MARISA'S MUSINGS - October 24th, 2019: "Red Fang" Part VIII

The next thing I knew I was out in the snow, running across a huge clearing. I could see the edges of the forest on all sides. The dark trees seemed to stretch high into the night sky, I could see stars. Miles and miles of stars. I'd never seen so many before in my life. They seemed endless, and so very bright. 

I remembered I was still running, and brought my attention back to what was in front of me. More snow covered ground and I realized that either the snow was really deep or... my head was a lot closer to the ground. Yet it felt perfectly normal... aside from the burning pain in my chest. Only it wasn't so bad as before. I spared a brief glance downwards. There was blood, a lot of it. Yet even as I stared it was slowly disappearing, because it was being re-absorbed through the skin under my black fur. 

Yeah, you read that right. My black fur. I was in Nathan's head right then and he was on the run and booking across the snow at incredible speed. From what I was experiencing we were on all fours, which was why the snow was so much closer to our face. He must've shifted to full wolf form after being hit by the gunfire. In the past he's complained about how uncomfortable it was to be hit by bullets, but he always seemed to be half-joking. Now I know how much it really hurts him. I've made a mental note to try to keep him from making himself an unnecessary target in the future.

In the distance I could hear the rangers and men with the guns far behind us. Their voices became more distant as we ran. They had given up the chase it seemed, but then I managed to hear the word 'snowmobile' mentioned. Neither of us liked that sound of that. 

Then I thought, 'Okay, we need to get out of here...' 

Suddenly, I/we stumbled and stopped. Then I felt Nathan's thought echo in my head.. 'Marisa?'

Before I could respond, I started hearing, "Ri-sa... Ri-sa..." over and over again, followed by something cold and wet brushing against my cheek. I opened my eyes and found I was on the floor of the room at the airport. And a pair of worried looking eyes were staring at me.

 

They were wolf eyes, and to my immense relief, they were watching at me from a wolf's face this time.

"Ri...sa...?" it spoke again. Apparently, being back in his true form was making speech harder for the creature. But the fact that it could still speak at all, meant there was not telling how long he could keep his own shape. I started to wonder how he had gotten his own form back, but then I remembered, Nathan had actually shifted back to full wolf form. Thanks to the link between the two of them, which I seemed to share now as well, the wolf had reverted to his natural form. 

Sitting up, one thought raced through my head. What would happen if Nathan shifted back to himself? Would the wolf's form change too? I suspected that's exactly what would happen, which meant I had  both myself and my new furry friend the heck out of there and quick. The million dollar question was, how?

I turned to look at the window the wolf had come through earlier. I wasn't too high and both of us could easily slip through, but then what? Security and rangers were still out there, no doubt with guns at the ready. And even if they didn't shoot, the first questions they'd be asking would be where the hell did I get the wolf?

The answer suddenly came, loud and firm. "STAY PUT! BOTH OF YOU!"  

"Nathan!" I cried and looked around, but there was no sign of him. 

I saw my companion was looking around too, so he'd heard it too. He was on high alert now, but seeing no one he finally looked back at me with the most confused look. "Easy, he's in our heads," I assured my new friend and petted him gently. 

He readily accepted the gesture and started rubbing up against me. Thanks to the 'connection' courtesy of the Sangui-Sapio, I could feel that he was very happy to not be alone anymore. But there was also deep longing inside him. He was missing his pack, especially his mate. Even if we got him out of here in one piece, and get the Sangui-Sapio out of him, then what? Even if there was some way to find his pack, would they take him back? And if not...

My thoughts were interrupted by voices coming from the window. Some of the security people had come back and I could hear them rather clearly. Moving quietly, I headed to the window for a quick look. To my surprise, I could see the men were still quite far in the distance, yet I was hearing them as clearly as if they were mere feet away. 

'Damn, no wonder Nathan always seems to know what's going back at The Crypt,' I thought. The Crypt is a club in the basement of an old building, that Nathan owns. And in spite of it usually being filled with young people, Nathan always seems to know when trouble may be brewing, or tempers rising, even across a crowded dance floor. From there he naturally intervenes before anything serious happens. 

Just a dark shape lopes from around the corner of a nearby building and heads towards my window. It seems to be emitting a greenish mist as it moves. It even walks between by two security guards who take no notice of it whatsoever.

