Just another Werewolf story

Ch.1
Explosions lit up the night sky as I sauntered down the crowded sidewalk to my friend Cody’s house. The 4th of July fireworks decorated the night sky in brilliant colors and sizzled along the ground like insects.
Coughing a little to dislodge the smoke that clogged my nostrils and throat I ran and hand through my stringy dark black hair noticing it almost touched my shoulders and made a note to get a haircut soon. I walked further and further away from all the noise and excitement of the neighborhood and turned down a dim reeking alley, a shortcut, avoiding the drunks passed out behind trashcans and the homeless skinny dogs that limped away in fear.
I was almost there. Nervous butterflies filled my stomach when I thought of Cody’s newest drug he wanted to try and share with me, the pure adrenaline of heroin. It wouldn’t be so bad would it? Only one time and that’s it. I don’t plan on getting addicted to it after only one time.
My eyebrows furrowed as I started thinking about all the things that could go wrong, especially the deal to actually get the drug that’s going to down tonight. I was suppose to watch his back and he mine.
A loud crash sounded behind me and I spun around fingering the cold metal knife in my pocket before I noticed it was only another drunk who stumbled against the metal trash can and fell into his own puke. I looked at him for a moment then turned and continued walking on towards the sidewalk nestled against a forest of tall dark menacing trees.
After about four minutes of walking I heard the sound of a party, or more specifically, Cody’s party. The sound of beer guzzling competitions and their audience of drunken college students spilled out into the street along with the distinct smell of marijuana. Shivering from the chill that hovered in the air, I flipped up the collar of my leather jacket, and reached in my inside pocket to grab my cigarettes to calm my exhausted nerves.
“Damn.” I muttered not finding my silver lighter in any of my pockets.
“Need a light?” a female voice asked behind me.
I turned and looked into the dark blue eyes of a girl with shiny black hair who was almost as tall as my 6 feet. She was wearing a denim jacket over a plain purple top with dark blue jeans and worn looking black boots. She had a weary look about her that said she wasn’t here for the party.
Taking her offered light I nodded my thanks and lit up handing it back.
Blowing out a puff of smoke, I moved to squeeze my way through the jam-packed threshold only to be stopped by her hand on my arm.
“Hey do you know where I can find Cody Darvins? Tall, skinny, bleached spiked hair? This is his party and he was supposed to meet me outside about an hour ago. That damn bastard.” She said narrowing her eyes in anger.
“Yeah I might know him.” I said warily. “What’s your business with him?”
She let out a long breath. “I’m not out to get him. Like I said, he was supposed to meet me outside a whole hour ago. If you find him in there, tell him I said he has 5 minutes to get his ass out here or the deals off and I’m leaving.” She stated in a steady voice then turned and walked off to sit in a 2007 blue Honda that looked as if it had seen better days.
I blew out a long stream of smoke then walked over and shoved my way inside the house annoyed.
Inside, the living room was dark and dense as smoke hung in a low cloud over everyone’s head. The music thumped and boomed off the walls as the only light that was on seemed to be a green light bulb swinging from a wire over the middle of the living room where people were dancing to the beat of the music.
“Cody!” I yelled over the crowd.
No one came forward or so much as looked at me and so I moved off to the right where the kitchen was. It was lighter in here, too light in fact. The white light shone all around making the dirty kitchen look even worse in the blinding light. People were here too, smoking, chatting, and pumping the keg in the corner next to the fridge. I went over and stubbed my cigarette in the ash tray on the table and grabbed a red cup and got myself some of whatever was in the keg. Sipping it, it turned out it was beer obviously; I looked around and noted he wasn’t in the kitchen so I continued my journey throughout the house.
Barging into the dining room I looked around and still didn’t see him. Growling, I turned around and rammed my shoulder into the door I just went through narrowly almost hitting the guy behind it.
“Hey! What’s your problem man?” the guy said taking off his sunglasses.
“Jayson?” I asked startled by seeing him.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t my buddy Alexander Raiden Peterson! How’s it going man?” he said loudly and stumbling over his words a bit.
I frowned a little at him using my full given name. Whatever Jayson was, he was not my friend. In fact, he was the complete opposite. In junior year at Maplewood High, he and his friends started a band and got briefly popular with the song we made. He was a hardcore stoner and the last time I saw him was when I caught him making out with my girlfriend in the back of his raggedy brown truck. He was different now though, instead of being pale, weak, and fragile he was tan, athletic, and healthy. I didn’t know how much people could change in two years until I saw him. He still had the habit of wearing sunglasses everywhere though.
Deciding not to dwell on it I walked past him intent on making my way to the stairs when he called out.
“Yo Alex! Your buddy Cody is downstairs in the basement. It seems someone thought it would be funny to tie him up in the closet so they could have free reign over the house.” He laughed and smacked hands with some other guys behind him and strolled off into the dining area.
