Beast

by Kate Harre

  Grabbing her overnight bag off the passenger seat, Annie jumped out of the car as the garage door closed behind her. ‘Hey.’

  ‘Hey, yourself.’ His crooked smile was completely endearing, Annie decided, the distortion from the scarring adding to its appeal rather than detracting from it. He was dressed in tracksuit pants, which hung loosely from his hips, and a tight white t-shirt. Gone were the usual jeans, which meant he was ready for the demonstration. Annie grinned excitedly and headed around her car to meet him. The car beside hers was a black sporty number that she wouldn’t mind taking for a spin around the block. Rounding the front of the car, she ground to a surprised halt. The bonnet of the car was crumpled and one headlight was missing.

  She glanced across at Alex in dawning understanding. ‘This is the car?’

  He nodded solemnly. ‘I keep it like this to remind me of what I did.’

  She looked at him helplessly. Wasn’t his face punishment enough? Did he really need to torture himself more?

  ‘I know what you’re thinking,’ he said wryly. ‘But I used to look in the mirror and get so angry about what had happened to me. This reminds me of what I did to someone else and reminds me I’m lucky it was an immortal witch I hit and not a fragile human. It kind of puts my face into perspective.’

  Annie sighed. Perhaps it was a good thing he’d learned to put the consequences of his actions ahead of his own tragedy, but she really did hope at some point he’d forgive himself and put the past behind him.

  A four-wheel drive occupied the next place in the garage and the spot closest to the house had a bright red Mini Cooper in it. Maria’s, Annie assumed, although it was a little more racy than what she would have imagined the older woman driving. Which only went to show that you couldn’t judge a book by its cover. She guessed Alex’s father’s car used to be in the spot where her own car was now parked, but didn’t like to ask.

  Taking her bag from her, Alex led the way into the house, dropping her bag at the foot of the stairs before continuing on down to the basement.

  Parkour and free-running, Annie decided an hour later, were incredibly beautiful to watch, or at least they were when it was Alex doing the demonstrating. His movements as he climbed, jumped and spun around the basement were fantastically fluid. He didn’t pause to contemplate or set up a move, he simply did it, segueing gracefully from one thing to the next. At one point as he planted his hands and his legs simply flowed between his arms, she thought he looked like a big cat, maybe a jaguar or a panther. It was fascinating and she could have sat on the mat for hours and simply watched him.

  ‘Wow! That was spectacular,’ she enthused when he stopped and dropped down on the mat beside her, close enough to force her to suppress a shiver of reaction. He’d barely broken a sweat and she realised just how fit he must be.

  His face flushed with pleasure at her compliment and he grinned. ‘It’s fun. Want to try it some time?’

  ‘Maybe,’ she surprised herself by saying. Her eyes opened wide – when had exercise become something more than a necessary evil?

  Alex nudged her shoulder and laughed at her expression, understanding instantly what was going through her head. It was uncanny how he did that – in a short space of time he’d already come to know her better than her closest friends.

  ‘You will be careful tonight?’ He didn’t like that she was going to the basketball game without him.

  ‘I’m going on a stake out,’ she teased. ‘I won’t do anything heroic… and I’ll only be observing anyway.’

  ‘Just promise me if you see anyone doing anything suspicious you won’t go off after them,’ he muttered urgently. ‘I don’t want you getting caught in the middle of something, especially when we don’t know exactly how that person could be involved.’

  ‘Alright, I promise,’ she agreed reluctantly. It wasn’t that she was planning on getting herself into a sticky situation, but if an opportunity had presented itself for her to ask some leading questions she had fully intended to take advantage of it.

  ‘And text me after the game when you’re about to leave.’

  Annie rolled her eyes. ‘Anything else, oh Lord and Master?’

  ‘I just want to make sure the popcorn’s hot when you get back here,’ he protested innocently. They were going to watch a movie from his vast collection when she got back.

  ‘Uh huh.’

