Hello again everybody! Svinorita here with another Inside Out story and this time I thought I'd try something a little different…

As you know, Halloween is coming up soon and Orangebird124 brought to my attention that there aren't that many Halloween stories for Inside Out on the fandom. So I decided to try and put something together before Halloween and this is what I've managed to come up with so far :)

I want to give a big thank you to Orangebird124 for sharing this request with me and I hope you all enjoy this first chapter as Disgust falls under the curse of a mysterious evil beast…

Chapter 1 - The Beast Of Muir Woods.

Riley Andersen was staring out the car window at the trees whipping by, bored out her brain. She had intended to spend this Sunday afternoon catching up with her best friend Meg on Skype, maybe watch a scary movie later (since it was the week leading up to Halloween after all!) or listen to some music in her room.

But no! It turns out that her father; Bill had another one of his "bright" ideas about how they should spend the day…

As Riley ate her breakfast quietly in the kitchen this morning, Bill walked in with a huge grin on his face as he greeted his wife and daughter with an over-enthusiastic, "Good morning my lovely ladies! Wait until you hear what I've got planned for us today!"

Riley and her mother; Jill exchanged less than eager looks as Bill pushed the plates and cutlery out of the way, and spread a very large map entitled: "National Parks and Heritage Sites in and around San Francisco" on the kitchen table.

"Oh no Bill! Don't tell me you want to take us camping again!" Jill moaned as her husband pointed to a wooded area to the north of San Francisco with delight.

Riley felt her heart skip a beat at the prospect of spending a boring, gloomy night in the woods somewhere without even the bare essentials such as plumbing or a proper bed to sleep in, much less modern conveniences like her laptop or stereo!

It's not that Riley didn't enjoy spending time in nature. Back when the family was living in Minnesota, they would often go for hikes in the woods on the weekends, or skate on the frozen lake near their house during winter.

But she really disliked the idea of camping…

Spending a night in the woods in the freezing cold or sweltering heat with bugs crawling all over her as she tossed and turned in a tattered old sleeping bag while her father snored like a grizzly bear in the next tent, really wasn't her idea of fun!

Bill waved off his wife's concern nonchalantly and announced cheerfully, "Don't worry honey! I was actually thinking more like a day-trip! You know…we could leave after breakfast, spend a peaceful day in nature, maybe have ourselves a little picnic and be back by nightfall!"

He looked jokingly at his wife and daughter. "Besides, it would do you girls some good to stretch your legs and get some fresh air! You've been cooped up in this house ever since we moved in! Come on! I say let's get out of this city for a while and re-connect with nature like in old time's sake!"

Riley glanced at her mother desperately, her eyes filled with silent pleading as she tried to signal that she would rather spend today doing other things…like re-connecting with the sofa for instance!

Anything but trudging through the woods on a chilly fall day while her dad pointed out every animal they saw like a David Attenborough wannabe, only to end up scaring all the animals away with his terrible fake-British accent and overpowering aftershave!

But to Riley's dismay, mom appeared to be buying into dad's idea after all, now that her mind was assured that this wasn't a camping trip.

Jill nodded slowly and, looking at her husband imploringly she asked, "Well I suppose you do have a valid point dear. And it would be nice to get out of the house for a couple of hours. But where exactly did you have in mind? San Francisco is not exactly renowned for having many wooded areas nearby…?"

Bill smiled excitedly as he showed them the map and traced a finger from San Francisco to a large green area indicating a forest to the north.

"It turns out I've found the perfect location!" Bill exclaimed as he tapped his finger at that green part of the map proudly.

"There's a place called Muir Woods National Monument and it's only twelve miles north of San Francisco!"

XXX

Fast-forward about two hours from this morning, and Riley currently found herself standing in an impressive clearing in the forest, surrounded by massive redwood trees that looked as if they were hundreds of years old. Moss hung from the branches of the trees in huge green curtains and all around her, Riley could hear the mysterious calls of countless animals as they moved unseen through forest. The whole place looked so ancient and mystical…

Riley turned in a slow circle and tried to take in the full majesty of her surroundings. She had to admit, this place was beautiful and enchanting.

And to think that a place like this existed only twelve miles from the city!

She felt an appreciative smile tug at her lips as she told herself that maybe it wasn't such a bad thing that dad decided to drag them out here after all…

Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by Bill's excited voice drifting down from the car as he unpacked their picnic supplies. "Let's set up lunch girls! Then we'll go for a relaxing hike after we've eaten…"

"Oh great idea dad…" Riley thought to herself miserably. "Hiking on a full tummy…"

Meanwhile up in Riley's Headquarters, Disgust was standing alone at the console, a scowl of distaste presently on her face as she flicked a lever noncommittally.

