Curse of Stone

by Nikki Lockwood

  Two pits of pure nothing, evil and black, glared at me. A long-forked tongue slithered in and out of Maurice’s mouth. Black scales covered his cheeks. “He is coming for you,” he hissed at me. “I may have failed, but others will try, and my master, he will not fail.”

  My stomach turned in knots, provoking a feeling of nausea.

  “Silence,” the man restraining Maurice said.

  On the cusp of a choked breath, a loud growl pierced the fog.

  Glancing around, a ball lumped into my throat. Copious sweat covered me. The snout of a large black wolf appeared from the fog. Long, spiked fur, like a mohawk, ran from the top of its head to the tip of its tail. Its chest covered in whiteish fur. Lips curled back and fangs clenched. An angry growl sounded from deep within the wolf’s belly.

  Its eyes met mine. My own breath strangled me.

  The wolf, snarling and chomping, was focused only on me. Padding its paws closer, step by step, by step.

  Fuck. This is it; I’m going to die. Believing this wolf was about to have me for dinner, my body went unfathomably numb. There was no escape.

  As the wolf got within two metres of me, Maurice hissed, drawing my eyes to him. Then he lunged at me, but the man pulled him back in the blink of an eye.

  It felt like a knife just passed through my chest; all feeling evaporated. The sound of the wolf’s growl rang in my ears; and I collapsed like a puppet suddenly released of its strings.

  50

  Maurice’s eyes, black as night, pits of pure nothing, evil, glared at me. His long-forked tongue slithered in and out. Black scales covered his cheeks.

  “He’s coming for you,” he hissed and lunged at me.

  I jolted awake with a scream. Cold clamminess covered my body. Inhaling deeply, trying to catch my breath.

  “Holy shit,” I said aloud.

  I glanced around, trying to gather my bearings. I was in my apartment.

  My mouth ran dry.

  Eyes widened.

  Heart stopped.

  A large black wolf came into view and paced back and forth at the end of my bed. I watched the wolf’s every movement. This wasn’t a usual wolf, it was much, much bigger.

  Fuck no, this wasn’t happening.

  Its eyes met mine. The wolf raised up onto its back legs. Towering over me, it had to be at least eight-feet tall. A flash of light blinded me. The crack of bones made shudder.

  My mouth dropped open. A wolf no more, but Jay, naked.

  51

  The things I knew about werewolves.

  One - they were myth, folklore, tales from a time past.

  Two - in recent years, medical reports out of an Australian hospital reported about people who exhibited werewolf-like symptoms on a full moon, believing that they were morphing into the so-called wolf.

  Three - tales and accounts of sightings were more than plentiful throughout history. Even recently here, in the United States and in the United Kingdom. I had read the reports by the paranormal investigators.

  Four - every movie depicted them as having unmeasurable strength, and speed. Savage beasts. But those were just fictional creatures. Wolves on the other hand are fiercely protective animals, who run in packs, and have a hierarchy.

  Five - they didn’t exist.

  But they did.

  My heart thumped like the rapid beating of drums, heavy and loud.

  “Stone. Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you. It’s just me, just Jay,” he said, in a calming tone.

  It wasn’t fucking okay. No way in hell. Werewolves were real and he was one of them.

  In all my searching for gargoyles, I hadn’t expected to find werewolves, and have one right under my nose, the whole time.

  He stood about a metre from me. I didn’t know what to think. Was I safe around him? If I went by what the movies depicted, then no. They were mindless beasts, who ravaged anything that got in their path.

  The coin in my mind couldn’t settle on heads or tails. Jay had lied, all these years. Argh, I had to stop that train of thought before I spiralled into a black pit and there was no digging myself back out. I mean, this was Jay. I knew him and there was nothing about him or his behaviour over all the years that screamed to me that he was a threat.

  “Show me again,” I said, meeting Jay’s stare.

  There was pain in his eyes. “No.” Jay said in a cold, stern voice.

  “Show me.”

  He shook his head.