Grinding my teeth together, I balled my fist up in anger but controlled myself. I knew if I started a fight with him now I wouldn’t win with him being new and improved and me being the same old scrawny punk rocker that I was in high school only taller.
I stalked off towards the basement bumping and knocking over people in my fury. Yanking open the doors I paused my anger dying down as I backpedaled from the smog coughing and hacking furiously. It was a whole room full of pot. Groups of people sat in circles passing their bongs to each other in harmony. I snorted and almost dislodged a lung laughing. Yeah. Harmony.
“Alex!” Jenny said from the floor. “Come share some of this with me. You know you want to.” She smiled in an attempt to be flirty but unfortunately that look only worked when I too was high.
“Later Jen, I got business to attend to. Do you happen to know which closet my boy Cody was stuffed in?” I asked looking around.
She pouted and pointed vaguely over towards the left somewhere and I carefully made my way over in that general direction avoiding people scattered precariously around on the floor.
Finally arriving at the closet door I banged on it rapidly ready to go and get the deal over and done with.
“Cody! Get your ass out here!” I yelled pulling open the door. “How’d you get tied up in here anyway?”
There was Cody hands, feet, and mouth tied with rope and bed sheets. His spikes seemed to be drooping and all the piercings in his face, ears, and lips winked at me as the light hit them. They were the lasting evidence of our competition at the tattoo parlor to see who could stand the most piercings without calling it quits. He obviously won.  His brown eyes lit up at my presence and he started trying to say something, but the cloth in his mouth preventing him from making any more noise than an indistinguishable mumble.
Taking off everything but the mouth tie off I stood back and he stood also pulling it off himself.
“Dude! Have you seen Jayson recently? He’s a fucking monster! He crashed my party and when I told him to beat it he tied me up and stuffed me in this damn closet man! Nobody would help me; they all just stood back and laughed at me! This is my party man, my party! Where the hell were you? You’re suppose to have my back being best friends and all-”
“I had to go bail Ben out man chill.” I stopped him in the middle of his rant. “Some dudes were chasing him across that field over by Incant Creek with baseball bats. I had to go back him up. He’s my little bro, besides, your fine. They didn’t jump you did they?” 
He sighed through with his complaining for the moment.
“Oh, and some chick out there told me to tell you that she’s been waiting out there an hour and if you didn’t get back outside to meet her in five that the deal was off.” I said tiredly.
His eyes widened and he let out a loud, “Oh shit!”
“Tell her I’m coming out right now, I got to go get Lenny and my bro Chad. Go! She’s our ticket to the heroin.” He yelled as he ran off.
I ran after him, his excitement infecting me. I passed Jenny en route to the exit and was not surprised to see her already making out with someone else she’d found with me already long forgotten as the guy’s hand slowly made its way up her pink cheerleading outfit.
I made my way outside locating the blue Honda instantly and went over and rapped on the window drawing the even gaze of the girl. Something about her made me wary and distrusts her instantly.
“He’s on his way; he went to get the rest of our crew.” I said in a low voice.
She unlocked the car and motioned me inside and I opened the back door preferring to keep an eye on her without craning my neck.
We waited in silence. Staring each other down through the rearview mirror until Cody, Chad, and Lenny came and piled into the car and the nervous distrust from before settled in a deep suspicion in my gut.
“Did you have to bring such a small car?” Lenny complained squirming in the middle since I refused to give up my door seat.
Lenny was the youngest of us all and also the most annoying. He had red hair which we styled into fohawk with black streaks sometime during middle school and he’s worn it the same style ever since but every so often he changed it to a different color. Being the band’s main drummer he had to look at least halfway decent when we got a gig. Now he was wearing a wrinkled white tank top with a blue and white flannel shirt that hung unbuttoned from his skinny shoulders which now drooped.
“Would you just shut up? Why did we have to bring him? He’s gonna get us all killed!” Chad said angrily and I silently agreed.
Chad was Cody’s older angry brother though only by two or three years. The reason I call him angry is that he’s always angry about something or another and if he couldn’t find something to be angry about he’d start or make something up. He’s also the best looking guy in our group no homo intended. He looks the almost exact same as Cody except somehow he makes himself look better. Blonde hair dyed silvery white just like Cody’s except instead of spikes; he let his hair grow out so that it flopped over his green eyes. He had only piercings on his left eyebrow (two small bars), lower lip (one silver hoop), and two gold hoops in his right ear, he thought it made himself look charming. I thought it made him look gay. You either have a lot of piercings or none at all was my motto. Cody agrees with me. His wardrobe is the pretty much same as ours only chosen a little better. Right now he was wearing a rumpled solid black T-shirt, a silver cross necklace, a leather jacket like mine, black skinny jeans, and Vans like he was still in high school.
