by L. A. Jones
Full or not, the moon did not provide a lot of light. She had an idea of where to look, but finding the plants she wanted was still a challenge by flashlight. She honestly wasn’t sure why she did most of her collecting at night, but she’d noticed her plants did best when she gathered them under certain, odd circumstances. She’d studied a fair amount of literature on the matter, but couldn’t explain it.
It was well into the night by the time Aradia had found and properly catalogued everything for which she’d come. Most girls, most people even, would feel hopelessly lost where Aradia was. She did not. She felt a certain calm come over her when she got away from civilization. It helped her relax and reflect.
She placed her hand against a tree. She felt the cool, moist bark beneath her fingertips. Closing her eyes, she felt beyond her fingers, into the tree itself, down through its roots, into the very earth. She could feel the tickle of the swaying branches and the leaves whispering in the wind. She’d fought against her powers for most of her life, but in times like this, her abilities brought her peace.
She’d been sincere when she’d told Roy not to worry. His concerns, no matter how poorly justified, were not to be completely discounted. She just didn’t imagine coming up against an opponent who could beat her in a fight.
She could do so much, she’d half-considered doing the superhero gig. She smiled at the concept. She imagined she’d have a purple jumpsuit, a short yellow cape, and maybe a utility belt. That was never really an option for her, though. To Aradia, it was the role of the police and the courts to uphold the law, inflicting judgment and punishment. Anything else was vigilantism.
After all, Aradia concluded, what’s the point of having laws if not everyone follows them?
She couldn’t shake the notion, though, that with all the powers she had, there must be something special she was supposed to do with them.
She let her arm fall, severing her connection. She had to get home. She made her way back to the road. It was a relatively lengthy drive to her house from where she was, but cutting through the forest a couple times would make it a fairly easy walk.
Over the tops of some boulders on her left she saw the lights from the police station. She smiled as she briefly considered stopping by and asking Officer Ortega for a ride home.
Nah, she decided. It's almost two in the morning. The skeleton crew is probably one officer and a janitor at this hour.
Aradia stopped and froze. Just like the time on the way to Jayce's party, she heard heavy breathing and felt eyes on her. She debated how to proceed.
A rustle of the underbrush directly behind her made her decision. Aradia turned. Prowling toward her menacingly was a big, black wolf. It growled at her maliciously, hungrily.
When Aradia had considered what kind of opponents she might face, she had underestimated how terrifying an adversary could be.
The beast was larger than any wolf of which Aradia had ever heard. It was so large, mangy, and ferocious that it seemed more like the crossbreed of a hyena and a lion.
It was also wearing pants. That was weird.
Aradia was petrified and didn't know what to do. She feared that any action she took might provoke it. Its muscles were tight and bunched. It was ready to pounce if she gave it reason. She suspected it was fast.
For several long minutes, which were practically an eternity, the two of them faced off in complete silence.
The wolf began to crouch lower and Aradia heard its breathing slowing down. Maybe it’s relaxing, Aradia hoped. No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than the animal finally did pounce.
She was right that it was fast. Its monstrous jaw went straight toward Aradia's throat, but with her lightning quick reflexes she managed to dodge it. Pivoting quickly on her right leg, she kicked hard with her left, and used the beast’s size and momentum against it. The wolf slammed hard into a tree. After hardly a moment’s pause, it picked itself up and turned to face Aradia once again.
Much to Aradia's amazement, instead of attacking, the wolf raised itself unnaturally upon its hind legs. It flexed its front legs and paws as if they were arms and hands. Aradia was positively dumbfounded. The situation was unheard of. Unheard of outside of horror movies. She did not have time to dwell on the thought, though, for the wolf again struck.
She moved to dodge the blow again, but the creature anticipated her deflection. The wolf feinted to her right, then sunk its teeth into her outstretched left arm. It wasn’t fighting like a wolf.
That was when Aradia finally lit upon the real truth.
Holy crap, I’m fighting a werewolf.
Aradia bellowed in pain as the werewolf’s teeth sunk into the meat of her left forearm. Using her right fist she beat at the wolf's face in an effort to force it off. She did not pull her punches.
Every time her fist connected, she heard a heavy thud and felt the wolf recoil against her strength. It held fast, however, and using its greater weight forced her to the ground. This will not end well.
Close as she was to the werewolf’s face, Aradia got a good look straight into its eyes. She was caught by them, surprised not only by their humanity, but also by their familiarity.
Hoping she wasn’t making a mistake, and with the knowledge that she was gambling with her life, she grabbed the wolf by its muzzle. She wrenched the wolf's teeth from her arm, and both she and the beast yowled.
With the creature’s head held fast, she stared into its eyes once more. Only this time, Aradia did more than just stare. Calming herself as much as she could, given the circumstances, she reached into the other being’s mind. Her psychic power usually just gave her visions but if necessary she could use it for things. Touching an animal’s mind had always been odd for her, but she hoped the fact that this wasn’t exactly your PetSmart type of pooch might be of aid to her.
Contact. There was indeed a sentience in it. She searched the wolf's mind, and tried to soothe it. As often happened when using her powers in this manner, Aradia lost track of the flow of time. Seconds or hours might have passed as far as she knew.
