Wolfblood
Living in Fear
Maddy and Rhydian sat next to each other in class as usual. Jefferies was recounting one of his many 'thrilling' adventures as an author and a historian.
"Hey Mads, what are we doing tonight?" Shannon whispered, leaning forwards across her desk to Maddy.
"We'll talk in a second." Maddy whispered back.
"And then I..." Jefferies began as the bell rang and cut him off. "And then I timed that one badly by the looks of it!" he shrugged, annoyed at being interrupted. "Oh well, I'll see you tomorrow everyone, and happy Halloween."
Instantly, Maddy felt Rhydian tense next to her. Last year, she'd learned just how much he hated Halloween. He opened up to her a couple of days after the disaster her dad caused that nearly cost Rhydian his life. She'd been horrified.
Quickly, she helped him up and shoved him out of the room. They made it to the darkroom and she sat him down so that he could drop his head between his knees and take a few deep breaths. Maddy noticed that his veins had been showing. She found it a miracle no one had seen. Just as Rhydian was calming down, he jumped a mile as Shannon and Tom entered.
"There you guys are." Tom rolled his eyes. "Look, if you wanted to be left alone, all you had to do was ask."
"Anyway, what are we doing for Halloween tonight?" Shannon asked Maddy as Rhydian visibly flinched. "You haven't told us this year."
"Actually Shan, I wasn't planning on doing anything this year." Maddy said sheepishly. "I was just thinking of having this time as just the two of us so I can get Rhydian over this fear of Halloween."
"Wait, so there's going to be no bacon sandwiches?" Tom asked.
"I'm afraid not." Maddy shrugged.
"There's going to be no movies we're not old enough to watch?" Shannon couldn't believe it.
"I have the Alien vs Predator box set hidden in my room." Rhydian said breathlessly, having just got over his mild panic attack. "You can borrow it. I'll drop it over before I head to Maddy's."
"What's the matter with you, mate?" Tom asked.
"I just wish I could skip this day every year." Rhydian was clearly shaking, as much as he tried to hide it.
"What the hell happened to you to make you so scared of it?" Shannon asked. Rhydian only seemed to retreat deeper into himself.
"Shan, you can't just ask something like that!" Maddy snapped.
"No, it's fine." Rhydian replied in a tone that suggested it was anything but. "Go on, Maddy. You can tell them."
"Are you sure?" Maddy asked.
"Well, they need to know sooner or later." Rhydian shrugged. Maddy rolled her eyes.
"Someone in the care home he was at played a prank on him with a chainsaw and left the blades on." Maddy told them. Their eyes went wide with shock.
"For god's sake, what the hell's the matter with these people?" Shannon was clearly livid. Tom wasn't doing much better himself.
"They were bullies." Rhydian shrugged. "I didn't know any other kinds of people before I came here."
"Okay, I understand now." Shannon nodded. In that case; Tom, you're coming to mine this year. We'll get KFC and watch Rhydian's Alien and Predator movies."
"That sounds good to me." Tom grinned before turning to Maddy and Rhydian. "You guys are welcome to come and join us after you've managed to get Rhydian over this fear of Halloween. We'll order extra and set some aside for you."
"Thanks." Maddy nodded. "If we don't show up, could you possibly drop it round mine tomorrow after school so Rhydian and I can pig out?" Shannon burst out laughing.
"Okay, I'll do that for you."
"Thanks, Shan. You're the best." Maddy grinned. "Come on, Rhydian. We're heading back to my place for a bit." Maddy pulled Rhydian up and the two left together. Once they were outside, they took off at a blistering pace, ducking through the rip in the fence and escaping onto the Moors. The trees and bushes blurred in their vision as they moved at a faster speed than their eyes could track. Eventually, they spotted Maddy's house and took a hard right. In seconds, they'd vaulted the back fence and came to a stop underneath the tree at the bottom of the garden.
"I don't think we've ever run that fast before." Rhydian gasped as his lungs fought to draw oxygen into them.
"My mum said this would happen at some point." Maddy shrugged. "One day, everything just seems to suddenly click into place. You'll be amazed at what we can do sometimes."
"Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea of what we can do." Rhydian grinned. "I just can't wait until the next time I get to try this new speed out."
"We'll get a chance tonight." Maddy said. "Trust me; you'll love what I've planned."
"Why? What are you planning?" Now Rhydian was getting nervous.
"You'll see come the time." Maddy turned round and cuddled herself into him. Unfortunately, he was about to change position himself, and her sudden weight caused him to fall over Just as he was about to spring straight back up, he felt Maddy's head hit his side.
"Well, one of us got a soft landing." Rhydian rolled his eyes as Maddy picked herself up.
"That's easy for you to say." Maddy grimaced. "You're surprisingly bony on your sides."
"What do you want to do for now then?" Rhydian asked.