Looking back to the front of the car, I caught the girl whose name she never provided studying me in the rearview mirror just before she looked quickly away. Shaking my head I wondered just what were we getting ourselves into tonight.
Ch.2
30 minutes later, after the girl had deftly maneuvered her way around the small crowds of firework freaks and little kids, we turned and started into a barely seen path in the dense shadowy woods.
The small Honda bumped along on the uneven dirt ground as Lenny had given up on talking and fell asleep seeing as no one was acknowledging him and Chad and I sat quietly in the back listening to our I-pods to stave off some of the boredom that hung in the air of the car. The girl, our driver and middleman uh woman, looked around the woods and seemed slightly pissed about something. The only one who looked to be excited was Cody. He was shifting around in his seat as he strained to see through the gloom in the forest.
The road started to slightly curve and I sat there thinking how would we ever find our way out if something happened? Chad must have been thinking something similar because he suddenly sat forward taking out his ear buds and started talking.
“So why are we way off in the woods?” he said casually.
The girl driving looked at him in the rearview mirror briefly.
“Would u prefer we do the deal in the middle of the street, or at your party maybe?”
         Chad frowned slightly. “What was your name again? I didn’t catch it the first time.”
         “I didn’t provide it.”
         “How’d you come to be our transfer? Where’d you and Chad meet?” he pressed.
         “Look!” she snapped. “What is this, twenty questions? Just sit back and shut up until we get there then afterwards I’ll take you back to your lame ass party drop you off and we’ll never see each other again. Got it? Good.”
“Cody.” I said in an even tone as if I’d never heard them talking. “Where did you meet this chick?”
He looked at the girl as she glared daggers at him daring him to say anything.
“We met on the internet.” He said with a shrug towards her as if saying ‘what’s the big deal with telling them?’
“What do you get out of all this?” Chad said thinking ahead.
She sighed realizing that we weren’t going to give up. “What I get is Cody. He’s going to go pick something up for me in about a week.” It was a vague answer that told me she was lying straight out and didn’t care if we knew it or not.
Before we could say anything else she turned sideways in a bright clearing lit by the full moon as it cast a ghostly white gleam over the dense foliage making the various plants, trees, and bushes luminous. 
         She abruptly got out of the car leaving it on and slammed the door and we took that as our cue to get out also.  Reaching over and shaking Lenny I opened my door and got out stretching my arms and legs grimacing at having been in a cramped position for so long. I walked a little away from the rest of the group to get my blood circulating in my legs again as Cody and Chad went around to the back of the car for an intense conversation with the girl and Lenny leaned against the hood of the car staring off into space.
         Sensing someone staring at me I turned and looked out into the mysterious woods and saw nothing. Nevertheless the feeling continued. Feeling a little uneasy I decided to go back to our little group to see what all the fuss was about.
         “Where are they?!” Cody’s face was red and furious as he yelled at the girl.
         “You said they’d be here before we got here you fucking whore!”
         “They’ll be here! Get the hell out of my face before you be walking around picking up your damn teeth!” the girl screamed back as her hands balled up into fists and started shaking.
         “Calm down!” Chad intervened standing between them before they came to blows.
         “Maybe this was a bad idea.” I said quietly wondering if it was a good idea to get involved.
         Cody and I made eye contact and slowly the anger drained from his face while a light bulb turned on somewhere in his head.
         I nodded.
         “Let’s go.” Chad said understanding the information that passed between us. It had to be a trap.
         “No.” the girl said in an ominous voice.
         We all turned towards her in slow motion as if in a trance then the world froze as we realized she had taken out a gun. It glinted dangerously in the moonlit like a nightmare but seemed very real.
Nobody moved. Nobody said a word.
Two stylish black Cadillac’s with tinted windows and glistening new rims pulled into the clearing breaking the trance she had over us. One stopped at the only entrance and exit of the clearing effectively blocking us in and the other slowly circled around us, a panther silently stalking its prey. It finally came to a stop several feet from the front of the Honda. Lenny looked at them fear showing on his face and got off the hood slowly backing up until he bumped into me. I put a steady hand on his shoulder knowing he was only 17 and regretting not saying anything when Cody brought him along.
Seemingly at the same time all the car doors opened on both cars and the men stepped out. All the men were dressed mostly the same in non descriptive clothing like light windbreaker jackets, jeans, and gloves. The only thing that was constant in their choice of attire was the black beanies, dark sunglasses, and various styles of black head scarves tied around the bottom halves of their faces making them successfully anonymous. A tense atmosphere surrounded them as they clutched their rifles and handguns.  I felt like I was stuck in the middle some horribly low budget gangster movie.
A man not dressed like the others stepped out from behind them and walked toward us at a steady pace. A short guy with a thin goatee and slicked back brown hair came into view. He was dressed in an expensive looking pinstripe three piece suit with a classy Rolex watch and lavish shoes that he was most likely only going to wear once. Passing Lenny, Cody, and I he stopped and looked at his watch, standing next to Chad and in front of the girl.
