A/N: As I've said before, shipping isn't my forte. However, it truly felt like Stine was teasing some sort of crush between Alex and Hannah throughout Werewolf Skin. So here's my take on what happened after the ending to one of the best Goosebumps books ever made. Also if you're reading this and haven't read Werewolf Skin yet, seriously READ THAT STORY. It is a must-read for Goosebumps Fans.
Shedding The Skin
Alex didn't have time to protect himself or scream for help as his only friend in Wolf Creek had pounced on him and knocked him down on the dusty and musty floor of the Marling's House...and she bit him hard on the chest.
"Ow!" shouted Alex Hunter as he heaved Hannah off of him with his feet, sat up, and then clutched his bleeding chest. "Hannah! Sheesh that hurts!Why did you bite me?!"
The pain was searing and she bit him right where his heart was, which was beating rapidly making the pain throb. He clutched the area where he had been bitten, and he felt something warm on his fingers. He looked down and saw his blood dripping slowly out of the wound Hannah had left from her attack.
Hannah had landed backwards and hit the ground with a thud. She sat up and wiped her mouth, looking very upset and guilty. Her sharp fangs had retreated back into her gums and her teeth now looked normal once again.
"I'm so sorry Alex!" she cried sadly. "I don't know what came over me-"
"You could've warned me or something-ugh, ow!" he snapped then winced as his chest was sore. "I can't believe this! You're a werewolf too?!"
Hannah looked down and closed her green eyes. Her black hair draped over her face, and hid her guilty expression. All she could was feebly nod.
"Great," groaned Alex, clutching his chest to stop the bleeding. "After all this work, I'm just going to end up dying a werewolf in the end. Great way to spend a vacation!"
Hannah looked up and saw a hurt Alex wincing in pain and bleeding nearly profusely.
"You won't die Alex." explained Hannah softly.
"Look at me-ah! God that hurts!" he called out as he moved and he felt a searing pain pulsate through his upper body. "I'm bleeding from my chest, and there's nothing that can heal me!"
"Werewolves have a healing factor, Alex." soothed Hannah, scooting closer to him. "That's what helps the transformation from the skins not hurt so much."
"Well tell me how to activate it then!" demanded Alex angrily. "That's the least you could do!"
"Okay, okay!" snapped Hannah, losing a little patience. "Just calm down a second. And focus on what's hurting you."
Alex angrily shut his eyes and sighed, and tried to focus on the searing pain in his chest. He focused, focused, and focused on the pain until...
"There's no more pain," breathed Alex, feeling his chest. "It's-it's gone!"
Hannah let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thank goodness."
Alex glared at Hannah angrily now. "How could you? After everything we just went through, how could you do this to me?"
"Alex, I'm sorry," she apologized again, solemnly. "I really don't know what came over me."
"Well figure out what did," snapped Alex angrily. "You gotta give me something here."
Hannah brought her knees to her chest and put her head down. "I guess it's because-because well I-I'm all alone, Alex. That's why."
"And?" sneered Alex, crossing his arms.
"Alex I-well..." she spluttered. "I l-l-like you."
Alex admittedly was taken aback. His brown eyebrows shot up and his blue eyes were open in shock. Back home, Alex had always had crushes in Middle School and thought that some of his fellow female peers were kinda cute. But for a crush to like him back, it was a strange feeling to the boy.
He had though the same of Hannah and he knew he couldn't hide it. She probably knew.
"Hannah, I really really feel good because you said that." he started after a long sigh. "And I like you too. I've always liked you. But why bite me? Why turn me into a werewolf?"
The air in the dingy old house felt tighter, and it felt like the world around them went still. The creaking and groaning of the old house even seemed to stop.
"I think it's some weird werewolf urge or something," explained Hannah in a low tone. "When you left, I didn't want you to forget about me."
"Normal people write postcards or call," snorted Alex. "Not turn their crushes into monsters."
Hannah sighed and stood up. "I knew this was stupid, and a waste of time. I ended up losing you anyway."
