Hidden Realms

by Dean Murray

  I blinked slowly at her as I tried to figure out whether or not she was joking. “Come again?”

  Lucy continued unperturbed, “Just think about it Xoe, what else makes sense? What has superhuman smell and claws? I'm not imagining it. His hand was not a human hand.”

  “I don’t know what makes sense!” I practically shouted. “But Dan being a werewolf sure doesn’t! You have been watching too many horror movies. Werewolves don’t exist.”

  “I know what I saw!” she shouted back.

  “Look,” I replied, calmly as she began to cry, “It’s pretty far out there, but maybe you're right. I know you wouldn't make it up.”

  I thought about what Lucy had said. I knew she wouldn't make something like that up, but people's eyes play tricks on them all of the time. It wouldn't help for me to point that out to her though. “He does act kind of . . . dog-like,” I offered.

  Lucy sat on my bed, defeated. She sat that way for several minutes.

  I waited while we both processed the implications.

  Lucy shook her head. “I don’t know Xoe. I understand why you don't believe me. I can hardly believe myself, but I know what I saw.”

  I grabbed Lucy’s arm and gently pulled her to her feet. “Let's take a walk. We’ll try to come up with some alternative theories.”

  The only problem was, that having considered the alternatives, I knew there weren’t any. I mean, the best I could come up with was that Dan thought he was a werewolf, could I fault Lucy for thinking that he really was one? Who was I to say that such things didn't exist? The legends had to come from somewhere.

  The problem was that the only information I had came from movies, and the werewolves, according to the films, were always different. Some could only be killed by silver bullets, and others would die if you just whacked ‘em with a big stick enough times. Some just changed once a month, on the night of the full moon, others changed the whole week of the full moon, and others could change at will. We needed answers, and answers we did not have. I guess we’d find out if Lucy's crazy theory was not so crazy after all once the full moon rolled around.

  I moved my grip from Lucy’s arm and took her trembling hand to lead her downstairs. The truth was what it was, even if big and growly.

  Chapter Seven

  I stopped by my backdoor to slip on my hiking boots and a jean jacket on our way outside. We journeyed out across my backyard together, then headed into the woods where Lucy and I had met so many years ago. We reached a damp, narrow trail that led through the tall pine trees to the wider, more used trail that connected to a different road. Running water sounded from a stream in the distance. It sounded close, but in reality, it was about two miles away. A cool breeze was blowing, scented with the autumn leaves.

  Lucy fell in step behind me, seemingly lost in thought. Usually walking out in the woods was peaceful, but I could almost taste the tension emanating from Lucy. I glanced back at her a couple of times, but waited for her to talk first. She needed time to process things. She was so quiet that if not for the sound of her footfalls, I wouldn’t have known that she was there. We walked for a good ten minutes that way, her trailing behind me, neither of us saying a word.

  Lucy’s voice finally cracked the silence. “Do you think I’m going to be a werewolf now? I mean, if that’s what Dan is . . .”

  So we were going with the werewolf theory then. That she took it so seriously made it seem more real to me, which I wasn’t exactly grateful for. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly over my shoulder, “but whatever happens, we’ll get through it, even if I have to lock you in a cage once a month.”

  Lucy quickened her stride to walk beside me. “A cage?” she asked.

  I glanced at her. “Well, maybe not a cage,” I replied, “though I don’t know what else to use. We could just lock you in a room, but seeing as neither of us knows anything about werewolves, or whether or not Dan is one, I’d say better safe than sorry.”

  Lucy thought for a moment, then responded, “A cage it is then.”

  “We’ll get online and do some research tonight. We of course won’t find any solid answers, but knowing all of the legends can’t hurt.”

  “Xoe,” Lucy began slowly. “When I first thought of the werewolf thing, I freaked out and looked up the date of the full moon. It's tomorrow.”

  My mouth went dry. “I guess we'll need to find a cage sooner rather than later?” I asked half-heartedly.

  We stopped walking and sat on a felled tree on the side of the trail.

  “Do you think we should tell Allison?” Lucy asked, changing the subject.