“I’m so sorry I’m late Mary. The fools are all out in the street popping those noisy fireworks and I had a hard time getting through them and had to take many detours.” He said hugging the girl.
“Its fine dad, I had it all under control until they tried to leave.” She said putting the gun away and sparing a glance at Chad and the rest of us with disgust.
My back pressed against the car hard as my mind frantically tried to think of a way out of this shitty situation we’d gotten ourselves into and coming up with none that involved every single one of us making it out alive. The only factor in our favor was that the car behind me was still running and no one seemed to take notice of it.
“So which one of these boys did you say raped you?” the short man said startling me out of my plans and back into the conversation.
She raised her hand and pointed at Cody and we stood shocked and dumbfounded.
“I’ve never seen her before in my life! I swear it!” Cody’s voice trembled with fear and horror.
“You were high, of course you don’t remember.” Mary said in a tiny quiet voice in stark contrast to the tired angry person we first met.
Her father turned around and looked at Cody with steel in his eyes as he stalked toward him. While his back was turned I saw her make eye contact with Cody and wink.
“I’ve never been so high as to fuck someone as ugly as you!” he yelled at her.
It suddenly all came back to me a little too late as I remembered back in sophomore year she was obsessed with Cody and totally convinced they were soulmates. Cody was not so convinced and after he turned her down for the third time he told her to get lost and embarrassed her in front of the entire lunch room. Someone got the whole thing on camera and spread it all over the school as she vowed to get revenge on him one day.
Today must be that day, I thought grimacing.
I saw the light flash on in Cody’s eye too but once again we were too late to change anything. He must not have wanted to make things worse since he said nothing and continued denying that ever saw her.
Just before he got to Cody, Chad caught up to him and put his hand on her dad’s shoulder.
“Hey! Don’t fuck with my little brother. He’s told you he never saw her in his life so if you want to take this to court go ahead but don’t you dare touch him or else the police will be all over your ass like white on rice.”
The short man spun and hit Chad squarely in his jaw knocking him to the ground and Chad scrambled back up to his feet a little wobbly and hit him back in the eye.
         I looked at the other men and noticed they hadn’t moved an inch and decided that they went only by his orders and wouldn’t intervene unless he told them to. Nudging Lenny I whispered for him to call the police and he surprised me by saying he already called them. I smiled at him letting him know everything would be okay then turned to see Cody rush out to join the fight. I tried to grab him but missed by inches as he sped off his feet a blur. I wanted to warn him that Chad had a much better chance without our getting involved since he was the guy that had all the men with guns.
         He tackled the man off of Chad and began to pound into his face in a fury as Chad struggled to sit up clearly in pain.
“Cody! Chad! No!” Lenny screamed his eyes wide and frantic.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mary’s eyes narrow in rage and her hands as she lifted up the gun to shoot Cody off her father.
Without a conscious thought, I ran and tackled her just as the she pulled the trigger and an ear piercing bang sounded as the bullet whizzed past my head and off into the night sky. We hit the ground with a hard thump that knocked the wind out of me as I yanked the gun away.
“You bastard!” she yelled trying to scratch my eyes out.
“Mary!” her father shouted looking at me with a promise of death in his eyes, fearing for his daughter’s life.
I pushed myself up off the ground and a shot fired somewhere in the group of men with a loud crack that made me flinch. Where was the damn police? I thought just as I heard sirens in the distance.
“Get in the car!” I screamed at the frightened Lenny and ran off to help Cody and a pissed off Chad.
The dad got up and reached behind his back for something with a determined glint in his dark eyes.
“Stop!” I said as I aimed the gun at him and looked to see if Cody and Chad were alright.
Crack!
Another shot from the same place was fired and since it didn’t hit me or anybody else I assumed it was a final warning shot.
One of the bodyguards stepped forward aiming the gun at me in an easy grip that said he wasn’t just some hired thug.
“Sir, I was just notified that the police are at the entrance to the forest and will be here in exactly five minutes. I highly suggest we wrap this up and be gone to avoid any confrontation.” His voice, muffled by the rag he wore over his mouth, was the rough voice of a highly intelligent man. Who were they?
Distracted at the moment by the guy with the gun, I didn’t notice Mary sneak up behind me with a knife. She stabbed me in my right shoulder and I screamed and dropped the gun.  Her father smiled then as if in slow motion, took out a gun and fired at Cody. Fortunately Chad was already running and had pushed him out the way just in time for him to get hit with the bullet instead. They both fell heavily to the ground, but only Cody got up.
“Chad!” Cody screamed. The agony and loss clear in his voice.
“Let’s go Mary! Our job is done here. Let the police capture them so we’ll have time to leave the country.”