As soon as the Emotions heard about the Andersen's plans for today, Disgust had volunteered to take sole-command of Riley's actions for the duration of their young host's woodland adventure.

Because as far as Disgust could tell, there was only one outcome from this miserable outing: BOREDOM!

"Are you sure that you want to do this alone?" Joy had asked her green companion with a hesitant edge to her normally cheerful voice.

Disgust had rolled her eyes and huffed, "Oh please! I could practically do this with my eyes closed!"

Then she had looked at the other Emotions matter-of-factly as she proclaimed, "After all, Riley should be feeling only one thing right now, and that's disgusted! I see no reason for her to be happy, sad, scared or angry for that matter…"

The green Emotion glanced thoughtfully at Anger, who was grinding his teeth in irritation at her brash declaration.

"Well maybe she should be feeling a little angry…"

She shook her head stubbornly. "No! It doesn't matter what the rest of you say, I'm doing this on my own!"

Joy did her best to try and persuade her coworker to change her mind…

"Come on Disgust! Riley needs to have all her Emotions looking out for her at all times, regardless of how simple or "boring" the situation she currently finds herself in appears to be…"

But her argument proved to be pointless as Disgust adamantly declined her yellow colleague's offer of assistance at every turn.

"No! I've already made up my mind, and I'm not changing it no matter what you say!" Disgust dismissed with a casual wave of her arm.

"I can take care of Riley on my own! The rest of you can take the day off! Go and relax or whatever…"

And that was the end of the discussion. Seeing no point in pressing the issue further, Anger, Fear and Sadness gave in and shuffled off towards their rooms for some impromptu midday down time.

After hanging back reluctantly for a while, Joy too gave a defeated sigh and decided that Disgust wasn't going to change her mind, no matter how much she argued against the idea. With a final hesitant glance over her shoulder, Joy retreated into her own room, leaving her green coworker alone at the controls.

Disgust watched the monitor with a frown of disapproval on her face as she noticed Riley was staring at her father while he laid out the picnic blanket on the ground and prepared the food.

They had ended up having to lug all their picnic supplies for a few miles on foot as they left the public carpark at the entrance to the national park, and trudged through heavily wooded narrow trails in order to reach this secluded clearing in the middle of nowhere!

"I think it's time Disgust makes her presence felt a little..." The green Emotion told herself as she pushed a lever, making the console glow with green light as Riley registered her input.

"I'm bored!" Riley whined as she watched her father unwrap the sandwiches while mom poured coffee out of a thermos.

Her complaint apparently went unheeded as her parents carried on with their tasks as though she hadn't spoken at all.

Disgust grumbled irritably to herself and pressed a few more buttons out of spite, causing Riley to mumble, "I'd rather watch paint dry or grass grow!"

Some fifteen dreary minutes later, Bill had finally finished setting up the picnic and the Andersen family sat down and ate their food in silence. Despite her protesting earlier, Riley discovered that she was actually pretty hungry, and consequently she wound up polishing off her sandwiches long before her parents had finished theirs.

It was while she was sitting there, waiting impatiently for her mom and dad to finish eating, that Riley decided to go and explore the surrounding area a little and maybe even collect some wild flowers. She remembered seeing some beautiful flowers a short distance away from the clearing they were currently in.

Riley enjoyed collecting flowers and pressing them to make bookmarks, and she thought she saw some very pretty examples as they trekked through the forest from the carpark in order to reach this secluded spot.

Riley glanced at her parents and noticed that they were just getting stuck into their post meal coffee. Suddenly the thought of picking flowers seemed far more appealing than sitting here for another fifteen minutes or so with nothing to do while her parents enjoyed their lukewarm beverages!

"Hey mom, can I go and collect some flowers while you and dad finish off your drinks?" she asked hopefully as Jill gave her daughter a reluctant look.

"Well…okay." Her mother said after a moment's hesitation. "Just don't wander off too far honey! Your dad and I will be up in a few minutes."

XXX

Riley did listen to her mother's warning at first, and she tried not to wander too far from her parent's picnic spot. But as she started looking around for flowers, it soon became apparent that there weren't any to be found nearby and gradually, her search took her further and further from the clearing.

Then she saw some beautiful purple, yellow and white flowers in the distance and smiling happily to herself, Riley began following a small trail, picking flowers as she went. The trees lining either side of this trail were larger and grew more closely together than the ones she had seen up till now, and as Riley gazed up at their towering forms, she noticed that their branches seemed to block out the sky so that only dapples of sunlight filtered down to the forest floor. This seemed to give the forest an unsettling and eerie feel about it, and Riley stopped halfway down the trail, suddenly cautious about venturing further.

She remembered her mother's warning about wandering too far on her own and she was beginning to think that maybe she should turn back. But then a shaft of sunlight broke through the dense canopy of the trees and illuminated some strikingly beautiful red flowers just a few yards further down the trail.