  “But I want to see. How could you hide something like this from me? I’ve known you since we were kids. I’ve shared things with you, stuff about Gran, and all along you fucking knew, and didn’t tell me,” I said, trying to provoke him.

  “Are you sure?”

  I nodded. Not sure if I was but there was no unseeing what I already had. My body covered in a slick dampness.

  He walked over to where I sat and knelt in front of me. I tensed. Almost pulling my hands back as his touched mine.

  “Please don’t be afraid. I will not hurt you.” He walked backwards across the room.

  I watched, trying not to miss a thing.

  “You really are a pain in my ass,” Jay said.

  His face scrunched, fists clenched, then released as his body began to swell upwards. Bones cracked and popped. Black fur started sprouting from all over. Hands, no longer human.

  I scrambled back up my bed. My heart racing.

  Jay stood upright on his back legs, as a wolf. His muscles had expanded and were almost triple the size of his human self. I hadn’t imagined it. The mohawk of black fur. His white chest.

  His face, a long snout with large incisors protruding on either side of his mouth. But those eyes, bright blue with golden flecks, they were his eyes, and the only thing linking me to his human side.

  He stood still, not making a sound.

  I gingerly climbed down off the bed. Eyes fixed on the wolf. Every part of my body trembling.

  I stepped forward. “Am I safe coming closer to you?”

  The wolf nodded.

  I stopped and looked down as I placed my foot close to his large canine clawed paw, his knees were bent on a right angle towards me. Long, black, hairy, and ripped with muscles, his legs were built with purpose. I scanned upwards, his arms were longer than his human arms, and hung at his sides. Black claws curved like crescent moons came to a sharpened point from each toe. As my eyes reached his face, sweat trickled down my body. The fear growing inside me. I took a step backwards, then another.

  “If you’re a werewolf.” My eyes widened and darted up. “Then what was Maurice?”

  In a blast of fur, limbs, and flesh, Jay, now back as the man I knew, sat on the bed, and wrapped the blanket over his genitals. “A demon.”

  After a moment of silence, I burst out laughing. “A demon. Good one, Jay.”

  But Jay wasn’t amused, at all.

  As I caught my breath and my laughter dulled into a few short chuckles. My eyes fixed on Jay. The seriousness in them, a darkness I hadn’t seen, chilled my very core.

  I fell silent and stilled. “Oh my god. You are serious, aren’t you?” I said, in disbelief and a sudden realization.

  Jay nodded.

  Fuck.

  “How is that even possible?” I uttered.

  “It’s as possible as me being a werewolf.”

  That was true. Werewolves shouldn’t exist, or didn’t exist until now, but they shouldn’t. My mind was going to explode. Then a memory hit me. “He was trying to get me to go to the library with him, but the library was closed. What would a demon want with me?” As I said it, another thought struck me. “This has something to do with Gran and her sighting, doesn’t it? I knew it. I bloody knew it. I went and visited them, told them to come find me, but they sent a demon. Wait, why would they send a demon that wanted to hurt me?”

  Jay’s hand grabbed mine. “Slow down, you aren’t making any sense. What are you talking about? You asked them to come find you. Who did you ask that?”

  Oh shit. W
hoops.

  52

  I’d avoided Jay all day. I just couldn’t see him until I got my head around it. He was a werewolf. Like a real fucking werewolf. The thought blew my mind. If I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes, there was no way in hell I would’ve believed it.

  Part of me was angry that he’d lied, but I knew that was an excuse to not face him. We needed to talk but I wasn’t ready.

  The other part was that I didn’t want to answer the questions about what I’d said last night. I’d pretended to be tired, yawned, stretched, and asked him to leave so I could sleep, all so I didn’t have to answer him. He would’ve known it too. How could he not? But I didn’t care.

  He had begrudgingly left my apartment and said, “This conversation isn’t finished.”

  I had cringed.

  As soon as I’d woken this morning, I’d caught a taxi to Gran’s. I could stay here as long as I wanted. She didn’t need to know that I was hiding.