She began to leave, but Alex stood up and placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Hannah, stop," he demanded. "Look, I like you too. And I still want to be friends. Now maybe we could be something more once we get older, because I'm not allowed to have girlfriends right now. But you bit me without my permission and I'm mad at you for it."
Hannah turned around to face him. Her olive green eyes were sad green eyes, and a tear slid down her face.
"I guess I deserve for you to be mad at me," she sighed, still weeping. "I'm sorry I bit you."
Alex observed her guilty expression and her sad watery eyes. He remembered his mother and father would express a person having "Puppy dog eyes" when they would try to pine for forgiveness of the sort, and he could tell that's exactly what Hannah was doing. And as he tried to be upset with her, something in him wasn't allowing it.
Was it forgiveness? Was it a primal werewolf instinct? Was he going soft? Was it because he likes her too? Was it sympathy? At different points he had heard his father groan, "I guess I'm a sucker for a pretty face." to his mother before. Was that it? Like father, like son? The feelings swirled into a typhoon in his now half-primal mind.
Alex just couldn't pinpoint what urge or what feelings were at play in his mind, but he wrapped his arms around her and he hugged Hannah softly.
"Well there's no point in crying about it," he chuckled in the embrace. "I was trying to catch a werewolf in the act this whole time anyway. I guess I just ended up becoming one."
Hannah chuckled and reciprocated the hug. "I already feel bad. Don't make me feel any worse."
"Oh no, you're stuck with me now," laughed Alex, finding the bizarre situation comical. "You're gonna hear about this the rest of your life."
"I guess I deserve that too," she replied still hugging him. "Maybe we can learn how to control these powers together or something."
"There's no one in Cleveland that teaches lycanthropy," sighed Alex. "We're gonna have to tell my Aunt and Uncle and I'm gonna have to stay here until I learn how to control these powers."
"They're gonna hate me, and my parents are gonna kill me," she moaned. "I can't believe I did something so stupid."
"It was dumb," agreed Alex to a scoffing Hannah. "But they were just werewolves their selves so I think they won't be too mad. Maybe Aunt Marta bit Uncle Colin or something before. And maybe we can keep it secret from your parents until the time is right."
"No, they're gonna kill me because of that." sighed Hannah. Alex's brown eyebrows shot up again.
"Your parents are werewolves too?" he asked in shock.
"Yeah, they just control it very very well." shrugged Hannah. "That's why I am one. And I'm not supposed to bite."
Alex clutched his head as the room felt like it was spinning to the boy.
"This is a lot to unpack," he moaned. "You're a werewolf, I'm a werewolf, your parents are werewolves..."
"It's not so bad Alex," soothed Hannah calmly. "You could be apart of our pack after this all blows over. We don't hurt any humans at all."
"Let's discuss that after we learn to control this." suggested Alex as he dusted himself off and stood up.
Hannah smiled a mischievous smile. "Well maybe we can learn to control it after we scare Sean and Arjun for tricking you."
"I like your thinking," laughed Alex. "Let's get out of this musty old house first."
"I doubt The Marlings would like to come back to two werewolves in the living room." joked Hannah.
She then had a thought, "Want to go hunting with me tonight?"
"Too soon, Hannah." shot Alex.
"Thought I'd try." she shrugged.
Present day...
"And that class," announced an older Alex Hunter. "Is why you make sure you pay attention to your surroundings with photography. Know your area."
A student rose their hand. "Professor Blackwell! Professor Blackwell!"
"Yes, Alana." answered Alex.
"For nature what camera would you recommend using?" she asked inquisitively. "I have a gig in Denver and I want to use the best camera possible."
"I recommend the Canon EOS-" he began but was interrupted by a woman opening his classroom door.
"I'd like to know too Mr. Hunt-, I mean Professor Blackwell." she said in her low husky-sounding voice.
She was gorgeous. Her hair was long, flowing, and black. Her eyes were an olive green and she wore blazing red lipstick. The dress she wore was as black as her jet black hair as well as her high-heeled shoes.
"Class dismissed," he said quickly. "I want your portfolios turned in by 7PM tomorrow."