I struggled to my feet just as the police came careening in and the Bodyguards wasted no time and opened fire trying to help the girl and her father get away, yet just as they got into the car with a few men, one of them from the other car shot the wheel of a speeding police vehicle making the car spin out of control on the wet grass kicking up dirt and crashed so hard into Mary’s vehicle, the Cadillac turned over twice stopping upside down. Police streamed everywhere shooting and getting shot and that one errant bullet glanced off the upturned car that was leaking gas and before anyone could get out, caught fire and exploded in a blaze of heated flames. I felt no pity for any of the people that died in that car. I picked up the gun and started running toward Cody kneeling and crying over Chad’s body when I heard a scream and suddenly a long low howl that wasn’t a man filled the burning night air. I thought the night couldn’t possibly get any worse. 
Ch.3
Wolves, or what I thought were wolves since they were way too big to be them, came careening through the brush and trees of the forest. The first one’s fur was a light caramel color and its ears tipped were tipped white and stood about 4 and a half feet on all fours, the second wolf was grayish white color and looked to be a solid 5 feet on all fours. They both dashed swiftly across and around the field in speeds I couldn’t believe were possible obviously looking for someone and not too worried about the many bullets hurtling towards them from both the startled police and the anxious hired guards. Mary’s car was amazingly still running and only lightly riddled with bullets.
Switching and putting the gun in my right hand, I grabbed Cody with my good arm and pulled on him trying to yank him from Chad body which I didn’t look to closely at.
“Come on! We have to get to the car before we get shot!” I yelled at my seemingly deaf friend.
“He’s still alive…Dude Alex, he’s still alive!” he yelled at me and sure enough Chad looked at me blood dribbling out of the corner of his mouth and smiled weakly. “We have to get him to the hospital!”
“I think he punctured a lung. He’s not gonna make it.”
Cody’s eyes flashed the gun shooting in the background making him almost scary.
“He’s gonna make it. I’m not leaving him.” And with that said he yanked his arm out of my grip and proceeded to drag Chad car very quickly in what was probably burst of adrenaline.
Sighing I stood up the burning pain in my shoulder making me hunch over. I looked up when there was a loud “Over here!” from behind the seemingly abandoned cop car a feet few from me. It was the guy who pointed the gun at me the first time. I hesitated seeing his leg was badly mangled thinking he was talking to me, but when he turned and saw me looking at him, his eyes widened taking sight of the  gun in my hand and raised his own towards me in defense. Hurriedly I also raised mine scared out of my wits and thinking after surviving all this I was finally going to die when suddenly out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of the grayish white wolf right before it slammed into me snarling before me or the guy could shoot. 
Landing on my bad arm I cried out as tears stung my eyes and the gun flipped out of my grasp. He bit down into my left forearm hard as I scrambled futilely struggling to get away. Remembering my knife I fished around in my pocket with my right hand finding it driving it into its chest but nowhere near deep enough to kill him considering how bad the pain in my shoulder was.
He yelped in pain anyway releasing my arm and rushing off me so fast, his claws gouged my legs when he jumped off. I wobbly got to my feet and did my best to run without falling all the way to the car where Cody, Lenny, and Chad were waiting impatiently for me. The world dipped, turned, and danced in front of my eyes the whole way there, yet I made it without passing out or getting eaten by the wolves. I got in the front driver seat when I saw Lenny in the passenger seat and Cody with Chad in the back sprawled out bleeding everywhere.
Lenny looked up as I got in.
“Are you okay Alex? We saw that wolf get you back there and had to decide whether you were dead and to leave or not. We were seconds away from pulling out since Chad is barely holding on and Cody is anxious to get him to a hospital because Chad isn’t responding anymore and-”Lenny said chattering nervously.
“I’m ok, for now at least, were going.” I said squeezing my eyes in pain as the throbbing from the bite on my forearm pulsed in time with my racing heart.
Putting the gear in drive, I blinked most of the dizziness away and went to go until I saw the girl who looked to be about 20 years old lying naked by the edge of the trees off to the right. She was beautiful, an angel who fell from the dreary night sky. Her long auburn hair almost reached her waist and was fanned out like a blanket shielding her from dangers of the world. She would almost seem to be peacefully asleep if it were not for the blood smeared on her face and bleeding bullet holes that blemished her otherwise perfect stomach.
What the hell? How’d she get out here? I thought just as her arm moved slightly showing the first signs of life I’ve seen from her. I thought she was dead.
Damn I have to help her!
“Alex! What the fuck are you waiting for? Pull the fuck out we don’t have time for this shit! Chad is dying!” Cody screamed in my ear.
“There’s a girl out there! She’s still alive! We’ve got to help her!”
“Fuck her! What about Chad?”