I smiled and opened the window a little wider. "Hurry up and get in here," I hissed as he drew nearer. Just then I heard the wolf in the room with me give a little growl. Quickly I turned and saw he had his teeth bared slightly.

"Easy," I told him, "He didn't mean for this to happen to you. He's going to make you better, then we're going to get you out of here and someplace safe."

I'm still not sure if he actually understood my words, he probably did. But I think mostly he trusted me and knew I was there for him. As he calmed down, Nathan slipped in through the window which I quickly closed. A second later, there was a knocking at the door.

"Miss? Are you all right in there? I thought I heard growling?"

It was the security guard who'd been stationed outside the room. We'd completely forgotten all about him! Clearly he'd heard the wolf growling at Nathan and was now inserting his key in the lock to come in. How the hell was I going to explain how not one, but two wolves had gotten into the room with me.

Just then, Nathan (still in his animal form) turned to the wolf and the two of them nodded. Just as the door opened, the pair of them breathed more of the greenish mist at the portal. 

The guard blinked briefly and then smiled, "Are you and your dogs all right, Miss?"

"Yes," I smiled and petted my 'dogs'. "We're fine."

"They seemed to have calmed down," the guard nodded. "Glad we were able to find them for you. You'll need better kennel crates, if you're going to keep traveling with them."

So that was going to be our 'story'', I thought and nodded. "Yeah, my boys are pretty strong when they get riled up. Thanks for all your help. We should be get going."

"Of course," the man smiled, "I'll lead you through the terminal and outside."

Which he did. Of course, Nathan and the wolf continued to exude their mist so that anyone who glanced our way simply saw me walking my dogs out of the facility.

As we walked, I did catch some of what the rangers and other security people were saying. From what they could tell, they nailed the 'werewolf' which turned out to simply be a bear with a serious case of parasitic mange. The body was already being disposed of and there was nothing for anyone to worry about.

Once we were outside Nathan led the way across the street and beyond the parking lot area. After making sure there was no one around, he began to shift back to human form. But as I feared, the wolf began to change shape as well. 

TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT TIME....

  

MARISA'S MUSINGS - October 24th, 2019: "Red Fang" Part VI

I have to say, the folks at the airport did not waste any time trying to get me indoors and away from the 'creature'. They were so quick, I barely got a chance to look over my shoulder and catch one final glimpse of Nathan in his Man-Wolf form as we got close to the door of the terminal. Unfortunately, one of my 'rescuers' caught my backward glance and also spotted him. Next thing I knew, he was yelling to the other around me and a couple of them were armed with rifles. 

Now I want to point out that no one in my family hunts, so I had no idea just how loud a gun sounds when it's fired. I now understand why people wear those hearing protectors that look like headphones. Damn, those things are loud. My ears were ringing and I could barely make out the sound of the airport around me. Hell, I could hardly hear a plane taking off. Luckily, one of the men who had opened fire was right next to me, and I could barely make out his shout of, "I hit him!" 

For a second my heart skipped a beat, then I remembered they were talking about Nathan not someone in a costume. Surely the Sangui-Sapio inside Nathan had protected anything vital. I know from past experience that it always does. Even if Nathan had been hit bad, the Sangui-Sapio would have either moved the organ in danger to a safe spot, or created a secondary version of whatever had been injured to keep him going. From what Otto has explained to me in the past, if healing could not take place, the new organ would simply replace the original which would simply be broken down and absorbed on a cellular level into the rest of the body. I swear, even knowing as much as I do of what that Para-Earth entity can do, I'm still in awe of it. 

But I didn't have time to dwell on either Nathan or the Sangui-Sapio. My 'rescuers' were busy hustling me past a crowd of lookie-loos who had gathered by the doors leading outside, trying to catch a glimpse of the action taking place outside. Of course, there were a number of podcasters, and Tik-Tokers on hand who tried to get close and ask me and the security people questions about the creature and my encounter with it.

Apparently, Nathan and I had put on a real good show, or someone had spotted the poor wolf itself. In either case, I was now a news story. Yay me! 

Anyway, security took over and had quite the time spiriting me away from the crowd. They wound up leading me to an out of the way office on the main floor far away from the crowd. After getting me a cup of coffee and making sure I was unharmed. Once I assured them for the 12th time that I was fine, then one of the men started asking me what the hell I was doing out side the terminal in the first place? Didn't I know that area was off limits to anyone but airport employees? 