"You're asking as if you don't know already." Maddy laughed, grabbing him by the hand and practically dragging him inside. They kicked their shoes off inside the door, hung their coats up and headed to the bottom of the stairs. By this point in their relationship, Maddy had grown used to Rhydian picking her up and carrying her. But it still came as a surprise every time he picked her up. That didn't mean she didn't like it though. She loved that adrenaline rush she got as she was lifted off her feet just as she picked up his scent. She could cuddle into him and sleep forever as she heard the ever-familiar rhythm of his heart.
Just as this thought played out in her head, they reached her room. Maddy jumped down out of Rhydian's arms and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. To his surprise, she literally threw him hard enough to cause his feet to leave the ground. He landed on her bed on his back as she jumped forward and landed on top of him, fusing their lips together. Eventually, they had to break apart for air.
"You seem more eager than usual." Rhydian muttered as Maddy leaned in again.
"I love you." Maddy said before wrapping her fingers in his hair and pulling him closer. They stayed like that for a good thirty minutes or so before Maddy finally laid herself down on him properly and rested her head on his chest.
"I'm so glad we found each other." Rhydian muttered absently, running his hand through Maddy's hair. "I often worry about everything that could have happened before and could happen later."
"Whatever happens, we'll face it together." Maddy replied, cuddling further into him. "Right now, the sound of your heartbeat is all the assurance I need." With that, Maddy reached out and grabbed the edge of her duvet, pulling it over them.
Four hours later...
Rhydian's eyes snapped open in the darkness. Instantly, his wolf activated and adjusted his eyes. His enhanced vision made the room appear as bright as a sunny day, when in actual fact they were both in total darkness. Glancing over, Rhydian saw Maddy's clock on the bedside table.
"Maddy, you need to wake up." Rhydian gently shook her shoulder and lifted her head off his chest. With considerable effort, Maddy lifted her head up and opened her eyes. Rhydian could feel every muscle in her body groan in protest. She looked out of her bedroom window to discover it was already dark.
"Okay, this is perfect." Maddy said, sitting up and twisting her neck to click it back into place. "Come on, let's go for a run."
"Going for a run?" Rhydian couldn't get his head around the way Maddy's brain worked sometimes. Before he even knew what she was doing, she'd hauled herself off the bed and started heading downstairs. What the hell was she up to?
"Come on, Rhydian." Maddy grabbed her own coat as she tossed his to him before shrugging a backpack on.
"Why are we doing this, Maddy?" Rhydian asked. "It's late at night on Halloween. The trick-or-treat fiends are going to be out there in force and people are going to be running around in costumes. Surely it's better to be indoors together where bad things are ten times less likely to happen."
"That's only your bad experiences talking there." Maddy rolled her eyes.
"Of course it's my bad experiences talking." Rhydian couldn't believe Maddy wasn't catching on. "How else would I learn anything in this world other than experience?"
"You could start by learning to trust me." Maddy suggested. "Rhydian, I can help you through this, but only if you let me. We won't go near the streets. We'll be up on the Moors the whole time."
"Maddy, it was one year ago today at about this time that I nearly died up there!" Rhydian's black veins were starting to show again.
"That was only because of my dad's stupidity." Maddy shrugged. "Besides, you forgave him easily enough. You forgave him more easily than I did anyway."
"I know that, but everything about it just screams that this is a bad idea" Rhydian replied.
"Rhydian, we're only going up on the Moors." Maddy countered. "We were literally just up there. We know there's usually nothing scary there."
"Yeah, unless you count that time the wild Wolfblood appeared or when you took Wolfsbane by mistake and turned into that snarling animal in partial transformation who was desperate for meat." Rhydian said sarcastically. "And let's not forget Kyle Weathers and his tranquilizer rifle and wooden box."
"But we've seen all those threats off." Maddy reminded him. "Rhydian, there's nothing to fear up there but fear itself, and the fact that it's Halloween changes nothing." Rhydian knew by this point that it was much easier just to give Maddy what she wanted.
"Fine then." Rhydian pulled his coat on and went to the door. "The quicker we do this, the quicker we can get back." Maddy felt her heart bloom with pride. When the night was over, she'd have him cured of his fear of Halloween.
"I'll race you!" she called out suddenly as she darted out the door as soon as he'd opened it. She could feel him take off after her as soon as he'd shut the door. The gap closed quickly. Spotting where they needed to be, she took a hard right up onto the Moors. Rhydian followed her as they ran up the steep slope without a pause. They arrived at the top of the hill to find themselves looking over the village. They could see most of the streets and houses, and they could even make out the tiny specs of people going door-to-door in Halloween costumes begging for sweets.
"Okay, so even I'll admit that view is really something." Rhydian muttered as he looked out over Stoneybridge.