“I’m not gonna leave her! That’s not me!” I shouted back getting out of the car nearly getting hit by a bullet that flew past hitting and shattering the back side window.
I had just reached the girl and turned just in time to see Cody climb into the driver seat and screech off as the police and guards both opened fire on the only moving vehicle, yet they escaped.
I shook the girl praying that she hadn’t died yet and wondering how to get out of here.  Putting my fingers to her neck I found a weak but steady pulse and let out a long breath thanking God.
More police arrived as backup to the few police that weren’t dead or bleeding to death and these seemed better equipped than the first batch as they had rifles and shotguns as to the pistols and pepper spray the first team had.
Alongside the regular issued police vehicles were sleek black nondescript cars but obviously with the police. One of said cars pulled up a few feet away from the spot in the bushes were the girl and I were. They all got out quickly drawing their weapons and moving to apprehend or kill the suspects who have had to by now known they’re outnumbered badly and sure enough I saw the Cadillac on the other side of the small clearing rev to life and the cops all ran towards it opening fire.
I couldn’t believe our luck. A getaway car parked right in front of me and also a distraction. I shook my head both from the dizziness that threatened to overtake me and from the irony of the situation. The small window of opportunity was rapidly closing so using every last bit of adrenaline I had left and trying to ignore the pain, I half picked up half dragged the girl over to the front passenger door, thanking God once again for small miracles like the passenger door facing us, I opened, and unceremoniously dumped her inside climbing in afterwards and shutting the door softly. I sat in the driver seat closing my eyes as the pain from all my wounds seem to grow and fire spread throughout my body. Turning the key, I drove out of there so fast, not one of the police men had time to look up before I was gone.
Racing through the woods I clenched and unclenched the steering wheel in a variation of tight to loose grip and just as I was starting to worry about taking the wrong path and being lost, suddenly the doom and gloom of the dark forest disappeared unto the eerie shine of the full moon high in the sky. I couldn’t go home and I couldn’t keep this car for long I knew but my body was threatening to stop and I had at least 30 minutes until I most likely wouldn’t wake up again.
Driving aimlessly around my head was a frenzy of emotions and pain all swirling around together to end up in one big vortex of depression and misery. I decided to go to old man Fowler’s Log House out by Incant Creek. It was five minutes away and old Fowler died years ago from natural causes, yet his house was well hidden and no one knew about it except for the band which we used it as a getaway. As I arrived there I parked in front of the cabin, looked up, and promptly passed out welcoming the cool darkness at last.
Ch.4
A hot burning sensation in my left forearm and legs woke me up and I moaned clenching my hands together and squeezing my eyes shut unknowingly making the small low conversation in the room stop. My heart started beating faster and faster and I gasped my eyes flying open as I rolled out the bed hitting the cold wooden floor tangled in my sheets.
“Easy man, take it easy.” a low male voice said calmly while he grabbed my right arm and pulled me up letting me flop back down onto the bed.
Tears forming in my eyes from the pain, I briefly glanced around the room taking notice that I was in the Mr. Fowler’s bedroom and there was the girl I saved last night sitting in the chair looking out the window  before the pain become too much and I passed out.
*One week later*
         “I think it’s finally turned him completely, he’s not screaming anymore.”
         “It’s weird though. Usually it takes longer than that, at least 4 to 5 weeks. No one’s ever gotten through the change that fast. Also it wasn’t as bad for him as others. ”
         “Did you see that birthmark on his chest? I wonder if—”
         “Shhh! He’s awake.”
         I opened my eyes slowly cringing at the bright light coming in from the window until someone lowered the curtains. I tensed my arms, shoulders, and legs trying to test out the injuries I had gotten and was amazed that nothing so much as stung. I felt great now that I thought about it if not a little hungry.
         “You feeling okay?” the same man’s voice from last time said making me sit up quick and look at him.
         He was an older looking guy maybe mid-forties with graying short hair and kind light blue eyes behind a pair of glasses with a thin grey and black goatee. Pulling a granola bar from his pocket, he held it out to me as an offering.
         Hesitantly I looked around at the people seeing two guys I didn’t know and the girl I rescued. One of the guys had a pair of dark sunglasses on and a slight frown on his brown face. Wearing some tan cargo shorts and a crisp unblemished white shirt, he looked as if he were a tourist going on vacation yet his expression stated otherwise.
         The other guy was young, looked as if he worked out every day, and maybe 5’8 in height. He had carefully styled wavy dirty blonde hair and cold grey eyes which at the moment were shooting daggers at me. Leaning back against the wall he silently studied me.
         Shivering, I finally looked at the girl I had saved from the gunfire. She wore no makeup but there wasn’t a single flaw marking her beautiful complexion and her bright green eyes looked relieved to see me up. Her bow shaped pink lips turned up in a faint smile and she colored slightly when she saw me looking at her. Grey eyes noticed me looking also and his eyebrows furrowed and he went over and put his arm around her shoulders. It was the universal ‘back off my girl’ sign.
