Howling In The Night | Night Cat #2

Howling In The Night - Chapter 8

Transformations in The Clearing

I spent over an hour in the shower, cursing myself for what I had done at Xander’s.

Sure I hadn’t known that it was his dad’s death anniversary, but that was no excuse. I had reminded him about something he tried so hard to forget; something he blamed himself for – and I hated myself for it.

I emerged from the shower dressed in a pair of sweats and a slightly holey tank-top, smelling of my favorite vanilla scented shampoo. I leapt into bed, huffing as I smushed my pillows against the headrest in frustration and balled up my sheets. Sleep was the last thing on my mind. I was too restless to even think of it. The leopard wanted to get out. It needed to get out.

I shifted in my room, not bothering to waste time by sneaking down the trellis. It was much faster to just leap out of my window and sprint across the yard into the woods.

Running off into the woods was probably the stupidest thing I had ever done, considering the fact that there was some sort of dangerous creature roaming through them. But for some reason, my mind couldn’t seem to process that bit of information. All I seemed to think of was running.

The whole situation with Xander had probably triggered something in my feline-self – thus causing my desperate need to break out of my human form and just run around the woods like some carefree wild animal.

I didn’t over think it, though. Actually, I didn’t think about it at all. I just kept running gaily through the woods, careful not to go anywhere near the place I’d seen that monstrous creature.

You’re going to get yourself killed; the human version of my conscious chided me, Go back, now. I shook my large snow-leopard head and ignored the condescending voice that was echoing through my skull.

I picked up my pace, sprinting through the intertwining trees until I reached a part of the woods that I had never been to before. I took in the foreign surrounding, sniffing the wind cautiously for any signs of danger. I was much deeper in the forest than I had ever dared to venture before and I wasn’t going to take any chances by assuming that the creature wasn’t anywhere around.

The air was clear of any caution-raising scents. I smelled a few possums and an owl, but that was pretty much it. I ran over to a large, sturdy looking tree and scaled it, leaping from branch to branch until I reached the last one that would be able to hold my weight, right at the top of the tree.

I settled myself on the branch, lying flat on my stomach. I rested my head on my outstretched paws and let my tail hang freely over the side of the branch. It was one of Xander’s favorite poses and I finally understood why.

I drifted off into a peaceful slumber, only disturbed by the occasional fly and the sudden outburst of a group of crickets. A beam pale light of the almost-full moon shone on my white coat as the silvery orb in the sky weaved in and out of the clouds. I somehow managed to sleep with one ear open, keeping a sharp lookout for company.

After half an hour or so, a loud crack alerted me of another presence and my eyes flew wide open. Something large and disfigured came stumbling through the thick wall of trees that surrounded the tree I was nestled up in. The creature from the night before.

I froze, not even daring to breathe. Had it come across my scent and come looking for me? No, that was impossible… Wasn’t it? I had been extremely careful to walk down wind so that no other animals could pick up my scent. It was probably just a coincidence that the creature stumbled upon my new resting place.

Too bad I didn’t believe in coincidences.

The creature was on all fours, crawling around with its nose to the ground, sniffing the terrain. I slowly shifted out of my lounging position and moved to crouch low on the branch, ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

After a few seconds, the creature stopped its snuffling and turned to gaze at the sky, as if it was in some sort of freaky trance. For a moment, I worried that it had picked up my scent and knew that I was hiding in the trees. My body went rigid and my heart all but stopped. Please, I silently begged God; don’t let it have seen me.

Luckily for me, God was listening. The creature’s gaze didn’t linger on the tree for more than a second, but rested on a large group of dark clouds that were floating through the sky and obscuring the moon. It lifted itself up until it was standing, hunched, on its two hind legs and arched its back in a way that had to be physically impossible even for a freak of nature like itself.

I held my breath, wondering how the beast was twisting his body like that without cracking his spine. The thing raised its head high and spread its fur covered arms wide, sucking in a deep breath. I braced myself, feeling extremely aware of the fact that my claws were digging into the branch I was crouching on.

I tensed as the beast let out a loud, hair-raising snarl and leapt about five feet in the air, landing near a large tree a few meters away from the one I was hiding in. I waited till its back was turned before slowly starting to descend the tree.

I landed softly on the grassy forest floor and, keeping a sharp eye on the beast, started to back out of the clearing as silently as I possibly could. Unfortunately for me, my powers of stealthy maneuvering were kind of off that night and I ended up stepping on a dry stick and snapping it in half.

The thing whipped around instantly, fixing me with a hungry glare. I gulped. This was not good.

The creature had changed considerably since the last time I saw him, a week ago. It didn’t look as human as it had that night, but resembled a large, mutated dog. Its fur wasn’t completely black anymore, either. It had lightened a lot and was starting to take on this dirty blond color – like sand. The other differences I noticed was the elongated muzzle and the long, bushy tail that was hanging in between its legs.

A small part of me wondered whether I was looking at the same monster I had come across last week. It was so different to that earlier one… they couldn’t possibly be the same, could they?

But no… That look in its eyes was the exact same one it had given me before. That hungry, ravenous look that seemed to be mixed with some kind of strong emotion. It actually felt like the thing was trying to tell me something; was pleading with me, even. I didn’t know what it wanted, or whether it was a good idea, but the human in me really wanted to help it.

So, I did the stupidest thing imaginable. Instead of spinning around and running away, I took a few cautious steps towards it.

Thankfully, I didn’t get any closer, because the next thing I knew, the pleading in its eyes was gone and the creature was lunging at me. I leapt back, narrowly avoiding getting clobbered by the monster’s insanely massive body. It recoiled and made as if to strike again.

I braced myself, getting ready to fight back. The creature started to swipe out, and then suddenly, reared back onto its hind legs, letting out this funny noise, like a choked howl. I stepped back in fright as the creature continued to gasp and spit, bashing itself all over the floor, as if it had gone into a fit or something.

After a few more scary minutes of thrashing, the creature became silent and lay still on the forest floor. I took a few tentative steps towards it, wondering whether it was dead. I couldn’t even tell if it was still breathing.

I had almost reached its seemingly unconscious body when something extraordinary happened. Its whole body started shuddering, and it lurched off the ground. I almost ran away, thinking it was going to attack me again, but was surprised when, with a yelp, it fell flat on its face.

I peered at it cautiously and nearly leapt ten feet in the air when I saw its sandy fur retracting back into its body. One all the fur was gone, its snout and tail started disappearing too, until one by one, all the animal-like features were gone, and I was no longer staring at a mutant dog.

 I was looking at a man.