She Howled, They Came

by Gabrielle Demonico

  “Here,” Allison said as she nudged Tina from behind. “Try this.”

  Tina took the plastic cup from Allison and peered down at an ice-filled pink concoction. “What’s in it?” she asked.

  Allison took a sip of her drink and shrugged. “Dunno… You said something fruity with rum so, that’s what you got.”

  Tina lifted it to her lips and sucked a tiny bit of the beverage between them. A tropical mix of mango, passion fruit and a heavy slug of rum rippled across her taste buds. “Woo!” she said, as she waved her hand in front of her mouth. “I’ll only need one of these.”

  Allison smiled as they stepped to the side of the bar.

  “Is she here?” Tina said. “Kimmie, I mean.”

  “Hmm, no,” Allison replied. “I don’t think so… or at least I haven’t seen her yet.”

  Tina nodded.

  “I don’t really know what is going on with her.” Tina said. “Chuck told me he would speak to her. It’s weird.”

  As they turned back towards the partygoers, Jericho approached them.

  “Hey,” he said as neared.

  “Hi,” Allison chirped.

  Tina frowned at her brother and took another slug of her rum bomb as he walked up to them.

  “Looks like I’m too late to buy you a drink,” he said as he looked at Allison.

  Allison pressed her index finger into her cheek and thrust her lips forward in a pout.

  “Whoopsie!” she said as she poured her cocktail on the ground. “Silly me. I can’t believe I just did that…”

  Tina shook her head. Jericho chuckled as he walked over between them.

  “What’ll it be?” he asked Allison.

  “Dirty martini,” she said. “Four olives.”

  “You got it,” he replied. He leaned over toward Tina’s ear. “Sorry about earlier. I’m schizo right now with everything going on. Anyway, go ahead, get out there and do your thing. We’re good here. I’ll hang with Allison.”

  She looked up at him, rose up on her toes and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Thank you,” she said.

  “Go on… get,” he replied, with a quick nod.

  Satisfied that Allison would find contentment in Jericho’s company, Tina hugged her friend and wandered off in search of Chuck. It was time to get to the bottom of things with Kimmie once and for all. Just up a rise in the backyard, Tina spotted a small group of people, which included Chuck, playing volleyball. As she approached, he nodded in her direction and smiled before he removed his t-shirt.

  He drew the tight cotton over his head and balled it up in his fist.

  “Two more points and game’s over, bitches,” he said as he looked through the net at his opposition. His would-be competition scoffed and waved at him in derision.

  Tina gawked at Chuck’s backside as he moved.

  A man among boys, stacks of muscle taunted and beckoned her to move closer. Unable to control the movement of her limbs, Tina found herself drawn up the hill towards him. As she walked, she eyed the ex-Marine like a slab of meat and watched in heated idolatry as he moved towards the service line.

  But just as her visual stimulation neared its peak, it took an unforeseen turn in the opposite direction. As he spun away from her, Tina recoiled in horror at what she saw. Four long scratches, nearly identical to the ones Max had on his arm ran in a diagonal slash down the length of his chest.

  She raised her hand to her mouth.

  “Oh my God,” she muttered.

  Tina watched as Chuck’s torso contorted and flexed during the point. Competition, and at its core… survival, drove him. Whatever caused an injury like that must have been accompanied by a level of violence few understood or could relate to.

  But as Tina’s mind drifted to scenes of unimaginable carnage, her wolf sensed a presence from behind. Eyes wide, she spun on her heels to see Jericho in front of her.

  “We need to talk,” he said, as he leaned in towards her and grabbed her by the arm. “Now.”

  ***

  With her eyes still glued to Chuck’s wound, Jericho more or less dragged her through groups of partygoers. As they passed by, people looked on in confusion… and concern.

  “Jericho!” Tina said as her awareness returned. She struggled against his grip. “You’re… hurting me… let go!”

  Unresponsive, Jericho stared straight ahead as he pulled his sister along.

  “Where is Allison?” Tina asked as he looked in every direction.

