Winter Solstice
Van Helsing.
Best movie ever.
It's got a great kick-ass actor, a gorgeous lady co-star and to top it all off, the werewolf beats Dracula.
The werewolf beats the vampire!
Finally!
That's where the good times end though. I bet if Hugh Jackman turned into a vampire the girl would have lived at the end. Werewolves, we're always finishing second. Vampires seem to have a number of advantages against us. Most importantly is probably their strength and granite hard skin. Their numbers never seem to get very large in any one spot though, so that's one point that we've got them beat.
It was the sad reality that we filled. Being filed into the number two spot was degrading enough. Not being able to phase at all put me at an even lower spot. No one knew what was going on with me. I knew I was at least half werewolf, I say half because I've never really knew much about my father. My mother though, man was she wicked. In her prime she was her alpha's second, it put a lot of expectations on me.
I couldn't think about that now. Finishing second, up on this mountain, didn't even enter my head. I've been boarding down this mountain since I was kid; I knew how to go fast. A storm passed over it just last night, laying down a few inches of fresh powder. The conditions were great, and I guess it wasn't too cold. I wasn't a good judge of that; I haven't felt cold in months. FIVE MONTHS to be exact.
Sure-fire signs of a werewolf; look for rapid growth spurts and crazy high fever. I've had my growth spurts, and my fever started five months ago. Still nothing. It was frustrating not knowing why, even our special physician, one of our older wolves that gave up his ability to pursue his higher career, didn't know what to say or do.
"Oye! You paying attention?"
"Nope," I confessed. David brought me out of my daydreaming with a gentle nudge as was customary between us.
"Wake up Don, I was saying that Evan, Merry, Juste and Peter are waiting for us after Sidewinder, so we've got to remember to take that wicked left," he reminded me.
"Sure sure, just try not to fall behind," I joked with him. He slugged me in the arm for that one. We passed the half-way point. I slapped a big yellow sticker on the post to mark the point just two years ago. Parts of it were covered up by newer culprits, but it was still very visible. It was good to see our own personal history up here, our own mark. We had others, none as functional.
David was a great buddy. Of course he was more than that. He was about two years older than me which meant that when my fever hit, he knew exactly what it meant. Of course nothing happened, still. He never let it get to me though. It was easy for him too, he moved in with my uncle and me just before his fever broke out into a blazing transformation. The three of us lived in my mom's house. Unintentionally, it became a nexus for our pack. David became our Alpha. Most of the reason I wasn't cast out like spoiled chowder was because of him.
Getting off the lift was always the hardest. I remember the anxiety of my first time off the lift on my own. The slope was crazy steep and most times after noon, frozen and plenty inviting for embarrassing spills. The soft slope afterwards was always nice, and usually crowded if you didn't take the long left loop.
"Alright buddy, let's rock," David hooted as we strapped into our bindings. We always rode light; our fevers meant we only needed a windbreaker and maybe a second layer just so we didn't look crazy. I usually wore a backpack filled with a few snacks and bottles of water; I was fastest so it was a sort of handicap for everyone else. Juste liked to wear the other.
Down our first trail we both veered towards the left to ride the less occupied rough terrain that most tourists and boarders avoided. If you knew how to ride them right you could really pick up a lot of speed.
Our first left, ride the banked curve to hook right, shoot the bunny trail.
"Don! Hard right!" David called out.
There goes my daydream, again. I knew he meant well, he always did. He's our Alpha.
I shoved hard with my back foot, spraying a sheet of powdered snow from under my board as I turned. I bent my knees to drop my weight down and forced myself to remain upright. I doubt most normal people would've been able to do that due to lack of strength, werewolves have different limits.
I never did like Sidewinder, it was always busy and it flattened out towards the middle. It was always a pain to cross that plateau, but only for snowboarders. The next trail down that connected to the terrain park had this great right curve that was fun to ride high, especially if you had enough speed behind you. We made the second transfer and could already see the rest of the pack waiting for us.
"Hey! Donnie!" Juste called as he waved, as if trying to signal a helicopter. He was at least six-five, how COULD we miss him? David and I slowed to a stop a few yards ahead of them.
"Dudes, check it out! They built up a new jump and put a new lip on it, we need to christen it," Evan pointed out, looking back and forth between us the ramp for his camera to capture.
"I already told them my vote's on you Donno," Merry told me.
"With your speed you'd get some gnarly air," David added. It was tempting, it was almost like they weren't twisting my arm to do it. I wasn't the youngest, that was Peter, but he could phase, a qualification that instantly put him ahead of me in the pack ranks. Oh well, at least this chore would be fun.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be back in what, five minutes?" I joked with a confident shrug.
"You're full of it," Peter shot back.
