Sandabury Academy

A Trip Down Memory Lane

I peer over my shoulder to make sure no one notices me slip behind the slightly ajar door with a sign on it that reads "Employees Only". Closing the door quietly behind me, I call upon my vampiric senses and concentrate on any recent disturbances. The corridor is shorter on this side of the door with an office directly to my left, an employee bathroom on the right just a bit farther down and a locker room across from it. After a moment, I detect no signs of life but I can tell by the air flow that someone was just here. I make my way to the end of the hallway completely silent and take a whiff before opening the door with a big red "Exit" sign above it. Smells like...wet dog?

     Forcefully pushing on the handle, it swings open to reveal a back alley with a giant trash bin flush up against a dead end wall to my right and the opening of the alley to my left. The smell of wet dog now assaults my nostrils to the point of making me fight my gag reflex.

"You can come out now. There's no point in hiding, you smell like shit." A second later, the man in the fishy overcoat steps out from behind the trash bin and walks a few paces towards me.

"Seriously, behind the trash can? I bet you sucked at playing hide-and-go-seek as a kid." The man just stands there silently, his hat on too low for me to see his face. Narrowing my eyes, I am about to ask the guy what his deal is when he suddenly hunches over and clutches at his stomach. Caught off guard, I can only watch as the man starts to quiver, violently shaking all over his entire body. He then arches his back at a grotesque angle so fast it knocks the hat off his head, revealing his face.

But, I only get to see it for a split second before he hunches forward again, this time accompanied by several large cracking noises that resemble snapping bones. All of this takes place in a matter of moments before the man suddenly shrinks inward on himself followed by something shooting out of the trench coat in a blur.

     It launches straight over my head and I duck out of reflex. Swiftly turning around, I can see the outline of a large dog trotting towards the end of the alley. Even though it is obscured by the shadow of the building lining the alley, I can tell that it has stopped to turn its head back at me. The rain starts to pick up and I blink to clear my focus but when I open my eyes again, it's gone. The guys so aren't going to believe this.

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"A WEREWOLF!?" Terry practically shrieks.

"Yea, and get this," I reply as we continue trekking through the deep overgrowth of woods. "It was the same guy that was noticeably smelling me after orientation a few days ago. Remember him, J?"

"I wasn't paying attention, honestly. Sorry, Val." Jaheara shrugs while maintaining a tight grip on her umbrella.

"Ooooooooh, looks like someone has a stalker." Terry purrs at me with a smirk.

"Let's just hope he's acting on his own. The last thing we need is the Doppelgangers teaming up with a pack of werewolves. Now come on, I want to make it over this ridge before nightfall."

Shortly after my encounter in the alley, I met up with Jaheara in front of the small store across the street from the cafe. Terry had arrived moments later and after quickly discussing the route to take, we headed off towards the mountains in the distant horizon.

"Hey Val, I'll race ya to the top!" Terry calls to me after having run several paces ahead of us. I roll my eyes while Jaheara chuckles.

"I swear he's like a child," Jaheara mutters under her breath and now it is my turn to chuckle.

A few hours later, we make it to the edge of the tree line where the rest of the mountain upward is barren rock. At this point, the rain has ceased so we decide to stop and make camp for the night. Terry scouts the surrounding area while I help Jaheara set up a small fire under the canopy of trees. Jaheara plops down around the fire next to me and pulls out a can of beans from the small backpack she was carrying while I grab two blood bags. After a few minutes of warming them up over the fire, I signal for Terry to come back by saying the magic words: "Dinner time."