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

The first thing I noticed was one of the poor creature's paws beginning to stretch and lengthen. "NATHAN STOP!" I cried, which he promptly did.  He shot me a confused look then saw what was happening to the wolf and quickly reverted to his own animal form. 

As he did so, the wolf's paws began to revert to their true state as well. Once they had, I gave the wolf a reassuring hug, which it accepted without hesitation. It trusted me and I knew it. Hell, I didn't just know it, I could feel it. The bond we were sharing was so strong. I'd never felt like this with anyone or anything before, except for maybe Lisa. But she wasn't here and I could feel the wolf's growing despair as if it were my own.

The poor thing just wanted to go back to its pack, especially his mate. But we both knew it would never be accepted, not if it kept shapeshifting without meaning to. Memories filled my mind of happier times of hunts, playtime, sleeping in a huge pile for warmth against the cold, the bond he shared with she who was his mate...

She was beautiful. And I say this not just because of what the wolf was feeling either. I could see her clearly in my mind.

She was more blonde than I would've pictured for a wolf, but oh that face. So sweet, so intelligent, and that fur, Lord I would've loved to have the chance to run my hands through that ruff as I had with him.  Her coat was so soft looking. And I knew from his memories she was intelligent and a great hunter, as well as a wonderful companion. 

"If there's some way to get you back to her, we will," I sighed aloud.

"And we're going to," came Nathan's voice from behind me. Then he placed a hand (a human one) on my shoulder. Surprised I turned and saw he was back to his normal self. He was even wearing some of the clothes I'd been holding onto for him, namely his shirt and pants. "You... how...?" I stammered.

"You inadvertently helped anchor our friend," he smiled, nodding at the wolf in my arms, who was still in his true form. "That bond three of us share, allowed me to see what was going on between you two. He was so focused on showing you his pack and mate, that I was able to shift back to myself without triggering the Sangui-Sapio in him." 

"Can you get it out of him now? Like you did with the Cannibal Killer?" I asked.

Nathan looked at the wolf and sighed. "The Sangui-Sapio has been a part of him for months instead of minutes or an hour. It's become a part of him, like it has with me."

I pulled the wolf closer to me. "So it's too late? There's nothing we do for him?" 

"I didn't say that," Nathan corrected. "But first I to need to get him back to his pack. And to do that, I'm going to need your help."

"Anything!" I said firmly, which earned me a lick and a nuzzle of gratitude from my furry companion.

"Good. First, I'm going to need you to take my clothes again, because I'm going to shift back into wolf form," Nathan told me and began to remove his shirt. "And then once I'm in that form I'll only communicate with you through our bond. I don't want to scare the pack, once we find them, by talking out loud. Seeing one of their own kind speaking like a man will only freak them out."

"It would kind of freak me out too," I confessed.

Grinning he continued, "You may want to put my coat on top of what you're wearing."

That made me frown. "Why? Where are we going?"

"Out onto the tundra where it will be colder. That's where we'll find the pack."

"For how long?"

He shrugged, "All night?"

I blinked. "You do know how long a night lasts up here..." I began when suddenly a distant howl pierced the night. The wolf in my arms raised his head and a feeling of longing and sadness suddenly swept over me. 

As it ended, I suddenly knew who it was. "That was her," I breathed, looking at Nathan, "His mate."

He nodded. But before he could speak, the wolf threw back his head and let loose a long howl of his own. I'm thrilled to say that before he finished, his voice was joined by hers. She had heard him and was letting him know it.

It was both strange and beautiful listening to them calling to one another. Emotions and memories, none of them my own, began filling my head until Nathan took one of my hands in his and called me back to myself. I was about to say something, but he placed a finger to his lips with his eyes closed tight. I stayed quiet.

After a few moments the howling came to an end, and I could hear were the sounds of the breeze rustling the trees around us. 

Finally Nathan broke the silence, "A few miles north of us. The pack is with her. Here, put my coat on, it's going be really cold up there."

Obediently I did as he instructed, while he stripped down to nothing. Yes, I did peak, and I liked what I saw. Well, up until the fur started appearing. Then I averted my eyes. 

After that, Wolf-Nathan came over started nuzzling his way between my legs.

"HEY! What's the big idea?" I cried, feeling slightly annoyed. I mean there have been a number of times when I would have loved for that to happen, but that was when he was himself.

'Get on my back and hold tight. Otherwise, there's no way you can keep up with the two of us once we start moving,' Once again it sounded like Nathan's voice, but now I knew I was only hearing him inside my head.

Obediently, I did as I was told. After a few more 'suggestions' I half sat, half lay across his back, with my hands firmly gripping his ruff. I wasn't really sure how well this was going to work, but then I felt some of the fur stretching and reaching up and around my waist and back. Feeling more secure I smiled and turned to our friend who had been anxiously watching and waiting.

"Let's go find her!" I shouted and immediately he took off, with us in hot pursuit.

Soon the airport and all the signs of man vanished into the distance. In spite of the ride being a little bumpy, the ride was exhilarating. Initially, I let out the occasional cry of "Watch out for that tree..." or "Oh God you're not going to jump that..." but then I got more used to it. I even kept myself from gasping when we leapt a twenty-foot gorge that no normal wolf could have managed, but by then I we'd be fine.

Eventually, I got so comfortable I began looking up at the night sky. 

It was incredible. I'd never seen that many stars before. And many of them were so bright! Brighter then I'd ever dreamed possible. Then before I knew it we were in the open tundra. 

OKAY, MY BAD, TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT TIME... I THINK...

