CALL OF THE MOON

Chapter 6

I pulled into my driveway and walked into the house. Just as I predicted. Henry, Bill and my dad were all in the living room in front of the t.v. There were pizza boxes on the table and beer in the fridge.

“Hey Sammy, how was school?” Asked my dad as he looked up at me.

“It was good,” I said, and set down my backpack.

He looked at me and smiled. It was a rare occasion that my dad asked me about my day, but it was nice when he did. He really was a wonderful dad, and I felt horrible about not coming to visit.

“We went ahead and ordered pizza, so you are off the hook tonight,” My dad said with a grin, and I laughed as Henry and Bill laughed with us.

“Okay,” I said.

He meant I didn’t have to cook dinner.

“Go out, it’s Friday night,” he said, and I smiled.

“I was planning on going to meet up with Kim,” I said, and headed upstairs.

I threw on a pair of shorts and a retro t-shirt, I put on my low ankle sneakers and ran downstairs.

“Do you need anything before I go?” I asked.

My dad shook his head and waved.

“No, go have fun.”

I walked out the door, got in my truck, and headed for the reservation.

************

“You’ve got a good kid, Bob,” said Bill, and my dad nodded.

“You’ve got yourself some good boys, too.”

Bill laughed.

“Yeah, when they're not acting like a bunch of wild dogs.”

My dad laughed, not sure what his friend's comment actually meant.

****************

I pulled up to the beach parking lot and was surprised to see that many people had shown up to the party and their cars had filled all the provided spaces.I scowled because I had to drive to the grass and park at the end. Noticeably, the sun hadn’t quite set yet, so there was still light to see my way to the beach through the trees. As I got closer to the beach, I could hear loud music and people chatting.

Finally, I had made my way through the trees and out onto the beach. There were people everywhere, drinking, partying, and having a good time. It seemed like a college party out of a movie. There was a campfire, couples dancing here and there. The smell of grilled hamburgers filled the air with the salty smell of the water and sand. Swiftly, I walked through the party looking for Kim.

Finally, I spotted her on the back of a truck on the tailgate. It was also where the music was coming from. There were two black trucks with the tailgates down, blaring music, and Kim was dancing on one of them. Noticeably, the clothes she wore were a little different than usual. I would say, more Gothic than valley girl, and I guess she was trying hard to fit in with Collin. I rolled my eyes and made my way over to her. She was talking with two guys. I noticed that one of them was Collin. His friend had the same eerie pale skin as Collin did.

Why did they look like that? I wondered. Was it Halloween makeup, and I missed the whole gothic fad that was going on? Annoyed at answerless questions, I shook the thoughts away as I walked up to her.

“Kim, hi,” I said as I approached her.

“Samantha,” she said with a sneer. She seemed to be acting funny, and this baffled me.

What was going on around here? I wondered as I started to feel uncomfortable.

“This is Bryan, of course you know Collin,” Kim introduced, and I nodded.

Collin and Bryan both flashed blinding white smiles.

How were their teeth so white? I wondered. Collin wrapped his arms around me to hug me and caught me off guard.

“Good to see you again, Samantha,” he said, and looked around.

He pulled back quickly. So strange.

“Your friends, didn’t join you this evening?” He asked as he made a face of disgust.

I thought he didn't like the guys, so why would he ask about them? I shook my head, and I felt even more uncomfortable being there with them, so I was nice and I decided to make an exit as soon as I could.

“Do you have a dog?” Brian asked. I shook my head.

No, I didn't have a dog. I had a cat, I thought to myself. These people have gotten weird.

“You smell like you have one,” said Bryan.

I sniffed my shirt, and I couldn’t smell anything. Suddenly, the night I met the strange wolf popped into my head and I shook my head. No, they couldn't be smelling him. Since then, I have showered and changed my clothes. Now, I was really confused, and wanted to get out of there as quickly as I possibly could.

“Well, I don’t,” I said, as I noticed the sun had finally set.

Strangely, the music changed, and I looked around. Amazingly, I saw more people with the eerie white skin color, and the people with normal-looking skin seemed to be in a trance.

This is really strange, and yeah, I am definitely out of here, I thought to myself.

‘Please be careful’ Corey’s voice echoed in my head, and I remembered the intensity in his eyes. Did he know that this was going to happen? Is that why he warned me to be careful? What were these people and why did they look like that? Horrifically, I thought.

I shook my thoughts away, and I looked up at Kim. I decided to keep my excuse light, so no one would know that they freaked me out and wanted to leave immediately.

