Snap went the twigs and the branches as Jackie and Circe pushed their way through the thickets of the wilderness, their eyes fixed on the red-feathered bird bearing the head of a crocodile fluttering a few feet ahead. Behind them was Morgan, content to let others deal with the poking, scratching and clinging branches for her. Behind her, trees bent sideways or snapped while large and deep dents appeared on the muddy ground. She could not see what was pushing aside the trees, but the abruptly appearing dents on the ground (clearly footprints) made her glad she couldn’t.
Pretty soon after the girls had re-entered the wilderness with Jackie and the giant, invisible monster, their surroundings plunged into darkness. Circe was going to use that as an excuse to get the others to turn back and go home, but before she got the chance to speak, they quickly whipped out their phones and switched on their flashlight apps. The powerful beams of light were more than enough to allow Jackie to keep an eye on the crocodile bird thing as it led them deeper and deeper into the middle of nowhere.
The lights could do nothing about the drop in temperature that came with nightfall. But to Morgan, enduring the cold was a small price to pay if it meant reuniting with Roger and getting him to forgive her for how she reacted when he transformed in front of her.
Jackie and Circe both stubbornly faced the cold. They each told the other that if the cold was too much, they could go home. But all that accomplished was hardening each other's wills to do the exact opposite.
Finally, they reached a log cabin surrounded by overgrowth and covered in moss. It was blackened with age and years of enduring the elements of nature. The windowpanes were impenetrably stained, looking dull yellow against the light from Jackie’s phone. Propped against the entrance frame was the door which had fallen off the metal hinges that were red with rust.
The crocodile bird landed on top of a flat, sawed-off tree trunk with a deep split in the middle. In times past, it was probably used to hold logs being cut by an axe for firewood. The bird lifted a wing to point at the log and then flew away, done with the job it had been paid for with Jackie’s grilled cheese sandwich.
Jackie and Circe watched the bird as it disappeared into the night. Morgan followed their gazes but never could see what they were looking at. She returned her gaze to the old, dilapidated log cabin.
“Is this it?” she asked, her speech high and frantic. She was trembling in place like a chihuahua in an adrenaline rush. “Is this where Roger is?”
Contrasting Morgan, Circe sluggishly approached the cabin with a frown. "I don't know. It doesn't look like anyone's using it at all."
"He's definitely here," Jackie said with conviction. "I saw scratches on a lot of the trees we passed. They were too high and too big for any animal local here. I've never seen a werewolf before, but if they're anything like in the movies, only something like that could make those kinds of scratches. Which means he must have passed the same way we did all the way to here. And look here."
He redirected his phone's light to the door leaning on what once held it.
"The way the hinges are snapped and the door's bent from out to in shows that something big and heavy crashed into it. Something big and heavy with really long and sharp claws, judging by all the scratches all over the floor. My guess is, when Roger ran through the forest, he crashed through the door into the cabin, and he's been staying here since."
He bent down to lift up the door with a grunt and put it aside, clearing the way into the cabin. The door made a heavy thump on the floor as it was being leaned against the wall. Jackie frowned and looked at it for a moment, and then at his hands before loudly calling out to the only possible resident of the cabin.
"Isn't that right, Roger?"
Jackie took a few steps back. He joined the girls on the dirt ground blanketed with red leaves and dead grass, staring into the darkness beyond the doorway. Seconds passed in silence, except for the howling wind. Bits of snowflakes began to drift down, when at last a sound broke out. It was the sound of creaking wood.
Morgan could feel her heart pounding against her rib cage as one creak of wood was followed by a second creak of wood, and then a third creak of wood. Between every moan the wood floor made was about three to four seconds of silence. Something heavy was slowly walking out. And then, six reluctant footsteps later, gray fur appeared in the light shining from two smartphones.
Morgan gasped. He was a lot bigger and bulkier than the last time she saw him, but there was no mistaking this wolf, six-foot tall while standing on hind legs. Much of his clothes were torn to shreds but were replaced by thick carpets of fur. Big, golden eyes stared back at Morgan, affixed and unblinking. They were watery.
“Roger . . .”
Morgan took a step forward, but the wolf shouted, “Stay back!” She froze.
“Not another step!” Roger barked. Looking sharply at Jackie and then Circe, he added, “You guys too!”
