Chapter 4: A Dog Gone Day

I was on all fours as I stood inside of the bathtub. I was in my full wolf form as my sister poured dog shampoo all over my back.

"Why are you guys helping, again?" I asked as my sister picked up the removable shower head and spared my back. "This feels weird..."

"Hold still Michael!" My mother said as she scrubbed my lower back.

"Well if you didn't shed this much, then we wouldn't have to bath you." My sister added.

My name is Michael Talbain and i'm a werewolf.

Technically I am a Darkstalker, but my powers originate from a wolf. My tan fur was always georgaus but hinted that I wasn't a full breed.

My father is also a werewolf but his fur is black, blue and white.

I looked down and saw a steady stream of fur and shampoo fall onto the running water.

I normally don't take care of my fur as I spend most of my time as a human, but it still needed maintenance: my father, sister and I shed if we don't groom our fur periodically. We also have to use dog shampoo but I don't because of the way it smells.

"Hold on, stop squirming!" Helena, my sister, said as she scrubbed the back of my ear but stopped when my left leg shook on its own and splashed water all over my mother.

I normally bathe myself but my mother and sister insisted on helping me, I wasn't sure why.

"What are you guys doing in there?" My father asked from the other side of the door.

"Michael wanted us to help him take a bath!" Helena yelled.

"No I didn-" I started but was cut off when Helena forced my snout closed with her right hand.

"The door's opened, honey." My mother said as she scrubbed my leg, just underneath the wet shorts I wore.

The door opened and my father walked in, in his human form.

His long black hair dangled nicely. He was nicely built and well groomed. He was in his late 30's by now but would sometimes act like a teenager. The wolf blood in him kept him looking younger so he looked a little younger than 35.

"He's shedding again," my mother stated as she brushed my tail.

My sister reached for my front paw and I splashed water at her.

"Stop that!" She hissed at me and I couldn't help but smile.

"You guys are weird." my father said as he bit into a pizza slice.

My mother and sister turned to look at my father and my animal instincts took over. I began to shake wildly. Shampoo, water and fur flew everywhere as my mother and sister tried shielding themselves with their hands.

"Michael, stop that!" My mother said loudly.

"No, bad boy!" Helena added!

I finally stopped and stared at my family who stared back at my puffed fur. My mother sighed, mumbled something about living with dogs and continued brushing my fur with a dog comb.

My sister started to say something but stopped when she spat out some of the fur that got into her mouth.

My father removed some fur that fell into his pizza slice and bit into it again. "You guys are weird." He repeated and walked out.

My sister slapped my left ear lightly and I blew her a raspberry.

I sat on my bed as my sister knelt behind me with her blow dryer in hand. She combed my fur while the hair dryer did it's job.

"Why did you help?" I asked her as she started working on my neck.

"I'm your big sister, it's the least I could do." She replied.

"I know that, but you have to admit that it was kinda weird."

"Not really, it was kind of like bathing Jeremy." She said as she moved to work on my right arm.

"I should be offended." I replied duly. Jeremy was our Siberian husky puppy. He was less than a year old and slept in my room.

Helena stopped for a second, "Do you want to smell like wet dog?" She asked me.

"No..."

"Okay then."

Helena worked on my fur for a few more minutes before she announced that she was done.

"I can't get a hold of him." I heard Luna, my neighbor, say.

"I'm calling the police." Dana, the mother, said.

My sister and I stared at each other as we heard the neighbors talking. My phone rang and we both jumped.

"Why do you have the Twilight Zone theme as a ringtone?" Helena asked as she crawled out of my bed.

I answered quickly so I wouldn't have to respond.

"Hello?" I asked then placed the phone on speaker.

"Hello, Michael?" Luna started on the other end, she sounded worried.

"Hey, Luna, what's up?"

"Is Zeke there? He never came home last night."

Helena quickly turned to look at me.

"No, he's not here. Did you try his work?" I replied

"Yeah, he closed last night and nobody has seen him since."

Helena moved closer with a worried look on her face.

"I'm sure he's fine. Maybe he stayed at his friends house." I continued.

"Leon hasn't heard from him neither."

"Okay, now you're freaking me out."

"You're freaking out?"

Helena held the home phone and tried calling Zeke.

"Let me dry and we'll go look for him." I added as my sister started to pace when she got the answering machine

"Dry? Wait, what?"

