Red As Roses and Black As Night

11. The Fun Begins

I placed the heart down gently before following the scent Illea left behind. Before I could get anywhere near her, though, a hand grabbed my elbow. I could smell the rotting flesh even more than before. It was so bad I actually gagged. I turned around slowly, regretting it instantly.

Ranger Glenn grinned, revealing red teeth and maggots squirming in her mouth. Spiders were darting in an out of her hair, some of them missing legs. Her glasses were gone, revealing pitch-black eyes, glistening in the sunlight. Her skin was pale and grey, clinging to her skin, etching her bones for the world to see. Her nails were long and chipped, and for a second I saw black drool ooze from her mouth before she slurped it back up. She was still holding on to my arm.

"Fane, was it?" she asked, as if the spider and maggots and her eyes were normal. I glanced around to see if anyone noticed, and they had. They were all staring, eyes wide with horror. I could actually see Ms. Perrin trembling. Henri looked ready to pounce once the word is given.

"Yes, I am Fane." I responded, very surprised at how confident I sounded. I would have expected a pitch rise in my voice.

She let loose a warm laugh. "You smell really nice." she told me, her fingers creeping up my arm. I grabbed it with my other before she could get to my shoulder, and she hissed. She yanked her hand away and instead of leaving, she lunged for my neck. I backed away, nearly tripping over the picnic table. Henri was as tense as a coiled snake, ready to strike as soon as Ranger Glenn lay a finger on me again. He was protective like that. But the thing that scared me was that his eyes were yellow and he was emitting a growl.

He was going to wolf-out.

Ranger Glenn's head swiveled a whole 270 degrees, her body not following. I think I heard Oliver puke behind me. Then Ranger Glenn collapsed into a heap of skin and bones. Black liquid seeped out of her.

The ground didn't absorb it.

I looked for Ranger Danger. He was at the playground now, looking for something. I couldn't tell what, though, because my attention was snapped back to Ranger Glenn. "You will all perish, and I will feast upon your rotting corpses."  She hissed, the last words to exit her deformed, frail mouth. The black stuff around her oozed still, now coming from her eyes.

I looked back to Henri, who was now shaking. Definitely going to be a wolf soon. I grabbed his arm and ran for the woods, but then everyone else followed. "Fane, just let them see. After that they'll believe anything." he told me in a husk voice after we were a good distance into the woods.

But then everyone else kept running. I heard screaming, too. Crying. Someone shoved me into Henri, and we toppled. We were trampled by terrified teens, but there was one particular pair of feet I was looking for.

"Where's Illea?" I asked, sitting up after everyone was gone. Henri didn't get up; instead, he began wheezing and shaking. I let him be, knowing that I could do nothing to help. I went back down the new trail my classmates had made in the forest to get back to the field where Illea should be.

"Fane? Fane! We need to leave!" Mr. Halloway shouted. I whipped around, and saw him in the trees. "Not without Illea." I said sternly, and he ran a hand through his hair. "Please, Fane. Illea is gone, let's go."

"She is not gone, she just turned invisible."

"What? Fane, that isn't--"

"I'm a werewolf. So is Henri. Ranger Danger and Ranger Glenn were possessed or something."

"Uh--you--um--I'm just going to leave you here, then." he said. I looked over his shoulder and tensed. "Mr. Halloway, look out--" I began to shout, but I was too late.