Night Creature Page 3

  When I landed, I found myself clinging to the swaying branches of a tall tree. Scrambling up higher, I perched at the top, my chest heaving.

  “There he is! In the tree! Get him!”

  Below me the pack of night creatures gathered around the tree, peering up. Their piercing red eyes found me easily.

  They snuffled and whined below me. “Why do you run, little one?” they taunted, their uplifted faces grinning horribly. “What are you afraid of?”

  I shuddered as their voices sifted up through the tree, making the leaves shiver.

  They began to scrape their claws against the bark. “You are one of us!” they howled inside my head. “Come down and let us show you the way of the night!”

  I shuddered, trying to shut out the snarling sounds—and that’s when I happened to notice my hands, grasping the branch in the cool moonlight.

  My fingernails had become sharp yellow claws that dug into the tree branch. My feet, too, curled around the branch in a way no Leg-walker or wolf feet could. But my claws were long and graceful, not scabbed and thick like theirs. And my feet were smooth, not gnarled.

  Long hair covered my powerful arms and legs and my wolflike chest. But even covered with mud it was silky looking, not wiry like the night creatures.

  Maybe I was a monster, but I wasn’t like them! I wasn’t. I wasn’t!

  I looked down at their burning eyes. Their long misshapen arms waved at me. They jumped from foot to foot on bowed, ugly legs.

  They were horrible, evil! Nothing like me.

  I shut my eyes, not wanting to see them. What did these twisted, red-eyed beasts want with me? I just wanted to run, find my wolf family, and show off my new power. I would never be like these disgusting creatures of the night. Never!

  I kept my eyes screwed tightly shut, hoping they’d tire of taunting me and go away.

  And after a while the low snickering laughter and sneering calls did stop. I started to breathe easier. Maybe it was all a dream. I was asleep, and when I woke up I’d be just Gruff again.

  Then the air whooshed!

  Something large landed right beside me on the branch.

  Chapter 14

  The branch barely quivered, but the swampy death smell of the creature nearly knocked me off my perch.

  Don’t look, Gruff! I told myself. Don’t look and it will go away!

  I kept my eyes closed. It had to be a dream. A horrible nightmare.

  A growling sound made my ears twitch. Then I realized the thing beside me on the branch was laughing quietly to itself. It was a soft, evil sound.

  The evil laughter chilled me to the marrow.

  It was laughing at me as if it could read my thoughts, as if it knew exactly what I was thinking!

  I heard a slithering sound and then something cold and slimy touched me. I jerked away and started to fall. Teetering, I opened my eyes.

  Inches away, red eyes burned into me.

  “You are mine!” it said inside my head. “Mine, mine, mine!”

  The horrible creature grinned at me. Saliva dripped from its teeth. Somehow I knew it was the same werewolf that led me here into the swamp.

  I opened my mouth to scream and all that emerged was a hissing sort of growl. I had to get away! Without thinking, my feet let loose of the branch.

  I fell.

  A gleeful howl rose up from below.

  Too late, I remembered the night creatures gathered down there.

  I was dropping right into their wide-open jaws.

  Chapter 15

  Faster than a striking snake, a long arm shot out of the dark and gripped me.

  I dangled motionless, high above the ground.

  Soft laughter, dripping like venom, came from above me as shrieks and growls of disappointment erupted from below.

  I moaned in fear, unable to escape. The werewolf claws were icy cold but somehow burned into my arm. Slowly, it pulled me back up to the branch where it crouched.

  As the thing growled, words dropped into my brain, hissing like hot coals spattered with rain. “I am called Ripper. Don’t try to get away from Ripper, little one.” The creature’s stinking breath choked me as it pulled me close. “You cannot escape!”

  The thing laughed again and released my arm. Even though it was no longer holding me, I could still feel its grip burning and stinging.

  I looked at my arm. My skin bubbled under five slime trails left by the claws. And at the end of each slimy burn was a mark, curved like a half moon. Small red dots appeared at each tiny wound.

