Stuck In The Clouds - a Werewolf Tale

~~~Chapter Six~~~

Lucky for Amy and Cloud, hardly any cars ever passed through the town, especially this late at night. There were also no houses along the one main road that took you in and out, still Cloud ran exclusively in the large flood ditches along the road all the way to the outlying neighborhood where Fallon lived.

Also lucky for them, Fallon was practically nocturnal. She often forced Amy to do things like stay on the phone all night to look at stars or watch the sunrise from different places. When they arrived at her house, the lights were all off except for the one, coming through Fallon's window on the second floor. Amy hopped off Cloud's back and looked through the yard for a few rocks. When she had a handful, she began throwing rocks at the window. After the third one, a figure with candyapple-red hair peeked out the window and disappeared.

A few seconds later, a girl dressed all in black shoved open the door and bounced down the back steps. She walked straight over Cloud, who was (as silently as possible) changing back to a human beneath the stairs. "Fallon!" Amy whispered excitedly. She ran up to Fallon and they hugged. They looked a lot alike, with their matching glasses and flowing hair, though Fallon's was much shorter.

"Why are you in my backyard?" she asked. Just then Fallon's dog, began barking furiously at a figure under the stairs. Fallon turned, "Ugh, Sherlock, shut up. They're just frogs!" she said, exhausted. She started to walk over to her pet but Amy grabbed her arm, "Wait!" she whispered harshly. "What?" Fallon asked. Amy looked past her. "Cloud, come over here!" she said softly. "Who-" Fallon began, but stopped as she saw the tall boy, wearing only a pair of shorts, stepping out from behind the stairs. "Hi." he said, walking towards the two staring girls. "Hey." Fallon said, looking from him to Amy to the ground. Amy knew she wouldn't talk very much. Both girls had always been very shy when it came to nice-looking boys.

Amy looked at Cloud, who looked down at Fallon. He stuck out his hand at her, "Nice to meet you." Fallon looked at him quizzically and shook it. "You too..." The boy seemed overly formal. He glanced down at Amy, smiled, and continued, "I am Amy's mate, Cloud." The girls froze, and Amy could feel her cheeks flush with red furiously. She heard Fallon snicker. "What?" Amy glared at him. Cloud looked confused, like he was fumbling for words. Amy grabbed him, "You never got outside the pack much, did you?" she hissed. "I was trying to be polite? What did I say?" Cloud asked, with an expression so genuine Amy tried to stop feeling so flustered, for his sake. Fallon broke in, "Wait, is this guy your boyfriend or something?" Amy glanced at Cloud. Stunned at the word "boyfriend" and it's new meaning for her. "Yeah, pretty much." Fallon giggled in a surprised sort of way, mouth agape but smiling. She rushed to Amy's ear, "Ask him if he has any hot friends for me." Amy looked at her friend, "Fallon!" she said, acting shocked. "Oh, hush." her friend stopped her. "Before this goes any further: 1. Why is he shirtless? and 2. How/Why are you here so late?" Fallon asked. Amy wasn't completely sure how to answer, but she was still so excited at the word "boyfriend", she decided she would just come out and tell her friend the truth. "Well... Cloudisawerewolfandwe'rerunningawaytogetherandweneedyoutohelpus." she said as quickly as possible. 

Fallon stared at Amy for a moment, and began cackling loud enough to wake the whole neighborhood. "What?" she asked through bursts of laughter. "Amy you really have to quit reading werewolf fanfiction." she continued, her sentence deteriorating into more laughter. "Fallon, shut up you'll wake your whole family!" Amy urged. This caused Fallon to spiral into one last burst of laughter as she tried to contain herself. Finally Amy sat next to her. "Fine! I don't care if you believe to wolf part but you have to help me organize this whole thing. Please, you're good at planning and need you." she begged. "Okay, okay... okay," Fallon let out a deep breath. "Are you sure about this? You're parents wont find out?" Amy looked down at her feet. "I don't know. This is what I've decided to do though, and my parents wont come looking for an entire week." Fallon looked worried, and looked over at Cloud, who was playing with the dog. "Are you sure you're safe with this guy? I mean absolutely certain, because if he's making you do this-" Amy stopped her, "I trust him." and she did. Against all her better judgement, he made her feel safe. Ever since they met, she'd had a feeling they were meant to be together, and as long as they were it'd be okay. Cloud walked over and sat next to Amy. Fallon sighed, "Where are you gonna go?" Amy and Cloud looked at each other and said in unison, "Rocky Mountain National Park"

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Fallon had her smartphone out and began searching for places to stay along the 1,200 miles between themselves and the park. Cloud and Amy babbled on about how they read that there were projects to return wolves to the area, and joked that they'd be practically begging him to hunt there, due to their overpopulation of elk. Not only that, but it was very big, and the closest national park the could find. After quite some time searching, Fallon stood suddenly and ran inside. Leaving Amy and Cloud confused and silent. She returned with a road map and sharpie. She looked back and forth from her phone to the map, marking blue dots and writing the names of the cheapest hotels. Amy and Cloud watched, silently anticipating the journey that was being written out for them. When she finished, Fallon leaned back and allowed Amy to snatch the map off her lap. "If you stay at each for one night only, you can get to Colorado in no time." Amy was overcome with excitement. She started laughing and pounced onto Cloud. They embraced as Fallon stood up. "Alright guys, please save this for the hotel room."  Amy got up, with the help of Cloud, and hugged Fallon again. "Thank you so much, Fal-fal. I'm gonna miss you." Amy thought about how they might never see each other again. She was always very affectionate towards her friends, Amy usually said she missed Fallon after five minutes of being separated! "I'll miss you too..." Fallon grumbled. She was the opposite of affectionate.

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They walked to the moonlit gravel road. Cloud was back under the stairs, undressing so he wouldn't ruin another pair of shorts. "Are you sure you'll be okay? Do you need money? Food?" Amy shook her head. "No, I've got  one of those cards you get at Christmas with at least $200 on it that's good anywhere, plus some money i've been saving up." Amy assured her friend. Cloud, now a huge dark animal, came slinking from behind the house, a pair of shorts in his teeth. "Woah, there. Uhm..."Fallon mumbled. She backed away, green eyes filled with fear. "Calm down, he's perfectly safe." Amy said as she climbed onto his back. Fallon stood a good 5 feet back. "Is that, um. Is that really..." she stumbled over her words. "Yeah." Amy said. Cloud turned his head to Fallon, who was still backing away. His blue eyes stopped her, and she was frozen for a moment, captured by his gaze. After a moment she remembered herself and looked away, "Yeah, whatever." she said. She then looked back at Amy. "Be safe, okay. Well, I mean, as safe as possible on werewolf back..." she laughed. Amy smiled. "I'll try." Fallon walked up and they hugged again. "Goodbye." Amy said as Cloud began to walk away. "Bye!" Fallon replied. Cloud moved faster. Amy turned back and yelled, "Love you, Fal-fal!" Fallon called back, laughing, "I know!" Amy stayed turned around and watched as her best friend, her town, and her past shrank behind her.