CAN'T FIGHT THE MOONLIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN-THE STANDOFF

Mom and Dad arrived that morning and immediately hugged me and Phil.

Hilary told them about what we're going to have to do.

"It's not a war," Hilary explained. "Don't worry. We probably won't lose anyone. It's more of a standoff."

"Probably?" Dad said uncertainly raising an eyebrow at her.

"Well," Hilary said slowly. "There might be a warning though…but I'm positive there won't be."

We all looked at each other.

"I don't care. I just want Keely back to her 'normal' self…whatever that is," Phil said quietly. "I don't care about her being like me although I would've much preferred not to have 'infected' her…but I want her back to her right personality."

I sighed.

Phil really loved Keely. I didn't understand why he has never said anything to her about it.

Hilary nodded.

"I understand,"

She checked her watch.

"The Norix's should be arriving any moment,"

"How can you tell?" Mom asked.

"I just can," Hilary said. "I'm sure Phil feels it also."

We all looked at him.

Phil was biting his bottom lip.

"Yeah," he replied. "They're on their way. It's a werewolf thing."

His lip twitched at that last part.

The doctors checked me over and said I was alright now that if I experienced anything bothersome to come back. I was released that afternoon.

The Norix's arrived.

We had just pulled up in front of the house in our Ford Taurus when a group of people began walking up the block. They ranged in all ages. From Phil's age to Mom and Dad's.

They looked like a bunch of motorcycle gangs. They were dressed in leather and wearing wild hair styles.

"Geeze," Mom whispered from the front passenger seat. "Is that them?"

"'Fraid so," Hilary said sitting on my left. I was in-between Phil and her.

"They look tough," Phil replied nervously swallowing.

We slowly got out of the car.

As they approached, I was shocked to see Keely come out of her house and join them.

I glanced at Phil. He had a pained expression on his face.

I knew this must be hard for him.

I linked arms with him and squeezed his arm affectionately. He smiled at me, and then returned his eyes onto the Norix's.

They stopped in front of us.

Keely was glaring back at us defiantly.

"So," a girl said in a stiff tone. "You must be the new narks to the species."

She snickered at Phil and glanced at Keely.

"Although it's nice to see one of you on the right side," she added to Keely.

Keely smiled and turned back to us with that same cold expression on her face.

"What do you want?" Hilary demanded. "Why don't you just leave these two alone? They've done nothing to you."

"I see the Tyrix's have been pretty much wiped out," the girl grinned. "Time to re-establish those beliefs."

"The Tyrix's were tyrants and monsters," Hilary said coldly.

"They tried to keep trash out," the girl said nastily. "Those that didn't follow their beliefs."

"They were evil," Hilary continued.

The girl's eyes landed on me, Phil, Mom and Dad.

"So humans are involved with you now? More trash that you mingle with," the girl said snootily.

"Hey," Dad said angrily. "We trust her and it's up to her who she mingles with."

"Suuuure," the girl rolled her eyes. "Until you end up with your throats torn by your own son."

She glanced toward Phil.

PHIL.

The girl glanced toward me.

I narrowed my eyes.

"I would never turn on my family and friends," I said angrily. "Unlike some people."

I glanced toward Keely.

"Why should I stay friends with you?" Keely said angrily. "You're just going to up and leave me one day! Why bother?"

Those words stung. It was just as hard for me as well. I didn't want to leave her either and I wanted to tell her how I felt so badly but I was scared.

"I don't like it anymore than you do!" I argued back. "But turning against us and trying to hurt Pim won't solve it."

Keely didn't reply, she just glared at us/

"Why do you hate me so much?" Pim asked stepping forward.

"Because you never showed me any respect," Keely said stiffly. "You knew I was Phil's best friend and you treated me like dirt."

Pim's expression fell.

"Is that why you tried to kill me?"

"Bingo," Keely smirked.

I felt angry now…enraged was more like it though. I was angry at Keely; angry at myself for even biting her in the first place. Maybe had I not snapped she wouldn't be one of us right now and standing across from us with one of the most dangerous werewolf packs around.