"Don't ask."

I met Luna outside of her house, she looked terrible.

Helena stood by me. She did a great job hiding her concern, probably for Luna's sake.

Both Helena and I were in wolf form. I walked around the pavement on all fours, smelling what I could as I tried to find Zeke's scent.

"How are we going to look for him? Aunt and uncle went to the police station."

"Mom and dad went out." Helena said.

I moved behind Luna and forced myself in between her legs and lifted her until she sat on my back.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Luna exclaimed as I bounced her slightly so she sat around my waist.

"Since none of us can drive; I'm carrying you." I said as Helena understood what I was suggesting.

"Why are you wet?" Luna asked as she shifted on my back.

"He was a dirty, dirty boy!" Helena said as she patted my head.

I noticed Alana, a 12 year old girl who lived across the street, staring at me. I waved to her, in a very dog like fashion, and she giggled then waved back. Her parents were also Darkstalkers.

"Alana thinks you're cool. She named one of the puppies, her dog had , 'Michael'." Helena said in an amused voice.

"Sweet! Anyway, let's go." I said and took off running but stopped when I felt Luna fall off my back.

Luna had landed on her back. She slowly sat up and glared at me.

"What? I said 'hold on'." I pointed out.

"No you didn't!" Luna replied angrily.

"Luna, do you have some spare clothing line?" Helena said as she walked closer and helped Luna back onto her feet.

"Yeah, in the back, why?"

"I've got an idea."

I ran down the streets on all fours with Luna on my back. Helena had tied clothing line around my muzzle so Luna could hold on to something.

"This is humiliating." I mumbled, as the clothing line didn't let me open my mouth completely. "I'm a wolf, not a horse!"

"That's what you get for dropping me." Luna said and pulled left on her improvised reigns so I went right, just to rebel.

We headed to Zeke's workplace to see if we could find any clues to where he might have gone.

People stared as I ran by, it was weird to receive this much attention. I looked back and noticed that Helena felt the same.

We arrived at his workplace and I sniffed at the ground to try and catch Zeke's scent, again.

Helena stood watch so nobody would walk by.

I smelled the door's handle and I recognized Zeke's scent, almost immediately.

"Was he here, boy?" Luna asked.

"Do you want to walk?" I said as I turned my head to look at Luna.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist."

I heard the door open and Ryan, the boss's son, stood at the opened doorway with a look of confusion on his face.

"Luna, what are you doing? Why are you riding that mutt?" Ryan asked and backed away slowly when I growled at him.

"Guys, someone is coming!" Helena said as she ran up to me on all fours then looked at Ryan. "Oh, never mind."

"Helena?" Ryan asked when he noticed my sister.

Helena never fully shifted into wolf form; instead she shifted her hands, feet, and the fur that covered her girly areas, along with the ears and tail that belonged to the wolf. Her face changed slightly but you could still tell that it is her.

I always fully shifted. Everything from snout to bone structure. The changing process didn't take very long as I was used to it. Clothing never transformed with us so I always made sure to wear something so little Michael couldn't come out and play.

"Hi Ryan." Helena said as she stood up on two legs.

"He left with the new girl, last night. He gave her a ride home, that's the last time I saw him." Ryan said after we explained what we were doing.

We all sat on one of the tables. Helena was in her semi wolf form as her fur was the only thing she had on. I sat as a human and wore some blue jeans short.

"Both Zeke and the new girl didn't show up today so it was safe to assume that something happen." Ryan continued.

"Where does the new girl live?" I asked.

"Don't know, I'll have to check." Ryan replied then stood up and walked to the back of the restaurant.

"Everyone keeps looking at me." Helena stated as she looked down at the table.

I looked around and people quickly pretended to be doing something else.

"Well, you are practically naked." I said and drank from her soda cup.

Ryan came back and sat down next to Helena again. "Here: 1115 Tuscany Pl." He said as he took off his work shirt and handed it to Helena. He still had a gray muscle shirt on.

"Thanks." Helena said smiling and put the shirt on as I heard a girl at the corner smack her lips in disagreement.

"That's about fifteen miles from here!" Luna stated, "it'll take hours to get there..."

"You've obviously never ridden the Werewolf Express." I said, "I'll have you there in half an hour, make sure to hold on this time."

"So you guys really are werewolves?" Ryan asked as he touched Helena's ear, curiously.