  *

  Annie hadn’t told Chelsea Karen was away for the night, because Chelsea would have wanted Annie to stay with her. It was an option Annie had considered when Alex and Karen had been ganging up on her on Sunday, but the truth was she wanted to stay with Alex. She loved spending time with him, whether they were simply talking or he was pushing her through another torture session. It didn’t matter what they were doing, as long as they were together. And she thought Alex felt the same way too.

  Chelsea kept looking at her strangely throughout the game and it was only when they were into the third quarter that she realised she probably stuck out like a sore thumb. She was so busy scanning the crowd and watching the benched players and cheerleaders, that she kept forgetting to cheer in the right places.

  ‘You look completely out of it!’ Chelsea hissed. ‘Can’t you at least try to look engaged?’

  ‘Sorry,’ she muttered guiltily. ‘I was a bit distracted. Not that anyone seems to be acting out of the ordinary.’

  Chelsea shrugged. ‘It was a long shot anyway. Everyone – except you – is focussed on winning this game so we can advance to the finals.’

  ‘How’s Stephen doing?’

  Chelsea smiled dreamily. ‘He’s playing really well. There’s a college scout here tonight, so he’s pulling out all the stops. And have you seen how big his biceps are?’

  Annie laughed and dutifully checked out Stephen’s arms, which she had to admit were fairly impressive… but not nearly as impressive as Alex’s. Her gaze strayed to Brad, who had just landed a three pointer and was high-fiving Stephen. He swung around and, although it was hard to tell for certain from the distance they were at, Annie could have sworn he winked at one of the cheerleaders on the opposing team… a cheerleader who had dark red hair.

  ‘Is it just me or is Brad flirting with the other team’s cheerleaders?’ she whispered in Chelsea’s ear.

  ‘He’s been doing it all night,’ Chelsea murmured back, her voice bristling with resentment. ‘It’s so disrespectful. It’s like he’s completely forgotten Danielle’s existence.’

  ‘Mmmm.’

  Annie started paying more attention to Brad throughout the rest of the game and, sure enough, he continued to flirt with the little redheaded cheerleader. At one point he casually scanned the crowd and caught Annie staring at him. He gave her a cheeky salute and a jaunty grin. Blushing furiously, she wrenched her gaze away.

  Chelsea chuckled evilly beside her. ‘At least his eyes are back on our side of the gym!’

  The game finally ended and Chelsea made a beeline for Stephen. Spotting Adrian at the bottom of the bleachers, Annie headed in his direction.

  ‘I didn’t know you were into basketball,’ she commented and then realised she didn’t really know him well enough to know whether or not he liked the game.

  ‘Who else do you think writes the sports reports for the News?’

  ‘I guess I hadn’t really thought about it.’ She looked around for Chelsea, suddenly feeling awkward around Adrian. ‘I don’t usually come to the games.’

  He nodded. ‘I know. Did Chelsea bully you into coming along?’

  ‘Not exactly.’

  ‘But she needed someone to come with, didn’t she? So she could ogle the latest man of the moment,’ he said sourly.

  Exasperated, Annie threw her arms wide. ‘Why don’t you just talk to her, Adrian? The two of you have made this into such a drama and it doesn’t have to be.’

  Adrian shot her a filthy look. ‘Take a good hard look at Stephen, Annie and then look at me. Who do you think she’s going to pick?’

&
nbsp; It was true that with his dark brown hair, caramel coloured eyes and muscled body, Stephen was superficially better looking than Adrian, who at almost six foot was on the scrawny side, giving him a beanpole look, and whose mop of mousy blonde hair was continually flopping over his narrow face, despite his best efforts to keep it tidily slicked back. But Adrian wasn’t unattractive and he had a sharp mind, which Annie was pretty sure Stephen was missing. ‘Chelsea will get bored with Stephen. She never gets bored of you.’

  Looking down at the ground, he shrugged awkwardly. ‘Maybe.’

  She patted his arm affectionately. ‘The good guy always wins the girl in the end.’

