We thought that they were just stories made up by our parents to keep us out of the woods. After all, parents always overreact.
However, we should have listened. I wish we had listened. Maybe if we had, none of this would have happened. If we had listened, maybe all of those people would still be alive.
My parents first told me the stories of the wolves when I was eight. I didn't believe them. However, not even I, young as I was, could deny the fact that no one ever went into the woods. Houses and fires were built from imported wood, and the food we ate was killed from a forest a few towns over. No one ever entered the forest. The founders of the town had even gone as far as to make it a law. No one was allowed into the forest.
One girl had tried it once. It hadn't worked out very well for her. She had stumbled out of the woods, disoriented and bloody. The town elders didn't even offer her help. They simply shot her, for reasons no one but the elders knew. Her body was collected, and buried in the small village cemetery, but other than that, the girl doesn't exist. Her life was never talked about except in that legend. No one knew why she had gone into the forest, or when. She was a Taboo subject of sorts. That tale was newer than the wolf stories, but it had been hundreds of years since it had happened. Her name had been forgotten long ago, and even most her legend, except to reinforce the fact that no one went into the woods. The elders told the story so much that we kids started to make fun of it constantly.
Our parents were being silly, we said. There couldn't actually be anything dangerous in the woods, and after all, they were just stories to scare us. We made excuses for them, and after a while, we stopped believing them entirely. Still, even though we didn't believe, we never went into the forest. There was a little credibility to the stories, even the most skeptical people would admit. At night, when the moon was full, we would hear howls, which, they would hurriedly say, were completely normal for our town. It was a known fact that wolves roamed the forests and mountains. Sometimes we could hear screams, but when you looked at the forests, all you saw were emerald trees and light mist. Then, almost every night, I swore I could hear snarls, clawing, and sniffing.
My friends didn't believe me, I could tell, but the village elders and my parents did. They started a patrol that went along the forest every day at dawn, and every day at midnight. The patrols never found anything. When they asked me again what I heard, I simply lied and said that it must have been the wind. I could tell that this time, it was them that didn't believe me.
Years passed after that, and nothing happened. There were no howls, or screams, or strange sniffing sounds in the night. My best friends Ben and Jerri knew that I had been telling the truth that night, no matter how many times I said otherwise. I lied when people asked. I still heard them most nights, but I never told anyone. Once when I was walking home I swore I saw a wolf staring at me from the woods. I dismissed it at the mist playing tricks on my eyes.
-
There was something bothering Selene, I could tell. She wouldn't tell me, and she wouldn't tell Ben or anyone else for that matter. It was weird; she was always such a talkative person. Hmm… Oh well. It's not my place to stick my nose in her business.
As I walked home, I absentmindedly noticed that it suddenly got chillier. I wasn't surprised, since I lived more on the outskirts of the town, nearer than most to the forest. It was always chillier here.
Suddenly I got that feeling.
Have you ever had that feeling where the little hairs on the back of your neck and arms stand up? When you feel like you're being watched?
Yeah, it was that kind of feeling.
I frowned, and looked behind me. Nothing. There was nothing there. I could've sworn that there was something following me, but all I saw was a few empty storage houses and the forest.
I turned back around, and walked at a more brisk pace towards my house.
There was a sharp snap! behind me, and I whipped around. Still nothing. Turning back around, again, this time I flat out ran towards my house. I ran faster and faster and I didn't stop until I'd reached my porch. I looked behind me again, but there was still nothing there. It must have just been my mind playing tricks on me.
Relaxing slightly, I unlocked the door and went in. I locked the deadbolt, and turned on the light. Home sweet home. I thought idly. Dropping my backpack onto the loveseat as I passed it, I walked over to the answering machine. Two missed calls. The machine said. I pressed play.
"Hey, Jerri, I just wanted to know if we're still on for the sleepover movie marathon this weekend. So, I guess you're not there, so call me when you get a chance, 'kay?" a happy female voice rang through. I shook my head with a smile. Typical Selene. Nothing ever changed with her.
The next message was a man's voice, Carl, calling for my mom. "Hey Amy, it's Carl. I know you're probably super busy, but I really need to discuss the renovation plans with you. There aren't any problems, I just want to tweak some stuff a bit. Anyway, please call me back when you get this. Thanks."