Riley stared in wonder at those breath-taking scarlet petals and marveled at their mysterious allure. These particular flowers didn't look like any she had ever seen before! Their color was so vibrant, as if every shade of red existing in nature was captured in those petals.

As the sunlight touched them, they appeared to sparkle and reflect the light almost as though they were encrusted with miniscule gem fragments.

Riley felt a compelling desire to pick those unusual flowers. Yet at the same time something seemed to be holding her back and she couldn't quite understand what it was.

Something's not right…Riley thought to herself as she took a hesitant step towards the mysterious flowers.

They almost look as though they don't quite belong here…?

Riley took a deep breath and thought about what she should do. She had already collected plenty of other flowers up to this point and she didn't really want to walk any deeper into the woods on her own. But for some reason, she found herself drawn to those strange red flowers as if in a trance…

Then Riley heard the voices of her mom and dad talking nearby and she felt reassured.

"If I can still hear mom and dad, then I can't be that far away from camp after all." Riley told herself with a shrug. She decided then that she would go a little further down the trail and just pick a few of those red flowers quickly. Then she would return to her parents before they finished packing up the picnic.

With an eager smile on her face, Riley set off down the trail towards the enchanting grove of scarlet flowers, but as she approached she quickly discovered that they appeared far less appealing up close…

For starters, they smelled really bad and Riley halted abruptly a few feet from the red flowers, scrunching up her face in distaste as a stench similar to rancid meat drifted from the petals and hit her nostrils.

Then as she covered her nose with her arm and stared at them closely, she discovered with a gasp of horror the true reason behind their brilliant red hue…

On close inspection she saw that the flowers didn't only appear blood-red, they were in fact dripping with blood!

Riley had no idea where the blood came from, and she had no intention of finding out as the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She dropped all the flowers she had collected up to this point and turned to run back to her parents, her heart pounding with fright.

Unfortunately, Riley was soon to discover the nightmarish truth about whose blood was oozing from those malevolent flowers…

She had barely taken two steps when suddenly she heard a low menacing growl coming from behind her. Turning instinctively, Riley came face to face with a terrifying beast straight out of her worst nightmares!

Standing before her, snarling viciously, was a beast that looked like a cross between a large dog and a rabid wolf. It was HUGE! At least twice the size of a regular wolf and it was covered in matted jet black fur which stood up stiffly along its back, making it appear even more massive than it already was. Its long, curved claws looked bigger than a grizzly bears and its black lips were pulled back in a savage snarl, revealing jagged yellow fangs.

Riley almost gagged as the foul smell emanating from the beast reached her nose. It reminded her of something ancient and evil! Even more alarming was the fact that the awful stench was the same as the smell coming from those weird red flowers.

But the worst thing about it was its eyes…

It stared at her with absolute hatred with its glowing yellow eyes, and Riley felt as though it was trying to see straight into her soul!

As Riley stared back at the creature with pure terror, she felt certain without a doubt this wasn't just a freakishly huge black wolf like she had seen on nature programs from TV.

For some reason, she couldn't shake the thought that it was something far older…possibly as old as this forest itself. It almost felt like she was looking at a relic from another time, a beast that did not truly belong in this world…

The beast let out a hideous growl as it started advancing slowly and purposefully towards Riley, drool dripping from its fangs as it gnashed its teeth savagely at her.

Riley screamed in alarm and began backing away, never taking her eyes off the creature as she remembered a golden rule she had read about wolves at the library: "Whatever you do, never turn your back and run!"

Suddenly she felt her back knock against something hard and rough, and with a moan of despair Riley reached behind her and surely enough, her hand came into contact with the bark of a tree trunk. She realized with absolute dread that she had backed herself against a tree and now there was nowhere left to go…

Meanwhile up in Headquarters, Disgust was staring at the monitor as if she were paralyzed, her hand frozen on a lever as she locked gazes with the terrifying beast and in that instant, she knew that the creature was staring right through Riley's eyes at her… those evil yellow eyes penetrating straight into her soul!

The green Emotion desperately wanted to call for help. She wanted to move, to do something…anything!

But she found herself unable to look away from those piercing yellow eyes…

Disgust realized with a start that she was utterly helpless! It was as if the beast had her under its evil spell and no matter what she did, she was unable to break the hold it had over her!

Finally Riley couldn't ignore the urge to run any longer, and shrieking at the top of her lungs she screamed, "DAD! HELP!"

Then she did the worst possible thing when faced with a predatory animal: she turned and started running.