  “She’s fine,” he grumbled. “This doesn’t concern her.”

  “What doesn’t?” she said. “What are you doing? Let me go!”

  In spite of her protest, Jericho’s grip grew stronger. Anger welled up inside of her as the seconds flashed by. She hadn’t come this far to be controlled yet again. With each step, the force of Jericho’s grip rubbed against her wrist and twisted it raw. But just as she started to yank herself free, they came upon a set of stairs, which led down to a small patio.

  Jericho scanned the area for any interlopers and satisfied none were near, he gave one final tug on Tina’s wrist.

  “Down here,” he said.

  “Let… me go,” she replied. “I’ll walk down myself, thank you.”

  A damp stillness crept up Tina’s arms as she turned to face Jericho in the small dark space at the base of the stairwell. Though they were only yards from the festivities, it seemed like miles. Overhead, a patch of clouds moved between them and the moon. The natural illumination above flickered as Jericho moved towards his sister.

  “Jesus Christ, Tina,” he said. “How could you be so… stupid?”

  Tina crossed her arms at her chest. With her palms wrapped around her exposed limbs, she rubbed them in an effort to warm herself. The cool air and chilly company sent her anxiety soaring while driving her body temperature downward.

  “What are you talking about, Jericho?” she said, as she backed away from him. She swore her teeth started to chatter as she spoke. “Why are we down here? I want to go back to the party!”

  “Tina!” Jericho exclaimed as he grabbed hold of her once again. “You aren’t going anywhere… not until you answer some questions for me.”

  “Fuck you, Jericho!” Tina exclaimed. “I don’t owe you anything.” She turned and started to head back to the stairs. But just as she reached the bottom of them, he called out to her.

  “The scar, Tina,” he said.

  Tina stopped. Her head slumped between her shoulders. She stretched her arms and braced herself along the cold, smooth interior of the stairwell.

  “I’m in no mood for this right now, Jericho,” she said. “Spare me your cryptic inferences. Just get to it.”

  “Fine,” he half-snarled. “How did Chuck get it?”

  Tina pivoted in place and looked back down towards him. She exhaled a deep breath.

  “I don’t know the exact details,” she began. “It was some kind of training mishap. They were in the Marines. That’s all I know.”

  “When?” Jericho asked with urgency in his voice. “Where?”

  “Uh!” Tina said as she shook her head. “I don’t know Jericho… a few years ago… North somewhere… they didn’t really get into it.”

  Jericho’s hands fell to his hips. He looked up towards the off white glare of the shrouded moon overhead.

  “Fuck,” he moaned. He swallowed hard. The Adam’s apple in his throat bulged with discomfort… and doubt.

  “Jericho,” Tina stammered. “You’re frightening me. What is it? What’s the matter?”

  He cleared his throat and locked his onyx gaze upon her.

  “Did you sleep with them, Tina?” he said. “Either one… both?”

  “What?” she said in disbelief. “Whether I did or not… I don’t see what business that is of yours.”

  Jericho moved at her with blinding speed. Tina’s breath hitched as he pressed her into a nearby wall. The cool, slick brick against her backside caused a spontaneous chill to spread throughout her body.
Tina’s chest heaved as her brother leaned closer to drive home his point.

  “I said,” he huffed. “Did you… sleep with them?”

  Tina broke his gaze and looked to the side. Not at anything in particular, just not at him.

  “Uh, I’m not going to answer that question,” she whispered as she stared into the distance.

  “Yes, you goddamn will!” he yelled at the top of his lungs.

  Even though they’d distanced themselves from the party by about fifty yards or so, Tina detected a pause in conversations in the distance as Jericho’s voice escalated. Her brother closed his eyes in slow frustration for a moment and then moved a few steps closer to his sister.

  “Don’t make me ask again, Tina,” he said.

  Tina shook her head. She was in no mood to be judged… especially not now. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so happy and there was no way she was about to let Jericho ruin it with his disdain for them… or humans in general. What difference does it make who the hell she slept with anyway?

