Werewolf Skin (3 page)

Pictured the shiny black eyes staring up blankly, lifelessly.

“What are you going to be for Halloween?” Arjun asked Hannah.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t decided yet.”

He turned to me. “Do you know what you want to be, Alex?”

I nodded. “Yeah. I want to be a werewolf.”

Arjun uttered a near-silent gasp. The two boys exchanged glances.

Their smiles faded. Their faces turned solemn.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

No reply.

“Hey—what’s wrong?” I repeated.

Arjun lowered his gaze to the ground. “We have enough werewolves in Wolf
Creek,” he murmured.

“What do you mean?” I cried. “Come on, guys—what do you mean by that?”

But they didn’t answer.

Instead, they turned and vanished into the woods.

Aunt Marta invited Hannah to stay for dinner. The four of us squeezed around
the small kitchen table and spooned up big bowls of steaming chicken soup.

“You make the best soup!” Hannah told my aunt.

Aunt Marta smiled. A little broth dripped down her chin. She reached for her
napkin. “Thank you, Hannah. I just throw everything in it I can find.”

“Sorry we were late for dinner,” I said. “I lost track of time. I didn’t want
to leave the woods. It was so interesting.”

Uncle Colin’s eyes moved to the kitchen window. He stared up at the rising
moon. Then he lowered his gaze to the Marlings’ house next door.

“I photographed an awesome-looking tree,” I told him. “It was wrinkled and
bent over like an old man.”

Uncle Colin didn’t reply. His eyes were still focused out the window.

“Colin—Alex is talking to you,” Aunt Marta scolded.

“Huh? Oh.” He turned back to the table, shaking his head as if shaking away
his thoughts. “Sorry. What were you saying?”

I told him again about the old tree.

“I’ll help you develop those shots,” he offered. “Maybe tomorrow. I set up a
darkroom in the little bathroom in the attic. We really need a bigger house.
Especially with all the work we’ve been doing lately.”

“What are you photographing now?” I asked.

“Creatures of the night,” he replied. His eyes wandered to the window again.
I followed his gaze to the Marlings’ back window. Totally dark.

“We’re photographing nocturnal animals,” Aunt Marta explained. “Animals that
come out only at night.”

“You mean like owls?” Hannah asked.

Aunt Marta nodded. “We’ve found some wonderful owls in the woods—haven’t
we, Colin?”

Uncle Colin turned back from the window. Silvery light from the full moon
washed over the windowpane. “The night creatures don’t like to be photographed,”
he said, spooning up a carrot and chewing it slowly. “They are very private.”

“Sometimes we wait in one spot for hours,” my aunt added. “Waiting for a
creature to poke its head up from its hole in the ground.”

“Can I come with you one night?” I asked eagerly. “I can be real quiet.
Really.”

Uncle Colin swallowed a chunk of chicken. “That’s a fine idea,” he said. But
then his expression grew solemn. And he added, “Maybe after Halloween.”

I turned and saw Aunt Marta staring out at the Marlings’ house. “The moon is
still low,” she said thoughtfully. “But it’s so bright tonight.”

“Almost like daylight out there,” Uncle Colin said. What was that expression
that quickly passed over his face? Was it
fear
?

My aunt and uncle are both acting so weird tonight, I decided. So nervous.

Why do they keep staring out the window? What do they expect to see at the
Marlings’ house?

I couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Is everything okay?” I asked them.

“Okay?” Uncle Colin narrowed his eyes at me. “I guess…”

“Are you two thinking about your Halloween costumes?” Aunt Marta demanded,
changing the subject.

“I think I’m going to be a pirate again this year,” Hannah replied. She
finished her chocolate milk and licked the chocolate syrup on the edge of the
glass. “You know. I’ll wrap a bandanna around my head and wear a patch over one
eye.”

“Colin and I might have some funny old clothes you can wear,” Aunt Marta
offered. She turned to me. “How about you, Alex?”

I still wanted to be a werewolf. But I remembered the last time I’d told that
to my aunt and uncle. Uncle Colin had nearly cracked up the car!

