Werewolf Spit

(Chapter 8)

I stumbled about the rainy woods drunkenly and giggled to myself quietly. I welcomed my new-found hatred of werewolves--and one werewolf in particular-- with a certain sense of glee. I felt liberated. I was a human! How dare those werewolves try and tame a human?

The sun went down. I began to grow tired. My arm hurt. I suppose I couldn't live on hate alone. I stopped right where I was and sat down on the wet forest floor. I leaned my head on my wounded arm. It hurt, I guess. Some twigs cracked. A shadow moved in my peripheral vision. In an instant I was on my feet again. 

"Who is that?" I yelled loudly. "Snow is that you? Rumble? Moon? Don't come near me or I'll fucking kill you!" I shrieked even louder. 

Girl, is that you? A voice echoed from behind me. I whipped around, and there he was, just as beautiful as he was last time. The white wolf. He was looking at me in utter confusion. Girl, why are you making so much noise? These woods are dangerous at night. He chided me gently. He softly head-butted my good arm with his head and started to say something else.

His tenderness broke something in me. I felt my lower lip quiver. A big, fat tear rolled down one of my cheeks. I buried my face in his soft white fur. The wolf let me cry and snot into his fur, probably because he had no idea how else to comfort a crying human child.

We need to go, my student. Dark things are lurking. He said, dancing about a bit underneath me.

"Whatever." I mumbled, suddenly ashamed. I wiped my face to make sure there was no trace of  tears left.

"You never told me were I am. In fact, you never told me much at all. " I informed him. He looked back at me disapprovingly.

You know, I have taught many of you humans, but I've never really understood your obsession with explanations.

I frown at his uncharitable mood. "Could you at least tell me your name?" I ask. 

He sighs. Romulus. He says grumpily. By now we've walked to the school-like building. We're standing outside. Romulus sniffs around the patterned grass.

This is my brother, Remus. We are enemies. He whipped around, hackles bristling. He is dangerous. He is hatred in its purest form. This is what we fight against. Never, ever forget that. He growled.

I told him I wouldn't. His big eyes narrowed slightly, but he turned away anyway. I fear he is getting more powerful. Our realm and your realm are closely interconnected. If something happens here, then it happens there as well. He continued, then paused to look at me again. After a bit, his grim tone of voice dissipated. 

It is getting late. You should be going back to your home now. 

"Its only been about an hour!" I protested in surprise. 

One hour too long. The nights are short in this place. You need to go back now. Romulus insisted sternly, showing me his pearly white fangs. Okay... I guess I would be going back now.

"How do I go back?" I asked cautiously, not wanting to get growled at again.

Wait for dawn. You'll find your way back automatically. Romulus instructed.

I sat down to wait. It was only about two minutes later when the sky began to grow gray around the edges. Everything began to blur into each other. Romulus suddenly grew rigid, all of his snowy fur suddenly standing up on end. I had just a second to register that before everything began to shake.

Everything snapped back into sharp focus as I was thrown to my hands and knees. Something fell to the right of me and then shattered like glass, splattering the sparkling design that decorated the grass. Several drops hit my face, neck and shoulder. They burned like fire.

The ground broke open in a large crack. I didn't see anything escape, but I heard some ominous laughing, accompanied by the smell of brimstone. The shaking slowly subsided, and everything was quiet. I got to my feet carefully. My face and shoulder still stung from that liquid light stuff. Romulus was nowhere to be seen.

"Romulus?" I called. My voice sounded obscenely loud in the silence. There was no answer. I walked unsteadily into the wreckage. My mind was filled with horrible images of Romulus stuck under various huge pieces of scree.

I almost stepped on him. I thought one of the pieces of rubble looked different from the ones around it, so I paused to pick it up. It was a figurine of a growling wolf, made out of some perfect white rock. I sat down so I could examine the situation I was in.

I was stuck in a place where I didn't know the rules, where some kind of evil had somehow been released, and where my only guide had been turned into a stone statue. Perhaps I would go back if I waited for the next dawn. It was the only thing I could think to do. I bit my lip, feeling tears threaten to come again.

 Girl! Romulus' voice emanated from the mouth of the statue. Small miracles, I guess.

"Romulus! What happened?" I asked him. "You've been turned into... some kind of stone."

I am aware, thank you very much. Tell me, were you hurt? What can you see? 

He made me describe everything to him, including the smells in the air and the color of the sky. When I was finished, the statue was silent for a while. "Romulus?" I asked quietly.

You were hit with the light from Remus' prison, you say? That is worse than I feared. Remus may have imprisoned me, but he left my magic intact. That is how we are communicating. However, that light was magic in its most basic form, and it is much more powerful than anything I could hope to do. Its sole purpose was to keep Remus chained to this world, and it will do the same thing to you.

I panicked. "What? You mean I'm stuck here?" 

Be quiet!  Yes, you're stuck here, you've already absorbed the magic. But that is the least of our problems! We must find out how Remus escaped, and we must imprison him again. Normally you would work with me from your world, but that isn't an option, and we need help. He was quiet again for a while. This time I waited patiently for him.

How do you feel about a proxy? He asked me. 

"What do you mean?"

You would use my magic to communicate with someone in your world the same way I am communicating with you now. You would give them instructions while we worked on this side. It would have to be someone you are very close to, and you'd have to know their mind inside and out. That is why I cannot do it by myself. 

"Ok, fine." I said unhappily. There was only one person who I was that close to. Or, rather, only one werewolf. I guess fate just really, really wanted us to be together.

"Tell me what to do."