The more he spoke the more he was getting himself worked up. He was shouting now, and several of the others in the room were looking more and more uncomfortable.

That’s when I decided to draw on some of what I had learned in the theater classes I took with Lisa during our last year of high school.  Every, time the guy started raising his voice and getting in my face, I started cringing and flinching. Finally, I practically burst into tears and began babbling hysterically. I wound up telling him I’d never been here before and that I had taken a wrong turn trying to find my way to the ladies’ room, because it was that time of the month and I wound up going through a door that led outside which locked behind me…

That was more than enough to get the “Spanish Inquisition” off my case. He backed off and ordered someone to ask one of the female employees to get me whatever I needed, then exited the room himself. Once a woman came in with what I 'needed' the others exited the room to give me privacy. 

As soon as they left I went over to the one window in the room. From there I could see what was happening outside. Clearly, the hunt for Nathan was still on. I could see bobbing flashlights and brief silhouettes of his pursuers in the distance, beyond the parked planes. I opened the window to see if I could hear anything of what was being said, but it was too noisy out. As I began to close the window I could hear some kind of report coming from over a radio nearby.

It seemed to be coming from the other side of the door to this room. Forgetting the window I sneaked over to the door to listen. Apparently, a security guard had apparently been assigned to keep the 'paparazzi' away from me, and he was currently listening what was going on outside over his shoulder radio. From what I could make out, one of the rangers had been knocked down by the wolf-creature, which had then stolen his rifle and taken off.

I frowned at that. It had to be Nathan's doing, but why? Were they getting too close? Had he been hurt by one of their shots? Maybe, they had caught a glimpse of the real creature and were taking aim.

It sure as hell couldn't have been the wolf who had stolen the rifle. It wouldn't know the first thing about guns, aside from possibly knowing they were dangerous in the hands of a human. 

Suddenly, I heard a clattering noise right behind me and whirled. There before me was the Man-Wolf, while at my feet lay the rifle.

I swear I didn't know whether to be surprised or terrified at that moment. But when it spoke, I nearly burst into tears. For in very broken English it said, "End... me... please..."

TO BE CONTINUED...

E-Journal of Nathaniel Eoghan Steward - October 24th, 2019 "Red Fang" - Part V

I recognized the tone in Marisa’s voice and knew she was being completely serious. So, I immediately looked in the direction she was pointing. Sure enough, standing there amidst the trees across the road, was our quarry. It was still in its wolf/human form. As we watched, the creature kept switching its gaze from Marisa, then to me and back. 

“It must’ve sensed your presence,” Marisa murmured.

I nodded. “The Sangui-Sapio we share is calling out to itself. I felt he was near while I was still on the plane.”

Marisa shot me a puzzled look and I quickly explained what had happened. “I see,” she nodded when I finished and glanced back at the creature across the road. “But why is it choosing a humanoid shape? I would think it would hunt better in its own form.”

“That’s got me puzzled too,” I confessed and told her about the dreams I’d been having. “So, when I saw the article, I knew I had to come. I think the poor creature is stuck and can’t shift back to normal.”

“Do you think the Sangui-Sapio is responsible?” she asked, then frowned. “No that doesn’t make sense. You’ve always told us that the only times the Sangui-Sapio has ever altered your form shape without permission was to keep you safe. Otherwise, it never tries to interfere or takeover.”

“I know, that’s what got me confused,” I told her.

“Not as confused as this poor thing,” Marisa replied and proceeded to cross the street.

Naturally I immediately followed, all the while saying, “Marisa what are you…” Then I stopped myself. The wolf-creature was coming out from among the trees. Its body language was neither hostile or threatening. If anything, it seemed drawn to her somehow… 

And of course, that’s when everything went to hell! 

A passing car’s headlights illuminated the wolf who was completely clear of the trees just then. The sound of tires screeching to a halt, told me that the driver had spotted the poor misshapen animal. Before I could even think, Marisa began shouting at the wolf to take off which it promptly did with amazing speed. 

I think I was the only one not surprised, but that was because my keen eyes saw the animal’s mismatched limbs suddenly shortened or stretched until they were the same length, allowing it to move with a speed only I could match. Not that I did of course, not with the Ranger right there. 

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the vehicle that had come to a halt was a modified pick-up belonging to an Alaska Park Ranger. The driver was already leaping from his vehicle holding a rifle when the beast disappeared from sight. 