  I stared in horror as the dots of blood swelled.

  “You have nothing to fear,” the creature called Ripper purred in a soft, oily voice. It was trying to sound kind and soothing, I realized.

  But something dark was dripping from its claws. Blood. My blood.

  “You must come with me,” Ripper said, absently raising a clawed hand to its face. As I watched, it licked the red drops with a flicking tongue.

  “Mmm,” it said, glowing eyes half-closed in pleasure. “Your blood is delicious, but too thin.”

  Then its eyes snapped open and bored into mine. I couldn’t look away. “You will come tonight and make your first kill. Then the wereing shall be complete.”

  It slurped up the last drop.

  The—the wereing? What did it mean?

  “The wereing is the change from human to beast,” the creature explained, although I had made no sound. “Our blood runs in your veins. You are one of us. I know you feel our power.”

  I wanted to shake my head no, but the creature narrowed its eyes menacingly and revealed long, slavering fangs. “Under my care you will learn to kill,” it growled. “Once you have made your first kill, the wereing will be complete.”

  The creature leaned closer. I could smell death on its breath. It purred deep in its throat and said, “Taste blood in the light of the full moon and all the powers of the night shall be yours.”

  Inside me the strange gnawing hunger quivered. What was wrong with letting this creature teach me how to hunt? I wanted to learn to hunt for my wolf family, right?

  I liked my new power, didn’t I?

  Without warning, the thing called Ripper grabbed my hand. Even as the slimy touch turned my stomach, the creature’s power sent a jolt through me that made all my hair stand on end.

  In the next instant we left the branch and sailed through the night.

  Chapter 16

  Our powerful spring from the tree took us over the heads of the creatures below. We landed softly and the rest of the beasts fell in behind us, slobbering and fighting and howling for blood.

  “Follow me and you will be safe,” Ripper reassured me.

  He began to run like the wind and I kept up with him easily.

  Why had I thought him evil? I wondered. He was graceful and swift and obviously very wise. I should be flattered he took an interest in me.

  Who was I? Nobody. But someday I might be as powerful a leader as he was, the great and terrible Ripper.

  A cold pit of unease stirred inside me. Was the werewolf using my brain to tell me what to think?

  I threw off the thought with an impatient shrug. Ripper was going to teach me to hunt! That was what I should be concentrating on, not silly ideas that came out of—well, wherever they came from.

  Feel the touch of the wind and the glory of the moon, I told myself. Enjoy this special, magical power and don’t spoil things with foolish worries.

  The hunt was the important thing. And why shouldn’t I be excited about my first kill?

  My brother Sharpfang had made his years ago. And now he was grown, while I was still a cub dependent on my family for all my food. Perhaps once I’d made my first kill I, too, would be an adult.

  Maybe that was all that was meant by “the wereing.” I had nothing to fear, right?

  Right?

  “ARRROOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!”

  The howling werewolves invaded the bog, leaping murky pools, snapping trees in half, slinging mud at
each other, driving the swamp’s animals from their safe homes.

  And I invaded with them, grinning as a frightened raccoon scampered up a tree and a doe huddled shivering over her fawn. Bats skittered across the moon, screaming in terror. An opossum fell terrified from its perch. The thunder of our passing shook the ground.

  My new blood sang in my veins with the thrill of the hunt.

  Then, jumping over a muddy pool, I saw my reflection in the rippled surface and I stumbled in horror.

  The wavery image burned itself into my brain. I was starting to look just like them! Like the ghastly night creatures!

  My pace faltered and Ripper screamed at me to run. But where were they going? What did they really want me to do?

  I remembered what the hideous creature had said: “Make your first kill and the wereing shall be complete.”

  My new body urged me to forget about thinking and just run and run. The monster part of me hungered to stay with the night creatures and howl at the moon.

  But now I knew Ripper had been inside my mind, trying to make me think like he did.