"Well," I said stiffly. "You're about to be in trouble."

"Oh really?" the girl asked and she folded her arms over her chest. "And how would that be?"

"We're expecting help from other packs," Hilary said. "Who should be arriving later today."

"We're scared," the girl said mockingly.

"So you must be the Norix pack," a voice said behind us.

We turned around.

It was a group of girls, about 15 of them.

"The Annimid pack," Hilary whispered. "I didn't know they'd come this fast."

"The Annimid's," the girl smirked. "So nice of you to join us."

They were dressed in red plaid skirts, white poplins and red ties like a bunch of girls' from a school or something.

"Yes, well," the head girl said smirking. "We knew they needed help so we decided to arrive early."

The Annimid's began approaching us.

They stood behind us.

"You three can actually head in the house," the girl from the Annimid pack said to Mom, Pim and Dad. "We've got things under control."

I gave Pim a big hug and kiss before they headed into the house. Pim kept glancing back at me before she finally disappeared into the house.

By now, we were equally matched.

15 Annimid's, 15 Norix's.

"My name is Jenna Robbins," the head girl of the Annimid pack introduced. "I'm the Alpha female."

We shook hands.

The afternoon wore on.

The other packs never arrived. It was a standoff now between Hilary, the Annimid's and I, and the Norix's.

"Why didn't the others show up?" I hissed to Hilary.

"I don't know," she said looking upset and angry at the same time. "They must've chickened out. No good…"

She began rambling out bad words.

"It doesn't matter," I said. "What matters is that none of my family is in jeopardy anymore. We're equally matched."

"But what about Keely?" Hilary asked reasonably. "She could very well turn and attack you. You'd be fighting your own best friend."

"Like that's any different that what we did earlier?" I asked.

Hilary was silent.

"This time, you could very well finish one another off," she said quietly. "I've seen it happen before."

Now a new fear crept into my chest.

Either I could kill Keely…or Keely could kill me.

This wasn't going to be easy.

"But one thing," I said suddenly pointing to the sky. "Tonight's no full moon. It's a crescent."

Hilary smiled and shook her head.

"You've really got a lot to learn, Diffy. We can will ourselves to transform."

"What? You mean like force ourselves?" I asked.

Hilary nodded.

"Just concentrate and keep your mind on the transformation,"

I nodded.

I turned my eyes back onto the Norix's. They had already changed into the wolves.

"Yipes," I said swallowing.

I checked my watch. It was midnight. The air took on an eerie chill and no crickets chirped. The moon cast a small glow over everyone.

"Well, let's go," I said rubbing my hands together.

The Norix wolves looked like Timber Wolves. They had the reddish/black/brown fur and amber eyes.

The Annimid pack had transformed already. They were brown and black, looking much like German Shepard dogs.

Hilary and I concentrated and shortly we too, had transformed.

PIM.

I gently pulled back the curtain and peered out into the street.

"Pim," Mom said nervously. "Keep away from the window!"

"Relax Mom," I said. "Nothing's happening yet."

They were just standing, facing each other.

The Annimid pack and Phil and Hilary were standing with their ears pinned backward, keeping their eyes closely on the Norix pack.

"It's creepy out there," I commented. "I hope none of the neighbors decide to walk their dogs now."

"That wouldn't be good," Dad agreed.

I turned away from the window and sat down on the couch, which was just under the window.

Suddenly, something jumped through the window behind me. I felt glass showering me.

I screamed and protectively covered my face with my arms. It was one of the Norix pack members. I slid off the couch. The wolf landed gracefully on all fours on the carpet.

"RUN!" Mom yelled as she grabbed my hand and Dad followed. We tore upstairs and the wolf followed us.

We were screaming as we flew into a closet and closed the door, locking it behind us. Mom, Dad and I huddled in the closet, breathing heavily.

We could hear the wolf clawing at the closet door.

PHIL.