Immediately, the beast gave chase and Riley could hear its heavy footfalls as it closed the distance between them easily, its steaming foul breath right at her back. Instinctively, she glanced back to see how close it was and as a result she didn't notice the gnarled, protruding tree root in her path…

Before she realized what happened, she tripped over the root and fell flat on her face, bruising her arms and legs badly. Riley scrambled frantically to get up, but she was knocked flat as a heavy weight dropped onto her back and the creature was on top of her!

Riley screamed in pure horror as the beast slashed at her with its savage claws and tried to sink its fangs into her flesh. She fought back desperately, the desire to live stronger than anything she had ever felt before as she managed to roll over somehow and push the black wolf off her back.

The beast snarled viciously as it lunged forward to bite her. Riley regained her wits quickly, adrenaline flowing through her veins as she kicked out with her right leg as hard as she could, her foot striking the wolf in the muzzle just as it was about to sink its fangs into her other leg.

The blow sent the creature reeling as it backed away momentarily, shaking its head as blood poured from its mouth. Apparently, Riley's kick was strong enough to cause some damage, or at least stun the creature long enough to give her a fighting chance!

The beast shook its head a few more times and growled angrily as it turned and fixed Riley with its resentful eyes once more. Riley scrambled backwards and screamed desperately to her parents again, her hand fumbling around for a branch or any other weapon she could use to defend herself with as the wolf crouched down, preparing to lunge at her again.

This time it won't miss! Riley thought desperately as the creature got ready to leap straight for her throat, sensing that a kill was imminent.

Just as she was about to close her eyes and accept her awful fate, Riley heard loud yelling and banging and turning towards the sound, she saw her dad running to her. He was swinging a baseball bat and shouting at the top of his voice, his eyes wild with panic as he saw the huge black wolf attacking his daughter.

Not far behind him, Jill was yelling and banging some metal coffee mugs together, trying to make as much noise as possible in the hopes of driving the wolf away.

The beast glared at Riley's parents with a look of hate, realizing they had interrupted it before it could finish off its prey. Then turning its attention back to Riley briefly, it gazed deep into her eyes one last time before lashing out with its foreleg and racking her viciously across the left leg with its claws.

Then with a final savage growl, the mysterious beast turned and disappeared back into the woods.

In that same moment when the creature scratched Riley, Disgust felt like a sledgehammer had hit her in the chest as a wave of evil energy surged from the console and up her arm, which had been locked on a lever throughout the whole attack. The force of the blow sent the green Emotion flying backwards and her head struck the floor with a sickening whack!

Disgust let out a groan of distress as her eyes rolled back into her head and she convulsed violently before losing consciousness, her body giving a final shudder before she went still and lifeless on the floor…

Meanwhile, Riley's parents had reached her side as their daughter lay whimpering in a state of shock on the forest floor. She was shaking terribly and bleeding from the deep claw marks on her left leg as Bill scooped her into his arms and held her protectively.

Both he and Jill were in tears as Riley began crying from pain and shock in her father's arms, the reality that she had come so close to death hitting all of them hard.

"Oh my poor baby!" Jill sobbed as she buried her face in her daughter's hair and embraced her tightly.

"What was that thing?!"

She looked at her husband with tear-filled eyes and demanded desperately, "Bill, how badly did it hurt her?!"

Bill studied the scratch marks on Riley's leg with deep concern, rubbing her back soothingly as she cried long, shuddering sobs into his shoulder.

"Jill, go start the car!" he said at last, his voice trembling as he fought back his panic and tried to remain strong for all of their sakes.

"We are taking her to the hospital to see Dr. Mikkelsen right away!"

Back inside Headquarters, Fear had just woken up from his afternoon nap and decided that he needed a cup of tea before checking if he could be of any help to Disgust at the console.

The purple Emotion headed down the ramp and walked into the main room on his way to the kitchen. Along the way he glanced at the console and noticed that Disgust was nowhere to be seen.

That's strange…why would Disgust abandon her post and leave Riley unattended? Fear mused to himself as he made a detour to the console to find out what was going on.

As it turns out, he soon got an answer to that question as he looked down at the floor behind the console and received the shock of his life!

Fear found Disgust lying unconscious on the floor. Her beautiful glossy green hair was streaked with gray and her face was frozen in an expression of utter horror, her mouth twisted in a hideous scream with her eyes rolled back into her head, showing only the whites.

Upon stumbling on this gruesome find, Fear felt like his heart would explode out of his chest from fright! He gave a shriek of terror as he started shaking violently, already the dreadfully familiar sensation of a dizzy spell beginning to come over him.

The next moment, Fear felt the room begin to spin around him as his fright became so intense that he wound up losing consciousness and fainting right next to Disgust…

And so the curse of the werewolf is unleashed…

Will Disgust and Riley overcome their harrowing ordeal? Will they ever be the same? Only time and the next chapter will tell!

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and that I didn't make it too scary :)

Please feel free to review and let me know what you think!

Svinorita.