WOLF

Chapter 1- The Friend

What most people don't understand is that werewolves can come into existence in two ways. The first is the normal way: another werewolf bites a human. But really? What is a werewolf? A werewolf is a wolf in human form that turns into an evil vampire in a wolf body on full moons. So that means that if a vampire bites a regular wolf, a werewolf comes alive. That's the second way, I guess.

I'm Daniella. I guess I came the second way. Honestly, I can't exactly remember everything that happened. Oh yes, I remember. It was a nice spring day... Or was it a horrible fall day? Oh well, all the stories start with something like that...

Anywho, I know it was a day and I was a wolf, I think. Maybe it was nighttime. Whatever. So I was outside... er.. Frolicking... when I heard a rustling noise. I didn't know what it was so I tried to hide. But, seeing as I was in an open field, hiding... er... wasn't really an option for me. Then, some creepy creature comes, like, lurking behind me. I mean really, you leave a little wolf, all alone, in the wilderness, totally defenseless and she's not going to get scared?

So then, this creature comes and BITES ME!! Horrible, right? Yeah, it just comes up behind me and bites me. In the neck. Two holes. It hurt. But the thing is, I can't even remember what bit me! I know, I know, you'd think I'd be able to remember who ruined my life! But I don't even know what to do, because right after I got bitten, I turned into a human! Isn't that crazy?

The next full moon, I didn't remember anything. I was all over the place in a raging temper and was extremely sore the next day. It's a monstrous change from one day being a harmless, cute little wolf, into a mature young adult human.

What was that? Did you hear it? I crouch down low, trying to perk up my ears when I realize; I don't have wolf ears to eavesdrop with anymore. Well. This is awkward. I get back up and brush myself off. So good job, Daniella, you officially mastered the skill that all human beings have: acting stupid.

Well, most human beings have it.

"Hey!" I turn around at the sound of someone talking... to me. It's a girl, and thank goodness it isn't a boy; I have enough problems with talking to a regular human without worrying about it being a boy. She's a couple inches shorter than me and, even though I don't really fully understand human judgement, I guess she's pretty.

"Do I know you?" she asks, while taking a few steps closer. She has caramel coloured hair and a deep suntan. Her top comes only halfway down her stomach and she has small shorts on her thin legs. She makes me feel subconscious of my loose dirty sundress and flip flops.

"Umm... I don't think I know you," I reply, uncertain. What if she does know me? I decide to be safe and say, "I'm new to... town." That's the right word right?

She surveys my appearance one more time and then decisively says, "But you'll be going to school in town, right?"

What's school? My mind starts working like crazy. She sounds like she doesn't enjoy school, slightly insinuates it.

The girl is staring at me expectantly and I suddenly blurt, "Of course I'm going to school! I mean, I have to!" That last part was sort of a guess, but apparently it was the right thing to say.

"Oh, I know. All the teachers running around, blabbing about World War II or something!" she exclaims, eyes full of excitement. Teachers? Where are we, the Old Testament! (That's right, once as a wolf, I had snagged a Bible. Mind you, we wolves do believe in religion.)

I find myself saying, "Ughh, yeah. School is so boring!" This seems to really push the TALK button on the girl.

"And my chemistry teacher is the WORST! She expects me to- wait I didn't tell you my name! Oh, I'm so stupid... Well, I'm Lindsay," she rambles, enthusiastically sticking out her paw- I mean hand! "And what's your name?"

"Oh, um... Daniella. It's nice to... meet you. I.. um.. What are you doing... here?" Ok. I'm smart, so I know that this is definitely something people who know each other do. But, I'm also friendly (when it's not a full moon) so I shake Lindsay's hand.

"Oh I was just walking by this field and I.. uh... thought you looked... sort of... familiar," Lindsay says uncomfortably. She looks sort of peculiarly at me, like she is still wondering where she knows me from. Maybe she thinks I could go to school with her. Maybe she thinks I am on her... volleyball team. Wow. I guess I have an actual, real genuine friend.

"D'you... d'you want to come to my house? You look like you could eat something," Lindsay says slowly, eyeing my small waist.

"Oh!" I remark. "Okay, I... sure, why not?" I say, letting my stomach get the better of me.

"It's just through this thicket," she says, climbing expertly over a large rock and onto higher ground, where a thin coverage of spindly trees lay. I traipse behind her, my wolf instincts guiding me along the right way. I had a distant feeling that she had gone through here many times before, judging mostly by a more worn line that she followed, or how she was in no doubt where to go.

The blinding light hit me suddenly as we emerged from the trees, brushing dirt and pebbles off of ourselves.

A cottage, the colour of new butter, stood some twenty feet away, the top half of a Dutch door thrown open wide. The house emits a sizzling sound, and by the clanging of a pot and soft singing, her family is cooking.

"Mum! I'm home!" Lindsay calls, striding smartly towards the door. "And I brought a friend!" She fiddles with a latch on the door and then allows me to follow her inside.

A woman of Lindsay's height with soft curls of Lindsay's caramel colour beams at me and asks, "Who might you be, love?"

"This is Daniella, Mum," Lindsay says. "You see how thin she is? Think you can get her something to eat, please?"

Lindsay's mum eyeballs my waist and takes in a deep breath. "Oh, yes, I have just the thing for you, dear!" She prods the meat she is cooking in a pan, next to a bubbling pot.

"Daniella, we can wait at the table for her to finish the food," Lindsay says, pulling up a stool to a crude brown table.

Some two minutes later, Lindsay's mum tips four browned links of the meat onto my plate, announcing, "Sausages!"

Lindsay hands me a silver utensil and at my puzzled look she raises an eyebrow saying, "Fork. You eat with it."

"Oh, uh, yeah," I say, uncertainly. I grab the "fork" and poke the blunt rounded side into the sausage.

Lindsay gives me a quizzical look and says, "Don't you know how to use a fork?"

I sheepishly shake my head.

"What? When did you eat last, Daniella?" Lindsay says, jaw open.

"Erm..." I consider it. I didn't catch any game this morning so it had to be yesterday. "Yesterday, I had a fish."

"Yesterday?" Lindsay asks, bewildered. "Well, Daniella, do you have regular meals? Do your parents feed you?"

"Lindsay," her mum scolds. "Let's not be nosey, now. I'm sure Daniella is generally well-fed."

"Okay, mum," Lindsay mutters. "Well any way, Daniella, you use the end with four little spikes on it, not the round one."

"Oh." I flip the fork around and start eating. The sausage is a burst of flavor, spicy, hot, meaty. I swallow and can feel its path down my throat and into my empty stomach. I groan appreciatively. "This is very good, Ms..." I look at Lindsay.

"Ms White, sweetheart," finishes her mum.

"Thank you for the food, Ms White," I say after I have filled myself to the brim with her excellent sausage.

"No problem, Daniella, dear," Ms White concludes, as I leave the cottage. "Come back any time."