A Werewolf's Tale

Chapter 5- Pictures of You

Candy finally found Christoph's house after making a couple of wrong turns. One of these took her to the creepy old cult compound on RR Road. She huffed and blew her red locks out of her eyes as the gate opened and she drove through. All was quiet around the homestead and a wisp of dust blew past the front porch. The paint on the house was old and peeling, and an old, rusty metal barn loomed behind it.

"Is there anything out in the country that is not creepy?" she asked herself. She threw the Plymouth Neon into park and opened the door. "What else would I expect from him?"

An eerie howl broke the silence. One by one, three more joined in. The howls created a haunting chorus that made Candy want to lock herself in the Plymouth and drive out of there as fast as it would go.

"Get it together, Candace." She took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. "Hello!" she called out. "Uh-Puppies, where are you?"

She decided a direct approach was best and walked with an air of confidence up to the porch. The boards creaked beneath her sneakers. The chain from the porch swing made a rusty screech in the wind and she nearly jumped out of her shoes. She reached for the front door and turned the knob.

"What? Christoph doesn't lock his front do—Oh shit!"

Two black wolves almost as large as she was leered at her from inside the doorway. The fanged faces seemed to smile. She stepped backward, into a nose that poked her right in the butt. She screamed. There was another one behind her! This one had fur almost as red as her hair. Another one with an auburn coat jumped up upon the porch from the side. The auburn wolf was a female, and she snarled her lip at Candy.

"Aroo," said the one who had snuck up behind her. All of the wolves sat down. The red one grinned up at her. The two black ones looked exactly alike and appeared to be talking back and forth in whines and chittering sounds.

"OK." Candy's hand clutched an imaginary necklace near her throat. "So, you are the kids. You almost gave me a heart attack. Now I know why Chris doesn't bother locking the doors."

The red one offered his paw. She bent down and took the big paw in her hand. He sniffed her hair and then grinned at her, his tongue lolling. As she walked through the house, the four wolves trailed along behind her in a line. She found a large steel trough in the kitchen and filled it with clean water.

"I don't see food bowls. That's odd."

The red male and auburn colored female both pointed their noses at the back door. The black ones appeared to get excited and started wagging their tails and chattering louder. Candy opened the back door. There were several goats milling around inside a pen. She looked down and saw the stripped carcass on the ground. Candy slammed the door.

"Oh, Hell no!" She looked at the pups. "I'm not killing a damn goat! Y'all are getting dog food."

The auburn wolf snorted. The red one rolled on his back and played dead with his feet in the air. The two black ones had drooping eyes and made whining noises like puppies. Candy shook her head and walked back into the living room.

"Jesus." She looked around at the disheveled room. "Does he never clean this dump?" she looked down at the red one, who had again sneaked up behind her. "I'm doing this for you, not him." She set about cleaning the house, dusting, knocking down cobwebs, and removing old beer cans and other trash.

The female wolf lay in a recliner, following Candy with her eyes. The two black ones kept picking up random objects and spitting them out next to her feet. One picked up a sock. The other twin snatched it up in his mouth and they fought over it until it tore in two. They trotted up and spat the sock pieces in front of her.