The Blue Werewolf

C/By Kenjaje

Chapter 8: Full Moon

October 31; 7:53 PM; Getting ready for Halloween

"Just a few more things and you're done, Lilo." Nani said, picking up a small tube of makeup that came with the costume Lilo had bought. She squeezed the tube of red face paint and brushed it on her cheeks, and did the same with blue, to make parallel lines going from her nose to her ears, slanted slightly toward her eyes. "There, I think that's the last of it." Nani spoke, closing the tubes and brushing her hands free of powder. She took a step back to examine Lilo's entire outfit. "Wow...I'm impressed kiddo. You chose a good one this year."

"Thanks." Lilo giggled, as Nani patted her head.

"Go show Stitch, and then tell him to come in here. He's going to be a werewolf this year?" Nani asked, making sure she knew what he was.

"Yeah, a werewolf." Lilo replied, opening the bathroom door. She closed it behind her as Nani was getting out a different set of paint, and washing her hands in the bathroom sink.

Stitch sat on the couch, reading his new black book. He sifted through the pages, not really reading, not really thinking. He had read a bit of information. He read over how to cure the illness of being a werewolf, how to catch it, etc. But he was more interested in what Lilo was this year, as she had still made a big deal about it being a surprise.

"Stitch, where are you?" He heard Lilo's voice upstairs. "My costume's all ready." He shut the book immediately and laid it on the couch. He hopped to the floor and popped his back, and eagerly ran up the stairs. "Stitch, wher-"Lilo turned out from the door she was peeking in and saw him in the hallway. "There you are. This is my costume, you like it?" She asked, posing.

If Stitch didn't know better, he wouldn't even recognize Lilo at all. Her face seemed somewhat glossier, and her hair was tied in a messy ponytail, those were the first things he noticed. Then he noticed the blue and red lines of paint on her cheeks. Her clothes were long pants, and a shirt to match, a design on the ends of the sleeves, near the bottom of the shirt, and near the ends of the leggings decorated the outer rim of her clothing. On her feet were moccasins, in her hand was a small toy bow, on her back was quiver full of suction-cup tipped arrows, and on her head was a single band, with a feather at the front.

"Gabitcha ju-keepa?"

"You silly, I'm a Cherokee." She laughed.

"Cheokah?" He tried to repeat.

'No. Cher-o-kee. A Cherokee is an Indian that lives in a tepee, it's like a tent, only really tall and pointy." She said raising her hand high in the air to illustrate.

"Oh...Stitch like." He said, nodding his head approvingly.

"Thanks, I knew you would." She said excitedly, running up and giving him a hug. "Nani wants to see you, make you look more like a werewolf. She's in the bathroom. Meet me downstairs when you're done." She hollered, now running down the stairs. Stitch shrugged and walked to the bathroom, where Nani had a paintbrush in-hand.

"It's not like Nani needs to make him look like a werewolf. So far, I'm starting to believe he is one. And if he is, we won't have to be worrying about makeup..." Lilo thought, as she ran down the stairs. She passed the pumpkin they had carved; Stitch used his claws which made it much easier and faster, since they were in a hurry to get to the Aloha Halloween Luau. The upside-down jack-o'-lantern gawked at her with a flickering light. (Stitch had accidentally carved it upside down, which is why it was the way it was.)

She sighed, walking to the couch. The moccasins hurt her feet a little bit; they were stiff and leathery, and made it feel like she was walking in blocks of wood rather than comfortable slippers. She sat down and took them off for the time being, laying them on aside on the floor. She brushed her hair to the side and laid down on the couch, to wait for Stitch.

"Ow!" She grunted, as something sharp stabbed her in the back. She sat up and ran her hand across the couch, to find Stitch's book hidden between the cushions. "Huh. Wonder what he's trying to find in this old thing." She said to no one, opening the book and flipping through its pages. She couldn't read much of it, but some symbols she did recognize. Usually in Jumba's books she had a picture to go along with what was being said, but now there were just pages and pages of words that she saw only as abstract calligraphy. Lilo heard the fumbling noise of feet coming down the stairs, and she quickly shut the book and placed it back on the couch. Stitch tumbled down the stairs, barely keeping his footing, and roared airily as he hit the bottom on all fours.

"Stitch already looks so much like a dog," Nani said, as she followed Stitch down and brushed him aside when she got the bottom, "I didn't exactly know what to do with him. The only thing I could think of was painting his nose black." She motioned at the one alteration Stitch had, his black nose. It seemed oddly different, but other than that he was the same.

"At least it's something." Lilo said optimistically. Stitch grinned, and stood on two feet. "Ok, we're ready to go." Lilo said, following Nani into the kitchen. Stitch ran to the couch and picked up his book, then scurried into the kitchen with them.

"Are you two taking the pumpkin too?" Nani asked; giving them each a pillowcase reserved for candy. Stitch began to sniff and explore his as Nani and Lilo continued on their conversation.

"I guess we could, though we never win the competition." Lilo replied lowly.

"Don't let that get to you, it's just a competition. If you lose, that doesn't mean you didn't do a good job." Nani cooed, as she leaned over and petted her sister's head.

"I know, I know. C'mon Stitch, we'd better get going or we'll be late." Lilo said, taking his bag as he gave it to her and stepped over to the pumpkin to carry it.

"Oh, and Lilo." Nani began, as they walked to the front door.

