While Oscar was at soccer camp for a week, Gemma had the notion of just one day with her friends, including the new friends she made - Charlotte and Kira.
They opted on having the get-together that Friday, so Gemma's new friends could meet her old friends. Alison thought this was a great idea. She arranged snacks and drinks, but not too much; she didn't want anyone to get stomach aches.
Some of the kids played on Alison's Korg, and did pretty well. Later that afternoon, they decided to tell each other scary stories, around the small campfire Alison set up in the backyard. Donnie was hesitant to do so.
"Babe...last time I told a scary story to the kids, I was arrested minutes later. Should we do this?" Alison just grinned. "Don't worry; everything is fine. That's all behind us. Go on - get your story ready."
The girls all told the scariest stories they could think of, but they weren't all that scary. Not even marginally spooky. Donnie told his story, which gave the guests a bit of a chill, but Gemma wasn't scared at all.
Alison had a mischievous smirk on her face.
"Okay, young ladies. You want a story? I have one. I was saving it for an emergency. Have any of you heard...of the Beast of Bailey Downs?" The girls all looked at other quizzically. Alison continued. "I thought so. Your parents didn't want to tell you this story, but...they're not here to stop me, are they? This involved two pretty girls. Well, they started off pretty, anyway."
Charlotte got nervous; Kira and Gemma leaned forward, wanting to know more. Gemma's friends from her martial arts class were also intrigued.
"About twenty years ago, there was a rash of crimes in the neighborhood - dogs went missing. Most were found later...killed." Donnie jumped in with "See, honey, that's why we don't get you a pet - for your safety, and for the pet's safety." Alison liked the brief assist, so she gave Donnie a small fist bump.
"Anyway," she continued, "there were two sisters. They didn't live that far from here. Their names were Ginger and Brigitte Fitzgerald. They were going to kidnap a dog that belonged to a bully in their school. Just as they were pulling it off, a dark beast crept up behind Ginger, and attacked." The way she said "attacked" was with power, and venom, in her voice. "As the beast was going for the kill, it was run over by a friend of theirs. The problems for Ginger...had just begun."
Alison began to pace throughout the backyard, looking at each member of the audience.
"Brigitte noticed her sister started acting erratically; she was getting aggressive, and her hair started growing longer and thicker. She also...gained a tail. Brigitte and her friend, the one who ran over the beast, both agreed - Ginger was now a werewolf. The sisters' mutual friend, the one who killed the last werewolf by running it over, knew how to treat Ginger, but they were worried that they'd run out of supplies. They needed monkshood, a unique plant that could be used to cure her, but that plant was only found in the spring, and this was October."
Charlotte was starting to enjoy the story, while Gemma was getting skeptical.
"Wait, Mom, how do you know this story?"
"Young lady, I'm getting to that. Hold on. Anyway, the school bully - she was the next to disappear. Brigitte asked her mother for some monkshood, hoping that the store-bought variety was just as good as the homegrown version. A cure needed to be made, and fast. Ginger was starting to enjoy her monstrous side, which was bad for everyone - a school dance was underway. A school dance...during the week of Halloween. No one was safe that night; the janitor, and the guidance counselor, were both slashed by Ginger. Even a boy she made out with wasn't safe, but she didn't kill him, but infected him instead. Brigitte tried her cure on that boy...and it worked. She knew it could work on her sister...if it wasn't too late."
Feeling that the audience was really into the story, she had to wrap it up, but add enough of a fright for what was to happen next.
"The Fitzgerald house - that is where it would all wind up. Brigitte got help from her friend Sam, the one who killed the werewolf with his vehicle, and they tried to stop Ginger, but their efforts were in vain. With her enhanced strength, she breaks Sam's arm. Completely in despair, Brigitte...infects herself. Sadly Sam, the young boy who killed the first beast, was the next victim of Ginger's wrath. Brigitte felt her sister was getting closer...and closer...she kept a syringe in one hand, which contained the cure, and in the other, a large kitchen knife, only to defend herself. Since this her house, she knew there was no safe place to hide, since her beastly sister knew the same locations. It was a matter of staying quiet, and when - or if - she could get the upper hand, and use the cure. Ginger had her trapped in their bedroom. She lunged forward, and Brigitte sticks her sister...with the knife. The attack was fatal. She laid her head on Ginger's chest, and began to weep."
"Months later," Alison continued, "the trial took place. The trial is why I know of this story, young lady." She glanced at Gemma. "Someone had to answer for the murders. She found herself in juvenile hall, since she wasn't old enough to go to prison. However, she had to take the cure for herself. No one knows if it worked, but the last thing we knew, she went to a rehabilitation clinic. The judge and lawyers thought she was a possible threat to others, and to herself, and that the cure was actually a new type of drug that she was using to get high. So, she was locked away...or so we thought. The clinic last knew of her whereabouts in 2004. She just disappeared."
Kira asked "She's not locked up anymore? Was she completely cured?"
"No one knows," replied the soccer mom. "Maybe she went on to some other part of the country. Maybe they caught her, and she's back in rehabilitation. Maybe she died. But...I don't think so. I think the beast took over, and the human part of her is gone, possibly for all time. And I think...she's back here in Bailey Downs. Every now and then, you hear about a missing dog, or a missing person. Perhaps she's feeding, and looking for that next snack, here in the town she grew up in. On a still night, like tonight, you can hear her howling. It's almost..."
A faint, feral howl could be heard by the audience.
Donnie was impressed. "Great job," he whispered to his wife. "I didn't know you could do ventriloquism."
"I can't," she quickly replied.
The howl got louder.
The front door was rattled, then the windows, and the fence. The adults and the children, suddenly worried, huddled together. A gentle, yet menacing, snarl was behind them.
They felt something powerful lunge at their shivering bodies, with a large yell. The children scattered, running for dear life, into the house, leaving Donnie and Alison alone.
A frizzy-haired blonde chuckled.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," said the blonde.
Alison was stunned. "Cheese and crackers! Helena, you almost gave me a heart attack." Not familiar with this term, Helena asked "Where are the cheese and crackers?"
"What were you thinking? You scared me and Donnie half to death, not to mention the kids."
"You were telling a scary story. I wanted to help."
Donnie said "We appreciate it, but at least give us a warning that you want to participate, beforehand." He goes into the house, to calm down the young guests.
As Alison is about to assist her husband, Helena touched her on the shoulder. She had a concerned look on her face. "Tell me, sestra - the beast. It is real, yes?"
Catching her breath, Alison looked at Helena, and calmly said "I'll tell you during breakfast, in the morning."
"In the morning?"
"Yes. That's assuming you survive the night." Alison gave a menacing smirk, one which was worthy of the Angry Angel herself. Helena was unsettled by Alison's glance. "Good night," she told the Ukrainian. "Sleep well." She goes back in, and Helena overheard her say "Sorry about that; that was my sister wanting to scare us..."
As the door closed, Helena was outside, the campfire still burning, and a slight chill came across her. The neighbor's dog howled, but she didn't think it was a dog.
Was my sestra playing a prank on me? Is the beast real? Helena knew she'd make it to breakfast in the morning - she's not one to miss a meal - but she wasn't sure if this scary story was simply a story, or if it was true, but she knew she had the skills to survive if it were true.
"If you threaten my babies, or the girls, I will show you what a beast really does," she utters to herself. She goes to sleep, in her makeshift apartment in the Hendrix garage, cautiously.