Moonlit Fur Chronicles: Torn Fur

Max decided he wanted to make us barbecue on the grill. Ash helped him prepare the grill and the meats. The four of us girls decided to sunbathe. We rested on the loungers and developed tans. Jules and Casey followed their noses out to the grill. They competed against each other in some kind of weight lifting challenge. Casey had won; Jules was cranky. Phoenix called Jules to pull up a chair and sit with her. He picked her up, sat in her lounger, and set her gently in his lap. She rolled her eyes playfully and kissed him. It was romantic. I felt a sense of pride and accomplishment, I provided a safe place for my pack. I couldn’t take all the credit, without Quinn none if this would’ve been possible.

I gazed at Quinn, she was absolutely gorgeous. Her smile made my heart flutter. Max called us to get lunch. Quinn stood and walked to the grill. It was just like in the movies, time slowed, sultry music played, the wind made Quinn’s hair dance. I had fallen hard for Quinn. “Reese,” Max called. “Come get your food!” I shook my head, pulled myself out of my stupor. I noticed everyone had collected their food. I was the last one without a plate. Max waved an empty plate at me. I leapt up and took long strides and quickly covered the gap between Max and I, “Smells great. Thank you Max.” He beamed at me, “Tastes better than it smells.” Ash bragged, “My Max is a grilling master!” Max blushed and gave me a plate. Ash was right, this was the best barbecue I ever had.

After lunch, I asked Casey to take a walk with me. I wanted to investigate the camp I found early that morning. We walked along, sometimes in comfortable silence, sometimes in a conversation. I told him what I found and that I wanted to poke around, see what I could learn. Casey replied that we needed to be very careful, especially if these people were armed. I agreed with him, this was a dangerous outing. We finally reached the gunpowder scent lingered yet not nearly as intense as before. Someone must have taken the rifle and left. “Alright, that’s close enough. Turn around nice and slow. Keep your hands where I can see them,” a voice commanded.

We slowly lifted our hands above our hands and carefully turned around. A young man, possibly in his mid twenties, pointed a very large pistol at us. His appearance was rugged and beaten, as if he had spent a prolonged amount of time outdoors. He looked so familiar, I knew him from somewhere. I couldn’t place him. “Easy there. We aren’t looking for trouble,” Casey calmly began. “We were just out walking and stumbled on your camp.” The man stared at me as if he was struggling to recognize me, the feeling was mutual. “I know your face,” he said absentmindedly to me. “That’s not creepy at all,” I replied sarcastically. “What the hell? Reese, is that you?” The man’s jaw dropped, he holstered the pistol.

Recognition finally dawned on me, “Dylan? What are you doing out here?” I lowered my hands. “You two know each other,” Casey asked. “Reese and I were best friends back in high school. Damn it’s good to see you! Come sit by the fire and let’s catch up!” Casey and I took a seat while Dylan built up the fire. My inner wolf stirred, it sensed danger. It was not happy, it urged me to flee. I exchanged a quick glance with Casey, they felt the same sensation I did. Dylan sat down and examined me, “Damn it’s been a long time.” “What happened to you, man? Are you a gun nut or something now?” I asked and pointed with my chin to his pistol with my chin. “This old thing?” He patted the pistol grip. “Better safe than sorry. It’s a crazy world out there.” Casey nodded in agreement.

Dylan and I talked and reminisced about the good old days. He told us that he was an avid camper and outdoors man. I glanced sideways at Casey. They were twitching slightly. It was time to go. “It’s good catching up with you Dylan. I gotta go get dinner ready,” I made up an excuse. I stood, Casey did the same. We walked away from Dylan’s camp. “Did you get a funny feeling about him too,” Casey queried. “Definitely,” I replied. “There’s something about him that just…I’ve got a bad feeling about him. I mean back in high school he was one of my closest friends. We did everything together. Study, hang out, everything.” Casey listened quietly. “Dylan and I were inseparable. Somehow we lost track of each other. I was dejected. Haven’t seen him since.”