Unfortunately, the wolf had not bolted back into the woods as I’d hoped. Instead, it shot across the road and disappeared between the shadowy buildings of the airport before any of us knew what was happening. 

At that point there was only one thing I could think of doing. I straightened up and did my best impression of Bull Shannon from the show “Night Court” and said, “Ooooo-kay,” in his voice.

I knew he was one of Marisa’s favorite characters from the show, but if you had seen the look she gave me you’d have thought I’d done an impression of Dan Fielding, the sleezy lawyer, instead. 

“Seriously? Is that all you’ve got to say at a moment like this?” she demanded, while pointing behind me.

I quickly got what she meant, because I could hear the Ranger reaching for his radio. I immediately pointed at him and shot my mist in his direction. I wasn’t able to stop him from getting a few words out saying he’d located the creature, but I did manage to get him to tell them to search in the opposite direction from where the animal had fled. I also got him to completely ignore us and take off in the wrong direction. 

“Better?” I asked Marisa, only to find she was already crossing the road again to get back to the airport.

Catching up with her, we’d just reached the edge of the buildings where we’d last seen our quarry in time to hear shouts and running feet. This time I was the one to spot the animal, darting between a couple of hangars. Without pausing, I picked up Marisa and raced towards the buildings. To anyone watching they’d have just seen a blur shoot past, since I wasn’t holding back on the speed. And as for the snow on the ground, I can run on top of it, which meant no trace of our passing would be found. 

As soon as we were in the shadows of the building, I put Marisa down and we both started scanning the area for our friend. But because this was real life and not a Disney or Hallmark Channel story, all we could see and hear were people screaming and scrambling away from the tarmac. Although I had gotten the ranger and his friends heading in the wrong direction, the animal had clearly been spotted by people who were now surging towards terminal to escape and raise the alarm.

As we stood there, we could see security armed with rifles were already pouring out of the terminal and nearby buildings. 

“This is not good,'' Marisa muttered, looking around for our friend. “And I don’t see him anywhere?”

Neither could I, but I knew he was still near. But with security already spreading out to search I didn’t have time to try and zero in on him. But I did know where he definitely wasn’t. “I’m going to lead them off, keep an eye on my stuff, please,” I told Marisa. 

Before she could ask what I meant, I began misting out of my clothes and let them hit the ground. A moment later I solidified a few feet away not as myself but as the ‘werewolf’.

Marisa smiled.

Gesturing with my snout at the security guards I gave her a wink.

“Okay, but you be careful,” she whispered and then let out a bloodcurdling scream that got everyone's attention. Immediately, I bolted from our hiding spot and onto the tarmac, pausing briefly to make sure I was spotted before trying to get away from the terminal area. I purposely alternated running on two feet, then all fours, so as not to discourage pursuit. After all, the whole idea was to lead them away from the area where we knew the creature was. 

Glancing over my shoulder I saw a number of security officers giving chase, as well as a couple who were ‘tending’ to Marisa who was putting on quite the damsel in distress act.  They were leading her into the terminal where she would be safe. Or so I thought. Like I said before, this wasn’t a Disney or Hallmark movie…

TO BE CONTINUED...

E-Journal of Nathaniel Eoghan Steward - October 24th, 2019 "Red Fang" - Part IV

After a five-hour drive to Columbus Ohio, and now coming to the end of a 12+ hour flight, I’ll be touching down in Fairbanks very shortly. Isabella tried getting Otto to come with me, but I pointed out that this was more of a solo trip. As knowledgeable and talented as Otto is, I’m the one who has more of a direct connection to the wolf. The recent dreams have proven this to me, and even this high up, I think I can feel the gap between me and the errant Sangui-Sapio shrinking. Or maybe it’s just wishful thinking. I’ll know for sure once we touch down.

The flight crew are asking us to shut down our electronics. I’ll take this up once I’m back on the ground.

 

Three hours later… 

Okay, so much for my ‘solo’ mission. Apparently, Isabella has been acting as the eyes and ears for Lisa and Marisa without my knowledge. How did I find out? Well, coming off the plane and finding Marisa at the gate holding up a sign that says, “Congratulations on your sex change, Sis… er Bro!”, which included a photo of me in my ‘Nadine’ persona, was a huge hint. You see, I’ve only ever let Isabella take photos of me in that form, so I knew it had to have been her doing.