"Easy there, Roger," Jackie tried to keep things calm with a soft, steady voice. "We're not here to hurt you. We were worried about you. Especially Morgan. She came all this way because she wanted to make sure you were okay."
Roger glanced at Morgan and grimaced, which sent a jolt of pain right into her heart. It must have shown on her face, because Roger quickly looked away.
"You shouldn't have come here," he growled softly. He turned to go back into the cabin. "Go away."
"Not without you!" Morgan stepped forward and shouted. "I'm sorry about the way I reacted when you transformed in front of me. It scared me. But no matter what you look like, you'll always be my Roger. I love you, Roger Nettles and I want you back. Please come home with me!"
Roger stood at the doorway without moving a muscle, keeping his back faced to everyone outside. Silence reigned for the longest of time before he finally spoke up.
"I'm sorry, but no. I won't go back."
Morgan's blood turned ice cold. Her head turned numb. "W-why?" Her voice cracked.
Silence followed before being broken by Roger again.
"I . . . am a monster. You all saw my handiwork on the way here. And the door . . . I didn't crash into it like you thought. I just pushed it. Gave it a gentle tap. Didn't even mean to break it. I'm too strong. It's just too dangerous to be near me."
"It's more dangerous to be by yourself!" Circe blurted out.
That got Roger to finally turn around and face everyone. "What do you mean by that?"
Circe gave Roger a brief rundown about the conflict brewing between vampires and werewolves and how she and Morgan got mixed up in it. Upon hearing about the attack on Morgan, Roger erupted with an indignant, "WHAT!?"
Morgan quickly reassured Roger that she was okay as he could clearly see and explained how she was rescued. It helped, but it took a while before he could really calm down and a while longer to let everything sink in.
"Well, me being a werewolf, I guess it figures vampires are a thing too," he said.
"Yeah, that's right." Morgan nodded her head vigorously. "That's why it's better if you come back home with me!"
But Roger shook his head. "No. The thing about vampires and werewolves just shows even more why I'm too dangerous to be around. You were already attacked once, Morgan. I don't want that to happen again. You have to stay away from me."
But like a spoiled toddler, Morgan stamped her foot on the ground and refused. "No, I don't want to."
Firmly, Roger told Morgan one final time, "Go home."
And she fired back one final time, "Not without you."
"You really think I can go home? Like this?"
"Well you can't stay here forever," Morgan shouted. "What are you going to do about food?"
"I'll be fine for at least another month," Roger said. "The cabin's full of those freeze-dried rations that look like they're still good. I've been helping myself to that. Sorry to whoever owned them."
"Wait." Circe's face lit up, realizing something. "Does this mean you've been in this cabin the whole time? Ever since you transformed?"
"Yeah," said Roger.
"You never left? Not even once?"
"No, of course not," said Roger, "Like I said like five seconds ago, there's no way I could leave while looking like this."
Suddenly, Morgan cried out, "Then that means it can't be you! You're innocent! See? I told you, Circe! I told you it couldn't have been him!"
Roger looked around, confused. "What are you talking about, Morgan? Innocent of what?"
She replied, "Murder."
"Murder!?"
"Yeah," said Morgan. "Circe here thought you might have killed your dad's lawyer, but I never believed it."
"My dad's lawyer? Wait, you mean Drake? He's dead? And you think I killed him? Why?"
"They say on the news he got mauled by a bear, but he was really killed by a werewolf," Circe explained. "I thought it might have been you."
"Well, it's not," said Roger. "Like I said, I was here the whole time. But what makes you think he got killed by a werewolf? Couldn't it really be a bear?"
"Not possible," said Circe. "The dude's a vampire. Vampires can handle bears no problem."
Roger stared at her in disbelief. "Drake's a vampire? You sure?"
Circe nodded. "Heard it straight from another vampire's mouth. And apparently, he was pretty strong even by vampire standards. You didn't know?"
"No, of course not," Roger answered indignantly. "I didn't even know werewolves were real until I turned into one a few nights ago. Why'd you even think I did it?"
"Well, I never really believed in the whole bear angle since this city doesn't actually get any bears," said Circe. "And with the way the lawyer was killed, how he was connected with you and the timing of it all, it just sort of fit."
