The Journal 2 - A Short Story Collection

Howl at Me

Usual hangout spot, predictable conversions, familiar faces. My friends and I, like every weekend night, met downtown to sit on a low brick wall in an alleyway, discussing the latest video games, or which girl from school they were attracted to now.

The same conversations on repeat, with an occasional discussion on a deeper topic to spice things up, normally started by me. Every weekend, identical.

Until tonight. The unvaried conversations ongoing, and I was only half listening as I noted people walking past, on their way to the bars or the theater, whatever they fancied for the night.

Off in the distance, we could hear a howl of what sounded like a wolf. It wasn't unheard of to have wolves near our town, but this one sounded closer than normal.

Marley, the guy sitting on the wall furthest from me, howled back his best impression of a wolf. We all laughed at his attempt, listening for a reply.

A howl echoed out, and we all looked amongst ourselves, stunned to have heard the wolf again so soon after Marley's howl. It didn't mean for sure the wolf was reacting, but it felt that way.

This time, Chris did his impression of the howl, which measured better compared to Marley's. We all chuckled, waiting for another howl from the wolf.

Sure enough, the howl came, louder this time. I cautioned my friends to stop, not wanting to go head-to-head with a wolf if it actually came to that. However, they didn't listen, too amused for their own good. I couldn't blame them, though concerned, I too felt energized by it.

Another howl from my group brought on an even closer howl back. After a couple more times, we finally called it enough, everyone now agreeing that baiting a wolf too close may not be the soundest idea.

A howl resounded again, ever closer. Everyone glanced at each other, startled to hear it so close. We all jumped off the ledge, making our way towards the busier part of downtown, just in case the wolf found us.

Its howls grew closer, but also changed. They were more drawn out, more frequent. It almost sounded as if the wolf was in pain.

Another long howl, high pitch, and getting higher until it sounded like a shriek. Chills shot down my spine when I realized it came from behind us.

Though it wasn't a wolf we found that night, but a cloaked, floating figure, blood dripping from the darkened hooded face. It shrieked again, just like the wolf, as it closed the distance to us before we had a chance to scream.

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Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed this spookier tale.