I deleted Selene's message, but left Carl's for my mom. She'd probably call him tomorrow after she got up. I picked up the phone and dialed Selene's number. I got her answering machine.
"Hey! You've reached Selene and obviously I'm not available. Either I can't get to the phone, or I'm avoiding you. Anyway, please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Thanks!"
"Hey, Selene, it's just me, Jerri, returning you call. I am totally still up for the sleepover this weekend. Do you want me to pick up the movies? Let me know when you get this, okay? Bye!" I said and hung up.
I headed upstairs, took a shower, and got ready for bed. Before I headed to my room, I cracked open my parents bedroom and saw they were sound asleep. Passing the next bedroom, I lightly opened the door and saw both of the boys sound asleep. Exhaustion caught up to me once I got to my room, so that when my head hit the pillow, I immediately fell asleep.
Crack! Crack! Scuffle, scuffle. Snap!
I jolted upright and nearly fell off my bed. I heard noises out in the hallway and peeked out the door. I was about to shut the door when I heard them scream from the bedroom not 15 feet from mine. Twin boys. Barely 2 years old. Knowing that there was nothing that I could do to help them, I quickly shut my door, locked it, and then hid in my closet. Which, is kind of ironic, because most of the time, darkness freaks me out.
I could hear the thump, thump, thump, thump of their paws coming up the stairs. There was a snuffling, too. Like the kind an animal makes when they're sniffing. Eight thumps. That meant there were at least two.
I saw shadows pass the door of my room through the cracks of the closet door. One passed by, while another paused at my door. There was a bump and then a second later, another bump. There was a scratch, scratch, scratch, sound followed shortly by a large creak. I heard cracking and a hole appeared towards the bottom of my door.
Light started to crack through, and suddenly there was a sharp snap and huge chunks of wood flew to the floor and scattered.
A large, black snout emerged from the hole. White teeth, the size of knives, and just as sharp, followed. There was a sound, like thunder, and it took me a moment to realize it was the animal snarling. Next, there were eyes. Huge, black abysses full of nothing. Then there was a paw, and another paw, and then finally, after what felt like hours, but I knew to only be minutes, a gigantic furry body forced its way through the remains of my door. It was a tall as a stallion, but I knew for a fact that they never got that big.
It sniffed the air, and as if it knew I was hiding in the closet, its blank eyes turned towards me. It didn't move, only stared.
I can't say what made me do it. I have no idea. I wish I had stayed in the closet. Maybe things would have turned out differently if I had just stayed in the closet. But, I was a curious girl; I always had been, ever since I was little, so I left the minute safety of my small, cupboard closet.
It still didn't move.
I walked towards it slowly, putting one foot in front of the other. I stopped about a foot in front of it.
I was so close I could see it breathing; feel its breath on my face. I knelt in front of its head, and tentatively reached out a hand.
Big mistake.
It jumped up, and lunged at me, pinning me to the floor. I grabbed the nearest thing to me on the floor, which just so happened to be a hot pink plastic hairbrush, and shoved it roughly into the things face.
It recoiled and fell off somewhere to the left. I jumped up and sprinted out the remains of my door and down the steps before I heard a snarl. I glanced at the window as I passed it, and I saw the reflection of the thing, this one was white, that had reached the top of the steps.
I sprinted as fast as I could out the back door and around the right side of the house.
Adrenaline pumped through my veins and kept my head clear. I thought about running towards my next door neighbors place, but almost as soon as I thought about it, I dismissed it. My neighbors were three miles away. I'd never make it.
I decided to try and run through the small field by my house and go to that neighbor's house for help. It was still a long shot, but it was worth a shot.
I changed directions abruptly and ran towards the opening. I heard their snarls behind me, and tried to run faster.
I ended up tripping on a rock, and then the black one was on top of me. I yelled and kicked and fought, but it only seemed to anger it. It lowered its head and abruptly lunged for my throat. I screamed bloody murder, but it made no difference. It simply bit down harder and harder.
A sudden thought forced its way into my shock-riddled head. If only I had listened to the stories. They were all true.
Darkness came, but this time I wasn't afraid. This darkness was different. It promised relief from the pain and this nightmare. So, when it reached for me, I took it gladly.
The last thing I heard I was a pack of wolves howling into the night.
The telephone rang, shrill, loud, and extremely annoying. Groaning, I picked it up and sleepily said, "Hello?"