  I twiddled my phone between my fingers. Velkan had text. But Jay had filled him in about me nearly being attacked, so there was nothing for me to say.

  Gran hummed as she plated spaghetti bolognese for lunch. Thoughts rushed about my mind.

  “Do you believe in werewolves?” I asked her abruptly.

  She halted, spoon dangling mid-air. For a brief second, she didn’t move, or say anything. “I believe there are many things in this world that may exist, whether they have been seen or not.”

  I shouldn’t have been surprised by her answer. My lips twisted; eyebrows clenched together.

  “Why do you ask?” she inquired.

  No way. She wouldn’t believe me if I told her, hell, I wouldn’t believe me. “It’s nothing.”

  “There are many corners of this world that are so remote no human has ever ventured. Places where no light touches. Whatever’s on your mind always remember that nothing is impossible however improbable it seems. Ruth is one of those anomalies. I can see it in her eyes. She may not recognise me, but whatever happened to her, a darkness has touched her.”

  “I agree. Her eyes aren’t normal.”

  “Did you ever read my notes?” she asked.

  “Once.”

  “Long has there been a battle between the forces of light and dark. I believe Ruth and I got caught in the crosshairs. We weren’t supposed to see.”

  53

  Her apartment was empty and had been all fucking day. She wasn’t answering my text messages or phone calls. Fucking hell. Stone knew me better than anyone. But now she was avoiding me. My wolf growled.

  I knew there was only one place Stone would go. Gran’s. And I was going after her, she couldn’t hide. There was no way I was coming back alone. She belonged with me. I needed her.

  No part of me was worried about her reaction to finding out. But I didn’t have time to waste anymore. I needed to tell her everything, get it all out there, and answer all her questions. Only then would she realise, me being a werewolf, didn’t change anything.

  Pulling out of the basement garage, my dodge charger revved under foot. My knuckles whitened, tightening around the steering wheel. Regardless of her stubbornness, my heart belonged to her. Chasing her down pleased my wolf. This was a game, and we liked to play.

  I moaned; the angst of my sexual frustration tugged at me. No other lips would suffice. The fur inside me bristled. My jaw hardened. Everything around me went silent. Stone’s face was all I saw. She needed to understand, and no fucking way was I going to bide my time much longer.

  The bonds of our friendship, the trust, respect, and my overbearing protective urges would carry forward into our relationship and would grow beyond the scope of any other person. No other eyes would she search for but mine, no other heart would she need.

  My body tingled with warmth, heart expanding. To think she would one day look at me like I’m the only person that matters, the only person she loves. A chill swept across my body. A lump caught in my throat.

  “I’m coming,” I whispered. And there was no hiding from me this time.

  54

  The curtains were all closed. No way I was returning to my apartment tonight. The sun had set, and I’d had enough scares for a while. Now I understood the bars on the windows.

  “Your phone has been buzzing,” Gran said, as I walked into the kitchen.

  She pulled a frozen meal from the freezer and stuck it in the microwave. One I had cooked and put in her freezer, not that packet crap.

  I picked up my phone from the benchtop. ‘You have unread text messages’, the screen read. It would be Jay. I sighed.

  “Is it Jamie?” Gran asked.

  I didn’t answer her. Knowing the truth about Jamie, what he truly was, it would send her to the grave.

  “You know, your mother and I always thought you two would end up together.”

  I put my phone down on the counter and looked at her. “Why do you say that?”

  “You two, were like peas in a pod, wherever you were, he was, and vice versa.”

  Yeah, except he’s a werewolf. “We were kids, and just friends.”

  “That’s not how I remember it. The way he used to look at you, even then, I knew.”

  “You knew what?” I asked.

  Gran stepped close to me. Her warm hand cupped my cheek. “My darling girl open your eyes. That boy loved you and probably still does.”

  I scoffed. Loved me? Gran was crazier than I thought. “Gran, we are just friends, nothing more.”