         Tentatively I eyed the man with the granola bar and cautiously took it from him unwrapping it and taking a huge bite waiting for him to talk since it was obvious he had something to say.
“Ok you’re probably wondering who we are and why we’re here, correct?”
I nodded silently and continued to eat my granola bar, quickly flashing my eyes to the window and the door judging the proximity and my chances of getting out alive if things went wrong.
         “No harm will come to you from us.” He said practically reading my mind.
         There was a loud snort from the grey eyed guy and middle aged guy whipped his head around and glared at him making him pale and look away.
         “No harm will come to you.” He repeated looking at me with steel resolve.
         “My name is Sinclair. This is Dante.” He gestures to the guy with the sunglasses to the right and Dante nodded at me. “This is Slater.”
         Instead of nodding at me like Dante did, Slater sneered at me and stepped forward. “If you so much wave that knife of yours at me again, I’ll rip out your intestines and strangle you with them!”
         “Slater!” both the girl and Sinclair said in warning.
         “I’ve never seen you before in my life.” I said in a low voice.
         Everyone stopped and looked at me in silence. There was a slight snicker and then Dante let out a full out laugh bending over on his knees and gasping. Sinclair sighed and Dante shook his head still laughing and walked out without saying a word.
         “Come on.” The girl said lightly tugging on Slater’s long sleeved shirt to get him to follow and Slater rudely yanked his sleeve out of her grip and roughly grabbed her arm and dragged her out the room.
         My eyes followed the pair, not missing the rough way he handled her or the frightening flash of fear that briefly shadowed her eyes.
         Opening my mouth to say something, Sinclair stopped me by holding up a hand.
         “Listen, I’ll answer any questions within reason you have about anyone or anything, but only after you listen to me with open ears.” He said calmly.
         “Okay. Where are my clothes?” I said noticing embarrassedly for the first time that I was completely naked under the sheets I was wrapped up in.
         “You had an extremely high fever and soaked them through and they also had various rips, holes, and blood on them. I bought you some new ones.” He said then continued forward before I could interrupt him again. “You were bitten by a….wolf, but not just any regular wolf a werewolf.”
         “Wait—” I started.
         “No! Listen!” He said getting impatient. “Werewolves are real. You got bit by one, if you want to be specific, it was Slater. He and Roslyn were sitting around as backup for Sam, that’s Slater’s older brother, when he went as a bodyguard as a favor for Thomas, a guy who fancies himself a gangster. Or at least he did until him and his daughter Mary died in that car. Anyways…well, you tried to kill Sam and Slater attacked you failing to watch out for his girlfriend Roslyn who had gotten shot trying to protect Slater from the bullets.”
         There was silence in the room. Sinclair quietly waiting for my reaction and I was in complete shock. What was this guy on? Maybe he’d share some with me. I thought wryly.
         “No questions?” he said breaking my chain of thought.
         “How long have I been out?” I asked the first thing that came to mind.
         “About a week more or less, you woke up a few times mumbling, groaning, and once screaming but seemed to have taken the change quite well. You didn’t die at least.” He shook his head.
         “Wait! What change?” I said sitting up straighter. The only thing that kept me seated and not pacing the room was my current state of undress. “What did you do to me?”
         “I didn’t do anything. You got bitten by a werewolf son. Do I really need to explain?”
         I didn’t say anything. Running a hand through my too long hair, I looked around the room making sure I was really awake and not hallucinating. I then looked closely at Sinclair, trying to spot anything from too hairy hands or drug-addled eyes.
         “I’d like those clothes now.” I said calmly and evenly.
         He blinked in surprise and opened and closed his mouth as if he didn’t know what to say. Scratching his jaw, he nodded and got up and left to go get the clothes. As soon as the door closed, I pulled off the sheets and ran to look out the window. The sleek black police car I had stolen to get away was gone and there were unfamiliar people sitting around and talking or walking off into the woods in the direction of the lake.
         One such woman walked to the brink of the woods and starting pulling off her clothes. My eyebrows drew together in confusion when I noticed not one person looked at her crazy or asked what she was doing. Then she stretched and pounced forward turning into a huge wolf before she turned and darted off into the forest. No one so much as glanced after her.
         Gasping I stumbled back onto the bed, eyes wide. No. It’s not possible, I’m hallucinating that’s it. I’m still passed out in the car or maybe the whole night was a dream. Yes, of course. I tried to reason to myself.
         There was a knock on the door and I hastily covered myself as Sinclair walked in and handed me the clothes. Then he stepped back hesitating and I lifted my eyebrows in question.
         “Listen Alexander, I didn’t mean to be so blunt but the changes taking place in you right now are faster than we’ve ever seen. We need to talk about what’s happening to your body and what you can expect.” He said into the silence.