The class obliged and left out the opposite door in the classroom, while the mysterious woman stood in the doorway. She then sauntered in and sat at a desk across from Alex's desk.
"How did you find me, Hannah?" asked Alex in a low tone.
"I looked up professional photographers in Cleveland," she responded. "And I figured you'd use Blackwell to deter me from finding you or wanting to find you."
"What do you want, Hannah?" asked Alex angrily.
"I want you back," she replied. "I miss you. I miss hunting with you."
"I'm not a werewolf anymore," he replied curtly. "I ordered a friend of mine to get rid of my skin and my curse was broken years ago."
"I don't mind that at all," she replied smiling. "Just because I'm still a werewolf, doesn't mean it'll-"
"No Hannah," snapped Alex. "I want to have a normal life with a normal woman and normal kids."
Hannah just shook her head.
"Alex, you can't continue to blame yourself," advised Hannah softly. "It was a genuine accident. You were a werewolf for crying out loud!"
"Yeah but it wasn't supposed to happen," he complained through gritted teeth. "I thought I had better control because I didn't have to use the skin as often. I thought I could control my primal rage."
"Alex, listen to me," Hannah murmured calmly. "You were a werewolf. It's natural when that side takes over. You saved me that night."
Alex, who was standing, pounded his desk with hands and hung his head low. A tear had escaped his eye, and the memory of his last day in Wolf Creek burned across his mind.
Six years ago...
"I gotta say, being a werewolf isn't so bad." shrugged Alex, as he stepped down into the abandoned Marlings' house.
"See," drawled Hannah with a smile, as she entered in from the window next. "I told you so."
"We should be luck Aunt Marta and Uncle Colin don't mind us doing this." said Alex.
"They've always been cool werewolves." replied Hannah smiling. "Plus you're apart of my pack. So it's only natural they let ya."
"Whatever," laughed Alex. "I'm ready to eat a nice rabbit, or a deer this time."
"You have to work on your pouncing," reminded Hannah. "That's how that squirrel got away from you three days ago."
"I got that skunk though," replied Alex loftily. "And before it could spray me. Plus I'm able to control my urges now. This is just for fun."
Hannah chuckled. "It is kinda fun being a werewolf with you. I'm gonna miss you when you leave again in a few days."
"I'll still come back now and then," soothed Alex, placing his hand on Hannah's shoulder. "I'll write and call you every day."
"You'd better." she joked.
"Whatever," groaned Alex playfully. "Go get your skin on."
Hannah smiled and left the room and went into the other bedroom of the house to put her skin on. Alex changed out from his normal clothes and retrieved his werewolf skin from a small bag in the corner of closet in the dusty old bedroom.
"Ready?" called Hannah, from another room.
"Of course I am." replied Alex slipping his on.
The werewolf skin began to feel sticky and hot, as it attached itself to Alex in the piercing pale moonlight emanating from the bedroom window. Alex suddenly dropped to all fours in the room and his face began to be covered by the face of his shedded skin.
He groaned as he felt his jaw began to stick outwards, and his nose began to feel bigger and his sense of smell felt more sensitive. He felt his hands turning into wolf-like claws and his body felt like it was on fire as he grew taller and furrier as now the skin completely encompassed him.
Alex Hunter the young and human photographer was now Alex Hunter the young werewolf.
He and Hannah, who's transformation in a different room was complete, let out long and low howls that echoed through the dusty old house.
Both werewolves rejoined each other in Alex's room in dusty old house. Hannah and Alex snarled at each other, then began to sniff each other fiercely. After a low grunt from Hannah, she and Alex both exited the house through the back door into the woods for their nightly hunt.
Alex immediately caught a scent and grunted to Hannah. Hannah began to sniff too and they both grunted to each other and their mouths began to water. Was it a weasel? A rabbit?
No. It was something larger for the two werewolves to eat together. It was a full-grown male deer and through the twisted branches and old leaves the two werewolves saw the deer in the distance at a small creek taking a long drink in the moonlight. The water and the deer's oily fur sparkled under the bright moon, which only made Alex's now beastly appetite grow bigger. Alex began to proceed forward, when Hannah's paw caught his shoulder.