  “If you say so.”

  55

  The hot water shut off. I stepped out onto the lavender coloured bathmat. Accompanied by the matching lavender towels, I used one to pat myself dry. The mirror covered in steam. With one arm, I wiped it off and stared at my reflection.

  The truth stared back at me.

  I missed Jay.

  It was tearing me apart not talking to him. But I couldn’t. What would I say?

  Honestly, I didn’t care that he was a werewolf. Sure, it was scary as hell to see, but it didn’t change anything. I was just being a chicken shit by not facing him. I didn’t understand my reasoning, if I even had a reason. I mean Jay had been a werewolf all his life, I presumed, and never once had he given me reason to fear him. It was unfair of me to assume that just because he showed me his true self, he was a savage beast.

  But what had changed for me was a feeling, in my heart, not of love, but of belonging. I’d been in denial all day, unable to face the harsh reality of it. I liked having Jay in my life, and always around. I wanted more. But he was seeing Mac – although he was lying about that.

  I chucked on the trackpants and hoodie I’d brought with me and wrapped my wet hair up into a towel on my head. Opening the bathroom door, I froze. Three knocks sounded on the front door. I heard Gran shuffle along the floor and open the door.

  All blood drained from me.

  Jamie’s voice sounded from the front door. “Hi Gran.”

  “Hello Jamie,” she said.

  The door closed. I listened as they moved into the kitchen. Creeping down the hallway, I peered round.

  Jamie hugged gran and kissed her on the cheek. I let out an annoyed scoff. That smug, but charming smile. Ugh.

  “Still haven’t got a haircut yet I see,” Gran said, playfully tugging on the end of a dreadlock. “And why haven’t you visited me, or come for dinner?”

  “Aren’t you glad to see me?”

  “Oh, hush now. You know I am.”

  “I’m actually looking for Danielle,” he said.

  “She’s in the shower. Would you like to wait?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “So, let me look at you,” Gran said, signalling for Jamie to turn.

  He obliged, muscles flexing as he turned, putting on a real good show.

  “Not a skinny wee thing anymore. Aren’t you a looker, and those muscles, my word you’re going to give this old girl a stroke.” She grabbed his biceps and gave them a squeeze.

  Jamie was loving every m
inute of it. “I don’t see any old girls here.” He smiled, lighting up his eyes.

  “A charmer too. So, tell me, a handsome fella like yourself must have a special lady by now?”

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “Oh, if only I was forty years younger.”

  “It would’ve been my pleasure to take you out on a date.” Jamie lifted gran’s hand to his mouth and kissed it.

  Ugh. A bile taste rose in my throat. I stepped into the kitchen. Glaring at Jamie. I should’ve known he’d come looking for me.

  “What are you doing here?” I snapped.

  Jamie’s eyes whipped round to meet mine.

  “Danielle, there you are. I was just asking Jamie about his love life. Did you know he’s single? Isn’t that fascinating,” Gran said, her eyebrows raised, and a suggestive smile on her face.

  “No, not really,” I sneered. “It’s all the extra fur, uh, I mean hair.”

  His smiled flattened into a grimace. It pleased me to see he understood what I was digging at.

  “She’s just shy,” she said to Jamie. “Look at him. He’s tall, strong, handsome, and although he needs a haircut, I’m sure he would do an excellent job taking care of you.”

  “I don’t need taking care of. Like I told you, Jamie and I are just friends. Nothing more.”

  “I need to be at peace when I leave this world, and knowing someone will be by your side, looking out for you, will give me that.”

  “Gran, you aren’t dying any time soon, so hush.”

  Jay raised an eyebrow. “Been talking about me, have you?” His lips pursed fighting back a smirk.

  “No.”

  “I was just telling Danielle that her mother and I always thought you two would end up together.”

  “Gran,” I squealed. Oh. My. God. Kill me now. She did not just say that.

  “Is that so?” His laughter bellowed out, sounding surprised at first, then amused. “Told you.”