  Chelsea came bouncing up beside them and punched Adrian in the shoulder with a wide grin. ‘Hey, Ads. Good game, huh?’

  ‘Yeah,’ he muttered without looking at her. Stepping around both girls, he strode quickly out of the gym.

  ‘What’s with him?’ Chelsea asked huffily.

  Annie threw her friend a reproachful look and quickly knocked off a text to Alex to let him know she was on her way. ‘You know how he feels about you, Chels. Did you think he would enjoy watching you go all gaga over Stephen?’

  ‘But…’ she started to justify herself indignantly, then her shoulders slumped. ‘He never does anything about it. We have classes together; we work on the paper together… how long am I supposed to wait for him to ask me out?’

  It was a fair point. ‘He’s insecure because you always date good looking guys.’

  ‘Only because they’re the ones who ask me out.’ Chelsea trailed after Annie towards her car, gesticulating wildly. ‘If Adrian had asked me to Prom I would have said yes in a heartbeat, but he didn’t ask and Stephen did. Did you know I made him wait for a week before giving him my answer because I was hoping Adrian would ask me?’

  Annie’s head snapped around towards Chelsea. ‘No. You never said.’

  ‘Well, I have my secrets too,’ Chelsea said pointedly when Annie’s phone vibrated with an incoming text. She didn’t need to look at it to know it was Alex.

  Annie unlocked the car and they both climbed in. She drove forward through the empty space in front of her and joined the small queue of cars slowly exiting the school grounds. ‘Why don’t you ask him out?’

  ‘I know you think I’m really out there and forward, but I’m kind of old-fashioned about this one thing – I like the guy to do the chasing.’ She crossed her arms over her chest. ‘Besides, it’s not like I haven’t dropped about a hundred hints!’

  ‘True,’ Annie acknowledged with a rueful smile. Old-fashioned Chelsea may be, but she certainly wasn’t subtle.

  ‘Any other helpful suggestions?’

  Annie shook her head regretfully. ‘Nope. I’m not exactly an expert at this kind of thing, so that’s it from me.’

  Chapter 10

  There was so much anger in him; she could see it vibrating through the taut lines of his body. But she didn’t understand why it was directed at her. He’d seemed so nice when she’d followed him into the forest, sweet even. And then he’d swung towards her and his eyes had turned a horrible, sickly red.

  It was then she’d remembered the other girl… the cheerleader from the other team who had been murdered only a few weeks ago, somewhere in the woods. Probably the same woods she was in.

  Now, he stood on the edge of the cliff beside the lookout with his back to her, his body shaking violently like he was trying to fight something inside him. He didn’t want to hurt her and the realisation made her feel strangely calm. She began retreating backwards down the path, as quietly and quickly as she could, keeping him in sight the whole time. She was fit and if she could get enough of a lead on him, she’d be able to outrun him.

  It was so very dark, only a tiny sliver of moon providing just enough light for her to see the shadows of the trees around her. In silhouette he looked incredibly tall and broad against the near-black sky – an easy target to keep her eyes fixed on.

  Her confidence grew as the distance between them widened and she was about to turn around and start running when her heel skidded over a pebble. Her arms freewheeled as she fought for balance and she swallowed a sigh of relief when she managed to retain her footing. He was still fighting his inner demons, oblivious to her escape.

  Slipping one hand into her pocket, she swiped open her phone. Conscious that the light from the screen might attract his attention, she fumbled blindly for the Emergency Call button, which she knew was on the bottom left of the phone. She knew she’d been successful when she heard a faint voice coming from her pocket. She didn’t dare answer but hoped like crazy they’d trace her call and come and find her.

  His head whipped around, his shoulders tensing and she realised that faint though the voice had been it had carried in the stillness of the night. Although how his ears could be that attuned, she didn’t know.