Then her mouth fell open in disbelief.
"Roy!" she shrieked, “Is that you?"
The wolf wrestled away from her grasp, and bore its teeth viciously. Roy was in there, she was sure, but the guy she’d had a relaxed meal with earlier definitely wasn’t calling the shots now. Aradia felt around quickly for a weapon. Her right hand settled on a tree branch. Her left arm hung limp, throbbing and seemingly useless.
Once again, the Roy-wolf stood on its hind legs ready to attack its prey. Aradia backed up, slowly dragging the branch with her, and pressed her back against a tree. Her foe followed with her, measuring her actions. Carefully she inched herself up the trunk until she was standing, and looked the werewolf straight in the eyes. She hoped to get through to the Roy inside the monster, so that he might take control and cease the attack.
Aradia was sorely disappointed.
The wolf lunged at Aradia. With superhuman agility she darted to her side, and tossed the branch from her right hand to her bloody left one. With her injured left arm she swung the branch and knocked her friend out cold.
At first, she contemplated just running straight home. After a bit of deliberation, she shook her head at that idea. She couldn’t just leave Roy here like this, for his sake and for everyone else’s. Resigning herself to the task, she retrieved her rucksack, bandaged her arm up as best she could with her first aid kit, and grabbed Roy by his ankles.
Where to? she wondered. Her house? Out of the questions. There was no way she’d expose her parents to an out-of-control werewolf. Roy’s? Maybe, but if his family didn’t know he was a werewolf, she didn’t want to be the one to out him.
Just then she again noticed the glow of lights from the police station.
I suppose it’s worth checking out
Chapter Fifteen
“Worth checking out, huh, Aradia?” she grumbled to herself. She had underestimated the difficulty of dragging an unconscious
werewolf through a mile of forest. She’d kept off the road. She really did not want to explain the situation to a passing motorist.
Her blood soaked through the quick and dirty patch job she’d done on her wound, but she didn’t think she was at risk of losing too much blood. The bite itself was filthy with saliva and grime and bacteria, but she’d always proven naturally resilient against infections, so she was content with her own health for the moment.
She was tired, though. It was past three now, and using her powers as she had under combat conditions had taken a toll on her as well.
The Salem Police Department was not large, and given the time of day, was only lightly staffed. Am I really trying to rationalize breaking into a police station?
As stealthily as she could with Roy in tow, Aradia snuck around to the back of the building. Maybe I can find an extra set of keys to the jail cells, sneak Roy into one of them, and wait it out until morning…
She considered her options for a while before finally admitting aloud, “This is nuts. Time for a new plan, Rai.”
Her first step would be dragging Roy back into the woods. However, as soon as she turned, she found herself face to face with a uniformed police officer, and it wasn’t one of the two she knew.
Aradia’s breath caught in her throat. She was so scared that she didn’t notice his disheveled appearance, unkempt hair, untucked shirt, or twitching nose.
“What have we here?” he demanded in what Aradia thought was a very un-police-officerish tone.
“Just, um…” Aradia replied awkwardly. Avoiding eye contact, she mumbled, “Walking my dog.”
The man grunted in response and advanced toward her slowly. She backed up, stumbling over werewolf-Roy. She scrambled to her feet as he reached out to her and she wondered if she was getting arrested.
To her surprise, he reached right past her and inspected the wolf. She observed, not sure what to make of it. He felt for Roy’s pulse and counted as he timed on his wristwatch. Thirty seconds later and seemingly satisfied, the officer checked Roy’s injuries.
“So, uh, are you also a vet?” Aradia asked, not sure if she was joking or in earnest.
He ignored her. She briefly considered bolting, but there was no way she could leave Roy helpless in the hands of this odd man.
“You had a fair idea,” the officer said, “if a piss-poor plan on executing it. Give me a hand here.”
Aradia stood stock still.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” he said to a confused Aradia. “Animal control? Help me get him inside into one of the cells.”
She still didn’t know what to make of this guy, but it was her plan he was helping her complete. Reluctantly, she grabbed Roy’s legs and hefted him up. The two of them were able to carry him with relative ease.
When they got to the building, they carefully set Roy down. Officer Scruffy pulled out a set of keys and entered a code on a keypad beside the door. Aradia noticed he put his body between her and the keypad as he did so, blocking her from seeing the code. The pad chirped a happy noise, a green light flashed, and she heard the door click unlocked.
He held a finger to his lips and slowly exhaled, “Shhhhhh,” before motioning to pick up Roy again.
This dude is seriously creepy, she thought. Nonetheless, she figured he couldn’t be too bad of a character if he was guiding her into a police station. She obeyed his directive and again helped lift Roy.
Together they hauled him into one of the cells. She was pleased to see the other few cells were empty and nobody was overseeing the area. Crime must be down, she deduced.
When they’d completed their task, Aradia whispered, “Why are you doing this?”
Officer Scruffy thought for a moment, glancing from the incarcerated wolf to Aradia and back a couple times. Finally he replied, “Part of me thinks I should kill you.”