  I smiled. “She might not believe us.” At Lucy's expression I corrected, “Okay, she definitely won’t believe us. Though, I guess she’d have to at least consider it if you showed her the scratches.”

  “I don’t know,” Lucy countered. “She may not believe it even then. I’m still not sure I do.”

  I frowned. “Even if we tried to keep it quiet, she can always tell when we’re trying to hide something from her. Remember the incident of the ruined shoes?”

  Lucy gave a small smile. “How could I forget?”

  I smiled back. “If she asks, we’ll tell her, and she can decide for herself whether to believe us or not.”

  Lucy nodded as the smile slipped from her face.

  I felt my smile slip too as I looked down at the ground. There wasn’t much more to say, so we sat in melancholy silence. I could feel the moisture from the tree trunk seeping through my jeans, making me cold. I focused on scratching a patch of lichen off of a nearby rock, rather than thinking too hard on our problem. Little green flakes fell to the damp earth as I picked away.

  I needed to put on a brave face for Lucy. I had a feeling that my calmness was the last thing holding her together. If I were her, I’d be falling apart right about now. I was near to falling apart as it was.

  Finally, we got up and continued walking farther into the woods. Usually I would have brought my backpack with water, first aid kit, and pepper spray if we were going any sort of distance, but I guess my mind had been too preoccupied to remember when we left my house. It was stupid of me. You never know what might happen.

  We had both been watching the ground in front of us for several minutes when Lucy turned her attention to the trail ahead. She paused with instant fear at what she saw.

  Chapter Eight

  I looked up to see what had stopped her. Dan was waiting expectantly farther up the trail. He was dressed in a green t-shirt, jeans, and his brown leather jacket, his hair styled to its usual perfection. He didn’t make a move toward us. He just stood there and stared.

  My heart sped as I wiped sweaty palms on my jeans. “W-what do you want?” I stammered loudly, backing up.

  He just stood there watching us, then began to come forward.

  I shouted, “Don’t come any closer or I’ll—” I blinked and he was only a few feet away. How had he moved so fast?

  “Or you’ll what?” he interrupted.

  The next thing I knew he shoved me, then I was on the ground, looking at the branches above me, blue sky shining through. My vision swam, then darkness swallowed the branches whole.

  I woke to deep blue eyes worriedly looking into my groggy green ones, and realized someone was shaking me. I scuttled backwards out of my assailant’s grasp like a demented crab to take in the stranger who had been hovering over me.

  Tousled deep brown hair, and a scruffy yet handsome male face went with the dark blue eyes that had been above me. He had a narrow, sweeping nose and his eyes were lined by a dark splash of lashes. Only his strong, sharp jaw and several days worth of stubble saved his face from femininity. He was about 6’1” with a, might I say, rather nice physique; lean, yet muscled. He wore a dark green sweater, worn jeans, and dark brown hiking boots that had definitely seen better days.

  He tried to hide a laugh at my frenzied scuttle, and I was too freaked to get mad. There was still the question of why I had been on the ground,
unconscious in the woods with only this handsome stranger to blame. It was only when I saw Lucy standing behind the stranger unharmed, that I was able to stuff my heart back down my throat.

  They both watched and waited for me to talk.

  Something tickled at the edge of my memory. “Dan! Where’d he go?” I shrieked. I remembered Dan attacking us now, well, I remembered him attacking me, before I lost consciousness.

  Lucy shuffled forward, pale and wide-eyed. Her jeans were dirty and her soiled jacket was torn at the elbow. “Dan pushed you down. I tried to run toward you, but suddenly he had me on the ground too. He was so fast Xoe. I tried to struggle, but he pressed me down until I couldn’t move. He said I had to come with him. He said I would be . . . dangerous.” Lucy paused as she glanced at Jason, then quickly went on, “The next thing I knew, Jason was there, tearing him off me.” Tears began to well in Lucy’s already puffy eyes.

  I dizzily stumbled to my feet, then grabbed Lucy in a hug, feeling pine needles in her hair. “Where did he go?”