So I smiled and quietly told them, “Maybe I’ll be a pirate too.”

I spooned up the last of my soup.

I had no way of knowing that in a few hours, when the moon rose to its peak
in the sky, I’d be nearly face-to-face with a
real
werewolf.

After Hannah went home, I made my way to my little bedroom. I straightened up
a bit, shoving clothes into the dresser drawers.

I’m not the neatest person in the world. Let’s face it—I’m a total slob.
But I knew if I let the clutter pile up in this tiny room, I’d never find
anything.

I sat down at the desk and wrote a short letter to Mom and Dad. I told them
everything was fine. I wrote that I’d have at least a thousand great photographs
to show them when they came home from France.

When I finished addressing the letter, I wasn’t feeling sleepy. But I decided
I should probably go to bed, anyway.

I started to the closet to find my pajamas. But I stopped at the window.

And stared out at a pale orange light.

A light in a side window of the Marlings’ house!

The light shimmered between two tilting trees, their leaves vibrating in the
wind. A pale orange rectangle of light on the bottom floor of the house, near
the back.

A bedroom window?

I pressed closer to the glass and squinted hard into the darkness. Squinted
into the dim rectangle of orange.

Was I about to see one of the Marlings? I held my breath and waited.

I didn’t have to wait long.

I let out a gasp as a silhouette crossed the window next door. A gray figure
caught in the rectangle of orange.

Was it a man?

I couldn’t tell.

The silhouette moved. It’s an animal, I realized.

No. A man.

Mr. Marling?

I pressed against the glass, squinting hard. Was it a large dog? A man? I
couldn’t see clearly.

The silhouette moved away from the window.

And then I heard a long, high animal wail.

The sound floated out through the window next door. Floated across the narrow
space between our houses.

The high, animal howl swept into my room. Swirled around me.

Such an ugly, frightening sound. Half-human, half-animal. A cry I had never
heard before.

A chill rolled down my back. And then another.

Another howl made me gasp.

I stared out as the silhouette returned to the window. A creature with its
head tilted back. Its jaws open, uttering such frightening animal cries.

I’ve got to take a picture, I told myself. I’ve got to photograph the howling
silhouette.

I spun away from the window. Dove across the tiny room to the dresser.

Reached for my camera.

My camera?

It was gone.

“No—!” I uttered a shocked cry.

My hands fumbled frantically over the desktop.

I left the camera there. I knew I had.

But no. No camera.

My eyes swept around the room. I had just straightened up. Everything was in
place. The desktop. The dresser.

No camera. No camera.

I dropped to my knees and searched under the bed.

No camera.

I crawled over to the closet. Pulled open the door. And searched the closet
floor.

As I searched, another wolf howl burst into my room. Higher. Shriller.

And then I heard two howls together. The sirenlike wails blending in a
strange, sour harmony.

Was it Mr. and Mrs. Marling?

As I climbed to my feet, I heard a scraping sound. Wood against wood.

The sound of a window opening.

I heard a heavy
THUD.

Feet landing hard on the ground.

And then I heard low grunts. Heavy, thudding footsteps.

Footsteps right outside my room!

I dove back to the window. Breathlessly, my heart pounding, I stared out.

Too late.

No one out there now.

All dark. The orange light gone from the Marlings’ window. The house
completely covered in black again.

The trees shaking, black against the blue-black sky. The leaves silvery,
shimmering under the bright light of the moon.

I stared out there for a long moment, waiting for my heart to stop racing.
Listening for the high howls, the heavy, thudding footsteps.

Silence now.

My camera…

I forced myself to turn away from the window. I hurried out of the room and
down the short hall to the living room. Did I leave the camera case here when
Hannah and I returned from the woods?

No. No sign of it.

I checked the kitchen. Not there, either.

“Aunt Marta! Uncle Colin!” I called them. My voice came out tinier than I’d
planned.

I ran back down the hall. Past my room. Past the bathroom and the linen closet. Their room stood at the end. “Have you
seen my camera anywhere?” I cried.

I shoved open the door to their bedroom.