"Yeah?"

"There's going to be an eclipse out tonight. The sky will be dark for a few minutes, and I don't want you and Stitch wondering around without any moonlight. There are some crazy people that out at Halloween, so stay close to your friends ok?"

"Ok. Later Nani."

"Bye." Nani replied, giving Lilo a blow-kiss. The sky was already dark, the sun had passed to the other side of the earth, and the stars were twinkling in the sky. The moon hung low over the horizon, its body full and its light bright in the navy sky.

"Just in case you are a werewolf, I recommend not looking up." Lilo said, pointing at the moon. Stitch's eyes quickly spotted the behemoth in the sky, and then flinched down to the ground, making sure it was out of his peripheral vision as well. "I don't think you'll have to worry though. I'll keep an eye on you."

"Oketaka." He replied graciously. He lifted the pumpkin onto his head, and continued to follow behind Lilo, admiring her costume. She slung the bow over her shoulder and around her body, opposite the quiver of fake arrows. Aside from the occasional noise of the night, they walked in silence. Lilo thought about all the candy they would get, while Stitch thought about not looking at the moon.

"Oh no..." Lilo paused, lifting up her feet. "I forgot my moccasins."

"Naga shibita." Stitch said, "Lilo look better without."

"You think so?"

"Oh yeah." He said reassuringly. She smiled at him, and continued to lead the way. As they arrived, lights began to illuminate the surrounding area. A yellow glow came from around the area. But there was something wrong; there was hardly any noise. Usually the Aloha hut was ablaze with music and commotion, especially on Halloween night.

"Huh?" Lilo stopped her pace abruptly. Stitch bumped into her and stumbled back, trying not to drop the pumpkin on the floor.

"Soka." He said, stepping to Lilo's side.

"It's ok...look." She pointed to the Aloha hut. Stitch's eyes reflected red and blue flashing lights as he eyed the three police cars parked near the building. As they ran closer to the odd scene, the two realized that the hut was bent out of shape. The door was completely off its hinges, the staircase was splintered, and a window was broken. "You go find a place to put that pumpkin, I'm going to see what's going on." Lilo said, a bit of agitation in her voice.

"Eh." Stitch confirmed, as he hosted his pumpkin to get a better grip on it. He wondered to the right where a group of people gathered; Myrtle, her friends, and a few other kids were crowded around outside, playing a game of tag. Lilo ran with a steady stride to the door of the hut, ran up the broken staircase and peered in the doorway. Moses stood in the middle of the room, talking to a uniformed police officer.

"This is just a confirmation; you say you don't know who or what did-"

"Moses! Moses, what happened?" Lilo panted, running into the building. The inside was completely trashed; broken objects littered the area, and a familiar site caught Lilo's eyes. Claw marks.

"Lilo, this isn't the time, go out and play with the other girls-"

"Excuse me ma'am," the officer said, turning toward Lilo, "I'm sorry to say this but something's happened here and we have to figure out what. Us adults need to talk for a minute, but there's some kids outside if you would be so kind as to-"

"But...wait," Lilo said, trying to politely interrupt, "this looks similar to something that happened at my house, it's almost the exact same thing." The officer's face changed behind his sunglasses.

"You say something like this," he motioned toward the destruction, "has happened to your home?"

"Well, something close to it anyway..." Lilo said, looking around. "It wasn't as bad as this...but I recognize those claw marks."

"Do you think you might know what caused this-?"

"I believe I can answer that." Came a voice from the door. A man stepped in to the room, which Lilo recognized as the hotel owner. "I was around the area when this place was being destroyed, and I think I might know what caused it."

"Alright, out with it." The cop said. "Tell me all you know."

"I can't say exactly, but it was some sort of animal. It was large, and had a long tail. Looked more like a big dog to me, but-"The three people in the room turned toward the door as a scream burst from outside. Lilo recognized it as Myrtle's, and was the first to run outside.

"Lilo, why did you bring your dog with you? It just went crazy and tried to attack me!" She yelled, as she saw Lilo come out of the building.

"You have a dog, ma'am?" The officer said, directing his attention toward Lilo.

"Yes...b-but, he didn't cause this, honest. I was with him when he and I came here." The officer nodded and turned toward Moses, asking more questions that Lilo didn't hear. "Where did Stitch go?" Lilo asked Myrtle, who was backing away as if Lilo was infected with some sort of disease.

"He went that way, and if you're smart, you'll go that way too." She snarled, pointing off back where Lilo and Stitch had first come. Lilo leered at Myrtle, and flexed a fist, but then dropped it. With a sigh she took off running back toward the direction Marital had pointed. Lilo ran for minutes down the road where she had come, and soon was forced to take a quick walk. She kept her eyes and ears out for anything suspicious—and twirled around as she heard a noise behind her.

"Stitch?" She called immediately, looking off to the side of the path. A low wind blew, but that didn't cover the rustling of something galloping through the brush that lead off into the woods. "Stitch?" Lilo called again, chasing after the rustle. She stopped as she saw something all too familiar; across the grass far in front of her a silhouette passed quickly, almost blurrily. She recognized it from last night, when Stitch had leaped through the skylight of their bedroom. Except now she got a better view of it; it wasn't short and stubby like her fiend. It was large, long, had a snout, and a tail that flowed briskly behind it as it darted into the brush to her left. "Stitch!" She yelled, chasing after him.