  “I-I don’t know,” Lucy said.

  I pulled away from Lucy and turned to this so-called Jason character. “Where did he go?” I asked more confidently. “I can’t believe he just gave up that easily.”

  Jason studied me for a moment, as if considering which answer would upset me the least, then shrugged, apparently deciding on no answer at all.

  “You were the only one vertical at the time. You had to see him leave,” I pressed.

  He shrugged again. “My attention was on making sure that the two of you were unharmed. I did not see where he went.”

  “So you were completely unconcerned with the stranger that you found in the woods attacking two people?”

  Shrugging again, he smirked and walked up to grab my arm. “I will walk you girls home.”

  I ripped my arm away from him and got in his face. “We need the truth. Something weird is going on and it is just way too convenient that you were there at just the right time. No offense, but Dan is bigger than you, and I don’t think he would exactly run screaming at the sight of you. Your story don’t wash pal.”

  He reached out brushed back a strand of my hair that had fallen into my eyes. I jerked away, startled.

  He chuckled at my reaction.

  I pointed my finger a few inches away from his face. “Now, is so not the time to mess with me.”

  He smiled. “I can see that, but we do need to get you both home. It's not safe out here.”

  I grabbed Lucy and stormed back down the trail, with Jason following a short way behind us. Though Lucy had stopped crying, she was leaning heavily on me as if she’d fall without my support. We stumbled on as Jason caught up to walk on my other side. I focused on the trail, trying to hide the fact that my heart was thundering in my ears.

  “I spoke the truth,” he said. “I don't know why he fled. Do you know him?”

  Sighing, I answered a bit more breathily than I would have liked, “Yeah, we know him . . . unfortunately.”

  I walked a little faster, trying to end the conversation.

  Jason simply matched my stride and pressed on. “Have you spent much time with him?”

  I frowned at him, almost tripping on a stone. I had to pause for a moment and get a better grip on Lucy. “I thought you were just the ‘innocent bystander', not involved in the situation, so why do you care?”

  Jason thought for a moment, then shrugged again. “Just making conversation,” he said, effectively ending the conversation.

  By the time we arrived at my house, Lucy had somewhat regained her composure, though her normally self-assured eyes still had haunted shadows chasing across them.

  I put my hand on her back in a comforting gesture. She was trembling ever so slightly; a frightened mouse came to mind. I pushed Lucy in through the back door and turned to Jason. “There’s something weird about your story, well okay, a whole lotta somethings. You know more about Dan than you’re letting on. I trust you as much as I trust him. Stay away from Lucy.”

  That carefree smirk returned to his face, but within a moment wiped clean to leave his expression all stony-serious. His deep blue eyes looked angry. “Stay out of the woods, and stay away from Dan. He is dangerous,” he warned, holding my gaze to make sure I understood.

  “Thanks, but tell me something I don't know,” I replied, then slammed the door in his face. So maybe he didn’t deserve my temper, but then again, maybe he did.

  I walked up to my room to find Lucy already sitting on my bed, staring blankly at a framed picture of her, Allison, and me, standing together with large grins on our faces. We’d taken it over the summer by Allison’s pool. The summer seemed very far away.

  Realizing my presence, she looked up and asked, “Can I stay over tonight, Xoe?” Her eyes pleaded with me.

  I knew my mom wouldn’t mind Lucy staying over on a Sunday, but Lucy’s strict parents were a whole other story. “You’re welcome to, if you can convince your parents.”

  Lucy gave me a small smile. “They left for Portland to visit my uncle this morning, remember? They would actually prefer it if I stayed here. My sister is staying at a friend's house too.”

  Well that settled that.

  My mom, as expected had no problem with Lucy staying over. She ordered us a pizza and the three of us sat in the living room with the pizza box on the coffee table. I grabbed my first slice and began to wolf (no pun intended) it down. Lucy’s first piece sat forlornly on her paper plate.

  My mom watched Lucy carefully. “Not hungry?”

  Lucy looked up from her plate, startled. “Oh, um, no, not really hungry.”