  Disgusted, she groaned, “What? What is it? Are you ashamed of me? Disappointed in me? Is that it?”

  Jericho lifted his head and glared at his sister.

  “You want me to say it? Is that it?” Tina continued with growing indignation in her tone. She closed the distance between them, to try to make her point.

  “Is that what you want? You want me to tell you that I fucked them? Both of them?” Tina goaded as she came around in front of him and stopped. “Well, I did. That’s right, your baby sister fucked both of those humans. And you know what? I enjoyed every second of it… and I would do it again… any chance I get… What do you think about that Jericho? Are you disgusted and ashamed of me now? What are…?”

  Without so much as a word, Jericho slapped Tina across the face with a terrific strike.

  She screamed out and collapsed in a heap to the floor. As she fell, he took a step towards her and glared downward.

  “You stupid… silly bitch,” he said as he loomed over her. “Do you have any idea… any at all… of what you’ve done?”

  Tina’s mouth filled with salty fluid. A thick mix of saliva and blood occupied the space between her lips as she rose to her feet to face him. She spat and looked him in the eye.

  “No,” she said. “What have I done, Jericho? Satisfied myself? Enjoyed the pleasures of human flesh? Is that what you mean?”

  “No!” he yelled as he grabbed her arm and yanked her to within an inch of his face. “Now, tell me… right now… did you do it or not?”

  “Stop it!” she said as she struggled against his grip. “I don’t see how any of this is your business anyway. Why do you care so much?”

  Jericho released her. “Shit, Tina… I can’t believe you didn’t know any better.”

  Tina walked away from him towards a wall several feet away.

  “For God’s sake, Jericho… I didn’t do anything,” she said as she stared up to the sky.

  “What do you mean?” he said. “You just told me you fucked both of them.”

  “Yeah, well,” she began. “Maybe I was just mad at you for trying to control me… rip me away from the party and having a good time. Did you ever stop for one second to think about that? Did you? About what any of this means to me?”

  Jericho’s shoulders slumped. He nodded slowly as he looked at his sister.

  “Actually… yeah,” he said. “That’s my only concern here… you. And what you can do to them.”

  “What?” Tina scoffed. “You aren’t making any sense at all now. What am I doing to them?”

  “Yes… I am making sense… and a lot of it,” Jericho said. “Their scars. When I first saw Max’s the other night on his arm… I wasn’t sure, but after seeing the one across Chuck’s chest… well, let’s just say if it is what I think it is… it’s bad… very bad.”

  “What…?” Tina said as she shook her head. “I don’t understand. Their scars? What about them?”

  In the distance, the loud thump of the music gradually grew quieter. Tina paused before she replied to Jericho and listened. It sounded as if the festivities were winding down and because of Jericho’s annoying behavior, she’d missed out on almost all of it.

  Tina shook her head in frustration.

  “Hey… thanks a lot. You know I missed the whole rest of the party because of you.”

  Jericho waved his hand in the air as he disregarded her comment.

  “Forget about the party, Tina. Did they tell you how they got the scars?”

  “No… I explained that already,” she said. “They said they got them in a training exercise and…”

  “No,” Jericho said as he made a sudden turn and showed his back to Tina. “They didn’t… or at the very least, that’s only half the truth. Injuries like that come from one thing and one thing only.”

  He turned to look at her and as he did, his brows drew together in concern.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Wolves, Tina… wolves.”

  “What?” Tina scoffed as she looked at him in disbelief. “How do you know? It could be from anything…”

  “Maybe,” Jericho replied. “But… not in this case.”

  “Okay,” Tina said as she started to walk back up the stairs. “If you’re going to stand here and make bizarre, half-baked accusations about what may or may not have happened to them, I’m going to leave right now. But, if you want to level with me, get to the truth of what is going on here, then I’ll stick around long enough to listen.”

  Her brother’s hands fell to his sides as he stood in silence.

  “Well?” she said. “I’m right here. I’ll give you five minutes.”

