The Werewolf of Fever Swamp

by sweetie buttons

Grady Tucker moves to Fever Swamp with his family. There are rumors about the mysterious swamp, but he finds himself drawn to it, as well as the strange, mysterious hermit who lives there. But is the hermit hiding something, and is as scary and dangerous as everyone says he is? Are the rumors true?

3. Chapter 3

"Hey—" Grady cried, his heart pounding.

The person had let him go, and he gasped in surprise. He picked up his camera and notepad and turned to look at him. It was a boy around his age.

"Hey," he said, grinning. He had a deep, husky voice. "Did I scare you?"

"You—" Grady's heart leapt. "Why did you grab me like that?"

"To get your attention," he said. He was short and stocky, with dark brown hair in a buzz cut and flashing dark eyes.

"You scared me to death!" Grady cried.

"Sorry," he said. "I thought it'd be funny."

"Well, it wasn't," said Grady breathlessly. "I thought you were a kidnapper or something."

"It was just a joke," he said, wiping his hands on his blue bike shorts. "I wanted to talk to you. I haven't seen another kid around my age here in a while. I'm Will Blake. What's your name?"

"I'm Grady Tucker," he said.

"Are you new here?" Will asked.

"Uh, yeah," said Grady. "My family just moved today. We're moving here temporarily for my dad's work."

"What are you doing in Fever Swamp?" Will demanded.

"Uh… don't know. I wanted to explore, I guess," said Grady.

Suddenly, Will's smile faded. His voice lowered and became even huskier. "Stay away from this swamp. I'm warning you. Stay away."

"What?" Grady wasn't sure if he had heard right.

"You don't want to come here," said Will, staring at him seriously.

"What?" Grady looked around at the trees encompassing him. "I know it's kind of dark and deep in the swamp, but—"

"Do you know what'll happen tonight?" Will demanded.

"What? Tonight?"

"Tonight is a full moon," said Will.

"Oh, yeah. I know that," said Grady. "I have a chart of the lunar cycle." That was another thing that made Emily call him a geek.

"And do you know what happens on a full moon?" Will asked seriously.

"It's when the earth's shadow no longer eclipses the moon," said Grady. He was really glad Emily wasn't there.

Will shook his head. "No. Well, that too. But it means there are werewolves."

"What?" Grady cried. "You can't be serious."

Suddenly, someone grabbed Will from behind, wrapping their arms around his waist. Grady cried out in surprise. A crazy thought entered his head. Was that the werewolf?