"Hey, Ben. It's your mom. Are you awake?"
"No. I'm skydiving at 3 a.m." I stated sarcastically.
"Oops. Sorry, sweetie. I always forget the time-zone difference. The flight made it all right and I'm headed to the hotel in New York now. Anyway, I'll call you later, k?"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever. Bye, Mom." He hung up.
Five minutes later, just as I was going back to sleep, the stupid thing rang again.
"WHAT?" I nearly exploded. Couldn't people just let me sleep?
"Ben, you need to get down here now." Selene's sad and panicked voice spilled out of the earpiece.
I sat bolt upright, completely awake, and asked, "Selene, what's wrong?"
Sobbing filled the speaker for a moment. "It's Jerri, Ben… She's dead. I'm at the police station… They want to talk to both of us…"
"I'm on my way." I said, and hung up.
Jumping out of bed, I quickly stripped off my pajamas and put on a pair of jeans, flip-flops, and a gray short sleeved shirt. As I went out the front door, I grabbed my backpack, jacket and keys.
I started the pickup, and drove down the road, my mind elsewhere.
Jerri dead… I just couldn't imagine it. She was the sweetest girl I'd ever met. Who would do that to someone?
In what seemed like minutes, I pulled up at the town's police station. Selene's blue Jeep Cherokee was parked out front. I nearly jumped out of the car and ran up to the door.
Inside, Selene was sitting down next to an officer. She had been crying; the red circles under her eyes were hard to miss.
I pulled up a chair and sat down next to her. She was shaking, so I took off my jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Absentmindedly, I noticed she was still wearing her pajamas: a light green long sleeved shirt and dark green yoga pants.
Some officers walked in from the back room, and we could hear their conversation.
One police officer was saying, "We found her in a small field by her house. Her brunette hair was in a ponytail, and it was covered in grass. She was wearing a blue tank top and black boy shorts. However, there were no defensive wounds on her body, and there were no wounds or scratches of any kind. She wasn't strangled, suffocated, or poisoned, either. I can't explain it."
The other responded with a simple shake of his head. "They aren't going to like this. It's been hundreds of years since an attack. She wasn't even in the woods. She was on OUR land. It makes no sense."
The officer- Burton his badge said-; got up and walked towards the others. "These are her friends. Do you mind at least trying to keep your voices down?"
The other two hastily murmured apologies. "Sorry, Chief."
A week later there was another family murdered. I saw it on the news. The Ashville family. They li-… had lived about three miles away from Jerri. The entire family had been killed in the exact same way as Jerri's. No one knew how. Except, this time, there was a survivor.
Little Sandra Ashville was a twelve year old, brunette girl, who always wore her hair down. She swore to police that two monstrous wolves had attacked and killed her family, while a third had chased her out of the house and into the lawn. She had run to a neighbor's house and gotten help.
When the police arrived, they found little Sandra dressed in a dark blue short-sleeved shirt, with black shorts. Her hair was in a ponytail, with strands falling around her face. She was pretty shaken up. Her twin sister, Sandy, was missing. She was last seen wearing a long green shirt that had been her dad's, and striped green and black socks.
A week later, they found her. Her body was only fifteen feet into the forest. One of the patrols had found her.
Her light, caramel-streaked brunette hair was in a loose ponytail, and she was wearing a blue tank top, with black yoga pants. She died the same way Jerri had; mysterious.
However, this is not what disturbed police. It was the look of utter peacefulness on little Sandy's face that disturbed them.
-
Life seemed to return to normal after that. People went shopping, ate at restaurants, and kids played on the playgrounds. This would prove to be the 'calm before the storm.' Everything would get worse after that.
If only we had listened.
-
Burial arrangements were made for the Walkers and the Ashville's. Selene and I had made most of them. No one else would go near the bodies. The elders said they were cursed. When Selene heard that, she completely went off.
"They were PEOPLE just like YOU and you have the nerve to say that they're CURSED? THEY ARE DEAD! THEY WERE YOUR NEIGHBORS, YOUR FRIENDS, AND YOU HAVE THE AUDACITY TO STAND THERE AND SAY THEY'RE CURSED? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? THEY WERE YOU'RE FRIENDS! You're friends…" she had screamed, and then run off sobbing. People had been avoiding us since then. I didn't blame them. I would've avoided us too.