"Half werewolf." I added.

"No," Helena started as she let Ryan pet her. "Quarter werewolf, dad's only half. We are like this because the werewolf gene is dominant.

"So what's his other half?"

"Cat, like aunt Lilian and grandma Felicia."

"So we're like quarter cat?"

"Yeah but the dominant gene is normally represented by the child."

"So explain Manuel."

"He's just a weird one, technically they should all be cats."

"Who's Manuel?" Ryan asked.

"Our cousin." I said.

Helena and Luna struggled to get the clothing line over my muzzle again as I squirmed around instinctively on all fours. The people in the restaurant looked through the windows and glass doors to get a better view of us.

"Michael stand still, you're acting like a dog!" Helena said as she tried forcing my head still while Luna struggled to fit the knot over me snout.

"I am a dog!" I replied.

"Michael!" Ryan yelled and I turned quickly to look at him.

The clothing line was wrapped and secured around my muzzle while I was distracted.

I looked Luna then back at Ryan "You're dead to me..." I mumbled over the clothing line.

"There! Thanks Ryan." Helena said taking the shirt off and handing it back to Ryan.

"You're welcomed." He replied and put the shirt back on. He then had a weird expression on his face.

"Does it smell like dog?" I said

"A little..." Ryan replied then stared a me.

I smiled and Luna spanked me so I could take off. I looked back at her and she smiled then jerked forward when I whipped her back with my tail.

I took off running as fast as I could and Luna shouted her disapproval and said something about being more gentle. Helena hugged Ryan then jumped onto all fours and took off after me. I dodged cars as I headed down busy streets with incredible speed. Luna actually ducked down closer to my back as the wind that flew by was too much for her.

We passed a sign that showed the current speed of passing vehicles. I smiled when I saw that it read 62mph as I passed by. The sign actually took a picture of me when I passed it.

It took me around half an hour to arrive at a large gated house. The front gate wasn't locked so we let ourselves in. I still carried Luna as we moved closer to the driveway.

"I don't like this place." Luna whispered.

"It does have an eerie feel to it." I replied.

A woman sat by the front door. She hugged her knees to her chest as she mumbled to herself: "It wasn't him, it wasn't him. I didn't mean to do it, I didn't want this!"

I crept closer and the woman jerked her head at our direction.

"Who are you? Are you with him?" She hissed at us. Her hair and clothing were burnt.

"My name is Michael, this is Luna and the innocent looking thing there is Helena, my sister." I said in a soft and none threatening voice to the deranged woman. "We're just looking for someone."

"Of course you are! You're looking for him! Well he's not here, he left. He erased my sister's memory, but I remember! Oh yes, I remember everything! He even erased his keeper's memory so he wouldn't remember, but I do! Oh yes, I remember everything."

"I think that she's gone mad..." Helena whispered in my ear.

"Where did he go?" I asked.

"I don't know and I don't care, he just disappeared... Don't look at me like that! I'm not crazy, I'm the only one who's still sane!"

She stood up and started walking inside when a younger girl in a uniform that looked a lot like Zeke's walked out.

"Ai, I'm going to work. Try and get some rest..."

"That's the new girl." I said.

"How do you know?" Luna asked. She had hunched down to be closer to my face.

"She walked in when we went to visit your cousin."

"Oh, hey it's you!" The girl said when she saw Luna.

"Tell Zeke 'thanks for the ride home last night' for me, would you?" She said as she stared at me.

"So he was here last night?" Helena said with just a slight hint of anger on her voice.

"Well, he dropped me off, but nothing happened... Hey you're his girlfriend."

"Yeah, where is he?" Helena replied as she growled slightly.

"He dropped me off then went home, he didn't even come in for tea..."

"Yes he did! Yes he did, and when he woke up he was someone else! He was his son, why don't you remember?" Ai yelled from the doorway.

"Please excuse my sister, she is ill."

"No I'm not! Denise you're the one who is ill!"

"Ai, please!" Denise let out.

"So where is he?" I asked.

She stared at me for a few seconds as she clearly didn't expect the big dog to talk. "He took off... Home would be my best guess."

"He never made it home last nigh-." Luna started but was cut off when her cellphone rang.

She pulled it out of her pocket and stared at it for a second then slowly opened the phone and held it to her ear.

"Luna? Where are you? Where is everyone?" Zeke said on the other end.

