The Lycan Games

Chapter 9: Game On

Genevieve runs.

She bombs through the forest. Back down the path from where she came.

Branches whip at her face. The sun sinks lower into the horizon. The moon looms full and bright.

Genevieve stumbles over rocks but pushes through. Her mind races. If she can make her way back down the path to where the vehicle is parked, it will serve as a marker. A starting point for where she can hike back into town. But what if the vehicle isn't there? How will she know where she is? Genevieve stops running and glances around. Will she remember any landmarks? It's too dark to see anything.

Up ahead, she hears a loud rumbling. Like a vehicle's engine. Genevieve runs towards it. Is it Rob? Is he waiting for her in the vehicle?

Genevieve shoves through the bush and lands on a rocky shore. Infront of her, the flowing river. It moves with intensity. A lion's roar.

She scans the river. The same that Tomi, Silvie, and Avram were bathing in, but not the exact shoreline.

Genevieve can see the other side of the river. It's thick and dark. Clearly, more forest awaits on the other side. Genevieve looks downriver, then up ahead. She can't figure it out. Where is she supposed to go? Where was the campsite? How did she get here!!

"Fuck!" Genevieve screams. "Fuck, fuck, fuuuuuck!"

The river muffles most of Genevieve's scream. But nonetheless, it's what Genevieve needed to reset her mind. Reset her mind to find a way back to a village or town or even a paved road.

Genevieve turns around, to go back the way she came, but then jumps back, startled.

Ahead of here, in the shadows, are three figures. She can't make them out right away, but when their eyes reflect the light, as Silvie's did, back at camp, Genevieve knows who they are.

Avram, Silvie, and Tomi step out of the shadows, and into the moonlight

Genevieve is furious but tries her best to remain calm. Silvie and Tomi share a smirk. Avram is deadpan, very much focused on her.

"What the fuck is going on?" Genevieve asks.

No answer.

Genevieve continues. "You think leaving me was funny?"

Still no answer.

Genevieve shifts, uncomfortable with what she's about to ask. "Where's...Rob?"

Someone finally pipes up. It's Silvie. "Don't worry about him." She says. "That's the least of your concern."

Genevieve glares at Silvie. Even in the dark, Silvie picks this up. She smiles back. "Did you find the first Geocache?"

"Fuck your Geocache." Genevieve snaps.

Avram scoffs. "I knew she wouldn't be able to find it."

Genevieve wants to shove the gun in his face. No, she wants to crack him over the head with it and watch his blood pour down his face. She refrains. "I'm not playing your stupid game."

Tomi lets out a huge laugh, then shakes his head like Genevieve is the poorest creature he's ever seen. "But you already are."

Genevieve grows more frustrated. She hates them. Truly hates them. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out the gun. She shows them and shouts. "Is this what you wanted me to find?!!"

Genevieve gives them a second to clock the gun, then chucks it downriver. The gun arcs through the air and she watches it land on the other side. It hits a large laydown and ricochets off a tree and falls into the water below it.

Avram looks at Genevieve, shocked. "You did find it. Clearly, I underestimated you."

"You really should have kept that," Tomi says as he takes off his jacket and tosses it to the ground. Silvie begins to do the same. She removes her coat, then her t-shirt. Avram follows suit, but he starts with his shoes.

Genevieve watches confused. "What are you doing?"

But they don't answer. They continue to strip away their clothes until they are standing in front of her fully naked.

She knows something is off. She knows something is wrong. Every bone in her body can sense it. But she placates them in an attempt to pretend that everything is okay.

"You're going to freeze," Genevieve says.

Silvie shakes her head. "No. We won't"

And just like that, Silvie's body tenses. Muscles flexing, as if ready to pounce. Tomi and Avram take heavy, deep breaths. Rhythmic and guttural.

They all fall to their knees. Hunching over, they begin to moan and writhe. As if fighting for something within to get out.

Genevieve shuffles back. Her feet suddenly feel cold. She looks down, realizing she's stepped into the river. She's trapped.

Silvie, Avram, and Tomi are soon taken over by spasms. One by one, they fall onto the rocks. Bodies contorting, faces wracked with pain.

Genevieve's eyes widen with fear. "What are you doing?! Please, stop!"

But they don't.

One by one, their spasms turn into violent screams, and their bodies begin to transform. Face elongating into snouts, fingers into claws, exposed skin grows wiry fur, vertebra growing into a hunched animal.

But no. Not an animal. Something far more sinister and hungry.

Silvie, Tomi, and Avram are werewolves. Silvie is the smaller of the three, more silver. Tomi is huge, bigger than them all. Avram is disheveled, with a grin of a hyena. They all stare at Genevieve and let out guttural growls.

Genevieve lets out a scream and makes a run for it. The werewolves give chase. Genevieve can barely move over the rocks. Behind her, the werewolves are closing in at an alarming, superhuman pace.

There's only one thing Genevieve can do. She eyes the river. It calls her to jump in.

Just as the werewolves lunge at her, Genevieve banks left and throws herself into the water. The cold instantly takes her breath away. But Genevieve doesn't care.

She frantically keeps her head above water as the current pushes her downstream. Genevieve swims, kicking furiously to the other side. She's able to grab onto the laydown and desperately pulls herself to shore.

She glances back to assess how much time she has before the werewolves catch up. But then she freezes --

-- the werewolves are on the other side of the river, pacing. They glare at her with glowing eyes.

Genevieve remembers. She remembers what Rob told her. Werewolves can't cross running water. Genevieve lets out a half cry/half scream -- a declaration that she is still alive, an acknowledgment that a creature of make-believe is real, and for the horrifying realization that she is now prey.

Then it dawns on her. She needed the fucking gun, with or without the fucking bullets. 

Genevieve eyes the river. She spots the laydown. Where the gun hit and fell into the river. Genevieve re-enters the water, grabbing at the river's bottom. The werewolves continue to pace, snapping at her from across the river. 

Genevieve's hand hits something solid. Immediately, she pulls her hand out. She has the gun and scrambles back into the thick woods, running for her life.

Behind her, the werewolves let out of sickening howl. The game is on.