  Jericho nodded.

  “All right,” he said as thrust the fingers of both his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “There was a pack… close to the Marine base up north… they had a leadership struggle, multiple challenges for alpha… it got ugly, tore the whole goddamn pack apart…”

  As Tina listened, the lingering evidence of the extinguished barbeque grill drifted by in the form of charcoal-filled cloud puffs. Jericho leaned against the wall and sank down into a seated position. With his hands wrapped around his kneecaps, he continued…

  “A few of the betas from the pack went rogue… my pack got word of it so we tracked them down and killed them. But before we could, they did a lot of damage, I mean… a shitload. There were rumors about the incident at the base and that humans were involved. But you know, I figured that’s all they were, rumors… Anyway, before we finished them off they confessed to all the killings at the base. As far we knew, no humans survived, because if they had…”

  Tina gasped and raised her hand to her mouth. “Are you serious, Jericho? Do you mean that they… Chuck and Max… are you saying that they’re…”

  “Yeah… I am.” Jericho nodded. “They are dormants, Tina. The scars they carry are proof.”

  Tina’s eyes glazed over at the implication. Jericho leapt to his feet and grabbed hold of his sister.

  “Tina,” he said. “I know you know how serious this is… please… just tell me. What did you do with these men? Anything?”

  Gripped in shock, Tina ignored her brother and shook her head.

  “Dormants,” she muttered. “It… can’t be.”

  “Tina!” Jericho yelled. “It is! Now, pay attention… Did you or didn’t you do anything with them?”

  “I,” Tina stammered. “No… I didn’t do anything.”

  “Not even so much as a kiss?” Jericho said. “Not even that? You know any contact between a wolf and a dormant is…”

  “No!” Tina yelled. “Nothing. I… I swear.”

  ***

  “That’s good,” Jericho said as he exhaled. “Look… we need to get you out of here. The further away from them we can get you right now, the better.”

  “But,” Tina said as she flung her arm around Jericho’s shoulder. “They need to know… Chuck and Max… I have to tell them.”
>
  “No, Tina… No!” Jericho exclaimed. “You can’t tell them. What? Do you think they’re going to thank you for it? Don’t you understand the hate in their hearts they carry for our kind? Except for them, everyone died that night… at the hands of wolves! Do you honestly think they will want to hear a single word you have to say about it, once they discover the truth about who you are? Think Tina, think!”

  Tina looked at her brother in disbelief.

  Still, his words carried truth. And it was truth she couldn’t dispute or hope to argue away in her favor. She lowered her head and her eyes and prepared to leave. There really wasn’t any other choice. As she did, a stray pebble bounced down the short flight of stairs in front of her and came to rest between her feet. Tina’s eyes traced the fallen rock’s path up the rise of stairs towards its origin… where Chuck stood.

  “What… is going on down here?” he asked as he began to walk down the stairs.

  Tina and Jericho exchanged glances as he approached.

  “Oh hi,” Tina said with a nervous tug of her hair behind her ear. “How long were you standing there?”

  “Long enough,” he replied.

  He reached the base of the stairwell and stopped. His long hair was slicked back, small droplets of moisture dotted his shoulders, evidence of a recent dip in the pool. The night air caused his skin to appear like a thin layer of paper as it stretched tightly across his chest and abdominals.

  “Long enough? What does that mean?” she said. “Were you eavesdropping on us?”

  Chuck glared in Jericho’s direction.

  “No, I wasn’t… not at first.” he began. “But I was looking around the party for you. After a while, I heard you and Jericho… It sounded like you were upset so I walked over to make sure everything was all right.”

  “Oh,” she replied as she looked away from him.

  As she spoke, Max appeared at the top of the stairs and began to walk down towards them.

  “What’s up?” he said. “You guys all right?”

  “Good question, bro,” Chuck replied. He crossed his arms at his chest. “Tina, you wanna answer that?”

  Jericho grabbed his sister by the arm before she could respond.

  “Come on, let’s get outta here.”