The date was set, and most of the people coming were the kids of various people. Only the kids were coming. Our parents always listened to the elders, so it was a given that they weren't coming.
I was driving Selene home when we heard the news on the local channel. Selene practically lunged at the volume dial, and turned it up.
The announcer was saying, "…bodies disappeared from the city morgue. Let me repeat: The Walkers and Ashville's bodies have disappeared from the morgue. The police are offering a $100 reward to anyone who has any information on these strange disappearances. Also, there have been lots of killings out in the woods. DO NOT GO INTO THE WOODS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. In other news, there is a football game going on this Saturday, and personally, I can not wait. Coach Rivers swears it'll be the best game yet…" Selene turned the volume back down.
"'Disappeared'? How can nine bodies just 'disappear' from a city morgue? It's impossible!"
I shook my head. "I don't know, Selene, I honestly don't know."
The burial arrangements had been postponed indefinitely until the bodies were found. The popular theory was that they were dragged into the forest by wolves, but most, if not all, of the kids immediately dismissed it as something the elders were saying to scare us.
I heard one guy, around twenty, say, "Honestly, the whole, 'wolves in the forest' thing is getting old. Do they expect us to believe them? They have no proof but a bunch of freaky, scary stories that haven't scared most of since we were ten." The other young man he was talking to agreed.
The disquiet grew and grew until it was a full scale riot. Kids vs. the elders and parents. That was when they attacked.
It was the perfect plan when you thought about it. They killed a few people, and watched as everyone started turning against each other.
They came from the forest, by the hundreds. They had killed about half of us, before we even realized what was happening.
I didn't know who the woman in front of me was. A wolf came from behind her and started to drag her away. I didn't think; merely held out my hand. She stretched and missed. The wolf dragged her away while she kicked and screamed. At least, until another wolf lunged at her throat, killing her instantly.
Another wolf came out of somewhere and tried to knock me down. I did the only thing I could think of. I punched the wolf straight in the face.
It probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but it surprised the wolf enough that it backed off.
Selene was pinned underneath a grey wolf, but so far she seemed to be holding her own. It hadn't tried to eat her yet, at least. I grabbed a rock from the ground and hurled it at the wolf. It made a satisfying thump as it made contact with the wolf's head.
Again, it was probably not a good idea, but apparently these wolves didn't expect us to put up a fight.
I grabbed Selene, who had already recovered, and ran towards my truck, which wasn't parked far away. She resisted at first, but when we heard the screaming, she started to run with me.
When we got to my truck, we found we had a bigger problem. The engine had been ripped out by what appeared to be claws.
Selene grabbed my hand and we ran to the nearest building, the police station, and we ran inside and locked the door.
"Well, it's 'bout time this has happen'd." A southern male voice said, bluntly. A shadow detached itself from the corner of the lobby, revealing a boy, about 15 who was dressed completely in black. Black hat, black duster, black pants, black shoes.
"W-who are you?" Selene asked the boy curiously.
He removed his hat and looked up. He stepped into the light, revealing a boy with pitch black hair and electric green eyes. His hair was falling into his face slightly, and there was a small scar near his right eye.
"Jackson Andrews, my lady." He said, with a slight bow.
"Hello, Jackson, I'm Selene, and this is my best friend, Ben."
He inclined his head politely in my direction, never taking his eyes off of Selene.
"We need to go. We can talk on the road." He turned and walked to the door leading to the garage, and opened it, revealing a large black truck.
"WAIT! Our friends are out there!" she shouted. "We can't just leave them!"
He turned back around slowly. You could hear screaming and snarls through the concrete walls. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, miss, but your friends are dead. We need to go NOW, while they're still feedin'. If you wanna stay, and get eaten by them, well that's your choice. As for me, I wanna leave. Yer welcome to come."
We looked at each other for a moment, contemplating what we should do. The screaming wasn't as noticeable. There were only howls and snarls now. So, we got in the truck.
Outside was pure chaos. There was so much blood, she thought. Blood and screaming and wolves. Lots of wolves. Thankfully Jackson had parked the car on the other side of the building, away from all of the violence.
He didn't stop to see if anyone was still alive. We had passed someone who had appeared to still be alive, but he just drove on by them. "Jackson! That person was still alive!" I screamed at him.