Embarrassingly yours,

Allan Krummenacker

PS: What can I say? These stories and the characters take on a life of their own sometimes. 

 

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....

  

Penny's E-Diary August 11, 2016 "She's Back" - Part III

"I could not believe the total lack of tact the man had," Nadine continued. "And that wasn't the half of it. Before I could I remind him where my eyes were, he put his hand on my forearm and started stroking it with his thumb."

This time I couldn't stop myself. "Let me guess, that's when he started telling you how pretty you were, and what a crime it was that you were sitting there all by  your lonesome. Am I right?"

Rolling her eyes, she nodded. "Then he suggested I join him and his friends at their table so we could all get to know each other better."

"Did you tell him you were waiting for someone?" I asked.

“Oh yeah," she groaned and took another sip of her hot chocolate. It seemed to calm her down, at least a bit. For when she spoke again her voice was more controlled as she continued her story. "Of course, he didn't believe me. Kept telling me not to be shy. But when I insisted someone was coming, he kept pressing me to come over to his table and we could all wait together for my 'friend' to show up. Otherwise, every Joe in the place would be pestering me for the rest of the night."

"So what did you do?"

"I bit him," she replied simply,

I stared at her in shock. "In front of an entire room full of strangers?" I cried in disbelief. "I thought you liked keeping a low profile on the whole vampyre bit!"

"Okay, I should have been more specific," she corrected herself. "I didn't lean over and bite him, my forearm did it for me."

"Your forearm," I repeated.

She nodded. "He hadn't removed his hand from it and had actually started squeezing it while insisting that I go with him. So, I grew a mouth there and let him have it."

I couldn't help smiling. "Oh, I wish I could've been there to see that. What did he do?"

"Well he jumped back so hard, he fell off the stool and landed on the floor. I made sure I looked as startled as everyone else. A couple of his buddies came over and helped him up, while he started accusing me of having a taser or something. I was ready to play all 'innocent' but didn't have to because one of them pointed out I still had a drink in my free hand and he'd had a hold of my other arm. That just pissed him off more and he shot me a dirty look then stomped back to their table. Sadly, that wasn't the end of it. One of his friends began apologizing and taking over his friend's seat. Naturally, HE offered to get me another drink and before long his hand wound up on my thigh."

     "Really?" I said in mock surprise. "How long before your thigh decided to take a bite out of him?"

Nadine grimaced at the memory. "It didn't. Much as I wanted to, but I decided to ask for his opinion of my perfume. Naturally he leaned in close and I let him breathe in some of my mist and changed his mind that way. As he got up to leave, I gave him an extra dose so he could take it back to the table so his friends could get a whiff. Which they did! And thus I was left alone until Michael showed up half an hour later."

"Nicely done," I told her approvingly.

She smiled but it quickly faded, and her expression became more thoughtful again. "Afterwards I didn't think too much about it because by then we were hunting for the Cannibal and... well you already know how that went down."

"Oh yeah," I nodded and took another sip of my chocolate. It was the only way I could keep from shivering at the memories of what she'd told us all. I'd been surprised that she hadn't asked Lisa or Marisa to leave the room, but I didn't protest. They weren't children by a long shot. Both of them were young women who needed to know the truth about what dangers might be lying in wait for them or one of their friends. The world could be cruel, but I at least felt a bit safer having them and Nadine in my life. But I also knew not everyone was as lucky as me, and I never let myself forget that fact.

Looking over at my companion I asked, "So what got you thinking about your experience in the bar again?"

"I'd gone over to the college where Brian works, to see what classes might be available next fall," she began. "I know I could simply look them up online, but I really like that campus. And I don't stick out too much like a sore thumb in the evenings. There are a lot of other people who are my 'apparent' age taking classes and I just enjoy a change of scenery once in a while. Anyway, while I was there, I spotted a couple of girls about Lisa's age walking ahead of me. Coming the other way were some guys heading the other way who started hooting and whistling at them out of the blue. At first I thought they knew the girls, but apparently they didn't because I saw how uncomfortable their smiles were as well as how fast their pace increased. And it got me thinking again about what had happened to me."

"You know that kind of thing goes on all the time, right?" I asked.

"Yeah, but some of those guys were closer to my 'apparent' age," she pointed out with a look of disgust on her face. "I mean, teenager boys doing that kind of stuff is bad enough. But these jerks were in their mid-twenties, I would've thought they'd know better by that age."

Here she paused to shake her head, then continued. "That's when I started wondering how often stuff like that went on. Did it happen to Lisa and Marisa, or any of their friends? If so, why did they never mention it?"

I was about to answer her, only she started talking again and I decided to sit back to see where this was all headed. Besides, if it came up later, I’d have time to look up the saying about fish, how they don’t know what water is. Women grow up with this. For girls like them, it may just seem like a nuisance. Me, I’d had to pay more attention to stuff like that. Figure out who was a threat, who was a sale. Worst in a way were the ones who were both.          

 I told myself not to think about the past. Besides, this was all new to my friend, even if she could go back to being a he any minute. I wouldn’t wish the sense of being trapped on anyone, and I liked that Nadine was trying to walk a mile in our too-narrow heels. But that was only a dip of the toes in the water of a woman’s experience.

"And what about Isabella? She's still very young but one day she's going to start 'blossoming' and then what? She's still trying to get used to how people act these days compared to what she was used to back in the 1860's. That's when I decided to start going around as Nadine again. I wanted to know firsthand what women have to deal with..."

TO BE CONTINUED...