FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL

Chapter 7

Dylan

The sun was gradually dipping below the horizon and the sky had grown a shade darker. The birds had stopped chirping and mom had called Eric and I back inside about an hour ago. We were both stretched out in our living in front of the telly with a plate of spaghetti in front of us. Our father was still at work and mum wasn't hungry so we just decided to eat a snack in the living room. Eric was currently switching channels and I was shovelling the spaghetti into my mouth.

"Now, boys," our mother said, coming into the room. "Your father has an important dinner to attend at nine and I have to go as well. He'll be home soon and then we'll get ready and leave."

"What about us?" Eric asked. "Is Mrs Peggs coming over?" Mrs Peggs was our next door neighbour and our babysitter. She came over every time our parents were out.

"Yes,"my mother replied. "But don't give her any trouble!"

I sat there thinking over my plan for tonight. I was going to have to sneak out at precisely 8:45, and carefully walk over to Lisa's house. Mrs Pegg was pretty old and her hearing ability was a little weak too, so I guessed it would not be that difficult. In fact, the fact that she would be here tonight was rather fortunate. If my parents were here, they would have heard the slightest noise.

Dad arrived about an hour later when Eric and I were sitting in the living room, playing. Mum was in her room, getting ready and dad soon followed.

Ding Dong.

"Eric, cam you get that?" my mom called from upstairs. "It's Mrs Peggs."

"Sure, I got it," mumbled Eric, making his way to the dour. Today, Mrs Peggs was wearing a flowing grey dress with a shawl draped around her shoulders and she was clutching her knitting needles and a ball of blue yarn.

"Hello, boys," she said as she settled on the couch.

"Hi," we replied, grinning. Mrs Peggs was nice enough. She let us do whatever we wanted and sometimes baked cookies for us too. Her cat: Mittens was what you had to look out for. He was a ginger with a stubbed nose and sharp claws. I always thought he was not as cute as she made him out to be. Mrs Peggs had not brought him here with her tonight, but I knew for a fact that she would go to check on him at precisely 8:45 and that was when I planned to sneak out.

"Okay, bye, you guys," mom said. "Don't annoy Mrs Peggs!" She was wearing a deep red dress with ruffles in it and matching red heals. Our parents left after that and we were left to play around in the living room.

After a small dinner, Eric and I headed upstairs and Mrs Peggs came with us, claiming she wanted to see that we actually got in bed. When she was convinced we were not going to get out of bed, she went back downstairs and I could hear the sound of the TV.

I lay awake for what felt like hours, just staring up at the celling. Our room was bathed in a soft uncertain glow and the only light was coming from under the door. The window was slightly open, and occasionally a gust of wind would sweep into the room. The full moon was glowing brightly, it's silvery light penetrating the darkness of the room. I looked over at Eric in the dim light. He seemed to be asleep, his chest rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern. But just to be sure, I whispered softly,

"Eric?" He did not reply and his eyes were closed too. Good. That meant he was asleep. Eric always wore his wristwatch to bed, a habit our mother had tried hard to rid him of. I peered at it as the minute hand drew closer and closer to 9, marking forty five minutes past eight. When it did, I slowly got out of bed.

Mrs Peggs had made us change into our night clothes too. Since there was no time to lose and if someone spotted me coming inside with my normal clothes, it would lead to suspicion, I just slipped a coat on over myself and shoved my feet into my slippers.

When I was halfway to the door, I stopped. What if this wasn't a good idea? What if something bad happened? Lisa said that she had no control of herself when she turned. What if she ended up eating...me?

But I really wanted to see her in her wolf-form. I wanted to know if she really had been telling the truth today or whether this was just another trick. I wanted to see what it felt like to sneak out at night.

So I quietly walked to the door and tiptoed out into the hallway and to the stairs. Peering over the bannister, I saw that Mrs Peggs was no longer in the living room. Maybe she was in the kitchen? But I could hear nothing coming from the kitchen. Then, I heard the front door open and close. Good, that meant she had gone to check on Mittens. This was the only time that cat had been of use to me.

I tiptoed down the stairs and slipped out of the front door, keeping a lookout for Mrs Peggs. I inched closer to the street and kept to the shadows. The street was silent at this time, except some faint music that was coming from the house at the end. I think they were having some sort of party there.

I reached Lisa's house soon enough. The garden was silent and the house was bathed in darkness, except the porch which was lit up by a yellow bulb. I slowly went around the house, trying to guess where Lisa's room would be since I had forgotten to ask her. I reached the side of the house and looked up at the windows of the rooms. There was no light in any of them except one. It wasn't even a light exactly. It seemed to be a flashlight being swung back and forth. That had to be Lisa, I guessed. I picked up a tiny pebble from the ground and threw it at the window. It bounced back after making a dull thud and Lisa peered out of the window. She put a finger to her lips and motioned for me to wait. So I waited for around five minutes until she finally sprinted out of the house towards me. Now that I looked closely at her, her eyes had gotten a little darker and her already dark hair was tangled and messed up. She hastily fished a hair tie out of her pocket and tied it up.

"About time you got here!" she rasped. Her voice was like a low growl and I wondered if she was doing it on purpose.

"But you told to get here by nine," I pointed out.

"Clearly, I was wrong," she said. "The moon has been up for ages. I was getting a headache."

Where we live, nighttime comes a little late so the day is longer at this time of the year. The moon can't even be glimpsed before eight.

We quietly walked away from the house and Lisa told me we were going to the woods. The woods were just a short walk from our street so I figured it wouldn't take long.

When we got to the edge of the tree line, Lisa was almost shaking convulsively and I was getting a little scared. Something told me this was not a joke.

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A/N

There you go, guys. Thank you all so much for the feedback. I am really sorry for the (very) late update, but I will try to upload the next chapter really soon. Don't forget to vote and comment XD