  “Nooooooooo!” shrieked Ripper, sensing my doubts. He gnashed his fangs and snapped viciously as his hold on me loosened and fell away.

  Deep inside, I was still Gruff. And I knew if I gave in to the hunger I would be like these night creatures forever.

  At that moment a heavy cloud slid over the moon. Now was my chance!

  In the cover of dark I slipped away, into the shadows.

  The werewolves didn’t see me go and I got a good head start, running as fast and as silently as I could. I didn’t know where I was going, only that I had to get away to save myself.

  Too soon, the cloud passed. As the moonlight fell over the night creatures, they realized I was gone.

  “Little one! Come back! Come back or die!”

  Their howling fury froze my blood.

  I hadn’t got very far away. Their senses were even keener than mine and any second they would find me.

  Even as the thought entered my mind, Ripper scented me and turned the snarling pack in my direction.

  They were right behind me, catching up fast!

  I couldn’t escape.

  Chapter 17

  Moaning in fear, I kept running.

  Behind me the creatures were crashing through the swamp, gaining on me.

  Desperately I looked for a hiding place. But where could I hide where they wouldn’t sniff me out? It was hopeless.

  The moon glinted on a pool of water in front of me. Water! Maybe that would work!

  Steeling myself against the cold, I slipped into the stagnant water. If wolves couldn’t smell their prey in water, maybe werewolves couldn’t, either.

  It was my only hope.

  The mud slithered under my feet. My head dipped below the surface, and I came up sputtering. I froze, hoping the night creatures hadn’t heard.

  The slithering voices came out of the night.

  “Little one, are you there? Little one, come back, come back!”

  Peeping up from my watery hiding place, I could see their red eyes gleaming in the dark. They were snuffling at the ground nearby and coming closer.

  Silently I swam to the thick roots of an old cypress tree and huddled there, shivering in water up to my neck. The slimy roots helped hide me. The water smelled of mold and muck and drowned animals.

  The stench made my eyes water but it was still better than the hot stinking breath of those evil night creatures.

  “Where is he?” they hissed to each other. “Can you smell him? Can you?”

  They searched for a long time, rooting at the ground and lifting their noses to sample the air. Glowing red eyes pierced every corner of the night.

  The werewolves moaned and shrieked and cursed.

  “Get him! Find him! Make him one of us!”

  I stayed absolutely still as the dank coldness of the water seeped into my muscles. I was stiff with cold, sick with fear.

  After a long while, the one called Ripper began to call. His angry howls formed words inside my head and banged against my skull.

  “Little one, you can’t escape your nature. You cannot escape us!” Anger made his voice crack and hiss inside my head. “The curse is in your blood. You cannot resist! Come out and we will show you how to take a kill!”

  The others howled and stamped the ground and echoed his call, shrieking, “Little one, little one, come out to us!”

  The beast in me yearned to come bounding out of the nasty water and run with the pack. What harm could it do? It was my nature! I must celebrate my nature!

  But the part of me that was still Gruff refused to give in—I wouldn’t kill, no matter what. I stayed hidden in the icy pool. The cold crept deeper into my bones. I ached and felt I’d never be warm again.

  Hours passed and still the grisly things searched, rattling the trees, snarling in anger, and calling to me with pretend sweetness in their foul voices.

  Hiding under the old swamp tree, I didn’t move. I could no longer feel my arms and legs. I was nothing more than a wretched lump. Never in my life had I felt more cold and miserable and sick in my heart.

  I was a monster who didn’t want to be a monster, and it was killing me.

  Chapter 18

  I woke up with a jerk.

  My body was numb from the neck down. I couldn’t feel a thing.

  But it was quiet in the swamp. Somehow I must have slept. Or passed out.

  I opened my eyes. Dawn. The terrible night was over at last. I sagged in weak relief against a cypress knee—the root of the cypress tree that sticks up out of the water.

  I looked around cautiously.