"It'd be funny as hell to watch you catch and edge and totally eat shit," Juste chuckled, accenting it with a contorted face.
"With any luck," I added. I knew it was all in good fun, they'd never want me hurt. "Be back soon boys and girls."
Just like that, I was off. I didn't bother turning into the technical course. Going around the terrain park and shooting toward the main lift would shave plenty of time. Of course that also meant weaving through hordes of tourists.
I was a trail and half away from the main lift. That's when the wind picked up. Plenty of snow bunnies, a few guys drenched in B.O. or knock-off ode de tool, and one scent, no… TWO that made my neck hairs stand on end.
Vampires.
Instantly, my instincts kicked in and I searched around, trusting my feet to guide me along. Left, nothing, and the wind didn't come from behind. He was at least 25 yards ahead, three or four people to my right. With me downwind, he wouldn't notice me unless I had something to say, loudly. I recognized him, I knew him as Russell, decked out in all black, hiding his hair under a matching black beanie. His partner, dressed in sharp red-on-black, was a new face, a new scent, a new voice.
I followed them cautiously, careful to keep my distance. Without my pack, I was VERY vulnerable. Sure I was stronger than most guys twice my weight. It was still moot compared to a fully mature vampire. We had stories about Russell. He was confirmation that some vampires had 'extra' powers. We figured it out a few generations ago, somehow, Russell could convince people, masses of people that they had never seen him or his coven. It's what's let them stay around. No worries, we've been around for centuries.
The crowd changed from an annoyance to a blessing. I got bold, David would kill me for it, but I closed the distance. The lift line got pretty packed, but I was still able to follow about five bodies behind. I scooted along, fixated on their movements, the words their lips shaped. They either didn't notice me, or did and didn't care. Either way, good news for me.
One, two, up they went. Hopefully I wouldn't have to see them again, or not until I was back in good company. I could breathe a bit easier, relax a bit, get back to daydreaming. I scooted forward in pace with everyone else. My turn, and I got scooped up like so many times before.
I could see the two of them four spaces ahead. I had a good wait ahead of me, lots of time to let my mind wander… and the slight rocking. I looked over to see who was rocking the lift.
After I finally looked, I had to kick myself for not seeing her in the first place. A wavy blonde, with hair to the bottom of her shoulder blades was fidgeting with her fingers. The flush in her face made her look cold, but it accented her cheeks along with the rest of her face.
I couldn't stop starring at her.
What vivid green eyes, and the shape was like sharp almond that seemed to angle down towards her nose, almost feline. She practically glowed, and her scent was a superb mix of natural sweetness and something absolutely mouthwatering. Vanilla laced pecan pie, that was the first thing that popped into my head, but it still wasn't good enough.
She was nibbling on her bottom lip, shaking the foot that wasn't bound to her board. She had wet spots all over her knees, and elbows, bits of snow in the luscious locks of her hair, in the corners of her jacket. She was nervous, jump out her skin nervous.
She was a beginner.
When the hell did I turn into Sherlock Holmes?
I had to talk to her, but I couldn't just open my mouth like the usual idiot I was. I had to be smooth... crap, what would David say? Would that guy even be able to give me good advice? Would I trust it?
Trash that idea for now.
I just had to be smooth, be confident. After all, it was pretty much my mountain. I couldn't come in second.
Think Bond, calm and collected.
I took a deep breath.
"The off ramp is always the worst, we've all been there," I told her as I politely turned to address her. She looked over rather surprised that I spoke to her. I had to remember to breath for a second, her purple beanie practically made her eyes light up.
"I've already embarrassed myself twice today," she managed to mumble timidly.
"At least they didn't have to stop the lift," I tried to cheer her up.
She smiled, no, she radiated. Her laugh was absolutely addictive, like audible sunshine.
"They stopped the lift for you?" she beamed.
"I was eight," I told her.
"Aww, how cute," she humored me. She stopped fidgeting. It was working. I laughed with her a bit; I couldn't believe this was working.
"Oh jeese, this is rude. I'm Donovan, you can call me Don, Donnie, Donno. It doesn't matter to me so much," I introduced myself. I used my teeth to pull off my glove and extended my bare hand to her. She pulled off her glove as well.
"I'm Andrea, you can call me Andie," she traded. We shook hands, one more hurdle crossed. I had a name to the face I'd daydream about for the rest of the day, at the very least.
"You can't be up here all alone," I told her.
"Why would you say that?" she asked, playing coy.
"You're new to this; no one ventures beyond the bunny lift with that hanging over their head. Especially, with the off ramp looking for fresh meat," I warned her.
"Oh no, got any tips to help me live beyond the next ten minutes?" she pouted.
I had to think fast, think dirty.
"Take someone with you."
"What? C'mon really?" she asked again.