Casey just listened as we walked. Casey was a great listener. The sun began setting, we trudged on. “Be careful, don’t fall into the pool. I made that mistake early this morning,” I muttered. Casey chuckled, “Probably needed a shower anyway,” they jested. I shot them a smirk. I chucked a small stick at Casey, “Go fetch!” Casey laughed a deep charming guffaw. When we arrived, I decided I’d mess with Casey. I deftly stuck my foot in front of them, whipped my arm around their shoulder and shoved Casey into the pool. Their reflexes were faster than I anticipated, Casey’s hand, quick as lightning, latched onto my wrist and dragged me into the water with them.

I shrieked in surprise just before I splashed into the deep end. “Casey!” I squealed once my head broke the surface. “You jerk!” I looked around but couldn’t see them. Suddenly I felt a firm grip on my ankle. It yanked me down under the water. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large Casey shaped shadow swim to the edge of the pool. A growl bubbled in my chest. I swam toward and vaulted over the edge of the pool. Casey rolled on the ground with laughter. I rolled my eyes and found a towel in the storage closet by the back door. I dried myself off and went straight to the shower in my bathroom. Quinn saw the towel draped over my shoulders. “What happened?” I didn’t say anything, took her hand in mine and led her to our apartment.

I needed a shower and I needed cuddles. I went to the shower, turned it on, and slipped out of my clothes. I held my hand out to Quinn and invited her to join me. She pulled off her clothes and held me close. We stood there in the shower for a while. It was so nice to be in her arms. The hot water melted away my stress. I buried my head in Quinn’s shoulder. I finally reached for the soap and got the chlorine off my body and hair. We dried ourselves thoroughly. We cuddled into bed. Quinn laid in her usual position, directly behind me with her arms snuggled tightly around me. I spoke in hushed tones, filled her in about Casey and my venture into the woods and how I reconnected with Dylan. I expressed the feeling of danger we both had while at Dylan’s camp.

Quinn listened to my tale. She squeezed my arm twice. I returned the gesture, I really enjoyed our little ritual. It meant a lot to me. I was incredibly exhausted from the day’s events and rollercoaster of emotions. I felt safe and warm in Quinn’s arms. I hadn’t ever felt that around anyone before she found me. My eyelids grew heavy, I knew everything was going to be okay. I drifted off to sleep. Unfortunately the bad dreams returned, I saw our house wrecked and riddled with blood holes. Couches were overturned, the kitchen was on fire, blood was smeared on the walls and pooled on the floors. It was eerily quiet. I heard the sound of heavy footsteps. I turned around to identify them. As the person clambered into the light, I observed their face. Dylan leveled his pistol at my head and pulled the trigger.

I woke up drenched in cold sweat. Luckily Quinn was still asleep, I hadn’t roused her. I got up carefully and tried to not jostle her too much. I went to the kitchen and found a snack. There was left over barbecue from lunch in the fridge. I selected a few pieces and warmed them up. I filled the electric kettle, flicked the switch and waited for it to heat up. I poured a pouch of hot cocoa in a mug. The water in the kettle bubbled and churned, it was hot enough. I clutched my mug for warmth. The house was quiet, a nice and calm kind of quiet. I could hear myself think, unfortunately in this situation it was a bad thing.

My dream replayed in my head. The blood, the fire, the eerie silence and then ‘BLAM’ Dylan’s pistol went off, pointed at my head. A cold chill ran down my spine and I shivered. It had to mean something. If it didn’t mean anything, why did I have this one nightmare constantly? First was when we were about to move into Quinn’s family summer home. Realization hit me like a ton of bricks. During my night terror, I lost control and phased into a wolf nearly killing Quinn. Once we got to her place, I lost control of my wolf and went on a rampage, killing animals and hurting an innocent person. My nightmares were signs of the future! Dylan was intent on my death!