Mutant Enemy Television, Inc. owns pretty much everything within the Angel/Buffy universe. My use is in no way meant to challenge any established copyrights. This piece is not intended for any profit on the part of the writer, nor is it meant to detract from the commercial viability of the aforementioned or any other copyright. Any similarity to any events or persons, either real or fictional, is unintended.

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IV – A Late Night Stroll

Janna awoke with a start, immediately thankful that she could still see everything in her room despite the pitch darkness. Enhanced nightvision… she thought happily. It's good to be the Slayer. It only took a few moments to banish her fears and calm her nerves. It was only a dream, she told herself.

Then she heard it – a low, moaning howl from far off, barely detectable. It's just the wind, she told herself. Go back to sleep. She leaned back on the bed and closed her eyes again, trying to will herself back asleep. Her mind had just started to drift when she heard the noise again, closer this time. She was out of her bed and on her feet in an instant, walking over to her window and peering out into the night. Again she heard the howl – there was no mistaking it.

From far off she heard a second, deeper howl seeming to answer. "Now what?" Janna asked herself, weighing the merits of going outside or returning to bed. She chuckled at the question, wondering at how her life seemed almost surreal lately. "Just a few months ago I wouldn't even be thinking about going out there. Damn Slayer crap…"

Silent as a shadow, she went to her closet and grabbed a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt from the top shelf, then slipped into a pair of tennis shoes. Out the window, or downstairs and out the back door? she wondered. She'd never really been comfortable with heights, but she also knew that leaving her room would greatly increase the chances of waking up her parents or her sister.

"Well, if I'm gonna keep going out like this, I'd better get used to the window," she decided. She opened the window a little more and climbed out onto the ledge. A few tentative steps brought her to a trellis, and she carefully picked her way down, hoping the whole time that the wood was stronger than it looked. Once she was on the ground, she sprinted past the empty guest house – now the van der Haas B&B – toward the tree line at the back of her parents' property, hearing the higher-pitched howl again just as she reached the woods.

Her family's home sat on a forty-acre property, most of which was dominated by the vineyard. Sprinting back through the rows of grapevines, reveling at how fast she was moving and how she wasn't tiring at all, she quickly arrived at a narrow country road at the bottom of the property. On the other side of that was Deer Ledge Park, a state park that stretched for miles. Janna had no doubt that the howls she'd heard were coming from in there.

As if in answer to her thoughts, the howl erupted again, much closer this time. A moment later she heard the far-off sounds of someone – or something – crashing through the underbrush. She could feel her heart pounding in her chest, and her legs suddenly felt weak. What the hell am I doing? she asked herself, the rational part of her mind deciding to point out that, if there was a pack of wolves in the woods, this was not the best place for her to be.

I'm a Slayer, she thought stoically, finding the idea amusing. She almost felt like a character from a movie or book, standing off against some kind of unseen magical threat. Okay, so you're the Slayer, she argued with herself, deciding to play Devil's Advocate. Exactly what part of that description either requires or qualifies you to go traipsing around the woods in the middle of the night, looking for wolves? And what the hell are wolves doing around here, anyway? This is New York State. There haven't been wolves this far south in over a century.

"No! Stay away!" a man shouted from the dark forest ahead. Some primal part of her mind reacted, launching her body back into motion through the underbrush as she raced to help someone in trouble.

Moments later she found herself in a small clearing with a large willow tree in the center. A man was standing with his back to the tree, swinging a branch threateningly at a pony standing about fifteen feet away from him, just at the edge of the clearing. Janna was just about to ask him what he was doing when the pony took a few cautious steps forward. It was then that she noticed it wasn't a pony at all – it was a wolf, the largest wolf Janna had ever seen. Okay, that's the first wolf I've ever seen, she admitted to herself. At least in real life. But I've watched enough Discovery Channel to know they're not supposed to get that big. Wolves are supposed to be the size of dogs… I could hop on that thing and ride it back to my house. Hell, my dad could hop on that thing's back and start riding around. Green eyes that seemed to glow in the dark stood out against its dark brown-grey fur, though Janna hardly noticed any of that. She was finding it almost impossible to tear her gaze away from the terrifyingly large fangs, white enough to catch a sliver of moonlight.

"Hey!" she yelled, immediately realizing that getting the beast's attention had probably not been the best idea. The animal's head continued to face the man, but its eyes slowly rolled to the side as it stole a glance at Janna. Something about its reaction seemed odd, but Janna did not take the time to think about that. Instead, she lowered her voice as she spoke to the wolf's prey. "Just come this way," she instructed. "Move slowly, but don't seem afraid." What the hell? She wondered, keeping her doubts to herself, stifling a laugh as she mused at how completely unqualified she was to advise anyone in this situation.

"That's probably not the best idea," the guy pointed out as the wolf sidestepped to interpose itself between Janna and the man. A rustling at the far side of the clearing was Janna's only warning that the wolf's packmate had arrived. The second wolf – if one could call it that – was even larger than the first. Janna guessed the animal had to weigh at least 250 pounds, and probably far more. With the same long legs but a stockier body and what appeared to be jet-black fur, the wolf sent a shiver down Janna's spine. She started looking around for anything she could use as a weapon, her gaze quickly settling on a thick tree branch that was lying on the ground.

"Run," Janna told the man.

"No," he mumbled, his voice trembling with terror. "I can't outrun them."

"You won't have to," she assured him. "Run!" Even as she shouted, she lunged forward, wrapping her fingers around the branch as she hit the dirt and rolled forward, springing to her feet as she swung the branch downward like a club. The makeshift weapon thundered down on the first wolf's head, eliciting a yelp as the oversized animal crumpled to the ground. Janna was vaguely aware that the man had heeded her advice and was dashing off into the darkness, but the majority of her concentration remained elsewhere. The second wolf was upon her in a heartbeat.

Swinging the branch again, Janna was barely able to keep the wolf from clamping its jaws around her throat. Her effort did nothing to stop it from knocking her from her feet, though, as it pounced hungrily. Way more than 250 pounds, she thought frantically as the beast landed upon her. It snapped hungrily, but Janna managed to use the branch to keep the snarling maw at bay, at least for the time being.

The animal snapped again. And again. Each time Janna succeeded in defending herself with the club as she struggled with her free hand to put some separation between herself and the wolf. "Get off me!" she yelled at it, desperately hoping that the sound of her voice would frighten it away. It didn't.

Her arms were growing heavy, and scratches from the beast's claws were starting to sting as blood mingled with sweat. What seemed like a ten-minute struggle suddenly ended as a high-pitched yelp drew the attacking animal's attention. It somehow hopped backward, out of Janna's reach, and looked across the small clearing to where the smaller wolf had finally risen to its feet. It pawed at the dirt, and then turned and ran off. The larger wolf immediately followed, leaving Janna behind to wonder what the hell had just happened.

To be continued…………………………………………