"No for real. If you grab onto someone good they'll probably help you stay up, and if they're a good enough friend you'll share the embarrassment and a good story," I reasoned with her. She laughed again, a hearty sincere laugh.
"So would you do me a favor, and help me down?" she asked, returning to fidgeting with her fingers for a bit.
"Hmm, I don't know… I think you could ask a little nicer," I mumbled. This could pay off big or totally smack me in the crotch.
"Shut up, will you help me or not?" she replied with a wicked little smirk.
"Yeah sure, but you only get one freebie," I said sarcastically.
"Thanks, really. Russ is never gonna let me live it down if I fall for a third time in a row."
"Who?" I asked, my ears must've heard wrong.
"Russ," she answered.
"Your boyfriend?" I assumed. Might as well shoot for the worst and work backwards from there and hope for the best.
No! What the crap! This girl is with Russ, did I just stumble onto his next meal?
"Heaven's no, he's my step-brother," she corrected me. A huge weight let off my neck, I let out my breath.
"I didn't know he had a step-sister," I chatted with her.
"You know him?"
"We go to the same school, we know OF each other," I confessed.
"Oh cool. Well mostly I live with my mom, but that's turning all kinds of complicated. Even though Russ' dad is just my step-dad, he offered to take me in and I couldn't argue. I mean, Russ and I have always got along great. We might as well have grown up together," she explained to me.
"Where's your mom?"
"Stupid New York," she grumbled. I had to get out of this conversation.
"Well if you're so close why isn't HE helping you down the lift?" I asked her, hoping I wasn't intruding.
"He has a friend visiting from Europe, they hardly see each other. I just wanted to give them their 'guy space'."
"Aww, how sweet, a bromance," I joked.
"Yeah, hardcore," she giggled. Just like that, she was back to smiling.
"Okay, scoot to one butt cheek so you can line up your board," I instructed her.
"Butt cheek?" she giggled.
"You want help or not?"
"Okay, okay," she giggled while getting into position. She turned towards me and I turned towards her. Thanks to my very confusing ambidexterity, I'd be able to stay right within arm's reach the whole way.
"Remember to keep your knees bent, and try to lean forward. Don't be afraid about your back foot slipping," I continued.
"Here it comes, here it comes," she rambled nervously. Our boards touched the top of the ice mound.
"And stand," I told her. We scooted off the lift and started down the incredibly intimidating ramp. Her right arm was pulling down, I corrected it. Her entire body fell forward, into me, I had to drop pretty low to keep up upright. We slowly glided around the long left hook.
"Okay, now slowly jam on your rear heel," I guided her. We turned slowly, and then came to a very comfortable stop.
"Oh my god! Oh my god! We did it!" she cheered.
"You doubted me?" I shot back.
"Thank you so much, that was fantastic," she beamed at me.
"Sure Andie," I nodded at her. I felt a cold knife tracing my neck. I looked back to see Russ and his buddy glaring at me, the message was painfully obvious.
"Well your step-brother is probably waiting for you, and I've got people waiting for me, I should go," I told her, ready to sprint away if it'd get them to stop glaring at me like that.
"Aw c'mon, isn't there some way I can, well, thank you?" she asked, trying to convince me to stay. It was sincere; did she really want me to stay?
"Just don't give up, that way I have a chance to see'ya again," I said as I strapped my loose foot into my bindings again. It was a good thing I didn't have to look her right in the eye as I said it. It wouldn't have come out any other way.
"Will you be here all day?" she asked.
"Until they kick me out."
"Okay, see you around Don," she waved.
"You too Andie, good luck," I replied.
I did up my jacket, pulled my goggles over my eyes so I could pretend not to notice the two creeps as I moved past. Once I got around the first corner I made it my mission to break the snow-speed record. I moved like a crazy person, flying past hordes of skiers, and getting dozens of warning whistles from the ski patrol. Not like they could catch me though.
I moved through the next three trails faster than any sane human would. I had to slow down a bit to avoid pasting myself into a tree on the wicked right into Sidewinder. A few more minutes and I'd be there, back in the safety of my pack. They'd help me, I could even ask what it's like to imprint.
What if I DID imprint on her, just like that?
My heart jumped.
Would I ever see her after today? Could it ever work with Russell in the background? What if I DID imprint on her, how would I know?
I was up over the very last hill and I saw them line a path to keep everyone clear of my way to the new ramp. I could hear their cheers over the whipping wind, see their bleach white smiles. Another five seconds and I be catapulted into the sky. I'd leave my stomach on the ground, and hope we met at the same landing.
I bent my knees on the ramp, and readied my fateful jump. Adrenaline was overflowing, I was excited. I'd be hanging in momentary bliss of temporary flight, making contact with the shallow skyline.
I'd trade it all to be back on that lift.