  My mom patiently waited for Lucy to elaborate.

  I tried to distract her. “When are you leaving for Washington, mom?”

  My mom glanced at me for a moment. “Probably Wednesday.” She turned her attention back to Lucy. “Besides your hike, you’ve been here all day. I haven’t seen you eat.”

  Lucy pushed her plate a little farther away from her. “My stomach has been upset lately.”

  My mom nodded and seemed to settle for Lucy’s answer, but I caught her glancing at Lucy skeptically out of the corner of her eye for the rest of the evening.

  When all that was left was a cheese-soaked box, we headed back to my room. Lucy borrowed one of my t-shirts and some plaid pajama pants to sleep in. While she got ready for bed in my bathroom (she stayed over enough to warrant her own toiletries kit), I toured around the house and made sure the doors and all of the windows were locked. Paranoid, who me?

  I paused as I passed the hall mirror. I looked at my reflection numbly. Things hadn’t really set in yet. I felt as if I were walking in a dream. I lightly touched the carved wood frame of the mirror, half expecting it to disappear, just a fragment of this horrible dream. Firm, solid wood pressed beneath my fingertips.

  I returned to my room to find Lucy staring blankly from her perch on my bed. I spared her a final worried glance then took my turn in the bathroom. By the time I was finished brushing my teeth and picking stray pine needles out of my hair that I hadn’t noticed until then, Lucy was curled up into a ball on my bed, fast asleep.

  I crawled into bed next to her and stared at the ceiling. In my head, I reviewed all of the events of the weekend. Reason told me to assume that Jason was in league with Dan, but my gut was inexplicably arguing against that possibility. I instantly wanted to trust him, just like I instantly wanted to distrust Dan.

  I finally fell asleep to visions of werewolves dancing in my head.

  Chapter Nine

  Lucy seemed to be feeling a little more steady in the morning. We each took our turns in the shower and I let her borrow some of my clothes. She had to cuff the jeans a few times, but the long-sleeved, navy cotton shirt fit her pretty well. Hoorah for the bustily-challenged. I dressed in my usual theme: jeans, dark blue v-neck t-shirt, and my ubiquitous sneakers.

  We ran downstairs and grabbed granola bars for breakfast. I filled my travel mug with coffee from the p
ot my mom, saint that she is, had made. I added a small amount of creamer and pushed the lid onto my mug, making that moist suction noise that travel mugs tend to make. I glanced at the clock to see that it was already 7:15. We rushed out the door to fast-walk to school.

  Our silence was weighted with fear and worry. Neither of us wanted to be the one to break it. I think we both were all too aware that the full moon was fast approaching. Tonight we would have answers, or at least one answer. So much was still unexplained.

  Lucy’s timid voice cracked the silence. “So, um, if we’re right about Dan, what are we going to do? I mean, if I’m to believe that werewolves exist, then it would also stand to reason that some of the legends about them exist . . . ” She stared at the ground, refusing to meet my eyes.

  “We’ll think of something. I won’t let you go through this alone, even if your theory is right, and I’m starting to think it is. Why else would Dan say that you would be dangerous?” I asked.

  “I know,” Lucy said. “I’ve been thinking about that too.”

  I hesitated on my next question, not sure if I would make things worse by asking. “Are you scared?”

  Lucy stopped walking and met my eyes. “Terrified.”

  I kept my gaze locked on hers until she looked back down and began walking again. I followed shortly behind her. The ensuing silence was no less strained. We arrived at school just as the first bell rang, and we parted to go to our respective classes. I reached biology and slid into my seat next to Allison just as the second bell rang. I was unable to concentrate on the lecture, which was nothing new, but this time it was more than my short attention span standing in my way.

  Once class was over, I met with Lucy before second period. We sat in our usual seats in the front, but Lucy was so obviously not her usual self. She kept her eyes on her desk and did not raise her hand to answer one single question. I guess I couldn’t blame her. The teacher darted a few concerned glances at Lucy, but apparently decided to leave her alone. Lucy didn’t seem to notice.