For the next few days, Bailey hadn't seen or heard about the wolf that she met again on Thursday at the swimming hole. She wondered if the wolf left town or might have been caught and killed. She really hoped that the wolf wasn't killed. Even after the thought that she knew that wolf had to be stopped at killing and eating people's flesh, she couldn't help but worry about its well-being. She didn't think that normal wolves should have to eat humans to survive nor did she believe that normal wolves stand up on their hind legs and speak in an abstract way. Bailey could tell from those observations that her town had dealt or still deals with a werewolf. The only thing is she didn't know if the werewolf was still around. And if was still around, Bailey didn't know what she should do to put an end to the killing. As Bailey thought to herself, she went on with her usual business: work on the farm, go to school and do homework and do after-school chores. Bailey used to have a job at Buck's Beauty Barn but there wasn't much business going on at the shop so it closed down. Bailey had been searching for another part-time job to help support her family financially but her main concern was to help on the farm and do well in school. As Monday had passed by the small town of Kettlecorn, night time came. Bailey was doing her homework at her desk in her bedroom when a disturbance occurred in the town. Eunice came up to Bailey's room and knocked on the door. Bailey got up from her desk and opened the door.

"Bailey, come down to the kitchen with me. There's news on the radio about the foul wolf."

Bailey didn't have much time to respond to her mother as Eunice quickly turned back and hurried down the steps of the staircase. The intelligent farm girl closed her bedroom door and followed her mom down the stairway. Once Bailey and Eunice reached the kitchen, the rest of the family surrounded the radio. Bailey joined her family and stood behind Diane as she listened to the man on the radio.

"Reports have come out and have indicated that the wolf that had killed Mr. Johnson still lurks in the shadows of the little town of Kettlecorn. A new report has come in and states that as of tonight the wolf has struck again and took the life of Mr. Weavle. The wolf had done away with him like he had done to Mr. Johnson: he lunged at him, bit through his neck and pulled out his eyeballs before he had been chased away by Mrs. Weavle. The wolf escaped with a piece of Mr. Weavle's face in his jaws. I advise everyone to keep an eye out for the wolf. Also, I highly advice that the men of the households to look out for their lives but mainly to watch out for the elderly, their children and wives. I hope that everyone in town will stay safe. Goodnight everybody and we will broadcast any more updates later."

Everyone around the radio drew back a few steps in shock. The Pickett family was exceptionally concerned for their lives for they knew that the Weavles were their neighbors. They feared for their lives and had become even more outraged toward the wolf. Everyone was on high alert and ready to end the wolf's terror except for Bailey. She did care about losing community members but she feared that the wolf didn't have control over its actions. She wondered how everything would end for the wolf….or werewolf. She knew that the creature was a werewolf but everyone else knew it as a wolf, a bloodthirsty wolf. While her mother, grandmother and sisters were busy barricading the house and her father was getting out some weapons, Bailey idly watched her family get ready for another attack by the wolf. She stayed out of everybody's way and went back to her room to finish her homework. She was hopeful that while she worked, she would figure something out about the wolf situation.

While the town of Kettlecorn made all the preparations for the next wolf attack and hoped to catch the wrenched creature, Cody was busy licking his chops from the human blood that stained his fur around his jaw. He staggered about the flat ground since he had been struck by Mrs. Weavle. He hadn't heard of the radio report but he didn't need to because he could safely assume that humans hated him. He had a limp in his left hind leg and dragged it a few yards before he came close to the backyard of the Pickett farm. He stopped in the middle of the grass and allowed for his body to rest. As Cody rested, he could see a distant dark figure walking around near his general direction. The figure came closer and Cody could see that it was a tall man with a shotgun resting on one his shoulders. He had black short hair with small patches of gray hair above his ears. As the man paced back and forth behind the white house, a slim yet slightly plump woman with a peach colored dress and white apron came out to him. They talked for a moment and then they began to go back inside the house. Cody had moved a bit and made some noise. The man turned around and got his shotgun ready.

"Are you out there wolf!? Show yourself! I'll kill you!"

The man's wife with short blonde hair and put a hand on one of his shoulders and murmured something to him. He calmed down and went back inside the house with her. Cody was afraid that he might have been killed by an angry farmer. Cody stood up and carefully walked toward the front of the house and rounded to see the second story windows. He looked through a window and recognized the teenaged girl that he had seen twice. Cody then made the connection between the man and woman and concluded that they were the girl's parents. Cody hopped up to the overhang of the porch and climbed up to the roof where he could reach Bailey's bedroom window. Cody pawed at the window until he got Bailey's attention.

Bailey was completing her homework when she heard a sudden tapping at her bedroom window. She lifted her up in surprise to see the werewolf. She had set her pencil down and unlocked the window. Cody hopped through the window and landed on the wooden floor. Bailey got up from her desk and approached him.

"What do you want from me? I don't get why you just don't kill me."

