Chapter 27 #3
“Seein’ you with Darryl this morning made me real angry, and I’ve been thinkin’ about stuff.” Roscoe rubbed his head. “I hate thinkin’ about stuff.”
“Angry? Seriously? Dude, you were talking about how hot it would be to see those ferals run a train on me.”
“I actually thought it would have been, but when they tried, I got real protective. It was weird. That’s never happened before.
” He shook his head. “Cody, I’m not used to feelin’ like this.
Don’t know what to make of it.” He smiled softly and pulled me close.
“Nearly killed Darryl with that remedy but seein’ him get a bit of payback after fuckin’ you was worth him tearin’ up my ass after breakfast.”
“We didn’t even go all the way.”
“Wait, you didn’t?” Roscoe’s eyes went wide. “It’s Darryl. No one goes just halfway with Darryl.”
“Have we met? He and I had a little fun jerking each other off, and maybe a little oral here and there when we got high off that shit. That’s the extent of it. He’s a good friend, but he’s not you.”
His eyes watered again.
“Why you gotta say shit like that?”
“Because for some stupid reason, I really like you.” A pile of fallen cornstalks caught my eye. “Wanna fuck on that?”
“Hell yeah. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a good ear or two.”
“That’s gross, Roscoe.”
“What? Wasn’t gonna do sex stuff or nothin’. I was gonna eat ‘em.”
Roscoe was mid-thrust when he froze and looked up at the moon.
“Why did you stop?” I asked, catching my breath. He didn’t respond, seeming almost entranced. “Roscoe?”
“Oooo… Someone just turned,” he said, sliding the rest of the way out of me before rolling onto his back. “It’s gotta be Adam.”
“Thank God!” I shouted, climbing on top of the spent werewolf. “Hopefully he’ll be less of a bitch now. You’re done already?”
“That feeling kinda kills the mood a little. We should go find him. Austin’s probably gonna need some company, too.”
“How do you know all this?”
Roscoe shrugged. “Dunno. Every werewolf knows when it happens, though.” One lonely howl from the north started a cascade of howls that erupted from town in the south. Roscoe’s ears fell. “Aw, shit no…”
“What’s the matter with you?”
He covered his ears and shook his head. “Nope, not gonna do it…”
“You’re scaring me right now.”
More werewolves joined in the chorus, and Roscoe whined, holding his head tighter.
“Jesus fuck,” he muttered, gently sliding me off him. He sat up and pointed his nose to the sky before belting out the most hilarious howl I’d ever heard. It kind of warbled, like he was trying to clear his throat. “I hate this,” he shouted before howling again. “Can’t stop. It’s like throwin’ up.”
“This is the first time I’ve ever heard you do that,” I said, trying not to laugh, but I was failing with every high-pitched yip and yowl. They always seemed so human in personality that I’d sometimes forget werewolves did stuff like this.
“Don’t get used to it.” He let out one final howl that was a lot cleaner than his first few. “Don’t look at me. I’m a freak,” he said jokingly, covering his face.
“Well, I learned something new tonight. Werewolves can feel when half-turns change, and they howl uncontrollably.”
“Would you believe some werewolves do it ’cause they like it?” Roscoe scoffed and stumbled to his feet. “It actually makes me cringe.”
“It’s kinda hot—when you don’t sound asthmatic.”
“I ain’t done that in years. A little dust on the vocal cords.
” He reached down and grabbed my arm. “I bet Adam and Austin are havin’ the roughest sex of their lives right now.
I remember my first night under the moon.
You won’t ever feel something like that again, and yer body just wants to release everything it’s got. ”
“You think I’ll be bigger than you when I turn?” I asked, walking alongside Roscoe, who broke into a light jog as we got closer to the woods.
“Dunno. It’s all random.”
“I can’t wait to see what Adam looks like.”
Roscoe stopped and tried to pick up more scents, but the look on his face turned from intrigue to worry.
“What’s wrong?”
Roscoe lifted his leg and reached down to pull off one of the anklets. It was threaded through one of the colorful stones the ferals gave us weeks ago.
“Aw, no. Those dummies went into the woods.”
“Are you sure?”
“It’s a fresh scent trail.”
Eerie cackles called from the trees, the same songs I’d hear from behind our property. I turned to Roscoe who kept his stare alert and his hackles raised.
“We should get Willa,” I said, pulling Roscoe toward the direction of town.
“I… can’t leave ’em. Not again.” He took more shaky steps to the forest’s edge before locking up, like he was standing on a cliff several thousand feet in the air.
“Again? What are you talking about?”
Roscoe didn’t respond. Instead, he kept his intense stare on the blackened trees. I pulled him back.
“Run to get help. You’re faster than me.”
“You can’t go in there.”
“I’m not a werewolf,” I said, grabbing the stone out of his hand. “Added insurance though, just in case.”
“Please don’t go.” His almost trance-like tone cracked into a high-pitched whine as he held onto my right arm, his grip so tight it hurt.
“Roscoe, calm down.” The world around me faded to silver as the glow of my eyes reflected in his. The vironoct wasn’t as effective on Roscoe for some reason, but it would last long enough for him to do this one task. “Run to town and get Willa. She’ll know what to do.”
His irises looked like two morning glories, blue around a yellow center. He fought it for almost a full minute before both eyes turned solid. Roscoe nodded and bolted toward town, faster than I’d ever seen him run.
“Cody…”
A young woman’s voice whispered in my ears, but it didn’t come from any one direction.
I held my breath and stepped into the blackness of the forest’s edge, my bare feet stumbling over gnarled roots.
I was still mostly naked, save for the leather belt and hilted fake sword swinging from my hip and the golden rope dangling from the other.
“Okay, I was a lot braver a few minutes ago,” I whispered to myself before turning toward the light of town, but there was nothing but trees.
I had only just entered the woods, but now I was in the middle of a forest, the clearing up ahead illuminated by the moon.
The world around me transformed into a labyrinth of shadow, and there was no way to find my way back.
If only I had been the real Theseus.
“Lunam matris potestate…”
The whispers echoed as I pushed my way through the trees, the suffocating stale air overwhelming me. It was like running through a basement as a child, trying to get to the light before the monsters got me—only there was no light, and the monsters were everywhere.
“Austin? Adam?” I called out, but the only answer I received was more incoherent chanting, a little louder than before. The singsong feminine voice transitioned to a demonic timbre.
“Odiosa diaboli amplexus…”
“Where are you guys?” I shouted, but it was hard to hear my own voice over the flood of hissing, haggard screams stabbing at my mind.
“Lupus venit ut impleatur!”
I stumbled backward when flames burst from the ground all around me, culminating to the center of the clearing before giving form to a crooked wooden cross jammed into the ground.
Austin’s body was sprawled along its planks, tied with thick rope by the wrists and ankles, his weepy blue eyes following me as I stumbled closer.
How were his eyes blue? The vironoct had worn off before he left.
Another werewolf stood in front of him, holding Austin’s dogtags in the air like a trophy.
The werewolf was short and slender, his fur lighter black like fresh coffee grounds with a wiry mane that had grown out considerably.
The Anubian-looking creature turned to face me, his eyes blood-red as he grinned.
“Adam?” I called out while inching closer.
“Vasa nostra esurientes,” he said, but that wasn’t Adam’s voice. The voice was a multitude of otherworldly tones. “Join the feast.”