"Zeke! Where are you? Where have you been?" Luna asked.

"I was at work... Where are you?"

"I'm at Denise's house. Where you here last night?"

"Yeah, I gave her a ride home, why?"

"Zeke, you never came home last night."

"Are you crazy? I got home late but that's it."

We made it back to Luna's house. Zeke was waiting outside for her. Luna jumped off my back and ran up to give Zeke a big hug.

"Where the fuck were you?" She asked.

"I was at work, like I said." Zeke replied then walked up to me and removed the clothing line from my muzzle. "You let these women do what they want, don't you?"

"Dogs are loyal." I replied as I stood up on two legs.

Helena finally caught up then jumped at Zeke who had to fierce himself to stay on his feet as Helena had wrapped her arms and legs around the guy.

"He just walked out of his room." Mario, Zeke's father, told me and Luna. "He claims he was at work."

"Did he sneak in?" I asked.

"No... It's like he just appeared."

I looked at Zeke who wobbled closer as Helena still held on to him. She had tears in her eyes as she whispered into Zeke's ear as her tail wagged wildly.

"Why does everyone keep saying that I was missing?" Zeke asked when he was close to us.

"Because you were..." I replied

"It's too HOT!" Helena said as she sat in the living room in her wolf form.

Four months passed and nobody mentioned Zeke's random disappearance again. I still thought about what the woman named Ai was saying, Helena would always tell me that she was crazy and that I should forget about it, whenever I mentioned her.

It was a hot summer evening. The entire block's power went out an hour ago, when a drunk driver hit a power line.

"I think I'm melting!" My mother said as she held a frozen bag of peas on her head.

I stood in the same room, it was hot but I didn't complain, there was nothing to be gained by doing so.

My father walked in and looked at my mother and sister.

"Bloody 'ell it's hot in here!" he let out as he walked in.

"Hey honey..." My mother said as my father gave her a quick kiss.

The lights flashed on for a second then turned back off with a spark that made my sister yelp slightly.

"The breaker's down, go check it Michael." My father said.

I stood up and walked outside and frowned when I noticed that it was cooler out here. I walked to the breaker box and flipped the downed switch and heard the electricity turn on.

"Fucking A..." I whispered then noticed Zeke standing outside with pants and a long sleeve shirt.

He stood still as he was watering some plants.

"Zeke, why are you wearing a long sleeve shirt?" I asked as I leaned over the fence. There wasn't a response or any indication that he even heard what I said. "Hey, Zeke!"

"What?" Zeke asked dully as he slowly turned and looked at me.

"What's wrong man? You've been acting weird..."

"I haven't been sleeping good, I keep having nightmares about fire."

"Why do you always tell me your dreams? Isn't that why you have a girlfriend?"

He went on to tell me about the dream he recently had:

It was a moonless night as Zeke stood in the middle of a village. The villagers looked at him with fearful expressions, as they cautiously chattered in their native language. His body combusted into flames that leaped and extended off his fingers before flying out to strike people, animals and houses alike. Zeke watched the fires spread and consume whatever they touched. He turned and walked away laughing as a baby was engulfed by the flames in the background. The fire spread to neighboring villages and forests until entire continents were burnt to the ground, and Zeke laughed loudly as it happened.

"That's some messed up stuff." I said when he finished his story.

"I've had similar dreams all week." Zeke said as he wiped his eyes; it was clear that he wasn't sleeping correctly.

"Listen, a dream is just a dream and you shouldn't worry about it. They're just figments of your imagination, so they're not real and therefor nothing like that could ever happen. Just like my dream with your cousin."

"What?"

"Huh?"

"You had a dream about Luna?"

"See, you're hearing things, get some rest."

"Hearing things, my ass! What was the dream about?"

"What dream?" Helena asked as she walked out through the sliding glass door.

She was still in her wolf fur as she walked closer. Her skin shone brilliantly because of all the sweat.

Zeke let out a low wolf whistle as Helena leaned close to give Zeke a kiss.

"There's my puppy!" Zeke let out.

"I'm going inside." I announced but got the feeling that nobody paid me any attention.

I walked back in and heard my mother giggling as she sat on my father's lap while he was in wolf form and licked my mother's neck, playfully.

Then it finally dawned on me: I was the only single member of the family. I stared at my hand and decided that it was time for a shower.