Rise of the Werechipmunks (ONC 2022)

In Which Sophie Might Actually Have a Soulmate

 On the walk back to the werechipmunk den, Sophie made three decisions.

She was going to take up Krav Maga. Cora seemed to like it (and more time with Cora was always a good thing) and it seemed practical. The next time a werewolf tried to eat her neck, she would be ready!

She was going to write a story on Wattpad about werechipmunks. She'd come up with a pen name, then use the platform to send a message of peace and love and chipmunks. It would be wonderful.

She was going to figure out how to transform into a wolf. Wasn't that the whole point of being a werewolf?

By the time she got back (roughly four hours after she'd said she would be back), Sophie was grinning widely. She'd put her life together! She was a strong, independent woman. She was ready for anything the world threw at her, from college applications to flying weresquirrels to full moons that rearranged her insides (in a fun way!). She was...

Absolutely terrified. Absolutely terrified and staring straight at Nicole's severed head.

"Wh—How? What's going on? Why is Nicole dead? I thought we said no killing!" Sophie jumped backwards. Nicole—or what remained of her—was staring back at her, her eyes a brilliant blue even six hundred and seventy-one feet underground with only a rapidly dying flashlight for light. Her head was fixed onto a wooden stake, blood still leaking from her neck.

"Oh my god," Sophie whispered. Nicole was dead. Dead dead. As in, incapable of reapplying her makeup, wearing any more scanty outfits, or doing whatever else Nicole did in her spare time. They were going to have to have a funeral; what if they couldn't find a coffin in the werechipmunk den? What about a gravestone? What were they supposed to do?

Maybe it wasn't actually Nicole. Hunter had faked his death, so maybe it was a common thing in the supernatural world. It was fine. Well, it was probably fine. Right?

She heard the crunch of feet on gravel. A long shadow moved along the tunnel wall. Sophie dropped into a crouch, fists clenched, arms raised. She started to scream.

"Sophie, hey. You okay? I told them to move the spiked head away from the entryway." Cora jogged up to her. "I probably shouldn't be surprised that Jaxon didn't listen to me."

Suddenly, Sophie was nervous for an entirely different reason.

Cora was wearing a dress.

It was a rich green, the skirts flowing all the way to her ankles, the neckline decorated with small silk flowers, and she wore a necklace of silvery pearls. Her hair was curled, hanging in ringlets around her face. She wore tennis shoes, which seemed an odd choice, but Sophie would've sworn upon Wattpad itself that it worked. The dress hugged every curve and dip of her body like it had been built to make Sophie's eyes bug out of their sockets.

"Are you—Are you okay?" Cora pulled Sophie into a hug. "I know that you knew her. I'm really sorry. They were supposed to put the body out of sight and—Jaxon's an idiot."

Sophie melted into Cora's arms. She even smelled good. Like cinnamon. Her hands were warm against Sophie's back and just a little hesitant. Her lips were right there.

And Nicole's dead eyes were watching them.

Sophie pulled back. "It's um... I mean, obviously I freaked out a little. What happened?"

"It arrived via weremail. It sounds really fancy, but it's actually a big hole that they just drop things into to get them to where they want them to go." Cora shuddered, eying Nicole's dead body.

It was almost like she could see them.

"Maybe we should go somewhere else?" Sophie asked.

"Yes. Definitely. One hundred percent." Cora grabbed her hand and pulled her into the den.