Cody circled around Bailey and then sniffed her legs. He remembered her scent and felt comfortable around her. Since Bailey was wearing pajama shorts at the moment, he licked one of her legs which caused Bailey to twitch her leg. She even had let out a short laugh.

"Wolf, I know that you're actually a werewolf. Why do you keep my alive? What do you plan to do to me?"

Cody tilted his head to the right and whimpered. He turned around and went over to Bailey's desk and mounted onto her chair. He grabbed her pencil in between his teeth and tilted his head so that he could write on a piece of blank lined paper. Bailey carefully walked over to Cody and watched what he wrote with the pencil in his teeth. He used crude sentence structure but his message was direct. Bailey looked at the short message that was composed of two odd sentences:

'Need help. Not really animal.'

Bailey raised an eyebrow in question. She looked at the wolf.

"What do you mean that you're not really an animal?"

Cody wrote again. 'Not born wolf. Under spell.'

Bailey studied the words carefully that Cody scribbled with the pencil in his teeth.

"So, you're not a natural born wolf?"

Cody nodded his head to Bailey. Just as Bailey was about to ask him another question, Eunice knocked on her door. Cody dropped the pencil and scurried out of the window. Bailey turned back to the door and opened it.

"Bailey, are you done with your homework?"

"Yes, mama."

"Well, why don't you come down and help us put the finishing touches of safeguarding the house to prevent the wolf from coming in?"

Bailey was torn at the moment. On one hand, she was learning more and more about the wolf and its situation. However, on the other hand, she didn't want to go against her family and make them suspect that there was something terribly wrong with her. Bailey had to make a decision quickly. She looked straight into her mother's eyes.

"Sure, mama. I'll come down and help."

Eunice smiled at her seventh oldest daughter. "Thank you, Bailey."

Bailey left her room and closed the door again as she followed her mom down the stairs. She helped her sisters nail broad boards of strong wooden planks and put them up against the windows. They also found cloths and stuffed them under any doors that had a gap between it and the floor. Once the Pickett family was down with safeguarding the whole house and locking up the animals, they all turned in for bed. Clyde hid his shotgun under his pillow once he and Eunice went to bed. Even Grammy Picket had a rifle under her pillow. Bailey didn't go to bed at the same time of her family members. She couldn't sleep. She looked at her window and realized that she left it open. Bailey got out of her bed and walked over to close and lock her window. As she reached over to close the window, Cody popped out of nowhere on the roof and hopped through the window.

"What are you doing here? Get out before someone sees you! Do you want to get killed?"

Cody ignored Bailey's warning and walked toward her. Bailey instinctively walked backwards toward her bed. Cody cornered her to her bed until she climbed up to it. He hopped up on her bed and brought his face close to Bailey's face. Bailey shook in fear.

"Please, don't hurt me."

Cody nudged his nose into Bailey's pajama shirt and then licked some of her skin. After a few seconds, he stopped licking her and then went began to paw at the sheets like a cat does when it kneads a little sleeping area. After Cody had kneaded a preferred sleeping spot, he circles twice and then lies down.

"What you doing? You can't sleep with me. Go somewhere else to sleep you silly wolf. Go now!"

Cody ignored Bailey's words and fell asleep. Bailey sighed.

"Great. I'm sharing my bed with a freaking werewolf."

Bailey brought the covers over her body and looked back at Cody.

"You know, you really should leave. What do you think that will happen to you if you hung around? If you value your life then leave now."

Cody lazily opened his eyes and looked at Bailey. She was so insistent that he left her room. Cody softly growled, begrudgingly got off her bed and then jumped through the window. Bailey made sure that Cody was completely out of sight before she went back to the window to close it and lock it up. Then she went back to her bed. She brushed off some of Cody's gray fur from her sheets before she settled into her bed and turned out the light. Bailey knew that the wolf would be hanging around town until she could help him or until he was caught and killed by the angry members of the community. Bailey was a little scared for the wolf's safety and she wondered what his name was and what he really looked like. Bailey also wondered what kind of person he really was. With so many questions buzzing in her head, Bailey could barely fall asleep but she forced herself to fall asleep so she could continue with her life just as she had always done. She began to count sheep and got fifty sheep before she was able to fall asleep and forget about the werewolf. All that Bailey knew within the next week was that she would only hear scattered reports of the wolf taking a life a man of a household. Bailey found it interesting that the wolf targeted the male members of family and that they usually were the husbands. The light brown haired beauty wondered why the wolf didn't target females. Was he trying to give her some sort sign? Or did he just find men to have more meat on their bodies? Bailey had no idea but she was grateful that the wolf hadn't gotten to her father nor did he get to many male members of the town. The wolf didn't eat humans very often so he must be trying to restrain himself from eating every night.

A/N: Any reviews are appreciated. If you guys don't like something about the story then let me know. I want to improve as a writer so that process can be enjoyable for both you guys and myself. Any input is helpful. Thank you.

To Be Continued…