  Registering her attempted escape, he spun around and released a terrifying growl. She stood frozen as he leapt forward; in mid-air his limbs contorted, the joints cracking and realigning themselves with terrifying efficiency. He landed on the ground on all fours, his mass doubled in size, and her eyes widened in unspeakable horror when she realised his gruesome red eyes were glowing in the face of a wolf.

  He stalked towards her, his shoulder muscles rippling with each gigantic step. That fast she understood the terror the other cheerleader must have felt.

  No longer needing to be stealthy, she turned and started running with long, desperate strides. She scrabbled for her phone, ripping her pocket in the process, but finally managed to pull it free.

  ‘Help me!’ she screamed, frantically. ‘Please… help me.’

  Two massive paws landed against her back and she fell forward, skidding down the track. Pain sliced through her body as she lost skin from her hands and face. The phone went flying from her grasp and skittered further down the track. On hands and knees, she scrambled after it, almost sobbing in relief when her hand closed around it.

  A paw slid around her body and flipped her with easy strength so she was staring up into the face of the wolf. She was going to die – she knew it now, knew that help couldn’t possibly make it in time.

  ‘It’s a wolf-man,’ she yelled, hoping the emergency operator would understand her.

  The wolf growled in reproof, but she wasn’t going down without a fight. It wasn’t in her nature to give up. Her hand was shaking in fear, but with a quick glance down she was able to locate the camera button. In a quick move the wolf wasn’t anticipating, she brought the phone to her face and took a photo of the gaping maw in front of her. It would probably be blurry, but it might help the police find her killer.

  Red eyes flaring in anger, the wolf leaned in close, its rank breath stirring the loose strands of hair clinging to her throat. Seizing the moment, she swung her arm wide and smashed her fist into the side of his face with everything inside her. His face snapped to the side and he shook his head to clear his foggy vision.

  She tried to pull herself free, but the wolf’s weight on her was debilitating. His head rotated back towards her and she knew this was the moment of her death. Her only regret was that she hadn’t been honest with her friends or family – secrecy had led her into the woods tonight.

  The wolf’s paw swung in an arc towards her and raked across her throat, his claws cutting viciously deep. Her hand slowly unfurled and the phone dropped to the ground, the emergency operator still frantically trying to communicate with her…

  *

  Annie jerked awake to the sound of an ear-piercing scream and realised it was coming from her own mouth. She shut it, but couldn’t stop the images racing through her mind. Another girl was dead.

  The bedroom door flung open and crashed against the wall, almost smacking Alex in the face on its rebound as he burst into the room. Thrusting it back again, his eyes wildly searched the room looking for an intruder. He relaxed slightly when he found no one.

  Annie was rocking backwards and forwards on the bed, her
trembling arms wrapped around her knees, tears streaming down her white face. Crossing the room in two long strides, Alex crawled onto the bed behind her and pulled her into his arms. One hand sank into her hair and pressed her head against his chest, while his other hand ran soothingly up and down her back.

  She tried to pull herself together and knew she was getting there when she noticed how good it felt to have her cheek resting against his bare, muscled chest. He must have jumped straight out of bed to run to her, because he was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts.

  ‘What happened?’ he asked quietly, when he felt her relax against him.

  ‘Another girl has been murdered.’

  His arms tightened around her. ‘Tell me.’

  Describing everything she could remember, she faltered when she had to explain she’d seen a man turn into a wolf. But he accepted it without question and she realised that shouldn’t have surprised her. His ruined face was the result of a witch’s curse. Her dreadful dreams didn’t have a place in the natural world. The supernatural was all around them. So why should it be surprising that a man could transform himself into an animal?

  ‘A shape-shifter,’ he mused. ‘That explains so much. Could you see what he looked like?’

  ‘No. I could see his shape, but it was too dark to see more than just his silhouette.’

  ‘What about her? Did you recognise her?’

  Annie shook her head. ‘It’s like I’m her, so I could see her hands, clothes, that sort of thing, but not her face. But from what she was thinking about I think she must have been one of the cheerleaders from the other team.’