"Well, it's not me," Roger said. "Like I said, I've been holed up here. Though I wish I got the chance to give him a thrashing or two."
Jackie briefly locked eyes with Circe before stepping forward. "I'm sensing you've got a bit of animosity against your dad's lawyer. Care to explain why?"
"Because I hate him," Roger answered bluntly. "The dude stole almost all of our money!"
"WHAT?" Everyone gave Morgan funny looks. The dismay in her voice was a bit excessive.
"Yeah," Roger said, deciding to continue explaining. "I came home one day and overheard Ben screaming at that guy (Drake). It scared me bad and I hid without thinking. I listened wondering what the hell was going on. Ben called the guy a thief and kept demanding to give us back our money. But did you know what that guy did? He just laughed and told Ben to try and make him, basically admitting he stole our money. I couldn't believe my ears. That guy and Dad were such good friends. We all trusted him. I didn't think he'd betray us like that."
"And what did your dad have to say about it?" Circe asked.
She quickly regretted it when, with a pained grimace, Roger revealed, "Mom and Dad died three years ago in an accident while touring tropical scenery."
"Oh. Sorry."
"It's fine."
It certainly doesn't sound fine, Circe thought. But she decided to stay silent there, until - "Hm? Wait a minute. Hey, Roger."
"Yeah?"
"You said you found out Drake was stealing from your family because you overheard Ben yelling at him about it, right?"
Roger nodded. "Yeah. That's basically what I just said."
"That means that Ben knew about the theft, right?"
"Yeah," Roger said again.
"And by Ben, I'm guessing you're talking about Benjamin, your brother?"
"Of course," said Roger.
"Before then, were you guys close with that guy?"
"Well, duh," Roger answered, frowning. "I did say that he and Dad were good friends, so it's kind of obvious me and Ben would be tight with him too."
"Seriously, Circe." Morgan had a frown of her own while putting her hands on her hips. "What's with the stupid questions?"
Circe threw Morgan a scowl. "There ain't anything stupid about those questions, stupid. Did you forget what Benjamin told us?"
Morgan did.
"Ugh! He said that he didn't know the lawyer very well. But according to Roger, that's not true. Why lie about that?"
"I can think of only one reason," Jackie chimed in. "Benjamin's the culprit. He's the one who-"
Roger cut him off. "No. No way, no how. Ben hates Drake as much as I do, but he wouldn't do something like that."
"But it makes sense," Circe argued. "If werewolf runs in the family, then Benjamin's a werewolf too. More importantly, he has motive."
Stubbornly, Roger crossed his arms. "None of that's proof. Besides, you said yourself that things aren't good between the vampires and the werewolves here. Doesn't that mean any werewolf in town could have done it?"
Circe faltered. "Well . . ."
Seizing his chance, Roger declared with finality, "Until I see some concrete proof, there is no way that I'll ever believe my brother is a mur-!"
Suddenly, he turned and looked around, baring his fangs into a ferocious snarl as a low growl escaped his throat.
Worried, Morgan asked, “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She looked around, but it was too dark beyond the trees to see anything.
“I smell things,” Roger grunted softly and then sniffed the night air. “People, I think. The smells are moving around and I can hear rustling. We’re surrounded.”
Jackie and Circe quickly looked around. But like Morgan, they couldn’t see anything outside of the clearing.
Boney took step forward, but Jackie quickly raised a hand and then put his finger to his lips. The giant skeleton nodded and then bent down, ready to spring at a moment’s notice.
Roger also crouched down. Whether on purpose or unconsciously, he moved to put himself between Morgan and whoever was approaching while on full fight mode.
Out of the corner of her mouth, Circe asked, “Can you tell who it is?” She would not take her eyes off one side, leaving the other side to the werewolf.
“No,” he whispered back. “But they’re about ten of them. They’re slowly coming.”
A tense minute later . . .
“They’re here!”
“I can see them!” Morgan pointed. “Glowing eyes in the dark!”
“Is it vampires?” Jackie asked in a panic.
“No,” said Circe. “Vampire eyes glow red. These eyes are more green or gold. They’re like animals. They’re-“
Roger’s eyes shined the same way. That meant these creatures hiding in the darkness must be-
“-werewolves!”
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