  “Aack!” I jumped.

  A frog sat on a rock an inch from my face. It stared at me for a moment, then blinked slowly and slid out of sight into the water.

  A few birds sang in the tops of the trees—which they would never do if the werewolves were still lurking. I was safe at last.

  Slowly I crept to the shore. I braced my hands on the solid bank to heave myself out and gasped at what I saw.

  My hands! They were my own again, small and hairless, with pale, grimy nails and no claws.

  I pushed myself onto dry land and lay there panting, feeling the warmth of the sun on my shivering skin. I touched my face and looked carefully at my arms and legs.

  It had worked! The monster inside me was gone and I was plain little Gruff again.

  As miserable as I’d been, hiding in that cold swamp water, that’s how happy I was now. It had all been worth it. I was free!

  I started to get up, hearing my bones creak and groan, when a sound made me stop in my tracks.

  A howl.

  The birds scattered and another frightened frog plopped into the water.

  “ARRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!”

  The howling filled the air, died away, and rose up again.

  It was heading my way.

  Fast.

  Chapter 19

  A large gray shadow flickered among the trees.

  I stumbled to my feet and tried to cry out. But my voice was a croak. And my legs still wouldn’t work right. I couldn’t move.

  The howling started again, calling to something deep in my blood.

  Soon it would catch my scent. I didn’t want to be found helpless like I was.

  Forcing myself to my feet, I staggered in among the trees. I was starting to get some feeling back in my muscles when I stepped into a mud hole and went down hard.

  “Aargh!” I dragged my foot clear, relieved to find I hadn’t sprained it.

  Then, as I turned, a huge gray blur filled my vision. It hurtled through the air right for me. I put up my arms crosswise to shield my face from the impact.

  “Oooomph!” I was knocked flat to the ground and the air whooshed out of me.

  A long, warm tongue lapped at my skin, running along scratches and cleaning off the last of the mud. “Wolfmother!” I barked happily. Her rough tongue tickled.

  After
she’d satisfied herself that I smelled basically the same and was not too damaged to walk, she stood at my side and barked at me to follow her. We were going home.

  So that’s what I did. It took most of the day. We were a long way from the den, plus I was sore and bruised, and branches and stickers kept snagging my bare skin.

  Wolfmother led me to the spot where I’d left my deerskins but there wasn’t much left of them to put on.

  It wasn’t until we got to the den that I really felt like my old self again. Snapjaw and Leaper jumped all over me to show their joy, and Thornclaw motioned for me to finish his dinner.

  Only Sharpfang kept his distance. He watched me with cold eyes and moved away whenever I approached, keeping to the edges of our clearing.

  “Rrrr-rrrr,” I growled pleadingly, crawling closer to him.

  I rolled over and put my chin to the ground to show I was friendly and harmless. But Sharp-fang was having none of it.

  Saddened, I let him alone and played with the cubs until the sun began to go down.

  And then I remembered something that sent an icicle right down my spine. It was something the night creature Ripper had told me. Grinning his horrible grin, he had snarled gleefully, “The wereing takes place over the three nights of the full moon.”

  Only one night had passed.

  I looked up as the sun dipped below the trees. Night fell quickly.

  And the full moon was about to rise again.

  Chapter 20

  I had to leave, at least for the night. I couldn’t let anything happen to my wolf family because of me. Feeling sad, I slipped out of the clearing, away from the den. Only Sharpfang saw me go and he turned his back when I caught his eye.

  Maybe nothing would happen this time. I hadn’t made my first kill, despite all the urging from the night creatures. Maybe that meant the wereing was over for me.

  But even as I thought these things the tingling in my arms and legs started again.

  The moon was just coming up.

  It happened faster this time. Strange, awesome power surged through me like an electrical current. My body changed, growing stronger muscles, fangs and claws, and matted hair. I dropped to all fours, my fur skins falling to the ground, a growl starting deep in my throat.