I flicked an ear back and heard Pim and my parents screaming as a member of the Norix pack had jumped through the window.

I growled angrily and turned around, galloping full speed into the house.

That set off a second war.

I jumped cleanly through the already broken window, landed easily on all fours and tore up the stairs.

When I arrived at the base of the hallway, the Norix wolf had his head through the closet door and clamped his jaws on the sleeve of Pim's jacket.

She was screaming as he tried to pull her through the hole.

I stood squarely on all fours and lowered my head. I pinned back my ears and retracted my upper lip, exposing my white canines and incisors.

I snarled angrily.

The Norix wolf wasn't paying any attention to me. It tugged her arm viciously with one last attempt to pull her through. I heard a sickening crack. Pim screamed in pain. That only enraged me further. I snarled louder. Again, the wolf wasn't paying attention.

It managed to pull Pim through the hole.

She was just limp in pain, sobbing.

The wolf stood over her.

Clear saliva dripped onto Pim's jacket. Another Norix wolf appeared behind me and we began fighting keeping me from getting to Pim.

I knew Mom and Dad couldn't do anything. They were in a tight situation.

I bit down on the wolf's neck that was fighting with me hard. I felt a warm rush of blood. The wolf went limp. Just as I turned to head toward Pim, the wolf standing over her opened its jaws and clamped them around Pim's throat.

Pim let out a scream, which was cut off immediately with a gurgle. I heard Mom scream inside the closet and a scuffling, which meant Mom was trying to get to Pim, but Dad was holding her back.

I felt as if my whole heart had been ripped from my chest. I stood there, completely stunned and shocked. The Norix wolf raised its head and glared back at me, blood covering its muzzle and nose…Pim's blood.

I began slowly recovering from the shock. Now, pure, unadulterated rage filled my chest. I flattened my ears out sideways and charged at the wolf.

My head slammed into the wolf's ribcage, tossing it several inches in the air.

When it landed, it went to attack me, but I arched my head around and clamped my jaws on the wolf's foreleg.

I took several good bites out of it.

The Norix wolf howled in pain.

I grabbed the wounded leg and flipped the Norix wolf onto its side, and then finally its back with all four paws pointing to the ceiling. It struggled to get to its feet, but I was standing over it, pinning it with inhuman strength.

The Norix's hind paws were digging into my belly, but I didn't care. My eyes landed on Pim's lifeless body and then I opened my jaws and clamped them around the throat of the Norix wolf.

I bit down hard. It kept struggling and writhing, but I held on. Blood began flowing from the wounds. I held on.

The struggling and writhing got weaker and weaker until finally, it stopped moving all together.

I didn't release the throat just yet. I hung on. I was growling fiercely. I heard the closet door opening. Mom and Dad were slowly emerging from it.

"PIIIIIIM!" Mom screamed as she dropped to her knees beside Pim's body.

"Oh God," Dad choked out as he too dropped to his knees beside Mom.

Finally, I let go of the wolf's neck. It was dead for sure.

I trotted over to Pim's body and gently nuzzled it with my nose. She didn't move.

I tucked my hind legs underneath me and rested my head on Pim's stomach. I let my ears droop and I whined.

"Keely," I heard Mom sob as she looked toward the end of the hallway.

Immediately, my eyes flew open and I snapped to alertness.

I stood over Pim's body and flattened my ears out sideways again. I snarled. I wasn't going to let anyone near Pim.

The white wolf was slowly approaching us. Dad protectively wrapped his arms around Mom.

I continued to snarl.

The wolf kept her eyes on Pim.

Finally, she was close enough to Pim. I growled and snapped my jaws, but the white wolf just licked Pim's hand.

"Oh Keely," I heard Mom sob as she threw her arms around the white wolf's neck and hugged her. The wolf just sat patiently and licked Mom. Keely was back to normal.

Mom and Dad tried to pull me away from Pim, but I stood my ground.

"Phil, please," Mom sobbed tugging at me.

I just snarled and refused to budge.