Lupine Bloodline

Things Just Got Worse Part 2

  Shade walks along the trail, heading to the woods. She begins running. She bolting along a tree and pushes from it, jumping tree to tree. She catches a whiff of someone and stops, looking around. She sniffs the air. She notices a boy, playing in the woods.

Shade continues to stare at him as he walks. He looks down and sees a mantis in the grass. He picks it up and smiles. Shade, still staring, moves and a stick breaks off the branch she stands on.

"WHO'S THERE?!" The boy yells. He guises at the tree where he heard the noise. "Who's up there?" He asks. Shade tries to camouflage herself in the leaves. "I know you are up there, come on down!"

Shade, disappointed, slowly comes out of the tree and jumps down. "A girl?" The boy states, surprised. "Didn't expect to see a girl out here, hi, I'm Dylan." He sticks his hand out to her.

Shade looks at him, shyly and slowly reaches to grab his hand. "I'm...Shadow..."

"Shadow? That's a weird name."

"No, its not, I like my name..." She says.

"Okay, okay, sorry. So, what are you doing out here?"

"What are you doing out here?" She retorts.

"I enjoy being in the woods, it's peaceful out here."

"Oh." She deflates.

"Yeah, do you live around here?" Dylan asks.

"Yeah, I live with my brother and sister."

"That's cool, I wish I lived around here, I love the woods."

"I do too."

"Hey Shadow, can I ask you something?" She looks at him. "Do you believe in Werewolves?" She pales and shakes her head.

"N...no, Werewolves don't exist."

"I think they do, here look..." He reaches in his back pack and pulls out a cast mold. "It's a wolf's paw; I found it out here and made a cast of it. Look at how huge it is, this thing is five times bigger than any normal wolf paw." He says, excitedly.

"That could just mean there's a big wolf out here somewhere." Shadow denies.

"You're wrong."

She pauses at his denial. "Wolves don't get this big and even if they did, this wolf is alone. "Wolves are never alone; they are pack creatures. The lone wolf never survives so the only explanation as to why there are only one set of giant wolf paws is that there is a Werewolf among us..." He replies, proudly.

Shade looks at him. "You really like Werewolves don't you?"

"Yeah, I sure do. I wish I could meet a Werewolf girl someday actually. That's kind of weird though isn't it?" He laughs.

Shade giggles. "No, not at all, I hope that happens for you."

"Thanks, Shadow." He smiles at her. She blushes and looks away.

Roy comes, jumping from tree to tree, until he sees Shade and Dylan talking. "Oh, ho, ho, look what we have here." He grins.

"So, what would you do if you found a Werewolf?" she asks.

"I have no idea; I don't know if I should run or stay still. I'll probably be too excited and star struck to think and if I do that then I'll probably be eaten." He laughs again.

"I don't think so, it depends on the Werewolf actually." Shade answers.

"How would you know that?"

"Just a hunch, I mean, not all Werewolves are man eaters." She replies.