Hannah growled a low tone, and held her paw to her mouth and hissed.
"Is she telling me to be quiet?" thought Alex.
In their werewolf forms, no matter how hard he tried, he could never speak. Neither could Hannah. She made another low hissing noise once more and Alex nodded and pressed his paw to his mouth to show he was obliging Hannah's order.
Hannah grunted and dropped down to all fours as quiet and slowly as she could to not frighten the deer. She then nodded and motioned downward with her head.
Alex tilted his head in confusion. "What does she want?"
Hannah frowned and her red eyes flared with frustration. She grunted once more and motioned downward.
"She's teaching me how to pounce better!" Alex thought.
He grunted and placed himself on all fours beside Hannah, who now motioned towards the deer. She then drug her paw across the dirt making a large number 1 on the ground.
"She's saying she charge first." he thought. He then drug his paw on the ground and formed a sloppy looking number 2. Hannah grunted and nodded once more to Alex.
Hannah and Alex crept along path to the creek as quietly as the two werewolves could, avoiding twigs and branches along the way to not make any noise to scare the deer.
Soon enough they were at the crest of the woods where all that was left was a dirt patch where the deer sat drinking water from the flowing and sparkling creek. Hannah motioned a paw for Alex to stop, where she would pounce and subdue their unknowing dinner.
Hannah, the larger of the two werewolves, licked her lips and tensed her body ready to pounce. Then suddenly with one big leap, just as quickly as she tensed, she was flying through the air about to land on her prey when... - BANG.
The deer had scurried away and a loud BANG, a sickening sound, and filled the air - a gunshot. A gunshot that hit Hannah in her side, causing her to yelp out in pain and hit the ground with a sickening thud.
Through his red eyes he saw her writhing on the ground, bleeding profusely, in pain with what had to be a shot from a silver bullet. They were being hunted. Immediate sadness had filled his mind. His friend was dying. His only friend in Wolf Creek was about pass on. A girl he liked was murdered. Someone...had shot her.
"Someone shot her." he growled angrily. But his inner thoughts weren't in his normal voice. They sounded...angrier. They sounded beastly even. A great burst of rage had overcome him. Any part of him that was human was gone, and oddly enough it was intoxicating to the young werewolf.
Alex growled and began to sniff the air, until he had his scent. It was a human. Alex howled and began to run towards the human who was scurrying away through the woods. The man had screamed something, but in Alex's rage he couldn't hear him.
Soon enough Alex could clearly see his man running frantically away from him. His paws pounded the cold earth as he chased him, and chased him. The surroundings had became a black blur in his mind, and all he could see was the red and green flannel of the hunter's shirt and his blue jeans.
Suddenly the Hunter turned around and fired a bullet at Alex. Alex was a smaller werewolf compared to Hannah. With speed he jumped and managed to cling to a nearby branch. The Werewolf Hunter fired more bullets at Alex, but he was too fast for the man to be able to focus on him and predict his movements as Alex circled around him bouncing from tree to tree and moving too quickly for the Hunter.
The Werewolf Hunter began to run again, but this was a fatal error. Alex crashed down from a tree with a mighty pounce and caught The Werewolf Hunter.
"Max!!" called The Hunter. "Help me-!"
But it was too late, in his blind fury Alex growled and locked onto The Werewolf Hunter's neck and began to wring him around like he was a dog wrestling with a chew toy. The Werewolf Hunter had lost consciousness and Alex could taste the blood of his prey trickling from the neck of his catch of the night.
But soon Alex's rage of his fallen friend was broken by a faint, "Dad, where are you?".
Alex dropped the Hunter and regained control of himself. His voice in his head and returned to normal and felt dazed and exhausted. Mustering his last level of strength he could, he hopped into a high tree above the fallen Werewolf Hunter, as he heard feet scurrying towards the man. It was a teenager.
"He took his son out for night werewolf hunting?" asked Alex in thought. "He couldn't have."
But Alex's hunch was rewarded with a, "Did you catch that deer?"