"What did I tell you?" Maddy grinned as she looped an arm around him. The two teens stood admiring the view for a while, before. Maddy took her backpack off and opened it. Instantly, Rhydian was overwhelmed by the gorgeous scents of steak, ham, bacon, sausages and burgers. Maddy started unpacking the containers and pulling bottles of ketchup and packs of bread rolls from the side pockets.
"God, I love you sometimes." Rhydian wrapped an arm round her before planting a kiss on her head.
"You only love me sometimes?" Maddy put on her puppy dog eyes. Her 'cute face' wouldn't have worked on anyone else, but Rhydian found it cute.
"I'm sure butter wouldn't melt." Rhydian rolled his eyes as he grabbed a burger, put it in a roll and slathered it in ketchup before taking a bite.
"You've got ketchup on your face." Maddy said, grinning.
"Where is it?" Rhydian asked. Without a word, Maddy reached up and licked the ketchup off the corner of his mouth before moving over and kissing him. He reached over and put his burger on a napkin before throwing both arms round her and kissing her back. Lost in the moment, they both rolled backwards so that Maddy was sitting astride him. She badly wanted to take this further, but a ferocious growl from her stomach brought her to a stop. Rhydian burst out laughing.
"How about we eat first and finish this at my place?" Rhydian suggested. Maddy nodded reluctantly and got off him. The pair ate in silence as they both reflected on everything from what happened last year to what was going to happen later on. Every so often, they'd share a glance that exchanged hundreds of words without having to say any of them. Eventually, they finished eating. Maddy packed whatever was left into the containers and put them into the backpack. She shrugged it back onto her shoulder as Rhydian got up. They were about to leave when a noise caught Rhydian's attention. There was the sound of twigs snapping underfoot as whatever was nearby drew ever closer.
"What the hell is that?" Rhydian asked, turning round as the black veins spread through his arms and neck. His eyes changed colour, giving him a much clearer picture of his surroundings. "Maddy I swear to god, if you've paid Tom and Shannon to play a prank on me…"
"You think I'd do that after last year?" Maddy activated her wolf too. Together, they just about noticed a figure approaching them. Expecting to see him dressed as the grim reaper or a demon, they were quite surprised when they saw his costume.
"Is that a clown?" Rhydian asked. Just then, he felt Maddy tense up at his side. Then he realised what was going on. Maddy hated clowns. She'd always been scared of them ever since one that her parents got for one of her birthday parties had shredded some photos she'd taken and used them as confetti.
"Why the hell would someone dress as a clown for Halloween?" Maddy tried to keep the shakiness out of her voice, but Rhydian wasn't fooled. Clearly, this wasn't something she'd put together. That meant whatever was advancing on them was potentially a very real threat.
As the clown got nearer, Rhydian noticed something in his hand. He couldn't quite make it out, but it looked sharp.
"What the hell do we do?" Maddy whispered to him.
"Okay, I think we should run in different directions." Rhydian told her. "He can't chase both of us. Whichever one he goes after can keep him busy while the other one wolfs out and attacks from behind."
"You are not leaving me alone with a clown!" Maddy snapped.
"Who knows? He might go after me." Rhydian offered. "Trust me; I will keep you safe."
"I trust you to the ends of the earth." Maddy replied. At that moment, the clown came into view. His movements were haphazard and shambolic, but he was definitely holding a knife.
"Run!" Rhydian yelled. Maddy ran to the left while Rhydian darted off to the right. To his surprise, the clown chose to go after him, but didn't increase his pace any. Since Rhydian was so busy watching the clown behind him, he wasn't paying attention to what was in front of him. He turned around too late and ran straight into a massive tree. Pain exploded behind his eyes as he hit the floor hard. The clown stood over him and raised the knife above his head. Just then, a small brown wolf darted past them both. There was a shower of blood as she bit into the back of the clown's knee and tore a piece out. The clown hit the floor with a shriek of pain before pulling off his mask. Maddy changed back as Rhydian hauled himself up. Instantly, she had her arms around him and her face buried in his neck. Her heart rate slowed as she inhaled the scent that she came so close to losing forever.
"That could have gone better." Rhydian muttered as Maddy held him tighter.
"Are you guys nuts?" Jimi bellowed as he struggled to stop the bleeding. "Was that one of your pet wolves or something?"
"What the hell were you thinking doing something like that?" Maddy snapped back, dodging the question. "Rhydian's terrified of Halloween and I'm terrified of clowns! What in the name of god made you think this was a good idea?"
"It was just a joke!" Jimi protested, trying to sit up. Maddy had to physically restrain herself from tearing his throat out.
"How is a knife a joke?" Neither of them could believe how stupid Jimi had been.
"I wouldn't even have nicked him with that!" Jimi replied. "It was a butter knife." Rhydian snatched the blunt knife out of Jimi's hand before hurling it with so much force that Maddy swore it might break the sound barrier.