I was tempted to walk in the opposite direction, only I had this horrible image of Marisa running after me yelling, “So? How’s the new plumbing working out?” I know how tenacious she can be. So instead, I simply walked right up to her and said quietly, “Thanks for going the sibling route, instead of something like, ‘Congratulations on the sex change, Honey. When do I get to try out your new equipment?’.”

She laughed and said, “Ooo… I’m saving that for next time.”

“Me and my big mouth,” I murmured as we headed for the baggage area. “So, how did you land all the way up here. I thought you were riding the rails with our Karneval Schatten friends?”

Karneval Schatten, as the name implies, is a traveling carnival made up of people and beings from various Para-Earths who at one point or another found themselves stranded in this world. By traveling and presenting themselves as performers, they’re able to hide their ‘strangeness’ from the folks of this world. And like Otto and me, they seek out incursions from other Para-Earths and try to return any creatures/beings land up here. If they cannot return the ‘visitor’ to their reality, they will add them to their ranks if possible. However, in cases where the intruder is hostile or more dangerous, they will contact me or Otto to help contain the being.

They travel by an unusual train which can actually travel through various Para-Earths and reappear in this world at a variety of select locations that act as beacons for them. Just don’t ask me for the mechanics of how the train does it because I have no idea. Nor do my carnival friends to be honest. They ‘borrowed’ it from another Para-Earth traveler, who had been gathering and imprisoning them (and eventually me) for purposes I’d rather not go into right now.

Damn, just thinking about that day still makes me shudder. I swear if it hadn’t been for Brandon Elliott, and his grandson Peter, God only knows what might have happened to us and this world.

The rest of my reverie was interrupted by Marisa.

“Once I heard you were coming here, I asked them to drop me off,” she explained, brushing a stray blonde hair out of her face and back into the hood of her parka. “I was ready to head home anyway and figured I could catch a lift back with you after we find your… friend.”

I halted in mid-step and frowned at her. “My sister sent you the article too?”

“No, I found it,” she laughed, “Who do you think sent it to her the others in the first place?”

Eying her curiously I asked, “So, you’ve been keeping an eye out for possible ‘incursions’?”

She nodded. “Incursions, strange phenomenon, sightings… after all I need material for my children and Young Adult ‘fantasy’ books don’t I?” Then she bumped me with her hip saying, “Unlike some people, I don’t have over a century and a half of life experience to draw upon.”

“Touche’,” I conceded. “When are you going to finally try releasing one of them?”

“I want to have a good number of them completed in case I hit a dry spell so I can keep releasing stories in a timely manner. That way the audience doesn’t wind up getting frustrated that it’s taking so long between books,” she replied as we started walking towards the baggage area again.

“How many have you got on hand?”

“Five, but I want eight at least before I start publishing.”

“Eight?” I frowned as we reached the baggage carousel. “Why so many?”

“That way I can safely put out two per year with plenty of room for travel or…” she paused to snatch my bag which had just appeared on the conveyor belt, “Life getting in the way for a good four years.”

I had to admit she had a point. I often wished I still had a few books set and ready to go some days. But ever since I moved back to the family mansion, I’ve had a number of distractions (which included her and Lisa) to deal with. And this ‘werewolf’ business was only the latest.

As we made our way out the doors of the terminal I could see how much snow had fallen recently. Marisa must’ve noticed it too and promptly huddled closer to me as we walked through the parking lot. Since she is almost as tall as me meant she could rest her head on my shoulder, and promptly did so.

“You didn’t by chance rent a car, did you?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I caught a taxi and came right here. Besides, I wasn’t sure if we’d need a car, skis, or a snowmobile.” Here she paused and looked at me, “Then again, we could just rent a dogsled and tie you to the front. You’re so strong we wouldn’t need a full dog team.”

“You just want an excuse to get a leash on me,” I blurted and instantly regretted it.

“Well now that you’ve brought it up…” she began.

“Uh-oh,” I muttered, looking up. “It’s starting to snow again.”

Marisa frowned, “So? I thought you loved the snow?”

“I do, but with it falling that means no moon or Northern Lights to help us find my ‘friend’ as you call him,” I explained and looked around. I blew out a breath. “I’ll have to reach out mentally to try and get an idea…”

“FOUND HIM!” Marisa cut in and pointed.

 

TO BE CONTINUED…