         “Listen Sinclair, I don’t mean to be rude since you seem like an okay guy but you’re not my father and this is not some ‘You’re hitting puberty’ talk. I’ll just take my clothes and leave if that’s okay with you.” I said steely, planning to go whether he think it’s okay or not.
         “I also didn’t tell you my name.”
         He pulled something out his back pocket and tossed it at me and I caught it in mid-air. It was a baggy with my stuff in it. Cell phone (smashed during one of my falls), a pack of gum, a pack of cigarettes, and my wallet with my cash and ID still in it.
         I shrugged apologetically and waved my hand in a motion for him to leave. After he complied, I got up and grabbed my clothes checking the sizes. Great, he got the wrong size clothes. I guess I could take that as a compliment since I’ve always been a little too skinny. I thought shaking my head.
         Putting the clothes on anyway, I noticed something strange as I was zipping my jeans. I fit them perfectly. Walking over towards the closet holding my shirt, I opened it and stepped back looking at myself in the full length mirror on the inside of the door.
         Whoa. I thought shocked with wide eyes. I look like I stepped off the cover of a GQ magazine.
         In the mirror a tall lean guy with washboard abs, a firm chest, and longish black hair falling into hazel shocked eyes stared back. I moved slightly and the figure in the mirror did the same. It was crazy unnaturally awesome and kind of scary. Slightly smiling to myself, I flexed watching my muscles contract and relax again. There was a loud shout interrupting my reverie and I looked towards the closed door in confusion. Another shout followed the first one and I quickly pulled the tank top over my head followed by a plain white T-shirt and tennis shoes before hurrying out the door to find the center of all the commotion.
         Going down the hall I listened intently to the loud sounds and made out Slater’s voice being the main person yelling. I picked up the pace turning the corner towards the second bedroom and right straight into Dante coming out the guest bathroom.
         “Whoa. Chill out bro. You don’t want to get involved in that.” He said steadying me before I fell.
         “I think I can choose what to get involved in or not and frankly I think you can’t tell me what to do. Now get out of my way!” I yelled trying to shove him out of the way but he stood firmly in the same spot.
         “You don’t know what you’re getting into now stay in your place!” he shouted back taking off his sunglasses.
         I blinked in shock as his eyes were completely white. No pupil or anything. I stared at him wondering if that was how blind people’s eyes looked.
         “I’m not scared of you.” I growled looking him dead in his eyes.
         He raised his eyebrows a moment then smiled a genuine huge smile. It was so out of character I could do nothing but stand there dumbfounded.
         “I think you’ll be alright bro.” he stepped to the side and continued his path to the living room and out the front door.
         Deciding not to dwell on it long, I rushed into the bedroom where the yelling was still continuing oblivious to the small drama that played outside.
         “—and if you ever disobey me again there’ll be consequences worse than this.” Slater growled clenching Roslyn’s hair tighter in his grip making her yelp.
         Soon as I saw Slater’s hand gripping Roslyn’s hair in a tight hold I got angry, angrier than I’d ever been in my entire life. Rushing him, I tackled him out the window like a pro football player and he had about 3 seconds to look surprised and loosened his grip on Roslyn before it happened.
         We hit the ground in a tumble of legs and arms before Slater got off a lucky punch catching me in the jaw and knocking me into the side of the house underneath the broken window. Jumping up, he snarled face twisting ugly and charged me but I neatly dodged to right out of harm’s way. Stopping himself he went to turn around however I grabbed him from behind and picked him up before slamming him back into the ground then pausing.
         How did I do that? Since when was I that strong? I pondered then snapped out of hit as my legs were swept from under and a knee slammed into my ribs.
         Gasping from the pain, I gritted my teeth and caught the hand speeding towards my face and lifted up my other catching him around the neck and squeezed. Slater’s eyes bugged out his head as I furiously put more strength into the hold I had and slowly stood up.
         “Don’t you dare put your hands on her again or I will kill you.” I said enunciating my words slowly for him.
         Narrowing his eyes in anger, he balled up his fist and hit me so hard in my stomach I doubled over and dropped to the ground like a stone. My silent scream echoed volumes and tears formed unbidden in the corner of my eyes. Blinking them open I saw him step back and pull his shirt over his head.
         Knowing exactly what he was about to do I struggled to my feet just as he finished changing into a grayish white wolf standing an amazing 5 feet tall on all fours. He smiled as if knowing exactly what was going on and leaned forward, a growl emanating from deep inside his chest.
         I took a couple steps backwards and bent over throwing up the granola bar I’d had, the pain being too much for my stomach to take. As I was wiping my mouth on my shirt, he ran towards me knocking me to the ground. That’s when I blacked out for the second time that day.
(Chapter 5 will be uploaded soon. Thank you for reading!)