“Hey, thanks for the invite, but I’ve got to get home and help my dad,” I lied.

Kim looked at me pathetically and rolled her eyes.

“You’re not leaving already, are you?” She asked as she looked at her nails, annoyed.

She also sounded as if she were bored with me, and this was not like her at all. The Kim I knew loved me, and even though she may be a spoiled stuck-up brat, she was still my friend.

“Yeah, I just wanted to come by and check it out, and I can tell this isn't for me. See you later,” I said, and she humphed as I walked away.

I felt the eyes of the partygoers staring at me as I headed for my truck.

‘Almost there.’ I told myself as I got to the other side of the parking lot. Suddenly, an icy hand was placed on my shoulder, and it sent chills down my spine.

“Don’t leave,” said a smooth velvet voice, and I froze.

“Please stay.”

The voice was softer, almost a whisper. I swallowed hard, shaking a little in fear.

“I’m sorry, I can't, I've got to get home,” I said, as my voice cracked.

“Oh, just a little while longer.”

I turned to see the face that went with the voice, and it was Collin. I shook my head no, and I couldn’t seem to speak. He stared into my eyes and I suddenly felt light on my feet. I fought the feeling. This was strange, I thought, as I backed up towards my truck. Collin looked at me and chuckled.

“Okay, okay,” he said while he put his hands up.

“One kiss from a beautiful girl, and you may go,” he purred as he laughed.

I looked at Collin and felt repulsiveness rise in my veins. Was he serious? I wondered. He looked at me like he was waiting, and I nervously took a few more steps back.

“What do you say?” He purred.

I looked at him in shock and scoffed.

“Are you being serious?” I stammered, and he nodded with a half-crooked smile on his face. I shook my head.

“Nope.”

I pushed my lips together. Collin made a noise that sounded like it should have come from a wild animal.

Did he just snarl at me? I wondered. The next thing I knew was that he raised his arm, and I flew into a parked car hard.

Collin was right in front of me, pushing his cold, hard body against me. He had such strength that it felt like a brick wall pinned me to the car, and it hurt.

“Get off me!” I screamed, as I struggled to push him off of me, but he wouldn’t budge.

“Come on, Samantha,” he growled.

Yes, he growled at me.

He stuck his face in between my breasts and smelled upward, up my throat and to my ear. It made me struggle against him harder. I just wanted to get away from him.

“Besides the mutt smell, you smell delicious,” Collin growled in my ear.

Aggressively, I struggled against him, but he was much stronger than me.

How is it that he is so strong?

“Please, let me go!” I screamed as I felt panic and fear wash over me.

My instincts told me that I was going to die. Repeatedly, I pushed against him with all of my strength, but it was no use. Collin didn't budge.

“Help!” I screamed. He laughed a menacing laugh as he grabbed my shoulders and glared at me.

“No one can hear you morsel.” He growled.

“Save your energy.”

I squirmed quickly.

“No! Someone help me, please!” I screamed again.

“Shut up!” He growled.

He brought his hand up to my face and backhanded me. The force of the blow to my face was so strong, the side of my head snapped to the side and hit the car. I felt dazed. Suddenly, another type of growl came from somewhere.

This was it. My life is over, I thought as I braced myself for the next blow.

Then, to my surprise, Collin's grip loosened on my body and I fell to the ground. My head was spinning and my whole body was shaking uncontrollably. I heard a hiss as my body slammed against the car again. I heard a muffled growl, then a muffled voice. Everything seemed to sway in my sight, and I started to feel sick to my stomach.

“How can this be? You died. I watched you,” the muffled voice said, and I was slammed against the car again.

There were two more growls. Immediately, I felt another slap, and my head hit the car again. My vision blurred and there was a strange ringing in my ears. As my head swayed, I knew that I was out of it, after being slammed into the car so many times. I tried hard to regain my senses as quickly as I could.

“Stay back, I will bite her,” I heard Collin say.

Then there was a growl right next to me.

“You want her, fetch you stupid mutts. I’ve got plenty to eat down at the beach,” Collin snarled, and then I felt myself launched into the air.

I felt weightless as I soared through the air. I knew I was dead. This was my last moment alive as I was now falling, and I hit the ground a lot lighter than I expected. There was soft fur all around me, and then I heard more growling and snarling. The surrounding fur disappeared and my back felt like it was on fire. My head cleared a little now, and I saw my truck when I looked up.