"You still blatantly came after us with a weapon!" Maddy looked ready to hurt Jimi badly. "I hope you enjoy crawling to A&E and explaining how I raised your voice a few octaves!" Rhydian had to hold her back to stop her from doing whatever she planned to do. Neither he or Jimi dared to guess what she had in mind. He held onto her until she calmed down enough for him to let her go. As much fun as it would have been to watch her hurt Jimi, he didn't want them to end up with a dead body on their hands.
"Come on, Maddy." Rhydian looped his arm round her shoulders and led her away from him. "Let's just head back."
"What about me?" Jimi screamed from the ground.
"You should have thought of that before you did something so stupid!" Rhydian told him. "Don't go expecting sympathy. There are some things we can't excuse. As far as we're concerned, you can hop."
"This is inhuman!" Jimi yelled. "I could press charges against you for this!"
"All we'd have to do is mention you dressing up in a clown costume and coming after us with a knife." Rhydian told him. "You wouldn't get anything after that."
"Come on, let's go." Maddy muttered, storming off.
"So, you're not going to try to feminize him again?" Rhydian had to be sure.
"Why bother?" Maddy shrugged. "All we have to do is tell everyone at school that he dressed up as a killer clown and tried to scare us. People are going to be after his blood long after we leave Bradlington.
"You're evil." Rhydian nodded approvingly.
"So, what should we do now?" Maddy asked.
"Didn't Tom and Shannon mention KFC?" Rhydian reminded her. Without another word spoken, the pair of them raced back down the embankment towards Shannon's house. They knocked on Shannon's door and waited for her to open it.
"How was your night then?" Shannon asked as she opened the door.
"Shannon, you won't believe the night we've had." Maddy rolled her eyes. The rest of the night was spent in Shannon's warm and comfortable living room with not only KFC, but other takeaway food as well. They'd spared no expense as there was also Chinese and pizza. Rhydian had forgotten to bring the films over, so they had to choose from Shannon's collection.
"What about Avatar the Last Airbender?" Tom suggested.
"I say we lock Tom up in the attic." Shannon said immediately.
"I second that." Rhydian nodded.
"I say we take away his right to vote for two weeks." Maddy suggested. "Why do you even have that abomination, Shan?"
"My mum got it for me one Christmas before anyone knew better." Shannon replied. "I've tried to trade it in, but nowhere will take it. They keep coming up with excuses about it being 'too scratched' and stuff. You know me, Maddy. I take care of my stuff."
"Yeah, I know." Maddy nodded. "They just won't take it because they know they won't sell it."
"I bet the dump would take it." Rhydian suggested.
"Maybe, but I don't want to throw it away since it works perfectly well." Shannon shrugged. "It may be a bad movie, but I still have standards. By the way, how's tonight been for you?"
"Jimi tried to prank us up on the Moors with a killer clown costume and a butter knife, so I wolfed out and bit the back of his kneecap." Maddy said; waves of heated anger almost visible. "He's hopping home tonight."
"Aren't you scared of clowns?" Shannon asked. Tom meanwhile had gone to sulk in the kitchen under the pretence of getting drinks.
"I can't stand them." Maddy growled. "Now though, I think I would wolf out and attack a clown sooner than run away from it. I think I know I can stand up to them now. I don't think there's any out there that would be any worse than Jimi. Anyone who'd want to do me harm would probably opt for the traditional balaclava rather than a clown costume. Not to mention they'd be carrying an actual knife."
"They'd still have to get through me first." Rhydian shrugged. "All I'd have to do is vein up and use the fangs and they'd be running for the hills."
"Wait... hills..." Maddy started rifling through Shannon's DVD pile.
"Oh Jesus, it's finally happened." Rhydian rolled his eyes. "She's finally gone insane."
"What about this?" Maddy asked, holding up a DVD.
Maddy and Rhydian eventually fell asleep during Silent Hill Revelations, so Shannon and Tom decided to leave them like that. If that was how they wanted to spend the night, they weren't going to stop them. After what had happened, they officially deserved a rest. At least they'd both overcome a problem each. They would no longer be living in fear.
Author's Note: Okay, so this is my Halloween Wolfblood oneshot for the year. I'll probably upload it a few days early so I don't forget. Also, I have a bit of a special announcement. Last time I tried to write a multi-chapter Wolfblood story, the website had a bit of a tantrum. However, I am ready to give it another go. I have a multi-chapter story coming soon for Wolfblood. It will be called Blood Moon and I'm looking to have the Prologue online in a few days. The rest will follow after I complete the sequel(s) for Honesty. I don't know how many there's going to be for Honesty, but I'm aiming for two more to make it a trilogy. The second story in that line is called Lies and that's also coming soon. Normally, I'd have it finished by now but due to illness and an accident at college, most of my stories have been delayed. I'll be cracking down to try and catch up, but I can't say anything else for certain.
Happy Halloween.