Chapter 12

They turned back toward the door, Maxwell with the needle in his paw. Then, a strange noise was heard from underneath the floorboards.

Sandy's ears perked up. "Did you hear that?"

"You bet I did," Boss said. "I hope it's not the-"

Suddenly, the werewolf's clawed hand burst out of the floor right under Maxwell. He dropped the needle, and it clanked to the ground and rolled away. The werewolf clamped his hand on Maxwell's foot and began to drag him into the hole it had created. It pulled him in before the ham-hams even had time to react.

The other hamsters gathered around the hole, and though they could not see what was going on, they could surely guess by the noises heard below. Maxwell started to scream madly, then there was a loud roar made by the wolf, a rip, and then silence.

The last three held their breath and backed away.

Sandy was in tears. "I can't believe it . . . what will we do without Max? What will I do without Max? I don't think I can take this anymore," she cried.

Nothing seemed to happen for a while, but right when Boss opened his mouth to speak, they saw something appear out of the space in the floor. The werewolf's bloodied hand reached out from the hole, and it pulled itself out.

The hamsters turned and ran, but not before the wolf ran ahead. It stopped directly in front of them, gazing down. The others skidded to a halt and ran the other direction, but Sandy tripped and fell on her face before she could do a thing.

It picked her up by the back of her neck and held her to its eyes. She yelled in terror as the wolf slammed her to the ground. She tried to run, but it stomped its foot down on her leg and she couldn't move. Before she knew it, she was lying in a pool of her own blood, a horrible pain taking control of her. Stan just stared on, and so did Boss, and Sandy just laid there to die . . .

"SANDY!"

"W-wha-"

"Snap out of it! You passed out," Stan told her.

"But . . . where is the werewolf? I thought it killed me," she said.

"Not you. It killed Maxwell," he said. "You must have been dreaming."

"Oh no, now I remember it! Not Maxy . . . no," she said. "This is a nightmare!"

"I know. He was the smart guy here."

"What happened after I fainted?" Sandy asked her brother.

"We've got no time. The wolf is still in here somewhere," Boss said, interrupting them.

Stan nodded his head. "Right. We've got to find that needle again."

He helped Sandy to her feet, and they scoured the room for the needle. The first place they searched was by the hole in the floor, because that was where Maxwell had dropped it.

"It couldn't have gone too far," Boss said. "I sure wish there was a better light source back here. I can't hardly see a thing." He walked toward a dark corner and peered around. Suddenly, he saw a pair of eyes staring right down at him. The werewolf reached down with its paws to grab him, but Boss made a quick leap backwards and ran towards Stan and Sandy.

"Get out of here!" he yelled to them.

"Is it the-"

"Yes! We gotta leave . . . wait a sec . . ." The gleam of a sharp object caught their eyes.

"The needle!" Stan yelled. "Get it, Boss!"

Boss lunged forward and grabbed it in his paws. The werewolf had followed Boss to the other two hams, and was standing right over them. Seeing it, Stan and Sandy both ran in a different direction. The werewolf, remembering Sandy as the one that hit it in the nose, bounded in her direction.

"Sandy, run!" Stan yelled after her. Heart pounding, she sprinted away from the wolf, but it was catching up to her fast. She reached a dead end.

This is it, she thought. The werewolf stopped right over her, and smiled because it would get its small bit of revenge in just a few seconds. Just before it pounced onto her, a bloody needle shot through its abdomen. Boss was behind it, holding the needle in place.

The wolf let out a loud howl, then collapsed to the floor.

"Sandy . . . are you okay?" Boss said under his heavy breaths.

Sandy was relieved. "Yes, thanks to you."

Stan ran up to her and hugged her tight. "Sandy! Sandy! I thought you were a goner!"

She smiled and hugged him back. "I'm fine. You should be thanking Boss." Boss stepped over the werewolf and stopped in front of Stan and Sandy.

"I looks like we're the last hams left here, huh?" he commented.

"It's unbelievable. Nearly fifteen hamsters . . . reduced to three," Stan said sadly, "by a single creature."

"I know. It's like a horrible nightmare. I keep thinking that I'm going to wake up in my own house, and everything will be fine, but it's not. We'll never see the other ham-hams again," Sandy said.

Suddenly, Stan cocked his head as he saw a large shadow appear over Boss. "Hey, Boss . . . do you see that?"

He had just noticed it too. His blood ran cold and his eyes opened wide, and he slowly turned back to see what it was. Above him, he saw a pair of silver, glowing eyes staring down, looking pretty mad. The now-conscious werewolf grabbed the needle from its stomach and held it high in the air, the point facing down. Before he could even move, the werewolf thrust the needle directly into Boss' forehead. The needle protruded out the back of his skull, soaked with his blood. Boss twitched a moment, and then fell limp.

The two that were left were so frightened they could only make a squeak. They quickly realized that the wolf could attack them an moment, so they turned and quickly scampered away.

They sprinted nonstop to the door until they both heard a low, raspy voice behind them.

"Stop . . ."

"Who . . . who was that?" Stan asked nervously.

"I am the werewolf."

This was unbelievable. "Wh-why haven't you spoken before?" Stan asked, looking towards it.

"I couldn't. When the other hamster had stabbed me, he released me of the power that blocked my ability to speak."

"But, I thought silver was supposed to kill werewolves," Sandy said.

"I am no ordinary werewolf. Unlike most, I have to be stabbed through the heart to die. Even so, silver does damage to me, resulting in my collapse when Boss sent the needle through my stomach."

"Wait . . . how do you know Boss' name?" Stan asked it suspiciously.

"I have always known his name. I know all of your names," it explained, "Stan."

"B-but h-h-how-"

"We have met before. You know my name, also. Same with Sandy."

They were shocked. Stan turned to his sister. "Do you know anything about this?"

"No. I don't know what it's talking about."

"Of course you do. We have had great times, in the long ago . . ."

"In the long ago? What do you mean?" Stan questioned it.

"Before the fateful night."

X X X X X X X X X X

One chapter to go!