He didn't flinch or even turn his head. "They were bitten, Selene. They would have attacked you, just like the ones that came out of the woods. The viruses the wolves transmit are deadly. You either change, or die."
Ben looked at him as if he was from Mars. "How do you know all of this?"
Jackson was silent for a while, minutes passed, and just when I thought he wasn't going to answer Ben's question, he started to speak.
"They came in the night. We had no idea that they had been watching us for years. We weren't prepared at all. A small group of us had survived. Little did I know that one of the lycanthropes had infiltrated the group. Instead of killing us, he bit everyone."
"If he bit everyone… doesn't that mean he bit you?" I asked, completely confused.
He glanced at me from the side of his eyes. "He bit everyone." He said slowly. "Including me."
I backed up against Ben who was reaching for the door handle, obviously ignoring the fact that we were going over 90 miles an hour.
"Wait!" Jackson shouted, slamming on the breaks. We went flying forward, but Ben managed to catch me before I went flying out the windshield.
"Yes, they did change me. But, I'm on your side, I swear! There were a lot of people turning in my town, so they didn't notice when I snuck off. Ever since then, I've lived off of blood bags and forest animals."
"So you were the one who's been eating Thumper and Bambi?" I asked, trying not to look repulsed.
Ben burst out laughing. "Thumper and Bambi? You do realize you just used Disney metaphors right? Disney metaphors, Selene. What are we, five?"
Jackson started to chuckle. Even I had to crack a smile.
"So you're a lycanthrope." I said, this time managing to keep the disgust off my face.
"Yup." He said, his mouth popping on the 'p'. He looked at us sideways, before a smirk planted itself firmly on his face. "But don't worry, I don't bite. Much."
The wolves had killed everyone in the town. The alpha was certain. A few wolves went sniffing into homes, on his orders of course, just to make sure. They came back, confirming that everyone was dead. One by one, the wolves started to shimmer, as if the mist from the forest had suddenly enveloped them.
Their fur started to recede, and their wolfish features seemed to shrink. Then, suddenly, humans were standing where the wolves had been second ago.
The alpha male smiled, feeling his human skin again was invigorating.
This was their town again, and this time, it was going to stay that way.
The wolves went from town to town, killing the people living there and taking their places. One by one, the towns, cities, states, and countries fell, until there was only one safe place left.
Crozet, Virginia was a small, middle-of-nowhere town. This is where the survivors stayed. We put up iron and metal barriers so that the wolves wouldn't be able to get in. They tried, numerous times, but we always held them back.
Until that night, October 31st. Halloween, ironically enough. A small band of survivors was coming through the iron doors, when they started to change. We realized our mistake instantly. They had played on our sympathy for survivors, and we, foolishly, had led the wolves, straight to our door, and through it, as well.
They killed everyone in that small survivor camp. Men, women, boys, girl, children… It made no difference. They killed them all.
Only four people got out alive. A fourteen year old brunette girl named Selene, a fifteen year old blonde boy named Ben, the mysterious wolf hunter named Jackson, and a new wolf hunter named Nova.
They had found Nova hiding out in a police station on their way to the safe camp. She had stocked up on weapons, and taught herself to shoot. She was actually pretty good at it. We thought that she would have a problem with Jackson being a lycan, but when she found out, she thought it was the coolest thing ever.
We then found out that her brother had bitten her, so she and Jackson had a lot in common there, at least. On the outside, they were complete opposites. Where Jackson wore all black, Nova wore bright shirts and blue jeans. Nova's hair was white-blonde, whereas his was pitch black.
On the inside, though, they were exactly the same. If you put their 'furry problems' aside, they both loved to hunt, prey or other wolves, and they loved weapons. Personally, I think that they would both marry their weapons if they could. They told the same jokes, and laughed, even if they were corny. Nova even had a slight southern accent, but it was almost unnoticeable underneath the British accent she had picked up on a trip there. She was a lot like Jackson.
Or, as Selene says, Nova is the female version of James Bond.
"The time will come," Nova said as she loaded her multiple weapons. She picked up an axe, considering it, before putting it back down and grabbing a quiver of arrows and a bow. "And this time, they die."
If only we had known. If only we had listened. Maybe none of this would have happened.
If we had listened, we never would have survived.
THE END.