She backed up a step and said, “Whoa, really not an appropriate answer to my question.”
“Keep your voice down,” he chastised her.
“You just...” she caught herself speaking loudly, and tried again in a whisper, “You just said you might kill me!”
“I probably should,” he said quietly. His nose twitched again, and he looked contemplative. “I figure, though, if you can knock out a pureblooded werewolf, you must be hidden.”
“Werewolf?” Aradia repeated, playing dumb. “I think somebody’s been reading a little too much Twilight there, buddy. I was just, um, walking my dog. He’s an Alaskan husky. Mix. An Alaskan husky mix. That’s why he looks like a wolf. Sorta.”
He chuckled, but did not press the point.
“What did you mean by hidden?” she asked.
He looked at her curiously, cautiously. After a tense silence he said, “If you’re still playing dumb, then fine, I can play that game. If you really don’t know, though,” he flicked a thumb in Roy’s direction, “just wait until he wakes up and ask him.”
She rolled her eyes. “He’s usually about as forthcoming as you are.”
He smiled, and for the first time since she’d met him, he didn’t seem so menacing. “That’s good. He must be careful with how much he divulges. You should be too, though I suspect you know at least that much already.”
Abruptly he turned and headed toward a doorway into the forward portion of the structure. After keying in another code, he left Aradia and Roy alone.
Muffled by the door, she could make out a brief conversation on the other side. “Repairs still going on,” Scruffy called out. “Have to keep the area clear till morning.”
She couldn’t quite make out the response, but she got the gist of it as being another officer astonished at repair work being done at that hour.
“Thanks, Scruffy,” she whispered. Finally able to release her tension, she actually chuckled.
She pulled her phone from her rucksack and started a text to both her parents:
She did not get an immediate response, for which she was grateful.
There were a couple chairs lining the walls. She grabbed one and pulled it near Roy’s cell. She was careful to keep enough distance that he could not lunge and reach her, in case he woke up and was angry.
She cast a glance at Roy sleeping in his wolf form. When she hadn’t been looking he’d curled up in a ball, and his legs were twitching like he was having a running dream.
“What a weird night,” she muttered to herself.
It was a little over two hours later, at the first light of dawn, when Roy shifted back into his human form. Aradia had dozed a bit, but had never fallen into a very deep sleep. She was exhausted, but when the transformation began, her grogginess disappeared.
She could not help but stare as she watched. His fur retracted back into his skin, and his bones shrank and adjusted into their proper places. His skin grew tight and rippled, like the surface of a pond under a light breeze. His snout disappeared altogether, and his dog-nose morphed into a human one. His fierce, carnivorous teeth dulled and turned into that cute smile she knew so well. He slept through the whole process.
She hadn’t noticed in his wolf form, but he still wore some tatters of the clothes he had worn the previous day. That made her wonder if perhaps the initial transformation had come sooner than he’d expected it to. He’d been concerned about the full moon, so he must have known he would change. Why wouldn’t he have taken his clothes off? That would start getting expensive, fast, if he had to buy new clothes every full moon.
There wasn’t really much left of his t-shirt and jeans. He was still wearing, though, a set of elastic-looking boxer briefs. She noticed with a chuckle that he’d apparently cut a hole in the back of them, presumably for his werewolf tail.
I wonder where you find elastic underwear. I guess at a werewolf clothing store.
She had just seen him transform, and yet it was so hard for her to believe that the
guy now lying on the floor of the jail cell had fought her as a werewolf the night before. Looking back at her experiences so far in Salem, she supposed it did make some sense.
It explained his keen sense of smell, and his ability to keep up with her on the track. His strange warning about the full moon at his family diner made a sort of ironic sense. He’d been warning her about himself. I can’t believe he’d let himself turn into a werewolf outside like that. If it hadn’t been me he’d found, he’d have killed somebody tonight.
Just then, a horrible thought struck Aradia with such force that she feared she’d vomit. What if Roy had, in the past, killed people?
Aradia looked and studied Roy's form and thought back on what she knew of werewolves. She’d never really been too interested in fantasy, but she had True Blood and Being Human on her DVR. He’d definitely looked wolf-like, but he’d been much bigger than any conventional wolf. He’d had some very human features as well. She thought with a shudder about how he’d reared up on his hind legs and come at her. She glanced down at her still throbbing arm. Then she thought about those eyes, still so familiar even while his teeth were latched on to her.
She needed him awake, now.
”Roy,” Aradia prodded him with her foot.
Roy made a lazy growling noise as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. Slowly he propped himself up and rose to his feet.
He stopped, however, as soon as he realized where he was. "Why am I in jail?"
He was surprised when Aradia answered him.
"Would you rather be at the animal shelter?"
He jumped and spun around to face her. The two of them stood perfectly still, looking at each other.
Finally Aradia asked, almost conversationally, "So, you’re a werewolf?”
Roy sputtered, "Whoa, um… What do you mean?"
Aradia rolled her eyes and said, "C’mon Roy. I know what you are."
"You’re serious?" Roy repeated again, fear evident in his voice. His words were no longer slurring.