Rise of the Werechipmunks (ONC 2022)

In Which Sophie and Her Soulmate Live Happily Ever After

Sophie took a deep breath.

Jaxon towered over her. His cheeks bulged from swallowing Zach-Xavier-Xane's head and his eyes were black and beady. He reared up on his hind legs. Just when Sophie thought he was about to eat her too, his body crumpled in on itself.

A faint wheezing noise filled the air as Jaxon deflated into his ordinary form. He chewed, swallowed, then said, "Huh. Tastes just like his brother."

"What? You ate Nathan-Nate-Matt?" Sophie stared. She brandished the remains of her stick. "He was a good man! Or at least, I think he was. Probably."

Irienna shrugged. "Eh. He was kind of boring. Always reminded me a bit of a gift box. You know, pretty exterior, but nothing inside."

"Exactly. I would've noticed any interesting intestinal flavorings," Jaxon said, nodding. "I have a very sensitive palate."

"You ate his intestines too? I wanted to bury him!" Sophie glared at Jaxon.

Jaxon held out his arms in a helpless shrug. "Sorry?"

"Guys. Focus." Cora spoke softly. She jerked her heads towards the werewolves. "Let's worry about not getting eaten."

The werewolves had gathered together on the opposite side of the hallway. They communicated in soft growls and barks. The four werechipmunk guards and Ryker had formed a wall separating the two groups. Something wet touched Sophie's ankle.

"Oh, no," she groaned. Zach-Xavier-Xane was bleeding all over her white tennis shoes. And she'd just got the blood out of them too!

Ryker pulled out a gun.

"Woah, woah, okay. Let's slow down." Sophie jumped into action. The shoes weren't (that) important. "We're here for peace, right?"

"Conquering and acorns!" Jaxon clapped his hands excitedly. "And big explosion!"

Cora kicked Ryker in the stomach and grabbed the gun. Sophie decided she needed to try this martial arts thing as soon as humanely possible.

"No shooting," Cora said. "It's a high school. And also ethics."

"Why wouldn't you just shift instead of using a gun?" Irienna said. "Werechipmunks are so boring."

Ryker ignored her. Jaxon ignored her. Cora nudged Zach-Xavier-Xane's body with her foot. "Just checking that he's really dead," Cora said. "It's getting kind of hard to tell, what with all the pulse-less vampires and identical twins running around."

"Is he? Dead, I mean," Sophie said.

"As a doorknob." Cora lifted the skirts of her dress and stepped out of the pool of blood around Zach-Xavier-Xane's headless body.

"If we can't shoot them, they'll kill us." Ryker shrugged. "It's as simple as that."

"I actually might have an idea," Sophie said. "Does anyone have a charged phone? Mine ran out of battery a long time ago."

It took a second, but after explaining and reexplaining and doing an interpretative dance that was supposed to illustrate the plan, one of their werechipmunk guards handed over his phone. Sophie went ahead and downloaded Wattpad—he would thank her later. With the phone clenched in the palm of her hand, she waved at the circle of werewolves.

"Hey! Hi werewolves! Um... Come over here?" Sophie waved until her shoulder started to ache.

A single werewolf swung its head towards her. It growled, the sound hard as nails and deep as thunder, and Sophie's enthusiasm faltered—but only slightly.