Dark in there. Dark and empty.

I could smell Aunt Marta’s flowery perfume. And the sharp odor of
photo-developing fluid.

They’ve gone out to the woods to photograph animals, I realized.

I’m all alone here.

I took a deep breath and held it. Calm down, Alex, I instructed myself.
You’re perfectly okay. You’re perfectly safe.

You will find your camera as soon as you get calm. It’s probably right out in
plain sight. But you’re so crazy and pumped up, you can’t see it. Just calm
down!

I took another long, deep breath. I was starting to feel calmer.

I closed my aunt and uncle’s bedroom door and started back down the hall.

I was halfway to my room when I heard the soft, scraping sound.

And then the thud of footsteps.

I froze. And listened.

More footsteps. Heavy thuds.

Where were they coming from?

Overhead?

Yes.

I peered up at the low ceiling.

Another scraping sound. More thudding footsteps. They’re in the attic! I
realized. Whatever those howling creatures are—
they’re in the house!

I dropped back against the wall. My whole body shook.

I swallowed hard. And listened to the heavy footsteps above my head.

I’ve got to get out of here! I told myself. I’ve got to get out of this
house!

I’ve got to tell Uncle Colin and Aunt Marta!

But my legs felt like Jell-O. I didn’t know if I could walk.

I took a shaky step. Then another.

And then I heard a new sound from upstairs.

I stopped and listened.

Humming? Was someone
humming
?

With a burst of energy, I grabbed the door to the attic. I pulled it open and
shouted up the stairs, “Who’s up there? Who is it?”

“It’s me, Alex!” a familiar voice called down.

“Hannah—?” I choked out. I stared up to the attic. “Wh-what are you doing up
there?”

“Didn’t your aunt tell you I came back?” Hannah called.

“No, she didn’t,” I replied.

“She said she had some old clothes up here that might make a good costume. So
I came back to check it out.”

Her head appeared at the top of the stairs. “Why do you sound so weird?”

“I—I thought—” I began. But the words caught in my throat.

I started up the stairs.

“No—!” Hannah cried. “Don’t come up!”

I stopped on the third step. “How come?” I called.

“I’m not dressed. I’m trying on stuff,” she explained. She smiled down at me.
“Besides, I want to surprise you. There’s some
awesome
old stuff up here.
Your aunt and uncle must have looked really
weird
when they were young.”

Her head disappeared from view. I could hear the rustle of clothes up there.

I backed down the stairs. “Hey—do you know where my camera is?” I asked.
“I’ve looked all over the house, and—”

“Oh, no!” Hannah groaned. Her head appeared again. This time she wasn’t
smiling.

“What?” I called up to her.

“Your camera, Alex. Do you think maybe you left it in the woods?”

I gasped. “I don’t know. I thought…” My voice trailed off. I had a sick,
heavy feeling in the pit of my stomach.

“You had it when Sean and Arjun left,” Hannah said. “But when we came back to
the house, I don’t remember you carrying it.”

“Oh, wow!” I shook my head. “I’ve got to go get it, Hannah. I can’t leave it
overnight in the woods.”

“
No—!
” she cried. “Alex, listen to me. You can’t go out there.”

“I have to!” I cried.

“But the woods aren’t safe at night,” she protested. “They really aren’t
safe.”

I turned away and ran down the hall. I pulled on my jacket and found a
flashlight on the floor of the hall closet. I tested it a few times. The light
was steady and bright.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I shouted up to Hannah.

“No—please, Alex!” I heard her call down. “Listen to me! Don’t go into the
woods tonight! Wait for me to get dressed. Just wait for me—okay?”

But I couldn’t leave my camera out there to be ruined.

I closed the front door behind me and stepped out into the light of the moon.

I began trotting along the side of the house toward the backyard. Heavy black
clouds covered the moon. The night air felt colder than I’d thought. Wet. I
zipped my down jacket as I ran.

I glanced at the Marlings’ house as I jogged past. Nothing to see there. The
back window had been left wide open. But the house was completely dark. Not a
light on anywhere.