I pulled myself to my feet, and I was unsteady, but I knew I had to get to my truck. The surrounding sounds weren’t right, and I knew I had to get to the safety of my truck. I told myself repeatedly. At that moment, I felt something wet on my forehead and wiped it with the back of my hand. Horrified, I looked and saw blood on my hand as I pulled my keys out of my pocket, and it took a couple of tries with my shaky hands, but I finally got the door unlocked. I opened the door, and I heard a yelp from behind.

Frightened, I swallowed hard and turned around. Another friendly yelp, and to my surprise, it was my wolf friend. Gratefully, I sank to my knees, and he ran to me. He let me rest my head on his back while I sobbed. Suddenly, I heard another, deeper yelp and lifted my head.

At that moment, other wolves surrounded us, and I jumped back from my wolf friend as I let him go. An enormous black wolf yelped at me, and he put his enormous head on my shoulder. My wolf friend moved and the black wolf nudged me until I stood up, and he nudged me into the truck. I looked into his eyes as I leaned over the steering wheel, and I saw concern in his eyes and I touched his fur. He purred.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

He yelped and then gazed at me as if he was asking me if I was okay. I smiled at him.

“I can make it home,” I whispered.

He snorted and got down from the truck. I shut the door, started my truck, and slowly drove until I made it home. I opened the door, happy I made it home. As I was about to get out, suddenly my back let off an explosion of pain and pushed me into a pitch black blanket of darkness.

***************

The dreams were inconsistent and made little sense, and there were voices around me.

“You i***t! What were you thinking?”

That was Jacob’s voice.

“You’re an i***t! He was saving her from cracking her head on the ground. Where were you when we needed you?” Sam’s voice echoed in my head.

There was silence for a little while, and I was thankful I fell into a restful sleep. However, that is, until I heard my dad’s voice.

“Sammy, honey, please pull through this. We found the man responsible for hitting you, and he’s locked away in a jail cell to rot for what he did to you.”

My father was crying, and it broke my heart. I had never seen my dad cry. I mean, I am sure that he did from time to time, but seeing him this way made him look so vulnerable.

Where was I? What happened to me? Was I in a coma? I wondered as I drifted back and forth from sleep to consciousness.

“Don’t leave me angel.” My dad sobbed, and I felt tears well up in my eyes.

Immediately, I wanted to wake up and tell him that everything was okay, but I fell back into a deep sleep, and that's when I heard Bill’s voice.

“Boys, you have some explaining to do. She might not make it through.”

Then I heard Corey’s voice. It was so pain stricken.

“It’s my fault, dad. I didn’t realize when I caught her, my teeth broke her skin.”

He was sobbing, and I heard Bill sigh.

“Son, it was an accident. However, now is the time, we must do everything we can to save her. Bob is so depressed, and I am not sure what is going to happen if she doesn't pull through this. The venom of our bite is poisonous to humans. It is very rare that a human can survive.”

I then realized that this wasn’t a dream. I could actually hear them, and I tried to use all my strength to speak, but all that came out of my mouth was a whisper.

“What?”

“Sammy, baby?” I heard Corey say.

I couldn’t gather any more strength to try to speak again. Affectionately, I felt a warm hand holding mine and a warm forehead against my arm.

“Please come back to me, Sammy. I am so sorry,” Corey sobbed.

Another voice I didn’t recognize stopped his sobs.

“I see her vital signs have stabilized. I believe the worst part is over.”

“Quin, is she going to make it?” asked Bill.

“She is strong. Any other human would have lost the fight by now. She has one the first battle, but she still has to learn what she is now and what she has become. The transformation will complete its process once she has phased,” said the man they called Quin.

I didn’t understand what I had become. Human? What were they? I had so many questions running through my mind I couldn’t think straight.

However, I couldn’t lie there and listen to all this strangeness. I could feel anger, fear and confusion heat my blood as I felt stronger and finally felt the strength to speak again. To my surprise, a noise escaped my throat that sounded like a growl and I sat straight up, and I looked at all their surprised faces. I didn’t recognize the room I was in. It almost looked like a hospital room, except I was in a normal bed.

“Sammy?” Corey said as he touched my hand, and I looked at him, scared.

Where was I? What was really going on? The sudden weakness hit me and I slumped back down on the bed.

“Sammy honey?” I heard Corey say.

I couldn’t find any more strength to speak, and I stared at Corey as my eyes got heavy. No, stay awake. I told myself. But the world of darkness had its grasp on me and pulled me back quickly. I felt a sob escape my throat as I drifted off, and I thought I would never see him again.