Alex began to feel a sinking feeling at the pit of his beastly stomach. He wasn't a Werewolf Hunter - he was a Deer Hunter.
"He was frightened by Hannah and shot her instead of the deer," he murmured in thought. "So that means -"
But he was cut off by the Deer Hunter's son who finally found his dad.
"Dad?" murmured the Deer Hunter's son shakily. "D-dad?"
The Deer Hunter's son quickly dropped to his knees and surveyed his fallen father. The Deer Hunter was dead. He had succumbed to the injuries left by a ravenous mauling from Alex.
"Daaaaaad!!!" wailed the son, as tears poured from his eyes and as he cried over his fallen father.
This was too much for Alex, even too much for the werewolf. He turned and was dashing through the woods with incredible speed once more.
Present day...
"His name was Jeremiah Blackwell," said Alex in a low tone. "Don't you understand I killed that man? An innocent man?!"
"How innocent was he if he shot me?" asked Hannah indignantly. "Besides, everyone knows you don't go out in the woods at night in Wolf Creek."
"Hannah, we were werewolves!" shot Alex in annoyance. "What was he supposed to do? Besides he truly wasn't after you!"
"Come on, that was years ago Alex," sighed Hannah. "You made one mistake. I mean you were a werewolf. It happens."
"Yeah, because you made me one!" snarled Alex, losing his patience. "I never asked for that! Never!"
"How many times am I going to have to apologize for that?!" snapped Hannah, nearly crying. "I said I was sorry! I said it when you left Wolf Creek after that man's funeral! I'm sorry, okay! I just didn't want to lose you!"
"And besides," snorted Alex, not paying attention to her pleading. "We're over. We were over when we transformed back to normal that horrible night. I never would've killed that man if you never turned me into a werewolf."
"But I love -" she pleaded with tears in her eyes.
"No Hannah," sighed Alex. "The sad eyes won't work. I never want to see you again. And I'm not coming back to Wolf Creek. Ever."
"Alex Hunter, please!" cried Hannah. "Just listen to me-!"
"No! I'm done listening! And that's Alex Blackwell now!" he roared, pounding his desk angrily. "Now leave Hannah! And don't come back!"
He then pointed at his door. "Out!"
Hannah stood up from the seat and frowned at Alex. Alex then opened his desk drawer, preparing for the worst. He had a silver blade hidden in the drawer the day Hannah ever tried to find him again. She then walked to his desk with a small folded paper and placed it down before him. She then sighed, and in a sobbing huff, left the classroom and stormed away.
Alex sat down at his desk and breathed heavily, trying to comprehend what just happened. He remembered the day he read the obituary for Jeremiah Blackwell. He only wanted to take his son out for a night of hunting, and ended losing his life in the process.
Alex sighed and gathered the portfolios that were turned in, along with the folded paper, and placed them in his black leather suitcase. He then exited his classroom and began his walk from inside the university to his car. He opened his trunk and inside...was a werewolf skin!
Alex gasped and jumped backwards. Once he realized that it was just a skin, he sighed in relief. He then looked at the jet black fur of the skin. It was Hannah's!
He then saw a note attached.
Dear Alex, I selfishly turned you into a werewolf. Please turn me back into a human. I managed to get this inside your trunk from your unlocked car and backseat. Seriously, you need to lock your car door. But anyway, I hope this proves that I still really do love you. And I'd like to see you again. But this time as humans.
Love, Hannah
Alex sighed and crumpled the note up. He quickly folded the heavy skin up and threw it in the dumpster his car was parked beside and hoped for the best. Trash day was in the morning, and the skin would carted off and burned in an incinerator. Hannah would be free and live a life as a human. He then reached in his pocket and retrieved the folded paper. And as he surveyed the contents of the note and reached inside his pocket for his cell phone, in an instant, Alex knew what he had to do.
THE END
A/N: This was an idea I actually wanted to turn into a full-blown chapter by chapter drama about coping with his love for Hannah and being a werewolf. I still may turn this into a full-blown story. But I'm quite satisfied with it being a simple short-story. Hope you enjoyed this!
