannel from me, wiping my face, neck and arms. Before I could tell her not to, she pulled aside my shirt to wipe the skin and exposed my scar. I jerked away but it was too late.
She whistled. “Far out, how’d you do that?”
I pulled the shirt up as far as it would go to cover it up, got up and left the room.
“Charlotte…” Penny stood, her voice confused.

I was waiting for someone to come after me, but they let me go. I collapsed on the bed and lay there shaking from head to toe. It was too much. I couldn’t think anymore, I just couldn’t. I think I fell asleep that way because I woke up in the exact same position three hours later at seven o’clock, the Sun already heating up the room.

I was waiting for someone to come after me, but they let me go. I collapsed on the bed and lay there shaking from head to toe. It was too much. I couldn’t think anymore, I just couldn’t. I think I fell asleep that way because I woke up in the exact same position three hours later at seven o’clock, the Sun already heating up the room.