Almost Full

Howls

  I sat in my room later that night, trying to get my homework out of the way. I had left the window of my room open, exposing me to the cool air which bypassed the screen and came in over the sill. It felt pretty good since the house was a little warm. The bugs were loud in performing their nocturnal harmony outside.

  Both of my younger brothers were already asleep. It was getting pretty late, almost an hour after midnight. I was sitting comfortably in my bed, wearing pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, just trying to tackle the last few problems of my math homework assignment that I had been putting off all day.

  Geometry was pretty easy stuff when in comparison to Algebra, so it wasn't long before I reached the final question. That was when I heard it. It was long and bloodcurdling. Couldn't have come from one of the neighborhood dogs. Had to be a coyote. Then, it was silent. I listened. I couldn't hear the bugs anymore. No crickets, locusts, anything.

  The silence was broken with a scream that made me jump. That was human. I was used to hearing screams outside. But this was different, definitely not some random group of teenagers hanging out after dark. It was a scream of pain. A second cry wrenched me off of my bed. Any sensible person would have locked every door, closed every window, and hid away until they knew it was safe. That's what I should have done. Instead, I rushed down the stairs clumsily while trying to slip on my jeans and socks.

  I swung the closet door open, fumbling for my winter jacket, and slipping on my sneakers. A few seconds later, I came bursting out of my front door, nervously looking around, trying to figure out where I had heard it come from. Another scream told me the exact direction I needed to go: over the gate next to my house. It was chained, so I climbed it and sprinted toward the sound.

  This gravel road hadn't been used by a car in years, hence the chained gate, and it was surrounded by dead brush, and tall grass that made it up to my knees. I could see well enough to know where I was going thanks to the moonlight, and getting close to where I had heard it, I saw something on the ground, then realized it was a person. I walked toward them, until I wasn't more than a foot away.

  A twitch in my peripherals allowed me to look up just in time to see a large shadow run into the thicker part of the brush, and disappear. It wasn't a coyote. Too large. A wild dog maybe? I knelt down next to this person I'd found. It was a man, and with a sick feeling in my stomach, I realized I didn't need to check his pulse to know he was dead. It took everything I had to keep from throwing up. I wanted to run away, pretend I hadn't seen anything, but then I noticed something, in his hand. It was a pistol.

  I don't know if it was courage or plain stupidity that came over me at that moment, but I worked up enough of it to pick the gun up. I was going to find whatever killed this guy, and return the favor. What a brilliant plan.

  Before I could take a step though, I was interrupted by the deep, and hair raising growl resonating behind me. Frozen, I tried to gather my wits. "Looks like you found me instead," I said under my breath. Turning around slowly, I readied my weapon. It was standing only five feet from me.

  This was no dog. It was a wolf, and a big one at that. No doubt in my mind. It didn't matter how it got here, in a town where wolves had never been seen before, it was going to take my bullet all the same. I pulled the trigger, but my finger was stopped by the safety.

  In my fear and panic, I had forgotten to switch it off. The animal didn't waste another second staring at me. Rearing up on it's hind legs, this thing made the five feet between us nothing before I could say "tarter sauce." The air was instantaneously forced out of my lungs as the creature slammed into me. We both hit the ground with him on top. I couldn't breathe. I tried to reach for the gun, but wasn't able to grab it before the animal sank its teeth into my chest.

  I cried out as the pain of its fangs penetrating my skin shot through my torso. I could feel its entire jaw clamped around my right shoulder. I grabbed the wolf's muzzle, trying to pry the animal off of me. It was too strong. I couldn't loosen its grip. Then, finally it let go, lifting its head high into the night sky, letting out another ear piercing howl.

  I was helpless, as the creature looked back down at me with a wicked grin across its long snout, fangs glinting off of the moon above, seeming to relish the taste of my blood in its mouth. That's when I realized I wasn't getting out of this alive. So, I grabbed the scruff of its neck with both my hands, and using every bit of strength I had left in me, I pulled the creature closer.

  If I was going out like this, it was going to be anything but slow. I made sure its muzzle was pressed right up against my neck, the warm feeling of my own blood dripping from the wolf's fangs, on my throat. I just wanted it over quickly. All I could do then, was look him in the eye, for what I knew were going to be the last few seconds of my life. Two seconds passed, three, four... We seemed to stare at each other for the longest time,and all I could hear was the rumble of a growl escaping the creature's lips. But then, it ceased, and I saw something. A look of... recognition? Realization and horror was all that reflected in the eyes of this animal, something I had only ever seen in a human.

  Before I could figure out what was happening, my hands were emptied, and the weight on top of me was gone. I looked to see the flick of a tail disappearing into the brush again while I continued to lay there, in disbelief... and pain.

  Trying to process what I had just gone through, I closed my eyes for a minute. When I opened them, my vision was filled with the clouds floating in the night sky, surrounding the brightness of the full moon.

  Realizing a moment later that I was not dead, I struggled to stand up. My knees were wobbly, and I was shaking. I held my hands against the wound on my shoulder. That thing had bitten all the way through my jacket and t-shirt. I could feel the warmth of the blood I was loosing. I don't think I even knew where I was going, I felt so dizzy. Walking soon became a fruitless effort, as I didn't make it very far before my legs gave. I was going to pass out. Sitting there on my knees, one hand on the ground, the other trying to stop the bleeding, I didn't see any other option.

  "Please! Somebody help!" I cried desperately. Any other chance I had at calling out again was snuffed away when I slumped back to the ground, and lost consciousness.

  I came to only for a moment, and the one thing I could tell for that short time was that I was being dragged somewhere by someone, not carried. Maybe I was too heavy for them. I wasn't awake long enough to think about it.