Chapter 42: Wolf Attack


    When the stranger smiles, a shudder runs up my spine.


    Smiles have many different emotions to them. Sometimes they''re happy, or grimacing in pain, or tilted sarcastically. A smile is not always a good sign.


    And I don''t think I''ve ever seen a smile so malicious in my life.


    The school...has to be closed. The guards must have locked the doors so they can''t get in. Right?


    They watch me, tilting their head as I back up a step, wanting to sink back into the darkness of the school. Then, I see them dig into the pocket of their trench coat, pulling something out. They move the object in their hand to the upper corner of the door.


    I hear the telltale click of an undone lock.


    He has the keys.


    Immediately, I turn tail and run, darting back into one of the nearby hallways.


    The posters I''d been looking at before are a blur. There''s no time to focus. I have to call the police.


    But first, I have to hide.


    This building is so damn empty, so all my steps echo. If theye in while I''m running, they''ll hear me.


    There''s a bathroom nearby, so maybe there? But, things echo even more in there.


    If I go, then I might make a noise that attracts them.


    I jump over to a nearby door and test the knob.


    Locked.


    #Chapter 42: Wolf Attack


    Maybe the next one? Or maybe the drama club. No, that''s too far away...


    But the thought of the club gets me to run that way anyway.


    Using the back halls, I weave through them as quickly as possible. But I''m not super athletic.


    These halls have never felt so long in my life. They''ll catch up if they hear me. Thinking that, I look back behind me.


    And there they stand.


    But...how? So quickly?!


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    Yelping, I turn another corner and keep running. I know they''ll hear me as I run, but it''s all


    I can do. My best bet has to be the drama club room.


    Before I can even make it there, I scream as I feel someone grab onto my backpack.


    Why is this guy so fast?!


    I slip my arms out and keep going. My jacket almost slides off, but I hold onto it. The keys are in the pocket.


    Almost stumbling to the floor, I catch myself and keep going, breathing heavily. My throat burns with how much I''m gasping.


    Then, I see the double doors of the drama club entrance. My hand digs into my pocket just


    as I feel something pull on my jacket.


    I slide my arms out of that, too, managing to keep the key''s ribbon looped on my finger.


    But that doesn''t do much.


    Next, a hand grabs my wrist, yanking me around.


    I''m moving so fast, so I can''t stop myself in time. With a cry, my feet twist, and I fall backwards. The back of my head smacks against the tile floor, making my ears ring and my


    AZ ARRAY


    vision flicker.


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    I''m surrounded by an acrid smell, like something left outside for too long and crusting over. As the darkness fades back from my vision, I feel water drip down onto my face,


    Those gleaming teeth are now right in front of me, a heavy, iron-scented breath brushing against my cheeks. Despite my desire to run, my body starts freezing up, seeing the crazed look in the stranger''s eyes. In fact, they almost look to be glowing.


    "You had a good run, little monkey," the person...the man growls, his grin cruel and excited. "You made this yery fun for me."


    The water that drips off him and onto me almost feels sulfurous. I was already afraid, but


    those sentences make my back itch.


    "Few monkeys even have time to flee Nothing reasonable. But you''re a speedy one, aren''t you?"


    His tongue slips out from between his teeth, licking over them in a way that makes


    my spine crawl. If this starts going in that direction...


    I firmly set the drama club key between my knuckles.


    Still, the longer I''m faced with his sh of teeth and bright eyes, the more unnatural they look.


    Then, I hear a crack to my right.


    I don''t turn my head, but my eyes try to look. Even so, I can''t see what''s happening.


    I hear a popping sound, then more crackling in the same area. Then, I start hearing it on


    the other side of my head, and I try but fail to see what''s there.


    "You got my blood pumping... The rush. Was so satisfying... But... Oh dear. How..."


    The man leans in further, my gaze shooting up to meet his.


    Because I''m watching him, I see, quite clearly, when his jaw suddenly crackles and breaks.


    #Chapter 42 Wort Attock


    "Sthaaaad..."


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    My eyes feel like they''re going to pop out of my skull. But he doesn''t stop contorting, his jaw breaking again, but seeming to fix at the same time. Then, the other sounds...were those his hands?


    I watch, trying not to scream, as the man goes through unnatural changes right in front of


    1. me.


    His hair bes wilder, his jaws elongating as his nose peels and turns ck,


    the texture changing. It looks incredibly painful, but he''s just..ughing.


    His distorted chuckle echoes in the hall, his voice shifting deeper, bing more like growling.


    "I haabb...a jhob tuh dooh..." Crack. Snap. Set. "But...I don''t want to make this quick. Let me have onestugh.”


    He sits up, not towering over me so much. But I''m still frozen solid.


    His face is covering with hair, his mouth turned into a snout. His eyes glow yellow


    in the dim light as he raises a wed hand. The nails glisten with blood that, for some reason, doesn''t seem like his own.


    "Scream!"


    I obey reflexively, screaming as my thin arms raise to protect my face. The hand


    heads toward me regardless of my obedience.


    Then, a dark thing shoots from the corner of my vision.


    It knocks into the transformed man, who lets out a distinctly dog-like yelp.


    Without the first stranger towering over me, I quickly kick back against the floor, crying out as I shove myself away from the new person. However, as I do, I catch


    a strange smell. No, it''s not strange...it''s familiar.


    AIG


    #Chapter 42 Wolf Attack


    The scent of pine trees.


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    My panic dampens just enough for my vision to clear up and truly see who the


    other person


    1. is.


    And it looks to be Alex, crouched on the floor and starting to stand up...


    But he''s changing, too. Not nearly as painfully or viscerally as the other, but he''s changing in a simr way.


    I watch as hair pushes out of his skin and starts to cover it. The skin near his curly


    hair gets covered with fur, and his legs-his calves shorten as his feet grow longer. All of his visible


    nails start turning an inky ck color.


    Alex stands menacingly, facing the stranger and growling deeply. The other


    growls back, slurred wordsing from between his teeth.


    "Rrrready for rrrround two, puppy?"


    But Alex doesn''t respond.


    Instead, he lets out something akin to a roar. So loud and powerful that I have to


    cover my


    ears. The lockers in the hall shake.


    Nails ck against the tile floor. The other lets out a snarl of his own.


    And then, they attack each other, ws reaching for each other''s faces.


    I stay curled up against the wall, eyes shot wide as they begin to fight in earnest.


    Alex tackles the other man in a human-like way, but the way his teethtch into


    the man''s arm is distinctly inhuman.


    Suddenly, it clicks.


    His rare but asional grumbling. How detailed he got when we came up with a


    werewolf story for drama club. His enjoyment but restraint when ying contact sports.


    The glimmer I''d see in his eyes. The way he smells so strongly of pine, but only sometimes.


    #Chapter 42 Wolf Attack


    Now, Alex''s eyes are a bright, shining gold color.


    Ah... He''s a werewolf.


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